EMUSIC-L Digest Volume 30, Number 1 This issue's topics: Waldorf MicroWave (5 messages) Re: Yamaha SY77 / TG77 (3 messages) Re: Sonic Punch guitar multi FX Re: Midi books (2 messages) Magnetic Filings BIG BUCKS... SERIOUS OFFER!! 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, 1 Jul 91 11:21:59 BST From: Nick Rothwell Subject: Re: nick's fave rave >I'd appreciate a quote from the manual. I don't have the manual - only some short photocopied publicity material. But, yes, it seems to play notes at intervals determined by the other notes which are sounding. Nick. ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 1 Jul 91 11:22:04 BST From: Nick Rothwell Subject: Re: nick's fave rave >You realize, of course, that I'm going to come begging for a copy of Anodyne >when I get my Waldorf No problem. The Waldorf support has been in since last year and I've been using it heavily. I don't have complete SysEx specs yet so single parameter editing is a little clumsy. I also don't have wavetable editing - I was just going to leave that to MAX or something (assuming I buy a copy of MAX whose UK price is $750). Nick. ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 1 Jul 91 11:08:00 EDT From: "William R(ay) Brohinsky" Subject: Re: nick's fave rave >it seems to play notes at intervals determined by the other notes >which are sounding my question was actually whether the pitches are adjusted only on the basis of what is currently being played, or whether there is any kind of analysis of `what has gone before'. One of the reasons for the question is that just temperament requires either staying in one `key' all the time, or adjusting as each new chord happens. I.E., you cannot go from one chord to the next always using just horizontal intervals, because the resulting next chord may be out of tune vertically. Thus, an algorithm would have to decide to follow one voice (or none, presuming that the horizontal inaccuracies would be too unnoticeable?). Which ever voice you choose to follow, playing its horizontal intervals just, the other voices will tend to wander to keep up. If you choose the melody voice to follow, the bass will end up (should you return to the original key) way off from where it should be. This is because the just system is not made for modulation, and works only somewhat well with a simple I-V-I. When you start adding other chords to a progression, the difference between major and minor whole tones can really screw things up. the algorithm used to maintain just intonation, therefore, will influence your musical style (if you actually listen to what you play), and knowing what it is ahead of time can save you from chasing stylistic turns that would put you at odds with the algorithm! raybro another inquiring mind looking to cause trouble! ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 2 Jul 91 10:53:12 BST From: Nick Rothwell Subject: Re: nick's fave rave >my question was actually whether the pitches are adjusted only on the >basis of what is currently being played, or whether there is any kind >of analysis of `what has gone before'. Good question. I've no idea. If you have any suggestions for tests I can try out, let me know, I certainly couldn't get it to "drift" in base pitch by playing intervals up and down. My guess is that it always refers to the lowest pitch as a tonic, or something. Nick. ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 2 Jul 91 08:27:00 EDT From: "William R(ay) Brohinsky" Subject: Re: nick's fave rave >suggestions for tests...lowest pitch as tonic... Well, If the lowest pitch is taken as tonic, is the pitch of the lowest tone always ET12, or based on some just scale? Test 1: equipment required: good ear, equivalent to korg tuner that can automatically lock onto an incoming pitch and show cents deviation. Perhaps another person to log readings. proceedure: First, verify that a scale, C - c (or CC to C, if you like to do things big) is in ET or not. If not, log cents deviations and report it. (I'll be glad to analyze results.) Second, verify that the root of a common C chord doesn't change in pitch when you hold the C (or CC) and drop the chord. Then verify that the C is ET12 or log the difference. This requires holding the C all the time-to ensure continuity. Third, verify other chords to ensure that the root stays constant. (you might also do this with inversions, to see if there is any change in a held note when the chord goes away). Also, try holding C while playing other chords that contain C. That one note shouldn't change. Now, repeat the end of the third step, but start each chord without holding the C and check the C's pitch when you drop the chord. Is it different, depending on where it sits in the chord? If the C stayed constant, here's the killer step: play a progression (nothing fancy: this will show up in simple I-IV-V-vi-ii-V-I) and drop each chord but hold the top note. Check to see what it's cents deviation, and report that with the progression used. A not so simple analysis of the deviations should give some indication of whether the synth is playing all chords as C just-intoned. Now, repeat it all in D, with the same reports. (Note that IV of D and V of C are the same, a G major chord. If the fifth of the G chord (D) is a different deviation between C and D, that's very important to know! I would want to see how it is different before saying what it means, though :^) Ideally, if the synth were actually playing just, any melodic line (including a scale) would be from the just scale. If it is ET, then you are getting screwed a little to start with. If the scale is just, and the notes don't change in context from a melody to a bass line (i.e., a harmonized scale with the scale tones being the bass) then the other voices should have some strange horizontal intervals, which will be pretty obvious. This is one reason why it takes some real skill and ear to play complicated music in just intonation. (someone has to decide when to deviate from just to keep the other notes reasonable-sounding.) If the scale reverts to ET when used as bass, and the chords are simply just chords built on that note, you still won't get horizontally just intervals. They will be weirdly not just, and not ET. This is one of the reasons that mean-tone tunings are used: you come up with a set of fixed pitches that work most of the time and sound good a lot of the time. With a `pure' ET, you end up with something that sounds equally bad all the time, but works equally well in all keys. Then it's PT Barnum time for the listeners, and since he was right, most people come away thinking it's an improvement. Sorry for the soap-boxing. Anyway, once you've verified that the notes don't change from melodic to harmonic context (at least as far as bass lines go) it's just a matter of finding out what they are. If you get wildly spurious-looking results, try it all again, looking at the top voice instead of the bottom. The most important thing would be to find someone who listens to nothing but the English Concert or the Academy of Ancient Music, and play things for him/her and see if he/she likes it. I'd like to hear what you come up with. Does anyone else have anything claiming to have an adaptive algorithm for playing in just intonation? raybro ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 1 Jul 91 12:21:26 BST From: Nick Rothwell Subject: Re: Yamaha SY77 / TG77 >Maybe it was >just a difference in programming, but the SY77 carried more punch with me, Not difficult - the Wavestation has the punch of a kitten. Punch ain't its strong point. Nick. ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 1 Jul 91 11:25:34 CDT From: Kevin Remde Subject: Re: Yamaha SY77 / TG77 > > >Maybe it was > >just a difference in programming, but the SY77 carried more punch with me, > > Not difficult - the Wavestation has the punch of a kitten. Punch ain't its > strong point. > > Nick. Maybe you oughta try a VFX, Nick. Now _there's_ punch! :) Disclaimer: I know and read all your VFX woes. I'm just teasing you. Kevin ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 2 Jul 91 10:53:17 BST From: Nick Rothwell Subject: Re: Yamaha SY77 / TG77 >Maybe you oughta try a VFX, Nick. Now _there's_ punch! :) I want to be punched in the ears, not the stomach and wallet... :-) Seriously, the VFX had a good deal of sonic punch. It sounded wonderful. One of the best sounding machines I've ever come across. But it never worked properly. Nick. ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 2 Jul 91 08:12:59 CDT From: Kevin Remde Subject: Re: Sonic Punch > > Seriously, the VFX had a good deal of sonic punch. It sounded wonderful. > One of the best sounding machines I've ever come across. But it never > worked properly. > Never? C'mon, now. I mean, I realize that you (or anybody, for that matter) couldn't risk the VFX for live performance. But for a studio or amature recording, it's fairly well suited; provided there is sufficient external backup. I agree though, it's a shame that a machine so well designed a suited for live performance turned out to be such a technical nightmare. -Kevin ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 1 Jul 91 11:52:12 LCL From: Norwich.School@MAC.DARTMOUTH.EDU Subject: guitar multi FX Thanks for all your help so far. Played a Peavey Pro-Fex this morning...sounded great...729 at the local store. He would throw in a super MIDI foot controller (used) , also Peavey and give me the whole deal for 800... A bit pricey, but a great unit... Any comments. Thanks. Cam ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 