9603e

=========================================================================
Date:         Thu, 28 Mar 1996 07:56:04 +0100
Reply-To:     Electronic Music Discussion List 
Sender:       Electronic Music Discussion List 
From:         Kai Schwirzke 
Subject:      VL-1 survey
Comments: cc: synth-l@AMERICAN.EDU

Hello everybody,

I'm working as an editor for a German music(ian's) magazine, the SOLO. The
SOLO is an allround-mag, covering all instruments from guitar to brass - and
keyboards of course (try our homepage:
http://www.musik-produktiv.de/SOLO.html). Currently I'm preparing an article
on Yamaha's VL-1, in which Vl-1 users will be given the opportunity to have
their opinion about this piece of high-tech gear published. What we are
interested in is: Did the VL-1 fullfill your expectations in terms of your
musical approach, where do you see its weak points, in which way did it
dissapoint you, why do you like it so much, would you go and buy one again etc.

If you own a VL-1 and would like to participate in our little survey, I'd be
very happy to receive your answers via private e-mail.

Thanks you very much for your cooperation,

Kai
=========================================================================
Date:         Thu, 28 Mar 1996 22:08:23 +0000
Reply-To:     Electronic Music Discussion List 
Sender:       Electronic Music Discussion List 
From:         Nick Rothwell 
Subject:      Re: Don Quixote, Nick, Harry, David

>> Oh: We don't do multimedia or mixed-media.

>Don;t you ever have music _and_ dance in the same show!? ;-)

I thought I was going to get away with that one.

There's dance, there's music/sound, there's lighting, there's costuming,
there's set design. But the dance is the focus; the other media are
contributing to that in various ways to form a composite performance. (In
fact, I would argue that the dance isn't the focus, the *imagery* of the
dance is the focus; however, Merce Cunningham would disagree with me for a
start.)

A problem I have with multimedia is that it generally means multi-focus,
and that is *very* hard to do well. The other problem I have with it, in
terms of funding and categorisation, is that it emphasises style and method
over content, and I've just delivered a long rant over that one.

                           Nick Rothwell, CASSIEL
                           http://www.cassiel.com

             years, passing by, VCO, VCF, and again, and again
=========================================================================
Date:         Thu, 28 Mar 1996 22:08:55 +0000
Reply-To:     Electronic Music Discussion List 
Sender:       Electronic Music Discussion List 
From:         Nick Rothwell 
Subject:      Re: Creative Frameworks

>That's the way I feel about the process, too.  For some lucky sots,
>they're more like a conduit that's mostly in the "ON" position.

For the rest of us, it's usually "OFF."

The process is a combination of things, I feel: some of it is pure play
(which is why we're all gearheads in the first place), while looking for
new things; but once a new thing is found, it's a case of teasing it out.

Then there's all the displacement activity...

>thought you
>might've seen the movie back in '76...it may not have made it to your neck of
>the planet, though.

It probably did. The stage show is currently on in London. Sigh.

>>My rig is really just the UltraProteus, Wavestation A/D's and Micro-Wave,
>>plus effects. That's plenty powerful enough to do what I need, though.
>
>Sounds like that would give you lots of permutations.

Oh, it does, and yet the rig is small enough to fit inside my brain, and I
know how it all works. This is very important.

>There you go!  I can't imagine that this piece would have too many
>tired-out I-IV-V-I progressions in it    ;-)

True, but if you loop arbitrary bits of the ROM you tend to run across
successive multisamples, which seem to be tuned in intervals of thirds or
similar, so there are some interesting harmonics there.

Here's a weirdness tip for Proteus users. The Morpheus at least has
separate parameters for transpose and raw sample tuning; I guess the Protei
are the same. if you get bored with the usual piano or strings, try
whapping the transpose up three octaves and the sample tune down the same
amount. Or vice versa. Result: same basic sound in same pitch, but with all
the wrong multisamples. As a seriously nontrendy actress friend of mine
would say, "Mega!"

