a capella demo

Here's the orlando consort doing something pretty
amazing...

http://lumma.org/tuning/modus4.mp3

...('bout 3 megs) from their album "Extempore". Jazz
mixed with medieval music, and they actually pull it
off! Highly recommended, if you can find it.

-Carl

on 4/1/04 8:39 PM, Carl Lumma <ekin@lumma.org> wrote:

> Here's the orlando consort doing something pretty
> amazing...
>
> http://lumma.org/tuning/modus4.mp3

The pumping of the vocals sounded unnatural - kind of drove me nuts. Do you
think that is just an mp3 problem?

(By the way I finally got quicktime to output to my alternate audio device
instead of the built-in speakers under Mac OS X. Seemed like maybe loading
the quicktime player application got it started, and then it continued to
work in the web browser after that, and even after reboot, and even after
switching the audio output device away and back.)

-Kurt

>> Here's the orlando consort doing something pretty
>> amazing...
>>
>> http://lumma.org/tuning/modus4.mp3
>
>The pumping of the vocals sounded unnatural - kind of drove
>me nuts. Do you think that is just an mp3 problem?

I'm not sure what you're referring to, but it isn't an mp3
problem.

-Carl

--- In tuning@yahoogroups.com, "Carl Lumma" <ekin@l...> wrote:
> Here's the orlando consort doing something pretty
> amazing... Jazz
> mixed with medieval music, and they actually pull it
> off!

Jazz? I enjoyed it, but jazz?

Cheers,
Jon

>> Here's the orlando consort doing something pretty
>> amazing... Jazz
>> mixed with medieval music, and they actually pull it
>> off!
>
>Jazz? I enjoyed it, but jazz?

The album consists of three kinds of tracks:

() Orlando Consort only
() Perfect Houseplants only
() both groups together

http://tinyurl.com/33ksb

-Carl

--- In tuning@yahoogroups.com, "Carl Lumma" <ekin@l...> wrote:
> Here's the orlando consort doing something pretty
> amazing...
>
> http://lumma.org/tuning/modus4.mp3

When are you going to get an actual home page, and not "Ten Essential
Microtonal Recordings" so that people can find what you have on your
site?

>> Here's the orlando consort doing something pretty
>> amazing...
>>
>> http://lumma.org/tuning/modus4.mp3
>
>When are you going to get an actual home page, and not "Ten Essential
>Microtonal Recordings" so that people can find what you have on your
>site?

Hopefully before I start work May 3rd.

I had a home page '96-98. Took it down for a revamp and never
finished it.

For the time being just consider it a broadcast medium.

Or, perish the thought, you could save your e-mail and search it
for the links you want.

-Carl

on 4/2/04 1:37 AM, Carl Lumma <ekin@lumma.org> wrote:

>>> Here's the orlando consort doing something pretty
>>> amazing...
>>>
>>> http://lumma.org/tuning/modus4.mp3
>>
>> The pumping of the vocals sounded unnatural - kind of drove
>> me nuts. Do you think that is just an mp3 problem?
>
> I'm not sure what you're referring to, but it isn't an mp3
> problem.

Well if you're not sure, then it still might be, right? Were you listening
on decent speakers (or headphones)?

I'm referring to what seems to be some side-effect of the word-by-word
variation in amplitude of the singers' voices. There are for example
several seconds at the beginning where they are maintaining relatively
constant amplitude, and then they switch to dropping amplitude between words
or maybe syllables, but in any case at regular intervals perhaps a little
over a half second apart.

It reminds me of the pumping that happens when something of varying
amplitude is compressed. I really thought this might be an mp3 artifact.
It does sound like it could be a digital artifact.

-Kurt

>>>> Here's the orlando consort doing something pretty
>>>> amazing...
>>>>
>>>> http://lumma.org/tuning/modus4.mp3
>>>
>>> The pumping of the vocals sounded unnatural - kind of drove
>>> me nuts. Do you think that is just an mp3 problem?
>>
>> I'm not sure what you're referring to, but it isn't an mp3
>> problem.
>
>Well if you're not sure, then it still might be, right?

Very unlikely. In fact, I can offer you 50:1 odds that you won't
pass an ABX test between with this file and the original wav.

>Were you listening on decent speakers (or headphones)?

Yes and yes.

>It does sound like it could be a digital artifact.

It is possible to hear 16-bit aliasing in some fades, I think.

-Carl

> I'm referring to what seems to be some side-effect of the word-by-word
> variation in amplitude of the singers' voices.> ...
...
> and then they switch to dropping amplitude between words
> or maybe syllables, but in any case at regular intervals

Ewww. Really.

