. founded march 12, 1995 _| : _____ t r a x w e e k l y # 8 4 ______________ |___| _ _______/ /\___________________________ / ____________/ /\__\ _ _______/____/_____________________________ / / _________ \/__/ ______\ \_____________________________ / / / `_ . .~ \____\/ _ __ ___ / / / _____ . _ \ __ ___ _/__/\ / / / / /\ _ The Music Scene Newsletter __ __\__\/ _/__/ / ____/ /__\_________________________________ _____ ___ _ / /\/ /___ __________ _ ______ _ ___ \/ /\ / / /____/ \ \ / /\ / __/\ / /\ \ \ / \ /____/ / / \ / \/ /_ \___/___/ \ \_/___/ / \_/ / / \ ___\ / /_/ /______/\/ \ /______/\/ \ /_____/ // \ \ / / / \ / / \ \ \ \_\ \ \ \_\ \ //____/\____\/ / / / / / \______\/ \______\/ \_____\/ \ \ \ \ / / / / \____\/\____\ / / / / _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ / / / /__/ w /\___/ /\___/ e /\___/ /\__ / l /\___/ /\____/ / / __/____/____/____/____/____/____/____/____/____/____/____/________/ / __\ \____\ e \____\ \____\ k \ ___\ \____\ y \__________/ \____\/ \____\/ \____\/ \____\/ \____\/ \____\/WW ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- | TraxWeekly Issue #84 | Release date: 09 Jan. 1997 | Subscribers: 922 | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- /-[Introduction]------------------------------------------------------------ ---------------------------------------------------------------------------/ Welcome to TraxWeekly #84. After a terrible week, we're back up with some decent articles that just might actually leave an impression on you this week. Thanks to Sklathill, Pinion, It-Alien, and Nova for contributing articles, and a big "hey!" to our former journalist Zinc for continuing to maintain the Demotape Directory. I've recieved a few submissions for TraxCulture this week; they will appear in the following weeks to come. Those of you who still have ideas and articles to contribute: send them in! Until next week! Gene Wie (Psibelius) TraxWeekly Publishing gwie@csusm.edu /-[Contents]---------------------------------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------------------------------------------/ ________ _________________________________________________________________ / ____/_/ __/ \ __/ / _____/ \ __/ __/ ___/_ < \____\ \ \\ \ \\____ __/ __/_\ \ \\____ \_____ \__ \ \ \ \\ \ \ww\ \\ \\ \ \ \ \ \_ _\________\________\\___\____\ \_____\\_______\\___\____\ \_____\_______\ Letters and Feedback 1. Letter from Dakke General Articles 2. Perfect Samples: The Piano....................Sklathill 3. Impulse Tracker Tip of the Week...............Pinion 4. When you need more............................It-Alien 5. More on Ratings...............................Nova The Demotape Directory Closing Distribution Subscription/Contribution Information TraxWeekly Staff Sheet /-[Letters and Feedback]---------------------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------------------------------------------/ --[1. Letter from Dakke]---------------------------------------------------- Hello I really think that Trax is a very good and educational newsletter. I have subscribed for quite a while now and I would be very happy if you read this e-mail. Since Trax is a big newsletter, I hope that you would like to help a newly formed newsletter. I am only asking you to publish this mail in a Trax issue. I would appreciate very much if you do that. I am looking for more subscribers to a new newsletter. This newsletter contain articles about: Coders, Trackers, Graphic Artist's, Hackers and other free speech related articles Our first issue will contain : Interwiev with Lizardking Article about Mods/s3ms Report from The Party 6 Mail corner Gossip Hacker Hints And much more Please give it a try and subscribe. To subscribe, send mail to: pcman@beerchan.irc.pp.se Put the following text in the subject field : Paper add //Dark_Soul "Dakke" Organizer of Gecko pcman@beerchan.irc.pp.se ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- /-[General Articles]-------------------------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------------------------------------------/ --[2. Perfect Samples: The Piano]------------------------------[Sklathill]-- Let's start with one of the most frequently used samples: the piano. Now, for most people, this is the easiest thing to sample. Get one of those keyboards and hook it up right to your soundcard for a very clean sound of one key, probably middle C. Yipee. One word. BORING! [Yes, there are LOTS of piano samples out there, but I'm assuming that you are (like me) a DIY kind of guy.] Now, if you are going to use an electronic keyboard, you might as well do it right. First of all, does the thing actually sound like a piano? If it doesn't, I'm sure you can borrow some other keyboard from another guy. Once you have a nice keyboard with some good piano samples, you must start sampling. And I mean LOTS of sampling. At every single sampling rate known to man. Well, maybe not that much. What we want to know is how low can you get the sampling rate while still getting good quality. This may be hard with a few soundcards which ALWAYS pick up noise. For people who insist that SB-clone cards are as good as the high quality Gravis and Creative Labs and the (original) Windows Sound System, try recording at 8 bit 11025 hz and you'll hear the noise which comes from substandard quality DACs and ADCs. Try it and compare. Now once you finally figured what rate you want to sample at (I like 8 bit at 16000 hz) it's time to sample even more (gee! Who would have guessed!) And I mean LOTS of samples! As in lots of keys. You've got to realize that one key can not just be played at 88 different rates. Depending on your initial sampling rate, you can have one key emulate as many as 14 other keys (all notes 7 half steps away from the initial note) to as little as 2 other keys (just one half step down and up.) This is very subjective. What many people will consider fine transposed 2 whole steps up others will consider much too artificial. Okay, let's say that you have decided that you need a very wide range of samples in order for it to sound as good as possible. These samples are going to eat up a lot of space. And you really don't want these samples to cut off prematurely. If you think that the space being used up is really too much, you're going to have to loop the sample. Now this won't be too much of a problem with the high notes. After the initial attack, high notes, as in about one and a half octaves above middle C, start to evolve into a sound somewhat similar to a sine wave. Low notes are usually harder, but the cheaper the keyboard (HA!) you are using, the easier it will be to loop the sample. Why is this? Low notes will more resemble sine waves on cheaper keyboards. More expensive keyboards will try to emulate a real piano more and have the low notes evolve almost endlessly, trying closely to simulate the vibrations of the low strings, which take much longer to die down. Speaking of real pianos, let's say you've got the time (and the money, and the equipment!) to sample a very nice grand. We follow basically the same process as above...with a few additions. Choosing the piano will be harder. It's not simply a choice of grand versus upright. (We are going with grand.) Different types of pianos have very different personalilties. Here are the big five which most studios will have: Steinway Mason and Hamlin Baldwin Bosendorfer Yamaha These are in order of preference by the way. :) So what do you choose? What type of sound do you want? As I said before, pianos have very distinct personalities, and pianists can effortlessly distinguish a Yamaha from a Steinway. Let's see what makes these pianos so different. _Steinway_ Simply one of the best instruments you can lay your hands on, provided it is well-maintained. It, overall, is a very moderate instrument, neither incredibly bright nor very mellow. Its highs, however, are just beautiful and the piano overall has an amazing range, from a new-age mellow sound, to a strikingly strong (but not overly harsh) tone. _Mason and Hamlin_ Most music which I've heard to lately is usually confined to a three octave section, usually the section surrounding middle C. If that is what is going to predominate in your song, this is what to get. The lower notes, however, may not be to your liking, as they are a fair bit more mellow; it is very hard to get substantial volume on some of the smaller (around five feet) pianos in the bass section. They are also harder to come by than the others. _Baldwin_ For the true jazz pianist. Very bright, with a very satisfying bass. The highs just want to shout out gin and tonic and the rest of the piano is just right for jazz or fusion. But if you want mellow, you better hope the room you record in is not in any way live. _Bosendorfer_ We now go from bright to mellow. Perhaps too mellow? I guess that's perfect for new age, eh? The Bosendorfers just scream out mellow, if that's possible. It's good for neo-classical and new-age music. _Yamaha_ Not a bad piano. Then why do I put it at the bottom? There really isn't anything which this instrument does