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Composition on Computer
Composition on Computer:
Science ahs discovered many wonders and computer is one of then. Computer was not invented over night. It took very long time and arduous labor to create pc. First of all Pascal made-up the idea of “ digital scheming system” in 1642. though his attempts were no crowned with success, he initiated the research which paved the way to the invention of computer. Finally Mr,…
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Iamus' Opus one, created on October 15, 2010 is the first fragment of professional contemporary classical music ever composed by a computer .
Sampling a piano
Was thinking of how difficult it would be to sample a real piano in a great amount of detail, this would be really useful due to the lack of realistic sounding pianos in logic and the cost of a real sampled piano is quite expensive. But how would I go about doing it? Well first I would need to get a sample of each of the notes, maybe at least 4 different velocities. I would the a&e to record all of the notes gain with each of the 3 foot pedals. That works out to be 88x4x3, which is over 1000 samples, which I would then have to record in different mic positions. Lets say an AB spaced pair inside of the piano, and then several room microphones. The task would be massive but the results would be good. However this is the way to record it properly, I could cut down the time and effort by reducing the number of notes I record and the number of velocities.
Nature as a Compositional Tool - Part 1
Over the last few days I have been looking for sounds to use in the ESX24 - unconventional natrual sounds, that didnt originate from an instrument. I looked in particular for some tuned and pure percussive sounds here are some of my findings:
Water - Water is a really good compositional tool as it can be manipulated in many different ways to change the way it sounds, for example dripping could have some resonance and tonal qualities so can running water from a stream etc. The fast attack that can be created also gives it some percussive qualities.
Fireworks - With Guy Fawkes Night just left us, fireworks have been everywhere, the sound of the "Wooooshing" gives a very unique tonal sound that could be pitched and mapped to a set of keys in the sampler, but the bang that follows it gives a very nice percussive sound with a sparkle of overtones at the end.
Cutlery - Hitting metal together, and against other things can have a lot of good sounds, as well as scraping it against other materials could give you the possibilities to produce pad sounds in the sampler.
Voice - The human voice works a lot like a subtractive synthesiser, due to the rich waveform our vocal chords produce, which can then be filtered in many different ways with our mouth. The voice is a great compositional tool, when used in a different way to singing, for example coughing or gargling.
Once loaded into the sampler it is always best to make multiple recordings, at different base pitches and at different velocities allowing a much smoother transition between note ranges.
Investigating and Using ESX24
Over the last few weeks I have been investigating and using the ESX24 sampler in Logic Pro. This is an incredible tool, that everybody needs to learn regardless of ability level. The ability to record and minor late samples is something that increases your creativity and tool set beyond the limitations of the default sounds in Logic. With the ESX24 unit, you can take some of your own recordings and edit them to create your own unique sampler, for example some percussion sounds can be taken and then reversed or looped to create something mor melodic or pad like. A thing to remember is though, that the best sounds to be record are ones with resonant qualities, this gives u so much more ease when creating melodic instruments, or pads for example. An example of what could new recorded, last night was firework night, fireworks and the cracking of a bonfire makes great seasonal sounds, which could be manipulated. Also water is very powerful compositional tool that you need to investigate. On the front of the ESX24 there is the ability to change normal synthesiser settings such as filters and cutoff, but what I have really been looking into is the way you can change the pitch, or an LFO based on things such as velocity or mod wheels. This could be used ins very creative way to make bass wobbles for sounds such as dubstep. I will post some more findings and some examples in due course.
So I need to start getting influenced for this computer composition. One thing I'd like to let influence me is Royksopp. Have you heard of them, I'm sure you'll recognise something off this album.
I need to start taking computer composition more seriously.
The other night i had an epiphany. Philip Thomas had said in an improvisation lecture, that we need to let our imagination direct our technique. I feel the same is true of composition too. We shouldnt be limited by what sounds we already have or know, instead our technique should be led by our creativity and imagination. I feel like sound synthesis would truly free me. That's why I'm now so interested in MAX/MSP and interactive sound design.
A Brief Overview of MIDI
MIDI stands for Musical Instrument Digital Interface and is a specification created in the late 1980's to try and create a unified way of connecting devices to each other in a studio environment.
History
MIDI 1.0 began in the late 1980's to try and create a method of being able to interface pieces of hardware together in the aim of connecting them to a computer in order to capture the output of the device.
Concept
The concept was to create a universal language for audio equipment.
Reception
MIDI became very popular very quickly and many manufactures decided it was best for them to include the 5 Din MIDI connector onto all of their devices. This made MIDI universal. With the development of the computer swell it was now possible to do a lot of home audio recording and sequencing at home, with relatively cheap equipment. Most Electronic keyboards and synthesisers by the mid 1990's contained a MIDI interface in order for them to be connector to other outboard equipment as well as computers.
Software
In the late 1980's software such as Sibelius and Finale made it possible for notating MIDI data for easy viewing and printing. Scoring on the computer saved a lot of time and effort. Sibelius was built on the concept of a word processor, allowing MIDI controller messages being transcribed just like binary letters appear on the screen. Later development saw DAW's building in MIDI capabilities to allow more slipstreamed integration of most Audio and Sequencing tools. MIDI is an essential part of the studio.
Hardware
There are many different pieces of equipment that can be used with MIDI:
Keyboards
Sound Cards
Sound Modules
Drums
Guitars
FX Units
Controllers
Messages
MIDI can send two types of messages:
System - System Messages are designed to be sent to change a setting on a piece of hardware. This travels most of the time through the THRU connector until it finds the piece of hardware it needs to communicate to.
Controller - A controller message can be anything from Note value to Note-Down and Note-Release. When analysing the data from MIDI most of the time we only see the controller messages.
Connectors
MIDI use a simple 5 DIN connector in order to connect to all of the devices. The order that the devices are plugged in doesn't really matter. On the back of most devices there is an IN, OUT and THRU connector. The IN acts as an Input, OUT as an output and THRU as a way of daisy chaining devices together.
MIDI Files
MIDI Files are very small in file size and can contain a lot of DATA, this enabled musicians to create pieces of music that can be played on most computer hardware that has a sound card. This has enabled the development of more MIDI files and replications of commercially available songs, which have been created at home on cheap equipment. In the early 2000's with the introduction of the internet it was popular for people to share MIDI files on their websites. This has since allowed more people to collaborate on them and share them further. Due to MIDI's compactness it was possible to use MIDI files as ringtones on early mobile phones, as most of the operating systems of these phones were JAVA based, and MIDI is a key component to JAVA's sound module. Later
Development
MIDI can now be used to control most things not just audio equipment, for example MIDI can now be linked with OSC to allow connectivity to other devices such as home automation systems and other home gadgets. The introduction of the iPhone and iPad has allowed software such as TouchOSC to allow the device to be converted into a MIDI Controller.
Composition Task
Ive been asked as a task to create a 1 min long demonstration of my music technology skills, demonstrating my ability to use the software as well as composition skills. This is a good opportunity to showcase what I can do in a 1 Week timescale.
I will post my results as I do them.
