Wednesday, September 27, 2006

Sycamore Liveset: Thanksgiving to Furky Jam

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Here is a 70 minute liveset from Sycamore from way back in the day 2005. The set is a collection of breakbeats and downtempo featuring such oldskool (intential urban "k" insert) machines as the Korg EMX-1 and the Yamaha DX200.

The file was not properly uploaded to archive.org so I had to dig the file extensions out for you. I hope you thank me, but at least the artist uploaded a .ogg file as well as a traditional mp3.


.:Direct Mp3 Link:.
.:Direct .ogg Link:.
.:Archive.org page

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Tuesday, September 26, 2006

Moo.com: Simple Solution to Creative Business Cards

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Business cards are a great promotional tool for any artist. You can quickly hand them out to contacts and people to setup shows, promote yourself, or just get the word out. The standard business card however is rather boring. Moo.com has partnered up with Flickr to create photo printed business cards from your flickr library. You can be creative as your photos are and have a variety of business cards to pass out for yourself.

The cards look to be slightly smaller then the traditional business card, but come in a high glossed finished on one side and text of your choice on the other. Priced at $20.00 for 100 cards they are slightly more pricey then traditional business cards, but as they say an image is worth a thousand words. I know I am going to try to get some of these printed up as soon as possible.

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Chuck : Strongly-timed, Concurrent, And On-the-fly Audio Programming Language

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For those of you looking for an alternative to just having to use Live, check out a programming language.

.:Chuck Website:.

ChucK is a new audio programming language for real-time synthesis, composition, and performance - fully supported on MacOS X, Windows, and Linux. ChucK presents a new time-based concurrent programming model, which supports a highly precise and fundamental level of expressiveness (we call this strongly-timed), as well as multiple, simultaneous, dynamic control rates, precise and straightforward concurrency, and the ability to add, remove, and modify code on-the-fly - while the program is running. In addition, ChucK supports MIDI, OSC, HID input devices, and multi-channel audio. It's fun and easy to learn, and offers composers, researchers, and performers a powerful and flexible programming tool for building and experimenting with complex audio synthesis programs and real-time interactive control. Happy ChucKing!


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Monday, September 25, 2006

DIY Quick and Simple Gear Protection: Luggage and Foam

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If you are the type of artist who simply throws their gear into the back of their car to do local shows in your area, there is probably no need to go out and purchase expensive ATA flight cases.

It is amazing actually how many artists I see transporting their gear using the box and styrofoam that it came in. Instead of going through all of the trouble and expense of an ATA flight case, think instead of investing in some low cost luggage and foam mattress pads paired with some luggage from your local Target or Walmart.



One of these pads will run you approximately $12 for a "Full" size bed and should be enough to cover all of the insides of your luggage and your gear.

For the luggage you can purchase something as simple as this .:5-piece luggage set:. for about $30 from Target, or go with the retro look and pick something up from your local Salvation Army.



This simple but effective gear casing solution should be able to get you through just about any travel need except an actual check in onto a flight. Once packed up your gear will be very secure and approximately 3-4" of foam padding will be around your gear protecting it from just about any impact it might come across.

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Saturday, September 23, 2006

Nofi: IDM Downtempo Liveset

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Here is an intresting liveset from artist Nofi. No info on where or with what this set was performed with, but it was performed on 02/11/06. If you like some glitchy sort of Coldcut style electronica then here ya go.

.:Nofi Live 01/11/06:.

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Midi Tutorial Part 3: Setting up a hardware synth with a software sequencer (hardware sequencer)

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Note: The following article is a general outline to introduce readers to the general concepts and methods behind setting up midi. The specific details of how to setup a midi keyboard with your computer will vary depending upon the hardware and software that you use.

Setting up a hardware synth with a software sequencer (hardware sequencer)
1. You will need to setup a midi/usb interface the same was as you did for the keyboard. Refer to the keyboard setup .:Here:. if you don’t know how to do that.

2. Next, depending on the synth that your using you will need to setup the midi configuration for your synth. If your synth is a sound module then there is nothing you need to do. Your hardware synth by default will be set to receive midi data on channel 1. Usually it is best to leave your hardware synth to midi channel 1 and then change the midi channels for your soft synths in your soft sequencer.

