Transcript
D o c to r H o rg a n 's Com plete Guide to
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All you need to know about: * Musical uses for your Amiga * The Am iga's internal audio * Perfect sampling * Sequencers & trackers * M IDI & recording extras • Amiga samplers • Creating sound effects & m uch, much m o r e ...
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USIC
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By Tony H o rg an D edicated to Jo, Princess o f Patience
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D r H o rg a n 's C o m p le te G u id e to A m ig a M usic an d FX © E M A P Im a g e s 1996. N o t for sale sep e rate ly from C U A m ig a M a g az in e M ay 1996. N o part of this publication m a y b e rep ro d u ced , stored in an inform ation retrieval sy stem (electronic or m echanical) or oth erw ise distributed w ithout the e x p re ss p erm issio n o f the publisher. All prices, contacts, n am e s an d a d d r e s s e s are correct at time of g o in g to press.
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Doctor Horgan's Complete Guide to
Amiga Music and FX In tro d u c tio n W elcome to Doctor M organ 's C o m p le te G u id e To A m ig a M usic a n d FX. W hether y o u 're a com plete begin n er or a se a so n e d m a e stro you sh o u ld find jii m| that this book is a v alu a b le resource to have on hand. A ctin g a s factual g u id e to the A m ig a 's a u d io h a rd w are an d softw are, and also a sou rce o f inform ation a n d inspiration re g ard in g techniques, there's plenty on offer for every typ e of A m ig a m usician. Whether y o u r chosen style is h o use, pop, classical, techno, rock, jazz, jungle, sw in g, country or am bien t this b o o k is for you. H a v in g sp en t the p a s t eight y e a rs m a k in g m u sic w ith the A m ig a, Tony M organ kn ow s just how p o w e rfu l a m u sical tool it can be. T hrou gh involvem ent in a w id e ra n g e of so u n d trac k projects for com p uter d e m o s, g a m e s, u n d e rg ro u n d abstract v id e o s an d coun tless p u blic d o m a in 'm o d s', Tony has g ra d u a lly a m m a s s e d an encyclopaedic k n o w le d g e of his favourite subject. This has been extracted, form atted, polished an d distilled to m ak e this book.
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Contents
T h e A m ig a 's a u d io h a r d w a r e a n d M I D I fa c ilitie s M e e t P a u la
13
8 b it a r c h ite c tu re
13
S a m p le d s o u n d
15
S a m p le ra te s
16
F o ur C h a n n e ls
17
C h ip R A M
18
A m ig a M ID I
19
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M u s ic a l A p p lic a tio n s For Your A m ig a Sequencer
25
D ig ita l m a s te r in g
26
A c o u s t ic r e c o rd in g
28
M ID I S a m p le r
30
R e a lt im e e f f e c t s
30
P e rfe c t s a m p lin g S a m p lin g ra te s
38
S u g g e s te d ra te s
40
R e a d in g w a v e s
41
R e m o v in g n o is e
43
A v o id in g n o is e
45
B o o s tin g fre q u e n c ie s
46
in v is ib le lo o p in g
46
chapter
Hi Quality Version Available on AMIGALAND.COM S o u n d E ffe c ts S a m p le C D s
51
S a m p le rip p e rs
53
S a m p le e d ito rtric k s
54
T racker tip s
57
P ro g ra m m in g tip s
58
W o rk b e n c h s a m p le s
59
chapmrt l ;
S e q u e n c e rs an d T rackers T h e tra c k e r
63
T h e m a in c o n te n d e rs : P ro T ra ck e r
65
O c ta M E D
66
M u s ic lin e E d ito r
67
S e q ue nce rs
67
T h e c o n te n d e rs : B a r s a n d P ip e s P r o f e s s i o n a l
69
M u s ic X 2 .0
70
KCS 3 .0
71
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A m ig a a u d io h a r d w a r e a d d -o n s 8 - b it s a m p le rs
75
16 -B it S a m p le rs
77
M is c e lla n e o u s h a r d w a r e
80
M I D I a n d re c o rd in g e x tra s M ID I
84
M ID I c o n tro lle r k e y b o a rd
85
S y n th e s is e r k e y b o a rd
85
M ID I m o d u le
86
D ru m m a c h in e s
87
M ID I
88
s a m p le rs
M ix e rs
88
E ffe c ts p ro c e s s o rs
89
R e c o rd in g
89
G lo s s a ry
91
C o n tac ts
97
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T h e A m ig a 's a u d io h a r d w a r e a n d M I D I fa c ilitie s
Hi Quality Version Available on AMIGALAND.COM M e e t P a u la Let m e introduce y o u to Paula. P aula is the chip in sid e y o u r A m ig a that is respon sible for every s o u n d y o u r A m ig a m ak es. 'P au la' is not an acro n ym ; all of the A m ig a 's c u sto m ch ip s were giv en n a m e s w hen they w ere originally d e v e lo p e d , s o if y o u w ere to look inside y o u r A m ig a y o u 'd also find c h ip s called Gary, D enise, A g n u s an d even the rather unflattering Fat A g n u s. Paula d e a ls with a few tasks, includin g the control o f the d isk d rives, but its m ain job a s far a s w e are concerned is to play s o u n d a n d m usic.
8 - b it a rc h ite c tu re U nlike the rest o f the A m ig a 's architecture, Paula is an 8-bit chip. T his m e a n s that the highest n u m b er it can m o v e a ro u n d in a sin g le packet is 256 (much o f
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W o rking w i t h 8 -b it s a m p le s is q uick a nd e a s y , b u t it's im n o rta n t to ta k e care w h e n editing y o u r s a m p le s to a v o id s o m e of t h e c o m m o n pitfa lls.
the co m p o n e n ts o f the current A m ig a ran ge h a s 32 Hi Quality Version Available on AMIGALAND.COM bit architecture, which m e an s that the high est n u m ber these p arts can deal w ith is 4,295 million). Why sh o u ld w e care ab o u t that? B ecause the 8 bit archi tecture directly j relates to the m a x im u m b an d w id th of the s o u n d s that P aula can output. M ost m o d ern digital m u sical instrum en ts h a v e 16-bit architecture or better. You w o u ld h ave to w ork quite hard to get b a d so u n d quality w ith a 16-bit system , but w ith an 8-bit sy stem the reverse is true. H igh er b an d w id th le ad s to higher fidelity of sou n d . D on't w orry though, this d o esn 't m ean y o u 're stuck with u se less technology! Far from it in fact. M an y p eo p le m ak e a living from p ro d u c in g m u sic w ithin the confines of 8 bits, bu t you d o need to kn ow w h at y o u 're d o in g in ord er to get those profession al results an d that is w hat this b o o k is for!
S a m p le d s o u n d The A m ig a generally d e a ls w ith sa m p le d so u n d s. A lth ou gh P au la can play s o u n d s that h a v e been sy n th e sised (sou n d w a v e s created by m athem atical form ulae), these tend to b e rather u n im p re ssiv e and cannot com pete w ith even the m o st basic sy n th esis er keyb oard. H ow ever, u sin g sa m p le d so u n d s , you can create absolu tely a n y so u n d you like. S a m p lin g is a term used to describe the process o f m a k in g a digital recording o f a so u n d . U sin g a sa m p le r car trid ge yo u can s a m p le a n y s o u n d an d then replay it from y o u r A m ig a. D u rin g the s a m p lin g p ro cess, the sa m p le r cartridge re ad s the incom in g so u n d w av e th o u san d s of tim es every secon d . Each time it read s the w a v e it records a v alu e betw een 0 an d 255 (or 128 to +128) d e p e n d in g on the position o f the w av e at that precise m om ent. By record in g a series of these 'sn a p sh o ts' it b u ild s u p a digital picture o f the
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S a m p lin g w o r k s by m a kin g th o u s a n d s of tin y s n a p s h o ts o f a sound e v e ry s e c o n d .
so u n d w av e. The A m ig a can then replay the so u n d by m o v in g through each o f these sn a p sh o ts very quickly. This p ro cess g iv e s the im p re ssio n o f a m o v ing so u n d w a v e in the sa m e w a y that a series o f still fram es of cinem a film g iv e the illusion o f m o v in g pictures. The ear is fooled into thinking that it can hear the original sou n d .
S a m p le ra te s The rate at which these sn a p sh o ts are taken h a s a direct effect on the quality of the so u n d recording (the s a m p le d so u n d ). If the rate at w hich the s n a p sh o ts are taken is too low, the s a m p le w ill not so u n d exactly the s a m e a s the original so u n d . To u se the cinem a film a n alo g y once m ore, im agin e if you w ere w atching a film a n d the picture only ch an ged once every secon d , in stead of 30 tim es every second. Aegis
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C h o o s i n g t h e r i g h t s a m p l e r a t e w h e n r e c o r d i n g a s o u n d is e s s e n t i a l . H i g h e r r a t e s le a d to m o r e a c u ta te re p ro d u c tio n s of th e original s o u n d s .
A ll the m o v e m e n t w o u ld look very jerky an d the illusion w o u ld be ruined. The s a m e is true o f a s a m pled so u n d - in this case the result w o u ld b e a u d i ble ov erto n es created by the ste p s in the so u n d w av e. Each step w o u ld m ak e a slight clicking so u n d an d together the effect of these clicks w o u ld be an u n p le a sa n t rin gin g tone, w h ile certain p arts o f the original so u n d w o u ld sim p le not h ave been record ed, particularly the highest frequencies. For this reason sa m p le rates are very im portant w hen it co m e s to so u n d quality. P aula can replay s a m p le d s o u n d s a t a m a x im u m rate of 28kH z, w hich m e a n s 28,000 sn a p s h o ts every secon d ! These incredibly high rates are required to replay the h igh er frequencies that the h u m an ear can detect. This a lso a llo w s you to replay s o u n d s at high pitches that w ere origin ally recorded at low er rates, which is essential for m u sical applications.
F o ur C h a n n e ls Hi Quality Version Available on AMIGALAND.COM F ou r m o n o channels o f so u n d can be p lay ed s im u l ta n e o u sly A lternatively y o u can p la y tw o stereo channels. In effect it's the s a m e thing. All o f the so u n d from P au la is p a s s e d through the tw o R C A ph o n o sockets at the back o f y o u r A m ig a . If yo u are u s in g fo u r m ono tracks (as is the case w ith m o st m u sic p ac k a g e s) then two o f the tracks will b e out p u t to on e of the R C A p h on o sockets, an d the other tw o will b e p a s s e d to the rem ain in g p h o n o socket. In this case if y o u were to connect these a u d io out p u ts to a hi-fi (u sin g an A U X or C D input on the rear o f the hi-fi for instance) y o u w o u ld then hear tw o of the channels through the left sp e a k e r a n d the other tw o from the right speaker. Trackers w o rk w ith four channels of m o n o s a m ples, w hile M IDI-orientated seq eu n cers that have A m ig a s a m p le facilities often w ork with m ono sam -
p ie s but choose the o u tp u t channel at ran d o m . The m o re refined seq u e n ce rs allo w y o u to specify the o u tp u t channel for a sa m p le . For m u sical p u r p o se s it's n orm ally best to w ork with m o n o s a m p le s as this a llo w s you to p la y fo u r s o u n d s at once (eg. b a ss, d r u m s, m e lo d y and vocals). If yo u are u sin g stereo s a m p le s y o u are limited to p la y in g ju st two at once. T h is is b e c a u se a stereo s a m p le is actually two m ono s a m p le s (one for the left an d one for the right), so by p la y in g tw o stereo s a m p le s y o u are u sin g u p all four o u tp u t channels. Stereo sa m p le s are m o st often u sed in m u ltim e d ia type ap p licatio n s w here s a m p le s m ay be rep lay ed one at a time. For e xam p le, V ideo Stage Pro (which cam e free w ith the March 1996 iss u e of C U A m ig a M ag azin e ) can load a n d p la y stereo s a m p le s within presentations. M ost s a m p le r cartridges offer stereo sa m p lin g , a n d their a c c o m p an y in g so ftw a re will often h a v e facilities to replay a series o f stereo s a m p le s in the form o f a playlist. A u d io M a ste r IV (free w ith the N o v em b e r 1995 issu e o f C U A m ig a M ag azin e ) h a s a d v an c e d stereo replay facilities which even a llo w y o u to cre ate seq u e n ce s from a sin gle sa m p le by settin g u p v a rio u s loop points. U sin g this, with e n o u g h m e m o ry y o u could s a m p le an entire s o n g and com pletely remix it b y re arran g in g section s an d loops.
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C h ip R A M Your A m ig a h as tw o ty p es o f m em ory: C h ip RAM a n d Fast RAM . C h ip RA M h a s a very special rela tionship with P aula, a s it d o e s with all the A m ig a 's c u sto m chips. A s sta n d a rd , P a u la can only p lay s a m p le s that are sto red in C h ip RA M , alth o u gh n ow m a n y s a m p le r s a n d trackers can p la y s a m p le s from F ast RA M . C h ip R A M is so m e tim e s called G rap h ics M em ory b e c au se it's a lso the m e m o ry that is u s e d to d is p la y g raph ics. O ld 1.3 A m ig a 500s h a v e 0.5Mb
o f C h ip R A M , w h ile the A500 P lus and A600 both h a v e 1M b o f C h ip RAM . The A1200 an d A4000 both co m e with 2M b o f C h ip RA M . M ost RAM e x p a n sio n s will a d d to the total Fast R A M of the A m iga bu t not affect the C h ip RAM capacity. H ow ever, there are C h ip RA M u p g r a d e s av a il able, su ch a s the M e g a C h ip R A M (£159) from Pow er C o m p u tin g which u p g r a d e s an A500 or A 2000 to 2M b o f C h ip RAM . O ther A m ig a s can a lso be u p g r a d e d in a sim ilar fashion w ith a replacem ent A g n u s chip (£29) a lso a v ailab le from Pow er C o m p u tin g . C h ip R A M lim itations are becom in g less of a p ro blem a s p ro g ra m m e rs d e v e lo p w a y s to p la y s a m p le s from Fast RAM.
A m ig a M ID I The other sid e o f A m ig a m u sic is MIDI sequen cin g.
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O n e o i t h e m o s t p o p u l a r M I D I s e q u e n c e r s o n t h e A m i g a is a l s o o n e o f t h e o l d e s t . M u s i c X l o o k s p l a in b u t h a s a p o w e r f u l s i m p l i c i t y w h i c h m a k e s it v e r y i m m e d i a t e .
