Yahoo Tuning Groups Ultimate Backup makemicromusic Finally, maqam polyphony in action

At last a vivid example of maqam polyphony!

I am able to contribute a piece to Chris Vaisvil's SoOn 2009 contest
after all:

(Streaming)
http://www.ozanyarman.com/muzikler.html

(Download)
http://www.ozanyarman.com/files/music/Sabastorm.mp3

This new piece is called "The Saba Storm". Catchy title, huh?

The scale employed in the composition is that of the Saba maqam, or
else a Yarman-36a subset containing the Saba scale. The 12-tone subset
scale chosen from my notorious Yarman-36a tuning is given below:

Yarman-36a Saba maqam with perde rast on C
12
!
148.23705
198.74659 D
347.40794 Eb (quartertonal)
381.44577 Ed
501.35622 F
649.32179 Gb (quartertonal)
699.74399
801.68275
896.75720 A
1001.88049 Bb
1079.85183
1200.00000 C

Don't be surprised if the established theoretical models (Turkish,
Arabic, Persian, etc...) fail to faithfully represent maqams.
Remember, you need something like Yarman-36a to render maqams like
Saba, Ushshaq, Huzzam and Karjighar satisfactorily in the electronic
medium.

In the piece, I warped the Congas.mp3 sample by Norm Harris. It's hard
to recognize, because the waveform has been reversed and processed
with carefully chosen Logic Pro 8 plugins:

1-SpecGate: Dark Super Energy
2-FuzzWah: Crunchy Overdrive
3-EnVerb: Rolling Up
4-SpaceDsn: Modula B Delay & Hot Plate
5-Limiter

Notice how the original Conga beat is transformed to an ethereal Saba
aire in the background, which seemlessly intertwines with the "Saba-
ishness" of the composition. Who would have guessed that the
inharmonic spectra of congas would be so suitable for maqam Saba? The
pitches of the congas match delicately with the Yarman-36a Saba scale.

Due to the limitations with the chosen 12-tone tuning (Logic Pro does
not allow on-the-fly tuning changes), modulations are very limited.
There is a savoury modulation to Ushshaq and later to a diminished
Segah pentachord as the piece progresses. But Saba on D dominates
throughout.

The length of The Saba Storm is 5:10 minutes. The size of the mp3 file
is 3.9 MBs.

And yes, I am the one who sings the "gazel" vocal in Turkish. If
anyone wonders what the words mean, just ask me!

This is my first true attempt at electronic microtonal maqam polyphony.

Comments are welcome!

Cordially,
Dr. Oz.

✩ ✩ ✩
www.ozanyarman.com

[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

🔗Aaron Johnson <aaron@...>

Ozan,

This is *fantastic*!!!! Great production values, thoroughly enjoyed
listening!

AKJ

On Thu, Oct 29, 2009 at 12:04 PM, Ozan Yarman <ozanyarman@ozanyarman.com>wrote:

> At last a vivid example of maqam polyphony!
>
> I am able to contribute a piece to Chris Vaisvil's SoOn 2009 contest
> after all:
>
> (Streaming)
> http://www.ozanyarman.com/muzikler.html
>
> (Download)
> http://www.ozanyarman.com/files/music/Sabastorm.mp3
>
> This new piece is called "The Saba Storm". Catchy title, huh?
>
> The scale employed in the composition is that of the Saba maqam, or
> else a Yarman-36a subset containing the Saba scale. The 12-tone subset
> scale chosen from my notorious Yarman-36a tuning is given below:
>
> Yarman-36a Saba maqam with perde rast on C
> 12
> !
> 148.23705
> 198.74659 D
> 347.40794 Eb (quartertonal)
> 381.44577 Ed
> 501.35622 F
> 649.32179 Gb (quartertonal)
> 699.74399
> 801.68275
> 896.75720 A
> 1001.88049 Bb
> 1079.85183
> 1200.00000 C
>
> Don't be surprised if the established theoretical models (Turkish,
> Arabic, Persian, etc...) fail to faithfully represent maqams.
> Remember, you need something like Yarman-36a to render maqams like
> Saba, Ushshaq, Huzzam and Karjighar satisfactorily in the electronic
> medium.
>
> In the piece, I warped the Congas.mp3 sample by Norm Harris. It's hard
> to recognize, because the waveform has been reversed and processed
> with carefully chosen Logic Pro 8 plugins:
>
> 1-SpecGate: Dark Super Energy
> 2-FuzzWah: Crunchy Overdrive
> 3-EnVerb: Rolling Up
> 4-SpaceDsn: Modula B Delay & Hot Plate
> 5-Limiter
>
> Notice how the original Conga beat is transformed to an ethereal Saba
> aire in the background, which seemlessly intertwines with the "Saba-
> ishness" of the composition. Who would have guessed that the
> inharmonic spectra of congas would be so suitable for maqam Saba? The
> pitches of the congas match delicately with the Yarman-36a Saba scale.
>
> Due to the limitations with the chosen 12-tone tuning (Logic Pro does
> not allow on-the-fly tuning changes), modulations are very limited.
> There is a savoury modulation to Ushshaq and later to a diminished
> Segah pentachord as the piece progresses. But Saba on D dominates
> throughout.
>
> The length of The Saba Storm is 5:10 minutes. The size of the mp3 file
> is 3.9 MBs.
>
> And yes, I am the one who sings the "gazel" vocal in Turkish. If
> anyone wonders what the words mean, just ask me!
>
> This is my first true attempt at electronic microtonal maqam polyphony.
>
> Comments are welcome!
>
> Cordially,
> Dr. Oz.
>
> ✩ ✩ ✩
> www.ozanyarman.com
>
>
>
> [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
>
>
>
> ------------------------------------
>
> Yahoo! Groups Links
>
>
>
>

Aaron Krister Johnson
http://www.akjmusic.com
http://www.untwelve.org

[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

🔗Michael <djtrancendance@...>

Ozan,

This is an absolutely outstanding piece. The guitar-like part at 2:00 minutes and again at 6:30 I particularly like as they are just so playful and shows the awesome potential of maqam polyphony over the IMVHO much more shallow and less playful 12TET.
And the fact you've managed to meld it with a very energetic, dance-able, and clever break-beat is just awesome...puts you right up near Marcus Satellite in the category for "best beats in micro-tonality".

The critic in me says the saw-synth that comes in at about 1:16 (and a few other times) is way too loud and the break-beat should be louder as it sounds like a tiny part of the background at some points. I'm only saying that because touches like these are the only things that would keep me from actually playing it at a live gig as a DJ and, believe me, I really want an excuse to do so.

Great job and best of luck!

________________________________
From: Aaron Johnson <aaron@...>
To: MakeMicroMusic@yahoogroups.com
Sent: Thu, October 29, 2009 3:39:09 PM
Subject: Re: [MMM] Finally, maqam polyphony in action

Ozan,

This is *fantastic*! !!! Great production values, thoroughly enjoyed
listening!

AKJ

On Thu, Oct 29, 2009 at 12:04 PM, Ozan Yarman <ozanyarman@ozanyarm an.com>wrote:

> At last a vivid example of maqam polyphony!
>
> I am able to contribute a piece to Chris Vaisvil's SoOn 2009 contest
> after all:
>
> (Streaming)
> http://www.ozanyarm an.com/muzikler. html
>
> (Download)
> http://www.ozanyarm an.com/files/ music/Sabastorm. mp3
>
> This new piece is called "The Saba Storm". Catchy title, huh?
>
> The scale employed in the composition is that of the Saba maqam, or
> else a Yarman-36a subset containing the Saba scale. The 12-tone subset
> scale chosen from my notorious Yarman-36a tuning is given below:
>
> Yarman-36a Saba maqam with perde rast on C
> 12
> !
> 148.23705
> 198.74659 D
> 347.40794 Eb (quartertonal)
> 381.44577 Ed
> 501.35622 F
> 649.32179 Gb (quartertonal)
> 699.74399
> 801.68275
> 896.75720 A
> 1001.88049 Bb
> 1079.85183
> 1200.00000 C
>
> Don't be surprised if the established theoretical models (Turkish,
> Arabic, Persian, etc...) fail to faithfully represent maqams.
> Remember, you need something like Yarman-36a to render maqams like
> Saba, Ushshaq, Huzzam and Karjighar satisfactorily in the electronic
> medium.
>
> In the piece, I warped the Congas.mp3 sample by Norm Harris. It's hard
> to recognize, because the waveform has been reversed and processed
> with carefully chosen Logic Pro 8 plugins:
>
> 1-SpecGate: Dark Super Energy
> 2-FuzzWah: Crunchy Overdrive
> 3-EnVerb: Rolling Up
> 4-SpaceDsn: Modula B Delay & Hot Plate
> 5-Limiter
>
> Notice how the original Conga beat is transformed to an ethereal Saba
> aire in the background, which seemlessly intertwines with the "Saba-
> ishness" of the composition. Who would have guessed that the
> inharmonic spectra of congas would be so suitable for maqam Saba? The
> pitches of the congas match delicately with the Yarman-36a Saba scale.
>
> Due to the limitations with the chosen 12-tone tuning (Logic Pro does
> not allow on-the-fly tuning changes), modulations are very limited.
> There is a savoury modulation to Ushshaq and later to a diminished
> Segah pentachord as the piece progresses. But Saba on D dominates
> throughout.
>
> The length of The Saba Storm is 5:10 minutes. The size of the mp3 file
> is 3.9 MBs.
>
> And yes, I am the one who sings the "gazel" vocal in Turkish. If
> anyone wonders what the words mean, just ask me!
>
> This is my first true attempt at electronic microtonal maqam polyphony.
>
> Comments are welcome!
>
> Cordially,
> Dr. Oz.
>
> ✩ ✩ ✩
> www.ozanyarman. com
>
>
>
> [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
>
>
>
> ------------ --------- --------- ------
>
> Yahoo! Groups Links
>
>
>
>

Aaron Krister Johnson
http://www.akjmusic.com
http://www.untwelve.org

[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

🔗Ozan Yarman <ozanyarman@...>

Delighted that you like it so AKJ!

Oz.

✩ ✩ ✩
www.ozanyarman.com

On Oct 29, 2009, at 10:39 PM, Aaron Johnson wrote:

> Ozan,
>
> This is *fantastic*!!!! Great production values, thoroughly enjoyed
> listening!
>
> AKJ
>
> On Thu, Oct 29, 2009 at 12:04 PM, Ozan Yarman <ozanyarman@...
> >wrote:
>
>> At last a vivid example of maqam polyphony!
>>
>> I am able to contribute a piece to Chris Vaisvil's SoOn 2009 contest
>> after all:
>>
>> (Streaming)
>> http://www.ozanyarman.com/muzikler.html
>>
>> (Download)
>> http://www.ozanyarman.com/files/music/Sabastorm.mp3
>>
>> This new piece is called "The Saba Storm". Catchy title, huh?
>>
>> The scale employed in the composition is that of the Saba maqam, or
>> else a Yarman-36a subset containing the Saba scale. The 12-tone
>> subset
>> scale chosen from my notorious Yarman-36a tuning is given below:
>>
>> Yarman-36a Saba maqam with perde rast on C
>> 12
>> !
>> 148.23705
>> 198.74659 D
>> 347.40794 Eb (quartertonal)
>> 381.44577 Ed
>> 501.35622 F
>> 649.32179 Gb (quartertonal)
>> 699.74399
>> 801.68275
>> 896.75720 A
>> 1001.88049 Bb
>> 1079.85183
>> 1200.00000 C
>>
>> Don't be surprised if the established theoretical models (Turkish,
>> Arabic, Persian, etc...) fail to faithfully represent maqams.
>> Remember, you need something like Yarman-36a to render maqams like
>> Saba, Ushshaq, Huzzam and Karjighar satisfactorily in the electronic
>> medium.
>>
>> In the piece, I warped the Congas.mp3 sample by Norm Harris. It's
>> hard
>> to recognize, because the waveform has been reversed and processed
>> with carefully chosen Logic Pro 8 plugins:
>>
>> 1-SpecGate: Dark Super Energy
>> 2-FuzzWah: Crunchy Overdrive
>> 3-EnVerb: Rolling Up
>> 4-SpaceDsn: Modula B Delay & Hot Plate
>> 5-Limiter
>>
>> Notice how the original Conga beat is transformed to an ethereal Saba
>> aire in the background, which seemlessly intertwines with the "Saba-
>> ishness" of the composition. Who would have guessed that the
>> inharmonic spectra of congas would be so suitable for maqam Saba? The
>> pitches of the congas match delicately with the Yarman-36a Saba
>> scale.
>>
>> Due to the limitations with the chosen 12-tone tuning (Logic Pro does
>> not allow on-the-fly tuning changes), modulations are very limited.
>> There is a savoury modulation to Ushshaq and later to a diminished
>> Segah pentachord as the piece progresses. But Saba on D dominates
>> throughout.
>>
>> The length of The Saba Storm is 5:10 minutes. The size of the mp3
>> file
>> is 3.9 MBs.
>>
>> And yes, I am the one who sings the "gazel" vocal in Turkish. If
>> anyone wonders what the words mean, just ask me!
>>
>> This is my first true attempt at electronic microtonal maqam
>> polyphony.
>>
>> Comments are welcome!
>>
>> Cordially,
>> Dr. Oz.
>>
>> ✩ ✩ ✩
>> www.ozanyarman.com
>>
>>
>>
>> [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
>>
>>
>>
>> ------------------------------------
>>
>> Yahoo! Groups Links
>>
>>
>>
>>
>
>
> --
>
> Aaron Krister Johnson
> http://www.akjmusic.com
> http://www.untwelve.org
>
>
> [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
>
>
>
> ------------------------------------
>
> Yahoo! Groups Links
>
>
>

🔗Ozan Yarman <ozanyarman@...>

Dear Michael,

It is a joy to hear you praise this humble work of mine. For indeed,
this is the first time in my life I have worked the capabilities of a
professional DAW to a desirable potential. I discover many things slowly... The Saba Storm is but a product of much experimenting and
getting the feel of Logic Pro.

It pleases me immensely to hear you say that this track is outstanding
and candidate for the "best microtonal beat hall of fame".
Staggering... since I am but an ignoramus when it comes to
professional audio mastering. I only trust my ears and judgment in
tweaking the many parameters of the mixing console and drag-dropping
stuff from the loop library. But considering your satisfaction with
The Saba Storm, I guess I am progressing fairly swiftly in that
direction!

I think you mean that ugly saw-synth I used at 1:04. I tried a Bansuri
Indian flute to imitate a Turkish ney, but could not. In the end, I
was stuck with that saw.

Or do you mean the very loud supersaw that comes in at 0:43? I meant to use that very loud piercing supersaw synth sound to tear through
the heart of the storm, bursting with the melancholy of maqam Saba.

The guitar-like part that makes its first appearance at 1:14 is
nothing other than the simple oud, the ancestor of medieval lutes, and
an indispensable timbre of Maqam music. It reappears several times,
but not at 6:30 (The piece is only 5:13 seconds, remember?). Maybe you
meant 4:30?

The piercing Shawm sound you hear at times is an Indian Shehnai Oboe,
not much difference from the Turkish Zurna. For the lack of anything
closer, I used this Shehnai. I think it was a nice touch.

I wanted to emphasize the melody in The Saba Storm, that is why the
beat is not as strong as you expect. However, it is a simple task to
augment it. I can prepare a version with stronger beats if you promise
to play it at a live gig. But you need to announce that it is by Dr.
Oz, and direct the audience to visit www.ozanyarman.com. :)

Thanks again for the nice comments!

Cordially,
Oz.

✩ ✩ ✩
www.ozanyarman.com

On Oct 29, 2009, at 10:57 PM, Michael wrote:

> Ozan,
>
> This is an absolutely outstanding piece. The guitar-like part at
> 2:00 minutes and again at 6:30 I particularly like as they are just
> so playful and shows the awesome potential of maqam polyphony over
> the IMVHO much more shallow and less playful 12TET.
> And the fact you've managed to meld it with a very energetic, dance-
> able, and clever break-beat is just awesome...puts you right up near
> Marcus Satellite in the category for "best beats in micro-tonality".
>
> The critic in me says the saw-synth that comes in at about 1:16
> (and a few other times) is way too loud and the break-beat should be
> louder as it sounds like a tiny part of the background at some
> points. I'm only saying that because touches like these are the
> only things that would keep me from actually playing it at a live
> gig as a DJ and, believe me, I really want an excuse to do so.
>
> Great job and best of luck!
>
>

🔗Michael <djtrancendance@...>

>"The Saba Storm is but a product of much experimenting and
getting the feel of Logic Pro."
This is especially impressive because Logic (as with just about any modern MIDI production suite) is quite tricky to learn the first time around.

