e00a056.pdf

GENERAL

INTEREST

Synthesisers

Nostalgia with the MIDI Parameter Box

By Luc Lemmens

In the February issue we described a MIDI Parameter Box, in which the

emphasis was placed on the hardware. In this article we will revisit this

project, but will now pay special attention to software synthesisers:

programs that imitate a ‘70s era synthesiser on a PC or Mac. The Para-

meter Box makes the operation of this software remarkably easier.

Figure 1. Adjusting the correct MIDI channel number in Rebirth.

In all likelihood, many readers will

immediately switch off upon reading

the term ‘MIDI’, thinking it is some-

thing for dyed-in-the-wool musicians

who will hook up various all-elec-

tronic instruments, using this digital

interface. This impression in not cor-

rect, however. Anyone who owns a

PC or MAC with a sound card can

play around with the Parameter Box.

To most users, the sound card is

just a ‘passive’ aid to make the (stan-

dard) sounds from the operating sys-

tem audible, play audio CDs or to

enliven presentations and games

with sound effects. These capabili-

ties are standard features of the

existing software. Few people will

realise that the computer can also be

used as a musical instrument. Excel-

lent programs exist, called software

synthesisers , that enable even begin-

ning musicians to play capably and

make full use of all the features that a

modern sound card has to offer.

Elektor Electronics

10/2000

Software

GENERAL

INTEREST

Back to the past...

We have in mind the synthesisers of

the same generation as the leg-

endary Formant published in Elek-

tor Electronics during the ‘70s and

‘80s. They consisted of large boxes,

filled with adjustable oscillators,

mixers, VCOs, VCAs and filters,

which could be interconnected in

various ways with patch cables to

produce the strangest, and often

unexpected, sounds and sound

effects. The musician could set the

controls of any individual module

(such as frequency, amplification,

modulation, mixing levels, etc.) with

a whole array of buttons and sliders.

These days, things can be made

much simpler, in so far as it affects

the hardware, with software synthe-

sisers such as Rebirth from Pro-

pellerhead or Dynamo from Native

Instruments. The patch panel and

adjustments can now be found on

the computer screen and the gener-

ation of sound effects is delegated to

the software and the sound card.

The hardware may have changed,

but the operation still demands as

much skill as was necessary some 25

years ago. The musician is still

required to operate the buttons and

sliders and herein lies the weakness

of the ‘bare’ software synthesiser for

a computer. The adjustments are

made using the mouse, and given

the fact that a computer with two

mice has yet been developed, we

effectively have to operate the control

panel with one hand tied behind our

back. In addition, reaching for a real

button is still faster and simpler than

the slide and click of a mouse. And

here is where the parameter box

comes in: we have our buttons back!

The parameter box provides us

with trusty, physical potentiometers

and buttons, all within actual reach.

However, one way or another, they

need to be connected to the virtual

control panel on the monitor. Fortu-

Figure 2. Linking the potentiometer with a button on the screen.

nately, this is simple to achieve. The

software synthesiser has extension

capabilities that its illustrious pre-

decessors lacked (for the simple rea-

son that it did not yet exist): a MIDI

interface.

In this article we will not deal

with the intricacies of MIDI, this has

been sufficiently covered in previous

publications and books from Elektor

Electronics (Publishing). Here, the

only important thing to know is that

using MIDI, it is not only possible to

send musical notes but also control

codes for modern synthesisers. And

that is exactly what the parameter

box does: sending codes that are

received and interpreted by the soft-

ware synthesiser. Obviously, we ﬁrst

need to ‘teach’ the synthesiser

which physical button belongs with

which virtual adjustment. After that,

we need only fool around with the

buttons to enable us to play the instrument

quickly and comfortably. This learning

process is explained in the description for

each of the two software synthesisers, a bit

further on.

Naturally, we are limited to providing tech-

nical help with the interconnection of the

parameter box and the software synthesisers.

Arranging the synthesiser, the actual opera-

tion and the playing are beyond the scope of

this article. This learning process we leave

gladly to the ingenuity and musical ability of

the reader. Even if you do not have the pre-

tension or intention to compete with Jean

Michel Jarre, it will still be a rewarding expe-

rience to put that sound card to work your-

self. A small warning is appropriate: we are

dealing here with two very professional soft-

ware packages. So do not expect to quickly

master these synthesisers.