3. Module setup: this is fairly straightforward. You need to setup up your synth to receive midi data from your computer and software sequencer. You want to connect a midi out from your usb interface and run a line going to midi in on your hardware synth. Next go into your software sequencer go back to the midi setup screen we talked about earlier. Then for the midi out configuration set the midi out to go to the midi out port that your synth is hooked up to. Now go to the section of your sequencer where you load your vsti synths. In this same section you should see some sort of module or option for midi out. Load this module and set its midi channel to correspond to the same channel that your synth is on. If you have a midi keyboard set it to the same channel as well. Now when you play your keyboard, or write notes into pattern editor/piano roll for the midi out module your hardware synth will play notes. The same thing can be done on a synth with a keyboard as well, but you will be unable to record midi from your synth’s keyboard yet. (NOTE: audio data is not transferred through the midi cable. Remember data travels only in 1 direction through a midi cable, and midi only sends not on off data in order to hear the sounds playing u need to run the audio from your synth to either speakers, a mixer, or into your computer through its audio in)


4. Keyboard synth setup: Do all of the same you did for your sound module setup, except this time we need to setup a midi in setup so you can record midi notes you play on your synth keyboard into your soft sequencer. This process is very similar to setting up a midi keyboard. You need to run a midi cable running from the midi out of your keyboard synth to the midi in on your midi interface. Now you need to go to the midi setup screen in your sequencer again. Now here in lies the problem. Most software sequencers are setup to accept only 1 set of midi in data. That means you can only have 1 keyboard to send midi in data and record midi in data for your computer. This means if you have multiple keyboards you must choose which one you want to use as a midi controller. Some sequencers do allow for an auxiliary midi input device. This was usually designed to allow for control interfaces or midi knob/slider boxes. These are usually not global devices and must be loaded (loaded like any other synth or module in your sequencer) and then routed to control a particular synth. You will need to read the particular info your sequencer on how each sequencer handles (if at all) auxiliary midi devices.

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Monday, September 18, 2006

Music thing: MPC-500 First Shots - Looks real to me!

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.:Music thing: MPC-500 First Shots - Looks real to me!:.

Are these the fist shots and the new MPC 500? The photographs look pretty real so far and if it is this might be a nice addition to the MPC line. The MPC 1000 and MPC 2500 are very popular live performance sequencers that can be the core of any performance. The MPC 500 if priced right just might make for a great supplemental groove box that could give the Roland SP-404 or Korg ESX-1 a run for its money, or if they keep the sequencing on par, it could make a great compact sequencer.

We will have to wait and see on the final specs and price to find out.

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Saturday, September 16, 2006

EMU Command Station Frequently Asked Questions

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.:EMU Command Station FAQ

The EMU Command Stations are one of the most popular hardware sequencers that is used these days for livePA. Unfortunately EMU has discontinued support for the product and the manual is a pretty tough read coming in at somewhere just over 260 pages.

The link above is a collection of Frequently Asked Questions that can act as a nice quick resource for an artist (livePA or not) who is having some problems wrapping their head around the EMU Command Stations

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Thursday, September 14, 2006

Starting Out on the Right Foot

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OK so this may come as a shock to some of you, but I do know a thing or two about going from a hobbyist to attempting to be a professional Live-PA. Let's emphasize "attempting to be" for the time being and jump right into my second topic here: The progression to a viable Live-PA project. This will probably be similar for most bands out there or other musicians as well, but this is a Live-PA blog so fuck them.

Before you're out there gigging and playing parties and whatnot, there's a ton of cool stuff you want to do. The first is usually think up a cool name to call yourself on stage. Do a thorough search online for the name you want - make sure you use multiple search engines too just in case one misses it. MySpace, Google, Altavista, MSN, Yahoo, and AskJeeves are all good starting points. Have fun with it and try to make it as relevant or irrelevant as you want it. If you want to show that you're a no-bullshit anti-commercialist (or you make snobby IDM noise), just use your real name. However you might have a problem like David Bowie did (his real name is David Jones, and there was already a pretty popular Davy Jones in the Monkees when he was starting out). So if your real name really is David Hasselhoff, you don't have to put a bullet in your brain right away (though you may be tempted), just perform as David H or how about something cool like DAZZLEHOFF.

Just to make sure you get maximum exposure, go to any web hosting company and register your name with a .COM before somebody else does! .COM is the most easily recognizable way to find whatever whacky stuff you're looking for. If I wanted to find Daft Punk, I would probably type http://www.daftpunk.com into the address bar - sure, they're French and all, but I didn't think to put daftpunk.fr and for Front 242 I wouldn't put front242.be I'd put http://www.front242.com (unless you're Canadian, they love those .CA websites up North). Build your site later, but register the .COM and the MySpace pages first if you can. When I registered http://www.digitalgeist.com I did it through http://www.1and1.com , but that's just my personal preference.