                           Nick Rothwell, CASSIEL
                           http://www.cassiel.com

             years, passing by, VCO, VCF, and again, and again
=========================================================================
Date:         Thu, 28 Mar 1996 22:08:29 +0000
Reply-To:     Electronic Music Discussion List 
Sender:       Electronic Music Discussion List 
From:         Nick Rothwell 
Subject:      Re: Billboard, Don Quixote, and Nick

>> I just got a "customer satisfaction" questionnaire from the Scottish Arts
>> Council. I'm going to enjoy filling it in.
>
>Do you _ever_ want funding from them again? ;-)

I don't think that was one of the questions.

(What do you mean, "again"?)

Fortunately, it is anonymous.

                           Nick Rothwell, CASSIEL
                           http://www.cassiel.com

             years, passing by, VCO, VCF, and again, and again
=========================================================================
Date:         Thu, 28 Mar 1996 11:14:01 EST
Reply-To:     Electronic Music Discussion List 
Sender:       Electronic Music Discussion List 
From:         "william.b.fox" 
Subject:      Cassiel Overview

> Subject:  EMUSIC-L Digest - 27 Mar 1996 to 28 Mar 1996
> ----------------------------------------------------------------------
> Date:    Wed, 27 Mar 1996 09:02:30 -0500
> From:    "Alan M. Bookmiller" 
> Subject: Re: Don Quixote, Nick, Harry, David, and choreographers
>
> Nick: Thanks for the overview of CASSIEL. Not having worked with
> ------------------------------
> End of EMUSIC-L Digest - 27 Mar 1996 to 28 Mar 1996
> ***************************************************

I never received yesterday's digests for emusic or synth.  Nick, please
send me the Cassiel overview.  Thanks.

Bill Fox        wbf@aloft.att.com
=========================================================================
Date:         Thu, 28 Mar 1996 22:08:09 +0000
Reply-To:     Electronic Music Discussion List 
Sender:       Electronic Music Discussion List 
From:         Nick Rothwell 
Subject:      Re: Don Quixote, Nick, Harry, David, and choreographers

>Not having worked with
>choreographers, when you say collaboration, how does the choreographer
>communicate what he wants - does he describe a setting, an image, a theme?

Could be any of these, although there are also more abstract and
process-based criteria: energy, pulse, space, whatever - which I prefer.

>Do you, as musician, provide a number of samples for the choreographer to
>choose from, or is it done more as a work-in-progress with changes in
>direction as suggested by the choreograher?

I've done the former, but consider it much more interesting for dance and
sound score to be developed interactively. (Mainly because nobody else
seems to do this.)

>Do you have a hand in the choreography?

In terms of critique mostly. If I have any suggestions they are broad
structural ones ("the energy should do such-and-such, the development here
appears too slow, the use of space for that bit doesn't seem to capture the
attention properly, the imagery here comes across as too brutal, ..."). It
also depends on whether the choreographer is open to suggestions at all, of
course; in my experience, most of them are, to their credit. (Then again,
they can be very demanding about the music, which is also good.)

>Also, what do you mean by installation-specific?

That means different things to different people. What I mean by it is
"non-theatrical". I dislike any kind of dance performance being presented
on a classical theatre stage with the audience seeing it as if watching a
film. They might just as well be watching a film. Most theatres allow for
some imagination in staging; I like promenade-style performances (audience
can walk round the dance action) but there are many other possibilities. Or
you can go for site-specific, and take things out of the theatre
altogether; I have no problem with this but haven't felt drawn to it that
much - yet.

>When you say
>"the dancers have finally got me down," are you saying they are have worn
>you down and you desire to do something on your own - to get away from
>their influence (or BS)?

Dancers are always getting me down. It's their physically-based intellect
which I find tiring...

>Innovation always has  something to say...at least it will always spawn
>debate as to what it is saying if nothing else. Content is more important
>than style? You sound like a choreographer here Nick. Can't style generate
>content?

In my experience: no. (And this is partially a follow-up to a message from
Peter Mueller.)

Thank you for pinpointing something central about what I'm trying to do
with CASSIEL. One the one hand, I'm sitting here with a couple of
Wavestations, a laptop computer for MAX, a DMP7 on my left, two fader boxes
on my right, and an order outstanding for a Buchla Thunder. Yet I'm just a
musician, and CASSIEL is really intended to be little else that a
contemporary dance company, albeit one which works with technology and
process in a novel way. My sly comment about "going Californian" was with
reference to the various CyberArts things, where acts seem to present
themselves as the technology they're using. A performance will generally be
presented as something like "an interaction between dancer and infrared
motion sensors" rather than a piece *about* something or *saying*
something.

