Article View: ucb.becmug
Article #1Electronic and Computer Music Frequently-Asked Questions (FAQ)
From: Craig R. Latta
Date: Tue, 03 Nov 1992 05:29
Date: Tue, 03 Nov 1992 05:29
2535 lines
100375 bytes
100375 bytes
Archive-name: music/netjam-faq
Last-modified: 1992/09/03
Version: 3.0
***
This is an electronic and computer music
frequently-asked-questions (FAQ) sheet, distributed by NetJam,
Berkeley. It is probably of interest to readers of the USENET
newsgroups:
ucb.becmug
rec.music.synth
rec.music.makers
rec.music.compose
comp.music
and anyone else interested in the applications of computers to music
(and vice-versa). It is posted fortnightly to the above-mentioned
groups, as well as news.answers. It is also available via ftp as
anonymous@xcf.Berkeley.EDU:misc/netjam/doc/FAQ/FAQ.entire, and in
pieces as .../split/*. Finally, it can be obtained by emailing
smallmusic-request@xcf with the subject line "request for FAQ". The
machine xcf.Berkeley.EDU has IP address 128.32.138.1.
---
The coverage is as follows:
[Meta-issues]
How can I browse ftp sites and their data without using my own disk
space (unless I want to keep data), and locate files on ftp
sites, given pathname fragments?
How do I subscribe to EMUSIC-D and EMUSIC-L, and what other
BITNET lists are of interest?
[Newcomer questions]
What keyboard should I buy?
Where can I get patches for my keyboard?
What is MIDI?
What are definitions for the following things?
- aftertouch, envelope, FM, LFO, module, multitimbral,
polyphony, pressure, sampler, sequencer, synthesizer,
velocity
Where can I get price lists?
Where can I get a USA music store list?
[Connectivity issues]
What is NetJam?
What are some other emailing lists relating to electronic and
computer music?
What are some other midi-file/software archives on the Internet?
How do I contact the editorial staff of Electronic Musician
magazine?
[Software]
[Multi-platform]
What is Smallmusic? What is the MODE?
What is Keynote?
Are there programs to convert back and forth between
human/filter-readable text and MIDI files? How
do I get them?
What is CSound?
What are the requirements of CSound?
Is there a tutorial on CSound?
Where can I get recordings of electronic music?
Is there PostScript code available for generating
guitar scales?
Where can I get online guitar tablature?
What is Midi2TeX, and how can I get it?
[UNIX]
What is MusicTeX, and how can I get it?
[NeXT]
What are some currently available sound editors for
the NeXT?
What is MixView, and how can I get it?
What is DU", and how can I get it?
What is RT, and how can I get it?
What is RTLisp, and how can I get it?
What are Patchmix and StochGran and how can I get them?
What is the IRCAM Signal Editor and how can I get it?
[IBM PC]
What are some public-domain (or nearly so) sample-editing
programs for IBM-PC compatibles?
[Macintosh]
Which glove interfaces with the Max 'glove' object?
[Amiga]
What software reads DCMS files and converts them to
something else?
[Hardware]
What are some good things with which to whack MIDI drum triggers?
How do I do MIDI with my laptop PC? What is the Key
Electronics Midiator?
What are some MIDI interfaces for 386 UNIX boxes?
[Reference Material]
Is an overview of "General MIDI" available?
What are the names and address of various gear manufacturers?
Where may I find an electronic music bibliography?
How can I build my own MIDI interface for the Macintosh?
Where can I find out all about MIDI?
What are the details behind current sound formats?
[Vendor-specific issues]
Where can I find information about the NeXT MIDI driver?
What exists and is coming (as of 25 October 1991) in the way
of NeXT music applications?
Where can I get a Macintosh program to translate between
different soundfile formats?
I'm just starting on MIDI and want to know how to send MIDI from my
SCO UNIX box (and who do I buy a card from? are
there device drivers available?)
What is the status of the Music Kit on NeXT machines?
What ear-training software is there for the NeXT?
Please send contributions and comments to
netjam@xcf.Berkeley.EDU. Raw FAQ submissions (which I have not yet
incorporated into this document) are available (in 'mh' message
format) via 'ftp' as
anonymous@xcf.berkeley.edu:misc/netjam/doc/FAQ/raw/*.
I realize that many of the items can be categorized in
multiple ways. I'm currently working on a hypertextual version of this
FAQ (using VIOLA, if you're interested). Previous users of this FAQ
please note that this new format is compatible with previous search
methods.
The FAQ will also be posted to news.answers, starting 1
September 1992.
For general info about NetJam, email
netjam-request@xcf.Berkeley.EDU, with the phrase "request for info" in
the subject line.
Thanks,
-C
***
+++
C: [Meta issues]
---
Q: How can I browse ftp sites and their data without using my own disk
space (unless I want to keep data), and locate files on ftp
sites, given pathname fragments?
A:
There is a set of Emacs-Lisp ("elisp") code, called
"ange-ftp.el", which makes 'ftp' use transparent within GNU Emacs (GNU
Emacs is available via anonymous ftp from prep.ai.mit.edu). This
package attempts to make accessing files and directories using FTP
from within GNU Emacs as simple and transparent as possible. A subset
of the common file-handling routines are extended to interact with
FTP. Using these routines, I can read remote files as I would any
local file, without having to write it locally to disk. This is is
especially useful since the document is dynamic (hopefully
increasingly so).
The routines are available via anonymous ftp (naturally!) as
tut.cis.ohio-state.edu:/gnu/emacs/elisp-archive/as-is/ange-ftp.el.Z,
(incidentally, if you already had "ange-ftp.el", you could paste the
above line in response to Emacs' 'copy-file', stick "/anonyous@" in
front of it, and copy the file.) My current version is dated 22
October 1991.
Another useful bit of elisp is "context.el". It saves the
Emacs buffer list and window configuration between editing sessions.
So, one can have several buffers, with several files open (as I
usually do), quit and restart Emacs, and have the state preserved,
cursor locations and windows included. Happily, it works well with
"ange-ftp.el", so that even remote files are restored (after possibly
having to prompt for passwords). "context.el" is also available via
anonymous ftp from tut.cis.ohio-state.edu, as
/gnu/emacs/elisp-archive/as-is/context.el.Z. Also look for
"tree-dired.el" which provides for hierarchical directory editing.
Incidentally, it was very easy to produce references for the
above tools, thanks to another tool called "archie", developed at
McGill University. Dubbed a "resource discovery tool" by its authors,
it comes in very handy when one knows what tools are needed but not
their availability. Archie consists of a server for this information
(basically from a database of directory trees from "all known"
anonymous ftp sites, updated once per month), and a client, which may
be run via 'telnet' from the server machine itself (frowned upon...),
or from a standalone client available from that machine (...highly
encouraged, for the considerable host load win). Some clients even
perform ftp tasks based on user response to search results. There are
clients available for dumb and X terminals, and, of course, Emacs.
Poke around archie.mcgill.ca for a client and documentation.
---
Q: How do I ask for advice on a topic of interest from others on the net?
A:
[see also the many fine recurring articles in
news.announce.newusers --crl]
From: Karl Haberl (khaberl@bbn.com)
Date: Mon, 17 Aug 92
"The Beginner's Guide to Asking the Net Gods for [Musical] Advice"
The net can be a powerful resource for information and advice, as
well as being a lively and sometimes fun-filled forum for the exchange
of views. One of the most common mistakes beginners make when asking
for advice is that they do not put enough information in their posts
to allow a more experienced "net veteran" to provide a concise,
focused reply to their request. Questions like "Which keyboard is best
X or Y ?" can only really be answered in the context of knowing
something about the individual who is asking the question.
Below are some suggestions for info that would be helpful to
include in any articles requesting advice on various topics. By
including this info in your post, you will be accomplishing two
important things: (1) you will be explicitly demonstrating to the net
community that you are not lazy, and that you have taken some time
yourself to think about the subject and identify the precise areas
where you need help, and (2) you will be providing essential
background info that will help focus and tailor any responses to your
particular problem. Here, then are the categories (feel free to
augment these with any other information that you think might be
appropriate):
(1) EXPERIENCE LEVEL -
Indicate how much experience you have that is appropriate for
the subject.
This will help focus advice at the right level of detail.
"I've played classical piano for twelve years, never touched a synth."
"I've been using Vision for two years now, and while I would not call
myself a power user, I think I am quite competent with basic
operations."
(2) INFORMATION SOURCES ALREADY EXPLORED -
Asking basic questions without indicating what kind of reading
or other investigations you may have already done yourself is likely
to cause one of two things to happen: either the reader will skip over
your message completely, or will fire off a response like "pick up
Keyboard and Electronic Musician, and get a copy of Mix Bookshelf."
Tell the net what sources of info you have tried - this gives a
baseline for giving advice and/or suggesting further sources of info.
"I read the Buyer's Guide issue of Keyboard."
"I have Anderton's recording book, but I still don't understand
reverb."
"I've only talked to my local salesman about this, he says ..."
(3) CURRENT EQUIPMENT CONFIGURATION -
With equipment-related questions, it is helpful for the
respondent to know how any suggested new equipment will complement an
existing setup.
"I own two rusty cans and 100 yds of twine."
"I own a JX-3P, M1, and D70 for synths, and a Tascam PortaPotty
4-track."
(4) WHAT YOU WANT TO ACCOMPLISH -
Defining what your particular goals are is *critical* for any
respondent to give personalized advice. Besides, goal-definition also
happens to be the most critical activity that *you* can do to focus
your search through the the maze of information and equipment that is
out there.
"I want to just have fun in my basement studio, writing pop tunes
for my own enjoyment and distributing them to my friends."
"I want to write soundtracks for local TV productions."
"I want to produce demo tapes of my band and send them to record
companies."
"I want to optimize my rig for live performance of industrial music."
(5) BUDGET -
For most of the people on this planet, budget is a key
constraint. If you have a precise figure in mind, give it. If you're
trying to get a more general sense of what things cost versus their
capabilities, that's O.K. too, but you should still be able to
provide a *range* of $$ figures that you would be willing to consider.
Obviously, defining your budget goal will help respondents restrict
the range of products considered and discussed. And if you're close
to a boundary, they will often say "of course, with just $X more you
could step up to a ..."
"I have between $300-500 bucks to spend on a reverb unit."
"I am willing to spend up to $2000 on a new keyboard if it will
allow me to do X,Y, and Z; but I'd prefer to keep it under
$1500."
---
Q: How do I subscribe to EMUSIC-D and EMUSIC-L, and what other BITNET
lists are of interest?
A:
Date: Mon, 17 Aug 92 12:00:09 +0200
From: Martin Roth <roth@ips.id.ethz.ch>
Organization: ETH Zurich (Swiss Federal Institute of Technology)
You send a mail to listserv@auvm.bitnet (NOT to emusic-l!!)
containing the line:
SUB EMUSIC-L <Your real name>
That's all. In a few days (this seems to be done manually, so be
patient!), you will get an intro mail and then all the discussion
mails. To contribute, you can send a mail to emusic-l@auvm.bitnet,
which is then automatically sent to all the subscribed people.
