issue04

EMUSIC-L Digest                                      Volume 59, Issue 04

This issue's topics:
	
	E-MU Morpheus (9 messages)
	Morpheus (2 messages)
	Morpheus filter fader

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Date:         Mon, 6 Dec 1993 17:55:58 GMT
From:         Philip Jones 
Subject:      E-MU Morpheus

Hi Charles

With regard to the Emu Morpheus, have you looked at this months Sound on Sound
magazine (Have you heard of it?)? If you haven't the following is a brief
description from ISCA. (telnet WHIP.ISCA.UIOWA.EDU then jump to MIDI).

Dec  3, 1993 06:36 from Uncle Alfred
Magicdon:
Have you seen the new Emu Morpheus z-plane synthesiser. This synth builds on
the basic principles of S+S technology but does new things which I haven't seen
done before. The samples can be maniuplated and trigerred anyway and anywhere
and the envelopes and start positions can be modulated by any controller. The
filters are 14 pole interpolating whereas most synths at the moment have 4-pole
fixed filters. As well as all this the modulation routing has been extended to
give what amounts to 20 internal patch cords to muck around with. Basically the
morpheus is a modular sysnthesiser in a box.
Also Yamaha are set to bring out a new type of synth using a physical modelling
system called Virtual Acoustics which has been developed at Stanford
University. This technique allows mathematical models to be built up to mimic
the way an acoustic instrument behaves. For example you can start with a 'wind'
model and change all the physical parameters to cause the virtual instrument to
vibrate virtual air when it is played. The first synth they plan to bring out
will be the VL1. This will be biased towards producing wind and bowed
instruments. The Vl1 will only be capable of playing two notes at a time which
almost takes the leading technology back to the days of the Moog etc. Oh well
anyway that's about all I know of what's new in the synthesiser technological
world at present. What do you reckon ,do you think this will be something new
or just more of the same??
[MIDI And Electronic Music> msg #564 (30 remaining)]

If you want more info contact the company, buy a magazine, or join up at ISCA.

Phil Jones (pj02@ee.ic.ac.uk)

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Date:         Tue, 7 Dec 1993 15:53:10 +0000
From:         Nick Rothwell 
Subject:      Re: E-MU Morpheus

>With regard to the Emu Morpheus, have you looked at this months Sound on Sound
>magazine (Have you heard of it?)?

It still amazes me that people can take Sound On Sound "technical"
"reviews" seriously. SOS reviews are basically regurgitations of the
product flyers, followed by a list of the front panel buttons, followed by
a description of the best factory presets, followed by "this is a killer,
my cheque's in the post." I can only assume that SOS are in bed with the
product distributors and/or advertisers, otherwise they'd do a much better
job, and perhaps actually criticise something from time to time.

The Morpheus, meanwhile, has 3D mixing but, reading between the
(insubstantial) lines of the SOS review, and going off Ross Clement's
hands-on comments, is rather seriously crippled since two of the axes (X
and Y) are permanently wired to note pitch and note velocity. Well, that
saves me some money.

                        Nick Rothwell   |   cassiel@cassiel.demon.co.uk
     CASSIEL Contemporary Music/Dance   |   cassiel@cix.compulink.co.uk

------------------------------
Date:         Tue, 7 Dec 1993 16:15:16 GMT
From:         Philip Jones 
Subject:      Re Re E-MU Morpheus

In reply to Nick Rothwell who wrote:
>It still amazes me that people can take Sound On Sound "technical"
"reviews" seriously. SOS reviews are basically regurgitations of the
product flyers, followed by a list of the front panel buttons, followed by
a description of the best factory presets, followed by "this is a killer,
my cheque's in the post." I can only assume that SOS are in bed with the
product distributors and/or advertisers, otherwise they'd do a much better
job, and perhaps actually criticise something from time to time.

The Morpheus, meanwhile, has 3D mixing but, reading between the
(insubstantial) lines of the SOS review, and going off Ross Clement's
hands-on comments, is rather seriously crippled since two of the axes (X
and Y) are permanently wired to note pitch and note velocity. Well, that
saves me some money.
>

Although not condoning SOS reviews, I would point out that I was answering a
question as to the specifications and attributes of the Morpheus, and although
the SOS review maybe a regurgitation of product flyers it still gives a better
idea of the product than no information at all.

Phil Jones (pj02@ee.ic.ac.uk)

------------------------------
Date:         Wed, 8 Dec 1993 17:07:41 +0000
From:         "Richard W.E. Furse" 
Subject:      Re: E-MU Morpheus

In article  cassiel@CASSIEL.DEMON.CO.UK
writes:

> It still amazes me that people can take Sound On Sound "technical"
> "reviews" seriously.

Me too. But what other magazines are there that are half decent? And once
you get used to the reviews they kinda make sense.

