Internet Surfer 2.0/Internet Surfer 2.0 (Wayzata Technology) (1996).iso/pc/text/mac/faqs.395

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Frequently Asked Questions (FAQS);faqs.395



(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."


---

1.0)     [Newcomer questions]

---

1.1)        What keyboard should I buy?

Answer:

From: [e-mail] (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. ([e-mail])


---

1.2)        Where can I get patches for my keyboard?

Answer:

  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.)

---

1.3)        What is MIDI?

Answer:
    (adapted from [e-mail] (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]

---

1.4)        What are definitions for the following things?
               - aftertouch, envelope, FM, LFO, module,
            multitimbral, polyphony, pressure, sampler,
            sequencer, synthesizer,    velocity

Answer:

"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: [e-mail] (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 <[e-mail]>
  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.


---

1.5)        Where can I get price lists?

Answer:

    Ken Shirriff ([e-mail]) 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.


---

1.6)        Where can I get a USA music store list?

Answer:

    William J. Sequeira ([e-mail]) posts such a list
monthly to rec.music.synth.

        --crl



2.0)     [Connectivity issues]

---

2.1)        What is NetJam?

Answer:

    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
    [e-mail]

---

2.2)        How do I subscribe to EMUSIC-D and EMUSIC-L, and what
            other BITNET lists are of interest?

Answer:

Date: Mon, 17 Aug 92 12:00:09 +0200
From: Martin Roth <[e-mail]>
Organization: ETH Zurich (Swiss Federal Institute of Technology)


    You send a mail to [e-mail] (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 [e-mail],
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 [e-mail]

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 ([e-mail] or something in that form will do
well).

If you want to know more, just ask [e-mail] (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 [e-mail] !

-Martin

_______________________________________________________________________
      _   Martin Roth                Martin Roth    ETHZ, ips, RZ F16
|\  /|_)  Mail: [e-mail]  Sandacker 14   g 01/256 55 68
| \/ | \  (Student of Computer    CH-8154 Oberglatt p 01/850 32 75
          Science / Engineering)     Switzerland    (F-)emails welcome!
-----------------------------------------------------------------------