To get removed from the list, again, do not send to the list,
but to listserv@auvm.bitnet
UNSUB EMUSIC-L
Again, allow up to one week processing time (this is also done
manually). By the way, your mail address is taken automatically from
the return address of your mail, so be sure you don't have any fancy
format there (user@machine.org.dom or something in that form will do
well).
If you want to know more, just ask listserv@auvm.bitnet (send mail):
HELP
Simple. Just try. EMUSIC-D should be similar, I suppose... listserv serves lot
of other lists, too. Ah, yes, and you can get a list of the lists by sending
a simple
LIST
in a mail, guess where... YES! to listserv@auvm.bitnet !
-Martin
_______________________________________________________________________
_ Martin Roth Martin Roth ETHZ, ips, RZ F16
|\ /|_) Mail: roth@ips.id.ethz.ch Sandacker 14 g 01/256 55 68
| \/ | \ (Student of Computer CH-8154 Oberglatt p 01/850 32 75
Science / Engineering) Switzerland (F-)emails welcome!
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
+++
C: [Newcomer questions]
---
Q: What keyboard should I buy?
A:
From: xrjdm@calvin.gsfc.nasa.gov (Joseph D. McMahon)
Subject: Re: That zany FAQ thing
Date: Mon, 10 Aug 92 11:01:10 EDT
The most frequently asked question on EMUSIC-L and on rec.music.synth is
probably "What keyboard should I buy?"
Before you do anything else, indulge in some self-analysis of what you want
to do, how committed you are to doing it, and how much money you have to
spend on it. If you plan just to play your keyboard every once in a while for
fun, you will have a different set of requirements from someone who is looking
for the first piece of equipment along the road to establishing a professional
set of gear as the nucleus of a studio. Persons who are going to be performing
contemporary popular music or who wish to imitate traditional instruments will
probably find any number of keyboards which will fit their needs.
Experimentalists, or persons wishing to do sonic exploration, with the sound
being the primary concern, will have a harder time. In general, keyboard which
feature extensive modulation sources and routings (such as the Oberheim
Xpander, Kurzweil K2000, or Ensoniq SD-1) will be more useful for synthesis
than less complex machines.
Set your musical priorities: must-have, highly-desirable, nice, don't care,
etc. Acoustic sounds? Synth sounds? Multi-timbral? Built-in sequencer?
Built-in effects (reverb, etc)? After-touch? # of keys? You'll probably need
to get more familiar with the terminology before you can make any decisions
here. A few terms for those new to this:
a) Multi-timbrality means that the keyboard can produce more
than one sound at a time. For most people who will be
purchasing only one synth the first time out, this is
very important. A monotimbral (one-sound-at-a-time)
machine will require the use of multi-track tape to
simulate multi-timbrality. Commonly available used
synths which are mono-timbral are the Yamaha DX7 and the
Roland D50. You will not be able to make these keyboards
sound like more than one thing at once.
b) A built-in sequencer (on modern machines) means
that the keyboard has the equivalent of a built-in
multi-track tape machine; it records the events that
occur and allows you to play them back. It is *not* an
audio device; it simply records the actions you take to
produce a piece of music and then plays them back again,
like a player-piano. If you have a computer, you may
want to purchase a MIDI (see below) interface and a
software sequencer instead.
d) Most synthetic sounds are more pleasing with at least a little
bit of effects (echo, reverberation, etc.). Some keyboards
have built-in effects; others require external ones. Note that
built-in effects usually require that all voices go through the
same effect; if there is an alternative, it is usually "no effects".
This means that is you have a distorted guitar, an organ with a
rotating speaker effect, and a lead with just a touch of reverb,
you are going to have to choose which two of the three effects
you are going to be able to live without, because only one will
be available at a time.
e) After-touch is a means of controlling the sound after you've
pressed the key. For most keyboards, pressing on any one
key while holding a chord will cause all of the sounding
notes to act as if they too had been pressed harder; this
is called "channel aftertouch". Other let you control this
individually for each key; this is called "key aftertouch
and is not seen as often.
f) The number of keys varies. In general, most have 61 keys
(5 octaves), but others have more, all the way up to a full 88.
People who already play the piano will probably be more
comfortable on a larger keyboard. The feel also varies,
from weighted actions which feel very piano-like, through
mushy, unweighted ones are more common.
f) MIDI is short for "musical instrument digital interface". It
is an international standard, and almost all machines built
after the Yamaha DX7 have it. (Nit-picky note: some built
before to,, but the DX7 is a good reference point.) You can
buy a MIDI interface for your home computer and run software
to control your keyboards from there. MIDI is often used to
build a studio in much the same way that you can build a
stereo system: by choosing individual components and combining
them into a whole.
A good basic checklist for "pro-quality" keyboards:
- Sound quality. If it sounds lousy at the store, it'll sound
bad at home. If you're having trouble hearing because of the
57 guitar heroes flailing Strats nearby, see if you can take
it "on approval". Most dealers are willing to work with you
on such things. If all else fails, rent one. Spending $40 to find
out that the $2500 you were going to spend would have been
a waste is a good investment.
- Usability. If the interface confuses you, if you don't like
the layout of the modulators, if you really hate that joystick
and want a wheel instead, or you think the operating system
really sucks, don't commit to such a keyboard unless you're
willing to deal with this. Small dissatisfactions can turn what
you thought was "okay" into "unusable" after repeated fighting
with them. Software that locks up or crashes falls into this
category.
- Feel. If you're already a keyboard player, you probably
have an ideal "good keyboard" feel in your "muscle memory".
Try playing something you already know on the keyboard to
see if it suits you. Keyboard feel ranges from organ-like,
mushier feels to weighted, piano-like actions. If the keyboard
has aftertouch, try it out and see if it's intuitive enough
for you. Try out the modulation controllers (joystick,
mod wheel, pedals, what have you) and see if they feel
sturdy enough to stand up to some abuse. Try the buttons
and sliders (and knobs and switches, if the keyboard has
them) to make sure that they feel solid and dependable.
If you're buying a used keyboard, check buttons to make
sure they all work, and check sliders and knobs to make
sure they track evenly through their full range.
- Price. I waited to mention this here because if you hate the way
it sounds, or can't stand to use it, it doesn't matter how much
how much you saved. Don't talk yourself into a keyboard that
doesn't satisfy you purely on monetary grounds. If you have to,
wait.
- Quality of manuals. Be sure to inquire if there are
third-party books on programming or using the keyboard.
You may want to buy a copy of the keyboard's documentation
to review at home before making your final decision.
- Number of voices and multitimbrality. This is essentially
the number of simultaneous noises that your keyboard can
make. In the case of a keyboard, polyphony (as interpreted by
the marketing department) means "the number of different waveforms
which can be produced at once". This is an important distinction
to remember; many current keyboards will actually use more than
one waveform simultaneously to produce the sound (usually called
a "patch", referring to how older synthesizers were programmed
with "patch cords"), which you hear when a single key is struck.
For instance, if a keyboard has 32-voice polyphony and uses four
simultaneous waveforms to produce a single note, the effective
polyphony (in the first sense, "more than one note at once") is
now only eight (eight notes * 4 waveforms/voice = 32 waveforms).
This problem can be even worse for a multitimbral keyboard; these
are commonly touted as being a complete composing and performing
solution in a single box. However, attempting to produce an entire
arrangement of a piece at once may very well exceed the effective
polyphony very quickly. Multitimbral synths may be able to play
several patches at once, but each note being played on a patch
reduces the number of waveforms left to produce another note on
any of the patches. For example, a standard drum track will
typically use at least four (and possibly more) waveforms at
some point: bass drum, snare, hi-hat, and ride cymbal. Remember
that even if they all only come together at one sixteenth note,
all of the voices will be required at once. Add in piano and
several other voices, and you will be getting close to or
exceeding the effective polyphony very quickly.
When you exceed the number of waveforms that can be produced
simultaneously, the keyboard will do one of two things: old
(already-sounding) voices will have to be silenced to get
waveforms for the new ones (this is called "voice stealing"),
or the new notes simply won't sound until the old ones are
released (this is less common). Some keyboards allow you to
assign "priorities" to voices to determine which ones
can be stolen from first. Others simply take the oldest voice
and give its waveforms to the new note.
You will have to determine the effective polyphony to decide
whether a given keyboard has enough voices for you. This can be
somewhat difficult. It is essential that you check this out
hands-on. Play the sounds available in the store with as many
fingers on the keys as you will use in normal playing for those
sounds. If you like fat two-handed minor 11ths, you'll need a lot
more polyphony than players who only play one or two notes at a time.
If your playing isn't quite up to the challenge, try choosing a
patch and paying a number of notes with the sustain pedal held
down. See how the keyboard handles it when the polyphony is
exceeded. Another good test is to hit a high note and then see
how many low notes you can play before the high note disappears.
- Many newer synths include built-in effects processing.
See if it's possible to turn this off, or to route the
signals so that they aren't processed. You may want to be
able to process the sounds differently at a later date, so
being able to not process them internally is useful. Try out
the different effects and see if you like what they do. Again,
remember that multitimbral keyboards will usually force you
to choose a single effect (or none at all) for all of the
voices.
- Built-in sequencer. If you don't have a computer at home,
or you'd prefer to spend more money on the keyboard and
less on other things, consider a keyboard with a built-in
sequencer. You should sit down and actually try to use it
before springing for a keyboard on this basis; some are
very difficult to use and fairly limited in function.
- Availability of additional sounds. This may or may not be
important to you. If you want to make your own sounds, look
into the keyboard's voice architecture and programming. Get
the salesperson to demonstrate if possible. If you find it
confusing, you may find it difficult to program. If you want
to purchase third-party sounds, talk to the dealer about what's
available, and check out the ads in Keyboard magazine.
You should never buy any keyboard without trying it. Ways to do this:
talk to friends who own keyboards and get them to let you try them.
Ask as many questions as you can think of. If a local junior or
community college has a music lab, see what they've got and take some
classes. Or go to a local dealer. It's better to at least see a
keyboard once before asking about it on the discussion groups (SYNTH-L
or rec.music.synth), simply because there are a lot of personal
decisions to get out of the way first.
Certainly, the music store is a good place to at least try keyboards.
Try to hit the store when fewer people are likely to be there, like late
afternoon around dinnertime, or early in the morning. A good salesperson
won't be afraid to tell you that they don't have what you need, and won't
push something on you as "really hot" without justification. He or she
will also spend time talking to you about what you want to do and help
steer you toward features on different machines that will be useful
to you.
Never let yourself be stampeded into buying X as soon as you walk in.
If it's a legitimate deal, you will be able to come back later after
you check with the competition. For this reason, it's usually not a
good idea to buy a synth at a clearance sale or a "one-day-only"
special unless you're already sure that it's what you want.
Don't buy what it'll do "real soon now". Manufacturers are famous for
advertising upgrades, new patches, and lots of other things that you
can get right now that will "make it the most powerful synth available".
Always treat any keyboard purchase as if the company were going to
vanish tomorrow. You can only count on getting what you bought today
(Metlay's Law). Sometimes you can't even count on that (Rothwell's
Observation on Metlay's Law).