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M IDI seq u e n cin g is the term u s e d to describe a co m p u te r (or other device) rem otely controlling any n u m b er o f electronic m u sical in strum en ts so that they p ro d u c e m usic. T h is is a totally se p a ra te area from A m ig a sa m p lin g , bu t the tw o can w o rk togeth er very neatly. M ID I s ta n d s for M u sical Instrum ent D igital Interface an d is a sta n d a rd form o f c o m m u nication u s e d by all m o d e rn electronic m u sical instrum ents. MIDI in strum en ts Talk' to each other via sta n d a rd MIDI cables. T h ese d o n ot carry a u d io sig n als bu t are d ata lines. M ID I cables h a v e a five pin 'din' p lu g at each end, b u t there are no such connectors on the A m ig a. H ow ever, all y o u need is a MIDI interface p lu g g e d into the A m ig a 's serial port to be able to connect directly to a n y MIDI instrum ent. MIDI in strum en ts in clu d e d r u m m achines, key b o a r d s sy n th esisers, syn th esiser m o d u le s, effects
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B a r s a n d P i p e s is a M I D ) s e q u e n c e r w h i c h l a k e s f o u r A m i g a p a s t t h e n o r m a l a s p i r a t i o n s of a f e w k e y b o a r d s . Give it a c h a n c e a nd B a rs a nd P ip e s w ifi ta k e o v e r th e w o rld !
p ro c e sso rs, ou tb oard s a m p le r s a n d even m ixers (which can be p ro g ra m m e d to h ave their fad ers m o v e u p an d d o w n at the ap p ro p ria te point in a track). A typical b asic MIDI set-up m ight consist o f an A m ig a connected to a syn th esiser keyboard via a M IDI interface an d a co u p le o f MIDI le a d s (MIDI le a d s h a v e a o n e-w ay flow o f inform ation, so one is needed to carry inform ation to the keyboard from the com puter, w h ile another is needed to take infor m ation b ack from the keyboard to the com puter). T he A m ig a w o u ld be run n in g so m e MIDI se q u e n c ing softw are. This softw are w o u ld be able to record a n y m u sic that w a s p lay ed on the keyboard. H ow ever, as the lead is a d a ta link, the com p u ter w o u ld only record w h atever notes w ere p lay ed , for h o w long, how hard they w ere hit and so on. N o a u d io recording is m ad e. For exam p le, the m e ssa g e s travelling d o w n the MIDI cable from the keyboard to the co m p u te r (if translated into English) could be so m e th in g like "C-2, p lay ed softly for half a second, notes C-3 F-3 an d A-4 all p lay ed at once for two sec o n d s...". When the c o m p u te r had finished record ing, the m u sic could be p lay ed back by se n d in g that s a m e inform ation back a lo n g the MIDI cable to the k eyb oard , which w o u ld then p lay the notes a s it w a s told to d o so b y the com puter. From within the seq u en cer softw are ru n n in g on the A m ig a you could e xam in e an d rearran ge the notes, correcting an y m istak es you m ight h ave m a d e in the tim in g for exam p le. Seq u en cers all com e w ith an option al 'qu an tise' function, which will au to m atically correct the tim ing of all the notes acco rdin g to its o w n internal m etronom e. R ecording the ord er of the n otes an d so on rather than the actual s o u n d h as m a n y a d v a n ta g e s. For exam p le, y o u can record each track se p a ra te ly (d ru m s first,
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b asslin e next, then ch o rd s an d m e lo d y etc) an d if y o u 're not h a p p y ab o u t one p articu lar part you can a lw a y s ch an ge or delete it w ithout affecting the rest o f the arran gem en t. It also g iv e s you the benefits of a m ulti-track tape recorder w ithout the expense. You can d o all the m ixin g from within the mixer, setting the relative v o lu m e s o f each track an d so on, recording the w h ole thing to a sin g le stereo tape or DAT reco rd er A s yo u 'll see in the Seq u en cers and Trackers section o f this book, it's quite p o ssib le to com bine A m ig a s a m p le s an d M IDI seq uen cin g. In fact this is the best option if yo u really w an t to u se yo u r A m ig a 's full m u sical potential.
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M u s ic a l A p p lic a tio n s For Your A m ig a
Hi Quality Version Available on AMIGALAND.COM The o b v io u s role for y o u r A m ig a to fill in a m u sical situation is that o f a sequencer, p la y in g m u sic u sin g either internal sa m p le s , MIDI instrum en ts or a com bination of both. H ow ever, there are p len ty of other u s e s to which you can put y o u r A m ig a in the stu dio. This ch apter will highlight so m e o f the m an y a n d v aried w a y s that y o u r A m ig a can lend a hand in the m u sic production process.
Sequencer A s the subject o f seq u en cers an d trackers is exp lo red quite thoroughly in C h ap te r 3 w e w on 't g o into too m uch detail here. R u n n in g a tracker or seq u e n ce r p ro g ra m on y o u r A m ig a g iv e s it the p o w e r to control alm ost the entire m usic production p ro cess, from s a m p lin g s o u n d s 'on the fly' to c o m p o s in g and even p erfo rm in g an a u to m a ted mix-
M I D I s e q u e n c in g fr e e s your A m ig a fr o m th e c o n s tr a in ts of its in te rn al a ud io h a r d w a r e . W ith a s e q u e n c e r you c a n c ontrol an e ntire studio fro m your favourite co m p u ter.
d o w n to yo u r recorder. In this case, the A m ig a is the Hi Quality Version Available on AMIGALAND.COM m a ste r o f the stu d io, w h ile the rest o f the eq u ip m en t are slav es.
D ig ita l m a s te r in g Digital a u d io recording h as revolutionised m u sic p ro d u ction o v er the last few years. Until recently if you w a n te d to m a k e a high fidelity m aster record ing o f a piece o f m u sic, the chan ces are y o u w o u ld h av e to hire an e x p en siv e stu d io w ith a p rofession al reel to reel tape recorder, with the add ition al cost of hiring an engin eer to p u sh all the right buttons. T hese d a y s a lm o st everyth in g is recorded digitally. N o w that C D is firm ly estab lish ed as the interna tional sta n d a rd for com m ercial m u sic distribution there's even m ore reason to g o straight to digital at the m asterin g stage. Your A m ig a has the potential to act a s a p ro fe s sional q u ality digital recorder, m a k in g recordin gs
that m atch the sta n d a rd o f D A T an d C D . C D s are recorded digitally at 44.1kH z w ith 16-bit resolution. By a d d in g a Toccata or Su n rize A D 516 card to y o u r A m ig a it can record so u n d straight to a hard drive at exactly the s a m e rates. T h is is a m ajor feat, a s it m e a n s that in a perfect scenario, y o u can m a k e one m a ste r recordin g from y o u r o w n h o m e stu d io and transfer that in a straight d igital to digital c o p y onto a CD. This m e an s y o u get the cleanest p o ssib le recording, a s there is only one point at which u n w an te d noise an d distortion can d e g r a d e the recording: the p o in t at which the m u sic is m ixed an d fed into the recorder. T h e elm ination o f noise an d distortion is not the only a d v a n ta g e o f u sin g the A m ig a as a digital recorder. O nce y o u h ave the m u sic on y o u r hard d riv e yo u are then free to m ak e a n y edits y o u like. The m u sic w ill h ave been s a v e d a s one very large
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W i t h a 1 B - b i t r e c o r d i n g s y s t e m in y o u r A m i g a y o u c a n m a k e C D q u a l i t y r e c o r d i n g s of y o u r m u s i c s t r a i g h t o n t o y o u r h a r d drive-
sa m p le , an d this can b e lo a d e d into m e m o ry w here it can b e cut, p a ste d , cleaned u p an d p a s s e d through all m an n er o f effects u sin g sp e c ialise d softw are. For e xam p le, if yo u had origin ally recorded a ten m inute epic bu t ra d io station s w an te d a shorter ver sion for airplay, c o p y in g the recordin g an d sn ip p in g out bits here an d there w o u ld b e a very sim p le task. A s the secon d c o p y you were editin g w a s m a d e in a straight digital to d igital p ro cess there w o u ld be no loss of so u n d q uality as there w o u ld be if y o u had to c o p y an origin al tape recording to another tape for m a n u a l splicing. In fact y o u could m a k e as m a n y co p ie s of the original a s yo u n eed ed , editing each for a specific au d ie n ce (alb u m version, radio friendly edit, d a n c e m ix etc.).
A c o u s tic re c o rd in g E ven an entirely acoustic m u sical set-up w o u ld benfit greatly from a d ig ital recorder. C a r d s su ch a s Toccata an d Su n rize AD 516 will accept an y a u d io sign al input, so it d o e sn 't m atter if y o u 're recording techno or flam enco guitar. In m a n y w a y s the a d v a n tages o f dig ital record in g an d editin g are m ore n u m e ro u s for non-MIDI se tu p s, w here instrum ents are recorded live. L et's s a y yo u w ere o v erd u b b in g a b asslin e onto a track u sin g an electric b a s s guitar. H alfw ay th rou gh the track y o u r tim ing g o e s out o f the w in d o w an d y o u lose it completely, although you pulled off an extrem ely d e x tro u s s la p riff d u rin g the intro p a ssa g e . If yo u were record in g to a n a lo g u e tape yo u w o u ld h av e tw o options: either start the w hole basslin e record in g a g a in an d lose that initial stroke o f g en iu s, or attem pt to 'd r o p in' half w ay through the track an d re su m e recording from where you m e sse d u p , which can b e tricky. N either is a particularly attractive proposition , but if y o u were recording to a hard d riv e yo u could carry on
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re g a rd le ss even if y o u r tim ing w en t astray d u rin g Hi Quality Version Available on AMIGALAND.COM the m id d le section. O nce y o u 'd got to the end o f the track y o u cou ld fix the m istak e b y either m a n u a lly cutting an d m o v in g the notes into time, or b y c o p y ing a c o u p le o f b a rs o f g o o d b a s s from another part o f the track an d replacin g the b a d p arts w ith this. You c o u ld even take that little s la p p e d b a s s riff from the sta rt an d h av e a g o at d r o p p in g it into other p arts o f the track a s a little fill, or m ay b e lo o p it to m a k e an interesting 'm id d le eight' section. A h u g e w eigh t is lifted from yo u r sh o u ld e rs w hen y o u kn ow yo u have the ability to edit yo u r reco rd in gs in this way. N ow , in stead of g e ttin g yo u r h e a d d o w n an d gritting y o u r teeth until the en d of the track to m a k e su re no m ista k e s are m a d e , you are free to relax a n d enjoy the w h ole thing, a ssu re d by the k n o w le d g e that an y im perfections or m is takes can be fixed. It a lso offers plenty of o p p o rtu n i ty to sk ip the m ore m u n d a n e p arts of the job of
M ID I S a m p le r M ayb e you a lread y h av e another co m p u ter or a ded icated h ard w are seq u en cer controlling all of the in strum en ts in y o u r studio. The A m ig a 's s a m p lin g and s a m p le replay facilities c an still be exploited by getting it to act a s a s a m p le replay unit, triggered via MIDI from y o u r seq uen cer or a MIDI keyboard. This will allow yo u to p lay u p to four s a m p le s at once. T echnosound Turbo II Pro from N e w D im e n sio n s h a s op tion s d e sig n e d to do this. There are a n u m b er o f situ ation s in w hich this could be u se d . If y o u r e q u ip m e n t is b e in g seq u en ced from a com puter, whether it's an A m ig a , M ac or PC, an ad d ition al A m ig a actin g as a M IDI-triggered s a m pler will fit into the sy ste m with no problem s. It's w orth rem em b erin g that even the old est A500 h a s exactly the s a m e s o u n d chip a s the A1200. You can pick u p a secon d hand A5Q0 for next to nothing, an d if y o u need an extra sa m p le replay unit this is well w orth con sidering. Live m u sician s could fire s a m p le s from an A m ig a u sin g a M IDI k eyb oard , alth ou gh the p ro sp ect of lu g g in g aroun d an A m ig a an d m onitor for the s a k e o f four s a m p le s w o n 't a p p e a l to many, e sp e cially now that there are quite a few portable MIDI s a m p le r s available.
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R e a lt im e e f f e c t s In an y m u sical se tu p , effects p ro c esso rs com e in very handy. Effects p ro cessin g is u s e d extensively in p ro fession al record in g stu d io s, to the extent that m an y m u sicia n s an d p ro d u c e rs feel com pletely n aked w ithout them! While m a n y s o u n d s an d in strum en ts are fine ju st as they are, certain effects can drastically im p ro v e a variety o f so u n d s. Reverb (short for reverberation) is often o v er u sed but giv es a so u n d an am bience a s if it w a s being heard in a
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large hall or a church. This is especially u se fu l for Hi Quality Version Available on AMIGALAND.COM vo cals an d m elodies. Either o f these can so u n d rather harsh w ith ou t any effects an d a d d in g reverb to them can also help m a sk m inor im perfections. The A m ig a can be m a d e to act a s an effects p ro c esso r u sin g one o f a n u m b er o f sam p le rs. A lm o st all sa m p le r c artrid g es com e with softw are that h a s so m e form o f realtim e effects option. The best of the bunch is H iS o ft's A ura. A u ra is a com bination of a 12-bit sa m p le r cartrid ge that p lu g s into an A600 or A1200 via the P C M C IA slot, and s o m e clever softw are. The A u ra so ftw are has u n iq u e realtim e so u n d p ro cessin g routines, which a s well a s offering 12-bit in p u t an d o u tp u t with internal 24-bit b a n d w id th for excellent so u n d quality, also is the on ly so ftw are availab le that offers com bination effects. For e xam p le, you cou ld p ro cess a s o u n d with both reverb an d p h ase r effects s im u l taneously. The ra n g e o f effects p ro c e sse s is very
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im p re ssiv e an d the results are a lot cleaner than you Hi Quality Version Available on AMIGALAND.COM w o u ld get from 8-bit alternatives. A u d io M a ste r IV (as cover m oun ted on the N o v e m b e r 1995 iss u e o f C U A m ig a M agazin e) h as a few g o o d realtim e echo an d reverb effects, alth ou gh like all o f the 8-bit sa m p le rs, the reverb routines are rather c ru d e exten sion s of the echo routines. There's m ore to creating a convincing reverb so u n d than repeatin g the o rigin al at low er vo lum es. For 8-bit u se, H iSo ft's A M A S is the only p ac k a g e that h a s a realistic reverb effect. Technosound Turbo II Pro has a m a s s of realtim e effects, m a n y of w hich are noisy but fun all the sam e, such a s the pitch-changers an d arp e g g iato rs. H iS o ft's M e g a lo S o u n d has so m e real time effects built in an d a lso c o m e s w ith a b o n u s p ro g ra m called The Realtim e Effects G enerator (TREG for short). T R EG w a s in clud ed on a co v e r d isk w ith the O ctober 1994 issu e o f C U A m ig a M ag azin e . It's a
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F l a n g e a n d p h a s e r e f f e c t s a re a n e x c e l l e n t w a y o f a d d i n g m o v e m e n t t o s o u n d s w i t h a lot of treble c o n te n t, such as d ru m s a n d cym ba ls.
sm all p ro g ra m that is com pletely d e v o ted to real Hi Quality Version Available on AMIGALAND.COM time s o u n d p rocessin g. A lo n g w ith robot an d dalek p ro cesses, it a lso h as a g o o d ra n g e o f ech oes and delay s. O ne o f the m o st u se fu l is the lo n g est delay, w h ich feeds the echo back into itself to create a lm o st e n d le ss trailing m u tatin g s o u n d s from a sin g le noise - perfect for abstract am bience. U n w an te d noise is a lw a y s a problem when u s in g an ythin g le ss than 24 bits for effects p ro c e ss ing, e sp e cially w h en su btle reverb an d echo effects are em p lo yed . The A m ig a 's lo w -p a ss filter can be sw itched on to clean u p these effects. If yo u find y o u d o n 't h ave the right p ro cess av ailab le from y o u r realtim e effects m en u , on e w a y arou n d the problem is to sa m p le the so u n d yo u w an t to p ro cess an d affect it u s in g the non-realtim e effects. M ost s a m p le editors will h ave alternative effects availab le for p ro cessin g sa m p le s. For exam-
pie, you are unlikely to find a time stretch effect in a n y realtim e processor, bu t A u d io M a ste r IV an d A u ra l Illusion can both time stretch a pre-recorded sa m p le . You can then incorporate y o u r affected s a m p le into y o u r seq uen ce d u r in g playback. If y o u want to u s e an A m ig a for realtime effects p ro c e ssin g w h ilst seq u e n cin g from an A m ig a yo u will need to A m ig a s. You w o n 't b e able to d o both from the s a m e A m ig a b e c au se the a u d io channels will be in u se by one application , locking out the other.