Ozan Yarman>"Staggering.. . since I am but an ignoramus when it comes to
professional audio mastering."
What really impressed me wasn't the mastering so much as the choice of rhythm and the way you managed to mix both slow and quick rhythmic parts (and melodies) into your track. I've seen very few tracks that do this well, "Finished Symphony" by Hybrid being another one of them.
My personal view is that a good enough instrumental arrangement with well tuned drums, well chosen chords, instruments spread evenly over octaves and frequency ranges...with sound quite clear and loud by itself and only need minimal mastering. Hence...I think your orchestration skills are solving most of the problems "mastering" (compression, limiting, EQ, etc.) is designed to solve. Personal experience tells me it's often a good idea to focus on orchestration extensively before adding a an extra boost through mastering...because too much mastering often makes a track sound artificial and forced (regardless of how loud it makes the track).

>"I only trust my ears and judgment in tweaking the many parameters of the mixing console and drag-dropping stuff from the loop library."
Of course, the critic in me says "ultimately you should make your own beats from scratch". The good news is you already seem to have a knack for finding what style of rhythm works well. You had me convinced you did make the drums from scratch...because they fit so well.

>"I think you mean that ugly saw-synth I used at 1:04. I tried a Bansuri Indian flute to imitate a Turkish ney, but could not. In the end, I was stuck with that saw."
Both...I know how it goes trying to find good samples of exotic instruments (not easy to do). But anything you can do to avoid pure saw, triangle, or square waves (primitive analogue-type sounds) is good, IMVHO, because those all (at least to me) sound buzzy and inorganic, especially in your music (which otherwise sounds incredibly organic and smooth).
I'd highly recommend oneshotsamples.com (which is 100% free) for finding good ethnic instrument samples for Logic.

>"The guitar-like part that makes its first appearance at 1:14 is nothing other than the simple oud, the ancestor of medieval lutes, and an indispensable timbre of Maqam music."
I get the feeling my Windows Media Player (mp3 player) isn't tracking the time correctly...you're probably right.

>"The guitar-like part that makes its first appearance at 1:14 is nothing other than the simple oud, the ancestor of medieval lutes"
I was about to say, it sounds much cooler than a standard acoustic guitar.

>"The piercing Shawm sound you hear at times is an Indian Shehnai Oboe, not much difference from the Turkish Zurna. For the lack of anything closer, I used this Shehnai. I think it was a nice touch."
Well it definitely works well...does a great job of filling up the high end of the frequency spectrum for the melodic part and still sounds relatively smooth.

>"But you need to announce that it is by Dr. Oz, and direct the audience to visit www.ozanyarman.com. :)
Of course. :-)

All the best, Michael

________________________________
From: Ozan Yarman <ozanyarman@ozanyarman.com>
To: MakeMicroMusic@yahoogroups.com
Sent: Thu, October 29, 2009 6:57:22 PM
Subject: Re: [MMM] Finally, maqam polyphony in action

Dear Michael,

It is a joy to hear you praise this humble work of mine. For indeed,
this is the first time in my life I have worked the capabilities of a
professional DAW to a desirable potential. I discover many things
slowly... The Saba Storm is but a product of much experimenting and
getting the feel of Logic Pro.

It pleases me immensely to hear you say that this track is outstanding
and candidate for the "best microtonal beat hall of fame".
Staggering.. . since I am but an ignoramus when it comes to
professional audio mastering. I only trust my ears and judgment in
tweaking the many parameters of the mixing console and drag-dropping
stuff from the loop library. But considering your satisfaction with
The Saba Storm, I guess I am progressing fairly swiftly in that
direction!

I think you mean that ugly saw-synth I used at 1:04. I tried a Bansuri
Indian flute to imitate a Turkish ney, but could not. In the end, I
was stuck with that saw.