Doesn't sound like any recording artifact at all. To me it sounds like
obviously an intentional vocal warbling technique where the vocal
cords are purposely warbled at the onset of each, even within
syllables. (I'm sure anyone can make their voice do the same thing
easily.) It is pretty annoying. Perhaps it's thought to be cool or
authentic melisma for the period or something like that...

(Hi to everyone in Tuning land. I don't usually post here any more,
but I come by the archives once in a while to poke around...)

Carl,

--- In tuning@yahoogroups.com, Carl Lumma <ekin@l...> wrote:
> >> Here's the orlando consort doing something pretty
> >> amazing... Jazz
> >> mixed with medieval music, and they actually pull it
> >> off!
> >
> >Jazz? I enjoyed it, but jazz?
>
> The album consists of three kinds of tracks:
>
> () Orlando Consort only
> () Perfect Houseplants only
> () both groups together

Thanks, but I'll have time to listen to the clips later. I was merely confirming that the mp3 you *posted* had nothing to do with jazz.

As for the pumping, isn't Kurt just noticing the phrasing of the vocals? (which didn't seem stylistically incorrect to me...)

Cheers,
Jon

>As for the pumping, isn't Kurt just noticing the phrasing
>of the vocals?

I think so.

And now, a prayer:
Oh ye experts of intonation: have ye nothing to say about
the intonation?

-Carl

--- In tuning@yahoogroups.com, "Jon Szanto" <JSZANTO@A...> wrote:

/tuning/topicId_53010.html#53021

> Carl,
>
> --- In tuning@yahoogroups.com, Carl Lumma <ekin@l...> wrote:
> > >> Here's the orlando consort doing something pretty
> > >> amazing... Jazz
> > >> mixed with medieval music, and they actually pull it
> > >> off!
> > >
> > >Jazz? I enjoyed it, but jazz?
> >
> > The album consists of three kinds of tracks:
> >
> > () Orlando Consort only
> > () Perfect Houseplants only
> > () both groups together
>
> Thanks, but I'll have time to listen to the clips later. I was
merely confirming that the mp3 you *posted* had nothing to do with
jazz.
>
> As for the pumping, isn't Kurt just noticing the phrasing of the
vocals? (which didn't seem stylistically incorrect to me...)
>
> Cheers,
> Jon

***Some of the other cuts over on Amazon *do* sound like jazz...

However, the *real* Renaissance Jazz is being done here in New York
by a fellow by the name of Roger Blanc. Roger did some Palestrina
and, I kid you not, added a drum set and whatnot, keeping the rhythms
pretty free, since they were already pretty free. It really was
wild; I loved it...

JP

on 4/2/04 7:03 PM, Carl Lumma <ekin@lumma.org> wrote:

>> As for the pumping, isn't Kurt just noticing the phrasing
>> of the vocals?
>
> I think so.
>
> And now, a prayer:
> Oh ye experts of intonation: have ye nothing to say about
> the intonation?
>
> -Carl

Sounds like some pretty tight semitones there. Or maybe they aren't that
tight for semitones, but I'm not used to hearing semitones in harmony at
all. Pretty ambiguous at the beginning but further on with more notes in
the chords it sounds pretty harmonic (otonal) to me in many places, though
there are some places where I can't tell.

Well that's not saying much, but that's all I can readily hear.

-Kurt

>However, the *real* Renaissance Jazz is being done here in New York
>by a fellow by the name of Roger Blanc. Roger did some Palestrina
>and, I kid you not, added a drum set and whatnot, keeping the rhythms
>pretty free, since they were already pretty free. It really was
>wild; I loved it...

That sounds like something I would really love.

-Carl

>Sounds like some pretty tight semitones there. Or maybe they aren't
>that tight for semitones, but I'm not used to hearing semitones in
>harmony at all. Pretty ambiguous at the beginning but further on
>with more notes in the chords it sounds pretty harmonic (otonal) to
>me in many places, though there are some places where I can't tell.
>
>Well that's not saying much, but that's all I can readily hear.

That's about what I would say. Except I'm not even sure about the
otonal part. Any others have any thoughts, or lack thereof?

If I get a chance, this looks like the perfect thing to try out
'the best software ever written' that I purchased...

http://www.seventhstring.demon.co.uk/xscribe/

-Carl

--- In tuning@yahoogroups.com, Carl Lumma <ekin@l...> wrote:

> If I get a chance, this looks like the perfect thing to try out
> 'the best software ever written' that I purchased...
>
> http://www.seventhstring.demon.co.uk/xscribe/

Please tell us if it works!