arpeggiators and DAWs

Ever need to export an MIDI arpeggiator’s output?  Each piece of software does this in their own special way.  In Reason, right-click the RPG-8 device in order to print “Arpeggiator Notes to Track” which is very clear, fast and simple.  In Abelton Live, route the output of the arpeggiated MIDI track into a new MIDI track via a virtual MIDI bus, thus recording the processed MIDI information into the timeline.  In Logic this is also possible, but it requires routing the MIDI outs to the sequencer input in the Environment window and requires recording the information in real-time (see video below).  If you have many minutes or hours of arpeggiation to print, try a quick work-around and temporarily increase the session’s tempo to something extreme such as 1000bpm to speed up the internal MIDI recording.

Below is a quick video demonstrating Logic’s routing in Environment.  Sadly, I wish Pro Tools had a MIDI plugin for arpeggiation.

Hat Tip to Jeremy Viner for the Logic demo.

Also be sure to check out Hypercyclic, a AU, VST and standalone LFO MIDI arpeggiator with some additional functionality not commonly found within DAWs.

modern solfeggio tonality

Inspiration:
“If you only knew the magnificence of the 3, 6 and 9, then you would have the key to the universe.”
– Nikola Tesla

Description:
The numbers 3, 6 and 9 have ancient, numerological application.  For example, 3 can symbolize two opposing extremes with a point of balance in between, and the numbers 6 & 9 govern the I-Ching’s Yin-Yang dynamism, but this is only scratching the surface.  If you wish to take the plunge, consider immersing yourself with the Lo Shu tones.

One way of incorporating this idea will be the use of specific frequencies that have a ‘digit sum’ of 3, 6 or 9, just like those in Gregorian ‘solfeggio’ tones:

UT – 396 Hz
RE – 417 Hz
MI – 528 Hz
FA – 639 Hz
SOL – 741 Hz
LA – 852 Hz

Example:
Consider the syllable “FA” which cycles at 639 Hz:  6 + 3 + 9 = 18, and  1 + 8 = 9.
Thus the ‘digit sum’ of 639 is 9.

Here is a scale created with the following set of 81 lo-shu tones as shown in Hz:

111,123,135,147,159,162,174,186,198
219,222,234,246,258,261,273,285,297
318,321,333,345,357,369,372,384,396
417,429,432,444,456,468,471,483,495
516,528,531,543,555,567,579,582,594
615,627,639,642,654,666,678,681,693
714,726,738,741,753,765,777,789,792
813,825,837,849,852,864,876,888,891
912,924,936,948,951,963,975,987,999

The following audio clip represents my first attempt at composing using only pitches from this scale:

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Much of melodic expressionism lies in the ‘notes between the notes’ so-to-speak, and this scale is one specific way of exploring such a practice.  Weighing in at a little over three octaves, its intervals resonate with unique harmonic characteristics unheard in 12-tone equal temperament.  These 81 tones are a ‘geometrically-coherent, crystalline structure’ ripe for harvest.  There is much to explore in composition.

The technical how-to:

This scale was fabricated digitally with the help of the software CSE (Custom Scale Editor) which can be used separately or in conjunction with Scala.  If you’re looking to get involved with MIDI microtunings, I recommend to skip the elaborate process of installing Scala and simply use CSE to save time and potential frustration.  CSE is all you need to create and/or perform custom tonalities.  Its author, Aaron Hunt at H-Pi Instruments was hugely helpful in getting this little experiment off the ground.

nancarrow improvisation II

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After a long hiatus, I’ve delved into more of Conlon Nancarrow‘s work for player piano.  Inspired by an excerpt from Study No. 33, I’ve programmed a drum set improvisation to its rhythm.  Consider this track a long awaited sequel to this one which prompted Nancarrow expert Kyle Gann to post about it here.  The drum sounds are from my personal collection and seem to compliment the rawness of Nancarrow’s piano quite nicely.

