EMUSIC-L Digest Volume 7, Number 3 Today's Topics: Oberheim Matrix-6 and Ensoniq Bashing (2 messages) Keyboard Recommendations (4 messages) EMUSIC-L Tape Progress (2 messages) Request for sources for Public Domain PC Music Software Analog Lovers Unite! (8 messages) Oberheim Equipment (8 messages) The Wasp, Its Interface, and Historical Trivia (7 messages) Request for D-20 Patches Request for DX7/D110/D-50 Patches (5 messages) Rec.music.synth Inquiry (2 messages) Oldies But Goodies (and not so goodies) (14 messages) Drum machines (2 messages) Questions and answers about MIDI standards (4 messages) Psychoacoustics D-50 -> D-110 Digital piano reommendations (2 messages) Your EMUSIC-L Digest moderator is Joe McMahon . You may subscribe to EMUSIC-L by sending mail to listserv@american.edu with the line "SUB EMUSIC-L your name" as the text. The EMUSIC-L archive is a service of SunSite (sunsite.unc.edu) at the University of North Carolina. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Mon, 17 Jul 89 13:47:24 BST From: Nick Rothwell Subject: Beginner 14 Jul 89 11:40:24 CDT <15238.8907152312@lfcs.ed.ac.uk >If you can get an Oberheim Matrix-6, you will be in analog heaven. This axe >is thick, true >easy to learn, it has an atrocious front-panel interface which makes programming a nightmare... >multi-timbral no, it's bi-timbral, 2+4 voices, which doesn't compare well with modern equipment. >and it has a great MIDI implementation. the MIDI implementation is severly brain-dead. I never got overflow mode or channelising MIDI thru to work. The continuous controllers (volume etc.) don't work in any sensible way. The only way I could get a programmed fade on mine was backwards (127 -> 0 to fade in), by using a slot in the modulation matrix. The SysEx spec may be good, but Oberheim don't tell anybody what it is (same with their Cyclone), so how can anyone tell? I like my M6R, but it has its pros and cons, like anything else. >Ensoniq *does not* make synthesizers. Period. ...apart from the ESQ-1, SQ-80, VFX??? Nick. -- Nick Rothwell, Laboratory for Foundations of Computer Science, Edinburgh. nick@lfcs.ed.ac.uk !mcvax!ukc!lfcs!nick ^^ ^^ ^^ ^^ ^^ ^^ ^^ ^^ ^^ ^^ ^^ ^^ ^^ ^^ ^^ ^^ ^^ ^^ ^^ ^^ ^^ ^^ ^^ ^^ ^^ Fais que ton reve soit plus long que la nuit. ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 17 Jul 89 12:11:52 EDT From: Eric Harnden Subject: Re: Beginner > >>Ensoniq *does not* make synthesizers. Period. > >...apart from the ESQ-1, SQ-80, VFX??? > blecch. Eric Harnden (Ronin) The American University Physics Dept. (202) 885-2758 ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 17 Jul 89 12:13:56 EDT From: nbzah@conncoll.bitnet Subject: Re: Beginner I highly recommend the Yamaha DX11. It costs about $700, has a good selection of FM sounds and has a really good assortment of midi capabilities usually found on more expensive models. In addition, it is multi timbral. We've used it quite alot around here and we're very happy with it for what it is. Good luck! Noel Zahler nbzah@conncoll ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 17 Jul 89 11:51:01 CDT From: "David M. Stowell" Subject: Re: Beginner Concering the Matrix-6: I'm not really thrilled about any parameter-based programming method, but Oberheim's is as good as any. Then again, I'm an old Moog/ARP player, where one can grab a bunch of knobs (or patch cords) at once and change the patch while playing. The Oberheims come close to that method. Only bi-timbral? Hmmm, I may be confusing the Matrix-6 with the Xpander and the Matrix-12. In any case, the Matrix-6 doesn't have enough voices to really go crazy with multi-timbral work; just a start. Besides, I prefer only one or two voices per synth---more implies the need for more keybords (I don't see much use for sequencing...) As for MIDI, it has enough for anything I would want to do, but then again, I prefer fingers to electronics. I'll grant that the Matrix-6 may not have all the modern possibilities that many of you list readers may want, but but my main use of MIDI is its original intent---keyboard doubling. Eric: I have a Korg DW-6000. Great little instrument! Granted I'd prefer a DW-8000, but the 8000 wasn't out when I was out shopping at the time... |~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~| | David M. Stowell \|/ | | University of Illinois at Chicago \ / | | BITNET: U17227@UICVM.BITNET = = | | Internet: U17227@UICVM.UIC.EDU /|\ | | <=> | | \ = / | | The optimist laughed \ = / | | And the pessimist cried in his wine = | | And the madman said "Son, = | | Take a word--they'll all wake, given time" = | | | ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 18 Jul 89 11:21:54 EDT From: Mario Vergona Subject: Re: Beginner Hi I have been reading a lot of other responses to the Beginner mail, while I too would really like to recommend the Korg Poly-8000 remember that he did say he wanted a Multi-Timberal instriment. While the 8000 ============== sounds very good and I love the arppegiator feature (so much so that I bought a Oberhein CYCLONE, which is also great) the 8000 is not, as far as I know a multi-timberal instriment. m ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 18 Jul 89 11:24:24 EDT From: Mario Vergona Subject: Re: Beginner hi there, Since you are just strating out the first thing you MUST have is a touch sensitive instriment. Otherwise your piano lessons will not go very well, believe me I know: I played piano, then got a non-touch sensitive synth. Play that for a while, then found out that my feel for the piano was almost totally gone. When I bought a really good touch sensitive synth (a Kawai K1) I had to take a few more piano lesson (8) in order to get my feel/touch back. You did not mention how much you can afford to spend so I will make these suggestions: 1) A Kawai K1 - really great sound and relativeily reasonalble price. I bought it for 640 from this mail order place called Buy-Best, their phone number is 1-800-BUY-BEST. You have to have a price from some other store and they will get back to you on their price. Allows 8 differnt sounds at once. 2) The Casio CZ1 - this is a touch sensitive synth that puts out pretty good sound. There a lots of sounds out there for it. It is discountiued (Casio no longer producres it) but there are a lot out there and I am sure you could come by one used. I believe it allows 4 different sounds at once. You sould be able to come by one for about 350. 3) There is also a CASIO CPS 101 which is basiclly a piano ( with a couple of other sounds) that has MIDI capabilities. Later on you could buy a sound module. This can be found for between 300 and 400. It is also discountinued, but getable. 4) Without touch sensitivity you might go for any of the other Casio CZ series, there are lots of sounds and software available. CZ-1000 has a full sized keyboard and gives up to 4 sounds at once. I've seen them for 250/300. You could even get a cz 5000 for about 400 that would have a builtin sequencer. good luck m ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 17 Jul 89 16:09:06 BST From: Nick Rothwell Subject: EMUSIC compilation tape Just a quick message for Cecilia -- my piece is finished, so I'll be airmailing it off as soon as I've knocked up some "liner notes" (and thought of a title...). Length: around 8:18. Nick. -- Nick Rothwell, Laboratory for Foundations of Computer Science, Edinburgh. nick@lfcs.ed.ac.uk !mcvax!ukc!lfcs!nick ^^ ^^ ^^ ^^ ^^ ^^ ^^ ^^ ^^ ^^ ^^ ^^ ^^ ^^ ^^ ^^ ^^ ^^ ^^ ^^ ^^ ^^ ^^ ^^ ^^ Fais que ton reve soit plus long que la nuit. ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 20 Jul 89 12:24:44 EDT From: Cecilia Tan Subject: Tape Progress! Yahoo! Whoopee! I've received two more submissions, one from Carl Donath, and one from William Angel (what is your e-mail address William?) and a note from Nick Rothwell saying his is in the mail from the UK. Looks like we have quite a decent collection shaping up here. Remember, if you aren't contributing, you can still have a copy of the tape by sending me a blank 90 minute cassette and return SASE (postage around $.65 to $.85) and when the comp is made, I'll copy it for you, too. Address again: Cecilia Tan 438 Wickenden St. #3 Providence, RI 02902-4428 Anyone have clever suggestions for a title? ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 20 Jul 89 18:02:10 EDT From: Tapio Date: Tue, 18 Jul 89 15:03:19 EDT From: Dan Bracken <3423YKN@CMUVM> Subject: Music archives Could someone tell of sources for PD music software? I have a co-worker who just accquired the IBM music feature card but is without software of any kind. If there are achives on the net somewhere either mail-based or FTP'able, I would appreciate hearing about them. Please note: I'm not currently a subscriber to this list so please respond direct via mail. I will summarize to this list if others are interested. Thanks much, Dan Bracken 3423ykn@CMUVM.bitnet ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 18 Jul 89 17:26:00 EST From: METLAY@PITTVMS Subject: greetings from a new list subscriber. Hello to all EMUSIC-L subscribers! I'm new to this list, and it may be a while before I have a chance to order any archives or digests to bring myself up to date, so I hope that the following isn't a rehash of anything that's been recently beaten to death here. I'm wondering if there's anyone out there who still holds any great affection for the older analog synths and uses them extensively in their setups, either MIDIfied or with CV control, as I do. I'm always interested in trading bizarre ideas for interfacing and human-response control of analog synths via CV devices and/or MIDI controllers. Also, if anyone has any questions about the Oberheim Xpander or Matrix12, I can obtain authoritative information on these two instruments easily, being the president of the Xpander Users' Group and editor of their Xpansions newsletter. (In fact, the only question I have trouble answering these days is, "So when's the next issue finally gonna come out, smart guy?" |->) Looking forward to much fruitful interaction with y'all, I remain, metlay | Why must computers go out of their way to be | difficult to those who don't conform neatly? metlay@pittvms.BITNET | "", indeed! For those who wonder, metlay@vms.cis.pitt.EDU | the "M. M." stands for "My Monicker's"! |-> ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 18 Jul 89 16:40:04 CDT From: "David M. Stowell" Subject: Re: greetings from a new list subscriber. OH BOY!!!!!!! DID YOU JUST WALK IN THE RIGHT PLACE!!!!!!!! (whew!) I'm an old analog/CV (non-MIDI) enthusiast, having trained on an ARP 2600 and some Moog modular stuff. I'm also interested in the Xpander stuff, though I don't currently own any of it. Do keep us posted about your users group as well as your perspective on analog gear. |~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~| | David M. Stowell \|/ | | University of Illinois at Chicago \ / | | BITNET: U17227@UICVM.BITNET = = | | Internet: U17227@UICVM.UIC.EDU /|\ | | <=> | | \ = / | | The optimist laughed \ = / | | And the pessimist cried in his wine = | | And the madman said "Son, = | | Take a word--they'll all wake, given time" = | | | ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 18 Jul 89 18:03:00 EST From: METLAY@PITTVMS Subject: wow, talk about a fast reponse! Wow! That didn't take long. I'm a bit floored... You see, nobody's actually *ASKED* me for my opinions on analog synthesis since, well, since a post to rec.music.synth a long time ago that sparked a lot of controversy and good-natured (and not so good-natured) bandwidth on the subject. I've lost my Net news feed, but based on David's note I think this list will be a lot more than just an adequate substitute for "How much is a {...} worth used?" and "Anyone want to buy a <...> used?" and "How dare you bore us with [...] when everyone with half a brain knows that /...