Next is the legal part which isn't as tricky as it is a pain in the ass. I don't know anything about laws outside the USA, so skip this part if you're from out of town. What I do know is that in order to TRADEMARK your group and legally own the name, you have to make yourself a business first. This involves all sorts of things. First, you have to fill out a legal form (in triplicate - 3 times) that states you're conducting business under an assumed name (your stage name). Then, you file it with your county clerk's office who notorizes it and they keep a copy for themselves. You take the second copy to your bank and open a business account under the assumed name (the third copy is for your records, keep it safe!). Once you have all of that information ready, then you can go to the USPTO (United States Patent and Trademark Office - http://www.uspto.gov) and follow their instructions for sending in your cool logo and band name. Then you are OFFICIALLY in business and you can claim things on your taxes as business expenses, sue people that use trademarks too closely related to yours, etc etc etc

It's never too early to get these things set up if you're serious about creating live electronic music with the possiblity of leaving your day job someday to do it. Also, these steps aren't too complicated - they don't even involve a lawyer - so it's a good ground to start on. Making yourself a legit business should be as important as learning MIDI implementation and playing your gear live!

Tags: .:Digital Geist Online:.

-Alex K / Digital Geist
http://www.digitalgeist.com
http://www.myspace.com/digitalgeist

Tuesday, September 12, 2006

Midi Tutorial Part 2: Setting up a midi keyboard with your computer

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Note: The following article is a general outline to introduce readers to the general concepts and methods behind setting up midi. The specific details of how to setup a midi keyboard with your computer will vary depending upon the hardware and software that you use.


Setting up a midi keyboard for your computer
1. Most keyboards these days operate using USB. If you have a USB keyboard then continue to step 4. However, if you do not have a USB keyboard then you will need to get a midi/USB interface. I recommend the M-Audio 2x2 USB interface. It runs for about $60 and can handle up to 32 channels of data on its 2 midi ports.

2. Install the midi port much as you would with any USB device. Plug it in with your computer, and the hardware wizard will pop up instructing you what to do next. If you are running Windows then you will need to install the drivers supplied by M-audio.

3. Next plug in your keyboard to your midi interface using a standard midi cable. The setup should go midi out from your keyboard to midi in on the interface.

4. If your using a USB keyboard plug in your keyboard to the USB port and install a USB device with the hardware wizard that pops up. If you have the keyboard connected through a midi interface then you need to install the midi drivers manually for your keyboard. The specific keyboard will have instructions on how to do this.

5. Next open your sequencer and go to the midi setup screen. There find the midi in option and from the pull down menu you should find your new USB keyboard. If you use a midi interface instead of the keyboard select the midi in port that your keyboard is connected to on the interface.

6. Viola!!! Your midi keyboard is now setup and now when you load up a synthesizer in your DAW it should play.

Tips on using the keyboard.
Initially your keyboard will be set as default to midi channel 1. This is also the default setting for when you load up a midi synthesizer. There is a problem with this if you are not careful. If you have six synthesizers loaded with them all set to midi channel 1 and your keyboard to channel 1, then when you play your keyboard all of the synthesizers will play together. The same problem also applies if you try to record live from your keyboard. All of the tracks will be recorded into the piano roll/pattern editor for all of your synthesizers. To solve this you have to change the midi channel for each synthesizer. The midi channel for each synthesizer is found in the same window as the synthesizer gui, and varies slightly for different software sequencers. Remember you only have 16 midi channels to choose from, so if you use more then 16 synthesizers or use synthesizers which are multi-timbral you might run out of midi channels to record. In this case you will have to double up on some synthesizers and turn off midi for synthesizers you don'’t want to record on. This midi channel information also applies to any knobs or sliders that you have assigned tosynthesizerss in your DAW so be aware of that.

Alternatively, if you used a midiUSBb interface you can add additional keyboards to add more channels. As I stated before the M-Audio 2x2 has 32 channelsavailablee on two midi in ports.


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Monday, September 11, 2006

Stylus Magazine Article: The Real Deal-Toward an Aesthetic of Authentic Live Dance Music

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.:Toward an Aesthetic of Authentic Live Dance Music Part 1:.

An extremely long title and an extremely long read, Stylus magazine has an interesting article that I happened to come upon that discusses the artistic debates that surround live electronic music. The article starts out with an analogy of the photograph and how at the time people had issues with it destroying art and painting as it was known at the time.