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try chapter J
Hi Quality Version Available on AMIGALAND.COM A n yo n e w h o 's se rio u s ab o u t m ak in g m u sic with their A m ig a n e e d s to kn ow a thing or tw o ab o u t sam p lin g . The A m ig a 's fo u r channels o f 8-bit a u d io are c a p ab le of p ro d u c in g stu n n in g s o u n d s that are far su p e rio r to the results m a n y w o u ld think are p o ssib le from 8-bits. The reason s that 8-bit au d io has got itself a b ad n am e are tw ofold: first o f all it's easier for the b egin n er to m ak e b a d s o u n d in g 8-bit sa m p le s than g o o d ones, an d secon d ly the rest of the w o rld h as been w o rk in g with 16-bit so u n d as a m in im u m b a s e for y ears now. The off-hand attitude often ex p re sse d to w a rd s 8bit s o u n d sy s te m s is not u n fo u n d e d . Frankly it takes q uite a lot of experim entation , practice an d exp eri ence to sq u ee z e 'p ro fessio n al quality' s a m p le s from an A m ig a , which is w h y w e 'v e d e v o ted a m ajor sec tion o f this book to exactly that cause. If the m ain outlet for y o u r A m ig a tunes is g o in g to be d em o s, m o d u le s collections, g a m e s an d so on, then refining
yo u r s a m p lin g technique isn't vital but it will cer tainly help. If on the other h an d, y o u aspire to creat ing m u sic for com m ercial release, whether on CD, cassette or vinyl, the final so u n d q u ality o f y o u r p ro d u ctio n s is crucial. It p a y s to set y o u r sig h ts high w hen it co m es to production quality. A clean, bright, p u n ch y record ing m a d e from y o u r A m ig a onto a DAT tape can be u sed a s a m aster recordin g for p re ssin g a single, EP or an album . This g iv e s y o u the p o w e r to either release y o u r o w n m u sic or p resen t a record c o m p a ny with a re ad y m a d e m aster tape. L et's sa y for e x a m p le y o u had m a d e a killer record, bu t the p ro duction w a s fu z z y an d lacked definition. You send it to a record c o m p a n y and they're interested - they ask yo u for the m a ste r tape a n d you have to tell them that the tape yo u sent them w a s the best you had. If they were still interested in releasing the record, there w o u ld be no option b u t to rerecord the so n g in a profession al stu d io , which w o u ld alm ost certainly not be e q u ip p e d w ith an A m ig a a n d yo u r specific tracker softw are, so you w o u ld have to try to reconstruct the record on an u n fam iliar sy stem , re p ro g ram all those tw id d lv bits and m ay b e lose the w h ole vibe o f the track. You m ight a lso h a v e the bill for the stu d io time d e d u cte d from yo u r royalties or a d v a n c e from the record sales. G u tted eh? So get y o u r p roduction right from the start, b egin n in g with perfect sa m p le s.
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S a m p lin g ra te s The b ig g e st factor g o v ern in g the overall q uality o f a s a m p le is the rate at w hich it w a s recorded. T h is is know n a s the s a m p le rate. An exp lan ation o f h o w s a m p lin g w o rk s can be foun d in C h ap ter One. D e p en d in g on w h at so u n d y o u are sa m p lin g and how y o u intend to u se it, the best s a m p le rate will vary. If you are low on C h ip R A M or y o u have
S a m p l i n g a t t h e h i g h e s t p o s s i b l e r a t e is n o t a l w a y s t h e b e s t o p t i o n , e s p e c i a l l y i ! yo u w a n t t o u s e y o u r s a m p l e s in a t r a c k e r o r s e q u e n c e r .
other m em o ry lim itations you will want to u se the Hi Quality Version Available on AMIGALAND.COM m in im u m sa m p le rate you can get a w a y with. This will u se a s little m e m o ry a s possible. If y o u u s e too lo w a sa m p le rate, the u p p e r frequencies o f the o rig inal s o u n d will not be captured. In stead y o u will get a p o o r su b stitu te which s o u n d s hard a n d scratchy. H ow ever, let's a s s u m e you h a v e a g e n e ro u s am ou n t of C h ip RAM to p la y w ith (2M b is sta n d a rd on the A1200). U n less y o u are u sin g lots of very lon g s a m p le s (a series of tw o or four b a r lo o p s for exam ple) this sh o u ld g iv e you e n o u g h sa m p le m e m o ry for m ost projects, if yo u d o not intend to retune y o u r s a m p le s then by all m ean s u se the high est rate yo u can. H owever, just b e c au se y o u h ave a lot o f m e m o ry sp are, it's not n ecessarily best to sa m p le at the highest p ossib le rates all the time. Trackers w o rk b v replaying s a m p le d notes at different s p e e d s , w hich ch an ges their pitch. G en erally the high est sa m p le rate a
tracker can replay is 28kH z - this is the rate it u se d w hen y o u p la y the note A-3 (note A on the third octave). If you s a m p le d a sin gle note of an instru m ent at 28kH z, w hen yo u lo a d e d it into a tracker y o u w o u ld not be ab le to p lay that note a n y higher than the origin al pitch, so in the c a se of sa m p lin g sin gle instrum ent n otes yo u need to sa m p le at a low er rate so that it can then b e pitched both u p and d o w n from within the tracker. C-3 is the note in a tracker that c o rre sp o n d s to a s a m p le rate o f 16kHz. This is a g o o d rate for s a m p lin g m o st instrum en t notes. If y o u 're u s in g a track er an d you w an t the notes on the d isp la y to m atch the notes that are p lay in g, m a k e su re that the notes yo u s a m p le m atch their a p p ro p ria te s a m p le rate. If yo u can tell the pitch o f the original note y o u are s a m p lin g , c o m p a re it to the fo llo w in g chart to pick a su itab le s a m p le rate.
S u g g e s te d ra te s The follow ing list s u g g e s t s m in im u m sa m p le rates Hi Quality Version Available on AMIGALAND.COM for a variety of so u n d s. The trade-off betw een sam N ote
Period Hz
8363
C-3
214
16726
404
8860
C#3
202
17720
D-2
380
9419
D-3
190
18839
4971
D#2
360
9943
D#3
180
19886
680
5264
E-2
3 40
10528
E-3
170
2105B
F- 1
640
5593
F-2
320
11186
F-3
160
22372
F#1
6 00
5965
F#2
300
11931
F#3
150
2 3 8 63
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568
6302
G-2
284
12604
G-3
142
25208
G#1
53
6678
G#2
268
13356
G#3
134
26713
A-l
508
7046
A-2
254
14092
A-3
127
28185
A#1
4 80
7457
A#2
2 40
14914
A#3
120
29829
B- 1
452
7919
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15838
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113
31677
N o te
Period Hz
4181
C-2
428
808
4430
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4709
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Y o u w i l l n o t i c e t h a t t h e s a m p l e r a t e o f C - 2 i s d o u b l e t h a t o f C - 1 , w h i l e t h e p e r i o d is h a l f th a t of C - 1 . A rm e d w ith th is k n o w le d g e you can ca lc u la te sa m p le ra tes and periods a b o ve a nd b e l o w th e range s h o w n h e re .
pie rate, so u n d q u ality and m e m o ry u s e is op en to variation d e p e n d in g on y o u r requirem ents, but these figures h av e been reached on the b a s is that yo u d o not h ave lim itless m em o ry but high fidelity is a priority. A s they d o not need to be retuned, the rates s u g g e s te d for d r u m lo o p s an d one-shot s o u n d s like d r u m s a m p le s can b e increased to the highest yo u r m e m o ry will allow w ith an accordin g increase in reproduction quality. The scientific m ethod for fin ding the m in im u m s a m p le rate is to calculate the 'M yQ uist rate'. This is twice the fre qu en cy o f the highest pitch in y o u r original soun d. The e a sy m ethod is to u se this list. Sound T u n e d in s tru m e n ts V o c a ls S in g le d ru m s o u n d s
Suggested rate (kHz) 1 6 ,7 2 6 2 2 ,3 7 2 2 2 ,3 7 2
D ru m lo o p s
2 2 ,3 7 2 2 8 ,1 8 5
Bass n o te s
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R e a d in g w a v e s O ne of the b ig g e st a d v a n ta g e s the A m ig a h a s over d e d ic a ted MIDI sa m p le rs is the fact that yo u can actually see the s a m p le d w a v e on screen, large as life. If y o u 'v e ever m o v e d from v isu al s a m p le edit ing to u s in g a M IDI sa m p le r that h as n othing but a n um eric read ou t you'll k n ow w hat an e n o rm o u s aid this is to sa m p le editing. T h e key to gettin g the m ost from grap h ical s a m p le editin g is learning to read s o u n d w aves. W hen you exam ine a s o u n d w a v e for the first tim e it n orm ally looks just like a ra n d o m series of sp ik e s an d h u m p s. H ow ever, if y o u u s e the zoom controls on y o u r sa m p le editor to play a n d exam ine specific p arts o f the w a v e y o u sh o u ld start to see a
O n c e y o u k n o w w h a t d i f f e r e n t s o u n d s l o o k l i k e , e d i t i n g t h e m f r o m a w a v e f o r m d i s p l a y is m u c h q u i c k e r a n d e a s ie r .
few pattern s em ergin g. L ou d parts o f the so u n d Hi Quality Version Available on AMIGALAND.COM coincide w ith p arts o f the s a m p le w a v e that veer from the very top o f the w a v e d is p la y to the bottom, w hile q uiet p arts are sign ified by a m uch sm aller w a v e that w o b b le s alo n g the centre line. A lso , p arts o f the sa m p le that contain high frequencies, such as c y m b a ls an d d ru m s, will be d isp la y e d by a lot of very tightly p ac k e d sp ik e s in the w a v e display. At the o p p o s ite end, low frequencies are d r a w n on the w a v e fo rm a s lon g sm oo th curves. A s a m p le o f a b a s s d r u m and a cym b al w o u ld h ave the lon g w av e of the b a s s d ru m broken u p by the sp ik e s o f the cym bal. A com p lex so u n d , such a s the h u m an voice, will a p p e a r a s a su ccession an d com bin ation o f vari o u s frequencies. Take a look at the s a m p le w a v e s here an d then c o m p are them to so m e o f y o u r ow n s o u n d s in your s a m p le editor. O n ce y o u k n o w w h at s o u n d s look like you'll be
ab le to trim d o w n a sa m p le to exactly the part y o u w an t in a m atter of secon d s. For exam p le, if you are s a m p lin g a one-bar d ru m lo o p from a s a m p le C D you'll often find that the first note of the follow ing b a r h a s been in clud ed on the C D , so if you w ere to loo p the w h ole thing it w o u ld ju m p an d s o u n d out o f time. When y o u kn ow w h a t y o u 'r e lo o k in g for, c h o p p in g off the last beat can b e d o n e w ith ou t even listening back to the sam ple.
R e m o v i n g n o is e N o ise can a lso be seen on a s a m p le w a v e in m an y cases. 'N oise' in this case d o e s not m ean the sa m e thing a s 'so u n d '. N o ise is a n y u n w an te d frequencies in the recording, which u su a lly takes the form of high frequency h iss or low frequency hum. If y o u h a v e a s a m p le w h ich is loud at the start, then h a s a short silent g a p an d then h a s another
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loud part (a rhythm g u itar Loop fo r exam p le) y o u m a y find that h iss or h u m n oise creep s into the bit that's s u p p o s e d to be silent. T h is will look like sm all but ra p id u n d u latio n s travelling a lo n g the m id d le of the w a v efo rm display. The s a m e n oise is p ro b ab ly p resen t on the w hole o f the s a m p le but will not be so o b v io u s w here the v o lu m e o f the origin al so u n d is su b stan tially greater than the v o lu m e o f the noise. So, rem o v in g this noise from the silent part is required. There are a n u m b er o f w a y s you can do this. You could filter the relevant section to rem ove high frequencies in the case of hiss, or low frequ en cies in the case of hum . T his is the best route if there are still traces o f the original s o u n d in this quiet part, as they sh o u ld remain fairly unaltered b y this filtering. If all yo u w ant is c o m p lete silence in the g a p s , the e a siest thing to d o is highlight the n o isy area an d reduce its v o lu m e to zero. Even the m o st O c ta JIED P r o f e s s i o n a l
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C o m p a r e t h i s e x a m p l e t o t h e p i c t u r e o n t h e p r e v i o u s p a g e . H e r e , all t h e n o i s e h a s b e e n r e m o v e d b y c h a n g i n g t h e v o l u m e of t h e n o i s y p a r t s t o z e r o .
basic s a m p le editor will h a v e this ability. A tip for u se rs o f G V P 's D SS8 sa m p le r is to turn on the soft w are filter (not the A m ig a lo w -p a ss filter) just before sa m p lin g b a s s so u n d s. This elim in ates alm ost all high frequency noise from the resulting sam p le .