There are lots of variations on the "promise", some more subtle than others.
"Famous person X uses this," implying that you'll sound like X. Another one
is the inflated specs game: "16-bit sounds!" "32-voice polyphony!". None of
this makes the slightest bit of difference. If the sounds (or the potential)
of this keyboard right here, right now, don't make you want to sit down and
start writing music, the keyboard is worthless for you.
If your committment to keyboard playing is low, you may want to either
get a used keyboard, or to get a "consumer" multi-feature keyboard with
built-in accompaniment, etc. If you're unsure as to whether you'll want
to keep playing or not, you might want to consider purchasing a keyboard
which has been on the market for a year or so, but which is still very
popular. This will give you the chance to unload it used without taking
a complete bath on the money you spent.
If you are highly committed and motivated, and are planning to build a
studio over a period of time, you should carefully review *all* of the
synths available before making a choice. You may decide that a keyboard
which you can't currently afford would be a better long-term choice than
a different keyboard which doesn't meet your needs as well. Don't be
afraid to wait and save up some money; if for no other reason than the
heavy dependence on the music industry on them, electronic keyboards
are not likely to suddenly disappear like video games did in the '80's.
Once you've done the basic groundwork, and have narrowed the field a bit,
post a message to one of the discussion groups and ask for experiences,
and read reviews in Keyboard or Electronic Musician. Keyboard's reviews
tend to gloss over problems less. In many cases, you will get conflicting
recommendations; you will have to weigh these and your own experiences to
come to a final decision.
The final arbiter of your decision should always be you. You're the one
who'll be spending a significant piece of cash and a lot of your time on this
machine; it's to your advantage to find out as much as possible and to
make sure that the machine you're buying is really one that you want and
enjoy playing.
(Thanks to Bob Crispen, Ross C., Kraig Eno, and Alan W. Kerr for suggestions.)
--- Joe M. (xrjdm@twinpeaks.gsfc.nasa.gov)
---
Q: Where can I get patches for my keyboard?
A:
Use anonymous ftp to
ucsd.edu -- /midi/patches
(current offerings include the Roland D10, D5, D50, D70, U20
Yamaha DX7, FB01, TX81Z, SY22, SY55, SY77, Ensoniq ESQ1, SQ1,
Kawai K1, K4, K5, Korg M1, T3, WS, Casio CZ-1, CZ-2)
louie.udel.edu -- /pub/midi/patches
(has patches for most of the above and several more,
including E-mu Proteus, Korg 01/W, Ensoniq VFX, etc.)
---
Q: What is MIDI?
A:
(adapted from xrjdm@twinpeaks.gsfc.nasa.gov (Joseph D. McMahon)):
MIDI stands for "Musical Instrument Digital Interface". It is an
international standard which allows electronic keyboards, sound modules,
effects boxes, and other equipment to send information to one another.
Possibly the simplest use of the feature is when the MIDI OUT jack of
one synthesizer is connected to the MIDI IN jack of another, allowing you
to play both at the same time using just one keyboard.
MIDI can carry much more than just notes, however; most MIDI-capable
equipment will produce and respond to a variety of messages on the MIDI
bus. Also, the proper interface hardware will allow a computer to
control the musical equipment (see "EDITOR/LIBRARIAN" and "SEQUENCER").
MIDI is often used to build a studio in much the same way that you can
build a stereo system: by choosing individual components and combining
them into a whole.
The standard was instituted in 1987, and most keyboards after the Yamaha
DX7 have it. (Nit-picky note: some built before do, too, but the DX7 is a
good reference point.) It includes both a hardware standard (it's a
5 mA current loop carried on 3 wires, with 5-pin DIN connectors) and a
serial communications protocol based on byte-oriented message packets
running at 31.25 Kbaud.
[for a more complete treatment of MIDI, see the item "Where
can I find out all about MIDI?" -- Craig]
---
Q: What are definitions for the following things?
- aftertouch, envelope, FM, LFO, module, multitimbral, polyphony,
pressure, sampler, sequencer, synthesizer, velocity
A:
"AFTERTOUCH" -- same as "pressure"
"ENVELOPE"
"FM" -- frequency modulation
"LAYERING" -- see "MULTITIMBRAL"
"LFO" -- Low-Frequency Oscillator
"MIDI" -- Musical Instrument Digital Interface
An international standard which allows communication between electronic
music and lighting equipment from various manufacturers.
"MODULE"
"MULTITIMBRAL" -- capable of playing two or more timbres simultaneously
From: awkerr@zia.aoc.nrao.edu (Alan Kerr) (edited by K. Eno)
Date: 5 Aug 92
It means that there are multiple *timbres* on the machine: more than one
different sound can play simultaneously. A machine that is mulitimbral
*usually* will let you play those different sounds on different MIDI
channels. "Layering" causes the synth to produce more than one sound when
you press a single key; a "split" allows you to play one patch (a piano,
perhaps) on one range of keys while you play a different sound (the bass)
on another part of the keyboard.
"POLYPHONY" -- number of simultaneously playable voices
From: crispen <crispen@EFFTOO.BOEING.COM>
Date: 4 Aug 92
- Polyphony and multi-timbrality. The "polyphony" of a
keyboard is the number of simultaneous notes that it can
play. However, the polyphony advertised by the manufacturer
is usually greater than the polyphony you'll actually get,
especially with multi-timbral keyboards.
Imagine that you have a 16-note polyphonic multi-timbral synth.
If you have a multi-timbral sound that has two "raw" voices that
sound simultaneously, you're down to 8 different notes that can
sound at the same time (16 notes of polyphony divided by two
voices). This is true even if the two voices are the same raw
voice, but doubled to give a thicker sound. If you have four
voices in the multi-timbral sound, you're down to four notes
that can sound at once.
The real question, then, is how many voices (on the average)
this keyboard requires to make up a multi-voice sound that's
useful. This will vary from one to four or more. A sampler,
for example, may only require one voice to produce exactly the
sound you want, while some kinds of synthesizer will take three
or more voices before the sound is halfway decent.
When you exceed the polyphony limit (and the rule is that you
never have as much as you want) different keyboards handle the
overflow differently; most turn off the "oldest" voice first;
some allow you to set the way overflow is handled. Some quiet
down the voice that's been turned off very subtly; others are
noisy. Many newer keyboards have "dynamic voice allocation"
(DVA) which allows you to guarantee a certain number of notes
on each raw voice; when you exceed the polyphony limit, the
keyboard will steal from other voices with lower guarantee
numbers so that you get more notes, but each note sounds a
little thinner because not all the voices are sounding.
You *must* check this out hands-on. Play the multi-timbral
sounds in the store with as many fingers on the keys
as you will use in normal playing for those sounds. If you
like fat two-handed minor 11ths, you'll need a lot more
polyphony than players who only play one or two notes at a time.
"PRESSURE" -- keyboard feature for sensing continuous key pressure
Keyboards which are pressure-sensitive (or have "aftertouch", which
is the same thing) can detect the amount of pressure on a key AFTER
it has reached the end of its initial travel; this data can be used
to vary the loudness or other characteristic of the sound, and usually
sent as MIDI continuous controller messages as well.
MONO pressure, also called "channel" pressure, detects the key that's
pressed hardest; POLY pressure senses the individual amount for each
separate key.
"SAMPLER" -- a device for recording and playing back digitally
recorded sounds (I know, I know, the Mellotron)
"SEQUENCER" -- a musical event recorder
"SPLIT" -- see "MULTITIMBRAL"
"SYNTHESIZER" -- device for producing sound through analog or algorithmic means
As generally used, a musical instrument which produces a sound signal
by means of either analog electronics or real-time, algorithmic generation
of a digital waveform. A variety of techniques are used:
Additive synthesis
Subtractive synthesis
Ring Modulation synthesis
Frequency Modulation synthesis
Phase Distortion synthesis
(But is a pipe organ a synthesizer? How about "real" instruments"?)
"VELOCITY" -- keyboard feature for sensing how hard you initially play a note
Velocity-sensitive keyboards detect how hard you play. Usually they do
this by measuring how FAST a note is played -- that is, by measuring the
delay between the initial strike and the time the key reaches the end of
its travel.
The information is usually used to determine the loudness of the note,
but can also cause effects such as a faster attack or a shorter overall
envelope, depending on the internal architecture of the sound generator.
---
Q: Where can I get price lists?
A:
Ken Shirriff (shirriff@sprite.berkeley.edu) posts a price list
every two weeks in rec.music.synth. It is also available by anonymous
ftp to sprite.berkeley.edu in the file synth_prices.
---
Q: Where can I get a USA music store list?
A:
William J. Sequeira (pixel@ihlpe.att.com) posts such a list
monthly to rec.music.synth.
--crl
+++
C: [Connectivity issues]
---
Q: What is NetJam?
A:
NetJam provides a means for people to collaborate on musical
compositions, by sending Musical Instrument Digital Interface (MIDI)
and other files (such as MAX patchers and notated scores) to each
other, mucking about with them, and resending them. All those with
MIDI-compatible (and other interesting) equipment, access to emailing
and compression facilities and to the Internet (send mail as below for
details), and who are interested in making music are encouraged to
participate.
All participant and composition information is documented, and
the most actions, such as subscription, submission, translation, and
information distribution, are automated. NetJam is
platform-independent, so users of Macintoshes, PCs, Amigas, Ataris,
and machines running UNIX-variants may all communicate with each
other. There are currently 134 participants, from all over the world.
NetJam has branched out from its initial incarnation to
support {soft/hard}ware other than sequencers. For example, many
participants have access to several interesting sound synthesis
programs, like CSound for the NeXT. In addition, NetJam archives
sampler and MAX patcher data. Any data relating to art and music is
fair game.
Most NetJam activity takes place via email, in which
participants collaborate at their own pace on works. Recently,
however, a Wide-Area MIDI Network was implemented, so real-time
interaction is now possible.
Submissions, participant info, and other data is archived on
xcf.Berkeley.EDU (128.32.138.1), where it is available via anonymous
ftp. To receive the document from which this blurb is extracted (and
which explains NetJam at length) send mail to netjam-request@xcf, with
a subject line containing "request for info". Articles about NetJam
have also appeared in the Computer Music Journal (15/3), and the
Leonardo Music Journal (1/1).
We look forward to hearing from you.
Craig Latta
musician and moderator
latta@xcf.Berkeley.EDU
---
Q: What are some other emailing lists relating to electronic and
computer music?
A:
The nextmusic list discusses NeXT-related topics, contact
nextmusic-request@wri.com for subscription information.
There are the EMUSIC-L and EMUSIC-D lists; unfortunately, I've
forgotten their subscription info. All I know is I'm subscribed...
don't you hate that? I just know I would embarrass myself in front of
millions of BITNETters if I tried to ask...
---
Q: What are some other midi-file/software archives on the Internet?
A:
Piet van Oostrum (piet@cs.ruu.nl) keeps a list of Internet
MIDI-related archives, available via ftp as
anonymous@cs.ruu.nl:MIDI/DOC/archives, and via a mail-server - send
mail to mail-server@cs.ruu.nl with the following contents: BEGIN PATH
<a valid mail address to you> HELP send MIDI/INDEX END Note: specify a
correct address (e.g. user@host.univ.edu or user@host.BITNET)
---
Q: How do I contact the editorial staff of Electronic Musician
magazine?
A:
Date: Thu, 19 Dec 1991 09:28:35 EST
From: Brian Adamson <adamson%ITD.NRL.NAVY.MIL@AUVM.AMERICAN.EDU>
Subject: contacting Electronic Musician magazine
To: Multiple recipients of list EMUSIC-L <EMUSIC-L@AUVM>
The Jan 1992 issue of Electronic Musician magazine tells
how to submit questions to the magazine via e-mail from
Internet. (These questions are sometimes published in their
letters to the editor column).
Simply e-mail to:
EMEDITORIAL@PAN.COM (their address on PAN)
--
Brian Adamson
NRL Code 5523
adamson@itd.nrl.navy.mil
+++
C: [Software]
---
Q: What is Smallmusic? What is the MODE?
A:
Smallmusic is an abstract, object-oriented music
representation. An environment implementing it, called the Music
Object Development Environment (MODE) is available. It features
several novel and portable interfaces to musical structures and
hardware. It is written in ParcPlace Smalltalk, and is thus portable
between many platforms, including Suns, DECstations, HPs, IBM PCs, and
Macintoshes. It was designed and written by Stephen Pope
(stp@ccrma.stanford.edu) and several others.
You can obtain the MODE via ftp as
anonymous@ccrma-ftp.stanford.edu:pub/st80/MODE/.
A work group has formed to discuss and develop this
object-oriented software system for music. The email address for the
group is smallmusic@xcf.Berkeley.EDU. If you are interested in
joining the discussion, email smallmusic-request@xcf.Berkeley.EDU,
with the subject line "add me".
Thanks,
Craig Latta
latta@xcf.berkeley.edu
***
Smallmusic abstract
This document describes an abstract object-oriented
representation for musical parameters, events and structures known as
the MODE music representation. In object-oriented software terms, the
representation is described in terms of software class hierarchies of
objects that share state and behavior and implement the description
language as their protocol. The author (and his collaborators by
implication) believe this representation, and its proposed linear
ASCII description in Smalltalk-80 syntax, to be well-suited as a basis
for concrete description languages in other syntaces, specially-
designed binary storage and interchange formats, and use within and
between interactive multi-media, hyper-media applications in several
possible domains.
---
Q: What is Keynote?
A:
Keynote, a textual, graphical, and algorithmic music editor,
is available to Berkeley.EDU sites from xcf.Berkeley.EDU, under its
site license. Users at those sites may direct inquiries to
netjam@xcf.Berkeley.EDU. Others may direct inquiries to the author,
Timothy Thompson (tjt@twitch.att.com), via
keynote-request@twitch.att.com.
A mailing list for discussions about Keynote has been created.
If you'd like to be added, send mail to keynote-request@blink.att.com.
If you don't know what Keynote is, here's a short description:
Keynote is an awk-like programming language and graphical editor
for MIDI data, with both algorithmic and realtime applications.
The graphical interface is based on only a few built-in functions -
the entire user interface of a complete music editor (piano-roll
style with pop-up menus) is written in Keynote itself, and is hence
completely customizable and extensible by the user. Although it
works best on UNIX systems under the X Window System, Keynote is
portable and runs on the Macintosh and Amiga.
Discussion on the list will include availability and porting
issues, usage hints and tutorials, sharing of user experiences, and
discussion of further development. An archive server has also been
set up to allow sharing of documentation, examples, and music.
...Tim Thompson...AT&T Bell Laboratories/Holmdel/NJ...tjt@blink.att.com...
---
Q: What is MusicTeX, and how can I get it?
A:
MusicTeX is a TeX music typesetter, and is available via ftp
at the sites returned by 'archie musictex' (see entry on 'archie'
above for details).
Sorry for the cop-out answer. Anyone got a better one?
Craig
---
Q: What are some currently available sound editors for the NeXT?
A:
Date: Sat, 21 Mar 1992 18:25:21 -0600
From: NeXTmusic Mailing List <nextmusic@wri.com>
Subject: Sound Editors
From: "Paul Lansky" <paul@silvertone.Princeton.EDU>
In a previous post there was some discussion of Soundworks
and a reference to some of the sound editors on the princeton
server. I thought I would clear up some confusion by posting
a list of everything I know about available sound editors
1) Soundworks: available from Metaresearch.
Has some great features, but a new version
is forthcoming which should be much better
2) Edsnd: by Jamie pritchard, at pub/music at princeton.edu
based on the original soundeditor by
lee boynton, with cut/paste, fft and spectral
views added.
3) Edsnd2: by Jamey Pritchard, at princeton.edu
Comes up with a time-line instead of a soundview
and you can then select any portion to view.
I added a marker system which can be saved
as a simple ascii file, and can cue arbitrary
sections of a soundfile. Quite useful for
parsing soundfiles. I used this and RT
exclusively to prepare a 20 minute piece
by Steve Mackey for CD. We never touched
his original soundfiles.
4) edsndP: by Stephen Master, at princeton.edu
This is a rewrite of the original edsnd using
Metaresearch's dataController and dataView objects.
It is very fast, and has lots of neat features.
I think it is the best one so far, although it
could use a marker system. The appended "P" is
a long story which I'll tell privately to anyone
who really wants to know.
5) SE: The IRCAM signal editor, available at ccrma-ftp.stanford.edu
This has some really incredible features. It has to
be seen to be believed. It is a different approach
than all the others, but it can be quite useful.
Its main drawback at the moment is that it only
accepts mono files.
7 Spectro: by Perry cook, available at stanford
does "waterfall plots" of spectra
Emulates a Hewlett-Packard spectrum analyzer.
8) Sonogram: a very nice grey-scale spectral analyzer, available
on most of the archive sites.
-------------------
sort of signal editors
9)Ein: at Princeton, by me and Ken Steiglitz
dsp scratch pad, with spectral, fft and soundviews
10) RT: at Princeton, by me and Kent Dickey
real-time mixer and editor. Pete Yadlowsky
added a very nice lisp front end.
-------------------
forthcoming commercial software
11) Holstein, from Stealth Technology. The Stealth DAI 2400 is the
digital audio interface, and the ADA1800 is the A-D-A plus digital
audio interface. Don't know anything about it
12) Singular Solutions updates. Don't know anything about it
-----------------------------
I'm sure I've left out a few. Someone please complete
the list. (I'd be glad to store all these at Princeton.)
While these programs do a lot, there are still a lot of
things we could use. It would be interesting to discuss
these things here. (for example: it might be nice to have a
scrubbing routine that would allow you to rock back and forth
the way we used to do with tape-heads (ouch)) (I'd also love
a visual editor for RT).
Paul Lansky
---
Q: What is MixView, and how can I get it?
A:
Date: Mon, 16 Sep 91 15:39:51 PDT
From: doug@foxtrot.ccmrc.ucsb.edu (Douglas Scott)
To: MixviewFans@foxtrot.ccmrc.ucsb.edu
Subject: mixview version 3.2 now available
Greetings to you all on my mixview mailing list. The
newest version of mixview, my X - based soundfile
editor/processor, is now available on a new anonymous
ftp site where I now work: foxtrot.ccmrc.ucsb.edu
(128.111.92.30), as pub/mixview-v3.2.tar.Z. [Version 3.1
was withdrawn -- 3.0 was the most recent distribution].
The new version features a record command (for those of
you running it on NeXTs), plus a play command that allows
you to stop the play at any point. As soon as I hear that
there is still interest, I will activate and debug the
record command for those of you working on
SparcStations.
Anyone who needs the source mailed via uucp, let me know.
As usual, please let me know if you wish to be removed from
my mailing list.
Douglas Scott (805)893-8352
Center for Computer Music Research and Composition
University of California, Santa Barbara
Internet: (NeXTMail ok) <doug@foxtrot.ccmrc.ucsb.edu>
---
Q: What is "DUB", and how can I get it?
A:
Date: Tue, 11 Jun 91 11:05:54 PDT
From: Robert_Poor@NeXT.COM
To: nextmusic@silvertone.Princeton.EDU
Subject: DUB: Mixing and overdubbing in real time
Comrades:
Let's make a deal. I have written "DUB," an application that mixes
together multiple sound files on the fly and overdubs (records) at
the same time. It's ugly but it works but it's UGLY. I'm not proud
of it. The user interface is the worst thing I've written since I
quit programming in BASIC over two decades ago.
The good things about DUB: It mixes together N "playlists" on the
fly. A playlist is a sequence of non-overlapping sounds. The
DACPlayer object is pretty clean, the DSPRecorder object (and
attendant dspRecorder.asm code) knows how to drive the Ariel digital
mic at different sampling rates. It records at the same time that it
plays back.
The bad things about DUB: There's no real user interface. The sound
file names that it opens to play are hardwired in the source code.
The sound file that it records into is similarly hardwired. You have
to launch it from a shell (or more often a debugger) in the directory
that contains the sound files "track1.snd," "track2.snd," etc. There
are features that the low level code supports (dynamic gain control,
setting the duration of the sounds) that the user interface doesn't
exploit.
DUB does useful things that many NeXT sound and music aficionados
have asked about, but my pride prevents me from distributing it
broadly in its current ugly state. So let's make a deal: I will give
the project folder (source code, IB.proj, etc) if you agree to the
following:
* You must be able to receive (and send) NeXT mail attachments.
(That's how we'll communicate.)
* You will implement a "safe and sane" user interface for Dub.
* You already know NeXTstep programming and won't ask me lots
of questions (I'm perpetually swamped at work, and I may not
have much time to answer your questions.)
* You will send me the finished application in source form.
* You will allow me to put the finished application in source
form on the archive servers.
* Most importantly, you won't laugh at me or malign me in public
for writing such a mean user interface.
If you can agree to all the above, and you're interested in helping
the rest of the NeXT community make beautiful music on the NeXT, I
want to hear from you.
Thanks!
- Robert Poor
NeXT Developer Marketing
rpoor@next.com
---
Q: What is "RT", and how can I get it?
A:
Date: Mon, 15 Jul 91 15:17:12 PDT
From: Conrad_Geiger@NeXT.COM
To: nextmusic@silvertone.Princeton.EDU
Subject: Real time sound mixer
A new real time sound mixing program from Paul Lansky on the net...
conrad
From: paul@phoenix.Princeton.EDU (Paul Lansky)
Subject: Real time sound mixer
Date: 14 Jul 91 15:26:45 GMT
I have placed a real-time sound mixing program, RT, in
pub/music/NeXTrt.tar.Z at princeton.edu. This was
written by me and Kent Dickey, and essentially allows you
to play arbitrary segments of up to 32 different soundfiles
in 8 tracks, as if they were notes, overlapping, panning,
enveloping and even pitchshifting them. The limitation on
the system is essentially disk throughput, which seems to
allow you to do about 450k bytes per second. This means
you can mix two 44k stereo files, 2 22k stereo and one 44k
stereo, etc, at a time. A really nice feature of the program
is that you can play different channel formats and different
sampling rates at the same time! If you overload the system
there will be interruptions, but you can also write the mix out
to disk.