The article is pretty deep and fairly academic, but really takes a nice indepth look at the debate surrounding livePA as an art form.

Quote:
The idea of a "live PA"’ (or live public appearance, public address, or sound system) is a relatively rare phenomenon in the sphere of live electronic dance music. Using all manner of mixing consoles, computers, software, hard disk recorders, keyboards, drum machines, samplers, sequencers, filters and effects processors, the live PA attempts to emulate the aesthetics of DJ performance without necessarily relying upon vinyl to accomplish this daunting task. In many ways, the live PA represents a hybrid of live musical paradigms, both past and present: on one side, there is the presence of musicians on a stage in front of an audience, arranging and performing electronic dance music in real-time; on the other side, there is the notion that all this "liveness" is ultimately designed to reproduce a fundamentally recorded aesthetic, and as such, the live PA works with samples, loops and sequences as its primary means of replicating the sounds of electronic dance music found on vinyl. The primary instrument of the electronic dance music aesthetic the studio is transported to the stage, where the multi-track mixing console and effects processor become as musically malleable in the hands of a skilled performer as would a keyboard or guitar.

EDIT: I just found that there is a part 2 to this article .:Here:.

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Sunday, September 10, 2006

Anchorsong: Set the Bears Free

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I stumbled across this video while browsing on Youtube tonight and just had to post it up. It features the artist Anchorsong jamming away on what appears to be an Akai MPC and a Korg Triton LE. Not only is the music killer, but his on the fly beatmaking skills and pad drumming are extremely impressive. I don't know if I have ever seen someone jam live on an MPC like that before.


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Brainwashed.com Interviews Pan Sonic

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.:Brainwashed.com Interviews Pan Sonic:.

The people over at .:brainwashed.com:.
have setup a nice video of an interview of Pan Sonic that covers some of the group's ideas and musical influences as well as featuring some live footage.

Personally I have no idea who Pan Sonic is or what Brainwashed.com is, but the video features some nice noise style music as well as a nice insight into the makings of the band.

.:Direct Video Link:.

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Narcisse Blonde Liveset: Victoria Music Festival

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.:Narcisse Blonde Live @ Victoria Music Festival

Another new mp3 liveset for downloading, this time from Narcisse Blonde from the Victoria Music Festival. Unfortunately I do not have much information regarding the set itself or the music festival, but Narcisse Blonde has posted a tracklisting as well as the gear used for this set over at .:livepa.org:.

Quote:
Tracklist:
01- the zonkey (intro edit)
02- screwdriver
03- suicide by thirty-five
04- too much
05- katya
06- man eater
07- NKOTB
08- new fish (record breakin' edit)
09- video star
10- beauty
11- lovers interrupted
12- fashion disconnect

[The set] was performed with elektron MD/MnM, nord g2, MPC1000, allen&heath xone 62 mixer, and one hot Russian girl.


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Decimal: Minimal LivePA on two Korg ES-1's

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.:Decimal @ Urban Renaissance 08-25-06:.

The above is a link to a liveset from last month from Decimal using only two Korg ES-1's. IT is a nice simple set that has some cool repetitive loopings to it that you might here in a nice underground chill lounge.

You can find more information on Decimal .:Here:.


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Stone-age MIDI: Why I still love the Atari 1040

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Believe it or not, it goes beyond the novelty of "old skool" credibility.





The Atari 1040 STe computer is, upon first glance, nothing more than an obtuse-looking dinosaur, especially when compared with the modern plethora of shiny bang-for-your-buck computing platforms and accompanying music production software. Released in 1988, the original model sported a minimum of one megabyte of RAM (mine has the maximum of four), and a limp Motorola processor that was completely dethroned by the IBM x86 line. It also had no hard drive, relying on complex memory shuffles between the RAM chips and the singe 3.5" floppy disk drive to operate. The keyboard and computer were fused into one solid plastic case, with integrated MIDI ports and a cartridge slot on the left side, and the dual mouse/joystick ports inaccessably located beneath the lower right corner. It had no fan, no onboard sound worth speaking of, and just plain looked funny.After a few years of being almost completely overlooked in the American market, and only moderate sales in Europe, the Atari 1040 eventually faded into near-complete obscurity.