exceptionally well. Somewhat bright. The bass is fairly strong in comparision to the rest of the piano. So, let's see. Let's say we are inspired to do a country song (can that happen?) We wouldn't want a mellow Bosendorfer at the helm, would we? A Baldwin would be a good choice, and perhaps a Yamaha. It's important that you listen to a number of pianos before you decide which one you want to sample. Call up a few studios. There may be a few which have well-maintained pianos ready to record. They'll charge per hour probably, and it usually is quite reasonable for about say, three hours. Of course, when I say reasonable, I mean if you don't need an engineer at the ready during your session. Other alternatives include local universites and music schools, but don't expect to have the piano set up and ready to record with mics already in position. They probably won't even have mics, so unless you know a place where you can rent them or borrow them from, be ready to invest anywhere from 800 to 1200 dollars and more for a pair of large diaphragm condenser multipattern mics and/or 600 to 800 dollars for small diaphragm mics with a cardioid polar pattern. [They are great on anything (except your budget) althought the small diaphragm mics may represent the better deal since they are much better at handling sudden dynamic changes, i.e. drumkit, unlike their larger and more expensive siblings.] Okay, you've got everything set up except mic placement. What are you going to record to? Generally, I like to have my recordings on plain audio tape instead of direct to the sampler. This way, not only do I have something for my archives, but I also have a little bit of warmth added. If you don't want that warmth, you could record to DAT. Either way, it's important to have everything during your session recorded onto a medium which is easily accessible once you have another need for these samples. Mic placement. This is going to be pretty hard. Forgive my poor ASCII art... Fig.1 (Close Miking) ___________ In this figure, we have our "normal" config. | \ Two condenser mics, cardioid pattern, close | \ to the strings for a bright percussive sound. | | The top is off or at its highest position so | | as to keep the sound as clean as possible. | | | \________ | | | \ | X X \ | | | | |_________________________| ---------- | | ---------- Fig.2 ___________ Here is an alternative. Mics are placed just | \ right by the pianists head. Immediately, you | \ get a mellower sound than in the first | | config. Again, cardioid pattern should be | | used. | | | \________ | \ | \ | | | | |_________________________| ---------- | X X | -|------|- Fig.3 (Room Miking) ___________ Another alternative. Mics are placed where | \ the audience would be. Depending on the room | \ X-- the recording is going to take place in, you | | might want your mics on omni-directional (if | | multi-pattern) so as to get more reverb. | | Personal preference. | \________ | \ | \ | | X-- | | |_________________________| ---------- | | ---------- This isn't like carved in stone or anything, so experiment by all means. Sometimes, I like a combination of close miking and room miking. Sometimes I don't. It depends not only on your song, but also on the type of room your recording in (dead or live), type of piano, etc. Once you got your samples, it's time to alter. The most accurate rendition of any instrument is not necessarily the best rendition. A little noise reduction couldn't hurt, or perhaps some touches on the end of a certain note you cut off prematurely. Oh yeah, did I mention...ALWAYS HAVE BACKUPS! Keep high quality copies of the originals on your hard drive. Okay, how about other instruments? Same process. Choice of instrument, electronic or the real thing, choice of miking; the only thing you are going to have to watch for more is if you are going to record real instruments. And I don't mean guitar plucks. I mean instruments in which a note can be held almost indefinitely, i.e. woodwinds, brass, strings. If you are still an S3M/MTM/MOD guy, then, create your own ping-pong sample. Get some shareware sample editor such as Cool Edit 1.5 and you can. Let's take this sample. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Let's say you want to ping-pong from 8 to 12. You take copy samples 9 through 11, and open another program, or another instance of whatever program you use (provided you are in Windows) and you reverse it. 9 10 11 -turns into- 11 10 9 Attach your new sample fragment to the end of your original sample, so you get this... 