> The Morpheus, meanwhile, has 3D mixing

Maybe I'm more used to reading these articles or perhaps Mr Rothwell has
been doing too much vector synthesis. :) Not 3D mixing, but a 3D signal
processing system (My earlier fears seem ill-founded.)

>                                        but, reading between the
> (insubstantial) lines of the SOS review, and going off Ross Clement's
> hands-on comments, is rather seriously crippled since two of the axes (X
> and Y) are permanently wired to note pitch and note velocity. Well, that
> saves me some money.

   Well you're just spoilt - the rest of us are used to only having dynamic
control over one parameter of our filters (cutoff frequency.) The other
two axes are just a bonus (generally note-pitch and velocity just get lumped
together and applied to the one dynamic parameter.) In addition, it sounds
as if different cubes will allow completely different uses of the DSP chips,
so in different situations that one axis might be cutoff frequency or
perhaps comb-filter frequency, reverb time, formant fade, flange depth etc.
What I'm wondering is whether they'll allow programming of new filtering
systems - pole/zero systems tend to be very unstable (and extremely flexible)
so it's quite possible that they won't let us at them.

   Incidentally, anyone remember this?

> ...with the versatile power of Yamaha's exclusive Dynamic Digital
> Filter function, a wide range of tonal effects can be manipulated in real
> time. Imagine being able to program a velocity-triggered ring modulation
> effect on a guitar Voice. Or emphasizing a narrow frequency band on a
> pipe organ sound, controlling the amount of emphasis by foot pedal. Or
> programming realistic simulation of vocal vowel formants to make the
> TX16W "speak" as you play...

   With this in mind (I own a TX16W so I know what the filters REALLY do,)
I'll try to keep my imagination under control until I've had a chance to
play with a Morpheus.

--
Richard Furse (richardfurse@muse.demon.co.uk)

------------------------------
Date:         Fri, 10 Dec 1993 17:26:57 +0000
From:         Nick Rothwell 
Subject:      Re: E-MU Morpheus

>Me too. But what other magazines are there that are half decent?

I've read one issue of FUTURE MUSIC and it isn't too bad, although it's a
bit chaotic layout-wise. For decent technical reviews I always go to
KEYBOARD, although the Californian sensibilities and dreadful typographic
design irritate me after a while.

>And once
>you get used to the reviews they kinda make sense.

SOS reviews are basically publicity material re-written by someone trying
out a new product in his living room.

>Maybe I'm more used to reading these articles or perhaps Mr Rothwell has
>been doing too much vector synthesis. :) Not 3D mixing, but a 3D signal
>processing system (My earlier fears seem ill-founded.)

That depends whether the Morpheus does amplitude interpolation between
different filter programs at the cube corners, or something smarter. I
doubt it's something smarter.

>   Well you're just spoilt - the rest of us are used to only having dynamic
>control over one parameter of our filters (cutoff frequency.)

Agreed, but I am rather used to being able to apply (say) two LFO's to two
different aspects of a sound's timbre. easy on the Wavestation (modulate X
and Y vector mix), easy on the MicroWave (modulate filter cutoff/resonance
and wavetable position), easy even on the old D-50 (PWM position and filter
cutoff) impossible on the Morpheus...(?)

>In addition, it sounds
>as if different cubes will allow completely different uses of the DSP chips,
>so in different situations that one axis might be cutoff frequency or
>perhaps comb-filter frequency, reverb time, formant fade, flange depth etc.

Hmm. Flanging suggests pitch modulation. I think the cube corners are
merely settings for the multimode filters, and there isn't any other DSP
involved, although cube position might well be available as a modulation
*source* for other parts of the voice/effects chain, if EMu have got their
basic design right. I think you're being a little optimistic regarding the
basic voice architecture though.

>What I'm wondering is whether they'll allow programming of new filtering
>systems

I would hope so, otherwise it's basically a presets box, isn't it?

>I'll try to keep my imagination under control until I've had a chance to
>play with a Morpheus.

I'll make you a deal: you control your imagination and I'll control my
cynicism...

                        Nick Rothwell   |   cassiel@cassiel.demon.co.uk
     CASSIEL Contemporary Music/Dance   |   cassiel@cix.compulink.co.uk

------------------------------
Date:         Sat, 11 Dec 1993 11:45:10 +0000
From:         "Richard W.E. Furse" 
Subject:      Re: E-MU Morpheus

> I'll make you a deal: you control your imagination and I'll control my
> cynicism...

   I know I should try but I cannot resist... (I'm quite cynically inclined
myself and I'm enjoying the change!)