\ is the WAVE OF THE FUTURE!", etc. I'll post a couple of items when the opportunity presents itself... I tend to be overly militant in my stance sometimes, and I'd rather not start out by making enemies. (Tell them about me, FM, and K*te B*sh, Nick! |-> ) thanx -- metlay (the "m.m." stands for | Analog synthesis survives and thrives in "my moniker's") | a digital world because there are those who metlay@pittvms.BITNET | believe in fighting for what they love, even metlay@vms.cis.pitt.EDU | at the risk of appearing (gasp!) antiquated. -- ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 18 Jul 89 18:38:14 EDT From: Joe McMahon Subject: Re: wow, talk about a fast reponse! >metlay (the "m.m." stands for | Analog synthesis survives and thrives in > "my moniker's") | a digital world because there are those who >metlay@pittvms.BITNET | believe in fighting for what they love, even >metlay@vms.cis.pitt.EDU | at the risk of appearing (gasp!) antiquated. It also thrives because it's cheap and still useful. Did anyone else see the ad in Keyboard for a rack-mount, supposedly-MIDIfied MiniMoog? Knobs and switches! Yay! ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 19 Jul 89 09:32:00 EDT From: Brian Klassen MUMC-1C7 x5153 Subject: Re: wow, talk about a fast reponse! Hey, I saw that add (miniMoog in a rack)! Is this for real? What kind of bucks are they talking. I've always wanted one of those beasties but could never find one ... and one with MIDI would be "killer". Anyone out there seen/heard one yet? brian ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 19 Jul 89 15:49:50 BST From: Nick Rothwell Subject: wow, talk about a fast reponse! 18 Jul 89 18:03:00 EST <29628.8907191405@lfcs.ed.ac.uk >I've lost my >Net news feed, but based on David's note I think this list will be a lot more >than just an adequate substitute for "How much is a :...: worth used?" and >"Anyone want to buy a <...> used?" and "How dare you bore us with [...] when >everyone with half a brain knows that /...\ is the WAVE OF THE FUTURE!", etc. Yah, rec.music.synth tends to be a bit of a buy&sell mart at times. It's certainly biased towards commercial products. I don't mind this to some extent, since, as I've said before, I'm fairly happy to use off-the-shelf instruments rather than speculate on new ideas about synthesis and so on. The drawback (which the magazines have as well) is this obsession with technology rather than music. The editorials always say "the music is what's important", but the articles are all reviews and MIDI-related technical stuff. The UK magazines hardly ever mention anything musical in nature. One day, I must take a copy of one of these magazines, and look at the relative word-counts of words like "MIDI", "sample" vs. "chord", "progression" and so on. The only reason I import Keyboard from the States is because it carries music columns like Fowlers "Applied Theory". I certainly don't buy it for its "Californian" style...! Of course, I do have opinions about the relative merits of instruments, inasmuch as what they can do reflects the kind of music you can make. Metlay has a shoot-on-sight policy wrt. Yamaha FM gear; I have one FM sound-generator out of a total of 6, because it's necessary for some kinds of sound. I've got a bit of a downer on Oberheim gear at the moment, because my Matrix-6R is full of really bad patches, and the programming interface is dreadful. (and also because my initial attempts to make it believe in 240 volts have failed. The power supply is a mass of wires with the same sort of complexity as Spock's brain.) I'll feel better when my patch editing software is off the ground and I can make proper use of this machine. (for that, of course, I need the System Exclusive specs, which Oberheim never provide in the manuals. Acht...pting!). My current leaning is towards Roland analog, partly due to the Super JX rackmounts going cheap at the moment. ...pardon me, didn't I say that the music was the important thing? Ooh-er... >(Tell them about me, FM, and K*te B*sh, Nick! |-> ) I don't think the wider world is ready for project S*ntheS*x yet... Nick. -- Nick Rothwell, Laboratory for Foundations of Computer Science, Edinburgh. nick@lfcs.ed.ac.uk !mcvax!ukc!lfcs!nick ^^ ^^ ^^ ^^ ^^ ^^ ^^ ^^ ^^ ^^ ^^ ^^ ^^ ^^ ^^ ^^ ^^ ^^ ^^ ^^ ^^ ^^ ^^ ^^ ^^ Fais que ton reve soit plus long que la nuit. ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 19 Jul 89 16:00:27 BST From: Nick Rothwell Subject: wow, talk about a fast reponse! 18 Jul 89 18:38:14 EDT <29942.8907191446@lfcs.ed.ac.uk >It also thrives because it's cheap and still useful. Did anyone else see >the ad in Keyboard for a rack-mount, supposedly-MIDIfied MiniMoog? Knobs >and switches! Yay! Is analog cheap? I think these MidiMoogs are pretty pricey. I think the TX81Z's and MT-32s of this world undercut any analog stuff by a long way. I think analog survives for the same reason that FM will survive. Synths are like guitars - all different. The hype seems based on the premise that you just need the new wonderful workstation, and that's it. Diversity is the key. For the amount I've spent on music gear, I could just about have had an Emulator III. Instead I've got a Roland analog, an Oberheim, two Roland digitals, a Yamaha TX, piano and a pile of other bits and pieces, all driven from a Mac and a Cyclone. From what he's told me, Metlay's studio probably looks like the back-end of the Millenium Falcon. Nick. -- Nick Rothwell, Laboratory for Foundations of Computer Science, Edinburgh. nick@lfcs.ed.ac.uk !mcvax!ukc!lfcs!nick ^^ ^^ ^^ ^^ ^^ ^^ ^^ ^^ ^^ ^^ ^^ ^^ ^^ ^^ ^^ ^^ ^^ ^^ ^^ ^^ ^^ ^^ ^^ ^^ ^^ Fais que ton reve soit plus long que la nuit. ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 19 Jul 89 17:25:28 EDT From: "Kurt A. Geisel" Subject: Re: wow, talk about a fast reponse! Re: Kurt give me a call OK, I'll try. We have a french exchange student staying with us for a month this summer and I have been pretty busy every night lately. BTW, I got an MJC-8 for $215. After swapping MIDI cables (*&^(*&^(*& 150 times I decided that even with two synths it was an absolute necessity. Ooops, sorry I forgot to tell you about this list, but I guess you found it. It didn't click in my mind when you said you lost net news. - Kurt ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 19 Jul 89 09:21:29 CST From: Jayson Tipp Subject: Oberheim 4 voice I just saw the Pat Metheny Group last night here in St. Louis. The 3 hr. set was unbelievable. Lyle Mays continues to use an ancient Oberheim 4 Voice synth. What's the word on these. Are they rare, expensive, ..? great fat sounds! Thanks- Buzz. ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 19 Jul 89 12:50:00 EST From: METLAY@PITTVMS Subject: the Oberheim n-voice synths Yo Buzz: A word or two (or fifty or a hundred) on the Oberheim n-voice synths. They were the bridge between the old modular synths and the new hardwired synths in Oberheim's development, mid 70's I believe. They combined the convenience of easy portability and the novelty of the new polyphonic scan keyboard (invented by Tom Oberheim, I believe) with the power of modular (or most of it, anyway). The idea was as follows. Every voice was selfcontained in a knobby little white-painted steel box called a Synthesizer Expander Module, or SEM for short. The SEM was a little tiny keyboardless mono synth in a box, with VCOs, VCF, LFOs, envelopes, etc. etc., and a TON of patch points for custom setups and interfacing in the back. They were easy to open up and hotrod for a particular user's requirements, and were very solid and reliable. The n-voice synth itself was merely a road case with n of the SEMs, a keyboard wired to control them in various ways, and possibly an ancillary box or two like a sequencer or a primitive programmer (remembers CVs for VCF and VCO control, etc.). As you may gather, they were multitimbral times n, because it was damn near impossible to get the SEMs to EXACTLY the same settings! The sound was wonderful, and in fact the SEM was a handy addition to many a synth whiz's arsenal as a Minimoog extender. Who used them? Well, Larry Fast's first album was done on nothing but a single Minimoog, a Mellotron, and an SEM. He still uses it today: hence the "old version" notation on the METROPOLITAN SUITE credits, to differentiate it from the Xpander of today (and the OBXpander, the keyboardless OBXa voice expansion unit that eventually became the Xpander we all know and love [OR ELSE!], which was marketed either very briefly or not at all). Patrick O'Hearn has two SEMS on all of his albums, Lyle Mays of course has a Four-voice unit, and Patrick Moraz has a huge double-manual Eight-Voice that he still takes touring with the Moody Blues. Thankfully they aren't rare per se. They were never as chic or convenient as Minimoogs, but universities and students liked them, so there are a lot around. Condition is highly variable but they're supposedly quite easy to restore, and I've seen SEMs advertised for under $200 and entire Four-voice Synths for $400! I'd like to get one, as soon as I can find a place to put it. If you're enamored of old analog gear and its fat sound, a Four-voice is one of the best investments in used gear you can make. Especially if you're into multiple interfacing, as each SEM can be wired to a different control system: imagine a Four-voice with one voice played on the keyboard, two voices under the CV control of a Roland MC202, and the fourth operated by a Big Briar CV Theremin! Yum! Front panel pictures and more data can be had from a recent article in MUSIC TECHNOLOGY. Shall I look it up? later, metlay (the "m.m." stands for | Analog synthesis survives and thrives in "my moniker's") | a digital world because there are those who metlay@pittvms.BITNET | believe in fighting for what they love, even metlay@vms.cis.pitt.EDU | at the risk of appearing (gasp!) antiquated. ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 19 Jul 89 14:02:00 EDT From: Brian Klassen MUMC-1C7 x5153 Subject: Oberheim Gear Speaking of the good ol' Matrix 6, I had a 6R for awhile ... I loved the sounds I could get (yes the factory patches were for the most part terrible, but that's why they make 'em programmable), but the damned thing wouldn't stay in tune! I don't know if it was me, my machine, or what, but it drove me crazy and I finally traded it on a sampler. I'd love an Xpander, but I can't afford one at this point. I'm still using an Oberhiem xK controller ... someone recently ragged on Oberhiem's keyboards, but I love mine ... Tom Oberhiem's a minor diety in my books. brian BTW, Eric/Nick: what's happening with those D-50 patches? ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 19 Jul 89 14:59:00 EST From: METLAY@PITTVMS Subject: Oberheim tuning and keyboards Hm! I have never heard of another Matrix with tuning problems, although I recently acquired an Xpander with one voice that's slightly out of tune; it's a bad chip and not too costly to fix, I believe. As for keyboards, though: ACK THPHHT! My Xk is only now, after three years in and out of repair shops, finally working almost properly. Its memory no longers erases itself when you turn it on, it doesn't feed clock noise from MIDI to audio gear near it, and (thanks to Permatex!) it stinking left hand control levers no longer come loose at random intervals. However, it now says that the formerly programmable lever is now settable by zone, but only globally: i.e. the reverse lever can be MIDI control change 2 on zone 1, 5 on zone 2, and 15 on zone 3 if you wish, but those settings hold for all of the Xk's memory presets. It's a good controller for the Xpanders (maybe the best available as of now, alas) but it's just too flaky for me. geeba geeba, metlay ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 19 Jul 89 18:05:31 EDT From: "Kurt A. Geisel" Subject: Re: the Oberheim n-voice synths Mike, for historical purposes, I THINK the n-voice synths were controlled by a repackaged E-mu universal poly keyboard. Not to say the Tom didn't invent it, but I didn't think he was ever credited for one of the first poly keyboard setups. Now, let's talk about the Polymoog! - Kurt ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 20 Jul 89 08:56:18 EDT From: Eric Harnden Subject: nick's ob problems i've got the mat6 specs. you want them? it'll take me a few days to get them typed up, and i'm behind right now on getting that smpte primer up an out, but i'll pu it in the queue if you like. Eric Harnden (Ronin) The American University Physics Dept. (202) 885-2758 ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 20 Jul 89 13:55:48 BST From: Nick Rothwell Subject: Oberheim Gear 19 Jul 89 14:02:00 EDT <1769.8907192108@lfcs.ed.ac.uk >Speaking of the good ol' Matrix 6, I had a 6R for awhile ... I loved the >sounds I could get (yes the factory patches were for the most part >terrible, but that's why they make 'em programmable), but the damned >thing wouldn't stay in tune! Mine will drift after a week or two, and require a full re-tune, but it isn't too bad. As long as I remember to tune it before each gig... I found the innards of the beast rather fascinating: the voice PCB is marked into identical areas of surface-mounted components labelled "voice 1", "voice 2", etc. (of course: it's analog, so it has physical voices, silly me...) That's why it's got 6 voices, I guess; a 7-voice one would be too wide to fit into a 19" rack. Nick. ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 21 Jul 89 10:03:25 BST From: Nick Rothwell Subject: nick's ob problems 20 Jul 89 08:56:18 EDT <6425.8907201923@lfcs.ed.ac.uk >i've got the mat6 specs. you want them? Please please please! I've almost completed my D-50 module, and the M-6R one is as good a next choice as any. I really want to get cooking with this machine as soon as possible. I have the D-50 banks with me here. I don't want to post them directly, since then they'll go *everywhere*, to those people who don't want them, and they'll cost money. Shall I mail them directly to you, Eric? Nick. ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 19 Jul 89 10:50:00 MET From: ROBBEL%NKIVXH.SURFNET@HASARA5 Subject: Wasp interface In response to the mail I just read about CV / MIDI I remembered something I should have asked much earlier. I am the lucky (?) owner of a Wasp (you might know this machine as the sound-effects generator of the early Dr. Who series). The Wasp has something like an interface and it looks like it's CV (I'm not sure though). Does anyone know which pins of the Wasp-interface do what, or better still; does anyone know if there's something like a CV / MIDI convertor for the Wasp? Electronic schematics would be nice. Thanks in advance, hope to hear from you soon. Robert Belleman. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 'He whom whispers their fate into the ears of lobsters is bound to get nipped' S H Rood. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Date: Wed, 19 Jul 89 10:58:00 EST From: METLAY@PITTVMS Subject: Wasps? EEYOW! Wasps, what bizarre and wonderful old beasts! Yeeha! The interface to which you refer is not CV, it is (believe it or not) a digital interface for hooking Wasps together for polyphony. A lot of the Electronic Dream Plant boxes had them, and I'm sure that some old repair shops that used to service them would have schematics. The mind boggles! (For future reference: the "It Came From the Synth Industry" and "The Synth Companies of Europe" from old issues of KEYBOARD. Shall I look them up?) yowza, metlay ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 19 Jul 89 11:01:00 EST From: METLAY@PITTVMS Subject: historical correction The earliest synth used for Dr. Who was the venerable VCS3. If a Wasp was ever used for the show, I'd like to see it verified in writing somewhere. Not that I don't believe you, but it's an interesting page in EDP's history (and Dr Who's for that matter) and I'd like to know if it's apocryphal or not. ciao metlay ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 19 Jul 89 17:34:40 EDT From: "Kurt A. Geisel" Subject: Re: Wasp interface Being a fan of analog synths, Dr. Who, AND early Dr. Who synth, I am competely fascinated by this Wasp. Could you give me a brief description of it? There are several MIDI->CV interfaces out there. Roland makes one but I forgot the exact model number. Electronic Musician magazine just recently published a project MIDI->CV that was single chip based and looked really good. - Kurt ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 20 Jul 89 12:16:00 MET From: ROBBEL%NKIVXH.SURFNET@HASARA5 Subject: RE: Wasp, Dr. Who and EDP ltd. Metlay writes: > The earliest synth used for Dr. Who was the venerable VCS3. If a Wasp > was ever used for the show, I'd like to see it verified in writing > somewhere. Not that I don't believe you, but it's an interesting page > in EDP's history (and Dr Who's for that matter) and I'd like to know > if it's apocryphal or not. I'm sorry. I can not give you any written proof. I got the Wasp from a friend of mine who got it from a friend of his who got it ... well, you know ... and they told me that it _was_ used for Dr. Who. I guess you'll have to be your own judge about this ... > The interface to which you refer is not CV, it is (believe it or not) a > digital interface for hooking Wasps together for polyphony. A lot of the > Electronic Dream Plant boxes had them, and I'm sure that some old repair > shops that used to service them would have schematics. The mind boggles! Indeed! Maybe you could give me some addresses?? > (For future reference: the "It Came From the Synth Industry" and "The Synth > Companies of Europe" from old issues of KEYBOARD. Shall I look them up?) Please do! My Wasp is a bit out of shape. It could use some repair. And I would really like to know more about the interface (Imagine this: a Wasp next to me on stage MIDI-connected to a sequencer ... crucial sounds strike me ears !!!) Kurt writes: > Being a fan of analog synths, Dr. Who, AND early Dr. Who synth, I am > competely fascinated by this Wasp. Could you give me a brief description > of it? The Wasp is a dual-oscilator monophonic synthesizer with a touch-sensitive keyboard (that is; the keyboard is etched in the printed circuit board, no mechanic switches). It's almost completely based on CMOS ic's, so I guess you could call it digital. There are a couple of nice features on it, 'Q' is most spectacular (sort of a filter / x-modulator or something, I don't know. Sounds great though). There's a LFO with something like 7 different waveforms, an envelope generator, a filter, 'glide' (:portamento), (pitch-)bend and a noise generator. There are two 7-pin 'Link' interfaces on it to connect to e.g. a 'Spider' (a sequencer for the Wasp). It comes from a company called Electronic Dream Plant Limited. The design is by a guy called Chris Hugett. Hope to hear more from y'all soon!! Robert Belleman. ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 20 Jul 89 09:01:33 EDT From: Eric Harnden Subject: dr who yes, i have every reason to believe that the soundtracks were done on vcs3 gear. first of all, there is the rather distinct sound. second of all, the bbc radiophonic workshop was the only place that ems invested enough in to actually install and maintain one of their synthi 100's, which implies some product history there. although none of this rules out thir having used a wasp now and then, of course. Eric Harnden (Ronin) The American University Physics Dept. (202) 885-2758 ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 20 Jul 89 10:28:00 EST From: METLAY@PITTVMS Subject: RE: Wasp, Dr. Who and EDP ltd. Well, I'll get to those Wasp references as soon as possible, but it may be a while, as my KEYBOARD collection and I have been forcibly separated. But I'll do my best. I have no idea who might service them, myself; perhaps one of the articles may have a worthwhile source in it. Oh, and OPERATION HELP in EM works wonders for stuff like this. In a similar vein, I recently unearthed and messed with my very first synth, which I still own but which is far too noisy for most uses (I'll sample it, someday, though, you bet!): an old ElectroHarmonix MiniSynthesizer with Echo and PitchGlide. Yow! It's about the size and shape of a notebook, with membrane keys and KILLER bass sounds. I love it. But the hiss drives me nuts! |-> wahoolazuma, metlay ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 20 Jul 89 14:56:00 MET From: ROBBEL%NKIVXH.SURFNET@HASARA5 Subject: D-20 patches; who's got any? Is there anyone out there with D-20 patches? I could sure use some uuencoded D-20 files (that do NOT come from any editing program; I like them bulk-dumped from the D-20 itself). Thanks in advance, Robert Belleman, robbel%nkivxh.surfnet@hasara5.bitnet ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 20 Jul 89 09:07:46 EDT From: Eric Harnden Date: Wed, 19 Jul 89 15:17:23 EET From: Jari Riitala Subject: patches for DX7 / D110 / D50 Hello, folks! Anybody out there willing to share / exchange DX7, D110 and D50 patches? I've got some 15 DX7 banks and some (really not too much) stuff for the Rolands (in fact the D50 belongs to a friend of mine). Preferred formats: Sysex dump / DX-Android / Dr T's D110 & D50 editor files Any information about such archives? How's the E-Music Archive going, Eric? Have I missed something? Any comments appreciated||| Jari Riitala or maybe ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 20 Jul 89 13:31:55 BST From: Nick Rothwell Subject: patches for DX7 / D110 / D50 19 Jul 89 15:17:23 EET <1213.8907191750@lfcs.ed.ac.uk I have about 5000 DX7 patches, around 2000 D-50 patches. It's just a case of getting them online - there's a lot of stuff. I can generate the D-50 stuff in pure binary, uuencoded or BinHexed for the Mac. The DX7 patches are in some Opcode format which would have to be reverse-engineered. I can move any of these off my Mac and onto the net, but trans-atlantic posting costs money... I don't have any D-110 stuff - I'd quite like some. Nick. -- Nick Rothwell, Laboratory for Foundations of Computer Science, Edinburgh. nick@lfcs.ed.ac.uk !mcvax!ukc!lfcs!nick ^^ ^^ ^^ ^^ ^^ ^^ ^^ ^^ ^^ ^^ ^^ ^^ ^^ ^^ ^^ ^^ ^^ ^^ ^^ ^^ ^^ ^^ ^^ ^^ ^^ Fais que ton reve soit plus long que la nuit. ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 20 Jul 89 16:10:09 BST From: Nick Rothwell Subject: patches for DX7 / D110 / D50 20 Jul 89 14:52 MET <5138.8907201422@lfcs.ed.ac.uk Ok, this evening I'll pick up the D-50 patches. I'll post them as uuencoded binaries (perhaps compressed), each one being 34688 bytes long - that's 64 patches of 64*7 bytes plus the reverb information. You'll have to do the handshake/parity check stuff yourself - I can supply code (UCSD Pascal, hurrah) which shows this. If you want C, you'll have to wait until I finish the D-50 support for my generic editor/librarian. For Mac users, I can supply a (rather shakey) load/dump DA as well. Any takers? Nick. -- Nick Rothwell, Laboratory for Foundations of Computer Science, Edinburgh. nick@lfcs.ed.ac.uk !mcvax!ukc!lfcs!nick ^^ ^^ ^^ ^^ ^^ ^^ ^^ ^^ ^^ ^^ ^^ ^^ ^^ ^^ ^^ ^^ ^^ ^^ ^^ ^^ ^^ ^^ ^^ ^^ ^^ Fais que ton reve soit plus long que la nuit. ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 20 Jul 89 12:13:38 EDT From: Eric Harnden Subject: Re: patches for DX7 / D110 / D50 please post direct to my address, not to the list. did you say you can uuencode? that would help. i got some stuff recently that i'm going to have to have resent. i'll hang on to the stuff i receieve and fill orders, until it goes into the archive. yes, yes... i promise i'll gt those things updated. does aybody use them? has anybody taken the midi primers and stuff? Eric Harnden (Ronin) The American University Physics Dept. (202) 885-2758 ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 21 Jul 89 16:56:27 BST From: Nick Rothwell Subject: patches for DX7 / D110 / D50 21 Jul 89 11:04:21 -0400 <8907211504.AA24539@css.itd.nrl.navy.mil > The LOAD/DUMP DA for the Mac sounds intriguing...particularly if you >sent the source code as well (What language?). Could it easily be >modified to work with other synth's as well? Personally, I would prefer BinHex >myself, but I imagine I can get someone to explain the uu format and what to >do with it. I don't have the source for the Load/Dump DA. It's a PD offering by Beaverton. It's a bit buggy, but does the job. It's totally D-50 specific. If you want a general editor/librarian that works on a Mac, is free, and can have instrument-specific modules added for new synths, you'll have to be patient and wait for Anodyne. Soon, real soon... I can uuencode stuff on the Mac (& provide source for this), but this won't do for applications, since they have quite a complicated structure. If you want a BinHexed copy of the D-50 DA, give me a shout & I'll bring it in. Nick. -- Nick Rothwell, Laboratory for Foundations of Computer Science, Edinburgh. nick@lfcs.ed.ac.uk !mcvax!ukc!lfcs!nick ^^ ^^ ^^ ^^ ^^ ^^ ^^ ^^ ^^ ^^ ^^ ^^ ^^ ^^ ^^ ^^ ^^ ^^ ^^ ^^ ^^ ^^ ^^ ^^ ^^ "I have no mouth and I am MEAN!" ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 19 Jul 89 09:59:09 CDT From: Eddie Mikell Subject: rec.music.synth? Well speaking of buy and sell.....how can I get on rec.music.synth. Is it bitnet, internet, GEnie??? Thanks Eddie H. Mikell ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 19 Jul 89 12:00:00 EST From: METLAY@PITTVMS Subject: rec.music.synth rec.music.synth is on the USEnet bboard system. If you don't have a UNIX machine you may be SOL, though there are end runs around this hassle if you're desperate enough. I don't think digests are published, but the Portal System lets you download current articles to a PC. I read it for a year or two, and then lost access to it. And you know what? I won't miss it until it's time for me to try to sell a piece of used gear. That tells me something.... wacka wacka, metlay ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 19 Jul 89 12:50:00 EST From: METLAY@PITTVMS Subject: various and sundry Various clarifications on Nick's commentary on things Metlayish: >From: Nick Rothwell >Of course, I do have opinions about the relative merits of >instruments, inasmuch as what they can do reflects the kind of music >you can make. Metlay has a shoot-on-sight policy wrt. Yamaha FM gear; I do not have a shoot-on-sight policy with respect to Yamaha FM gear. I happen to think that the V50 is a perfectly *adorable* little toy, and I'm planning on buying one for my kids (for the six months or so when they'll be too old for Fisher-Price and too young for Oberheim). Seriously, though, I have allowed an FM synth in my studio once or twice for some band work; its owner used it for Rhodes sounds and bells, both of which it does admirably. I even experimented a little with non-rational operator settings, and saw a great deal of potential for some nice noises there, but it's too much of a pain to work with for me. I prefer samplers and user wavetables for the same reason I like musique concrete: the real world is more interesting than six sine waves. All my opinions, of course..... >I've got a bit of a downer on >Oberheim gear at the moment, because my Matrix-6R is full of really >bad patches, and the programming interface is dreadful. (and also >because my initial attempts to make it believe in 240 volts have >failed. The power supply is a mass of wires with the same sort of >complexity as Spock's brain.) I'll feel better when my patch editing >software is off the ground and I can make proper use of this machine. >(for that, of course, I need the System Exclusive specs, which >Oberheim never provide in the manuals. Acht...pting!). That's their chief failing, actually: the Matrix sysex stuff is hard to get, and the Xpander bitmap is essentially impossible to obtain. I'm the goddamn president of the XUG, and I've never seen one (you listening, Phil? |-> )! An' as fer the pahr prollums, bwah, well, it ain't MAH fault that yew Limeys don't use good ol' AMURRICAN 'lectrissity! >My current >leaning is towards Roland analog, partly due to the Super JX >rackmounts going cheap at the moment. They're damned good instruments; I work with a guy who plays a JX8P that's marvelous. But, a-HEM!, they are *not* on Oberheim's level. |-> >...pardon me, didn't I say that the music was the important thing? >Ooh-er... Nah. >>(Tell them about me, FM, and K*te B*sh, Nick! |-> ) >I don't think the wider world is ready for project S*ntheS*x yet... Maybe not, but I still have the digest available for anyone who'd like to read it. Email me at the address below and ask for the collected rec.music.synth postings on Project SyntheSex (TM), the first organized attempt to determine the nature of synthetic sounds that can induce sexual excitement and/or orgasm on command. (It was a *great* chat, folx.) And lastly: >From what he's told me, Metlay's studio probably looks like the >back-end of the Millenium Falcon. Well, it looks like the back end of SOMETHING, but I'm not sure what |-> . Actually, it's not that bad. Well... yes, it is, to be honest. I'll give y'all the gory details another time. Suffice it to say that my interests lie in all the areas that MIDI *doesn't* do well, argh. toddling off, metlay (the "m.m." stands for | Project SyntheSex: Where the listener always "my moniker's") | comes first. metlay@pittvms.BITNET | Or, to quote K*te, "They told us what they metlay@vms.cis.pitt.EDU | wanted was a sound that could...er...." |-> ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 19 Jul 89 18:38:00 EST From: METLAY@PITTVMS Subject: The Polymoog? Sorry Kurt, you may be right about the Emu keyboard, but I'm pretty sure Tom Oberheim was the idea man behind it. As for the Polymoog, well, I know a lot less about that particular monstrosity. It was fully polyphonic, with a circuit board for each of its seventy-odd keys, making it the only synth in history that could have clunker notes JUST LIKE A REAL LIVE PIANO! |-> It was available in two versions, one with ten presets and one user memory, one with fourteen partially tweakable presets. It had a two- pedal, two-footswitch controller standard (the Polypedal), wieghed a ton, and heated up like a frying pan in use. It had a ribbon controller for pitch bend mounted horizontally (right=sharp) above middle C. Among the people who used it were and are Patrick Moraz, Geoff Downes (but then again, what DOESN'T he use?) and Rick Wakeman. Gary Numan's "sound" before 1985, when he discovered the PPG, was largely Polymoog, and each of his keyboardists on stage had four of them. Anthony Phillips still uses one as a solo instrument (see "Earth Man" from his Private Parts & Pieces IV album, and "Erotic Strings" from Harvest of the Heart, and others as well, I'd imagine). They can be had for about a thousand bucks or less used, and are notoriously difficult to keep running. They also, I might add, sound like absolute f*cking GOD! Anyone care to add anything on that? My current list of "wistful someday classic or would-be classic" instruments: The Oberheim n-voice (n=4 or more) The Polymoog (assuming I can keep it running) The Mellotron (strings, choir and flute tapes, of course) The Yamaha CS80 (the last REAL synth Yamahaha ever made, IM(NS)HO) The ARP Quadra (thick? You could spread it on whole wheat bread and EAT it!) The Prophet T8 (Analog sound and a REAL keyboard, yowza!) The Prophet VS Rack (the keyboard version had problems, but that SOUND...) The Roland TR808 (once it stops being everyone's fave beatbox, baby) The Korg Trident (The Japanese Quadra. Nice beast!) The Voyetra One (that's an in-joke, folx. They never finished it) Have I missed any? yeesh ba, metlay ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 20 Jul 89 14:06:24 BST From: Nick Rothwell Subject: The Polymoog? 19 Jul 89 18:38:00 EST <1974.8907192319@lfcs.ed.ac.uk >My current list of "wistful someday classic or would-be classic" instruments: >... >Have I missed any? You haven't mentioned any of the Roland analog stuff...? When I was learning about music a mere 3 years ago, I was using a borrowed Juno-106 which had a trivial voice architecture (around 15 sliders and 1/2 doz buttons), but an incredible versatility of sound. Now, I have an MKS-7 with the same voice architecture (roughly) and tritimbral operation but a less sophisticated chorus, which is a bit of a shame; I don't think the sound quality is *quite* on a par with the '106, but it's close. I'm currently battling my conscience about an MKS-70, which (I believe) is the Super-JX rackmount. I often use my D-50 for non-PCM strings and choirs, and I believe that the Super-JX has the a similar voice architecture, but analog. I'd like to hear my D-50 choir patch on *that*. Mike, didn't you say that the Super-JX doesn't compare that well with the old JX-8P? ...sigh, 400 quid, can I do it?... Nick. -- Nick Rothwell, Laboratory for Foundations of Computer Science, Edinburgh. nick@lfcs.ed.ac.uk !mcvax!ukc!lfcs!nick ^^ ^^ ^^ ^^ ^^ ^^ ^^ ^^ ^^ ^^ ^^ ^^ ^^ ^^ ^^ ^^ ^^ ^^ ^^ ^^ ^^ ^^ ^^ ^^ ^^ Fais que ton reve soit plus long que la nuit. ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 20 Jul 89 08:59:05 EDT From: Eric Harnden Subject: cv/midi on the subject, electronic musician has run a series for the past three months on using a programmable chip to do homebrew midi interfacing. the last two projects were an 8 out midi->trigger converter (great for those old drum machines) and a 4 voice midi->cv converter (great for you know what). Eric Harnden (Ronin) The American University Physics Dept. (202) 885-2758 ------------------------------ Subject: Re: various and sundry >it does admirably. I even experimented a little with non-rational operator >settings, and saw a great deal of potential for some nice noises there, but >it's too much of a pain to work with for me. I prefer samplers and user >wavetables for the same reason I like musique concrete: the real world is more >interesting than six sine waves. All my opinions, of course..... > you should get yourself a computer based editor for a dx. the ability to gesturally control envelope shapes is helpful for knob-oriented people like you and me. and of course, those six sine waves aren't just. fm synthesis is capable of timbral dynamic evolutions of great complexity. > >They're damned good instruments; I work with a guy who plays a JX8P that's >marvelous. But, a-HEM!, they are *not* on Oberheim's level. |-> > i'll grant you that they're not as patch-flexible. but they do have a good, solid, rich tone that i love, and a well-structured signal/control layout that's easy to edit. Eric Harnden (Ronin) The American University Physics Dept. (202) 885-2758 ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 20 Jul 89 10:10:18 EDT From: Dan Bornstein Subject: Re: various and sundry >From: METLAY@PITTVMS > >>My current >>leaning is towards Roland analog, partly due to the Super JX >>rackmounts going cheap at the moment. > >They're damned good instruments; I work with a guy who plays a JX8P that's >marvelous. But, a-HEM!, they are *not* on Oberheim's level. |-> About a week ago I posted a question about the "fate" of Roland's analog synths. I wanted to find a rackmount module that's patch-compatible (or nearly so) with a Roland JX3P (the predecessor of the JX*P) which I would like to replace with a better keyboard, but *I want to keep my patches* 'cuz I'm attached to the sounds! Anyway are theses Super JX's what I'm looking for? How much are they? Thankx, -dan Bitnet: danfuzz@brownvm Internet: danfuzz@brownvm.brown.edu AppleTalk: Find me a long enough cable and I'll see what we can do. ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 20 Jul 89 13:48:14 BST From: Nick Rothwell Subject: various and sundry 19 Jul 89 12:50:00 EST <1551.8907191956@lfcs.ed.ac.uk >That's their chief failing, actually: the Matrix sysex stuff is hard to get, >and the Xpander bitmap is essentially impossible to obtain. I'm the goddamn >president of the XUG, and I've never seen one (you listening, Phil? |-> )! Hmm. Perhaps we'd better just bite the bullet, Mike. Anybody interested in sharing costs on a copy of the System Exclusive Book? It costs around 20 quid here. It covers the Xpander, M-12 and M-6, from what I remember. I'd like an up-to-date version which covers the Cyclone (my newest undocumented beast). Initial attempts to decipher this have failed, since Performer won't swallow the entire memory SysEx dump for some reason. If we share the book trans-Atlantic, then one of us gets to keep it, but has to type in stuff for the other...! Just a thought. >Or, to quote K*te, "They told us what they >wanted was a sound that could...er...." |-> aah, nostalgia. Back to the K*te-bashing.... Nick. "diddly-die, diddly-die, diddly-die, diddly-die, dah" ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 20 Jul 89 10:24:32 EDT From: Dan Bornstein Subject: Re: various and sundry >From: METLAY@PITTVMS > >Seriously, though, I have allowed an FM synth in my studio once or twice for >some band work; its owner used it for Rhodes sounds and bells, both of which >it does admirably. I even experimented a little with non-rational operator >settings, and saw a great deal of potential for some nice noises there, but >it's too much of a pain to work with for me. I prefer samplers and user >wavetables for the same reason I like musique concrete: the real world is more >interesting than six sine waves. All my opinions, of course..... However, from the viewpoint of one with a limited budget (a viewpoint with which I am intimately familiar), FM synthesizers, especially the not-just-sinewave ones, which offer a greater variety of sound than the sine-only ones, make good sense: you get a decent variety of sounds (yes, I know that a lot of them have that distinctive "I came from a Yamaha FM synth" sound), adequate programmability (my fingers *fly* over the TX81Z front panel!), and a reasonable price. Yeah, if I could afford it I'd get a sampler, but I can't, so I live with an analog synth+keyboard and a Yamaha TX81Z. They complement each other well (IMHO). -dan Bitnet: danfuzz@brownvm Internet: danfuzz@brownvm.brown.edu AppleTalk: Find me a long enough cable and I'll see what we can do. ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 20 Jul 89 17:08:43 EDT From: Jeffrey R Kell Subject: Re: various and sundry On Wed, 19 Jul 89 12:50:00 EST said: >>>(Tell them about me, FM, and K*te B*sh, Nick! |-> ) >>I don't think the wider world is ready for project S*ntheS*x yet... >Maybe not, but I still have the digest available for anyone who'd like to read >it. Email me at the address below and ask for the collected rec.music.synth >postings on Project SyntheSex (TM), the first organized attempt to determine >the nature of synthetic sounds that can induce sexual excitement and/or orgasm >on command. (It was a *great* chat, folx.) Have 'er sit naked on a bass reflex cabinet and feed it a couple hundred watts of a modulated 20-40Hz sine wave oughtta be just dandy :-) ****************************** * The George Washington Cherry Tree Theory of Truth and Consequence: * You can get away with anything as long as you tell someone about it. ****************************** ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 21 Jul 89 10:07:03 BST From: Nick Rothwell Subject: various and sundry 20 Jul 89 10:10:18 EDT <6569.8907201958@lfcs.ed.ac.uk I don't know about patch compatibility between JX10's and earlier instruments. I don't see why conversion is all that difficult. The MKS-70 is (still, if I'm lucky) going for #430 here. I've seen claims that they go in the States for $600-700. Nick. ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 20 Jul 89 11:19:00 EST From: METLAY@PITTVMS Subject: six voices on a board, yup yup yup >From: Nick Rothwell > I found the innards of the beast rather fascinating: the voice PCB >is marked into identical areas of surface-mounted components labelled >"voice 1", "voice 2", etc. (of course: it's analog, so it has physical >voices, silly me...) That's why it's got 6 voices, I guess; a 7-voice >one would be too wide to fit into a 19" rack. I don't get it. My Xpander only has six voices, and it made these funny crunching noises when I tried to rack mount it.... Oh, now I understand! The Xpander has six voices, like the Matrix6R, but it won't fit into a rack because each individual voice is BIGGER! Yeah, that's it.... |-> munchy crunchy chocolaty, metlay (the "m.m." stands for | Analog synthesis survives and thrives in "my moniker's") | a digital world because there are those who metlay@pittvms.BITNET | believe in fighting for what they love, even metlay@vms.cis.pitt.EDU | at the risk of appearing (gasp!) antiquated. ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 20 Jul 89 12:20:00 EST From: METLAY@PITTVMS Subject: "Who is this Metlay guy and why does he talk so much?" Answers to the four letters I got in the space of three minutes while trying to get a piece of code to work with my boss looking over my shoulder.... "Another piece of mail? You're a popular guy, Metlay. When do you find time to work?" ***** >From: Nick Rothwell >>My current list of "wistful someday classic or would-be classic" instruments: >>... >>Have I missed any? >You haven't mentioned any of the Roland analog stuff...? You're right, I haven't. I find the JX3P and JX8P to be not quite classic instruments, but they both have their own places in my scabby little heart. (See below for my feelings on the JX3P) The JX8P is all over the last few Tangerine Dream albums before Optical Boredom, as it was Edgar Froese's fave masterboard. (Horizontal pitch bender and mod push thingy. ICK!) The "Waveaura" preset is beaten to death in at least seven songs. But it's a classic sound, I must admit: a friend bought one to replace his dying Siel DK600, based on one audition of that patch four years earlier. He referred to it as "the God patch.") I'm ashamed to admit it, but I've never played a Jupiter-8. {sniffle} > I'm currently battling my conscience about an MKS-70, Give in. What's one more box in the studio? |-> >Mike, didn't you say that the Super-JX doesn't compare that >well with the old JX-8P? Okay, some technical clarification here. The JX8P was eventually superseded by the JX-10, which had a longer, heavier keyboard and the capability of splitting and layering (it may also have had 12 voices, too). The MKS-70 is a rack version of the JX-10, not of the JX8P. The reason why I've always felt the JX-10 to be lacking with respect to the JX8P has been a gut-level thing, impossible to verify on paper (the JX8P and JX-10 supposedly having virtually identical architecture); I've never been able to recreate certain JX8P presets on the 10 successfully, most notably the God patch. It seems that the added velocity sensitivity and scaling of the 10 actually harms its ability to imitate the 8P in some areas. PLEASE NOTE, however, that this experience is based on a limited exposure to the 10, and is NOT gospel. If someone out there with a JX-10 or MKS-70 can recreate the JX8P "Waveaura" preset perfectly, I'd love to know about it; it's a great sound, and a MKS-70 would keep Thing One and Thing Two (my Xpanders) from getting lonely. Maybe someday, along with all the other gear on my wish list. (Not bloody likely, mate, sez Mrs. Metlay, one eye on the honeymoon cruise brochure....) In the meantime, I use and like my friend's JX8P. I enjoy playing the God patch and watching him close his eyes, cross his hands on his chest, and say, "Let me die now. Take me away." And on SysEx for Obie instruments.... >>That's their chief failing, actually: the Matrix sysex stuff is hard to get, >>and the Xpander bitmap is essentially impossible to obtain. I'm the goddamn >>president of the XUG, and I've never seen one (you listening, Phil? |-> )! >Hmm. Perhaps we'd better just bite the bullet, Mike. Anybody >interested in sharing costs on a copy of the System Exclusive Book? It >costs around 20 quid here. It covers the Xpander, M-12 and M-6, from >what I remember. I'd like an up-to-date version which covers the >Cyclone (my newest undocumented beast). Initial attempts to decipher >this have failed, since Performer won't swallow the entire memory >SysEx dump for some reason. > If we share the book trans-Atlantic, then one of us gets to keep >it, but has to type in stuff for the other...! > > Just a thought. No good, Nick. From what I understand, the book to which you refer is woefully incomplete. But never fear, I have a real Xpander bitmap on the way! Film at 11. But thanx for thinking of me. I've been so lonely since you sent me that lovely postcard of the Berlin Wall.... NOTE: Xpander Users interested in joining the XUG should Email me for info, or better yet, send a SASE (or four International Reply Coupons for foreigners) to: Metlay c/o MysTech Productions P.O.Box 81175 Pittsburgh, PA 15217-0675 USA And I'll send out a membership application. The membership, contact list, and newsletter are all free for the donation of a few stamps to cover mailing costs. And lastly.... >>Or, to quote K*te, "They told us what they >>wanted was a sound that could...er...." |-> >aah, nostalgia. Back to the K*te-bashing.... >"diddly-die, diddly-die, diddly-die, diddly-die, dah" "Hoodly-yo, hoodly-yo, hoodly-yo, hoodly-yo" yerself, mate. |-> (I like K*te's music. The remix of her track "The Big Sky" [sample lyrics on the previous two lines] is a lot of fun. But her rabid fans make me ill, so I take perverse pleasure in baiting them. I'll stop now. I promise. Heh.) ***** >From: Dan Bornstein >>Seriously, though, I have allowed an FM synth in my studio once or twice for >>some band work; its owner used it for Rhodes sounds and bells, both of which >>it does admirably. I even experimented a little with non-rational operator >>settings, and saw a great deal of potential for some nice noises there, but >>it's too much of a pain to work with for me. I prefer samplers and user >>wavetables for the same reason I like musique concrete: the real world is more >>interesting than six sine waves. All my opinions, of course..... >However, from the viewpoint of one with a limited budget (a viewpoint >with which I am intimately familiar), FM synthesizers, especially the >not-just-sinewave ones, which offer a greater variety of sound than the >sine-only ones, make good sense: you get a decent variety of sounds (yes, >I know that a lot of them have that distinctive "I came from a Yamaha FM >synth" sound), adequate programmability (my fingers *fly* over the TX81Z >front panel!), and a reasonable price. Granted on all counts. It's just not my cup of java, that's all. I find the easy recognizability of FM sounds off-putting, and prefer samplers simply because you can recognize them as a genre, but very few (usually the cruddy ones) are recognizable specifically, except via their famous patches, like the Mirage's crunchy strings or the (all together now...) *EMULATOR SHAKUHACHI!* >Yeah, if I could afford it I'd get a sampler, but I can't, so I live with >an analog synth+keyboard and a Yamaha TX81Z. They complement each other >well (IMHO). Yeah, they do. So enjoy them and do creative stuff with them, and don't let dinosaur-breeders like me stop you. |-> As to your other question: >About a week ago I posted a question about the "fate" of Roland's analog >synths. I wanted to find a rackmount module that's patch-compatible (or >nearly so) with a Roland JX3P (the predecessor of the JX*P) which I >would like to replace with a better keyboard, but *I want to keep my >patches* 'cuz I'm attached to the sounds! Anyway are theses Super JX's >what I'm looking for? How much are they? No, they're not! What you want is the MKS-30 rackmount module, also known as the Planet-S. It is completely compatible with the JX3P (Which, by the way, vies with the JX8P for the title of my favorite Roland synth. LOVE that PRESET B9 "Filter Flow"!), except that it also accepts velocity data via MIDI for use in certain places. A JX3P with the velocity-receive chip installed should be completely compatible with it. The MKS-70 is a very different beast, and much costlier than the Planet-S, which can be had for less than $300. Call Rogue Music or your personal favorite used-gear store for an estimate. ***** You're welcome! fruity marshmallow crispies, metlay (the "m.m." stands for | Analog synthesis survives and thrives in "my moniker's") | a digital world because there are those who metlay@pittvms.BITNET | believe in fighting for what they love, even metlay@vms.cis.pitt.EDU | at the risk of appearing (gasp!) antiquated. ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 20 Jul 89 14:06:52 EDT From: Dan Bornstein Subject: Re: 'Who is this Metlay guy and why does he talk s >From: METLAY@PITTVMS > >>... Anyway are theses Super JX's >>what I'm looking for? How much are they? > >No, they're not! What you want is the MKS-30 rackmount module, also known >as the Planet-S. It is completely compatible with the JX3P ... Excellent! Ok, now that I know the sucker exists, I have a couple more questions (if you don't mind): Can I plug in my JX3P programmer (34 buttons, switches and dials etc.)? And does it do system exclusive (i.e. will I be able to download patches to a computer?)? > ... (Which, by the >way, vies with the JX8P for the title of my favorite Roland synth. LOVE >that PRESET B9 "Filter Flow"!) Yeah, the JX3P has "Filter Flow" (in fact it is B9 there as well I believe). It and "Planet" are my favorite presets. (Planet will make a cameo appearance in the EMUSIC tape if I can finally get my 4-track stuff onto a standard cassette...) >... Call Rogue Music or your personal favorite used-gear store >for an estimate. I've never heard of R.M.; do you have an address/phone number for them? Thankx again! -dan Bitnet: danfuzz@brownvm Internet: danfuzz@brownvm.brown.edu AppleTalk: Find me a long enough cable and I'll see what we can do. ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 20 Jul 89 17:57:34 EDT From: "Kurt A. Geisel" Subject: Re: 'Who is this Metlay guy and why does he talk s Everyone - Rogue Music 251 West 30th Street Suite 10 fe New York, New York 10001 212-629-3708 Recommended. - Kurt ------------------------------ Subject: Drum machines? Hi! First of all, thanks everybody for keyboard evaluations. Please keep up the good (and bad!) comments and advises. I would like to initiate a similar discussion on drum machines/samplers. Namely, what would be the best current buys? What I have in mind, are the following features: (i) Sampled sounds (as many as possible) (ii) Sampling for about 1-3 seconds for several sounds (iii) Separate outputs from each source/channel (not absolutely necessary) (iv) "Swing" feature in the time correction (v) Song (memory) loading either to cards or tapes (vi) Ease of playing in a live situation !!! Thanks for comments in advance, -Tapio ____________________________________________ | "I use no stupid | | phrases at the end of my postings. " | |____________________________________________| ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 21 Jul 89 12:08:00 MET From: ROBBEL%NKIVXH.SURFNET@HASARA5 Subject: Re: Drum machines? Now, when you wanna get a good drum-computer I just have to recommend the Roland R8. I used it with my band to make a couple of demo-recordings and it's -* wicked *- !! > (i) Sampled sounds (as many as possible) The R8 has (if I remember this correctly, it's been a while) 5 banks of 16 different, detunable, editable (limited) drum samples, 16 bit. You can't make any samples yourself. There is a cartridge input for more samples (you know the ones, those really expensive Roland Ram/Rom-cards) and I understand that there is already a nice collection of drum-sounds. > (ii) Sampling for about 1-3 seconds for several sounds There is one sample in there that seems to take much more than that, though it could be looped of course ... but I don't think you'll have any problems here. > (iii) Separate outputs from each source/channel (not absolutely necessary) The R8 has 6 outputs. Each sound can be redirected to a channel. > (iv) "Swing" feature in the time correction They (Roland) advertise it as the Human Feel Rhytm Processor, and they're right; it's got the best human feel I've ever heard... > (v) Song (memory) loading either to cards or tapes It's got internal memory for 99 paterns and 9 songs. You can also save your songs to card. > (vi) Ease of playing in a live situation !!! No problem; the R8 is quite user friendly. It's got a nicely readable LCD display. Once you get used to it, you'll FLY... > Thanks for comments in advance, > > -Tapio ?!? Don't you wanna know about the key-pads??? I'll tell you: 16 velocity sensitive pads with aftertouch!!! You can see what you program on the LCD, it can play a melody with a sampled sound > ____________________________________________ > | "I use no stupid | > | phrases at the end of my postings. " | > |____________________________________________| I do: ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 'He whom whispers their fate into the ears of lobsters is bound to get nipped' S H Rood ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Robert Belleman, Robbel%nkivxh.surfnet@hasara5.bitnet ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 21 Jul 89 12:40:00 U From: X100FLC0@TWNITRI1 Subject: Ask some question about computer music I am glad to receive some message about music from you. I'm sorry that I had not responded for you immediately , because I must share computer with my co-worker and last time I have another important job to run. May I ask some question, they are very meaningful for us . 1. Do you know " MIDI file format " ? Are there any news about it ? 2. I used "CMS401" MIDI card & "CAKEWALK" software package. Do you have any experience about them to tell me ? I am a computer music beginner, I hope your help. 3. In America, Do you know any " printed music notation ( score ) reader system " ( that is a Image pattern recognition study ) research ? In Taiwan, this field is a new space . We have an interest in " Score reader system " , but we lacks information. I look foreward to hearing from you. With my best regards. Sincerely Jine-Wen Liu X100FLC0@TWNITRI1 ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 21 Jul 89 09:08:52 edt From: Michael Bergman Subject: Re: Ask some question about computer music Jine-Wen Liu writes: 3. In America, Do you know any " printed music notation ( score ) reader system " ( that is a Image pattern recognition study ) research ? In Taiwan, this field is a new space . We have an interest in " Score reader system " , but we lacks information. There is a japanese robot that reads and plays piano scores...I think its name is "Score Follower" or something equally imaginative. There is a videotape of it in performance in the travelling "Robots and Artificial Intelligence" Exhibit that started at the Museum of Science in Boston about 3 years ago. I do not know if the exhibit is still travelling or has been shut down. There is some brief footage of it in the permanent exhibit "Smart Machines" at the Boston Computer Museum. I am not aware of any similar work in the US, though that doen't mean much, and I'd love to hear about it if someone out there knows of some. There is some related work going on at MIT's Media Laboratory--programming a computer to learn to play a piece, in performance with other musicians. The score is, I believe, typed in, as the important part of the research is getting the machine to learn the other performer(s)'s playing style and respond to it. It's pretty impressive. I think that some of the commercial OCR software currently available for the Macintosh can be taught to read music, and have been thinking about getting one and trying it, but am a bit swamped in projects right now. --mike bergman (w) 75 North Drive, Westborough, MA 01581, USA +1 (508) 870-0312 UUCP: harvard!m2c!bergman INTERNET: bergman@m2c.org ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 21 Jul 89 09:08:52 edt From: Michael Bergman Subject: Re: Ask some question about computer music Jine-Wen Liu writes: 3. In America, Do you know any " printed music notation ( score ) reader system " ( that is a Image pattern recognition study ) research ? In Taiwan, this field is a new space . We have an interest in " Score reader system " , but we lacks information. There is a japanese robot that reads and plays piano scores...I think its name is "Score Follower" or something equally imaginative. There is a videotape of it in performance in the travelling "Robots and Artificial Intelligence" Exhibit that started at the Museum of Science in Boston about 3 years ago. I do not know if the exhibit is still travelling or has been shut down. There is some brief footage of it in the permanent exhibit "Smart Machines" at the Boston Computer Museum. I am not aware of any similar work in the US, though that doen't mean much, and I'd love to hear about it if someone out there knows of some. There is some related work going on at MIT's Media Laboratory--programming a computer to learn to play a piece, in performance with other musicians. The score is, I believe, typed in, as the important part of the research is getting the machine to learn the other performer(s)'s playing style and respond to it. It's pretty impressive. I think that some of the commercial OCR software currently available for the Macintosh can be taught to read music, and have been thinking about getting one and trying it, but am a bit swamped in projects right now. --mike bergman (w) 75 North Drive, Westborough, MA 01581, USA +1 (508) 870-0312 UUCP: harvard!m2c!bergman INTERNET: bergman@m2c.org ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 21 Jul 89 16:43:56 BST From: Nick Rothwell Subject: Ask some question about computer music 21 Jul 89 12:40:00 U <138.8907211532@lfcs.ed.ac.uk >1. Do you know " MIDI file format " ? Yes, I have the documentation on-line. Hang on a moment.... ...rummage rummage... --------------------- Path: incas!unido!mcvax!uunet!husc6!bloom-beacon!tut.cis.ohio-state.edu!accelerator.e ng.ohio-state.edu!czei >From: czei@accelerator.eng.ohio-state.edu (Michael S. Czeiszperger) >Newsgroups: rec.music.synth >Subject: Standard MIDI Files now available from the IMA >Date: 12 Jul 88 20:36:26 GMT Organization: The Ohio State University Dept of Electrical Engineering Lines: 643 Posted: Tue Jul 12 21:36:26 1988 I just talked to Dave Oppenheim of Opcode Systems, and the Standard MIDI File spec has been approved by the Midi Manufacturers Association. To get your copy of the 1.0 spec, send a $2 check to: International Midi Association 5316 West 57th Street Los Angeles, CA 90056 (415) 321-MIDI Make your checks payable to the IMA. BYW, the 1.0 spec is technically identical to the .06 spec, but the description has been re-written. Since the spec has been offically approved, there shouldn't be any problem with posting this summary of the .06 spec: [This document is Dave Oppenheim's current version of the MIDI file specification, as sent to those who have participated in its development. The consensus seems to be to submit this to the MIDI Manufacturers' Association as version 1.0. I apologize for any loss of clarity that might have occurred in the conversion from a Microsoft Word document to this pure text file. I have removed some of the discussion about recent changes to the specification in order to keep the file size reasonable.--Doug Wyatt] Standard MIDI Files 0.06 March 1, 1988 0 Introduction This describes a proposed standard MIDI file format. MIDI files contain one or more MIDI streams, with time information for each event. Song, sequence, and track structures, tempo and time signature information, are all supported. Track names and other descriptive information may be stored with the MIDI data. This format supports multiple tracks and multiple sequences so that if the user of a program which supports multiple tracks intends to move a file to another one, this format can allow that to happen. This spec defines the 8-bit binary data stream used in the file. The data can be stored in a binary file, nibbleized, 7-bit-ized for efficient MIDI transmission, converted to Hex ASCII, or translated symbolically to a printable text file. This spec addresses what's in the 8-bit stream. 1 Sequences, Tracks, Chunks: File Block Structure Sequence files are made up of chunks. Each chunk has a 4-character type and a 32-bit length, which is the number of bytes in the chunk. On the Macintosh, data is passed either in the data fork of a file, or on the Clipboard. (The file type on the Macintosh for a file in this format will be "Midi".) On any other computer, the data is simply the contents of the file. This structure allows future chunk types to be designed which may easily be ignored if encountered by a program written before the chunk type is introduced. Your programs should expect alien chunks and treat them as if they weren't there. This proposal defines two types of chunks: a header chunk and a track chunk. A header chunk provides a minimal amount of information pertaining to the entire MIDI file. A track chunk contains a sequential stream of MIDI data which may contain information for up to 16 MIDI channels. The concepts of multiple tracks, multiple MIDI outputs, patterns, sequences, and songs may all be implemented using several track chunks. A MIDI file always starts with a header chunk, and is followed by one or more track chunks. MThd
MTrk MTrk ... Track Data Format (MTrk chunk type) The MTrk chunk type is where actual song data is stored. It is simply a stream of MIDI events (and non-MIDI events), preceded by delta-time values. Some numbers in MTrk chunks are represented in a form called a variable- length quantity. These numbers are represented 7 bits per byte, most significant bits first. All bytes except the last have bit 7 set, and the last byte has bit 7 clear. If the number is between 0 and 127, it is thus represented exactly as one byte. Here are some examples of numbers represented as variable-length quantities: Number (hex) Representation (hex) 00000000 00 00000040 40 0000007F 7F 00000080 81 00 00002000 C0 00 00003FFF FF 7F 00004000 81 80 00 00100000 C0 80 00 001FFFFF FF FF 7F 00200000 81 80 80 00 08000000 C0 80 80 00 0FFFFFFF FF FF FF 7F The largest number which is allowed is 0FFFFFFF so that the variable- length representation must fit in 32 bits in a routine to write variable-length numbers. Theoretically, larger numbers are possible, but 2 x 108 96ths of a beat at a fast tempo of 500 beats per minute is four days, long enough for any delta-time! Here is the syntax of an MTrk chunk: = + = is stored as a variable-length quantity. It represents the amount of time before the following event. If the first event in a track occurs at the very beginning of a track, or if two events occur simultaneously, a delta-time of zero is used. Delta-times are always present. (Not storing delta-times of 0 requires at least two bytes for any other value, and most delta-times aren't zero.) Delta-time is in some fraction of a beat (or a second, for recording a track with SMPTE times), as specified in the header chunk. = | | is any MIDI channel message. Running status is used: status bytes may be omitted after the first byte. The first event in a file must specify status. Delta-time is not considered an event itself: it is an integral part of the specification. Notice that running status occurs across delta-times. specifies non-MIDI information useful to this format or to sequencers, with this syntax: FF All meta-events begin with FF, then have an event type byte (which is always less than 128), and then have the length of the data stored as a variable-length quantity, and then the data itself. If there is no data, the length is 0. As with sysex events, running status is not allowed. As with chunks, future meta-events may be designed which may not be known to existing programs, so programs must properly ignore meta-events which they do not recognize, and indeed, should expect to see them. New for 0.06: programs must never ignore the length of a meta-event which they do recognize, and they shouldn't be surprised if it's bigger than they expected. If so, they must ignore everything past what they know about. However, they must not add anything of their own to the end of a meta-event. is used to specify a MIDI system exclusive message, or as an "escape" to specify any arbitrary bytes to be transmitted. Unfortunately, some synthesizer manufacturers specify that their system exclusive messages are to be transmitted as little packets. Each packet is only part of an entire syntactical system exclusive message, but the times they are transmitted at are important. Examples of this are the bytes sent in a CZ patch dump, or the FB-01's "system exclusive mode" in which microtonal data can be transmitted. To be able to handle situations like these, two forms of are provided: F0 F7 In both cases, is stored as a variable-length quantity. It is equal to the number of bytes following it, not including itself or the message type (F0 or F7), but all the bytes which follow, including any F7 at the end which is intended to be transmitted. The first form, with the F0 code, is used for syntactically complete system exclusive messages, or the first packet an a series Q that is, messages in which the F0 should be transmitted. The second form is used for the remainder of the packets within a syntactic sysex message, which do not begin with F0. Of course, the F7 is not considered part of the system exclusive message. Of course, just as in MIDI, running status is not allowed, in this case because the length is stored as a variable-length quantity which may or may not start with bit 7 set. (New to 0.06) A syntactic system exclusive message must always end with an F7, even if the real-life device didn't send one, so that you know when you've reached the end of an entire sysex message without looking ahead to the next event in the MIDI file. This principle is repeated and illustrated in the paragraphs below. The vast majority of system exclusive messages will just use the F0 format. For instance, the transmitted message F0 43 12 00 07 F7 would be stored in a MIDI file as F0 05 43 12 00 07 F7. As mentioned above, it is required to include the F7 at the end so that the reader of the MIDI file knows that it has read the entire message. For special situations when a single system exclusive message is split up, with parts of it being transmitted at different times, such as in a Casio CZ patch transfer, or the FB-01's "system exclusive mode", the F7 form of sysex event is used for each packet except the first. None of the packets would end with an F7 except the last one, which must end with an F7. There also must not be any transmittable MIDI events in- between the packets of a multi-packet system exclusive message. Here is an example: suppose the bytes F0 43 12 00 were to be sent, followed by a 200-tick delay, followed by the bytes 43 12 00 43 12 00, followed by a 100-tick delay, followed by the bytes 43 12 00 F7, this would be in the MIDI File: F0 03 43 12 00 81 48 200-tick delta-time F7 06 43 12 00 43 12 00 64 100-tick delta-time F7 04 43 12 00 F7 The F7 event may also be used as an "escape" to transmit any bytes whatsoever, including real-time bytes, song pointer, or MIDI Time Code, which are not permitted normally in this specification. No effort should be made to interpret the bytes used in this way. Since a system exclusive message is not being transmitted, it is not necessary or appropriate to end the F7 event with an F7 in this case. 2 Header Chunk The header chunk at the beginning of the file specifies some basic information about the data in the file. The data section contains three 16-bit words, stored high byte first (of course). Here's the syntax of the complete chunk: As described above, is the four ASCII characters 'MThd'; is a 32-bit representation of the number 6 (high byte first). The first word, format, specifies the overall organization of the file. Only three values of format are specified: 0 the file contains a single multi-channel track 1 the file contains one or more simultaneous tracks (or MIDI outputs) of a sequence 2 the file contains one or more sequentially independent single-track patterns The next word, ntrks, is the number of track chunks in the file. The third word, division, is the division of a quarter-note represented by the delta-times in the file. (If division is negative, it represents the division of a second represented by the delta-times in the file, so that the track can represent events occurring in actual time instead of metrical time. It is represented in the following way: the upper byte is one of the four values -24, -25, -29, or -30, corresponding to the four standard SMPTE and MIDI time code formats, and represents the number of frames per second. The second byte (stored positive) is the resolution within a frame: typical values may be 4 (MIDI time code resolution), 8, 10, 80 (bit resolution), or 100. This system allows exact specification of time-code-based tracks, but also allows millisecond-based tracks by specifying 25 frames/sec and a resolution of 40 units per frame.) Format 0, that is, one multi-channel track, is the most interchangeable representation of data. One application of MIDI files is a simple single-track player in a program which needs to make synthesizers make sounds, but which is primarily concerned with something else such as mixers or sound effect boxes. It is very desirable to be able to produce such a format, even if your program is track-based, in order to work with these simple programs. On the other hand, perhaps someone will write a format conversion from format 1 to format 0 which might be so easy to use in some setting that it would save you the trouble of putting it into your program. Programs which support several simultaneous tracks should be able to save and read data in format 1, a vertically one-dimensional form, that is, as a collection of tracks. Programs which support several independent patterns should be able to save and read data in format 2, a horizontally one-dimensional form. Providing these minimum capabilities will ensure maximum interchangeability. MIDI files can express tempo and time signature, and they have been chosen to do so for transferring tempo maps from one device to another. For a format 0 file, the tempo will be scattered through the track and the tempo map reader should ignore the intervening events; for a format 1 file, the tempo map must (starting in 0.04) be stored as the first track. It is polite to a tempo map reader to offer your user the ability to make a format 0 file with just the tempo, unless you can use format 1. All MIDI files should specify tempo and time signature. If they don't, the time signature is assumed to be 4/4, and the tempo 120 beats per minute. In format 0, these meta-events should occur at least at the beginning of the single multi-channel track. In format 1, these meta- events should be contained in the first track. In format 2, each of the temporally independent patterns should contain at least initial time signature and tempo information. We may decide to define other format IDs to support other structures. A program reading an unfamiliar format ID should return an error to the user rather than trying to read further. 3 Meta-Events A few meta-events are defined herein. It is not required for every program to support every meta-event. Meta-events initially defined include: FF 00 02 ssss Sequence Number This optional event, which must occur at the beginning of a track, before any nonzero delta-times, and before any transmittable MIDI events, specifies the number of a sequence. The number in this track corresponds to the sequence number in the new Cue message discussed at the summer 1987 MMA meeting. In a format 2 MIDI file, it is used to identify each "pattern" so that a "song" sequence using the Cue message to refer to the patterns. If the ID numbers are omitted, the sequences' locations in order in the file are used as defaults. In a format 0 or 1 MIDI file, which only contain one sequence, this number should be contained in the first (or only) track. If transfer of several multitrack sequences is required, this must be done as a group of format 1 files, each with a different sequence number. FF 01 len text Text Event Any amount of text describing anything. It is a good idea to put a text event right at the beginning of a track, with the name of the track, a description of its intended orchestration, and any other information which the user wants to put there. Text events may also occur at other times in a track, to be used as lyrics, or descriptions of cue points. The text in this event should be printable ASCII characters for maximum interchange. However, other character codes using the high-order bit may be used for interchange of files between different programs on the same computer which supports an extended character set. Programs on a computer which does not support non-ASCII characters should ignore those characters. (New for 0.06 ). Meta event types 01 through 0F are reserved for various types of text events, each of which meets the specification of text events(above) but is used for a different purpose: FF 02 len text Copyright Notice Contains a copyright notice as printable ASCII text. The notice should contain the characters (C), the year of the copyright, and the owner of the copyright. If several pieces of music are in the same MIDI file, all of the copyright notices should be placed together in this event so that it will be at the beginning of the file. This event should be the first event in the first track chunk, at time 0. FF 03 len text Sequence/Track Name If in a format 0 track, or the first track in a format 1 file, the name of the sequence. Otherwise, the name of the track. FF 04 len text Instrument Name A description of the type of instrumentation to be used in that track. May be used with the MIDI Prefix meta-event to specify which MIDI channel the description applies to, or the channel may be specified as text in the event itself. FF 05 len text Lyric A lyric to be sung. Generally, each syllable will be a separate lyric event which begins at the event's time. FF 06 len text Marker Normally in a format 0 track, or the first track in a format 1 file. The name of that point in the sequence, such as a rehearsal letter or section name ("First Verse", etc.). FF 07 len text Cue Point A description of something happening on a film or video screen or stage at that point in the musical score ("Car crashes into house", "curtain opens", "she slaps his face", etc.) FF 2F 00 End of Track This event is not optional. It is included so that an exact ending point may be specified for the track, so that it has an exact length, which is necessary for tracks which are looped or concatenated. FF 51 03 tttttt Set Tempo, in microseconds per MIDI quarter-note This event indicates a tempo change. Another way of putting "microseconds per quarter-note" is "24ths of a