For years, evidently, he [Conlon Nancarrow] lived on practically nothing but coffee… It’s silly, I know, but sometimes when his music takes on a particular nervousness or intensity, I can’t help thinking of Conlon diligently roasting, grinding and drinking his coffee. Perhaps Nancarrow’s stomach is as “rugged” as his music! Now, despite being on doctor’s orders, he remains unrepentant: “I have no regrets. Do it while you’re young, and can!”
-Peter Garland, 1979

Read more about this work at the Greenleaf Music Blog.

compositional modeling in Excel

I recently came across a fascinating website: ExcelUnusal.com.  Its author, George Lungu writes a blog packed with incredibly useful engineering models  and tutorials using Microsoft Excel. Of particular interest are the models of a 3-body planetary system, a three-pendulum harmonograph, and a Lissajous emulator.  Spreadsheet flexibility has opened me up to a whole new realm of discovery.

I contacted George after calculating seemingly endless cents values for a scale I was designing in Scala (see my earlier post on “microtuning MIDI“).  I needed a simple way of converting frequency ratios into cents: 
c = 1200 × log₂ (f₂ /f₁)
With ease, George replied with a .xls spreadsheet with the proper formula translated into Excel’s language.

Overwhelming fantasies of Excel-derived compositional processes flooded my mind.  Apparently, it isn’t that difficult to have Excel to generate sine waves!  Then I started to think about how it could generate MIDI messages…  What if Excel could be transformed into some sort of make-shift sequencer??  In practice, I now think of Excel as an alternative number-cruncher to the Max half of Max/MSP.  (Max objects deal with calculation messages, and MSP objects deal with signal processing to complete the Max/MSP environment).  Surprisingly, I haven’t heard of any composer types employing Excel in their workflow.  Perhaps they remain silent.  Perhaps more will spawn.

Quotes from ExcelUnusal.com:

“If you follow [ExcelUnusual.com] and begin to model your own ideas with your own methods you could build some real understanding of engineering.  School won’t teach you too much of that. School is good for acquiring discipline and a background.  Only you can teach yourself deep knowledge by personal experience.  Chris Langan, a very smart man once said ‘Academia is a breeding house for parrots.’ Of course it’s an exaggeration but I hope you got my point – learn by having fun.”

“The most important aspect: no matter what you want to do, start  by thinking before reading from someone else or asking someone else (no matter who). One month of continuous pondering can get you farther than a year of school and a year of reading. Trust me on this one, you are far smarter than you think (if you dare to use your mind). Be slow, speed is a big spoiler. The whole traditional education system is built on speed and superficiality. Don’t listen to your “external teachers”.  They think they know you but they don’t.  Give instead, your “inner teacher” the respect he deserves. Again, trust me on this one, you won’t be disappointed.”

useful MIDI resources

MIDI hasn’t changed much since it came to existence in 1983, and because of this many programmers have created a plethora of software utilities that aid further flexibility.  Here’s a few resources that I’ve used on several occasions. Many are big time savers when working with MIDI controllers, instruments and sequencers.

MIDI Stroke
Midi Stroke allows you to program a combination of key strokes to a MIDI note or Continuous Controller.  Very useful for live performance settings where you don’t want to touch your computer at all (it always makes an audience think you’re checking your email).  Charlie Roberts has developed many other tools, equally useful across a variety of multimedia environments.

MIDI Pipe
MIDI Pipe offers many gourmet MIDI signal hijacking capabilities and creative routing and re-routing options.  However, the “Modifier” menu is the one I have the most fun with.  It also has a few common tuning schemes such as Just Major and Pythagorean temperament systems.

MIDI Note Charts
A basic, but incredibly useful resource for such things as keyboard mapping, yet it goes much further to show the frequency in Hz (for 12 tone equal temperament) and provide the formulas from which to derive the listed results.

MIDI Monitor
This is my go-to MIDI troubleshooting tool.  It displays what’s actually spitting out of a MIDI signal.

IAC Driver
This a virtual router device found in Windows and Mac OS.  It allows you to route devices within the operating system itself.

M-AUDIO’s Enigma
This helps when you’re completely re-designing the layout of common M-AUDIO MIDI controllers.  It’s somewhat primitive, but it gets the job done when it’s needed.  It also easily resets devices when something gets out of whack.