I *think* it is fairly robust now, and easy to use. I have
not placed it in the archives since I want to keep tinkering
with it, and so want to keep it in reach.
Future additions will include a signal editor, and perhaps some
sort of graphic display, although the latter would be tricky, given
that for my current work I often find myself lining up as many as
500 sound segments to play.
I am anxious for feedback and suggestions. This program will not
work well on 030 machines. Enjoy it.
Paul Lansky
Music Department
Princeton University
paul@princeton.edu
paul@silvertone.princeton.edu
---
Q: What is "RTLisp", and how can I get it?
A:
Date: Tue, 28 Jan 92 17:14:51 GMT
From: Pete Yadlowsky <pmy@vivaldi.acc.Virginia.EDU>
Subject: new Lisp interface to Lansky's "rt"
Apparently-To: nextmusic@wri.com
RTLisp runs on David Betz's XLisp and is comprised of a set of object
class and function definitions which provide a Lisp interface to
Paul Lansky's NeXT-based, real-time audio mixing software,
`rt'. The rt user arranges audio material temporally,
dynamically and spatially by means of a relatively simple grammar
which is parsed and executed by rt's audio driver program. The
simplicity of this grammar can make it rather tedious to use,
though, especially in the realization of complex `scores'. Also,
there is no provision for the programmatic generation of audio
events, so every event must be specified in detail by hand.
RTLisp was designed to facilitate the process of rt score
creation. It equips the composer with a powerful, interactive
high-level programming environment (Lisp), and lends some
intelligence to tasks such as temporal placement and grouping of
audio events, control of dynamics in the stereo field and rt
`track' assignment.
RTLisp can be thought of as a sort of rt command compiler. It can run
standalone in a shell window, controlling the rt audio driver
directly, or it can run in conjunction with rt.app, Mr. Lansky's
NextStep interface to the driver.
RTLisp is available in two different packages. The first, under
NeXTrt.tar, contains rtlisp binaries and scripts merged with a
new version of rt.app, along with an RTLisp chapter in rt.app's
online documentation. The second, rtlisp.tar, does not include
rt.app but does include binaries, lisp source, rt's audio driver
and XLisp and rtlisp documentation.
anon ftp: uvaarpa.acc.virginia.edu:/pub/next/Apps/NeXTrt.tar.Z
uvaarpa.acc.virginia.edu:/pub/next/bin/rtlisp.tar.Z
princeton.edu:/pub/music/NeXTrt.tar.Z
princeton.edu:/pub/music/rtlisp.tar.Z
---
Peter M. Yadlowsky | Laden e-mail runs
Academic Computing Center | Bumbling, creaking through the net
University of Virginia | Sysadmins tremble.
pmy@Virginia.EDU | - after Buson
---
Q: Are there programs to convert back and forth between
human/filter-readable text and MIDI files? How do I get them?
A:
From: Piet van Oostrum <piet%CS.RUU.NL@AUVM.AMERICAN.EDU>
Subject: Announcing MF2T/T2MF
To: Multiple recipients of list EMUSIC-L <EMUSIC-L@AUVM>
Two programs to manipulate standard midifiles.
mf2t is a program that reads a standard midifile (format 0 or 1) and
writes an ASCII representation of it that is both compact and easily parsable.
t2mf is the companion program that reparses the text representation
into a midifile.
Piet van Oostrum, Dept of Computer Science, Utrecht University,
P.O. Box 80.089, 2508 TB Utrecht, The Netherlands
email: piet@cs.ruu.nl
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
You can do with this program what you like, but if you think it is
useful I would appreciate if you send me some of your midifiles. Not
ones that I can find on the Internet. Please send them uu- or
btoa-encoded. Zoo and Arc archives (encoded) are also OK, Zip and
Lharc may be problematic.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
The text representation is chosen such that it is easily recognized and
manipulated by programs like sed, awk or perl. Yet it is also humanly
readable so that it can be manipulated with an ordianary text editor.
In this way you can make changes to your midifiles using these
powerful programs or even in Cobol :=). Or you can write
algorithmic compositions using a familiar programming language.
mf2t/t2mf is available via ftp at the sites returned by 'archie mf2t'
(see the entry on 'archie' above).
by mail-server:
send the following message to
mail-server@cs.ruu.nl (or uunet!mcsun!hp4nl!ruuinf!mail-server):
begin
path john@highbrow.edu (PLEASE SUBSTITUTE *YOUR* ADDRESS)
send MIDI/PROGRAMS/mf2t.zoo
end
NOTE: *** PLEASE USE VALID INTERNET ADDRESSES IF POSSIBLE. DO NOT USE
ADDRESSES WITH ! and @ MIXED !!!! BITNETTERS USE USER@HOST.BITNET ***
The path command can be deleted if we receive a valid from address in your
message. If this is the first time you use our mail server, we suggest you
first issue the request:
send HELP
--
Piet* van Oostrum, Dept of Computer Science, Utrecht University,
Padualaan 14, P.O. Box 80.089, 3508 TB Utrecht, The Netherlands.
Telephone: +31 30 531806 Uucp: uunet!mcsun!ruuinf!piet
Telefax: +31 30 513791 Internet: piet@cs.ruu.nl (*`Pete')
---
Q: What is CSound?
A:
Date: Sat, 21 Mar 1992 10:36:00 LCL
From: DOWRJ%VAX1.COMPUTER-CENTRE.BIRMINGHAM.AC.UK@AUVM.AMERICAN.EDU
Subject: csound
csound is a comprehensive synthesis and processing package
written by Barry Vercoe at the Media Lab, MIT. It is written in more
or less portable C (although it does make use of one or two functions
which are not ANSI such as open(), close()), and will certainly run
well on any UNIX box i.e. SUNs, VAXen, etc. It also runs on the
Macintosh under ThinkC 4.0. At the University of Birmingham we have it
running on Apollo Workstations, our IBM3090 mainframe, and an old
version also comes as part of York University's CDP (Composer's
Desktop Project).
The latest version of csound not only has the usual modules
for processing and synthesis but also has those for doing FOF
synthesis (cf. CHANT), and for phase vocoding. There is also the
ability to take in standard MIDI files as score files, or (on speedy
machines) the ability to run csound in real time, and trigger events
from a MIDI stream.
csound can output sound-files in AIFF format to be read by Mac
type things such as Sound Designer, and also: 8-bit signed character
samples, alaw samples, ulaw samples, short integers, long integers,
floats, with or without IRCAM (1K) headers. It can output files for
the NeXT to play too.
The package is available via anonymous ftp to
ems.media.mit.edu in the /pub directory. Look at the README's for
details of what you need. The manaul is available as postscript.
If anyone wants a copy of the IBM3090 version, they could
contact me directly. Unfortunately the modified code is in a bit of a
mess at the moment as I am re-porting it for another version of C
(C370), but I have a running CSOUND MODULE.
At Birmingham we run CSOUND on the IBM3090 for complex CPU
intensive stuff, and transfer it to an ATARI TT (30MHz) via an
ethernet connection. The ATARI runs CDP, and has a soundstreamer. We
are getting some more ethernet boards which will allow us to bring the
files into Sound Tools running on another ATARI (this will be a
massive kludge!). The transfer takes some time, but since something
which took a day to compute on a normal ATARI takes 20 minutes on the
IBM we're not complaining.
Robert Dow, Department of Music, Barber Institute of Fine Arts, Edgbaston,
Birmingham, B15 2TT, UK
DOWRJ@uk.ac.bham.vax1 (JANET - address in uk order)
Date: Wed, 8 Apr 1992 19:16:10 -0500
From: NeXTmusic Mailing List <nextmusic@wri.com>
Subject: Snd v1.2 released
Reply-To: pmy@klang.music.Virginia.EDU (Pete Yadlowsky)
Snd is a NeXTStep interface to an enhanced version of Vercoe's csound (v2.0).
Other audio-related applications are also supported, to the effect of providing
a general, integrated computer music production environment. Like its
forebears, v1.2 offers on-line documentation, easy access to and management of
the various file types, push-button control and execution of csound and other
applications, csound output signal scaling and remote-host csound execution.
Here's what's new:
- inline signal limiting (csound); eliminates signal clipping
without having to post-scale an entire floating-pt soundfile
(linear post-scaling is still available)
- internal speaker control
- 'lisp' file type, knowledge of Paul Lansky's rt.driver
- 'Windows' menu entry
- simpler access to csound manual
- various minor improvements and fixes
Where: uvaarpa.acc.virginia.edu:/pub/next/Apps/Snd/Snd1.2.tar.Z
- Pete
Peter M. Yadlowsky | Laden e-mail runs
Academic Computing Center | Bumbling, creaking through the net
University of Virginia | Sysadmins tremble.
pmy@Virginia.EDU | - after Buson
---
Q: What are the requirements of CSound?
A:
The requirements for CSound are somewhat flexible. I actually compiled a
Mac + (MPW) version of CSound 2-3 years ago, but it took about 8 hours to
make 80 seconds worth of sound! I suggest you use a system with hardware
floating point and a 32-bit processor (Any Mac II with FPU, a NeXT, Indigo).
As far as memory requirements, that depends on how big your gen function
tables will be. The same with hard disk size. If you want to make a
10 minute stereo piece at 44.1K sample rate, you will need 106 megabytes
of disk space. (10.6 Megs per stereo minute at 44.1K, 11.6 at 48K).
So the answer is... use as big of a system as you can buy or borrow.
---
Q: Is there a tutorial on CSound?
A:
Date: Fri, 7 Aug 92 10:41:46 GMT-0800
From: sandell@cnmat.cnmat.berkeley.edu
Subject: Re: ... Electronic and Computer Music FAQ ...
Beyond the CSound manual, there is little to help you unless
you take a course in computer music (summer courses, at CCRMA, UIUC,
Brooklyn College, etc.)
--
Greg Sandell
Research Fellow, Center for New Music and Audio Technologies (CNMAT)
sandell@cnmat.cnmat.berkeley.edu or sandell@garnet.berkeley.edu
---
Q: Where can I get recordings of electronic music?
A:
Date: Wed, 20 Nov 1991 13:37:30 EST
From: The Radio Gnome <V2002A%TEMPLEVM.bitnet@AUVM.AMERICAN.EDU>
Subject: Mail order sources for EM
To: Multiple recipients of list EMUSIC-L <EMUSIC-L@AUVM>
Hi,
Below are some of the places I order/have ordered from along with
some short descriptions.
Any word of new releases by Georges Boutz or Thom Brennan?
Alcazar Heavier emphasis on the folk/newage end of things.
Box 429
South Main ST
Waterbury, VT 05676 800-541-9904
Wayside Music Lots of rare/unusual stuff as well as some
Box 6517 pressings on their own Cuneiform label.
