EMUSIC-L Digest Volume 15, Number 4 Administrative Stuff Black box synth (without the box) D-70 First impressions (4 messages) greetings (3 messages) Klaus Schulze MacProteus (2 messages) Metlay leaving? (3 messages) Microphones MIDI Bass Interface? midi boards for IBM Multitrack MIDI cheap patches for the SQ/80 PZM microphones (6 messages) The D-70 *yawn* Tube Amplifier Wavestar (2 messages) wx7 prices WX7 woes (3 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, 23 Apr 90 11:55:38 EDT From: Joe McMahon Subject: Administrative Stuff Just a note to let everyone know that our primary machine will be going offline from the 25th of this month until May 3; it's being moved to a new building. I have moved myself to another machine for the duration, but we should have no trouble keeping the list going during the move, since it's centered at AUVM. Temporarily, however, my mailing address will be XRJDM@VPFVM.BITNET. There is unfortunately no Telnet access there, so my xrjdm@scfvm.gsfc.nasa.gov address will be out of commision until after the third. --- Joe M. | "That's by Stockhausen...the Internet: xrjdm@scfvm.gsfc.nasa.gov | early crowd tends to dig your BITNet: XRJDM@SCFVM | Radio Cologne sound." Phone: (301) 286-8090 | | --Pynchon, _The Crying of Lot 49_ ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 23 Apr 90 10:27:36 BST From: Nick Rothwell Subject: Black box synth (without the box) >The rumours of an Emu Proteus board for the Mac II are true. >Apparently Emu has a software interface for the >card on the Mac II, and you can play it either from the Mac screen/keyboard, or >via MIDI from a synth keyboard. This is, of course, what Apple's MIDI Manager is for, so you can use an add-on like this from any voice editor or sequencer. The last thing we want now is yet more proprietary little bits of software and all the ensuing incompatibilities. Nick. ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 23 Apr 90 20:00:22 BST From: "Patrick C.K.Tsang" Subject: D-70 First impressions Hello, Below is a LONG summary of my impressions with Roland D-70 keyboard (and a few afterthoughts). If you are not into following trendy new synths, or if you have tried out the beast already, by all means ignore me. I went to see the D-70 today with several hopes: 1.) It will sound stunningly good and clean. 2.) It will be at least as good as the M1 for samples, if not better. 3.) It will bring back the programmability of analogue synths. 4.) It will be a good synth to gig with --- easy to use and quick in patch changing, and portable enough. The D-70 has a long keyboard, about 76 keys methinks, too big really go into the boot of my Golf, but might just take up the back seat. The keys feel kind of A-50, has a medium touch but clicks like the DX-7II keys. It felt fine for synth sounds but I found it difficult to play piano pieces on them (that's personal). The patches are excellent. This is indeed the state-of- the-art sound source. I have found everything I needed from a keyboard except fat analog sweeps and strings. The pianos are beautiful (although the velocity-switched grand keeps shouting 'I am a two-layered sample'), the organs are crunchy, the strings smooth, warm, softly and almost scrubs your back too, the brass fat and loud, and the basses solid. I could not for a second critise the sound quality --- I was knocked out by the sheer cleanliness like when I first heard CD players coming to this world. The ethnic flute/pipe cuts like a razor blade and makes all Shakuhachi's of this world (including the real instrument) sound like blowing a f*rt. However the drums, by today's standards, are terrible, wimpy. They are the exact copy of the U-110 'Rock Drums' card I got that does not even measure up to the factory U-110 presets. One strange thing though --- the D-70 sounds nothing like the D-50/20/10 series. It is too U-20, too clean, too faultless. The front panel is the best programming interface I have come across in years. Four sliders and four switches for switching on and mixing any four sampled waveforms, and then for editing their individual TVA, TVF, ... the parameters are picked with buttons to the left of the sliders. There are even PORTAMENTO, and MONO switches of the old Jupitar. They even managed SYNC LEAD. I got on with the programming so well that I wanted to buy one straight away. There is a patch-change table feature where you organise any patches into a sequencial order, say 23, 45, 23, 67, 88, ... and yet stepping through Banks 1-8 and Patches 1-8 will give you the programmed order. Obviously this is live-performers orientated but I also see the benefit of organising your sounds in your favourite order. Still, the D-70 is old architecture : It is just taking sampled sounds of the U-20, putting through a digital filter/envelope section (with analog-style programming