This is not a technology issue per se; I am led to recall dance works by
Maria Voortman, which are hard-hitting contemporary works where dancers
wear pointe shoes. Or sometimes, each dancer will wear one pointe shoe.
It's a very distinct style, and leads to a particular kind of performance,
but the content is something totally different and quite considerable. (I
have a URL for Voortman's work with a rather nice picture but I can't
remember it: have a look at

        http://www.cassiel.com/dance/reviews/

and there's a link to it there somewhere.)

Of course, the media, with a collective intelligence barely into double
figures, wants sound-bite information, so Voortman's press releases mention
the pointe shoe work. It's certainly a good bullet-point, but doesn't
characterise the art; only the form. Similarly, when I start using a Buchla
Thunder later this year, it'll be mentioned in the press releases (and I'll
probably arrange photo sessions with it, for visual appeal), but the text
will be small and at the bottom, as is any mention of MAX in projects I've
done in the past. It's what I'm doing that's important to the art; how I do
it is craft.

To backtrack a little, I'd say that style acts as a filter, or possibly a
forge, for content; it is not content itself. Innovation is important,
crucial in fact, but you have to have something to say wherever it ends up
taking you.

>Have you ever noticed that in some cases when an
>established artist, or practitioner is given the boot, that they will come
>back with something totally new and refreshing.

In the dance scene, established practitioners don't get booted that often.
Whether they do probably depends on how powerful their allies are, which is
political again. Until a couple of years ago, The Kosh was a high-profile
London physical theatre company until a rather spectacular fall from grace
(and funding), but I suspect that was due to Michael Merwitzer being a
little too forthright with his views on the public funding bodies. He has
had little chance to "come back" and has had to concentrate on directing
small solo works. On the other hand, the more politically astute (and
media-aware) practitioners like Lea Anderson can turn out very lukewarm
material year after year; she *needs* to be focussed back to basics, in my
humble opinion.

Then again, Dundee Rep. Dance Co. had a financial shake-up and did the
bounce back thing with a newly appointed choreographer/artistic director,
who came up with a dreadful show which went down the tubes. The Arts
Council were *not* amused. (Hey, I was cheesed off paying $10 for my
ticket. They gave him $200,000.) Personally, I felt sorry for the dancers.

>But aren't they a little self-serving. Who do they answer to -

Answer to? Accountability in the arts funding bodies? Oo-er. Well, the
Scottish Arts Council's aim is

        "To create a climate in which arts of quality flourish and
         are enjoyed by a wide range of people throughout Scotland."

...it says here in their corporate plan. The second paragraph mentions the
word "innovation". But the first paragraph (line 2) states the major aim of
supporting Scottish Ballet.

>How can spontaneity be determined dogmatic? I was saying, throw away that
>which is dogmatic concerning the dance/music arts, improvise in real-time
>and create on the fly.

Any call to throw away a working process in favour of realtime
improvisation is a dogmatic approach. I think you're confusing two issues
here: innovation versus improvisation.

>Best wishes to you Nick - you, as do many on this list, have many great
>thoughts and good points.

And I spend far too much time here.

Must go: got a Rosemary Butcher dance video to study...

                           Nick Rothwell, CASSIEL
                           http://www.cassiel.com

             years, passing by, VCO, VCF, and again, and again
=========================================================================
Date:         Fri, 29 Mar 1996 07:09:52 CST
Reply-To:     Electronic Music Discussion List 
Sender:       Electronic Music Discussion List 
From:         harry haecker 
Subject:      Re[2]: Billboard, Don Quixote, and Nick

> I just got a "customer satisfaction" questionnaire from the Scottish Arts
>Council. I'm going to enjoy filling it in.
[...]
>Fortunately, it is anonymous.