Wheaton, MD 20906-0517
Eurock Distribution A one person show (Archie Patterson)
Box 13718
Portland, OR 97213
Lotus Records Carried a lot of rarities. Last ordered from them
23 High Street in 1985.
Newcastle-under-Lyme
Staffordshire ST5 1QZ
Great Britain
Mirage Music Martin Reeds venture. Used to carry Mark
612 Southmead Road Shreeves early cassette only releases.
Filton Also good cassettes by Ian Boddy and Steve Frost.
Bristol BS12 7RF
Great Britain
Backroads Distribution More Newagey type stuff but extensive inventory.
417 Tamal Plaza Also carry New Albion and Erdenklang Labels.
Corte Madera, CA 94925 800-825-4848
Generations Unlimited They carry David Prescotts tapes and some
199 Strathmore #5 good stuff by Jorge Thomasios
Brighton, MA 02135-5210
The Music Suite Ltd Carry the complete Adrian Wagner Collection.
Glanyrafon House Also check out 3 Men Underground.
Cenarth - Newcastle Emyln
Dyfed SA38 9JN
Great Britain
Perry Thompson He sent me his cassette Sleeping Giants for
70 Sproul Rd. free. Its very Burmer-esque.
Malvern, PA 19355
Charles Cohen Ask about his "Darwin in Chains" cassette and
Box 181 the unreleased(?) "Swizzle Stick"
Riverton, NJ 08077
George Wallace c/o All three of his releases are MUSTS in
Larger than Life Music any EM collection. Start with Communion.
10 Belmont Sq.
Doylestown, PA 18901
Jesse Clark His latest, Locked in Heaven is his best, but
710 Eton-Adelphia Rd. earlier releases are also good, especially
Freehold, NJ 07728 "CAMELIA"
"She has learned that short ideas repeated massage the brain" - Robert Ashley
---
Q: Is there PostScript code available for generating guitar scales?
A:
Yes, via ftp as:
anonymous@xcf.berkeley.edu:misc/netjam/lib/scales.ps.mail
---
Q: Where can I get online guitar tablature?
James Bender (jamesb@nevada.edu) maintains an ftp archive of
guitar tablature, at ftp.nevada.edu(131.216.1.11).
---
Q: What are some public-domain (or nearly so) sample-editing programs
for IBM-PC compatibles?
A:
Date: Wed, 15 Jan 1992 13:36:00 LCL
From: Achim Haag <UJ69%DKAUNI2.bitnet@AUVM.AMERICAN.EDU>
Subject: Re: Tetra compositor
To: Multiple recipients of list EMUSIC-L <EMUSIC-L@AUVM>
Hi,
I don't know anything about the Tetra compositor, but I know two
public domain programs, that are quite similar to Soundtracker.
The first is called ScreamTracker (for PC). It has many functions:
play in background, peak level meter, oscilloscope...
Unfortunately it's shareware and the autor wants some $100 before he
will send you a version that can SAVE your own created songs.
It can handle many output devices (PC speaker via PCM, D/A-
converter at an printer port, SoundBlaster (I believe!!!)), but I don't
think it's worth this much.
The second one - MODEDIT - is not quite as comfortably as the Scream-
tracker, but it's public domain and therefore is worth it's money...
Unfortunately it does *not* support SoundBlaster, but I've build a
simple D/A-converter and now I can listen to the sounds on my stereo.
[Nathan Torkington <gnat@kauri.vuw.ac.nz> says, on 18 August 1992,
that "There is a program distributed with the later releases called
ModRes which allows ModEdit to play the modules using the
SoundBlaster, etc."]
I've many samples from an amiga-user, so this shouldn't by a problem.
Hope this information is useful for you.
Bye, Achim
---
Q: What are Patchmix and StochGran and how can I get them?
A:
Date: Wed, 29 Jan 92 14:15:04 GMT-0500
From: mara helmuth <mara@silvertone.Princeton.EDU>
Subject: Patchmix and StochGran
Apparently-To: nextmusic@wri.com
I have put new versions of Patchmix and StochGran at the Princeton
archive (Princeton.edu) in the "pub/music" directory. These are
both NeXT interfaces. Patchmix is a graphical front end to Cmix
which allows you to create instruments by connecting a patch of unit
generator icons. StochGran is a granular synthesis instrument.
The source code is there, and it is necessary to have Cmix installed
to compile them. I'm still adding things, so let me know if you use
them and have suggestions.
Mara Helmuth
mara@woof.columbia.edu
mara@silvertone.princeton.edu
---
Q: What is the IRCAM Signal Editor and how can I get it?
A:
Date: Thu, 30 Jan 92 10:36:18 PST
From: daj@ccrma.Stanford.EDU (David Jaffe)
Subject: Re: SoundKit vs MusicKit
Apparently-To: nextmusic@wri.com
davidfe writes about the problem of using the Music Kit and Sound Kits
together, playing sound with the Music Kit,then playing sound with the
Sound Kit, then having problems with the DSP.
This is a well-known problem. Here's what's going on:
The sound kit preempts whatever else is going on when it plays a sound.
So it grabs the "sound-out link from the DSP" that the Music Kit is using.
But it doesn't restore the link.
Basically, the only way to do what you want (currently) is to close (or abort)
the Orchestra, play the sound, and then open the orchestra again. If you
are using the orchestra in timed mode (the default), you probably want to
finish the performance too.
I.e.:
-playsound {
[Orchestra abort];
[Conductor finishPerformance];
[sound play];
}
when sound is done:
-soundIsDone {
[Orchestra open];
...allocate SynthPatches and such, if necessary...
...activate Performers if necessary...
[Conductor startPerformance];
}
Future releases of NeXT software should solve this problem.
---
Q: Which glove interfaces with the Max 'glove' object?
A:
Date: Thu, 20 Feb 92 16:03:49 CST
From: James McCartney <james@astro.as.utexas.edu>
To: max@dcs.edinburgh.ac.uk
Subject: power glove
The glove object uses the Gold Brick ADB interface from Transfinite
Systems. (617) 969-9570 The cost is $169 for a user system or $245 for
the developer model which provides LEDs for monitoring ADB activity
and other stuff.
---
Q: What software reads DCMS files and converts them to something else?
A:
Date: Mon, 24 Feb 92 15:29:58 -0800
From: Phil Burk <phil@mills.edu>
Subject: DMCS -> Copyist files.
Many folks have asked about a conversion program that will read
DMCS files and convert them to something else. The only program
I know of is Copyist Companion by Nick Didkovsky. It converts
DMCS files to Dr. T's Copyist compatible files. The main purpose
is for printing good scores from DMCS files. Nick has talked about
converting DMCS to MIDIFiles or other formats so ask him and maybe
he will write it. You can order Copyist Companion from Dr T
or from Nick directly. Nick is at:
didkovsk@dorsai.com
This program is for the Amiga.
---
Q: What is Midi2TeX, and how can I get it?
A:
Date: Wed, 5 Aug 92 10:47 MET
From: KUYKENS@amc.uva.nl
Subject: MIDI2TeX V 1.1 uploaded
Recently I have finished version 1.1 of the MIDI2TeX translator.
Instead of sending it by e-mail to all users I now have uploaded the
complete package (PC and ST) on ftp site
obelix.icce.rug.nl
directory : pub/erikjan/MIDI2TeX
Download st_m2t11.arc for the ST and pc_m2t11.exe for the PC. The file
m2tex11.inf contains some general information about the package.
I encourage everybody to transfer the package to other (more general) ftp
sites. If you do, please inform me where you uploaded it and in what
directory.
For those of you who do not have ftp access I am still willing to send the
new version by e-mail. Please e-mail your request. It may take one or two
weeks before you receive the package by e-mail.
Hans Kuykens
+++
C: [Hardware]
---
Q: What are some good things with which to whack MIDI drum triggers?
A:
From: rich@cygnus.cygnus.com (K. Richard Pixley)
Newsgroups: rec.music.synth
Subject: great sticks for midi pads! (Wam-Rods)
Date: 29 Dec 91 16:44:35 GMT
If you use midi drum pads, run, don't walk, to your nearest phone book
and start calling drum and music stores. You are looking for
something called "Wam-Rods". They should run you $6-8 a pair. They
are translucent softish plastic drum sticks, in several colors. The
BIG win is that they do what they claim to do, which is put the bounce
back in plywood feeling midi drum pads. They also seem to be a little
easier on the pads themselves. I'm not really a drummer, but I don't
play my pads with anything else any more.
The only drawback I can see, is that unless you get the clear ones, or
one of the dark colors, they look awfully "pop"ish.
Disclaimer: I have no material connection to any of the commercial
organizations connected to Wam-Rods (tm) (patent pending) other than
as a happy materialistic consumer.
ps, I like the piss yellow ones best. :-).
---
Q: How do I do MIDI with my laptop PC?
A:
Date: Mon, 17 Aug 92 11:18:24 +0200
From: ruprecht@corse.informatik.uni-freiburg.de (Nick Ruprecht)
Organization: Institut fuer Informatik der Universitaet Freiburg
Address: Rheinstrasse 10-12, D-7800 Freiburg i. Br., Germany
Phone: +49-761-203 3884, fax: +49-761-203 3889
The Key Electronics MIDIator is a good interface for portable
PCs. warrant mention of the Key Electronics MIDIator under a separate
topic. I think that the MIDIator 101 will actually do the baud rate
transformation from 38.4 kBaud to 31.25 kBaud. The MIDIator 101 goes
for about $US 120. Key Electronics also distributes a sequencer for
MS-DOS PCs for it. The MS-DOS sequencer Cakewalk supports it as well.
Key Electronics' address is:
Key Electronics, 7515 Chapel Avenue, Fort Worth, TX 76116
Office: (817) 560-1912, FAX: (817) 560-9745
Toll Free: 1-800-533-MIDI (1-800-533-6434)
---
Q: What are some MIDI interfaces for 386 UNIX boxes?
A:
To: nextmusic-list@wri.com
Date: Sat, 25 Jan 92 10:50:46 EST
Original-From: blink!tjt (Tim Thompson)
Subject: re: UNIX/Midi Interfaces
> From: Roberto Sierra <73557.2101@compuserve.com>
> interfaces exist for UNIX machines. Does anyone know
> if anything is available for Unix on a 386 platform?
MPU-compatible interfaces work fine under UNIX on a 386.
A UNIX device driver called devmidi is available via FTP
(on ucsd.edu and louie.udel.edu). There are changes to
this device driver (also on at least louie.udel.edu)) that
allow it to work with VP/ix, so you can run DOS MIDI software
as well.
For software, there is glib, a free generic librarian/editor.
The glib2 version on louie.udel.edu includes support for the
devmidi driver. Keynote is a MIDI language and extensible
graphical editor that runs under the X Window System, and
works quite well on a 386 platform. It isn't free, but you
can get complete source code for $200. Send email to
tjt@blink.att.com for more info on that.
This may not appear relevant to "nextmusic", but when
NeXTStep becomes available on 386 machines, it may be much
easier to write MIDI software to run on both a 386 and NeXT.
Anyone know if the Music Kit will be enhanced on the 386
to include support for the MPU interface? ...Tim...