Notice, however, that I say 'near-complete obscurity' and not 'complete obscurity'. Despite the fact that it was not a popular and widely known platform for anything at all, there was some honest potential to be unlocked for those willing to give it a go. Most musicians who sought to integrate computer-based MIDI into their studios could see that a) the Atari platform was a dead end, as they could not be upgraded easily, and b) only computer geeks seemed to like them anyways. But naturally, there were a few who recognized the benefits of having MIDI ports integrated straight into the computing architecture, and kept on with the Atari despite its apparent demise. What one might call a dedicated core of enthusiasts, which included folks like Fatboy Slim, Moby, and of course, screaming cyberpunks Atari Teenage Riot.

Though Cubase is arguably the most popular piece of software to stem from the Atari platform, there were many other software sequencing packages that went on to great success, including C-Lab Notator, which later jumped platforms (twice, first to Mac, then to the PC) and eventually morphed into Logic Audio, a program we've all at least heard of. I myself use the final release of Notator for the Atari, and often swear by it, as opposed to AT it, like I do most modern MIDI packages. This is largely because its MIDI integration is far, far tighter than anything I've found on modern computers, with no latency, no stuttering, and no fussy compatibility bullshit. Granted, the learning curve is steep-- you really have to learn about what MIDI is, how and why it works, and what all those archaic-looking terms mean-- but once one has a solid base of knowledge to work from, Notator and the Atari 1040 leap to life like a cat on crack.

During five years of use, my MIDI chain has only slipped out of sequence once, and this is because I had the Atari unit sitting on a carpeted floor, where it quietly overheated; in all other situations, it has performed admirably, despite some heavy abuse. That kind of stable, reliable performance comes from a lot of attentive programming and hardware design, as the restrictions of the platform itself did not allow for bloated software filled with excess code. Everything from the MIDI engine to the graphic interface had to compute as smoothly and with as few instructions as possible, because if it did not, then the entire platform would simply choke and die. I would not haul it out to a gig, though, as it's too fragile, and would be a bitch to replace; instead, I bounce my arrangements over to a Yamaha RM1x.

The fascination and utility of the Atari 1040 and Notator do not end there, however. After five years of regular use, I'm still reading the Notator manual and discovering new magic tricks that require no money, plugins, or fiddley updates. In fact, the manual is thicker than the average Robert Jordan fantasy novel, and packed to the gills with so much esoteric information that I may never make it through the whole thing.

For instance, through use of the Realtime Transform window, there is practically no limit to the ways in which one can re-translate MIDI data. Like when I discovered how to make note data dictate the LFO position on my Juno 106 synthesizer, which then lead to the next step of making any and all note data dictate slider and envelope positions split across the Juno's entire keyboard... or one slider dictating the position of another, which leads to all sorts of wild "musical accidents," with filters working innversely against one another. It might sound a bit gimmicky, but hey-- if you can fake the functions of expensive modern keyboards on something that was made the year you were born, why not do it? Why not do it to the hilt? Why not completely OVERDO it, since you can?

Another fantastic use comes when I plug my Electribe sampler into the Atari. Not only will the Atari record program changes without the tedious dialing-in of patterns on an eeky lcd screen (like in the Electribe's painful and time-consuming Song mode), it will record knob movements far beyond what the Electribe's 'motion sequence' function will allow. In fact, you can record any and all knob movements, program changes, starts and stops, mutes and solos, even the manual note tapping MPC-style, all simultaneously! After you're done pulling out all your slickest performance tricks on your box, you can go back and do it again, edit, change, adding layer upon layer of tricks and variations... imagine a full scale multi-track recorder that also functions perfectly as a loop sampler, only with MIDI instead of audio, and you'll start to have the right idea.

And its' from 1988. And I spent less than $200 American on it. And it's fucking great for sequencing insane chemical breaks-style beats. Granted, it's not for everyone-- the impatient and feeble-minded should probably avoid this thing... but with the right knowledge and enough practice, this weird old chunk of plastic can become a formidable weapon in one's studio arsenal.


As always, questions, comments, corrections and general abuse are always welcome.

Friday, September 08, 2006

Midi Tutorial Part 1: An Introduction to Midi

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With the development of computers as the main platform for so much electronic music these days, it is not suprising that a lot of people do not really know what Midi is and how to use it. This tutorial is a brief outline describing what Midi is and how one might setup a few classic Midi setups.