> >Maybe I'm more used to reading these articles or perhaps Mr Rothwell has
> >been doing too much vector synthesis. :) Not 3D mixing, but a 3D signal
> >processing system (My earlier fears seem ill-founded.)
>
> That depends whether the Morpheus does amplitude interpolation between
> different filter programs at the cube corners, or something smarter. I
> doubt it's something smarter.

   MUST be smarter that amplitude interpolation between two filter
programs (which is what I originally feared) - the simple contradiction is
that otherwise there is no way to do low-pass filtering with control of
cutoff - which is an example they keep quoting. The question is how
much smarter; the TX16W offers a variety of filter systems and each works by
amplitude interpolation between 10 preset filter stages. This isn't enough
to make the progression smooth and the filters sound awful anyway. The more
I think about it the more likely movement on the z-plane seems. (I really
ought to find better things to do...)

   As I've said before, amplitude interpolation between different filter
programs at the cube corners is ultimately the same as dynamic mixing of
the outputs of the filters at the corners applied direct to the signal. In
which case I'll feel a bit of a fool.

> >What I'm wondering is whether they'll allow programming of new filtering
> >systems
>
> I would hope so, otherwise it's basically a presets box, isn't it?

   Yes - and it irritates me too - but aren't 200 preset filters better
than the 3 preset filters (low-pass, band-pass, high-pass) found on most of
today's synths?

   Incidentally, a friend of mine read the SOS article on Morpheus. He's not
particularly technical but in conversation yesterday he mentioned he
thought the Morpheus would 'inbetween' from one sound to another. However
the system works, the Morpheus will NOT do this unless the sounds are both
synthesised from the Morpheus and happen to both use the same core sample
and filter cube! The name 'Morpheus' is definitely misleading as it
implies morphing of sound when in fact the instrument offers (limited)
morphing of filters. (Even here the term is misleading.)

   Spot the marketing gimmick. (Then again 'E-Mu Flexifilter' probably
wouldn't sell too well...)

--
Richard Furse (RichardFurse@Muse.Demon.Co.UK)

------------------------------
Date:         Mon, 13 Dec 1993 10:21:37 +0000
From:         Nick Rothwell 
Subject:      Re: E-MU Morpheus

>   MUST be smarter that amplitude interpolation between two filter
>programs (which is what I originally feared) - the simple contradiction is
>that otherwise there is no way to do low-pass filtering with control of
>cutoff - which is an example they keep quoting.

Well, if they do indeed allow that kind of interpolation (the fact that
they quote it doesn't prove much - yet) then there could be some
interesting stuff here, but I'm still skeptical that it'll be that
sophisticated.

>   As I've said before, amplitude interpolation between different filter
>programs at the cube corners is ultimately the same as dynamic mixing of
>the outputs of the filters at the corners applied direct to the signal. In
>which case I'll feel a bit of a fool.

I'll be disappointed, but not terribly surprised, if this is what they've done.

>   Yes - and it irritates me too - but aren't 200 preset filters better
>than the 3 preset filters (low-pass, band-pass, high-pass) found on most of
>today's synths?

That's fine, but only if the cubes themselves can be programmed. If the
cubes are preset it'll be even more disappointing.

                        Nick Rothwell   |   cassiel@cassiel.demon.co.uk
     CASSIEL Contemporary Music/Dance   |   cassiel@cix.compulink.co.uk

------------------------------
Date:         Thu, 23 Dec 1993 18:12:07 +0000
From:         "Richard W.E. Furse" 
Subject:      Re: E-MU Morpheus

In article  cassiel@CASSIEL.DEMON.CO.UK
writes:
> Well, if they do indeed allow that kind of interpolation (the fact that
> they quote it doesn't prove much - yet) then there could be some
> interesting stuff here, but I'm still skeptical that it'll be that
> sophisticated.

> That's fine, but only if the cubes themselves can be programmed. If the
> cubes are preset it'll be even more disappointing.
>
>                         Nick Rothwell   |   cassiel@cassiel.demon.co.uk
>      CASSIEL Contemporary Music/Dance   |   cassiel@cix.compulink.co.uk

   I had a look at a Morpheus while I was doing some Christmas shopping.
Turnkey couldn't find a manual but from what I could make out fiddling with
the parameters and from the bits of information I've assimilated so far, I
like it. The machine works from a good collection of samples, largely
synthetic ones - I didn't find any orchestral instruments but then I wasn't
looking. The chosen sample is then processed through a very elegant filter
unit. There are 200 different filter systems available and each of these is
modulated according to a number of sources, some varying according to
situation at note-on (eg pitch, velocity) and others varying with modulator
sources (eg envelope generators, continuous controllers.) I didn't have
time to evaluate them in any great detail but there appears to be a great
deal of variety present. I noticed a 'chorus' filter unit and I gather
there are reverbs etc present although I didn't find them. One of the
presets sings the word 'Why?' using the 'vocal cube' filter and a bit of
vibrato to hide the detail. OK it cheats and uses a second source for the
'y' but it is VERY realistic.