+++
C: [Reference Material]
---
Q: Is an overview of "General MIDI" available?
A:
Yes, via ftp as:
anonymous@xcf.berkeley.edu:misc/netjam/doc/midi/general_midi
---
Q: What are the names and address of various gear manufacturers?
A:
Rich Kulawiec (rsk@gynko.circ.upenn.edu) posts a monthly list
of manufacturer contact info to rec.music.makers, rec.music.synth,
alt.guitar, and news.answers.
---
Q: Where may I find an electronic music bibliography?
A:
See the file:
anonymous@ftp.cs.ruu.nl:MIDI/DOC/bibliography
or
anonymous@131.211.80.17:MIDI/DOC/bibliography
---
Q: How can I build my own MIDI interface for the Macintosh?
A:
From: henges@ingr.com. (John Hengesbach)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac,rec.music.synth
Subject: Re: DIY MIDI interface?
Keywords: MIDI
Date: 30 Dec 88 16:05:21 GMT
In article <817@ttrdf.UUCP> fjo@ttrdf.UUCP (Frank Owen ) writes:
>
> Has anyone figured out how to kludge up a Do-It-Yourself MIDI interface
>for the Macintosh? It seems that the one Apple sells has practically no
A reply...
MINIMAL MAC--MIDI INTERFACE
===========================
Well, here it is all you MIDI fans. THE ultimate in
simplicity!! This is a simple schematic for a serial
to MIDI converter.
There are two functions performed here. One is the
conversion from current loop to RS-422. The second function
is supplying the 1 MHz signal for the serial chip to sync
up with the 31.5K baud rate of MIDI.
>>>>>>> DATA FLOW >>> (MAC TO MIDI INSTRUMENT) >>>>>>>>>
+-------+ +------+
To MAC 4 10|26LS32 | |7407 |
Serial >------+ |11 1| |2 +------+ 5
Port 5 9| +-----+ +-----+R=220 +-----< \
DB9 pin >------- | | | +------+ \ (5 pin DIN socket)
Numbers | | | | | MIDI OUT
+-------+ +------+ / (to instrument)
+------+ +------+ 4 /
+5 volts -+R=390 +--+ +5 volts -+R=220 +-----<
+------+ | +------+
+-------+ | +------+1 +------+ 4
8 6|26LS31 | | |MCT2 +-----+R=220 +-----< \
>------+ |11| 5| | +------+ \ (5 pin DIN socket)
9 5| +--+--+ | | MIDI IN
>------- | 4| |2 5 / (from instrument)
| | +-+ +------------------< /
+-------+ | +------+
|
v
Ground
<<<<<<<<<<<<< DATA FLOW << (MIDI INSTRUMENT TO MAC ) <<<
+-------+ +------+
7 10|26LS31 | |1 MHZ |
>------+ |9 8| OSC |
3 11| +-----+ |
>------- | | |
| | + |
+-------+ +------+
Power connections:
GROUND +5
----- --
7407 7 14
26LS31 8,12 4,16
26LS32 8,12 4,16
OSCILLATOR 7 14
Notes:
The optical isolator MCT-2 above can probably be any relatively
fast optical coupler. Note that the 390 ohm resistormay need to be
adjusted to make sure the output does not saturate. Using a scope
while feeding a MIDI signal in should show you whether the signal
looks clean.
The diagram has been drawn to show MAC signals on the left
and MIDI signals on the right. There have also been allowances made
for the fact that 80 column ascii displays are not **exactly**
graphics terminals. Also note that the MAC pin numbers are for the
DB9 connector **NOT** the 8 pin mini-DIN connector!!
The age old question of where to get power for this always
remains. On the pre-MAC-PLUSs, there was power available from the
serial port connector. I solved this problem by finding a 7 VDC
AC adapter at a parts store and using a 5 volt voltage regulator
IC to bring it down to 5 volts. This is left as an exercise for
the student.....
The 26LS31 and 26LS32 are the same type of chips which are
used in the MAC for RS-42? conversion. I got them from a store in
Santa Clara California (Anchor Electronics (408) 727-3693). They
also have 1 Mhz Oscillators as well.
I have built several variations of this over the last two
years and have had good success using a variety of music software
with them.
John Hengesbach
(205)772-1669
uunet!ingr!henges
Intergraph Corporation
Huntsville, AL 35807
[SEE ALSO: the June 1986 BYTE magazine article on building a MIDI
board for the IBM PC -- crl]
---
Q: Where can I find out all about MIDI?
A:
Email LISTSERV@AUVM.AMERICAN.EDU, with the phrase GET MIDISPEC
PACKAGE in the message body. You will get the following message, as
well as the files to which it refers.
Date: Tue, 26 Nov 1991 18:32:49 -0500
From: Revised List Processor (1.7a) <LISTSERV@AUVM.AMERICAN.EDU>
Subject: File: "MIDISPEC $PACKAGE" being sent to you
*************************************************************************
* *
* MIDISPEC Package *
* *
* The following series of plain text files are the contents of the *
* MIDISPEC PACKAGE. They are a reference resource compiled from several *
* sources, mostly by Greg at LEE@UHCCUX. The Primer, originally written *
* by Bob McQueer, is in constant revision. The other files are subject *
* to periodic review and update. The package as a whole may be added to *
* as MIDI expands. *
* *
* They have been placed here to make it possible for users to retrieve *
* or subscribe to the whole set of documents as a "package" so as to *
* automatically get the updated documentation when it is made *
* available. Access to the complete package is possible via GET *
* MIDISPEC PACKAGE. *
* *
* You can subscribe to it with: AFD ADD MIDISPEC PACKAGE (note that you *
* will need to use the PW command to define yourself a password before *
* you can use the AFD command -- see LISTAFD MEMO for more details). *
* If you wish to only be informed when the files are updated, use the *
* FUI ADD MIDISPEC PACKAGE command. *
* *
*************************************************************************
* filename filetype Filelist File description
* -------- -------- -------- -----------------------
MIDISPEC $PACKAGE EMUSIC The Package Definition
MIDI1_0 MIDISPEC EMUSIC The MIDI Version 1.0 Specification
PRIMER MIDISPEC EMUSIC A MIDI Tutorial
MIDIBNF MIDISPEC EMUSIC MIDI Considered in Backus-Naur Form
CTRLTAB MIDISPEC EMUSIC Listing of Controller/Mode Command Codes
STATTAB MIDISPEC EMUSIC Listing of MIDI Status Codes
NOTESTAB MIDISPEC EMUSIC Listing of MIDI Notes by Octave
FILEFMT MIDISPEC EMUSIC Description of MIDI Standard File Format
SDSFMT MIDISPEC EMUSIC Description of MIDI Sample Dump Standard
TIMECODE MIDISPEC EMUSIC Description of MIDI Time Code Format
---
Q: What are the details behind current sound formats?
A:
The Audio Formats Guide is available by anonymous ftp from
ftp.cwi.nl [192.16.184.180], directory pub, file AudioFormats*.*
(where *.* is the version number, currently 2.4). Feel free to place
a pointer to it or even to quote.
--Guido van Rossum, CWI, Amsterdam <guido@cwi.nl>
"Shut that bloody bouzouki off!"
+++
C: [Vendor-specific issues]
---
Q: Where can I find information about the NeXT MIDI driver?
A:
Date: Thu, 24 Oct 91 16:59:46 PDT
From: Conrad_Geiger@NeXT.COM
To: nextmusic@silvertone.Princeton.EDU
Subject: MIDI driver documentation
Draft Documentation Available - MIDI driver documentation
NeXT Publications Group
A new document describing the MIDI driver is available on the
Internet archive servers. This document is a revised and expanded
version of the Release 1.0 MIDI driver documentation, and is not
present in Release 2 or in the hard-copy technical documentation.
The document is available by anonymous ftp (file transfer protocol)
from one of the following Internet archive servers:
________________________________________________________
hostname Directory
________________________________________________________
cs.orst.edu pub/next/documents/TechSupportNotes
sonata.cc.purdue.edu pub/next/submissions
etlport.etl.go.jp (Japan) pub/NeXT/documents/MIDIDriver
The two files that make up this draft document are:
MIDIDriver.tar.Z
MIDIDriver_README
MIDIDriver.tar.Z is 54.2 kilobytes in size. Unarchived, it's a
directory called MIDIDriver that occupyies 141 kilobytes and consists
of:
Introduction.rtf -- An introduction for users of MIDI on NeXT
computers, including information on MIDI interfaces, the MIDI data
format, and whether to use the driver functions or the Music Kit.
DriverOverview.rtfd -- A conceptual overview of the NeXT MIDI driver.
CFunctions/ -- Specifications of the MIDI C functions
Your feedback on the document is welcome. See the file
MIDIDriver_README for details.
Doug Keislar
NeXT Computer, Inc.
---
Q: What's coming (as of 25 October 1991) in the way of NeXT music
apps?
A:
Date: Fri, 25 Oct 91 17:43:25 PDT
From: Doug_Keislar@NeXT.COM
Subject: Re: NEXT MUSIC APPS
Cc: nextmusic@silvertone.Princeton.EDU
In response to your inquiry, here's a document from NeXTanswers that
mentions most of the music software (and some of the sound software)
that's available or coming. I'm sure I've omitted some; if anyone on
this mailing list has additions or corrections, please send me email.
Doug Keislar
NeXT Computer, Inc.
NeXT Computers are an ideal music platform with their built-in
CD-quality sound and DSP sound synthesis. Several companies have
announced commercial music software for the NeXT. Metaresearch's
SoundWorks is a sound editor that features digital recording, mixing,
and editing. Imagine has announced First Chair, a MIDI and audio
sequencer that will include SMPTE synchronization and multimedia
capabilities. World Class Software is developing a program called
Songwriter's Toolbox, which is a training, analysis, and production
environment for composing songs in a variety of contemporary musical
styles. Coda was working on MusicProse, a notation program, but has
no immediate plans to ship it. See the Software and Peripherals
Catalog for more details on these programs. (You can get the catalog
by calling 800-848-NeXT in the U.S.)
NeXT bundles a great deal of music-related software in 1.0 and in 2.0
Extended, though most of it is not music applications per se. The
Music Kit is an extensive development tool for programmers; see the
NeXT documentation. There are some bundled music demos that can be
used by non-programmers, such as ScorePlayer, which can be launched
by double-clicking the scorefiles in /NextLibrary/Music/Scores, or
the demo program /NextDeveloper/Demos/Ensemble. (Ensemble is new in
2.0, replacing Synthesizer.) Ensemble combines MIDI in and out with
DSP synthesis, soundfile playback, real-time algorithmic
composition, interactive note processing, and more. See its on-line
help for details.
In the /NextDeveloper/Examples directory, the MusicKit, MidiDriver,
Sound, and SoundEditor subdirectories contain programs that are
runnable by anyone who knows enough Unix to change directories and
compile in a shell window. The source for Ensemble is included in
the MusicKit examples directory. (Suggestion: copy anything in
/NextDeveloper to your home directory before compiling or editing.
Also see NextAnswers sound.350.)
