| T.R | Title | User | Personal
Name | Date | Lines |
|---|
| 755.1 | Fun with wheels | TALLIS::BARTH | | Mon Apr 13 1987 16:32 | 23 |
| I play in a cover band, so there's not alot of room for extended
synth solos, and the few rock songs I do solo on I usually opt for
organ and piano solos. But I still get to use the performance
controllers now and then.
On my DX I use mainly aftertouch for a vibrato effect -- alot
of songs require a delayed "wiggling" of the pitch, and with both
hands full the mod wheel is not real practical.
I also use, contrary to public opinion, the breath controller.
It's fantastic for brass sounds and soloing with sax sounds. I've
got this one brass patch that sounds terrible without the controller,
but really comes alive with it! I use it to create swells, sharp
and mello articulations of notes, create changes in timbre as well
as volume -- how else can you do all that with just one patch?
The pitch bend wheel is o.k., but I actually like Roland-type
benders better -- those are the ones perpendicular to the keyboard.
By setting the range to maximum (a fifth on my Juno-60),
portamento-type effects can be obtained, as well a faster/further
bends; Nick Rhodes illustrated this in "Save a prayer til the Morning
After" or-something-like-that by Duran Duran.
Gotta run -- happy bending!
Ron
|
| 755.2 | Vol=Vel ? | 16514::MOELLER | Upper Sonoran Desert SW Support | Tue Apr 14 1987 20:23 | 14 |
| I've got a KX88 and a couple of MIDI modules, and one control I've
set up is footcontrol 1, FC1, as a volume control affecting bank
'B' only. This allows my main synth, a piano unit, to respond to
velocity only, while bringing the other two units up and down using
the foot volume pedal. That is, 'orchestral' swells behind piano.
Question: in what ways do volume messages differ from velocity?
I had thought that it farkled velocity only, but now it seems to
be a different parameter. Does using a volume controller add
lots'o'messages al� aftertouch? How often is it tracked ?
I've noticed a 'graininess' in Fb01 voices when moving the volume
pedal.
karl
|
| 755.3 | Different MIDI controllers | NIMBUS::DAVIS | | Wed Apr 15 1987 10:20 | 15 |
| I think the volume controller is treated more like a pitch bend
wheel, it's a specific MIDI controller function. I would imagine
it only sends messages when it's moved. The MIDI spec in
the manual that came with the ESQ-1 mentioned several different
controller types, each with it's own number. The only two I can
remember off hand are the volume and pitch bend, but there are others
defined for MIDI.
Any "graininess" caused by a volume controller sounds pretty strange
to me. Is it possible that they're changing volume by digitally
altering the amplitude of the waveform as opposed to some sort of
analog VCA?
Rob
|
| 755.4 | DX7 also grainy | SAUTER::SAUTER | John Sauter | Wed Apr 15 1987 10:42 | 12 |
| I can't speak for the FB01, but on the DX7 the MIDI volume message
is very grainy, and a low volumes you get a lot of noise. I suspect
that the MIDI volume message sets the value of a multiplier just
before the D/A convertor. That means that with anything less than
full volume you have less than the normal 12 bits going into the
DAC. 12 bits is barely enough (the new DX7 uses 16 bits), so using
less is very noticable.
Also the parameter on the DX7 has only 7 or 8 values, so that would
cause granininess no matter how it was implemented, unless it had
a very narrow range.
John Sauter
|
| 755.5 | | SSDEVO::MCCOLLUM | | Wed Apr 15 1987 15:34 | 2 |
| Yes, the MIDI volume control only sends data when you move it.
|
| 755.6 | set max/reset=bit_8 | JON::ROSS | wockin' juan | Wed Apr 15 1987 22:06 | 14 |
| whoa. Dont blame the sound unit.
It can also be the quantizing introduced by the controller...
(the electronics sensing the wheel)
Midi spec doesnt REQUIRE a controller or a receptor (hey, I like
that term) to 'handle' all 127 gradations of volume...
or velocity (yes its different)
or pitch bend
or other
ok?
|
| 755.7 | | 16514::MOELLER | Meet my cat Mandu, my dog Edd Lee | Mon Apr 20 1987 19:08 | 18 |
| Continuing on footpedal volume controllers:
After suitable controller assignment I can vary volume out of my
EMAX as well as the Fb01. The EMAX has a MIDI 'window' which will
display the MIDI controller and any messages attached in real time.
Without playing any notes, just moving the pedal, the window says
VOLUME #07, and underneath it will display the volume numeric value,
0-127. Smoothly. No stairstepping up, it appears to be xmitting
the full range with fine granularity. The EMAX sounds nice and smooth
coming up and going down. So this may be a peculiarity of how Volume
was implemented on the Fb01.
An aside.. my Fb01 is incredibly quiet.. not in a S/N sense, I mean
in volume.. haveta set the mixer channel on 10 to get any output.
Of course this is for mono voices like bass or percussion.
karl
|
| 755.8 | Try a Major 2nd | HUMAN::DIORIO | | Wed May 06 1987 14:29 | 20 |
| I adjust my pitch bend so that it is set for an interval of a major
second. Then I play the note that is a whole step below my "target
note" and bend upwards to the "target note". Sometimes I bend
downwards, but most of the time I find myself bending up. I hardly
ever use any interval other than a major second, because that's what
"feels right" for me, and sounds the way I want my pitch-bending
to sound.
My favorite pitch bend controller is the joystick found on Korg
synthesizers. By rapidly moving the joystick up to its maximum value
(a major second higher than the "target note") and back (it's all
in the wrist!) I can simulate the type of vibrato that many guitar
players use. I think it sounds more natural than using the sine
wave modulation utilized by mod wheels. Mod wheels introduce a vibrato
that is "too perfect" to be realistic. No guitar player could possibly
create such a perfect vibrato by bending strings. It's the contant
variation -- the imperfection, that makes the vibrato sound natural
and "human" to me.
Mike D.
|