Plogue Bidule

From what I understand, "plogue bidule" is French for "plug thingy". I've been playing with the software of the same name for much of the last week. I am pretty sure I will pay the $75 for the non-demo version. Despite some weaknesses (e.g. envelope generators and note extractors act a little weird), it seems like a very powerful tool. One use I envision is to gradually replace my Nord Modular, since P.D. seems more powerful. I like that I can save groups/modules to reuse. One of the more interesting modules I created is a note extractor that outputs various equal-tempered scales, e.g. 19 notes/octave. In conjunction with this, I built another module that converts an arbitrary frequency to a (closest) MIDI note and pitch bend correction. What's interesting about this, is that Plogue can take any monophonic synth patch and easily turn it into a polyphonic patch. So the pitch bends from the individual notes all go to separate monophonic synths or samplers, so arbitrary tunings can be achieved easily. Note that when doing this with a normal poly-synth, pitch bend is applied to all notes at once so you can't have it different for each note. So I created a polyphonic patch made of clones of VSamp set to single-note polyphony, and was instantly able to play them in alternative scales without reprogramming. Since in most cases, the sample set was spaced every semitone, there was not that much pitch bend that needed to be done, avoiding the "helium" effect.

The first thing I did with Plogue was a bit simpler, but also useful. It is very easy to take a single MIDI channel, and split the keyboard up into sections to play different sounds. This is important to me right now since my friend and I are thinking of creating a live-performance synth duo. I can control synths, samples, and sequences all from one MIDI keyboard.

The sound quality seems very good as well. I was able to use the delay lines to create a Karplus-Strong plucked string effect, which I couldn't do on the Nord due to the very short delay lines. Actually, I take that back- the Nord couldn't do the low frequency ones, and Plogue can't do high-frequency ones because of the buffer delay. There may be a way around it (pitch shifting?) to extend the range. I like the band-limited oscillators, as they give a cleaner sound than the Nord (G1) as well.

I was less impressed with some of the modules like the ADSR- the range of times is limited (no really long decay or release), and there is some sort of weird interaction between the decay and release times, and maybe the sustain level (haven't quite figured it out yet). Also, the note extractor, in a monophonic patch, only seems to work correctly in lowest-note priority mode. The default setting left a lot of cut-off and missing notes unless I released one key before pressing the next. Other modes, like newest-note priority would be desirable. Other weaknesses include the system for selecting bidules; it involves holding down the mouse button and goign through a tiresome multi-level pull-down menu structure. The "palette" sidebar seems to be an attempt to correct for this, but it doesn't quite cut it. Something like the tabs in the Nord Modular editor are a better approach, since organization is more thought out, and it's easy to find and drag things into the canvas. To be fair though, Plogue has a lot more modules to choose from so there may be no easy way to improve this. Maybe a "favorites" menu? (my "groups" menu is becoming de facto the equivalent of my "favorites").

Despite the weaknesses, I'm impressed overall, and think it's a very nice tool. I'm looking forward to improvements as I and others shell out some money and demand them in return.

Noise, Water, Meat, and Snow

I remembered something after my last post- one of my favorite conceptual art pieces is a piece by Yoko Ono that I read about in a book called "Noise, Water, Meat: A History of Sound in the Arts", by Douglas Kahn. I'm paraphrasing from memory here, but the piece was a set of instructions that said something like, "Make a tape recording of the sound of snow falling. Wrap up an empty box, and use the (magnetic) tape as a ribbon". I read this about 9 years ago, so I may not remember exactly right. But it seems like an appropriate time of year to think about these things.

The other thing I like, when the first snowfall comes, is to listen to Howard Hanson's 2nd Symphony (the "Romantic"). There's a long personal story behind it I won't get into right now. I recommend the Mercury Living Presence recording, with Hanson conducting the Eastman Symphony.

The Sun is Down!

Over the last month I've been working a little at a time to put together an entry for Yoko Ono and the Plastic Ono Band's remix contest. I went to the contest website, and downloaded the audio files of Yoko's voice, and some other electronic effects from the song "The Sun is Down!" which is on their latest CD. I wasn't already familiar with it, so I think it gave me some freedom from preconceptions which are hard to shake. I think this is why I didn't enter a similar contest for a couple Peter Gabriel songs- I was such a huge fan back in the '80's and '90's, and I couldn't get the original versions out of my head. However, when I listened to the audio files of Yoko's voice by itself, it struck me as something very appropriate for a Tea With Warriors song. So I jammed along with it, rearranged the lyrics into an order I thought was nice, and made up entirely new music. I'm not sure that the end result will be what the P.O.B. is looking for in terms of a "remix", but I think it stands well on its own as a piece of music, and if someone had done something similar with my music/voice, I would get a kick out of how totally different it is from what I made. After my version had "solidified" so to speak, I went and listened to the P.O.B. version. Wow- totally different. Mine is kind of jazzy '60's style, lots of mellotron samples. Not sure how I would describe the original, except that it is more modern and hard-edged, lots of electronics.

I can't post it here because of the legal agreement, but if I place in the top 10 it will be on the P.O.B. web site. So I hope it wins, so people can hear it!

The entry deadline is the end of the month, so I'll submit over Thanksgiving. Check back here for updates on what happens!

Whoosh!

When I sleep, I like to drown out outside sounds with something akin to "white noise". Technically, "white noise" is something quite harsh to listen to; the "White noise" setting on sleeping machines is actually "pink noise", or a filtered noise which is much more mellow. My wife and I had a nice machine made by Sharper Image in the 80's that worked really well, but it died. We looked around for a replacement, but never found one we thought was satisfactory. Usually, the speakers were too small to get the pleasing low end that is soothing and that masks the noises from outside. Second, the sound choices often didn't include just a simple "Static" or constant white noise sound. Third, most of these were hideously expensive for what they did.

So I came up with what I think is a better solution. I put a stereo in the bedroom, with inputs for an iPod. Using a synthesizer, I recorded a pleasing "whoosh" sound in stereo, for about a minute. This can be loaded into the iPod, and played on repeat. The newer iPods, and probably other brands of mp3 players, can play the mp3 without gaps, so you can let it run all night without interruption.

I've done some careful editing so that there are no clicks or pops when the file repeats. This was tricky since white noise (and similar things) are non-periodic and so there are no obvious splice points. I encoded the file at 320 kbps, so it is small (about 4 MB) and shouldn't take up much room on your iPod.

You can download it from the Tea With Warriors website here:
Whoosh!

New music video

I threw together a "music video" for the track "Falls" from the Niagara CD. I posted it on YouTube. So far, not too many views, so pass it the link along:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HolrzDI2pME

Acoustic Treatment

After I got back from Buffalo, I installed some acoustic panels in my studio to reduce standing waves and early reflections. I also put the computer in the closet, and put panels to reduce reflection of noise out of the closet since I can't close the closet completely because of heat considerations. This still made a significant improvement in my listening experience. You can see me discuss the technical issues in a video on Youtube, "Cheap Acoustic Room Treatments".

Children and the love of music

A high-school friend of mine sent me the following letter on facebook:

Hello! looks like you had a nice visit to WNY. You were introduced to music at a very young age, I am assuming. What did your parents do to surround you with music so that you grew to love it (and play so beautifully)? Were your parents musicians?
My 3 year old is always singing everything...making up songs about the slug she found and made her fingers sticky. She enjoys music, classical to sing-alongs to alternative. Do you have any ideas that impacted you personally in your youth to pass along to me? I did purchase a very small violin that she "plays" from time to time, but I have not started Suzuki lessons or anything else for that manner.
We are well here. I hope you are able to open my eyes to ways to encourage Frances to love and take an interest in music.
Keep smiling!

Thanks for the very nice message- I think my musical bent comes almost completely from my mother's side. My dad doesn't seem to listen to music much, except maybe to see the big-busted ladies of Hee-Haw, or more recently, a TV special with Shania Twain. I think the only record he ever bought was "Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald", because he knew some of the guys who died on it (he worked on the boats in the Great Lakes). My mom also didn't play any instrument, but we listened to the radio and records a lot. We mostly listened to WKBW, a Buffalo AM station that played a wide variety of pop, rock, country, and novelty music. I also remember my mom putting a stack (that was the playlist of the 70's) of Johnny Cash records on the stereo to occupy me while I stayed on the couch while she waxed the floors (I was scared of "Ring of Fire", and liked it at the same time).

My parents didn't push me to play music, it was something that I came up with on my own. When I was in 1st and 2nd grade, at school there was a lady (Mrs. Fluker?) who would come in once a day and play piano for sing-alongs or marches around the room with little instruments. We were forbidden to touch the piano in the classroom, which made it very attractive. I bugged my parents to get a piano, and in 3rd grade we got one and I started lessons. Around the same time, Mr. Mears (who became my violin teacher for the next 9 years) and another music teacher from the middle school came to our class and demoed different instruments. I liked the different bowing techniques that Mr. Mears used, and decided I wanted to try violin. As for guitar, my sister had a crappy toy one laying around that she wasn't using, and one day I heard the opening riff of KISS's "Calling Dr. Love" coming out of her bedroom, and I decided I really wanted to make that kind of noise. So I started teaching myself guitar with the help of a book, and imitating KISS records.

Most of my youth I was really into rock and pop music. First there was the KISS obsession for a couple years- I had "Alive" and "Alive II" memorized, and would give daily "KISS concerts" in the garage in the summer, complete with Paul Stanley's exhortations to the crowd, which in my case were my two dogs.
John: "Do you want a little bit of rock and roll? I said Do you want a little bit of ROCK AND ROLL?! Well SHOUT IT OUT LOUD!!"
Dogs: "Woof! WOOF!".

Then I got "Best of the Doobies" out of the library and that got me interested in more sophisticated stuff. Then there was the Beatles phase, and Genesis, YES, Rush, Pink Floyd. When I went to the School of Orchestral Studies in Saratoga, that's when I started to listen to classical music. I really liked "Pictures at an Exhibition" and the last movement of Shostakovich's 5th symphony that we played. All those bright colorful Russian harmonies really did it for me. Also Howard Hanson's 2nd Symphony is a huge favorite of mine.

Recently I've drifted back toward listening more to pop and rock. I don't have the technical skills on piano I used to, but my violin and guitar playing is still pretty good. My own music is a mix of all those influences I picked up along the way. Though I didn't go into music as my main profession, if I'm honest with myself I'd have to say it's the thing I'm most obsessed with. It also got me out of my shell, and allowed me to get to know a lot of nice people. I'm glad I never saw it as a "chore". My parents didn't force me to practice, and I could quit any time (almost did near the beginning). It's nice to have something so fun, and something that I can get totally wrapped up in and forget my everyday problems, and even explore new and strange worlds, so to speak. I hope your daughter has fun with her little violin!

Cheers,
John