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 11 10 9 ^ ^ loop begin loop end Another way to get some nice samples from those darn woodwinds and reeds? This comes from Necros's "The Grey Note" from _Progression_. He has about seven or eight sax samples which are really sax passages. He jumps from passage to passage to go from pitch to pitch and uses lots of sample offsets. Another channel is used for echo so as to make those sample offsets less noticeable. This process is fairly hard but can result in a much more realistic tone which contains slight variations ressulting from human imperfection. Sklathill (diamante@odysseus.gonzaga.pvt.k12.dc.us) Blind Venetians / Stormworks Studios ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- --[2. Impulse Tracker Tip of the Week]----------------[pinion (Ryan Hunt)]-- --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Tip #4: An actual use for the Jxx command (or "no, it's not useless!" --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Some may say that the Jxx command can't be used in any good way, but I disagree. I will conceed that when used to create really neato chords it is a bit... shitty sounding, but there are other ways to use it than in the old school chip tune way. By using an unmelodic sample like looped static or white noise, you can create really interesting analog style sound effects. The most interesting one I've come up with is as follows: Get a good sample like Spectrum, or Pitch Wind. Something with timbre that loops continuously. After initilizing the instruments, give the sample/instrument a pitch envelope like this: |o | - high to low, or low to high. | \ | | \ | The pitch bend should be long enough that it | \ | holds out of an entire patterns length. | \ | | o | In the pattern editor, after playing the note fill up the effects for that channel with the Jxx command. The value is really a matter of opinion and doesn't *really* matter but it definately needs to have one! Note: you may also want to make the note fade in volume as it goes on. If you want to do a stereo pan *and* a fade out, you can alwys do the stereo pan with the panning envelopes and use the volume column for the fade, or vise-versa. Footnote: I think I first saw this technique used by Skaven but not to this extent. With the addition of the volume column effects this same effect can be done, in theory, using the Exx command in the volume column and the Jxx commands in the effects column, however, a bug in v2.09 won't allow this trick to be done. However, Pulse has fixed the problem so in future versions we *will* have the technology... _it_can_be_done_! If you need further information on this trick or have an idea for a Tip of the Week email pinion@netcom.com -pinion (phluid) email: pinion@netcom.com web : www.acid.org/phluid/newmain.html ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- --[3. When you need more...]------------------------------------[It-Alien]-- ...then effect and volume columns. (NOTE: This article uses FT2 commands, but is true for IT too) Were you a lamer no more than a year ago? Are your musical skills growing faster and do you feel the need to use more than the standard FT2 "00 000" columns? Don't skip this article! Here it is a good way to fake the use of more columns!! As not everyone knows, if you do not specify the number of the instrument you're playing in the current row (typing in a zero were the number is written), FT plays the last instrument played in the chn, without changing volume and pan... (so, if you have played instrument A at C-3 with panning full left and volume 20 (EVEN SLIDED TO 20!!) last time in the 3rd channel, typing "D-3 00 00 000" in the 3rd chn will cause FT to play the instrument A at D-3 with left pan and volume 20). So your instrument will be played at last specified volume/pan without busying columns! But now it comes the most important thing: what if you play an instrument (let's say the instr C) in a chn with volume set to 00 (yes!) an pan set to A (f.e. C-3 0C PA C00) and then use the "instrument 0" to play C at a certain note with volume 20 and offset to 12 ? Yes! The instrument C will be played at volume 20, panning A and starting from 1200 hex !! 