sliders) which simulate filters, resonance, TVA, LFO etc, and then put through a digital reverb and chorus. It is absolutely identical to the M1 concept except that it is going to win in two respects : i.) It is DEAD QUIET !!! No matter how hard I pushed the on-board FX, I failed to bring out significant noise from the speakers. ii.) It is SO easy to program : choose any 4 samples from the memory, vary the mix, adjust envelopes, filters, LFO, etc and you get that movie-soundtrack-orchestra within 20 seconds. Worst still you don't even seem to be able to run out of raw samples --- sampled pianos, Rhodes, Jupitar-strings, sampled choir, ethnic pipes, brass, organs ... anything that's hip, it's got it. This machine is a killer. Conclusion : It will not replace Metlay's Xpanders, or Nick's battery, not even close because whatever analog sound the D-70 tries to recreate, it is sampled, it is cold, it is digital. It is in every sense the equivalent of having 4 best 16-bit samplers loaded with the best of modern sounds and mixed into an amazing filter section. The analog synths will still blow it away in term of fatness, variation, the 'human' factor. However, our racks are not portable, and they cannot be all programmed on one single, integrated front panel, and cannot not give us mega-synth sounds in the heat of the moment. We have spent too many hours in our lives sorting out patches, MIDI configurations, which disks to load when, ... etc. Roland have caught our weakness ... we cannot afford to have four Akai S-1000 loaded in the racks, a MIDI patch-changer and a mixing desk all at our finger tips while still trying to play those delicious licks at the same time ... we cannot, as musicians, afford to spend time in that kind of thing any longer than we spend on writing music. The manufacturers are to take care of that, and Roland is such a manufacturer. That's why I feel like giving up and buy one. Quick, give me 10 reasons why not before I go and get one. Or flame me !!! Patrick. ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 25 Apr 90 10:48:53 BST From: Nick Rothwell Subject: D-70 First impressions Hmm, another point: > we cannot, > as musicians, afford to spend time in that kind of thing any > longer than we spend on writing music. The manufacturers are > to take care of that, and Roland is such a manufacturer. I wonder if thje manufacturers are really trying to make the process of music making easier; is this what sells keyboards? Or is it the sounds? The above is presumably the marketing approach they're taking for the D-70. "Less time making sounds/more time making music". Whilst the dividing line is fairly flexible, no machine is going to make the process of composing and arranging easy. My "battery", as you put it, is a pain sometimes, but I just about have control over everything from the Mac now, on "one screen", and can work out ideas fairly quickly. The VFX was intended to be largely a major step towards improving that situation some more. But, there's no panacea, music making is hard, despite the glossy promises. Have I been taken in by an Ensoniq glossy promise? Nick. ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 25 Apr 90 10:58:52 +0100 From: White Rabbit Subject: D-70 First impressions Is there not supposed to be some facility for using PARTS of the sample waveforms, looped and modulated, as sources for the oscillators on the D70? Did you get a chance to play with this feature at all, and would it help give you a more 'analogue' sound to play with? If it does work well, anyone know how close its getting to the sound of the synths in the vector synthesis resurrection? Or is it closer to PPG/Waldorf wavetabling? Is it as, or more, useful in genuine NON-imitative synthesis? ******************************************************************************* White Rabbit : found in these burrows * * JANET : sxa@uk.ac.dl.cxa * Internet : sxa%cxa.dl.ac.uk * ...and the dormouse said EARN/Bitnet: sxa%cxa.dl.ac.uk@UKACRL * UUCP : sxa%cxa.dl.ac.uk@ukc.uucp * feed your head. Ean : sxa%cxa.dl.ac.uk@ean-relay.ac.uk * ******************************************************************************** ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 25 Apr 90 10:42:13 BST From: Nick Rothwell Subject: D-70 First impressions > Quick, give me 10 reasons why not before I go and get one. Hmm. > Still, the D-70 is old architecture > anything that's hip, it's got it. Well, there's two. My main complaint about Roland stuff (I have four of their synths) is (i) they lock you into a fixed modulation architecture. I'm almost tearing my hair out sometimes trying to get what I want from the MKS-70 and its two semi-hardwired ADSR envelopes. (ii) they've never understood performance features. Roland Portamento, glide and chase are again simple hard-wired affairs and not much use in practice. However, I've still got a great deal of use out of my D-50, which isn't too bad modulation-wise. Were the D-70 to come in at the price of a VFX, I'd give it serious consideration as an alternative (despite not having the wavetables and modulation architecture), but I can't afford to pay any more. A side-by-side comparison of the relative versatility of the two might be illuminating. Nick. ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 23 Apr 90 19:06:00 EDT From: "SONGWRITER (A.K.A. TIM PHILLIPS)" Subject: greetings Has anyone heard about the package MUSIC PRINTER PLUS? I am going to test it out next week, and try some score printing with it. I don't know if it has much in the line of score editing or not, though. Also, what are the price(s) for Midi interfaces/cards for the IBM? Tim ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 23 Apr 90 16:26:00 EDT From: "SONGWRITER (A.K.A. TIM PHILLIPS)" Subject: greetings Hello everyone, This is my first posting to the list, and I wanted to give a brief introduction. My name is Tim Phillips, and I am a 24 year old Computer Management Major and Computer Science major (double major). I am also an avid songwriter. I own an Ensoniq sq/80, and have yet to purchase a computer system. I am currently looking seriously at IBM...but Amiga and the Mac are running a close 2nd and 3rd respectively. If anyone wants to make suggestion, or recommendations, please write me directly so I can get to know you a little better. The songs that I write are basicallly ballads. I have yet to publish, but if things work out right, I will hopefully be able to publish by the end of this summer. If anyone out there has any advice about that as well, I would be more than grateful to hear from you. Well, enough for now. I hope to begin getting in on your conversations, and taking a little more of an active role in the discussions, but please bear with me, as I am little more than a novice, when it comes to sequencing and sampling...but I am anxious to learn more. Tim Phillips WT123762@WVNVAXA ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 23 Apr 90 13:36:09 MST From: Shawn Gardell Subject: Re: greetings Although the Amiga ,apple etc. have lots of music applications the IBM supportabout 70% percent of the software out there and plenty of music programs. I currently use cakewalk for sequencing and its cheap to but it has lots of power. Also soon there will be a PC version of Finale which is one of the best Score editors around. So don't buy a toaster, Get an IBM. ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 24 Apr 90 10:41:00 EST From: MCINTYRE@MSUPA.BITNET Subject: Re: Klaus Schulze Thank you, Nick Rothwell, for your Klaus Schulze recommendations. Additional sources of Klaus Schulze music are Michael Shrieve's album "Transfer Station Blue" and Klaus's Richard Wahnfried project which has different musicians on each album (two that I am aware of). At least one of the Richard Wahnfried albums was recorded at 45 rpm, but I always play it at 33 rpm, a more fitting speed for Klaus. Real early Klaus is available on Tangerine Dream's first album "Electronic Meditation" (beware: this album is accurately summed up by the song title "Journey Through A Burning Brain") and Ash Ra Tempel's "Join Inn". John McIntyre Physics - Astronomy Dept Michigan State University ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 27 Apr 90 11:59:00 EST From: CHRIS@FANDM.BITNET Subject: Re: MacProteus You're absolutely right, Nick, in your feelings about proprietary crap from vendors who are more interested in squeezing a few more dollars from the marketplace than producing an all-around useful tool. However, I don't know for a fact if the MacProteus does or doesn't use Apple's MIDI manager. I was unable to see how the interface was done because DigiDesign was demoing their own product, not the MacProteus. I assumed there must be some way of playing the card from the Mac via the NuBus without a MIDI input signal, which would dictate some sort of interface software. Perhaps their interface (if one exists) does create midi data and sends it over the NuBus (the only way I can imagine they would control it), but I just don't know. If they've got a brain in their heads, they used the MIDI manager, 'cuz Apple has issued dire warnings to them that don't conform, saying that they'll be made obsolete by System 7.0 Forward, always forward... -chris ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 28 Apr 90 10:27:39 MEZ From: Christian Teuscher Subject: Re: MacProteus MacProteus uses the Apple MIDI Manager. --Christian ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 27 Apr 90 17:30:00 EDT From: METLAY@PITTVMS.BITNET Subject: Re: Metlay leaving? To all EMUSIC-L folx who might care (and from the letters I've gotten, there were quite a few): Yes, I'm leaving the list. I'm