A v o i d i n g n o is e O f course, the best w a y to a v o id n o isy s a m p le s is to rem ove as m an y p ossib le so u rce s of interference as p o ssib le before you sa m p le . N o ise can sn e a k into the sig n a l from a n u m b er o f places. The m a in sa fe g u a r d is to m a k e su re you h ave a g o o d stron g sign al co m in g into the sa m p le r by u sin g the m o n itor func tion o f y o u r s a m p le r to check that the s a m p le w a v e just very occasion ally touches the top a n d bottom of the w a v efo rm d is p la y w ithout flattening out. This will g iv e yo u an o p tim u m 'sig n al to noise ratio', where the v o lu m e o f the sign al is significantly h igh er than that o f the noise. Ironically m o st o f the noise you will encounter will generally com e from the co m p u ter an d m usic sy ste m s them selves. Prim e c a n d id ate s for noise p ol lution are TVs, m onitors a n d internal hard drives. The best w a y to test for noise g en erated by yo u r sy ste m is to s a m p le so m e silence with n othing con nected to yo u r s a m p le r 's input. If y o u p lay back the s a m p le an d there's noise y o u can start a p ro cess of elim ination, repeatin g the p ro cess with v a r io u s bits o f the sy stem disconn ected until y o u find the cul prits. If you really care ab o u t clean sa m p le s , and yo u have, for exam p le, an A 1200 with an internal hard drive, it is w orth disconnecting it an d bootin g from flo p p y d isk to see if there's a significant im p ro v e m e n t in s o u n d quality. By the way, these d ev ices will m ain ly affect the quality d u rin g s a m p lin g , but it's also w orth turning off nonessential d ev ices if you are recording a m aster tape fro m the A m ig a.
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A s y o u c a n s e e f r o m t h e m a n y t i g h t l y p a c k e d p e a k s , t h i s is a h igh p i t c h e d s o u n d B o o s tin g tr e b le fr e q u e n c ie s can m a k e a sa m p le so u nd m u ch clearer.
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While filters are u se fu l things for re d u c in g noise, b o o ste r op tion s can be just a s useful for enhancing the frequencies that yo u want to focus on. For e xam p le, b o o stin g the high frequ en cy content of certain d r u m s a m p le s can m a k e them so u n d m uch brighter an d cut th rough the mix. L ikew ise, the low er en d o f b a s s s o u n d s can be b o o sted to g iv e m ore 'o o m p h '. C reative u se o f filtering and b o o stin g specific frequency b a n d s is one w a y to inject new m o od an d flavour into d ru m lo o p s an d other so u n d s.
In v is ib le lo o p in g In s o m e c a se s yo u 'll w ant to a d d lo o p s to y o u r sa m ples. For exam ple, a su sta in e d instrum ent so u n d such a s a flute could be lo o p e d and held for a s long
L o o k c a re fu lly a t the w a v e f o r m a b o v e and y o u 'll s e e th a t it’ s s y m e tric a t. By reversing t h e s a m p l e a n d p a s t i n g it o n t o i t s e l f , a c o m p l e x s o u n d c a n be l o o p e d v e r y s m o o t h l y .
a s required, A lo o p e d sa m p le will have tw o m ark Hi Quality Version Available on AMIGALAND.COM ers: one for the start an d another for the end. The lo o p start m arker d o e s not h ave to be at the start of the sa m p le , so y o u can p la y a sa m p le s o that the first bit p la y s just once, then the p arts betw een the loop m ark ers p la y indefinitely. The trickv part here is fin ding the right lo o p s p oin ts so that the sa m p le con tin ues w ithout either ju m p in g or clicking. First you need to get the h an g o f lo o p in g w ith out a click. A click occurs w hen the w a v efo rm ju m p s very s u d d e n ly from o n e position to another (from the bottom o f the w a v e to the top for e x a m ple). A void in g this is fairly sim p le so lon g a s you m a k e su re that the start an d end m ark ers are both p o sitio n ed at p la c e s where the w a v e fo rm crosses the m id d le line o f the display. A n alternative m ethod is to u s e tw o poin ts where the w a v e reaches either the top or the bottom o f the display. C reatin g a n atural s o u n d in g loo p requ ires a little
m ore technique. For this yo u n eed to u se both y o u r ears an d y o u r eyes. W hat you need to find is a place on the sa m p le d w a v e w here the so u n d either su sta in s with a lm o st exactly the s a m e so u n d for a while, or w here it w o b b le s b a c k to so m e th in g like the first p art of the so u n d . You n eed to find a sm oo th join. It's a bit like p u ttin g u p w allpaper, w hen y o u h ave to line u p the pattern of the n ew roll w ith the one y o u 'v e just put u p . The best w a y to d o this is by listening an d exam in in g the so u n d w av e, looking for sections that look similar. When you think y o u 'v e fo u n d a su itab le p a ir o f loo p points, set u p y o u r m ark ers an d try them out. If yo u 're u n su c c essfu l you 'll h ave to k eep on trying! There is a w a y of cheating. You can c o p y a large section of the b o d y o f the s a m p le (the part y o u w ant to loop), p a ste it onto the end o f the sa m p le , then reverse just that section y o u 'v e p a ste d in. T h e result sh o u ld b e a 'butterfly' effect, in which the sa m p le p la y s an d then the secon d section is p la y e d a g a in in reverse. If y o u 'v e been careful w ith y o u r cutting the join sh o u ld be free fro m a n y glitches or clicks. You can then loo p to m irrored part of the sam p le .
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S o u n d E ffe c ts
S o u n d effects crop u p everyw h ere: d e m o s, g a m e s, p resen tatio n s, so u n d tra c k s an d even the W orkbench lik es to bleep an d b u z z au ral sig n a ls at yo u . If y o u 're in terested in d e v e lo p in g an y of the ab o v e then the ability to create y o u r ow n so u n d effects is real boon , even if all you w an t to d o is a d d a so u n d sa m p le to y o u r bo ot-u p sequ en ce. T h e tech n iques an d p ro c e sse s in v o lv ed in creat ing so u n d effects can be different for each p articu lar ap p lic a tio n but w eTl start w ith a lo o k at m ak in g sta n d a rd IFF sa m p le so u n d effects w hich can be u se d in alm o st all of th ese cases.
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S a m p le C D s O b v io u sly if y o u 're u sin g sa m p le so u n d s, the qu ick est an d e a sie st w ay to get resu lts is to find the so u n d y o u w an t an d sa m p le it. T his is in d eed the b e st op tion in m an y ca se s, esp ecially w hen in d iv id u ality is not a high priority. If yo u d ecid e to take
O n e w a y to g e t c le a n s a m p le s from a u dio C D s is to u s e s o m e th in g like A u d io L a b 1 6 , w h ic h a llo w s y o u t o co p y the digital audio d a ta from th e C D onto d is k or m e m o r y .
Hi Quality Version Available on AMIGALAND.COM w an t to sa m p le . V ideo tap e s are a com m on source this ap p ro a c h you then need to find the so u n d s you
but there are a sso cia te d p ro b lem s. First o f all there's so u n d q u ality - V H S is not k n o w n for its high fidelity a u d io an d an yth in g b u t a first gen eration co p y will u su a lly be extrem ely noisy. The other problem re g a rd s cop yrigh t. A lth ou gh this w o n 't be im po rtan t if all y o u are d o in g is a d d in g a sa m p le to y o u r W orkbench, yo u will still be in breach o f co p y righ t (an d hence b re ak in g the law ) if yo u record a sa m p le from a m ovie. This w ill h ave to taken into con sid eratio n if you are w o rk in g on so u n d effects for a g a m e or an y th in g else that is to be m ad e a v a il able to the public. Then ag ain , this w o u ld not really a p p ly if y o u took ju st a sp lit secon d of gu n fire so u n d s rather than a w h ole line o f reco gn isab le speech (alth ou gh technically it w o u ld still be an ille g a l breach o f copyrigh t). The best so u rce for so u n d effects sa m p le s is a
d e d ic a te d sa m p le CD . S a m p le C D s com e in both a u d io a n d C D -R O M fo rm ats a n d are u su a lly filled w ith th o u san d s of different so u n d s p resen ted in a sam p ler-frien d ly form at. T h ese C D s can be se p a ra t ed into tw o ty p es. T he first w ill h ave h ad its con tents cleared fo r cop y righ t in frin gem en ts o r w ill in clu d e totally o rig in ally g e n erated so u n d s, so either w a y you are free to u se the so u n d s in y o u r ow n p ro d u ctio n s w ithout fear o f la w su its from the so u n d s' origin al creators. T h e oth er ty p e is m ore com m on an d w ill contain so u n d s from a variety o f so u rces. T h ese m a y contain sa m p le s fro m co p y rig h t ed reco rd in gs that h av e been re p ro d u c e d by the s a m p le C D m an u factu rer w ith ou t the con sen t o f the c o p y rig h t ow ner. In this case, the p ro d u c e r of the s a m p le C D is b reach in g a n u m b er o f co p y rig h ts, a lth o u g h in m o st c a se s the C D p ro d u c e rs get aw ay w ith it (th ou gh not a lw ay s). You m a y n eed to g ain p erm issio n for the u se of so u n d s from such a CD from the origin al cop y righ t holders. On other o ccasio n s, the p ro d u ce r o f the C D m ay h av e cleared s a m p le s for release on the C D , b u t this d o e s not n ece ssarily m ean that then en d u se r is free to u se them at will. C o p y rig h t law is a rath er grey area w h en it co m e s to sa m p lin g p arts of ex istin g w o rk s for u se in a new piece. T h e w ay to g et a w a y w ith it is to alter the origin al so u n d to su ch a d e g re e o r u se it in such a w a y that it is no lon ger reco gn isab le in its new su rro u n d in g s. A s far a s so u n d effects g o , cop yrigh t p ro b lem s are on ly likely to a rise with the u se of p h r a se s o f sp e e ch or p articu larly u n iq u e a n d well kn ow n so u n d s. Be safe : a lw a y s check!
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S a m p le rip p e rs T here are other so u n d so u rc e s closer to hom e. M an y g a m e s an d d e m o s will h ave their so u n d d ata sto red in n on -stan d ard fo rm a ts m ak in g it im p o ssi
ble to lo a d their s a m p le s a n d so u n d tra c k s into con ven tion al a u d io p ro g ra m s. H ow ever, w h en y o u reboot y o u r A m ig a , m uch o f the m em o ry will rem ain u n ch an ged and the so u n d s co u ld still be res ident in R A M . S a m p le rip p ers an d m o d u le rip p ers allow y o u to sc o u r the m em o ry o f y o u r co m p u ter fo r an y sa m p le s o r m u sic m o d u le s that m a y b e p re sent. In the case of m o d u le rip p e rs, the utility will tell you if it h as foun d an y th in g it reco gn ises an d a sk if yo u w an t to sa v e it ou t to d isk . You can then load it into the relevan t so ftw a re an d 'borrow ' its s a m p le s for u se in y o u r ow n w ork. S a m p le rip p ers w o rk a lo n g the s a m e prin cip le, b u t this tim e it's u p to you to d e cid e w hen y o u 'v e fo u n d a sam p le . M ost sa m p le ed ito rs h ave a R A M Scan op tion w hich a llo w s you to rep lay the contents o f the R A M a s if it w ere a sam p le. M ost o f this will so u n d a w fu l but w hen you locate a p ro p er so u n d y o u can highlight it an d sa v e it ou t to disk. A ny sa m p le s you obtain this w ay will be subject to all the norm al cop y righ t lim itation s, so it's best to alter them with so m e of the fo llo w in g tech n iques to av o id an y trouble an d m ak e them 'origin al'.
Hi Quality Version Available on AMIGALAND.COM S a m p le e d ito r tric k s E v eryo n e w an ts their so u n d effects to be origin al to m ak e the listen er sit u p a n d take notice. O nce y o u 'v e g o t y o u r b a sic so u n d sittin g in y o u r sam p le ed ito r there are a n u m b er of tricks vou can u s e to sp ic e it u p an d sq u e e z e extra v a lu e from it. L o o p in g effects: T h is isn 't so m uch ab o u t b ein g tight w ith m em o ry but m ore to d o w ith g iv in g y o u rse lf m ore sc o p e for extra so u n d s. For exam p le, if y o u can red u ce a 30K sa m p le to 3K w ith no lo ss o f d etail or so u n d quality, y o u 'v e ju st earn ed y o u r self an extra 27K for a bran d new so u n d effect. T his kind o f m em o ry sa v in g isn 't a lw a y s p o ssib le an d in m an y c a se s y o u 'll find that w h at se e m s to be a fairly j
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lon g so u n d is in fact a very sh ort one th at's been Hi Quality Version Available on AMIGALAND.COM lo o p ed . Listen very carefully for repetition s in y o u r so u n d effect a s these will in d icate a lo o p ed so u n d . T h e se repetition s m a y take p lace extrem ely rap id ly a n d co u ld be too fast to hear, so try rep lay in g your sa m p le at h alf sp e e d . A lso tak e a look at the w av e form . If it fo llo w s a rep etitiou s p attern then you can take ju st the first in stan ce o f the pattern an d loop that, c h o p p in g o ff all o f the rest o f the sam p le . S o u n d s that are likely c a n d id a te s for lo o p in g in clu d e b ack g ro u n d d ro n e s (like the b le e p s and h um o f the S tarsh ip E n terprise or the ch irp o f crick ets in the ju n gle), en gin e n o ises, w hite n oise (such a s w in d an d w a v e s), m achinery, run n in g w ater an d m an y others. R em em ber that if you are g o in g to u se these s a m p le s from w ithin a tracker or one of y o u r ow n p ro g ra m s (C, A ssem bler, Blitz Basic, A M O S etc.) y o u w ill be a b le to alter the v o lu m e an d pitch o f the
lo o p at that sta g e , which w ill greatly in crease the so n ic p o ssib ilities. C heck the P ro g ram m in g an d T rackers section s o f this ch ap ter for m ore in th is area. P h asin g: P h asin g is a sid e effect of m ix in g two c o p ie s o f the sa m e so u n d together, w here the pitch es an d sp e e d s o f each co p y are sligh tly different. T h e resu ltin g so u n d w ill be sim ila r to the origin al b u t w ill h ave a 'w h o o sh in g 7 so u n d that a p p e a r s to m o v e u p o r d o w n in pitch. T h is is very u se fu l for a d d in g m o vem en t to a so u n d , g iv in g the im p ressio n that the subject is m o v in g a c ro ss the scene. A s an e x am p le, h av e a g o at m ak in g y o u r ow n jet p lan e fly-by so u n d effect. You'll n eed a 'w hite n o ise 7 sa m p le that sh o u ld be a few se c o n d s in length. If you h av e O ctaM E D y o u can u se the C reate N o ise option from the sa m p le ed ito r to m ak e so m e w h ite noise from scratch. N o w sa v e the sa m p le and load it into a sa m p le editor that h a s a p h a se function. A u d io M aste r IV (from the N o v em b e r 1995 issu e of C U A m ig a M agazin e) h as this in the form o f its M ix function - ju st a d ju st the O ffset V alue to anything y o u like. P erform the p h ase on the w hite n o ise an d y o u 'll g e t a d ram atic sw e e p in g so u n d a s if a jet p lan e had ju st flow n overh ead. E xperim en t with p h a sin g effects on any other so u n d s you w an t to p rocess. Echoes: Echo effects are very u se fu l if y o u r so u n d effect sa m p le is cut off su d d e n ly at the end. By a d d in g an echo to it, the a b ru p t en d in g is sm o o th ed ov er w ith little re p e ats that gen tly fad e aw ay. A m ore o rig in al u se of the echo function is to set the echo rate a t a very high fig u re (or a very low one, d e p e n d in g on h ow y o u r sa m p le editor w orks). The idea is to g et the ech oes occurrin g in very quick su ccessio n . If the ech oes are close en ough together, the resu lt is a m etallic so u n d rather like the effect u se d to p ro cess the R ob ocop voice. T his is on e of
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the e a sie st w a y s to d is g u is e y o u r ow n voice, s o even if yo u h av e the m o st u n h ip o f region al accen ts you can record tou gh d ia lo g u e s a m p le s w orthy o f the m o st fe a rso m e intergalactic w arrior.
T ra cker tip s E ven if y o u 're not w ritin g m u sic, trackers are very u se fu l fo r strin g in g together a se rio u s o f so u n d effects. The fine control ov er the sa m p le s that track ers offer is id eal fo r m an y so u n d effects a p p lic a tions. F or exam p le, if yo u w ere to u se the technique ex p lain ed earlier a n d lo o p a sm a ll sa m p le for u se the so u n d of m achinery, en g in es, lase r g u n s or w hatever, yo u can em bellish the origin al so u n d w ith realtim e effects such a s pitch slid e s, v o lu m e fa d e s, v ib rato s an d a rp e g g io s. By com b in in g vo l u m e an d pitch slid e s, a tiny sa m p le lo o p can be tran sform ed into a h u lk in g g reat sp a c e cru iser
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T h e c o lu m n o h t h e le ft lias u s e d p itc h s lid e c o m m a n d s t o m a k e a lo ng e v o lv in g sou nd f r o m a t i n y s a m p l e d l o o p . O t h e r e f f e c t s c o m m a n d s c o u l d be u s e d in a d d i t i o n .
a p p e a rin g from the distan ce, sw itch in g into w arp d riv e an d sh o o tin g o ff into the distan ce. It's w ell w orth in v estig atin g this av e n u e if you need to ad d so u n d effects to an an im ation . T im e the an im ation an d m ak e n otes of w hich s o u n d s need to be cued an d fa d ed at w hich specific tim es. You can then con stru ct y o u r so u n d effects m o d u le accordingly. The an im ation a n d so u n d effect m o d u le could then be rep lay ed from w ithin a m u ltim ed ia au th o rin g p ac k a g e (such a s V id eo Stag e Pro from the M arch 1996 issu e o f C U A m ig a M agazin e).
P ro g ra m m in g tip s For th ose w h o like to p ro g ram their ow n g a m e s and d e m o s, the p o ssib ilitie s are g reater still. First o f all there's the fine control you h av e o v er the b a sic s a m ple rep lay p aram e te rs (pitch, v o lu m e an d so on). In ad d itio n , you h ave the ability to d o m uch m ore
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w ith the so u n d . A lg o rith m s a n d ran d o m n u m b er g e n e rato rs can be introduced to a d d co m p lex an d u n p red ictab le a n g le s to y o u r sa m p le 's pitch and v o lu m e , an d th ese alo n e can tran sform a so u n d . With so m e im agin atio n an d inven tive p ro g ra m m in g you can sy n th esise w h ole n ew so u n d s from w h at w ere p re v io u sly ord in ary sa m p le s.
W o rk b e n c h s a m p le s A d d in g y o u r ow n s a m p le s to y o u r W orkbench is very sim p le. Recent v e rsio n s of W orkbench com e w ith a Preferences icon d e d ic a te d to the error or alert so u n d . T his allo w s y o u to select either a sim p le b e e p o r a sp ecific sa m p le w hich w ill be lo ad e d d u r in g the boot seq u en ce. For this reason if you d o n 't h ave a hard d riv e y o u 'll need to in clud e the sa m p le file on the W orkbench boot d isk . You can set the re p lay rate by m o v in g the slider. U se the Test button Workbench
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to find the right re p lay sp e e d , then click the S a v e button to m ak e the ch an ges p erm an en t. T he select ed so u n d w ill n ow p lay w h en ever you hit an error or m ak e an u n a v ailab le selection from w ithin an y sy ste m com p lian t ap p licatio n or the W orkbench.
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S e q u e n c e rs an d T rackers
There are tw o fam ilies of m u sic creation so ftw are for the A m ig a: trackers a n d seq u en cers. W hile there is so m e com m on gro u n d , the tw o ty p e s w ork in very different w a y s an d are su ited to different situ atio n s. Before w e g o into sp ecific detail ab o u t any on e p articu lar tracker or seq u en cer w e sh o u ld b e su re o f exactly w h at c o m p rise s a tracker, an d w hat m ak es a sequencer.
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T h e tra c k e r The tracker w a s o rigin ally d e v e lo p e d a s a w a y of creatin g high q u a lity m u sic for A m iga g a m e s and d e m o s. T he fin al p ro d u ct h ad to be very efficient w ith m em o ry an d p ro cesso r p o w e r but a lso take full a d v a n ta g e of the A m ig a 's then revolution ary so u n d h ard w are. Sou n dT racker w a s the origin al tracker, d ev e lo p e d by p ro g ra m m e rs on the A m iga d e m o scene. Third p arties took it u p o n th em selv es to con tin ue the d e v e lo p m e n t o f Sou n dT racker by
a d d in g their o w n featu res to the p ro g ra m an d re d is trib u tin g it. So m e of these a m e n d e d v e rsio n s w ent out u n d e r the n am e So u n d T rack er but m an y altered the first p art o f the n am e to reflect the c h an g e s in the p ro g ram . Before lon g there w a s the choice of SoundT racker, N oiseT racker, StarTrekker, ProTracker, C heeseTracker, FishTracker... it seem ed a s if the w orld an d h is w ife w a s in on the act. Then there w ere the sligh tly m ore origin al tw ists on the them e, su ch a s M u sic E d itor (M ED ), G am e M usic C reator (G M C ), O ktalyser, T FM X a n d m ore. M ore than an y th in g else, the on e thing that ch aracterises a tracker is its vertically scro llin g alp h a num eric d isplay. T his is n orm ally the b ig g e st stu m b lin g block for an y on e a p p ro a c h in g a tracker for the first tim e. T he ban k of n u m b ers an d letters b e a rs n o relation to tradition al m u sic notation an d there are no d e sc rip tiv e h e a d in g s or g u id e s to be seen. W hy? B ecau se the tracker w a s never su p p o se d to b e a tool for the tradition al m u sician an d any c o m p ro m ises it m a d e to a d d r e s s that w o u ld reduce its u se a com p act m u sical tool for g a m e s an d
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d e m o s. Pow er ov er P aula is w h at m ak es the tracker su ch an attractive option. M o st trackers h av e a sa m p le ed ito r built-in, s o y o u can g rab new so u n d s h alf w a y through m ak in g a so n g an d edit them to y o u r requirem en ts. T h e acu te control o v er everyth in g from p recise v o lu m e levels, pitch b en ds, a rp e g g io s an d m o re g iv e s a m p le room for sonic exp erim en ta tion. Q u an tisatio n is v ery rigid u n le ss the faste st of te m p o s is u se d , w hich m ak e s entering p attern s in 'ste p tim e' a very q u ick an d e a sy p ro cess, alth ou gh the better trackers w ill coun ter this with o p tio n s to ach ieve n otes that are ju st off-beat, or triplets if required. The b e au ty of a sta n d a rd th at's been aro u n d on the A m ig a sin ce the start is that the M O D file (the files created b y track ers are called m o d u le s) is s u p p o rted by virtu ally every p iece of creative softw are that y o u 'll ever find for the A m ig a. M O D files can a lso b e lo a d e d an d p lay ed by a large n u m b er o f PC an d A p p le M ac p ro g ra m s. O v er the last few y ears p ro g ra m m e rs h av e been d e v e lo p in g altern ativ es to the M O D fo rm at with extra features, such a s 8 or m o re voices, 14-bit ou tp u t, M IDI seq u en cin g and m ore, s o in fact there are q u ite a few 'sta n d a rd s' o f the M O D form at.
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T h e m a in c o n te n d e rs T here are m an y v ariatio n s on the tracker them e for y o u to ch oo se from . H ere are so m e of the lead in g co n ten d ers for y o u r attention.
P ro T ra c k e r ProTracker is the choice o f the m ajority o f m u sician s w h o w rite p rim arily for g a m e s an d d em o s. A n acco m p lish ed p ro g ra m m e r w ill be able to slip a ProTracker m o d u le into a g a m e o r d em o w ithout b attin g an eyelid. ProTracker con fo rm s to the track er tradition of a n on -stan d ard interface; there are no
p u ll d o w n m e n u s an d all the b u tto n s are arran g e d in a rath er p o k ey collection o f b a n k s, so m e o f w hich ch an ge to reveal altern ativ e b a n k s if you click on the right one. O n ce y o u know y o u r w ay aro u n d the interface there sh o u ld n 't be too m an y p ro b lem s, bu t the a ssu m sio n s the p ro g ra m m a k e s abo u t y o u r A m ig a , its d isk d riv e s an d its filing sy ste m s can be fru stratin g. You w on 't find an y M IDI su p p o r t or sn a z z y eight voice featu res bu t there is a sa m p le editor. ProTracker is still w id ely u se d for a co u p le of re a so n s. First an d forem ost is fam iliarity - if y o u 'v e been u sin g it fo r the p a s t five to ten y ears, ch an gin g to an altern ative sy stem isn 't an attractive option. T he other reason is sim p ly b e c a u se it is w id ely u se d , w hich in turn m ean s that th ere's plen ty of su p p o r t from the rest of the A m ig a scene. H ow ever, if y o u 're new to it all, y o u m a y b e better o ff trying ou t one of the m ore gro u n d b reak in g altern atives. ProTracker is p u b lic d o m ain , the current version is 3.01 and it's a v a ila b le from all g o o d p ub lic d o m a in so ftw are su p p lie rs.
Hi Quality Version Available on AMIGALAND.COM O c ta M E D A ny re g u lar read er o f C U A m ig a M a g az in e w ill k n ow all abo u t RBF S o ftw a re 's O ctaM E D , so w e'll k eep it brief. A t the tim e of g o in g to p re ss the latest release is V ersion 6, a lso this is so o n to be su p e r se d e d by the n ext u p d a te , O ctaM E D S o u n d S tu d io V I. O rigin ally b a se d on the tracker theme, O ctaM E D a d d s a n u m b er o f p o w e r featu res, su ch a s co m p reh en siv e MIDI seq u en cin g a lo n g sid e the sa m p le s, synthetic so u n d gen eration , a sta n d a rd W orkbench 2 interface with m e n u s and w in d o w s an d full ProTracker com patibility, S o u n d S tu d io will offer m ore, in clu d in g u p to 64 ch an n els of A m iga s a m p le s that can be o u tp u t th rough the Toccata 16bit so u n d card w ith full stereo p an n in g con trols an d
realtim e echo effects. If y o u w an t to com bin e MIDI seq u e n cin g an d p o w e rfu l A m ig a sa m p le control, O ctaM E D is d efin itely the w ay to go.
M u s ic lin e E d ito r O n e o f the m ost origin al tw ists on the tracker them e h a s com e from M u siclin e E d ito r (M line fo r short). T he m ain attraction here is th at y o u can create in stru m en ts by lo a d in g in sa m p le s and then a ssig n in g a n u m b er o f sy n th e sis v a lu e s to them . For e x a m ple, you co u ld load a su sta in e d strin g sa m p le and g iv e it so m e resonan ce, w h ich w o u ld c h an ge it from an ord in ary sa m p le into a m ore in terestin g so u n d w ith its ow n m o v em en t an d character. A t the m o m en t M line is still in its early sta g e s o f d e v e lo p m ent b u t it's w orth ch eckin g out. With m ore s u p p ort from u se rs it co u ld g ro w into a force to be reck on ed with. M u siclin e E d itor is sh arew are, a v ailab le from a n y g o o d p u b lic d o m ain source.
Hi Quality Version Available on AMIGALAND.COM S e q u e n ce rs In co n trast to a tracker, the m ain aim s o f a seq u en cer are to p resen t the m u sician w ith a quick
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an d e a sy w a y to record, edit an d rep lay m u sic from M IDI in stru m en ts (alth ou gh A m ig a sa m p le s are u su a lly su p p o rte d to so m e d egree). Seq u en cers h av e no place fo r scro llin g lists of n u m b ers an d letters. T hey prefer to d isp la y their m u sica l d a ta in the form of a 'p ia n o roll' d isplay . T his tak es its n am e from the ro lls o f p a p e r u se d to store m u sical sco res for self-p lay in g p ian o las. A p ian o roll d isp la y is read from left to right u sin g a h o rizon tally scro llin g w in dow . A lo n g the left e d g e o f the d isp la y is a represen tation o f a p ia n o k ey b o a rd sto o d on its en d , so the lo w est note is at the bottom a n d the h ig h e st note at the top. T his p ian o is u se d to ind icate the pitch o f the notes, rath er like the n u m b ers ru n n in g u p the sid e of a bar g ra p h in d icate the v a lu e s o f the b ars. So each note is given a vertical p o sitio n acco rd in g to its pitch, w h ile its d u ratio n is represen ted by the length o f the n o te's bar. In ad d itio n to this, each note m ay a lso h av e a vertical b a r w hich in d icates its v o lu m e or velocity. A typ ical u se o f a seq u en cer w o u ld in v o lv e a se tu p w h ere there w a s a M IDI k ey b o ard p lu g g e d into the A m ig a, w ith this k ey b o ard actin g a s both an in p u t an d o u tp u t device. T he seq u en cer w o u ld be set to record on track one, w h ile the m u sician p lay ed a b a sslin e a lo n g to the tick o f a m etronom e. W hen reco rd in g h ad fin ish ed, an y b ad ly tim ed n otes co u ld b e q u a n tised an d corrected w ith a qu ick m o u se click or m en u selection, then the next p a rt of the m u sic could be recorded onto track tw o (p er h ap s a chord seq u en ce). The seq u en cer only records M IDI d ata, w hich con tain s inform ation a b o u t w hich n otes w h ere p la y e d w hen a n d fo r h ow lon g. W hen every th in g h as been recorded it can all b e p la y e d b ack th rou gh the k ey b o ard via rem ote control from the co m p u te r sequencer. U n fo rtu n ately w h ile there are q u ite a few seq u e n ce rs a v ailab le fo r the A m ig a , d ev elo p m en t
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h a s c e a se d on all fronts. The a d v a n ta g e of this is that y o u can pick u p so m e v ery p o w erfu l so ftw are for little cash if yo u sh o p aro u n d .
T h e c o n te n d e rs H ere are the m ain p la y e rs in the field.
B a r s a n d P ip e s P r o f e s s i o n a l B ars an d P ip es P rofession al is w ith ou t a d o u b t the k in g o f A m ig a seq u en cin g , offerin g a ran ge o f fea tures, p lu g -in s an d ov erall p o w e r that kn ocks the com petition for six. Bars an d P ip e s likes a challenge. It's a lm o st a s if it's sa y in g ''G o on, g iv e m e you best s h o t ... y o u r b ig g e st M IDI set-u p ... y o u r m o st d e m a n d in g m u sic project e v e r" an d it still m a n a g e s to tak e it all in its stride. M uch of its su c c e ss lies in the sy stem o f p lu g-in s an d controllers. T h ese can b e u se d to a d d creative
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m u sica l effects to y o u r sequ en ce, or to integrate ad d itio n a l h ard w are se e m le ssly into the seq u en cin g sy stem . For e x am p le, there are sp ecific p lu g -in s for direct lin k s w ith Triple Play P lu s (a 48-w a y MIDI interface), S u n rize A D 516 an d Toccata 16 bit hard d isk recorders a n d plenty m ore. B ars an d Pipes is at its b e st w hen run on a w ell stock ed b ig b o x A m ig a an d a large flicker-free m on itor to take a d v a n ta g e o f its excellent d isp la y featu res that are b ased arou n d a colou rfu l set o f ico n s an d w in d o w s.
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M u s i c X i s c h o s e n b y m a n y A m i g a m u s i c i a n s f o r i t s r e l a t i v e l y fr ie n d l y a n d f l e x i b l e a p p ro a c h to M I D I s e q u e n c in g , a nd a ls o ju s t b e c a u s e it h as b e e n a ro u n d fo r so lon g .
poin t for those w o rk in g on low er specified m ach in es, an d a lso those w h o like to w o rk in a m ore sim p le uncluttered environm ent. T here are so m e nice record in g and stru ctu rin g m eth o d s on offer in M u sic X w hich allo w y o u to record p arts a n d u se them a s su b se q u en c e s in the o v erall seq u en ce. M an y fin d that the featu res for h a n d lin g A m ig a sa m p le s are the best of any sequencer, so if y o u r m u sic ten d s to be p rim arily M ID I-based bu t y o u still w an t g o o d control ov er A m ig a sa m p le s this is p ro b ab ly y o u r best option.
KCS 3 .0 D r T 's K C S (K eyb oard C on troller Sy stem ) w ent out w ith a b an g a few y e a rs a g o bu t you m ay still find this very p ow erfu l seq u en cer gath erin g d u st on a re ta ile r's sh e lf som ew h ere. T he la st release w a s a com bin ation o f K C S (the m ain sequ en cer), Tiger
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Y o u m a y fi n d D R T s K C S s i t t i n g a r o u n d o n a d e a l e r ' s d u s t y s h e l l . II y o u d o i t ' s w e l l w o r t h in ve s tig a tin g . W h ile it's n o t the m o s t c o m p le te s y s te m it still p a c k s a p u n c h .
C u b (the d isp la y sy stem ) a n d A u to m ix (an au to m at ed M ID I m ixin g tool). T h is sy stem c o u ld not be d escrib ed a s userfrien d ly b u t it d o e s offer a g o o d d eal o f control over a larg e M IDI setu p . T he m ost in terestin g p art is the a u to m a te d m ixin g d esk . T his a llo w s y o u to record v o lu m e ch an ges (or in fact c h an g e s of an y M ID I controller) via a m ouse-con trolled virtu al m ixin g desk . If y o u r real m ixin g d e sk is e q u ip p e d with flyin g fa d e rs y o u can even control those from the p ro g ra m 's A u to m ix section.
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A m ig a a u d io h a r d w a r e a d d -o n s
Hi Quality Version Available on AMIGALAND.COM 8 - b it s a m p le rs M ost A m ig a 8-bit A m ig a sa m p le rs follow very sim i lar lines. T hey co n sist o f a stereo sa m p lin g cartrid ge w hich p lu g s into the A m ig a 's p arallel p ort and so m e so ftw are w hich re a d s the d ata from the car trid ge an d allo w s y o u to ed it an d sa v e the sam p le s. T h ere's very little to ch o o se betw een the h ard w are c a rtrid g e s, so m o st b u y in g d ecisio n s are m a d e on the stren gth s o r featu res o f the a c co m p an y in g so ft w are. M ost sa m p le r ca rtrid g e s a n d so ftw a re can be interchan ged w ith different b ran d s. For exam p le, y o u can u se the M e g a lo so u n d cartrid g e directly w ith the built-in sa m p lin g so ftw are in O ctaM ED . A ll o f these u s e the A m ig a 's ow n h ard w are to rep lay the sa m p le d so u n d s. T h e s a m p le s created w ith these p a c k a g e s can be u sed in an y A m ig a m u sic p ro gram .
A u ra 8 H iS o ft £ 3 4 .9 5 W hen H iSoft d e v e lo p e d their original A u ra sam p le r (see the section on 16-bit sam p lers) they cam e u p with so m e im p ressiv e editin g softw are. N o w the so ftw are is av ailab le for 8-bit u se rs in the form of A u ra 8. The h ard w are is a sm a ll cartrid ge that p lu g s into the A m ig a 's parallel p o rt w hile the so ftw are is basically the sa m e a s for the A u ra 16. For the price this loo k s like an excellent option for an yon e w ho w an ts a bit m ore than a sim p le sa m p le grabber.
M e g a lo s o u n d H iS o ft £ 3 4 .9 5 M e g alo so u n d is a neat little sa m p le r p ack ag e that com es with so m e g o o d softw are. T he h ard w are is a stereo cartrid ge that p lu g s into the parallel p ort a s u su a l b u t also h as in p u t v o lu m e c o n tro l T his is p articu larly u sefu l a s it m ean s y o u can sa m p le direct from the o u tp u ts o f a C D player, b y p a ssin g the potentially noisy am plification stage. You could d o this w ith an y sa m p le r but the v o lu m e control m ean s that if y o u are sa m p lin g from a very lou d C D y o u can av o id distortion. The M e galo so u n d softw are h as som e q u irk s in its interface, but for so m e reason this se e m s to be p ar for the co u rse w hen yo u 're d e alin g w ith A m ig a sa m p lin g softw are. There are a lso so m e u sefu l effects av ailab le for p ro cessin g sa m p le s, especially if you like d isto rtin g so u n d s to creating new ones. Excellent value.
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T e c h n o s o u n d T u r b o 2 P ro E m e r a ld C r e a t i v e £ 2 6 . 9 5 T echnosound h as been aro u n d for years. Its latest incarnation se e s it sp o rtin g a large n u m ber o f 'just for fun' realtim e effects. U n fortun ately the sou n d q u ality o f m an y o f these m ean that they really are ju st for fun. T h ere's a built in tracker which m a k e s it
relatively easy to try ou t y o u r sa m p le s in a m u sical context, alth ou gh it is very b asic an d not com patible with the .M O D file form at. O n the subject o f the so ft w are front end, T ech nosound is the w orst o f a b ad bunch. N ev erth eless, it h as its fan s.
D S S 8 P lu s P o w e r C o m p u tin g £ 3 9 .9 5 O rigin ally d e v e lo p e d by the highly respected G V P in the U SA , D SS 8 P lus h as a clear plastic cartridge with its internal com p on en ts on show . T he h igh ligh ts o f the so ftw are include a u n iqu e p re-sam p lin g high frequency filter. This is com p letely se p a ra te from the A m ig a 's ow n lo w -p ass filter, an d w hen sw itch ed on before sa m p lin g it rem oves h iss from y o u r in com in g so u n d before it is sam p le d . T his is very u se fu l for sa m p lin g b a ss so u n d s, an d the resu lt ing sa m p le s are su rp risin g ly pure. A tracker is in cluded in the p ro g ra m an d alth ou gh the softw are is lo w on effects p ro cesses it's on e of the m o st userfrien dly editors.
Hi Quality Version Available on AMIGALAND.COM 16 - B i t S a m p l e r s T h in gs are rather different w h en it com es to 16 bit sa m p le rs. A s the A m ig a h as no in-built 16 bit record ing or rep lay in g facilities, each sam p le r takes its ow n ap p ro ach , interfacin g in different w a y s an d u sin g specifically d e sig n e d h ard w are an d softw are. This m ean s that in o rd er to u se the resu ltin g sa m p le s in other softw are, the softw are w ill need to h av e sp e c if ic su p p o r t for that p articu lar sa m p le r an d its files.
A u ra 16 Hi S o ft £ 7 9 . 9 5 T h e ch eapest route into 16-bit A m iga a u d io is A ura 16, alth ou gh it d o e sn 't actu ally offer 16-bit sam p lin g or replay - in stead it sa m p le s at 12- bit resolution, con verts this u p to 16 bits d u rin g the ed itin g and p ro cessin g sta g e an d then back d o w n to 12 bits for
outpu t. A u ra connects to an A 1200 or A600 via the P C M C IA slot. There are stereo in p u ts and o u tp u ts on the cartridge, with stereo p ass-th rou gh in p u ts for com b in in g y o u r sta n d a rd A m ig a a u d io with the A u ra output. O ne o f the best things ab o u t A u ra 16 is the selec tion o f high q u ality realtim e effects that are availab le from the softw are. T hese are esp ecially rem arkable b e c a u se they allow you to com bine m ore than one p ro cess a t a time, such a s p h a se an d echo for e x am ple. A u ra a lso h a s excellent sa m p le p ro cessin g fea tures. Third p arty su p p o rt is a v ailab le in a lim ited form from O ctaM E D 5.04 u p w a rd s, in w hich case y o u can su b stitu te on e A m iga channel for a m ono A u ra 12-bit channel.
T o c c a ta W h ite K n ig h t T e c h n o lo g y £ 2 9 9 Toccata is a Z orro card for all "big box' A m ig as. It h a s been d e sig n e d by M acroSystem specifically for u se a s a hard d isk a u d io recorder with their V-Lab M otion card in a d igital v id e o editin g set-up, in w hich c ase it h an d les the so u n d track w hile the VL ab M otion d e a ls with the pictures. S a m p le s can be recorded to an d p lay ed back from both RAM and hard d isk . Toccata offers stereo sa m p lin g at rates of u p to 48kH z in 16 bits. U nlike m ost sam p le rs, the sa m p lin g an d replay rates m u st be chosen from one a n u m b er o f presets. T hese in clu d e 44.1kH z (perfect for m asterin g to C D ) an d low er rates such a s 32kH z (the rate u sed by A k a i's SO I entry-level M IDI sa m pler). T h is m ean s that n orm ally it cannot be u se d to sa m p le a sin gle note an d then u se this to rep lay a m elody, since there are not en o u gh p resets to cover all the n otes that w o u ld be n eeded. H ow ever, w hen u sed in conjunction w ith O ctaM ED S o u n d S tu d io , so n g s can be built from both 8 an d 16-bit sa m p le s an d fed to the 4 8 k H z 16-
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bit o u tp u t o f the Toccata, w hich g iv e s su p erio r so u n d quality to u sin g the A m ig a 's stan d ard 8-bit outpu t. In this case each track can have its ow n stereo pan position an d echo effects can a lso be a d d e d in realtim e. S a m p litu d e is the so ftw are su p p lie d with the Toccata, featu rin g a g o o d selection o f b asic editin g tools a n d a few effects. Toccata sa m p le s can a lso be stru n g together into a sin g le track seq u en ce u sin g S a m p litu d e 's Playlist features. B ars and P ipes also offers Toccata rep lay features. If neither So u n d S tu d io nor B ars an d P ip es is y o u r seq u en cer o f choice, Toccata w ill be o f m o st interest a s a hard d isk digital recorder. For this job it could really d o w ith so m e m ore ad v an ce d so ftw are to m atch p ro fession al sy ste m s on other platform s.
S u n riz e A D 5 1 6 £ 1 5 0 -£ 2 0 0 second hand The first ever 16-bit A m ig a sa m p le r w as the Su n rize AD516. Like the Toccata, it's d esig n ed a s a hard d isk -b ased d igital m asterin g sy stem , but un like the Toccata the A D S 16 sp o rts tw o stereo channels in stead of ju st one. Su n rize A D 516 is a lso a Z orro card , an d once ag ain , like the Toccata it too is can be paired with a digital v id eo card, specifically the D PS P ersonal A n im ation R ecorder (PAR). While the A D 516 d o e s h ave su p p o rt from B ars an d P ipes, it is not o f m uch u se to an yon e w ho w an ts a 16-bit sa m p le r for u se a s a m u sical instrum ent. W here the A D 516 really sco res is a s a hard d isk recordin g, m asterin g an d a u d io editin g sy stem . The latest version o f its com p an ion softw are g iv e s precise control ov er y o u r record in gs an d h as a very user-frien dly p la y list sequen cer that w o rk s on a d r a g an d d ro p principal. For hard d isk m asterin g an d d ig ital a u d io w ork this is definitely the pick of the crop.
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M is c e lla n e o u s h a r d w a r e There are also so m e other interesting bits an d pieces a v ailab le to enhance and m an ip u late y o u r A m ig a 's so u n d . The sta n d a rd line level stereo a n alo g u e ou t p u t is com p atib le w ith all a u d io record in g e q u ip m ent, but here are a co u p le o f tailor m a d e u n its that are esp ecially g e a re d to w ard s u se w ith the A m ig a.
Sound Enhancer O m e g a P r o je c ts £ 3 9 . 9 5 O ne of the p ro b lem s w ith 8 bit sa m p lin g is that it can h a v e the effect of p ro d u cin g sligh tly d u ll so u n d in g sa m p le s. The S o u n d Enhancer is a cheeky piece o f kit that is very effective an d also very sim p le. It's a sm all box that sits betw een the A m ig a 's a u d io ou t p u ts an d y o u r am p lifier or mixer. It w o rk s by b o o stin g certain preset b a s s an d tre ble frequencies. T he level of the b a ss b o o st cannot be ch an ged , b u t the one control knob on the unit can be u se d to cut or b o o st the treble frequencies. T his is not a m iracle w orker by an y m ean s, an d if you are u sin g sa m p le s p lay ed at low rates then the treble b o o st w ill only e m p h a sise the distortion. H ow ever, if y o u are w ork in g from goo d sa m p le s, the effect can be am a z in g , g iv in g y o u r top end m ore sp a rk le and a d d in g plenty of beef to the bottom end. T his is esp ecially u se fu l if y o u r are p ro d u cin g house, techno or ju n gle, in w hich case the definition o f the b a ss an d treble can b e of p ara m o u n t im portance. At the very least, the S o u n d Enhancer is a neat replacem en t for a full m ulti-band g rap h ic equaliser. O nce y o u 'v e u se d one for a d a y y o u w on't w an t ever to be w ithout it!
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L it t le G e m M i c r o M i x e r E m e r a ld C r e a t iv e £ 6 6 . 9 5 A n other little problem w ith the A m ig a 's o u tp u t is that w h en four ch an n els of m o n o sa m p le s are p lay ed there is no w ay o f a d ju stin g the stereo p an position
of each (although S o u n d S tu d io an d other m u lti channel trackers n ow offer p an n in g). Two channels are fed through the left o u tp u t an d tw o through the right. T h e Little G em M icro M ixer is a tw o channel m ixer that offers in d ep en d an t p an controls for each channel, allow in g y o u to m ix both sid e s to the centre or an yw h ere else in the stereo field. On top of this, there are in d ep en d an t volu m e, b a ss an d treble controls for each channel. T he ability to EQ an d p an the channels g o e s a lon g w a y to cu r ing tw o o f the b ig g e st p ro b lem s you'll face w hen m ak in g a m a ster record in g of an A m ig a sam p leb a se d so n g. It w ill a lso p ro v e u sefu l in sm all MIDI se tu p s w h ere there is a sh o rtag e o f con trols or chan nels on the m ain mixer.
O n e S to p M u s ic S h o p E 1 5 0 -E 2 0 0 se co n d ha n d A few y e ars a g o Blue R ibbon released this u n iqu e Z orro so u n d card. U nlike the Z orro sa m p le r card s covered earlier in this chapter, the O ne S to p M usic S h o p is really the internal w o rk in g s of a Proteus m u ltitim bral synthesiser. C on form in g to the G eneral M IDI sta n d a rd it h as all the so u n d s that are specified by G M alo n g w ith so m e of its ow n. U sin g sa m p le s o f real instrum en ts a s a b ase for its so u n d s, it en h an ces these w ith its ow n sy n th esiser processes. A n y o n e loo k in g for a neat m u ltitim bral so u n d m o d u le w ith a variety o f sy n th esised , orchestral and d ru m so u n d s w ill be satisfied . T he O ne S to p M usic S h o p can be u sed w ith any seq u en cer run n in g on the sa m e A m iga (or externally) with the u se o f its 'M IDI L oop-back' m ode. T h is allo w s y o u r sequen cer to talk to the card through a M IDI interface an d a M IDI cable, so there is no need for specific su p p o rt from y o u r chosen sequencer.
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M I D I a n d re c o rd in g e x tra s
Hi Quality Version Available on AMIGALAND.COM O nce y o u ven ture o u tsid e the realm s o f the b asic A m ig a tracker a n d into the w orld o f M IDI an d m ulti-track reco rd in g y o u r o p tio n s are o p e n e d right up. A n a lm o st lim itless n u m b er o f M IDI in stru m en ts can be connected to a n d controlled from y o u r A m ig a. O nce you start a d d in g M IDI instrum en ts y o u '11 n eed to g et y o u rse lf a m ixer to com b in e the differen t so u n d so u rces, an d w h ile y o u 're m ak in g y o u r m u sical sh o p p in g list, h o w ab o u t a d d in g a few effects m o d u le s too? The best th in g ab o u t b u ild in g y o u r ow n M IDI sy stem is that you can tailor it to y o u r specific requirem en ts, a d d in g only w h at you really need (and w h at yo u can afford). A ll o f the g e a r covered in this ch apter can a lso b e u se d with M IDI seq u en cin g sy ste m s other than the current ran g e o f A m ig a co m p u ters, so even if y o u ev en tu al ly u p g r a d e or replace y o u r current com puter, your external e q u ip m e n t w ill not be redu n d an t.
M ID I MIDI (M usical Instrum ent D igital Interface) is the com m u n ication sta n d a rd u se d by electronic m u sical in strum en ts. The A m ig a h as n ever been factory fit ted w ith M IDI p o rts but this is not a problem a s a M ID I interface is a ch eap a d d itio n to a n y sy stem , sta rtin g from aro u n d £15. A M IDI interface p lu g s into y o u r A m ig a 's serial p ort an d a d d s D in sock ets for MIDI In an d M IDI O ut connections. The better interfaces w ill h av e m ore than one M ID I O ut connection. Even if y o u only h ave one p iece o f M IDI e q u ip m e n t w hen y o u b u y the inter face, it's still w orth gettin g an interface w ith m ore than on e O ut connection in c ase you a d d m ore un its later. It is q u ite p o ssib le to control m ore than one M ID I in stru m en t sim u lta n e o u sly w ith ju st one M IDI O ut by h ookin g them togeth er in a 'd a isy chain' seq u en ce. H ow ever, if y o u a d d too m an y u n its in this w a y you m ay experien ce d e la y e d reaction s from th ose at the en d o f the chain. G iv in g each unit a direct feed from the interface w ill av o id this. M IDI cab les carry inform ation on 16 in d ep en d en t ch an n els, in effect allo w in g you to p la y u p to 16 v o ices at on ce from an y com bin ation o f y o u r M IDI instrum en ts. T his lim it can be exceed ed w ith sp e cial M IDI interfaces such a s Triple Play P lus (w hich sp o rts three se ts of 16 channels). So w h at con stitu tes a M ID I in strum en t? Technically it's an y th in g that can sen d or receive M IDI d ata. Typical e x a m p les in clu d e controller k ey b o a rd s, sy n th e siser k ey b o ard s, sy n th esiser m o d u le s an d d ru m m ach ines. V arious other bits an d pieces can a lso b e controlled via M ID I, in clu d in g m an y effects p ro cesso rs, so m e m ixin g d e sk s an d even ligh tin g rig s for s ta g e sh o w s. M ost M IDI in stru m en ts h av e no bu ilt in sp e a k e rs a s they are d e sig n e d to b e routed through an op tion al m ixer to
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an am p lifie r an d sp e a k e r sy stem . O n ly yo u can d e c id e exactly w h at M IDI e q u ip m ent y o u 'll need to fulfil y o u r p articu lar m u sical a sp iratio n s. H ow ever, so m e p o in ters are a lw a y s handy, an d to this end here are a few reco m m en d a tion s for an y on e ju st sta rtin g ou t with a lim ited bu d get.
M ID I c o n tro lle r ke yb o a rd M IDI controller k e y b o ard s look like sy n th esisers but m ak e no so u n d o f their ow n. T he p u rp o se o f a con troller k ey b o ard is to tran sm it M ID I in form ation to an oth er unit, w hich w o u ld ty p ically be a M IDI m o d u le o r a sequencer. The m ost b asic controller k eyb oard w o u ld re sp o n d to an d tran sm it little m o re than 'n ote on' a n d 'note off' inform ation . In other w o rd s, w hich k e y s are p re sse d an d for h ow long. H ow ever, m ost w ill re sp o n d to a n d tran sm it other inform ation , su ch a s velocity (the force w ith w hich the k ey s are hit) an d m o d u latio n d ata. M o d u latio n is n orm ally controlled by a w heel p ro tru d in g from the left hand sid e o f the k ey b o ard an d can b e a ssig n e d to a p a r ticu lar asp e c t of the current so u n d . For ex am p le, if m o d u latio n w a s a ssig n e d to the s o u n d 's filter, m o v in g the m o d u latio n w heel w o u ld h av e the effect of o p e n in g an d closin g the filter. A controller keyboard is on ly n ecessary if y o u h ave no other m eth o d of p la y in g y o u r M IDI in stru m en ts, or y o u r current M IDI k eyboard is d efectiv e or restricted in features or size.
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S y n th e s is e r ke yb o a rd O n e o f the b est wra y s to e x p an d y o u r A m ig a to a M ID I sy stem is w ith a sy n th e siser k eyb oard. This w ill act a s a so u n d sou rce an d a controller key bo ard. If this is to b e y o u r first p u rch ase it's best to g o for a m u ltitim bral k eyb oard. T h is w ill com e w ith
a ran ge o f different so u n d s an d w ill be ab le to play a n u m b er o f them at the sa m e tim e w hen u se d with y o u r sequencer. M ost entry-level synth k e y b o ard s conform to the G en eral M IDI (G M ) sta n d a rd . By definition, all GM in stru m en ts h av e the sa m e set o f so u n d s sto red in the sa m e locations. For exam p le, so u n d n u m b er one of an y G M in strum en t is a pian o. The set o f G M s o u n d s attem p ts to cover the ran g e of 'bread an d b u tter' so u n d s that w o u ld be u se d in the p ro d u c tion o f a w id e ran g e o f m u sical sty les, in clu d in g d an ce, rock, p o p , orchestral a n d m ore. A s y o u can im ag in g , one set o f GM so u n d s is m uch like another (th at's the w h ole point) w hich m ean s that y o u are u n likely to find m uch in d iv id u ality in a low cost G M instrum ent. H ow ever, there is n oth in g to sto p a G M in stru m ent h av in g its ow n so u n d s an d sy n th esis m eth o d s in ad d itio n to these, and there is a lso n othin g to say that a k ey b o ard sy n th esiser m u st com p ly to G M . Y ou'll find m ost entry-level keyboard sy n th s will h av e all the b a sic so u n d s you n eed to m ak e a co m plete so n g , in clu d in g d ru m so u n d s.
Hi Quality Version Available on AMIGALAND.COM M ID I m o d u le A MIDI m o d u le is a MIDI in stru m en t that has no k eyboard an d can only be p lay ed o r controlled by an external seq u en cer or other M IDI device. Like the p re v io u sly d isc u sse d k ey b o ard syn th s, M IDI m o d u le s are often m u ltitim b ral an d G M com patible. M an y sy n th e sise rs are a lso a v a ila b le in MIDI m o d ule form at an d are ch eaper in co m p ariso n a s you are not p a y in g for the keyboard. M IDI m o d u le s are h an d y for e x p an d in g a MIDI sy stem w hen there is alread y a su itab le controller k ey b o ard in the setu p . If you w ere to u se O ctaM E D or S o u n d S tu d io it w o u ld be q u ite p o ssib le to con nect straigh t u p to the m o d u le with no n eed for a
M ID I k ey b oard , a s those p ro g ra m s allow y o u to p la y the in stru m en ts (albeit rath er crudely) from the A m ig a k eyb oard. M ost other seq u en cers d o not h av e this function.
D ru m m a c h in e s It's often a g o o d id ea to a d d a d ru m m ach ine to h an d le y o u r rhythm section s. A lth ou gh m an y sy n th s an d m o d u le s com e w ith d ru m so u n d s, so m e tim es they can be token in clu sio n s an d not really offer the kind o f so u n d y o u w ant. M ost d ru m m ach in es com e w ith p a d s w hich can b e m a d e to act like different d r u m s (one for the b a s s d ru m , on e for the sn are) so that y o u can b eat o u t a rhythm in real tim e. M an y are a lso e q u ip p e d w ith their ow n seq u e n ce r w hich can be h an d y for testin g out id e as even if you d o h ave a seq u en cer run n in g on your A m ig a. T he only sa fe w a y to ch o o se a d ru m m ach in e is to try it out for y o u rself. M ost m odern m o d e ls d o a fair job o f trying to p le a se everyon e. If you w an t to create an auth en tic live so u n d in g rock b ack beat y o u w ill need to u se a d ru m m ach ine w ith sa m p le d d ru m so u n d s w hich is the sta n d a rd for m o st you 'll find. H ow ever, if y o u 're after b a s s d ru m s that sh ak e the rafters an d all th ose w eird so u n d s that crop u p so often in electronic and d an ce m u sic, an a n alo g u e m ach in e is best for the job. R o la n d 's TR808 an d TR909 d ru m m ach in es are resp o n sib le for these so u n d s, an d alth o u gh they h av e been o u t o f p ro d u c tion for so m e y e a rs, m an y current d igital d ru m m ach in es h ave s a m p le s o f their so u n d s. S o m e m an a g e to cap tu re the feel, oth ers fail. W hatever y o u 're after, m ak e su re yo u get to h ave a g o o d th rash aro u n d w ith any you are inter ested in before p artin g w ith y o u r cash.
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M ID I
s a m p le rs
If y o u 're hooked on sa m p lin g b u t are not satisfied w ith w h at the A m ig a can offer, tak e a lo o k at so m e M IDI sa m p le rs. M o st com e in the form o f a MIDI m o d u le, alth o u gh there are k ey b o ard v e rsio n s a v a il able. H ow ever, u n lik e m o d u le s, sa m p le rs h ave no internal so u n d s. Before yo u can get an yth in g from a sa m p le r y o u first h a v e to either load in a sa m p le from d isk (or via SC SI or M IDI d u m p ) or record a so u n d yourself. T h e p ro c e ss o f record in g an d ed itin g on m o st M ID I sa m p le rs is a far cry fro m the on-screen g ra p h ic a l ap p ro a c h o f A m ig a sa m p lin g . T h is can be so lv e d if you can find a w ay o f tran sferrin g sa m p le s to y o u r A m ig a for ed itin g, an d then back to the sa m p le r for p lay b ack . The a d v a n ta g e of a M IDI sa m p le r is that y o u w ill n orm ally get 16-bit reso lu tion an d h ig h er sa m p le rates, so the ov erall so u n d q u ality w ill be excellent. A kai, R olan d an d E m u all p ro d u c e a ran ge o f sa m p le rs, w h ile the best entry level o p tio n s are the A k ai S O I an d the now d isco n tin u ed u n its from C heetah.
Hi Quality Version Available on AMIGALAND.COM M ix e rs T he essen tial function o f a m ixer is to com b in e a n u m b er o f so u n d s from different so u rces into a sin g le stereo sign al. M ix ers will a lso allow y o u to alter the stereo p a n p o sitio n , relative v o lu m e an d tonal content (EQ) o f the different so u n d s. A m ixer is essen tial if y o u r m u sic sy stem is m a d e u p o f m ore than on e instrum ent. If y o u h ave a m o d e st M IDI se tu p there's no need to sp la sh out th o u sa n d s of p o u n d s on a p ro fessio n al stu d io m ix in g d esk . You can b u y a b ran d n ew m ixer w ith plen ty o f featu res for a h om e stu d io for a s little a s £199 - specifically, the S a m so n M ix Pad 9 from So u n d Technology. T his offers three m o n o an d three stereo line in p u ts (the m on o in p u ts can be sw itch ed
to m ic), w ith treble, b a s s an d p an controls for each channel. Two au x iliary lo o p s allo w y o u to connect effects u n its an d th ere's a lso balan ced in p u t an d o u tp u ts. G o o d q u ality entry-level m ixers are a lso a v a il ab le from Spirit (via S o u n d Technology) an d M ackie. G ive them a call for details.