Def Midi: Midi first debuted at NAMM in 1983 when 2 synths, a Roland jx-p3 and a Sequential Prophet 600 were hooked up to each other and could be played together. The original idea of midi came from Ikutaro Kakahsi in 1981, then the head of Roland. Midi was designed initially as a system of communication between 2 different synthesizers, particularly 2 synthesizers made by a different company. At the time that midi was first released nearly all of the major synthesizer companies had some sort of communication system for their own synths. Roland had a DCB buss system, Sequential had a digital system, and Oberheim had a bulk dump system called Universal Synthesizer Interface (USI). Most of the ideas regarding how to transfer information for midi borrowed on the ideas of USI.

Midi info tips by M.A.S. Thanks to .:Keyboard Magazine:. for additional info.

1. Midi sends performance data down its lines, not sound!!! Midi sends information called “note-on message” it is the synth on the receiving end of the midi data that determines what sounds to create. Hence you cannot transfer music or sound from harddrive to your computer, or hardware-to-hardware through a midi cable.

2. Out --> in, in --> out. You don’t connect similar jacks together as you normally do with audio cables. The labels for midi cables refer to the direction and flow of the data.

3. Midi cables are one directional. Unlike firewire or usb where you only need one cable to transfer data between both instruments, midi can only travel one way on a cable. Hence you need two cables to transfer data between two instruments

4. Midi is transferred in serial not parallel format. Midi data flows down a cable one bit at a time, which creates potential problems for midi transfer. The data transmission speed of a midi cable is 31,250 bits/sec, so a single cable can only carry 3,1250 bytes/sec. A midi note on message = 3 bytes. Doing the math (which I didn’t do, Keyboard Magazine did thankfully) then, to send a single note on message down the line results in a 1ms lag. This is inevitable. Play 20 notes simultaneously results in a 20ms lag, and so on for more notes.

5. Never connect more then 8 devices using "thru" on your synths. The Midi information degrades as it goes through each thru. Your last synth in the line will tend to have very high latency and also have note stuck ons.

6. 16 channels of data can be shared on 1 midi cable. Each sound on your synth takes up 1 midi channel, multi-timbral synths can play multiple patches of a sound at once, so each sound or timbral requires its own midi channel.

7. There are two types of midi sync: Clock message sync= start and stop messages and song position messages, and Midi Time Code (MTC)= a process of sending SMPTE sync code down a midi cables. This us useful for syncing tape decks and the like. It contains information as to how much time has passed since “start” has been initiated.

8. Midi note data always is based on the number 128. This applies to knob and controller data as well. 128 notes are also allowed to be played for each midi channel

9. A midi note-on message has 3 parts. 1. Channel number 2. Note number (on/off data) 3. Velocity data. A midi velocity of 0 will turn off a note as does the note off message

10. Continuous controllers are not continuous!!!! When u send midi data it is transferred in steps and whole numbers 1,2,10,31,67 (possible 0-127) you cannot transfer data like 34.23467.11.

Midi files are easy ways to transfer data between systems. Midi files are universal and are not bound by tempo. They do not contain any sounds!!! When you play a midi file on your computer your computer is playing its internal sound fonts as sounds.

To view all of the crazy technical information and mathematical data regarding midi see the official site at http://www.midi.org

Be sure to stay tuned for more info on how to connect various different types of instruments and what you need to be aware of while performing live.


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Friday, September 01, 2006

Howdy Everybody

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Tags: [Digital Geist Online]

Alright, so I'm going to come out of my shell a little here and introduce myself. My name is Alex K, I'm the main force behind a live-pa act named Digital Geist. My website's located here: Digital Geist . com While I collaborate with someone live the rest of the project is in my hands, from artwork to studio production to promotion and booking to merchandise and sales, etc etc etc. It's a one-man effort for the most part. And quite hard work I might add. There's a ton of work that goes into the money shot that ends up being the live performance, and a ton of work afterwards (not just loading in and loading out). I'll do my best to provide a view for the outsider or the person that is a live-pa enthusiast that might not be too savvy on how to get into it.

First off, take my words for what they are - my opinion should carry about that much weight - it's mine and it most likely won't be yours. ;)

Here's a picture of me at a show we did in Toronto last week:



See the pasty guy on the left with his tongue lolling and a look on his face like a mongoloid that just saw a gallon of chocolate milk nearby? That's me.

I suppose that'll do it for right now, just an introduction before I start rolling with articles. My first article will be about making a jump from the "bedroom hobbyist" to establishing yourself as a legitimate business entity. Scary stuff for the partygoer I'm sure, but if you want to go all the way, the best way to do it is to do it right when you first start out!

Thanks for your time and I'll get cracking soon!