getting married in May, and EMUSIC-L won't exactly be high on my priority list of things to do. |-> It'll also be nice to get back into my studio and get some more work done on my album... if I have to, I'll pack part of my studio to bring down to Tennessee for the summer months I'll be here, but whatta hassle. I sure wish I had some kind of all-in-one keyboard with drums and effects and a sequencer--YAGH! WHAT AM I SAYING?! *cough sputter gack* Anyway, I'll be back in a month or two, in some capacity or another, and you can reach me at my usual Email addresses in the interim. Later, metlay | "There's more to life than synthesizers, | starships, and Suzle. What, I don't know." metlay@pittvms.BITNET | metlay@vms.cis.pitt.EDU | zrgynl ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 28 Apr 90 12:07:49 BST From: "Patrick C.K.Tsang" Subject: Metlay gettin' married !!! >Yes, I'm leaving the list. I'm getting married in May, and EMUSIC-L won't >exactly be high on my priority list of things to do. |-> Congradulations to Mr. and Mrs. Metlay-to-be ! Best of luck and wish you two live happy-ever-after ...... >It'll also be nice to get back into my studio and get some more work done on >my album... if I have to, I'll pack part of my studio to bring down to >Tennessee for the summer months I'll be here, but whatta hassle. Nevermind the hassle ... just find a big truck and move 'em. By the way, if you don't mind I'd love to come see your Xpanders, I will be touring America in July after seeing the NAMM show and before going off to Florida for my SynClavier training. Patrick. ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 26 Apr 90 08:34:24 EDT From: Patrick Robinson Subject: Metlay leaving? Metlay is leaving EMUSIC-L? Where are you going? Are you losing you net connection? Are you bored? Who's gonna continue to fuel my lust for owning an Xpander, someday...? -Patrick ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 25 Apr 90 20:16:56 EDT From: MICRO@MOREKYPR.BITNET Subject: Microphones Jeff, Sorry for all of the trash I just sent to the board but such is the life when you can't type very well. Well onto the question at hand. The mikes you asked about jeff, I have (and many of my friends) found that they seem to work very well as long as you don't sit them on the floor.(But of course you never would do that). A Friend just told me to suggest to you the DAK (mail order) we have used them to record many performances and they seem to do just as well as the radio shack mikes. The only draw back to the DAK mikes is that they are REALLY HOT! But if that's what your into that's great. See you on Allmusic! Brian ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 27 Apr 90 16:40:00 EDT From: METLAY@PITTVMS.BITNET Subject: MIDI Bass Interface? This isn't actually on PZMs (though I love them dearly), but an answer to the fellow who asked about bass synthesis. The bass guitar is a monster to try to convert to synth control voltages, because its frequency range is too low to track on a P-v converter without lags. Roland makes a bass synth called the GR-77B, and Zeta makes the Mirror 4, a fretwired (hence delayless) bass synth that costs a fortune. I know of no others, tho; it just goes to show how long it's been since I was a bassist.... metlay ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 24 Apr 90 15:42:27 PDT From: Computer Addict! Subject: RE: midi boards for IBM I got the Roland MPU-IPC-T for ~$150. It has 2 MIDI outs, 1 MIDI in, a metronome out (to be amplified), and tape in/out for FSK sync. It dosen't come with a manual but it is basically a MPU-401 + IBM interface so they say to get a MPU-401 technical reference (speaking of which, does anyone know if there is any MPU-401 documentation on any file servers?). Ralph Zazula |----------------------------------------------------------------------| | Ralph Zazula "Computer Addict!" | | Northern Illinois University --- Department of Physics | | NIUHEP::ZAZULA (HEPNet) | | ZAZULA%NIUHEP.DECNET@LBL.GOV (Internet/BitNet) | |----------------------------------------------------------------------| | Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory --- Experiment E-740 (D0) | | ZAZULA@FNAL (BitNet) | |----------------------------------------------------------------------| | "You can twist perceptions, reality won't budge." - Neil Peart | |----------------------------------------------------------------------| ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 22 Apr 90 17:27:51 PDT From: Computer Addict! Subject: RE: Multitrack MIDI cheap Does anyone know hom many channels it (the TASCAM 644) records onto tape? I've heard that it's only 4... Ralph ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 23 Apr 90 18:29:00 EDT From: "SONGWRITER (A.K.A. TIM PHILLIPS)" Subject: patches for the SQ/80 Greetings, I am writing to see