All For Musicians

Allen Strange, 1942-2008

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                                                                                                    Electro-acoustic composer and author Allen Strange died last week at the age of 64. While Strange was probably best known to a generation of musicians as the author of one of the definitive books on electronic music – Electronic Music: Systems, Techniques, and Controls – he also was very active as a composer and performer of electro-acoustic music.

“Allen’s performances incorporated some very bizarre things,” said Mark Grey, a sound designer who studied under Mr. Strange. “You’d have someone with a lawn mower on stage next to a string quartet while someone else in the corner was processing it all through a computer, sitting in a lawn chair.” “Allen,” said Grey, “could articulate the absurd so well that it just made sense.”

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Freeware Virtual Putney Synthesizer

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Ninecows has released the Putney v2.0 (.zip download link), a freeware architectural replica (SynthEdit) of the EMS Putney. The plug-in runs as a VST effect, not a VST instrument.

Description:

“As the original it is constructed of basic modules connected in a matrix, letting you route sources and control voltages to different destinations.  Many module based synths can do that, but the Putney has one remarkable difference: There is no clear distinction between audio and control voltages as sources.  For instance; you can let the output of one audio oscillator control the frequence of another, or use the noise generator to control the filters cut-off frequency.

Even though the synth (just as the original) is monophonic, the flexible routing system will let you create a huge variety of different sounds and effects. 

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New Soniccouture Release: Balinese Gamelan

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Soniccouture have released Balinese Gamelan, a new sampled instrument for Native Instruments Kontakt.

A Gamelan is an enseble of instruments originating from Indonesia.  The majority of Gamelan instruments are percussive, and most of these are bronze. They include xylophone-like metallophones of different sizes and pitch, tuned gong chimes, very large pitched gongs, and an assortment of drums and percussion. There are many types of Gamelan ensembles, but the two dominant types are Javanese and Balinese. Balinese Gamelan has a characteristic ‘shimmering’ sound which is due to the detuning of paired instruments playing the same musical part.

Here are the details:

Description:

Sampling the unique, magical sound of a Balinese Gamelan is no small undertaking.  The 25 instruments that make up The LSO’s Semare Dana Gamelan Ensemble had to be recorded in great detail, as if each instrument were to be a sample library in its own right. All instruments were recorded in stereo, at 24 bit 96 khz to ensure a pristine recording of the very highest standard that will remain the benchmark for years to come.

The library is composed of single and paired Kontakt versions of the Gamelan instruments. Paired instruments also feature separate volume and pan controls. Smaller percussive instruments like the Kempli are grouped together, with KSP level and pan controls for fine tuning. 

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KRK Ergo Room Correction System

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At the Winter NAMM Show, KRK announced ERGO, a digital room analysis and correction system.  ERGO (Enhanced Room Geometry Optimization) aims to improve your studio mixing space by correcting for real world acoustic problems.

ERGO analyzes and compensates for undesirable room acoustics which can negatively impact audio mixdowns.  The unit connects to a computer via Firewire when it is performing its room analysis, but since all correction processing resides in ERGO, no overhead is needed from the computer audio system.  This means that ERGO can function in pure analog systems since it can work as a stand-alone room correction/speaker control unit after room analysis is complete.

In addition to room correction, ERGO also acts as a speaker switcher and master volume control. It is also a 4–in, 6–out Firewire audio interface with 120dB SNR digital-to-analog converters and phase-accurate signal processing.

KRK also incorporates Firewire and S/PDIF input for digital connections to DAWs such as Pro Tools and other systems.

Everybody was able to check this out at the NAMM Show and get impressed with the technology, but the price will probably scare a lot of people off.  KRK empasized that the ERGO wasn’t a replacement for an acoustically treated room, but instead was the next best thing.  ERGO will be available on April 2008 at a retail price of $799. 

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Brainwaves and Robotic Dancing

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Here’s the weirdest thing you’re likely to see today – Sleep Waking – a robot that does interpretive dancing based on your brainwaves.

Here’s what creator Fernando Orellana has to say about the project:

“In the next thirty years we will see more robotic technology intergrated into our society, furthering our experience of reality through agency.  Robots already go beyond the limitations of our bodies. They build things that we find too difficult or tedious, assist us in our medical care, and are beginning to substitute as our sexual partners. Just as the computer and the automobile have augmented our communication and transportation capabilities, the robot is destined to be essential to our society.  What will humanity’s relationship be to the robot in the future?”

Using recorded brainwave activity and eye movements during REM sleep to determine robot behaviours and head positions, “Sleep Waking” acts as a way to “play-back” dreams. Through this piece we hope to investigate one of the possible human-robot relationships.