Demo versions of these software packages

may be downloaded from the Internet for free.

So ‘professional’ need not mean that you

10/2000

Elektor Electronics

GENERAL

INTEREST

Figure 3. The Dynamo software, the Learn button is at top right (a DIN-symbol with an L).

and Transformator , stopped the

sale and support of these products.

They have been replaced with

Dynamo (DM 299), a beginners ver-

sion, and Reaktor (DM 799) for

advanced users. Both software pack-

ages are available as demo versions

from their website. Besides the sim-

ilar limitations of Rebirth (works for

15 minutes at time, for example)

there is a very irritating ‘bonus’ to

encourage the demo user to pur-

chase the full version: every few sec-

onds an unwanted note is added to

the music…

In comparison with Rebirth, the

co-operation with the Parameter Box

is very simple to set up. It is suffi-

cient to click on the desired control,

followed by clicking the Learn but-

ton on the tool bar and turning the

desired potentiometer. The Learn

button is identiﬁed by the 5-way DIN

connector symbol with a capital letter

‘L’, also shown in Figure 3 . Again,

pay attention to the MIDI channel

number from which the synthesiser

expects to receive the control codes.

This is to the right of the Learn but-

ton and obviously has to be the

same as the MIDI channel that has

been selected on the Parameter Box.

immediately have to reach deeply into your

wallet to become acquainted with it.

should change when you turn a dif-

ferent potentiometer. Assign this

control code to a control from the

synthesiser by selecting this from

the list and clicking Learn. A poten-

tiometer on the parameter box is

then linked to a button on the com-

puter screen, as shown in Figure 2 .

Repeat this process until all the

desired controls are assigned. If nec-

essary, select another layer using S1-

S6 to enable a maximum of 48 but-

tons to be controlled from the para-

meter box. It may be a good idea to

make a list or table showing which

potentiometer in which layer is

assigned to a particular slider con-

trol.

Initially, it may be difficult for the

beginner to associate the name of a

control with the ‘physical’ adjust-

ment on the screen and its effect.

However, after a little experimenta-

tion and practice you will quickly get

the hang of it.

Rebirth

The most recent demo version of this synthe-

siser from Propellerhead is version 2.0. It may

be possible, with a little effort, to ﬁnd version

1.5 on a mirror site. Demo version 2.0 may be

found on www.propellerhers.se and works for

15 minutes at a time — by contrast, version

1.5 used to work for half an hour. In addition,

a number of options, available in the full ver-

sion, have been disabled. Fortunately, the

control panel settings, the topic of this arti-

cle, are automatically saved when time is up.

Therefore, it is not necessary to start all over

again each time. The complete version of this

software costs 159 Euro.

After starting the software, a song has to

be selected (ﬁle extension .RBS), after which

the buttons from the parameter box may be

linked to the buttons on the screen. In the

menu Edit|Preferences, check ‘Remote MIDI

control’ and select the radiobutton ‘use quick

mapping’. Make sure that the MIDI channel

number (a number between 1 and 16) corre-

sponds with the channel selected on the

parameter box (see F igure 1 ). Following that,

click on the Edit button. The most recent data

that has been received from the MIDI con-

troller, via MIDI-in, is displayed at the bottom

of the window that pops up. The control code

Conclusion...

After some fooling around, you will

either have had enough of it or

decide to purchase the complete ver-

sion of the software. The limited play

time and the omission of some vital

functions (such as Save) will no

doubt prevent you from doing seri-

ous work with this software.

There is obviously much more to

the operation of software synthesis-

ers, but perhaps this brief introduc-

tion has awakened sufficient interest

to further explore the land of soft-

ware synthesisers yourself.

(000068)

Generator/Dynamo/

Reaktor/Transformator

Just before this article was due for

printing, it was realised that Native

Instruments ( www.native-instru-

ments.de ), the creators of Generator

Elektor Electronics

10/2000

Plik z chomika:

Inne pliki z tego folderu:

Inne foldery tego chomika: