Crossover Music Question

[Portmnn]

Surfwhammy, Thank you for great material, was really surprised to find that accidently! Reading it for two hours already with notepad and pen

[Surfwhammy]

Surfwhammy, Thank you for great material, was really surprised to find that accidently! Reading it for two hours already with notepad and pen

Glad to help!

Until mid-2010, I did everything with real instruments in "play by ear" mode, although I learned music notation as a child when I sang in a liturgical boys choir and everything was fine so long as I focused on drums, electric bass, rhythm guitar, lead guitar, and keyboard synthesizer, but in early-2010 I decided to do a Flamenco song in the Buleria style and realized that the drumming requirements were a bit too demanding for my skills, and I remembered that IK Multimedia (a personal favorite) had an orchestral product (Miroslav Philharmonik), so I purchased a copy and tried to make sense of it, and then a few weeks later IK Multimedia sent me an email about a product called "Notion SLE for Miroslav Philharmonik", which looked interesting, since by that time I had connected the dots sufficiently to realize that it was possible to use music notation to "play" the various Miroslav Philharmonik virtual instruments, where "virtual instruments" also was a new concept here in the sound isolation studio, so I got Notion SLE for Miroslav Philharmonik and then a few weeks later I upgraded to NOTION 3, so that I could use any VSTi virtual instrument, which soon led to getting all the IK Multimedia VSTi virtual instruments and so forth and so on . . .

The next step involved making sense of ReWire, which is the best way to get the NOTION generated audio recorded as soundbites in Digital Performer (MOTU), and then I started making sense of producing and mixing, which has been my primary focus for the past two or so years and typically is something that musicians and singers skip, because they quite mistakenly presume that since they play an instrument or sing proficiently, they should be able to do everything else just as proficiently without actually doing any studying or whatever, when the reality is that mixing and producing, as well as arranging and mastering, are complex activities that require considerable studying and practicing just like playing an instrument and singing . . .

I knew how to do producing and mixing in the analog magnetic tape universe, but those skills were not transferring to the digital universe, which was a huge problem, and this has been another focus over the past two or so years, but over the last year I solved the problem, which basically is that in great contrast to the way things were until the early-1980s, there are no new commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) full-range studio monitor systems available anywhere on this planet, where "full-range" specifically refers (a) to the full range of normal human hearing (20-Hz to 20,000-Hz) and (b) to having a calibrated and verified flat equal loudness curve at 85 dB SPL, which is the only way one can hear what is recorded accurately . . .

The Fabulous Affordable Studio Monitor System Project (IK Multimedia FORUM)

If you cannot hear what is recorded accurately, then you cannot produce, mix, and master it accurately, where to be as precise as possible headphones will not work, and the primary reason is that what each ear hears is independent and isolated, which is not what happens when you listen to music played through amplified loudspeaker units, and another requirement is based on fundamental principles of acoustic physics, one of which is that reproducing deep bass and subsonic bass requires "big and heavy" components (essentially a corollary of "Force equals Mass times Acceleration"), since among other things a pure sine wave at 40.2-Hz (the fundamental frequency of the low-pitch "E" string of an electric bass at standard tuning where "Concert A" is defined to be 440-Hz) has a wavelength of approximately 27.4 feet, which among other things is the reason that you hear deep bass played on a high-volume car audio system several blocks before the car actually drives by your dwelling, since longer sound waves travel easily through just about everything, as contrasted to midrange and high-frequency sound waves which are absorbed or blocked by the leaves on shrubbery, with the consequence that accurately reproducing deep bass and subsonic bass requires moving a lot of air, which in turn requires a lot of power and "big and heavy" loudspeakers (a.k.a., "woofers") in typically large cabinets, which for all practical purposes maps to bookshelf studio monitors being a bit of cruel trick devised and marketed by sneaky weasels, even when you augment them with matching subwoofers (which more than doubles the price of such systems due to the unavoidable realities of the "big and heavy" rule) . . .

Around the same time, I started experimenting with Reason (Propellerhead Software), and although it took a while, over the past few months I discovered how to control and to play Reason 6.5 synthesizers with music notation in NOTION 4, which is done via creating a "virtual MIDI cable" and using it in conjunction with NOTION 4 External MIDI staves and ReWire 2 (Propellerhead Software), which when combined with everything else, including working with real instruments and singing, maps to a complete system for doing everything, where (a) NOTION 4 is the foundation; (b) MIDI and ReWire 2 are the interapplication communication protocols, and (c) "everything" is defined as follows:

(1) recording real instruments in a Digital Audio Workstation (DAW) application like Digital Performer 8 (MOTU) . . .

(2) recording real vocals in a Digital Audio Workstation (DAW) application like Digital Performer 8 . . .

(3) recording real MIDI instruments like keyboard synthesizers and a KORG Triton Music Workstation (88-keys) in a Digital Audio Workstation (DAW) application like Digital Performer 8 . . .

(4) recording real MIDI instruments like keyboard synthesizers in NOTION 4 and then having the MIDI notes converted to music notation automatically . . .

(5) using an advanced music notation editor (NOTION 4) to write the music for virtual instruments, where "virtual instruments" are (a) the NOTION 4 bundled and expansion instruments, (b) the cornucopia of third-party VSTi virtual instruments like Kontakt 5 (Native Instruments), Addictive Drums and Addictive Keys (XLN Audio), MachFive 3 (MOTU), and so forth, where in particular there are highly specialized add-on sampled sound libraries for Kontakt 5, with the various specialty sampled sound libraries from Bolder Sounds being a stellar example if you enjoy crystal glasses, hand bells, and various ethnic stringed and woodwind instruments, and (c) Reason 6.5 (Propellerhead Software), which NOTION 4 can control via the combination of ReWire 2 and External MIDI staves . . .

(6) having the ability to do all the advanced editing functions that a Digital Audio Workstation (DAW) like Digital Performer 8 provides, which for reference are extensive and include automation, where "automation" refers to being able to record various mixing board actions and then later to have the recorded actions "played", so that for example, you can record the way you move a knob or track slider during a song, and once this is recorded, it can be "played", which results in moving the knob or track slider automatically . . .

(7) having the ability to import recorded audio files and to quantize them with respect to tempo and so forth, such that they can be combined with NOTION 4 generated audio and recorded real instruments and vocals, where this typically is done in the DAW application but can be enhanced and refined with an advanced audio editor like the Melodyne Editor (Celemony) . . .

(8) having the ability via a virtual festival of effects plug-ins and digital signal processors to enhance recorded audio, where examples are units like Classik Studio Reverb (IK Multimedia) for reverb; Timeless 2 (FabFilter Software Instruments) for echoes; the various individual effects plug-ins included in T-RackS CS Grand (IK Multimedia); AmpliTube 3 (IK Multimedia) for emulating various amplifier, loudspeaker cabinets, and effects; and Pro-C (FabFilter Software Instruments) for ducking, where "ducking" refers to lowering the volume level of select instruments based on the volume level of a vocal track and is a way to create more space for the vocal track in the mix . . .

(9) having the ability to do final mastering with an application like T-RackS CS Grand (IK Multimedia), augmented with a CD or DVD mastering application to add ISRC codes and other metadata . . .

(10) having the ability to do all the various digital music production activities in a way which for the virtual instruments can be recreated in a logical stepwise fashion, which includes being able to modify the structure or pattern of songs by adding new verses, choruses, bridges, interludes, and so forth without needing to recreate the already created virtual instruments and already recorded real instruments and singing for the existing sections of the song, where the key to doing this is to define NOTION 4 as the foundation for the song, such that everything is synchronized and tuned to the original NOTION 4 basic rhythm section, which in the most simple form comprises (a) a series of reference tuning pitches played on the NOTION 4 Piano and (b) a beat played on the NOTION 4 Kick Drum, which serves as a "click track" . . .

It takes a while to make sense of all this stuff, but it works, and for reference I do it on a Mac Pro (early-2008) augmented with a MOTU 828mk3 Hybrid digital audio and MIDI interface, which is fabulous . . .

Fabulous!

[Surfwhammy]

And if you become bored silly by Surreal Easy Listening Grunge featuring Pretend Kenny G and Pretend Nirvana, you can switch to some flavor of Electronic (House, Dubstep, Trance, and so forth) or perhaps Dance, which is fabulous . . .

[NOTE: The drumkit and bass were done with Reason 6.5 (Propellerhead Software), but the deep bass was done with NOTION 4 (64-bit) using Cyclop (Sugar Bytes), which is the "go to" bass VSTi virtual instrument here in the sound isolation for what I like to call "early warning" deep bass, where the "early warning" aspect refers to the fact that you hear the car filled with mutants listening to deep bass played through a billion-watt in-car bass rig several blocks before they drive-by your house or dwelling, which tends to provide enough of an "early warning" for you to put on your armor or to dive into the underground bunker. The psychedelic dolphin noises and sirens also were done with music notation in NOTION 4 using a combination of MachFive 3 (MOTU) and Kontakt 5 (Native Instruments) VSTi virtual instruments and X-Treme FX (UVI/UltimateSoundBank), all of which was inspired by a combination of huge quantities of very strong coffee and the web sensation "Harlem Shake" (Baauer), which is just too silly for words, but so what, and the interesting aspect of this particular endeavor is that I started in Reason 6.5 but then switched to NOTION 4 to add the stuff that is vastly easier to do with music notation, which for me is the case because Reason 6.5 tends to be designed for keyboard players rather than bass and guitar players, hence being a bass and guitar player I have to do everything with Matrix and Buffre to play notes (see the KONG drumkit note matrix below, which is enhanced with Buffre, which makes it possible to repeat parts of the pattern in reverse and backward [not shown]), which makes it like programming a music box or an old time piano roll (literally),which is stellar for some types of instrumentation but not so great for other stuff . . . ]

Cyclop (Sugar Bytes)

"Harlem Shake" (Baauer) -- YouTube music video


Reason 6.5 Matrix Pattern for KONG Drumkit Machine (Vertical Bars are volume levels; Horizontal Bars are drumkit notes)

"Whammy Twist" (DJ Surfwhammy ft. Subsonic Weggee-Z) -- Basic Groove -- MP3 (7MB, 293-kbps [VBR], approximately 3 minutes and 8 seconds)

Fabulous!

P. S. From a technical perspective, the key bit of information in this experiment is that you can start with a Reason 6.5 project; create some instruments; program them to play musical phrases using the "music box" metaphor; record the Reason 6.5 generated audio in a DAW application like Digital Performer 8.01, where you can use a virtual festival of AU or VST effects plug-ins to enhance the Reason 6.5 generated audio; and then you can start NOTION 4 (64-bits) and use it to compose additional native and VSTi virtual instruments via music notation, as well as using NOTION 4 External MIDI staves to control and to play Reason 6.5 instruments via music notation you compose on the NOTION 4 External MIDI staves; and it all is kept synchronized via ReWire 2 and the fact that Reason 6.5, NOTION 4, and Digital Performer 8.01 have the ability to use "measure, beat, and tick" timelines, which is part of the underlying MIDI foundation of Reason 6.5, NOTION 4, and Digital Performer 8.01 . . .

Previous to this experiment, I always started a new song with (a) a NOTION reference tuning track (typically the native Piano [a.k.a., the NOTION bundled Piano, with "native" used in this context to refer to the NOTION bundled and expansion instruments[), where I explicitly set the NOTION reference tuning pitch to 440-Hz (standard "Concert A"), and (b) a "click" track (typically a native Bass Drum playing a long series of quarter notes at the desired tempo, perhaps for 10 minutes or so)--which works nicely--but in this new song I started with Reason 6.5 and then switched to doing music notation in NOTION 4 for the instruments that require more finesse and control, which for me is easiest to do either (a) via music notation or (b) with an electric bass or electric guitar, since other than the vastly surreal ability to play sua sponte idiot savant concert grand piano, I am not such a stellar keyboardist and have the additional odd characteristic of being able to write music notation for piano but not to read it for purposes actually of playing piano from sheet music, where for me the only one-to-one mapping regarding music notation is singing, since I can sight-sing just about anything, so long as it is written on soprano treble clef from approximately five lines below and five lines above, more or less, although it usually is baritone or tenor, unless I switch to falsetto, really . . .

Really!

Explained another way, Reason 6.5, NOTION 4, and Digital Performer 8.01 running in 64-bit mode and using ReWire 2 synchronize and interact very nicely on the Mac to the point that you can start a new project in NOTION 4 when it is running as the ReWire 2 slave to Digital Performer 8.01 and then create NOTION 4 instrument staves; write music notation; make changes; and so forth and so on, all the while listening to what you already did in Reason 6.5 (which is recorded as soundbites in Digital Performer 8.01 via ReWire 2); and you can pop over to Reason 6.5 and create new instruments there and work with them for a while, followed by recording them in Digital Performer 8.01, all in the same session, which includes being able to create External MIDI staves in NOTION 4 to use to control and to play Reason 6.5 instruments, which overall maps to having a virtual festival of ways to create, modify, and record instruments using essentially the full range of available digital music production technologies and so forth and so on, which is as mind-bogglingly amazing as it is fabulous . . .

Fabulous!

[Surfwhammy]

After listening to "Whammy Twist" for a while, I decided to add some musical textures to the song, where the general strategy is to add the musical textures in places where nothing is happening but something needs to happen, and the only practical way to determine these places is to listen to the song for a while with a focus on gauging what one might call the "momentum" of the song, where you generally want to keep the "momentum" constant most of the time . . .

The rapid arpeggio style textures were created in Reason 6.5 with a synthesizer (SubTractor), AutoArp Rack Extension, and Matrix to play it, where the AutoArp makes it possible to specify elaborate sequences of notes based on selecting one of a virtual festival of scales ranging from Major to Hungarian Minor and Locrian, and so forth and so on . . .

[NOTE: There are a lot of scales and some of them are called "modes", but basically they are scales that have different intervals between the notes, and depending on the scale you select, there is a mood or feeling to the textures created from the scale, which makes scales a bit like a color scheme. And while most standard types of scales have seven notes (diatonic) and one more note for the octave, some have fewer notes and others have more notes . . . ]

The slower textures where done in NOTION 4 with the MachFive 3 synthesizer, where for example the Indian or perhaps Tibetan sustained textures are done this way, which is fabulous . . .

[NOTE: As an odd thought, this might be similar to the way "Tomorrow Never Knows" (Beatles) was composed in layers by doing what at the time must have been strange musical bits, where the strange bits probably came from Lennon and George Martin having a bit of FUN with textures, although wikipedia indicates that McCartney, Harrison, and Starr also contributed looped textures and all four Beatles operated tape machines to play the various loops. It is easier to do this in the digital music production universe, but it takes time no matter how it is done . . . ]

"Whammy Twist" (DJ Surfwhammy & Subsonic Weggee-Z) -- Basic Rhythm Section with Textures -- MP3 (7MB, 283-kbps [VBR], approximately 3 minutes and 8 seconds)

Fabulous!

[Surfwhammy]

Yet another strategy for composing involves selecting quarter notes for input with the mouse and then rapidly putting notes on a staff using a combination of intuition and geometry, which works nicely in 4/4 time and the key of C Major or A Minor, since on piano this maps to all the white keys being correct, and as a bonus you can do all seven (7) modes this way (Ionian, Dorian, Phrygian, Lydian, Mixolydian, and Locrian), which for music notation maps to all the notes being correct without needing to add sharps or flats, at least initially, although I suppose that this also works if you specify a key that has sharps and flats, because in that case you do not need to input the notes and add sharps or flats to them, but so what . . .

So what!

Songs should always be in C Major or A Minor, because all the white keys on a piano are big, which reserves the little black keys for occasional use, as well as being easier to play, since the white keys are linear and evenly spaced . . .

This strategy is strongly based on the idea that it is virtually impossible for a human to do something which is truly random, and the perspective here in the sound isolation studio is that the unconscious mind knows a lot more than the conscious mind, hence while you might think that you are entering essentially random notes, you actually are doing elaborate computations in your mind as you decide where to place notes . . .

I do this for a set of measures for one instrument (typically a piano) and then clone the notes to a few other instruments, where I might raise or lower the octave using the NOTION 4 transformation functionality, which also can be a smaller interval change, with an example being to clone a section of notes by pasting a copy of the notes to a different staff and then changing the notes on the newly cloned staff by specifying a smaller interval, which can be chromatic or diatonic; up or down; as well as in the same octave, which is the way I created the harmony during the slow parts for "Alien Mist" . . .

[NOTE: This is third iteration, and it is starting to sound good as a basic theme, but it needs counterpoint, bass, percussion, and so forth, as well as some rhythm and tempo variations, where the latter are excellent techniques for transforming a simple set of quarter notes into a song, symphony, or whatever based on Joseph Schillinger's System of Musical Composition (SoMC), where the key is to listen to the music over and over toward the goal of identifying what sounds good and what needs a bit of adjusting, which is an iterative process here in the sound isolation studio . . . ]


Chromatic Minor Third, Same Octave, Up Transformation for the Harmony Part

"Alien Mist v3" (The Surf Whammys) -- PDF (106KB, 5 pages)

"Alien Mist v3" (The Surf Whammys) -- MP3 (2.5MB, 271-kbps [VBR], approximately 1 minute and 11 seconds)

Once I have the initial notes, I listen to it for while and adjust notes that do not sound so good, which is a "play by ear" activity, and after a while it starts sounding good, which is one of the more curiously fascinating aspects of being able to "play by ear" when used in conjunction with apparently random "stream of consciousness" note inputting, since what happens is that it all makes sense and fits together in the same way that writing prose works when you are highly literate and write something every day for decades, which after a while becomes easy in terms of starting on one topic; wandering into other topics; but eventually returning to the original topic in a way that connects everything and brings it to a logical conclusion, which is all the more fascinating because you have no conscious idea how it will develop until it is done, where just about anything makes sense when you give it a big ending, at least if one is a Lilliputian "Big Endian" exile in Blefuscu, which is fabulous . . .

Fabulous!

P. S. This is the same strategy I use for baking cakes, really . . .


Surfwhammy's Chocolate Peppermint Cake with Italian Meringue Frosting

Really!