Hell, they'll know it's from you when they see that the answers have been
written in blood, sweat, and tears!  :))

Harry Haecker (haeckerh@nwrc.gov)
=========================================================================
Date:         Fri, 29 Mar 1996 09:54:31 -0500
Reply-To:     Electronic Music Discussion List 
Sender:       Electronic Music Discussion List 
From:         Joe McMahon 
Subject:      Re: VL-1 survey
In-Reply-To:  <1.5.4b12.32.19960328065604.00677d18@carina.rz.uni-osnabrueck.de>
              from "Kai Schwirzke" at Mar 28, 96 07:56:04 am

> I'm working as an editor for a German music(ian's) magazine, the SOLO. The
> SOLO is an allround-mag, covering all instruments from guitar to brass - and
> keyboards of course (try our homepage:
> http://www.musik-produktiv.de/SOLO.html). Currently I'm preparing an article
> on Yamaha's VL-1, in which Vl-1 users will be given the opportunity to have
> their opinion about this piece of high-tech gear published. What we are
> interested in is: Did the VL-1 fullfill your expectations in terms of your
> musical approach, where do you see its weak points, in which way did it
> dissapoint you, why do you like it so much, would you go and buy one again etc.
I highly recommend that you talk to the folks on the WIND list. There are a
lot of people who have the VL-1m rack module and love it.

 --- Joe M.
=========================================================================
Date:         Sat, 30 Mar 1996 01:37:28 +0100
Reply-To:     Electronic Music Discussion List 
Sender:       Electronic Music Discussion List 
From:         Kai Schwirzke 
Subject:      Re: VL-1 survey

At 09:54 29.03.1996 -0500, you wrote:
>I highly recommend that you talk to the folks on the WIND list. There are a
>lot of people who have the VL-1m rack module and love it.
>
> --- Joe M.

Hi Joe,

thanks for the hint. Is it just wind-l@american.edu?

Kai
=========================================================================
Date:         Thu, 28 Mar 1996 20:25:23 -0800
Reply-To:     Electronic Music Discussion List 
Sender:       Electronic Music Discussion List 
From:         Gerry Pawluk 
Subject:      Revisted : BBE Sonic Maximizer

Thanks to everyone who responded to my question "if anyone had used the
BBE Sonic Maximizer".

For home recording, it seems to be used mainly for mixdowns to a final
tape.

I have a Carver Sonic Hologram Generator Model C-9 that I picked up
about 10 years ago for cassette playback.

Based on your responses on the effect of the BBE on mixdowns, I seem to
get a similar effect with the Carver for mixdowns.

Any comments?
=========================================================================
Date:         Sat, 30 Mar 1996 08:32:55 -0500
Reply-To:     Electronic Music Discussion List 
Sender:       Electronic Music Discussion List 
From:         "Julian C. Toler" 
Subject:      Musical Insects

I would be interested to know if anyone has seen or heard of this musical
creation system developed by a
=========================================================================
Date:         Sat, 30 Mar 1996 08:27:54 CST
Reply-To:     Electronic Music Discussion List 
Sender:       Electronic Music Discussion List 
From:         harry haecker 
Subject:      Re: Musical Insects

>I would be interested to know if anyone has seen or heard of this musical
>creation system developed by a

I don't know if you have your listserv settings to "repro on", so I just want
to alert you that your message didn't get fully sent.  Started out in an
intriguing manner, however!

Harry Haecker (haeckerh@nwrc.gov)
=========================================================================
Date:         Fri, 29 Mar 1996 16:11:10 -0800
Reply-To:     Electronic Music Discussion List 
Sender:       Electronic Music Discussion List 
From:         Gerry Pawluk 
Subject:      Commpressor/Limiter for Recording Electronic Music

Would a compressor/limiter help in 4 Track sound quality for non-vocal
compositions?  If so, any recommendations?
=========================================================================
Date:         Sun, 31 Mar 1996 10:35:20 +1000
Reply-To:     Electronic Music Discussion List 
Sender:       Electronic Music Discussion List 
From:         David Rodger 
Subject:      Re: Commpressor/Limiter for Recording Electronic Music

Hi Gerry,
you asked...

> Would a compressor/limiter help in 4 Track sound quality for non-vocal
> compositions?  If so, any recommendations?