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Describing A VCO

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Dave Cornutt offers a great overview of how a VCO works:

“Synth circuit designers, starting with Moog and Buchla in the early 1960’s, long ago turned to “artificial” oscillator circuits that do not rely on natural resonance.  Rather, they rely on an analog implementation of a mathematical function that can be made to increase and decrease proportionally to the control voltage. A second consideration is that a useful synth VCO is expected to output several different waveforms, so that the synth player has harmonic starting points for creating a given sound.  Rather than create a separate VCO circuit for each desired waveform, it is far more cost-effective to design a VCO “core” that generates a waveform from which the other desired waveforms can be derived. 

At his site, he goes into considerable detail and has illustrations to expand on his explonation.   

http://sequence15.blogspot.com/2008/02/how-vco-works.html

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Dulcitone Celesta Sample Library

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Realsamples has introduced Dulcitone Celesta, based on the Dyson & Sons Dulcitone tuning-fork piano.

The library is part of the Edition Beurmann, a series of instruments out of the renowned historical keyboard instrument collection of Professor Andreas E. Beurmann. 

Built around 1910, this unique instrument sports a vibrant, mellow and charming sound reminiscent of a vibraphone, glockenspiel, marimba and a piano – yet a sound of its own full of patina. At that time, it was inspiring to those looking for a new sound – Pjotr Tschaikowsky wrote some parts of his Nutcracker for a celesta like the dulcitone.

Being a rather quiet instrument, it seemed unappropriate for orchestral use, so its parts were often played by a glockenspiel instead – luckily, this is not a problem in a sampler. Back then, no one had ever dreamt that a celesta would be as relevant today as ever – being the acoustic ancestor of the most popular vintage electric pianos, which share the same basic sound principles. Providing a warm and full bass, it carries more weight than a toy piano and is great for any track demanding an unconsumed yet familiar sound.

The samples were recorded in 192 khz/24 bits resolution, employing vintage Neumann TLM-170 microphones through Crane Song preamps and Universal Audio 2192 converters. The library contains two versions of the instrument recorded with different stereo settings. It consists of nearly 1500 single samples for all common formats, including presets for HAlion, Kontakt, EXS24, Independence, MachFive, Reason NN-XT, VSampler3 and GigaStudio, amongst others.

Features

– 8 different samples of each note

– 4 variations of each key release sound

– ready to play HAlion, Kontakt, EXS24, Independence, MachFive, Reason NN-XT, VSampler3 and GigaStudio presets

– wave format (except GigaStudio version)

– no mastering applied

– recorded in 192 khz/24 bits resolution and downsampled

– DVD/CD set

– license-free applicable in your music

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Top Ten Valentine’s Day Love Songs based on Singtones’ downloads

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1.  “Just The Way You Are” /Barry White/1978

2.  “Your Song”/Elton John/1970

3.  “Can’t Take My Eyes Off You”/Andy Williams/1967

4. “Eternal Flame”/Bangles/1991

5.  “Hello”/Lionel Richie/1984

6.  “Ain’t No Sunshine”/Bill Withers/1971

7.  “Bleeding Love”/Leona Lewis/2007

8.  “My Boo”/Usher and Alicia Keys/2004

9.  “Stand By Me”/Ben E. King/1961

10. “Close To You”/Carpenters/1970

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New Free Bassline Synth For Mac/Windows

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TAL-BassLine is a virtual analog bass synthesizer especially made for bass, acid sounds and effects.

A unique – 18dB low pass filter with a lot of asymmetric and random components introduce a warm and analogue sound. Fast, non linear envelopes are also a part of this synth. 

It’s free for Mac and Windows. 

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Advanced Vocal Intensifier Plug-in

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DB Audioware has introduced Vocal Intensifier, a plug-in designed to give vocal tracks added punch and presence, to make them stand out in the final mix.

It uses a studio technique called “parallel compression” (also known as “New York compression”), often used for drum tracks, but here tuned specially tuned for vocals. The adventage of this technique is that it boosts the loudness and presence of teh vocals without destroying the dynamics of the original performance. 

Vocal Intensifier Features:

– advanced algorithm boosts vocals without loss of detail

– efficient user interface saves valuable studio time

– uses parallel compression technique, tuned for vocals

– encapsulates 64 bit EQ, compression, de-essing & limiting

– inherently phase-coherent design

– full MIDI control, with easy to use MIDI Learn

plug-ins for PC Windows (VST) and Mac OS X (VST, Audio Units)

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