E ffe c ts p ro c e s s o rs If y o u r m u sic is still so u n d in g rather su b d u e d and lifeless it's p ro b ab ly tim e to call in the h elp o f an effects processor. Effects p ro c esso rs take an in co m in g so u n d an d p a s s it th rou gh either a n alo g u e circuitry or d ig ital alg o rith m s to sim u late effects su ch a s echoes, reverb, distortio n an d so on. The affected so u n d is p a s s e d to the ou tpu t. Vocals are n early a lw a y s reco rd ed with reverb an d v a rio u s other effects, so m e tim es to g lo ss ov er im perfection s in the voice. An effects p ro c esso r is not ab so lu tely essential for p ro d u cin g p ro fe ssio n al q u ality m u sic, b u t it w ill certain ly help. The fact that you can a p p ly m an y co m m o n effects directly to A m ig a sa m p le s m ean s that you can fool the listen er into thinking you have a b ig g e r sy stem than yo u actu ally have. If y o u like to exp erim en t an d are on a tight b u d g e t it's w orth tak in g a look at g u ita r effects p ed als. T h ese w ill w o rk w ith an y line level sig n al, not ju st g u ita rs, an d can b e u se fu l fo r a d d in g a g ru n g y w arm th to so u n d s.
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R e c o rd in g R eco rd in g straigh t to casse tte tap e is fine for d em o s bu t y o u 'll need b etter q u ality for m ak in g m aster reco rd in gs. The DAT is n o w u se d by m an y MIDI m u sician s a s a m asterin g m e d iu m (rather than the tradition al m ulti-track reel-to-reel tape). D A T tap es (an d so m e recorders) are easily p ortable an d offer
C D q u ality recording. A ch eap er op tion is to u se D C C . T h is is a digital casse tte tap e b u t un like DAT, the so u n d q u ality is not q u ite u p to C D sta n d a rd d u e to the co m p ressio n sy stem u sed by the record in g an d p lay b ack h ard w are. M in iD isc is on a p ar w ith D C C w hen it co m es to reco rd in g quality. M in iD isc is like a tiny C D in a flo p p y d isk -sty le case. H ow ever, this is a m ore e x p e n siv e op tion than D CC. Fin ally there's h ard d isk recording, for which y o u co u ld u se y o u r A m ig a. T his is covered in ch ap ter tw o in the D igital M asterin g section.
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Glossary The following glossary of terms covers most references used in this book to music on the Amiga, on any other computer and those in general use in the music industry. Aux Short for auxiliary, meaning extra. Hi fis and am plifiers often have an auxiliary input w hich w ill be calibrated for a tine level audio signal. Aux is often used to label an input channel of a device that can be used for any line level signal.
Balanced (XLR) Balanced audio connections are used for microphones and other signals where unwanted noise is likely to distort the signal. Two copies of the same signal are sent through the connection, one the mirror image of the other. These are then compared and any noise that has appeared on either signal is thus cancelled out.
BPM Acronym: Beats Per M inute. BPM is used to specify the speed of the rhythm
Hi Quality Version Available on AMIGALAND.COM Breakbeat of a piece of music.
A sampled bar or tw o of live drumming, often used as an instant rhythm backing track for dance records. The backbone of all jungle records, normally cut up and processed to extremes in this case.
Channel M ixing desks have a channel for each audio input. More channels allow for mixing of more sounds. MIDI information also transm its data on its own 'channels' w hich are completely unconnected w ith m ixer channels.
DAT Acronym: Digital Audio Tape. DAT is in many areas the standard form for a master recording of a piece of music. DAT stores sound by sampling it and w riting the digital sample information onto m agnetic tape. The mechanics of a DAT recorder are based upon VHS video mechanisms w ith the addition of analogue to digital and digital to analogue converters. A DAT cassette is smaller than a box of matches and so ideal for mobile recording.
DCC Acronym: Digital Compact Cassette. Like DAT, DCC records sound onto magnetic tape as digital information. The resulting recordings are far superior to those on conventional analogue cassette tape but not as high fidelity as those attained by DAT. This is because DCC uses a technique to get more information on less tape by guessing which frequencies of the sound it can
leave out w ith o u t significantly reducing the perceived fidelity. DCC player machines can also play analogue cassette tapes but special DCC tapes are required for digital recordings.
dB Decibels. Audio equipment measures the volume of a sound (strength of the signal) in decibels, often abbreviated to 'dB'. Zero dB is equal to 1 volt.
Effects Processing The enhancement or alteration of a sound. The m ost common use is the addition of echoes and reverb w hich lends a feeling of greater 'space' to a sound. This can be carried out in realtime w ith an effects unit or applied to sample sounds from w ith in sample editing software.
EQ Short for equalisation. The term describes the relative levels of various fre quencies in a sound. To 'EQ' a sound is to alter the relative balance of its component frequencies (such as increasing the bass and decreasing the treble content for example).
Fader A slider control as found on mixing desks. Faders usually alter the relative volume of a specific track.
Fidelity Used to describe the level of reproduction of an original sound. A high fidelity (hi-fi) reproduction w ill sound alm ost or just as good as the original.
Hi Quality Version Available on AMIGALAND.COM A component of a mixer or synthesiser w hich removes specified frequencies Filter
of a sound as it passes through. Analogue resonant filters are the key factor in the creation of m ost 'acid' sounds.
General MIDI An extension to the MIDI standard w hich states that an instrum ent must have certain sounds stored in specific locations to allow a sequence record ed on one GM instrument to replay just the same on another GM instrument.
Hard Disk Recorder A system w hich records an audio signal (or a number of audio signals) onto a hard disk in the form of digital data. Computer-based hard disk recorders are most flexible but stand-alone hard disk recorder units are also available, some combined into m ixer-style cases.
Hz/KHz Hertz/Kilohertz. Literally, 'tim es per second'Ahousand tim es per second'. This is used to specify the record and replay rate of a sample. For example, a 48KHz sample consists of 48,000 'sample slices’ for every one second of its duration.
Jack Jack plugs are used to connect musical instruments, headphones and microphones to other audio equipment and come in tw o common sizes: 3.5mm and 6.5mm. Both are available in stereo and mono versions.
Line Audio signals are generally transm itted at one of tw o levels: line and mic. Line level signals are used by keyboards, guitars and most electric musical instruments.
M aster Recording The final recording of a piece of music from w hich duplicates are made on cassette, CO, vinyl or other media. It is vital that the quality of a master recording is as good as possible, especially to counter the unavoidable loss of fidelity if it is to be duplicated onto analogue media such as cassette tape or vinyl.
M ic Short for microphone. M ic signals use a low er level to transm it than line signals. See lin e '.
MIDI Acronym: Musical Instrument Digital Interface. This is the communication standard used by electronic musical instruments and computers in musical applications.
Mixer A device used to combine tw o or more sounds from different sources into a single signal, normally used to combine a number of instruments into one stereo signal.
Module
Hi Quality Version Available on AMIGALAND.COM 1. Amiga module: Amiga modules are the files created by tracker programs. 2. MIDI module: MIDI modules are instruments that respond to and transmit MIDI data but have no keyboard and must be played via a sequencer or a MIDI controller of some sort.
Mono A mono sound is just a single signal, as opposed to a stereo sound w ith is tw o (normally slightly different) signals. W hen used to to describe a synthesiser (monosynth for example) the mono prefix refers to the synthesiser's inability to play more than one note at a time, as opposed to a polyphonic synth w hich can play more than one note at a time, thus enabling the playing of chords.
Notation The traditional form of recording music on paper. Most sequencers have some form of notation display to complement the sequencer's native Piano Roll method of visualising music.
Noise Any unwanted frequencies w ith in a sound. The most common incarnations of noise are hiss and hum.
Nyquist Rate A rule of thum b that says if you w ant to sample a sound and capture the entire frequency range of that sound, the sample rate must be tw ice the highest frequency present in the original sound.
Pan The term used to describe the position of a sound w ith in a stereo field. For example, a sound that w as predominantly em itted from the left speaker would be panned to the left.
Parallel Port One of the Amiga's most useful interfaces is the parallel port, w hich offers relatively s w ift interchange of data between the Amiga and external devices. Because of this the parallel port is used by m ost Amiga samplers due to their demand for very fast rates of data transfer.
Paula The chip in the Amiga w hich deals w ith audio output among other tasks.
Phono/RCA Phono or RCA connections are com monly used to connect CD players and other hi-fi components to an amplifier. The Amiga's audio output is channelled through a pair of phono sockets.
Piano Roll The method used by sequencers to display pieces of music on screen. A piano roll display is a horizontally scrolling sequence of notes, in w hich the pitch of each note is represented by a bar, its pitch described by its vertical position on the roll and its duration described by the length of the bar. Some piano roll displays also show the velocity or volume of each note w ith an additional vertical bar for each note. Acronym: Pulse Coded Modulation Complex Interface Adaptor (or Persona! Hi Quality Version Available on AMIGALAND.COM
PCMCIA
Computer M em ory Card International Association depending on w ho you believe). The Amiga 1200 and 600 are both fitte d w ith a PCMCIA interface. This is found in the slot on the left hand edge of those Amigas and w ith the absence of Zarro slots, this offers the highest rate of data transfer for external peripherals. Due to this, PCMCIA is used by some samplers and video digitisers.
Quantisation In the context of a MIDI sequencer, in the sim plest form, quantisation allows you to correct mistimed notes from realtime recordings. Quantisation occurs when a sequencer records MIDI data by checking the incoming signal a great number of tim es every second. If this rate is too slow, quantisation w ill be apparent during playback, as the tim ing of each note w ill have been approximated to a noticeable degree.
Reverb See Effects Processing.
Ripper Sample rippers and module rippers are utilities w hich cart extract sound sam ples or m usic modules from memory. W hen the Amiga is reset, often sound data w ill still be present in RAM after re-booting.
Sampling Sampling is the process of converting an analogue sound wave into digital information. The position of the wave is 'sampled' thousands of times each second to build a digital picture of the wave. The resultant data is known as a sample and the software/hardware that records it is the sampler.
Sequencer Generally software used to record and replay m usic from MIDI instruments. Hardware sequencers do exist but are far more basic and harder to use than computer-based software sequencers.
Stereo Stereo sounds are made up of tw o separate sounds, one fed to the 'right' speaker or channel and the other fed to the 'left'.
Synthesiser A device tha t creates sound waves by one of number of means. Some use samples as their base and then alter the sound by passing it through modu lates and resonant filters, w hile others begin w ith the simplest of waves and enhance them to produce fa r more complex sounds.
Sync Short for synchronisation.
SysEx System Exclusive. A type of message sent and received via MIDI giving the user control over a variety of specific parameters. The speed of the rhythm. Tempo is generally specified in BPM (See BPM). Hi Quality Version Available on AMIGALAND.COM
Tempo Track
Used to describe the area occupied by a single part of a MIDI or audio recording, such as a bassline or drum pattern. Track is also used as a term to describe an entire piece of music, usually one devoid of vocal parts.
T racker A type o sequencer program primarily designed for making music w ith the Amiga’s internal sampfe-replay features. Trackers are geared towards the more technologically-minded musician.
Velocity The strength of a note. Velocity sensitive keyboards and drum pads are able to record the amount of pressure that is exerted as a key or pad is hit and can adjust the resulting sound accordingly. For example, pressing a piano key softly gives a different sound to a hard stab on the key and a velocity sensitive keyboard would reflect this. Synthesisers often link velocity to a specific parameter of the sound, such as the filter frequency, in w hich case a harder press of a key would normally open the filte r more.
V li M eter A component of a mixer or other device w hich displays the strength of a sig nal (volume of a sound). VU meters normally take the form of a speedometer style quarter-circular display w ith signal strength measured in dB.
W hite Noise A sound made up of random frequencies. W hite noise often sounds like w ind. Many old analogue synthesisers use w hite noise as a basis for synthesised drum sounds.
Zorro Amigas made as a tw o part system (keyboard and separate box of components) are equipped w ith Zorro slots fo r the addition of expansions. Zorro is a connection and communication standard w hich allows fast and direct interchange between the circuits on the expansion card and the Am iga’s RAM. There are three variants of the Zorro ’standard'. Zorro 2 is the m ost commonly used although this has been superseded by Zorro 3 which offers superior performance. If you have an A500/600 or A1200 various tow er system s are available that w ould give you Zorro slots: but at a cost.
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Akai UK Haslemere Heathrow Estate The Parkway Hounslow Middlesex TW 4 6NQ Tel: 0181 897 63880
Control Synthesis Chapel M ews Crewe Road Alsager Stoke on Trent Staffs ST7 2HA Tel: 0270 8837790
HiSoft The Old School Greenfield Bedfordshire MK45 5DE tel: 01525 718181 fax: 01525 713 7160
Hi Quality Version Available on AMIGALAND.COM IWaurizio Ciccione Via Neghelli 9 Alassio (SV) 17021 Italy fidonet: 2:332:206.70
New Dimensions Gordon W heatman.Brooklands House Bryngwyn Raglan Gwent NP5 2AA Tel: 01291 690 9330
Power Computing 44 A/B Stanley Street Bedford MK41 7RW Tel: 01234 273000 Fax: 01234 352207
RBF Software 169 Dale Valley Road Hollybrook Southampton SOI 6OX Tel/Fax: 0703 785680 email: rbfsoft@ cix.com pulink.co.uk
Roland UK Roland UK Rye Close, Ancells Business Park Fleet Hampshire GU13 8UY Tel: 01792 702701 fax: 01792 3102480
Synthology 114-116 Charing Cross Road London WC2H 0DT Tel: 0171 722 14200
Tascam/Teac UK 5 Marlin House The Croxley Centre W atford WD1 8YA Tel: 0923 819630 Fax: 0923 2362900
Hi Quality Version Available on AMIGALAND.COM Tim e+Space Ed Stratton P0 Box 306 Berkhamstead Herts HP4 3EP Tel: 01442 870681 Fax: 01442 877266
W hite Knight Technology P0 Box 38 Ware Herts SG11 1TX
Yamaha Kemble Music Sherboume Drive Tilbrook M ilton Keynes MK7 8BLY Tel: 01908 366700 Fax: 01908 368 8720
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