microsecond per MIDI clock". Representing tempos as time per beat instead of beat per time allows absolutely exact long-term synchronization with a time-based sync protocol such as SMPTE time code or MIDI time code. This amount of accuracy provided by this tempo resolution allows a four-minute piece at 120 beats per minute to be accurate within 500 usec at the end of the piece. Ideally, these events should only occur where MIDI clocks would be located Q this convention is intended to guarantee, or at least increase the likelihood, of compatibility with other synchronization devices so that a time signature/tempo map stored in this format may easily be transferred to another device. FF 54 05 hr mn se fr ff SMPTE Offset (New in 0.06 - SMPTE Format specification) This event, if present, designates the SMPTE time at which the track chunk is supposed to start. It should be present at the beginning of the track, that is, before any nonzero delta-times, and before any transmittable MIDI events. The hour must be encoded with the SMPTE format, just as it is in MIDI Time Code. In a format 1 file, the SMPTE Offset must be stored with the tempo map, and has no meaning in any of the other tracks. The ff field contains fractional frames, in 100ths of a frame, even in SMPTE-based tracks which specify a different frame subdivision for delta-times. FF 58 04 nn dd cc bb Time Signature The time signature is expressed as four numbers. nn and dd represent the numerator and denominator of the time signature as it would be notated. The denominator is a negative power of two: 2 represents a quarter-note, 3 represents an eighth-note, etc. The cc parameter expresses the number of MIDI clocks in a metronome click. The bb parameter expresses the number of notated 32nd-notes in a MIDI quarter- note (24 MIDI Clocks). This was added because there are already multiple programs which allow the user to specify that what MIDI thinks of as a quarter-note (24 clocks) is to be notated as, or related to in terms of, something else. Therefore, the complete event for 6/8 time, where the metronome clicks every three eighth-notes, but there are 24 clocks per quarter-note, 72 to the bar, would be (in hex): FF 58 04 06 03 24 08 That is, 6/8 time (8 is 2 to the 3rd power, so this is 06 03), 32 MIDI clocks per dotted-quarter (24 hex!), and eight notated 32nd-notes per MIDI quarter note. FF 59 02 sf mi Key Signature sf = -7: 7 flats sf = -1: 1 flat sf = 0: key of C sf = 1: 1 sharp sf = 7: 7 sharps mi = 0: major key mi = 1: minor key FF 7F len data Sequencer-Specific Meta-Event Special requirements for particular sequencers may use this event type: the first byte or bytes of data is a manufacturer ID. However, as this is an interchange format, growth of the spec proper is preferred to use of this event type. This type of event may be used by a sequencer which elects to use this as its only file format; sequencers with their established feature-specific formats should probably stick to the standard features when using this format. 4 Program Fragments and Example MIDI Files Here are some of the routines to read and write variable-length numbers in MIDI Files. These routines are in C, and use getc and putc, which read and write single 8-bit characters from/to the files infile and outfile. WriteVarLen (value) register long value; : register long buffer; buffer = value & 0x7f; while ((value >>= 7) > 0) : buffer <<= 8; buffer |= 0x80; buffer += (value & 0x7f); : while (TRUE) : putc(buffer,outfile); if (buffer & 0x80) buffer >>= 8; else break; : : doubleword ReadVarLen () : register doubleword value; register byte c; if ((value = getc(infile)) & 0x80) : value &= 0x7f; do : value = (value << 7) + ((c = getc(infile)) & 0x7f); : while (c & 0x80); : return (value); : As an example, MIDI Files for the following excerpt are shown below. First, a format 0 file is shown, with all information intermingled; then, a format 1 file is shown with all data separated into four tracks: one for tempo and time signature, and three for the notes. A resolution of 96 "ticks" per quarter note is used. A time signature of 4/4 and a tempo of 120, though implied, are explicitly stated. The contents of the MIDI stream represented by this example are broken down here: Delta Time(decimal) Event Code (hex) Other Bytes (decimal) Comment 0 FF 58 04 04 02 24 08 4 bytes: 4/4 time, 24 MIDI clocks/click, 8 32nd notes/24 MIDI clocks 0 FF 51 03 500000 3 bytes: 500,000 5sec per quarter-note 0 C0 5 Ch. 1, Program Change 5 0 C0 5 Ch. 1, Program Change 5 0 C1 46 Ch. 2, Program Change 46 0 C2 70 Ch. 3, Program Change 70 0 92 48 96 Ch. 3 Note On C2, forte 0 92 60 96 Ch. 3 Note On C3, forte 96 91 67 64 Ch. 2 Note On G3, mezzo-forte 96 90 76 32 Ch. 1 Note On E4, piano 192 82 48 64 Ch. 3 Note Off C2, standard 0 82 60 64 Ch. 3 Note Off C3, standard 0 81 67 64 Ch. 2 Note Off G3, standard 0 80 76 64 Ch. 1 Note Off E4, standard 0 FF 2F 00 Track End The entire format 0 MIDI file contents in hex follow. First, the header chunk: 4D 54 68 64 MThd 00 00 00 06 chunk length 00 00 format 0 00 01 one track 00 60 96 per quarter-note Then, the track chunk. Its header, followed by the events (notice that running status is used in places): 4D 54 72 6B MTrk 00 00 00 3B chunk length (59) Delta-time Event Comments 00 FF 58 04 04 02 18 08 time signature 00 FF 51 03 07 A1 20 tempo 00 C0 05 00 C1 2E 00 C2 46 00 92 30 60 00 3C 60 running status 60 91 43 40 60 90 4C 20 81 40 82 30 40 two-byte delta-time 00 3C 40 running status 00 81 43 40 00 80 4C 40 00 FF 2F 00 end of track A format 1 representation of the file is slightly different. Its header chunk: 4D 54 68 64 MThd 00 00 00 06 chunk length 00 01 format 1 00 04 four tracks 00 60 96 per quarter-note First, the track chunk for the time signature/tempo track. Its header, followed by the events: 4D 54 72 6B MTrk 00 00 00 14 chunk length (20) Delta-time Event Comments 00 FF 58 04 04 02 18 08 time signature 00 FF 51 03 07 A1 20 tempo 83 00 FF 2F 00 end of track Then, the track chunk for the first music track. The MIDI convention for note on/off running status is used in this example: 4D 54 72 6B MTrk 00 00 00 10 chunk length (16) Delta-time Event Comments 00 C0 05 81 40 90 4C 20 81 40 4C 00 Running status: note on, vel = 0 00 FF 2F 00 end of track Then, the track chunk for the second music track: 4D 54 72 6B MTrk 00 00 00 0F chunk length (15) Delta-time Event Comments 00 C1 2E 60 91 43 40 82 20 43 00 running status 00 FF 2F 00 end of track Then, the track chunk for the third music track: 4D 54 72 6B MTrk 00 00 00 15 chunk length (21) Delta-time Event Comments 00 C2 46 00 92 30 60 00 3C 60 running status 83 00 30 00 two-byte delta-time, running status 00 3C 00 running status 00 FF 2F 00 end of track 5 MIDI Transmission of MIDI Files Since it is inconvenient to exchange disks between different computers, and since many computers which will use this format will have a MIDI interface anyway, MIDI seems like a perfect way to send these files from one computer to another. And, while we're going through all the trouble to make a way of sending MIDI Files, it would be nice if they could send any files (like sampled sound files, text files, etc.) Goals The transmission protocol for MIDI files should be reasonably efficient, should support fast transmission for computers which are capable of it, and slower transmission for less powerful ones. It should not be impossible to convert a MIDI File to or from an arbitrary internal representation on the fly as it is transmitted, but, as long as it is not too difficult, it is very desirable to use a generic method so that any file type could be accommodated. To make the protocol efficient, the MIDI transmission of these files will take groups of seven 8-bit bytes and transmit them as eight 7-bit MIDI data bytes. This is certainly in the spirit of the rest of this format (keep it small, because it's not that hard to do). To accommodate a wide range of transmission speeds, files will be transmitted in packets with acknowledge -- this allows data to be stored to disk as it is received. If the sender does not receive a response from a reader in a certain amount of time, it can assume an open-loop situation, and then just continue. The last edition of MIDI Files contained a specialized protocol for sending just MIDI Files. To meet a deadline, unfortunately I don't have time right now to propose a new generalized protocol. This will be done within the next couple of months. I would welcome any proposals anyone else has, and would direct your attention to the proposal from Ralph Muha of Kurzweil, available in a recent MMA bulletin, and also directly from him. -- Michael S. Czeiszperger | "The only good composer is a dead composer" Systems Analyst | Snail: 2015 Neil Avenue (614) The Ohio State University | Columbus, OH 43210 292- ARPA:czei@accelerator.eng.ohio-state.edu PAN:CZEI 0161 ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 21 Jul 89 08:30:00 EST From: CTDONATH@SUNRISE Subject: Psychoacoustics I've been trying to find information on psychoacoustics (i.e. controlling a body via sound) with little success. Someone mentioned a digest called SyntheSex. Could that be posted? It obviously covers psychoacoustics and is probably wanted by many people on the list. ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 21 Jul 89 13:23:44 BST From: Nick Rothwell Subject: D50 -> D110 21 Jul 89 13:52:31 EET <9736.8907211212@lfcs.ed.ac.uk The Atari ST programs I know of which attempt D-50 -> D-110 conversion don't know about the PCM loops being different, so they get these wrong. It's certainly worth a try, although a fair amount is going to be lost, such as LFO modulation settings. This would probably kill my D-50 MiniMoog patch (coming to an EMUSIC-L compilation tape near you, soon...) for example. But, it's certainly worth the attempt. I don't mind whether the results are like the originals or not, as long as they are useful and tweakable. I can probably handle a verbatim D-110 SysEx dump. It'll be the usual 256-data-byte parcels, which I'll have to strip the header and trailer from. Nick. -- Nick Rothwell, Laboratory for Foundations of Computer Science, Edinburgh. nick@lfcs.ed.ac.uk !mcvax!ukc!lfcs!nick ^^ ^^ ^^ ^^ ^^ ^^ ^^ ^^ ^^ ^^ ^^ ^^ ^^ ^^ ^^ ^^ ^^ ^^ ^^ ^^ ^^ ^^ ^^ ^^ ^^ "What I hate about New Age is that there's no evil in it." - Harold Budd ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 21 Jul 89 16:08:49 CDT From: "David E. Rice" Subject: Digital piano recommendations? Hi, everyone -- Like everyone else on the list, I'm an avid MIDI fan. I've been following this list for several months, I read anything I can get my hands on, and I can't pass up a music store without going in. Unlike everyone else on the list, though, I don't own any equip- ment yet (the undergrad budget isn't compatible with MIDI, it seems!). I'll be changing that situation soon (right after graduation), and I'm looking for recommendations regarding that first MIDI purchase. I come from a jazz/New Age piano background, and I'd like to start off with a digital piano that would make a decent MIDI controller when I expand with sound modules later. I've played the Roland 5600S, which I really like, but at $6000 it's a bit much to start off with. Any ideas or recommendations? Thanks in advance, Dave ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 21 Jul 89 16:38:48 CDT From: "David M. Stowell" Subject: Re: Digital piano recommendations? Well, given that it's hard for a budding pianist to cart their own Steinway *and* Rhodes around, you're probably making a good choice of initial investment. (We synthesists have other problems...) I've been rather impressed with the Yamaha stuff myself. It's affordable and has a good collection of sounds. The acoustic sounds were once a little wimpy, but they've been improved recently. They're also rather portable---a surprise given the fact that the action is very piano-like. But I'm a synthesist. What do I know? :) |~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~| | David M. Stowell \|/ | | University of Illinois at Chicago \ / | | BITNET: U17227@UICVM.BITNET = = | | Internet: U17227@UICVM.UIC.EDU /|\ | | <=> | | \ = / | | The optimist laughed \ = / | | And the pessimist cried in his wine = | | And the madman said "Son, = | | Take a word--they'll all wake, given time" = | | | ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ End of EMUSIC-L Digest ***********************