1 Jul 91 22:35:38 EDT From: A_FEREN@UNHH.UNH.EDU Subject: books on midi My sister is looking for books about midi. Preferably something that someone with minimal knowledge about computers can read and understand. If anyone has any suggestions please send them directly to me I do not normally read this list. -Andrew Feren a_feren@unhh.unh.edu The Cola Vampire :-)= ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 2 Jul 91 09:00:00 CDT From: Steve Albrecht Subject: Re: Midi books The Cola Vampire, Andrew Feren ( a_feren@unhh.unh.edu ) writes: >My sister is looking for books about midi. Preferably something that someone >with minimal knowledge about computers can read and understand. If anyone has >any suggestions please send them directly to me I do not normally read this >list. Here is my reading list. The first one is written for programmers ONLY. 1) Jim Conger's book. The title is something on the order of "Midi Programing in C". It is definitely midi as viewed by a programmer. The perspective is for the IBM PC programmer, but I think that MAC issues are also discussed. 2) A post-doc at Stanford U wrote another book that is well thought of, but it's in French. I keep asking him when an English translation will be available. The author is Eric Tholome. He has recently left Stanford for a short stay in France. I am hoping to discover a new email address for him in his new home in Berlin. 3) Microsoft Press put out a book on midi programming. I think that this is rather a weak book, but it might serve as an introduction for non-computer folk. 4) Several other books are out that were written by musicians. They are interesting as a intro to using midi, but contain a dearth of info from my perspective. As a programmer, I have the wrong perspective to sort these out. Regards, *) Steve Albrecht =/= Nielsen Advanced Information Technology Center *) salbrech@nis.naitc.com naitc!salbrech@uunet.uu.net CIS 73657.1342 VOICE (708) 317-3496 FAX (708) 317-3508 Bannockburn, Illinois ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 2 Jul 91 10:14:10 -0400 From: jarrod norton Subject: Magnetic Filings To whoever it was that had those electronic music tapes... Would you like them to get some airplay? If they are air-quality, I will put them into rotation at my radio station. I am assuming the artist's names are listed. For details, or to send the tape, use this address: WCLH Wilkes University Wilkes-Barre, PA 18766 Attn: Terra One/Jarrod Norton ////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// / PRO is to CON as PROGRESS is to CONGRESS. / /____________________________________________________________________/ /Jarrod Norton, Music Director, Production Director, WCLH-FM 90.7 MHz/ /Office Phone (717) 825-7663 Hours MTW 12-1*Th 12-1,6-9*F 12-4:30 / /Data Phone (717) 823-9833 24 Hours 1200 BPS N 8 1 / / (A BBS.) Request an account via EMAIL / / first... 'twould help you! / /Email Address w3663797@wilkes1.wilkes.edu / ////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// [is that too much?] ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 2 Jul 91 19:19:24 EDT From: DURHCS@MOREKYPR.BITNET Subject: BIG BUCKS... SERIOUS OFFER!! ANNOUNCING The 1991 Theta Pi Composition Contest CATEGORY: LARGE Percussion Ensemble [8 - 15 players] AWARDS: 1st $1,000.00; 2nd $500.00; 3rd $250.00 FEE: Non-refundable $25 entry fee. ELIGIBILITY: Previously commisioned or published works are ineligible. Clean, neat manuscript is required. The composition should be of a high artistic standard that is suitable for university or professional level performance. INSTRUMENTATION: The composition may include any standard university or ethnic percussion instruments. Further instrumentation details are listed below or may be obtained at the address below. The composer should feel free to use the following guidelines for his/her composition: Please, no more than... 4 marimbas (4 1/3); 2 vibes; 2 xylos; 2 sets of four kettle drums; One elect-perc controller (ex. pad8, KAT, drum machine) One rhythm section (gtr/bass/elect-or-acoustic piano) ADJUDICATION: Theta Pi will be selecting three competent and qualified professionals from both the percussion and composition/theory fields. DEADLINE: ALL entries (fees and manuscript) must be postmarked by 12-01-91. Winners will be announced 02-01-92. A performance of the winning entries is tentatively scheduled for the Spring of 1992. Entries may be sent to... or for more information contact: Phi Mu Alpha (Theta Pi) Baird Music Hall Morehead, Ky 40351 ph# 606-783-2487 ...this is a serious deal... I hope a few of you will enter... ...or encourage someone you know... ...spool this, share this, ENTER TODAY!.... -Shane }=[] >--V-O8 ------------------------------ End of the EMUSIC-L Digest ******************************