Or do you mean the very loud supersaw that comes in at 0:43? I meant
to use that very loud piercing supersaw synth sound to tear through
the heart of the storm, bursting with the melancholy of maqam Saba.

The piercing Shawm sound you hear at times is an Indian Shehnai Oboe,
not much difference from the Turkish Zurna. For the lack of anything
closer, I used this Shehnai. I think it was a nice touch.

Thanks again for the nice comments!

Cordially,
Oz.

✩ ✩ ✩
www.ozanyarman. com

On Oct 29, 2009, at 10:57 PM, Michael wrote:

> Ozan,
>
> This is an absolutely outstanding piece. The guitar-like part at
> 2:00 minutes and again at 6:30 I particularly like as they are just
> so playful and shows the awesome potential of maqam polyphony over
> the IMVHO much more shallow and less playful 12TET.
> And the fact you've managed to meld it with a very energetic, dance-
> able, and clever break-beat is just awesome...puts you right up near
> Marcus Satellite in the category for "best beats in micro-tonality" .
>
> The critic in me says the saw-synth that comes in at about 1:16
> (and a few other times) is way too loud and the break-beat should be
> louder as it sounds like a tiny part of the background at some
> points. I'm only saying that because touches like these are the
> only things that would keep me from actually playing it at a live
> gig as a DJ and, believe me, I really want an excuse to do so.
>
> Great job and best of luck!
>
>

[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

🔗Graham Breed <gbreed@...>

I'll join the boring consensus and say that this sounds great, especially for a first effort. Either you have real talent or some good software set up just right. And either way, aim for a full album of this quality. You'll learn along the way and hopefully get some attention.

Probably your choice of sounds makes the mixing easier. Mixing isn't a black art but getting sounds that work well together can be very difficult. So now I'm wondering why you try to avoid synth programming.

Ozan Yarman wrote:

> I think you mean that ugly saw-synth I used at 1:04. I tried a Bansuri > Indian flute to imitate a Turkish ney, but could not. In the end, I > was stuck with that saw.

It sounds a bit wrong but not a big deal. Obviously this is not an acoustic performance and you have to upset things a bit.

> Or do you mean the very loud supersaw that comes in at 0:43? I meant > to use that very loud piercing supersaw synth sound to tear through > the heart of the storm, bursting with the melancholy of maqam Saba.

That one sounds great!

> I wanted to emphasize the melody in The Saba Storm, that is why the > beat is not as strong as you expect. However, it is a simple task to > augment it. I can prepare a version with stronger beats if you promise > to play it at a live gig. But you need to announce that it is by Dr. > Oz, and direct the audience to visit www.ozanyarman.com. :)

A lot of singles include dance remixes. What you have is fine for the normal mix. Some dance mixes also name-check the creators, what with it being common for the DJs not to announce them.

Graham

🔗Ozan Yarman <ozanyarman@...>

Dear Graham, you have my appreciation for your encouraging comments!

I do indeed wish to make an album in a year or so. But I still need to
figure out how to make drums from scratch, since Michael pointed out
that such is a requisite for master track-makers. My ability to
manipulate synths and all is very limited at this point. I try to make
up for my shortcomings with my skills at instrumentation and
orchestration.

I avoid synth programming like I avoid the plague. It looks real scary
in the programming world. I am prepared to be corrected on that
respect though.

Cordially,
Oz.

✩ ✩ ✩
www.ozanyarman.com

On Oct 30, 2009, at 9:58 AM, Graham Breed wrote:

> I'll join the boring consensus and say that this sounds
> great, especially for a first effort. Either you have real
> talent or some good software set up just right. And either
> way, aim for a full album of this quality. You'll learn
> along the way and hopefully get some attention.
>
> Probably your choice of sounds makes the mixing easier.
> Mixing isn't a black art but getting sounds that work well
> together can be very difficult. So now I'm wondering why
> you try to avoid synth programming.
>
> Ozan Yarman wrote:
>
>> I think you mean that ugly saw-synth I used at 1:04. I tried a
>> Bansuri
>> Indian flute to imitate a Turkish ney, but could not. In the end, I
>> was stuck with that saw.
>
> It sounds a bit wrong but not a big deal. Obviously this is
> not an acoustic performance and you have to upset things a bit.
>
>> Or do you mean the very loud supersaw that comes in at 0:43? I meant
>> to use that very loud piercing supersaw synth sound to tear through
>> the heart of the storm, bursting with the melancholy of maqam Saba.
>
> That one sounds great!
>
>> I wanted to emphasize the melody in The Saba Storm, that is why the
>> beat is not as strong as you expect. However, it is a simple task to
>> augment it. I can prepare a version with stronger beats if you
>> promise
>> to play it at a live gig. But you need to announce that it is by Dr.
>> Oz, and direct the audience to visit www.ozanyarman.com. :)
>
> A lot of singles include dance remixes. What you have is
> fine for the normal mix. Some dance mixes also name-check
> the creators, what with it being common for the DJs not to
> announce them.
>
>
> Graham

🔗Graham Breed <gbreed@...>

🔗Daniel Forro <dan.for@...>

On 31 Oct 2009, at 1:44 PM, Graham Breed wrote:
> Simple synth programming is not difficult, and not really
> programming in the sense of computer programming. It's
> mostly about turning knobs up and down to get the sounds you
> want.
>
> Graham

Generally yes, if we talk about simple analog subtractive synthesis synths, or their rompler or virtual derivations. But even here is good to know how some parameters are connected to the others. There's a lot of terminology, rather complicated by manufacturers' dialects.

Yamaha FM synthesizers DX/TX series, AFM/RCM synthesizers SY99/77, physical modeling VL1, or Formant Synthesis/FM FS1r... or Kurzweil Fourier Synthesis 150FS, Kawai ADD K5000 series, Technics WSA1, Korg WS WaveStation, or PM Prophecy, Oasys or Kurzweil VAST synthesizers and similar beasts are quite diffferent story. Definitely not so easy without some study. The same with some virtual synths (for example Absynth).

But in every case it's fun to sculpt your own sounds, and I can't imagine using only factory presets or third party sounds in my own compositions. Yes, flute is flute, but with electronic sounds it's a different philosophy and esthetics. It's good to have it under your command.

Concerning drum programming I've never used any sampled loop, always did drum parts from zero with drumsets in instruments. Again, it's a pleasure and challenge to learn something new. Besides it's not necessary to do it exactly the same way like all drummers do, why.

Daniel Forro

🔗Graham Breed <gbreed@...>

Daniel Forro wrote:

> Generally yes, if we talk about simple analog subtractive synthesis > synths, or their rompler or virtual derivations. But even here is > good to know how some parameters are connected to the others. There's > a lot of terminology, rather complicated by manufacturers' dialects.

Analog-style is good, yes. The basic terms will be the same -- envelopes, filter cut-offs and so on. There are other things as you mention below. The most important thing is to get a good interface you can play around with.

> Yamaha FM synthesizers DX/TX series, AFM/RCM synthesizers SY99/77, > physical modeling VL1, or Formant Synthesis/FM FS1r... or Kurzweil > Fourier Synthesis 150FS, Kawai ADD K5000 series, Technics WSA1, Korg > WS WaveStation, or PM Prophecy, Oasys or Kurzweil VAST synthesizers > and similar beasts are quite diffferent story. Definitely not so easy > without some study. The same with some virtual synths (for example > Absynth).

Yamaha FM is fine. Physical modeling is best avoided unless you know what you're doing because the results can be temperamental -- including the tuning. It's better to have something set up for you.

I don't know everything on that list.

We started with ZynAddSubFX, anyway. I've been looking into it more. It can get complex as you open one window after another. I don't understand all of it -- the documentation might help. But it can do analog-style fairly simply if you start with the right preset. The first window for the additive synth has the envelopes and filter there to tweak. For microtonality, the other thing to check is the voices window, so that you can turn down the detuning.

I remember VAZ Plus being easy to get started with. It still exists:

http://www.software-technology.com/

It supports tuning tables and VST, it isn't that expensive, you can do a lot with the free demo, and if they kept out the bloat it should be very efficient on modern hardware. I don't know if the tuning's precise enough for JI experiments.

Graham