3 effects (saying that a non-default volume is an effect, obviously...) without setting any of them as default into the Instrument editor! Geeeez!! >:) Here it is an example: Nth Channel "Hidden Column" 00 C-3 0C PA C00 01 C-3 00 20 912 PA 02 C-3 00 P4 320 C20 Q: But I've just typed in a note in row 00, how could I use this trick in row 01 ?!?!? A : Don't be lame!!! Expand the pattern, double up the speed and use the trick! Q: But I need the note in row 00 to be played for a certain time! A: GOSH! ((Use the note delay EDx) OR (add a channel)) AND (piss off!!) >:D Q: But I've reached the maximum of 32 channels yet! A: Good! It is supposed you're not a lamer then... So, why have you read this lamer-aiding article?! Well, if you want an example of what I've said, try it-hardd.xm, which will be into cdrom.com's incoming directory very soon (I hope it'll be online when this article will be on TW). In this XM, in fact, I used the "Instr 0" to create an echo channel for instr 8 here and there (f.e: pattern 14 hex): main and echo channel have the same effects (panning and even tone portamen-to TOGETHER), but the echo chn has the volume set to 10 too! NOTES: -This trick can be used even with drumkits (XIs with a different percussion sample on each note). -If in FT's configuration (layout section) you've set the "show zeroes" switch off, the "instr 0" will appear as an instrument with NO NUMBER shown! It-Alien , napodano@inopera.it http://www.inopera.it/~napodano/it-alien.htm it-*.zip files on CDROM.COM ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- --[4. More On Ratings]----------------------------------------------[Nova]-- After reading endless discussions about Hornet's rating system in past issues, I feel I need to put in my two cents. In case some of you haven't noticed, there is an incredibly large amount of new songs that are released every day. I'd say at least 15 songs are being uploaded to ftp.cdrom.com as you read this article. And one of the main problems is that a lot of these songs are not really worth listening to. You'd be surprised at how many beginning trackers will write a ton of songs, without putting much effort into any of them, and insist: "I might not be very good, but at least I can write fast." This is where the Hornet reviews come in. I admit they are not 100% accurate, but overall, they do give us something to keep in mind when browsing the Hornet archive. I personally would be more inclined to download songs that received a **** rating over songs that only got **. Which brings me to my point: these ratings should only be used as a guideline when deciding what songs to download. It is pointless to debate whether Persian Starfall (*****) is any better than Search for the Lost Riff (****+) because it got + less. They are both excellent compositions and I think that's the message the Hornet reviewers are trying to get across. Now, what about these other rating systems? In traxweekly #82, Boris had an article entitled "Rating solutions," in which he introduced a new method of reviewing songs. It consists of rating only a handful of modules, on a scale of 1 to 100, with comments, much like the MC4 system. This is a good idea, but it is by no means a sufficient replacement for the Hornet ratings. For one, they will only cover about 0.1% of all the new releases in the scene, whereas Hornet will eventually rate everything. Second, I don't agree that comments from the general public are as useful as comments from an experienced tracker. I only know a few of the Hornet reviewers, but they all seem to know what they're doing. Inviting everyone in the entire scene to review songs might not be the best way to have accurate ratings. I know when I was first starting to track, I would've given ***** or 100 to tons of songs, because I hadn't heard enough music to realize that many modules are just copies of classic styles set by Future Crew, Renaissance, and KLF. Basically, I don't believe we need a "solution" for rating songs. While we could encourage the Hornet reviewers to double-check their reviews so the few errors they make could be reduced, their reviewing system is still our best source for knowing, out of all the new releases in the scene today, what songs are worth downloading. - Nova [Analogue Productions] contact at: fractal@istar.ca ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- /-[Demotape Directory]------------------------------------------------------ ---------------------------------------------------------------------------/ Demotape Directory for January 1997 NEWS: No, this is not a return to the TW staff. I did, however, promise to keep up this column no matter what happens, because I think it is an important resource. Remember to mail me with any new listings at rays@direct.ca and give me all the information possible: release date, price, name of album, style(s) used, and so on. Most important is your contact address and/or WWW site. The following demo tape/cds are organized by artist, alphabetically. All dates are approximate. There may be surcharges for s/h fees, etc. I am not responsible for misinformation. Contact me to correct errors. BTW: Here's a tip on overcoming writers block, which I've encountered of late. Pick out a CD from your extensive library. Choose an artist whom you admire, and has influenced or inspired you in the past. Play it on your cd player at a decent volume - loud, but quiet enough so as to not be disturbing. Lie down on your bed or a comfy couch, and close your eyes. Cleanse your mind of all thoughts and worries, concentrating only on the vibes and rhythm, etc. from the music. You'll find that time passes quite quickly, and hopefully at some point you'll suddenly (or gradually) be inspired to track something amazing. DEMOTAPE DIRECTORY for JANUARY 1997 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- B00MER - Negative Youth CS - $5 US + SH ($1.25 extra for metal tape) Industrial/techno September 1996 boomer@a.crl.com OR www.atdt.com/bliss/form.html ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Electric Keet - version one point zero beta CD - $15 ($12 if prepaid by 12/31) -or- CS $10 Everything. Classical to techno January 1997 tracerj@asis.com OR http://asis.com/~tracerj/ek.htm 14+ tracks, 4 exclusive to album. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- IQ and Maelcum - FTZ "Nothing Is True" CD - $8 US + S&H N/A 1995 maelcum@kosmic.org OR www.kosmic.org/areawww/ ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Mental Floss - Grey Matter CS - $10 US mixed techno N/A andrewm@io.org OR www.io.org/~andrewm/greymatter ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- PeriSoft & SupaMart - Live Inside Your Computer CS - $6 US Ambient/Trance/Techno July 1996 mwiernic@pinion.sl.pitt.edu OR supamart@servtechcom ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- All listings follow this format: Author/Title Format/Price (CS = Cassette, CD = Compact Disc, S&H = Shipping Costs) Style(s) Used Release Date Contact (email/WWW) Other Think tracked music is commercially viable? Prove it! Support the scene! Suggestions and comments are welcome. - zinc / rays@direct.ca ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- /-[Closing]----------------------------------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------------------------------------------/ TraxWeekly is available via FTP from: ftp.cdrom.com /demos/incoming/info (new issues) ftp.cdrom.com /demos/info/traxw/ (back issues) To subscribe, send mail to: listserver@unseen.aztec.co.za and put in the message body: subscribe trax-weekly [name] (NOT address) To unsubscribe, mail same and: unsubscribe trax-weekly (in message body) Contributions for TraxWeekly must be formatted for *76* columns, must have a space preceding each line, and have some measure of journalistic value. Please try to avoid the use of high ascii characters, profanity, and above all: use your common sense. Contributions should be mailed as plain ascii text or filemailed to: gwie@csusm.edu before 11:00pm PST (North America) every Thursday. TraxWeekly is usually released over the listserver and ftp.cdrom.com every Friday at 10:00am PST (North America). TraxWeekly does not discriminate based on age, gender, race, political or religious statures and standpoints. The staff can be reached at the following: Editor: Psibelius (Gene Wie)..............gwie@csusm.edu Staff: Atlantic (Barry Freeman)..........atlantic@arcos.org Benjamin Krause...................orogork@cs.tu-berlin.de Fred (Fred Fredricks).............fred@paracom.com Kal Zakath (John Townsend)........jtownsen@sescva.esc.edu Kleitus (Seth Katzman)............katzms@rpi.edu Mage (Glen Dwayne Warner).........gdwarner@vinson.navy.mil gdwarner@ricochet.net Graphic Contributors: Cruel Creator . Stezotehic . Squidgalator2 . White Wizard TraxWeekly is a HORNET affiliation. Copyright (c)1995,1996 - TraxWeekly Publishing, All Rights Reserved. /-[END]--------------------------------------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------------------------------------------/ :: ::: : . ..... ..............................:::.................:.... ::: : :::: : .::::. .:::::.:::. ..:::: :::: : :: :: ::: .:: :: :: WW:::: : ::. :: ::: .:: :: .:: :::: : :::.::. ::: .:: .:: .:::::... :: :::.. ... ..: ... ..:::::::::::::::: .:: .::::::: :::::::: ::::::.. ::: ::: ::: : until next week! =) .. ... .. ....... ............... .................:..... .. . :