Depends what you want.  Remember that a compressor will help to make soft
sounds louder and loud sounds softer.  Ever listened to a Mariah Carey
record (sorry, it's the most obvious example I can think of) ?  Her
whispering, breathy, soft vocals are not much softer in actual level than
her squealing, loud vocals.

If you have sounds with a large dynamic range, youmight use a compressor
to reduce that range but essentially keep the 'softness' and 'loudness'
of them.  Be careful, because sometimes compressors can roll out the
high frequencies (sorry, make that 'roll off'!).  SOme are better than
others in this respect and some, like a few f
of the Aphex units, have circuitry to allow the transient material to pass
through before compression starts or will vary the amount of compression
depending on the material.

Try out a few models and get the one that sounds the best for your music.

Regards, David
musdr@lure.latrobe.edu.au
=========================================================================
Date:         Mon, 1 Apr 1996 00:11:22 +0100
Reply-To:     Electronic Music Discussion List 
Sender:       Electronic Music Discussion List 
From:         Piet van Oostrum 
Subject:      Computer Music bibliography

There is a bibliography on synthesizers, midi, computer and electronic
music that I have collected from various sources. I have tried to bring
some structure into it, but not all books will fit into a single subject.
NOTE: I haven't read these books, and the comments are from other people.

The latest version of this file can be obtained by ftp from ftp.cs.ruu.nl
[131.211.80.17] in pub/MIDI/DOC/bibliography, on the WWW by
http://www.cs.ruu.nl/pub/MIDI/DOC/bibliography or by e-mail from
mail-server@cs.ruu.nl (send a message with HELP in the body).
The latest monthly version is also available in the various news.answers
archives around the world, in music/midi/bibliography.

Version: $Id: bibliography,v 1.39 1996/02/05 14:36:15 piet Exp $
=========================================================================
Date:         Mon, 1 Apr 1996 00:11:22 +0100
Reply-To:     Electronic Music Discussion List 
Sender:       Electronic Music Discussion List 
From:         Piet van Oostrum 
Subject:      Midi files/software archives on the Internet

There is a list of ftp and mail server archives with MIDI documentation,
programs and music on the Internet. Also enclosed is a list of MIDI and
electronic music related mailing lists.

The latest version of this file can be obtained by ftp from ftp.cs.ruu.nl
[131.211.80.17] in pub/MIDI/DOC/archives, on the WWW by
http://www.cs.ruu.nl/pub/MIDI/DOC/archives  or by e-mail from
mail-server@cs.ruu.nl (send a message with HELP in the body).
The latest monthly version is also available in the various news.answers
archives around the world, in music/midi/archives.

Version: $Id: archives,v 1.157 1996/03/08 09:19:46 piet Exp $
=========================================================================
Date:         Sun, 31 Mar 1996 15:16:18 -0800
Reply-To:     Electronic Music Discussion List 
Sender:       Electronic Music Discussion List 
From:         Timothy Kelly 
Subject:      Re: Commpressor/Limiter for Recording Electronic Music

>Would a compressor/limiter help in 4 Track sound quality for non-vocal
>compositions?  If so, any recommendations?
>
>
Hi,
   If you find you record tracks where often some notes are just too soft
and others too loud, then a compressor/limiter may help.
   Basicly they are overused, in todays music, to get that middle of the
road boom box heard down the street lack of dynamics mix.
   If most of your nonvocal tracks are midi, using midi dynamics tools works
better. Compressor/limiters are pretty useless for midi tracks, unless you
just want the sound of the compressor pumping it up.
   You may find them very helpful for vocal and guitar tracks. Especially
with players and singers who cant perform with any degree of dynamic control.
   Something like a DP/2 would add a lot of effects variety and power to any
4 track setup. If you have never played a guitar part or sang into one of
todays multieffects units, do so asap. They are fun, fun, fun, and very
musicly useful.
   Happy Emusic.
   Timothy Kelly
   MidiVox
MidiVox. Real Time Voice to Midi. Hum, Scat, Talk, Rap, Sing.
Become a Human Sequencer, Human Vocoder, Human Breath Controller.
'MidiVox Roars.' Keyboard. AES 'Best in Show.' EM 'Editors Choice.'
Can You Hum a Bass Line? Scat a Horn? Sing a Cello? Rap Some Drums?