   The 200 filter systems are quite an improvement on the 3 (Hi/Band/Low
pass) found on most synths. I wonder if additional systems can be
programmed/plugged in. I would not expect to be able to do this through
the front panel. I hope other instruments start using this kind of system -
I suspect current filter hardware is potentially able to do all of this but
just hasn't been programmed to.

   There are some very nice touches like a 'function' generator - you know
how 'reverse' need more than just a slow attack? Now you can grab an
increasing exponential function.

   Each of the 32 voices has its own filter system and then on top of that
is an effects processor (which I didn't look at.)

   The instrument is horrible to use. There are all of eight buttons and a
rotary control. The latter works nicely but it is the ONLY way to edit
parameters (no +1/-1 buttons or keypad) And it is also the only way to
change screen. This means it is necessary to move the cursor to the page
title to change page and then move it back to change a parameter on the new
page. Ugly. Perhaps the logic is that everyone is going to need an external
patch editor anyway. But even so.

   So - starting from standard waveforms this is a gorgeous synth with the
most flexible filters I've ever seen. And it'll do boring S+S synthesis if
you want. Shame about the operating system.

   Happy Christmas all.

--
Richard Furse (RichardFurse@Muse.Demon.Co.UK)

------------------------------
Date:         Thu, 23 Dec 1993 14:07:41 -0800
From:         David Chandler 
Subject:      Re: E-MU Morpheus

>    The instrument is horrible to use. There are all of eight buttons and a
> rotary control. The latter works nicely but it is the ONLY way to edit
> parameters (no +1/-1 buttons or keypad) And it is also the only way to
> change screen. This means it is necessary to move the cursor to the page
> title to change page and then move it back to change a parameter on the new
> page. Ugly. Perhaps the logic is that everyone is going to need an external
> patch editor anyway. But even so.
Yeah +1/-1 'arrows' would be nice, but I had fun programming it otherwise.
I used to get frustrated pushing those few buttons, but, in a way, that's
fewer moving parts to go bad (trying to be optimistic).  External
editor--yes, this would be a beauty with an external editor (esp good
graphics) because the ramps between time points on the envelopes can be
curves or waves (or noise!)   This would be great to draw graphically
(i.e. pick an axis point on the screen for the curve to be drawn based on...)

>    So - starting from standard waveforms this is a gorgeous synth with the
> most flexible filters I've ever seen. And it'll do boring S+S synthesis if
> you want. Shame about the operating system.

I am pretty much a analog & analog-hybrid fan, but I consider this box to
have the first interesting (lush!) sounds I've heard from a new model in 5
years...  including samples...

> Richard Furse (RichardFurse@Muse.Demon.Co.UK)
chandler@nethost.multnomah.lib.or.us

------------------------------
Date:         Sat, 4 Dec 1993 11:58:09 -0500
From:         Charles Shriner 
Subject:      Morpheus

Does anyone have any info about a  box by E-MU systems that is called
Morpheus?
Thanks in advance
crles Shriner
ccps@vo.phan.com

------------------------------
Date:         Mon, 6 Dec 1993 18:09:22 -0700
From:         john krikawa 
Subject:      Re: Morpheus

Yes, we discussed Morpheus a while back, but most people just knew it from
the ad: 14-pole 'z-plane' synthesis.  Supposedly it is based on 8Mb of
waveform data (PCM or sampled?), has 32-note polyphony and two independent
stereo effects processors....and of course minimal front panel knobature in
a 1U rack.  Apparently you can morph between filter configurations (I heard
8 successive ones).

Has anyone yet had the pleasure?
                                                      _
-john       ___                                    __/ |
___        |   |     JKrikawa@CCIT.Arizona.Edu    |    |___      ________
   \______/     \__________ Tucson, AZ ___../\./\/         \____/        \____

------------------------------
Date:         Thu, 23 Dec 1993 13:25:11 -0800
From:         David Chandler 
Subject:      Morpheus filter fader

I played with one of those Morpheus racks at a local store, and I must
say, the only impressive thing about it was the "Z-plane" at least as a
concept, if not in action.  I got right in there and editted patches and
tried to really accentuate the effect by making opposite complex
equalization envelopes.  I like the effect of this one kind of manipulation--

   Is there any effects/rack/device on the market that is a
midi-controlled envelope-filter generator?  Other than midi-controlled eq
on a mixer?

PS-off the subject, but, if I change my Full name in my unix /etc/passwd
file (but not my login name) will that screw up my subscription to EMUSIC?
Should I unsub?  ...or just go for it?!

David Chandler  -   chandler@nethost.multnomah.lib.or.us  (503)248-5223

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