IRCAM in Paris has created an extensive software environment for
real-time music synthesis and performance using the IRCAM Signal
Processing Workstation, a signal-processing board based on two i860
chips and manufactured by Ariel. The software is free and is
available from the Stanford archive server (see below), but it
requires the board to run. The software includes:
-- The MAX graphical programming environment, which allows you to
graphically connect different real-time modules to create musical
algorithms. Unlike the Macintosh version, the new NeXT version
allows you to create not only MIDI data, but also digital signals on
the i860 board. The board can be used as a synthesizer or sampler
with real-time pitch-tracking and sophisticated sound processing.
-- A spectrogram editor that lets you draw outlines on a
frequency-domain plot of a soundfile and filter the sound so that you
hear only the selected parts.
-- Animal, an IB-like application with which you can lay out sounds
on a music keyboard as a function of key number and key velocity.
-- Faster Than Sound (FTS), a program that manages event and sound
scheduling, MIDI processing, and other communication tasks.
-- An array-processing library of hand-coded number-crunching
routines for the i860.
-- A real-time, multitasking operating system for the i860, with a
UNIX-like API.
Ariel is also shipping another board with five DSP56001's, called the
QuintProcessor. In the future, the Music Kit will talk transparently
to QuintProcessors, providing another powerful real-time synthesis
engine. Common Lisp Music, mentioned below, can already make use
of any QuintProcessors that are installed.
Some public-domain software is available on the Internet archive
servers. Z-quencer is a simple MIDI sequencer with the music
displayed in piano-roll style (rather than as music notation).
Looching is a program that plays continuous background music on the
DSP. Programmers at NeXT created the Lisp Scorefile Package, a Lisp
front end for generating Music Kit scorefiles, and RecordApp, a
program for sound recording. (See NextAnswers misc.227 for
instructions on obtaining software from archive servers.)
Also available for programmers are some environments for software
(non-real-time) sound synthesis and soundfile processing, mostly
ported from other Unix platforms. Some also do real-time DSP
synthesis. Generally these are available with source for a nominal
fee or free of charge. CSound was created at M.I.T. and was given a
NeXT front end by Pete Yadlowsky (pmy@virginia.edu). F. Richard
Moore at U. C. San Diego (frm@sdcarl.ucsd.edu) has ported cmusic, a
software synthesis language, and pvoc, a phase vocoder (for
sophisticated analysis and resynthesis of recorded sound). Paul
Lansky at Princeton ported cmix and rtmix, programs for soundfile
processing and mixing. John Rahn at the University of Washington
(jrahn@blake.washington.edu) has a Lisp kernel for music composition.
Mara Helmuth (mara@woof.columbia.edu) wrote Patchmix, a graphical
unit generator patch program that helps you construct synthesis
instruments and that writes out cmix code.
At Stanford University, Heinrich Taube has created Common Music, a
compositional environment based on the Common Lisp Object System; it
creates scorefiles, soundfiles, and DSP synthesis using the Music
Kit. Bill Schottstaedt has developed Common Lisp Music, a
Lisp-based software synthesis language that uses the DSP for
acceleration rather than real-time synthesis. Perry Cook has
written SPASM, an interactive vocal synthesis application,
ResonatorLab, a real-time digital filter tool, and miscellaneous
other tools that can be used by non-programmers. Glen Diener is
developing a music notation program. The Stanford materials are
available by anonymous ftp to ccrma.stanford.edu.
At Northwestern University, Bill Parod has created Just, a NeXT
application for exploring tuning systems.
There is an extension to TeX for music notation called MuTeX. See
NextAnswer misc.390 for ftp sites that have MuTeX. We are told this
works with the NeXT version of TeX, but that it doesn't include 92dpi
screen fonts, so you have to print the scores on your printer to see
the notation. Presumably someone could use TeX's companion program
METAFONT, also bundled on NeXT's 2.0 Extended software release, to
create a 92dpi screen font from the provided MuTeX fonts.
Note that there are non-NeXTstep programs available for other
platforms that might run on NeXT computers under SoftPC or X. For
example, SCORE is a powerful music notation program for the IBM PC,
and there are some public-domain sound tools that run under X
windows.
---
Q: Where can I get a Macintosh program to translate between different
soundfile formats?
A:
Date: Sat, 26 Oct 1991 16:25:22 -0700
From: Tom Erbe <tom%MILLS.EDU@AUVM.AMERICAN.EDU>
Subject: Soundfile header conversion program
To: Multiple recipients of list EMUSIC-L <EMUSIC-L@AUVM>
I just wrote a little program for the Mac that does Soundfile header
conversion. It translates between IRCAM, NeXT .snd, Sound Designer II,
AIFF and DSP Designer files. It will open any file as a 16-bit linear
soundfile, if you want. I am making no attempt (at least not yet) to
support anything other than 16-bit linear. You can also change things
in the header like sample rate and number of channels. This is my
first program for the Mac, so it might have bugs. If you want a copy,
you can get it through ftp to "mills.edu", it is "ccm/SoundHac.hqx".
Or I could mail it to you if you don't have ftp. Please send bug reports!
Tom Erbe * Technical Director * Center for Contemporary Music * Mills College
tom@mills.edu * Mills College, Oakland, CA 94613 * (510) 430-2191
---
Q: I'm just starting on MIDI and want to know how to send MIDI from my
SCO UNIX box (and who do I buy a card from? are there device
drivers available?)
A:
From: tjt@blink (Tim Thompson)
Newsgroups: rec.music.synth
Subject: Re: MIDI FAQ?
Date: 28 Dec 91 14:34:29 GMT
Andrew Beattie (tab@ibmpcug.co.uk) writes:
> I'm just starting on MIDI and want to know how to send MIDI from my SCO UNIX
> box. (and who do I buy a card from? are there device drivers available?
If SCO UNIX implies you're using an AT-bus 386 of some sort, there
is a UNIX device driver available called devmidi that can be found in
the ucsd.edu archive and elsewhere. It supports any MPU-compatible
MIDI interface. The glib librarian/editor, also found in
the ucsd.edu archive, can use this driver (email me for the changes).
The Keynote system (see the NetJam FAQ) can also use this driver.
There is also a version of devmidi that allows it to be used with VP/IX,
so you can run DOS MIDI software under UNIX.
For any machine with a standard serial port, you can use the
Key Electronics (1-800-533-MIDI) MIDIATOR MS-114 interface - it goes
from standard RS232 to MIDI. There's no buffering, so to avoid input
lossage you need to run the RS232 at 38.4Kbaud. For MIDI output,
you can run the RS232 at lower rates and still get usable results.
For machines that can run their RS232 at the exact MIDI rate, you
can get by with a cheaper version of the MIDIATOR, I think, the MS-101.
Keynote also supports the MIDIATOR, although I don't recommend it
if there are better alternatives (like the MPU).
Semi-related plug: Robin Schaufler is giving a talk at the upcoming
USENIX, called "Realtime Workstation Performance for MIDI", which
discusses MIDI on the Silicon Graphics Indigo.
...Tim Thompson...AT&T Bell Labs/Holmdel/NJ...tjt@blink.att.com...
---
Q: What is the status of the Music Kit on NeXT machines?
A:
Date: Mon, 27 Jan 92 09:54:03 CST
To: nextmusic-list@wri.com
From: doug@foxtrot.ccmrc.ucsb.edu (Douglas Scott)
Subject: Re: Sound and Music Kits in 3.0?
The Music Kit is no longer supported by NeXT under 3.0. It will not be bundled
with the software. Development and management of it will be handled from now
on by Stanford University. This is happening because of a complete lack of
commercial interest in the Music Kit (as NeXT sees it). They feel the need to
trim software support for things that will not directly contribute to the
financial success of their company. They said they may re-introduce it at
"some later time" once they have a chance to expand a bit.
I learned all this from a session on "NeXT on Campus" at the NeXT Expo.
Douglas Scott (805)893-8352
Center for Computer Music Research and Composition
University of California, Santa Barbara
Internet: (NeXTMail ok) <doug@foxtrot.ccmrc.ucsb.edu>
---
Q: What ear-training software is there for the NeXT?
A:
Date: Sun, 9 Feb 92 19:18:54 EST
From: tholland@pars.skidmore.edu (Anthony Holland)
Subject: New Music Ear Training Software for NeXT - Audio Challenger 1.0
"Announcing the release of "AUDIO CHALLENGER 1.0"
"Audio Challenger 1.0" is the first ear-training software released
for the NeXT computer. Audio Challenger randomly generates ascending
and descending melodic musical intervals which can be used in
assisting music students in trying to improve their ability to
aurally identify musical intervals. Audio Challenger features
real-time synthesis on the DSP (digital signal processing) chip of
the NeXT computer which gives it the advantage of a more natural and
"lively" musical timbre than ear-training programs that currently
exist on other platforms. Audio Challenger is released as FREEware
to the internet archives by the researchers and students of DREAMS:
Digital Research (in) Electro-Acoustic Music (at) Skidmore College.
"Audio Challenger 1.0" is currently at the following archive sites:
*Archive Info:
filenames: AudioChallenger.tar.Z
AudioChallengerREADME
1) location: nova.cc.purdue.edu
directory: /pub/next/submissions (likely to move to
/pub/next/2.0-release/binaries)
2) location: cs.orst.edu
directory: /pub/next/submissions (likely to move to
/pub/next/binaries)
3) University of Maryland: umd5.umd.edu
/pub
4) ccrma-ftp.stanford.edu
/pub
After FTP'ing AudioChallenger.tar.Z, type: zcat AudioChallenger.tar.Z
| tar xvf -
note: you may need your system administrator to uncompress and untar
AudioChallenger.
Anthony G. Holland
Associate Professor of Music
NeXT Campus Support
Skidmore College
Saratoga Springs, NY 12866
tel: 518-584-5000 ext. 2606
next mail: tholland@pars.skidmore.edu
---
+++
End of the NetJam FAQ.
Technical Details
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<music/netjam-faq_720768652@xcf.berkeley.edu>Path:
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Path: arc1-ca.pugleaf.net!sparky!uunet!think.com!ames!agate!con.Berkeley.EDU!latta From: latta@xcf.berkeley.edu (Craig R. Latta) Newsgroups: ucb.becmug,comp.music,rec.music.makers,rec.music.synth,rec.music.compose,news.answers Subject: Electronic and Computer Music Frequently-Asked Questions (FAQ) Supersedes: <music/netjam-faq_719222006@xcf.berkeley.edu> Followup-To: poster Date: 3 Nov 1992 05:29:58 GMT Organization: University of California, Berkeley Lines: 2536 Approved: news-answers-request@MIT.Edu Distribution: world Message-ID: <music/netjam-faq_720768652@xcf.berkeley.edu> Reply-To: netjam@xcf.berkeley.edu NNTP-Posting-Host: con.berkeley.edu Summary: This posting contains a list of frequently-asked questions (and their answers) about electronic and computer music. It should be read by posters to ucb.becmug, rec.music.synth, rec.music.makers, rec.music.compose, and comp.music. Originator: latta@con.Berkeley.EDU