if there are any users out here who in addition to myself have any patches for the Ensoniq SQ/80. I have approximately 10-12 banks of instruments, with 40 in each bank...but I would love some more! Also, any advice on where to look for information on creation of my own patches...customizing them for specific sounds? (ya see, I told you I was really a novice! *GRIN*) Thanks! Tim Phillips WT123762@WVNVAXA ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 27 Apr 90 08:56:06 BST From: laslo Subject: PZM Mikes I can't remember who it was who asked about PZM mikes but here goes... I've used them , they are available here for about the same price, and from my experience they are very good mikes.. only problem is , is that if you don't get them in the correct position against a surface or near a surface they tend to lack bottom end.. plenty of top... just not a lot of bottom... Yours, Laslo ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 27 Apr 90 09:45:31 BST From: "Benjamin M. J. Ellis :->" Subject: PZM Mikes/Electric Bass MIDI Interface? Hay... Is there any chance of posting this modification to the R.S> PZM mic's??? I think there is alot of un- necessary confusion springing up here: Basically, whether the PZM is a good mic or not depends what you want to use then for... they are IDEAL for what Phil describes, ie for recording a live gig/concert etc onto tape, they give a nice CLEAR sound and pick up to 'feel' of the place, and can give some very nice stereo recordings if put in the right place... BUT THEY ARE NO use (really) for miking things up to put them through a P.A., that's a REALLY bad move, they are BOUND to feedback badly, just by their nature... I hope that clears things up a bit, but doesn't start a nuclear war! Benjamin 'Bass' Ellis P.S. Does any one know of a circuit of a device that with convert the analogue out from a bass guitar to a CV and trigger out put (guess what I want to do???) or does anyone know anything about any MIDI basses that might be floating about... I'm doing some cruise work over the summer, and for the sort of shopping center music you have to play on a cruze, it would be ideal (have you ever tried playing music whilest being sea sick... quite a challenge, I'll tell you)! P.P.S. I'll post the details about those circuit books when I go back to my 1st home this weekend... ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 27 Apr 90 08:35:00 CST From: jeff beer Subject: PZM Micro placement So if I use them to record a rehearsal, are you saying I should hang them from the ceiling away from the wall, near the perimeter of where our band is playing, or can I just hang them on the walls, which in our rehearsel space is very close to where we play. ( We play in a room which is 10 feet wide at most ) Other than that, people are saying to watch out for the lack of bass, but you get a relatively clean sound otherwise? btw, I think there are some stereo PZM mics from Crown, but they are more expensive than the Radio Shacks. Thanks for this information, it is helping me out. Jeff ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 26 Apr 90 11:50:06 CDT From: Philip Galanter Subject: Re: PZM microphones I have had good luck using the Radio Shack PZM's in a rehearsal situation. They are not like typical mics, so you have to be open to a bit of experimentaation and placement that wouldn't normally work. What I did in a rock setting was to have the overall mix in the room at proper relative levels, and then taped 2 PZMs to the ceiling about 7 feet apart to capture a bit of the stereo field. In an accoustic setting again I again just tried to capture the room mix with them on the floor this time. Both worked great considering they are $50 mics. I would suggest using the higher voltage batteries, and then just barely cracking open your tape recorder mic input...very hot signal. Also some folks have reported great results modifying the RS PZM's with balanced cables...the mod was posted on CompuServe at one time I think...Phil || Philip Galanter, Manager \\ 627 Dartmouth Place // AppleLink: A42 \\ || Advanced Technology Group \\ Evanston IL 60208 // Compuserve: 76474,154 \\ || Northwestern Univ. - ACNS \\ (708)-491-4050 // galanter@acns.nwu.edu \\ ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 26 Apr 90 08:11:00 EST From: "William R(ay) Brohinsky" Subject: RE: PZM microphones My experience with the Radio Shack PZM's were mostly with live-performance. At that time, my band consisted of 2 acoustic guitars (sometimes 3), a violin, and electric bass. All four of us sang (tight 4-part harmony in a Christian Folk group was very rare in New England then.) My biggest problem was with my wife, the violinist. She's a bit of a hobbit, and tends to respond to microphones in exactly the opposite way that she should have: If she couldn't hear herself through the monitors, she'd back off the mike. No amount of discussion (nor ranting/raving) did any good. I did the mix from the stage while playing bass (and 6/12 string guitar), and didn't have a hand free to both adjust her gain as she wobbled and adjust her equalizer pots to kill feedback as the gain hit the limit, and she still wasn't balanced. The long and short of it is that we got her a PZM. The specs looked terrific. The mike stunk. It has to have a square yard of hard surface to sit on, or it doesn't work hardly at all. Even then, it has a response that varies as bodies are added to the air space around it. It loves noise in the air--- recordings made with it have all the blood-in-your-ears hissing that come with cheap mikes. As far as the violin, It wouldn't pick it up because the primary sound producing surfaces (top plate and f-holes) were aimed away from it. Instead, it would pick up screechy reflections from the ceiling (only if the ceiling was low enough.) I can't say that this goes for PZM's in general, but the RS PZM seems to be designed to mike conferences where it can be laid on a table. Then, it seems to pick up OK for almost 360 degrees around it, and some of the noise can be deadened by putting a sweater flat under it. For music, especially where it'd be on the floor by someone's feet, it's a loss. If you want to do live with it, be prepared for feedback. One `feature' of the RS PZM is that you can use 1 AA size battery, or two half-length, higher-voltage photographic batteries. The higher voltage is supposed to give you better dynamic range. I found that the better dynamic range goes down from the previous max level, into the noise floor, which doesn't move with the higher voltage. Thus, you may get more dynamic range, but your effective, useable, dynamic range stays pretty constant. If you're afraid that I'm biased, let me allow that the $400 Crown PZM may be good, if you can pay that much. Also, I use three of the PZT (electret- condenser, anyway) mikes from Radio Shack for miking my acoustic guitar, taped around the center-hole (some pointing accross, some in). So I don't have an axe to grind over RS or PZM's in general. For rehersals, where mike placement tends to be critical, but not predictable, I'd suggest using omni-directional mikes with pop-shields (socks will do) hung from the ceiling at intervals. The result is much the same as the PZM's might do, with less air noise. Just be prepared for less bass in the far- field sound image, so compensate with your eq. Since you don't have to mess with feedback in rehearsals the way you do in live performance, you shouldn't have problems with loose-cannon omni's this way. (The RS electrets would do for this. I mean the real small ones-for pop shields, use those little pink foam rollers that are used for hair-rolling for home perms!) I hope this helps, or at least draws the real mic-mavins out in droves to flame me and give you the benefit of their expertise! raybro ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 25 Apr 90 17:51:00 CST From: jeff beer Subject: PZM microphones I have heard mixed things about the PZM microphones from Radio Shack. They are about $50, and I am looking for something to record rehearsals where we don't have the luxury of proper placement. So super-omni-directional mics would be in order, which is what PZMs are supposed to be. Could anyone give pros and cons about these and any other similar mics. thanks in advance, jeff ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 25 Apr 90 22:32:00 EDT From: METLAY@PITTVMS.BITNET Subject: The D-70 *yawn* Patrick: I'm tired of giving people reasons not to buy synths. If you love it and can afford it, buy it. Then save up the cumshaw for an Xpander to plufg the gaping hole in your setup. Then drag it out to Edinburgh and stop Nick, an otherwise sensible fellow, from finding a VFX (at long last) that will keep from crashing for long enough to be bought and taken home. 1/2 |-> metlay PS. I'm going to be leaving EMUSIC-L soon. If anyone has anything they need to ask me about, do it now. ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 25 Apr 90 10:55:33 MEZ From: Christian Holm Subject: Tube Amplifier Dear E-music friends, this is not exactly a contribution to your regular e-music discussions, but has still something to do with e-music. I have an old, defect valve guitar amplifier, a FBT 600 R, made by an Italien company. Does someone know how to contact this company or has a circuit plan for this device? Any help is appreciated, please respond directly to me, because I am not subscibed to Emusic-L. Thanx, Christian ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 26 Apr 90 11:05:36 EDT From: "Kurt A. Geisel" Subject: Re: Wavestar >Wavestar They are officially disbanded. John Dyson, the founding member, had a 1989 release called _Evolution_. It is in the spirit of Wavestar, but I don't think it is quite as good. - Kurt ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 25 Apr 90 10:41:00 EST From: MCINTYRE@MSUPA.BITNET Subject: Wavestar Does anyone know if/when a second Wavestar album will be coming out? I love "Moonwind" and want more! John McIntyre Physics - Astronomy Dept Michigan State University ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 23 Apr 90 15:56:00 EDT From: Danny Weiss Subject: re: re: wx7 prices Adam - When Yamaha was closing out the WX7 last year, retailers were selling it for $295 BRAND NEW. |-----------------------------------||-----------------------------------------| | Danny Weiss || Synthetic Softworks - authors of OBIEX | | Senior Systems Analyst || Oberheim Matrix-6/1000 Editor/Librarian | | Stevens Institute of Technology || for MS-DOS Computers | | Hoboken, NJ || 201-433-0802 | | WEISS_D@STEVENS.BITNET ||-----------------------------------------| | WEISS_D@VAXC.STEVENS-TECH.EDU || | Compuserve: 73357,1774 || |-----------------------------------|| ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 23 Apr 90 11:32:16 MDT From: schabtac@SPOT.COLORADO.EDU Subject: Re: WX7 woes Just curious what the current prices on WX7s are. There's a place in town that has a used one for $550; my perception was that this was a bit high, but I don't really know. Anyone? Thanks, --Adam ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 23 Apr 90 13:28:25 BST From: Nick Rothwell Subject: WX7 woes [Patrick: thanks for your replies. I'm just throwing this out to EMUSIC-L in case anyone else has any ideas.] I've recently taken delivery of a WX7, after three months of various hassles. It arrived in its designer case but with no manual (and probably missing one or two accessories as well), so I've been referring to magazine articles to find out how to set it up. I can't get it to do anything useful at all. When I turn on, it waits for a number of seconds and then drones a single note (Bb or something); I can then play other notes in place of this drone. I thought the whole idea was that the wind pressure gated the notes on, like a real instrument; you blow and play, then you stop blowing, and it shuts up. My unit just keeps droning. Messing around with the wind zero and gain controls gives me some wind control of aftertouch/volume and note velocity, but it either drones (as above) or locks up completely. If I set it up with the zero/gain controls, and then cycle the power, the WX7 locks up completely and won't do anything (even the active sensing dies). I then have to mess around with the zero/gain controls to try and get it back to life again. Sometimes this doesn't work either. The pitch-bend is extremely temperamental. For a start, it's hard to get the instrument in tune to start with; the pitch-bend seems to centre at -384 or so, so that any synth I play is out of tune. Messing around with the lip zero/gain controls improves this, but it's rather hit and miss. Also, the pitch-bend seems to send messages outside the legal MIDI range; it will pitch-bend my D-50 further than the D-50's bender, which is not (legally) possible, and running it through my MIDI Time Piece gives large numbers of spurious patch change messages. I've not got lip zero/gain to do anything useful. I thought the idea was that lip pressure served as pitchbend. I haven't got this to generate any MIDI data at all. I've figured out what note hold does (I think), but my WX7 will stick notes whether I want it to or not. I'll try and play a few notes, and one will stick, and I can't get rid of it without resetting the synth. I'm not touching the hold button at all. So, I'm not having a good time. I don't have a manual, nor do I have any fancy tool for turning the zero/gain pots [Patrick has identified the hidden screwdriver for me. Thanks. Nice one, Yamaha.] and I don't actually play a wind instrument (yet), so I'm just experimenting. But as it stands, this machine is pretty useless. So, a quick few questions: have any WX7 users found these problems, or are your machines fine? Am I right in what I think the WX7 is supposed to do? Does the manual give detailed instructions for setting up which will solve these problems? Or, do I have a machine which is seriously ill? If so, I'll have to phone Yamaha pretty soon and persuade them that they're getting it back. If this is wind synthesis, I think I'll stick to my keyboard(s)... Nick. ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 24 Apr 90 10:39:43 EDT From: Dean Swan Subject: Re: WX7 woes $550 is high. I think Rogue has them for $350. You might also check out Caruso's. .......*DUCK*.......... -Whew, narrowly missed by Nick's big "you-guys- get-everything-cheap" flame thrower. :-) -Dean ------------------------------ End of EMUSIC-L digest ******************************