band constitution 3A

synthesizers and singing will not be permitted .
multiple keyboards are not permitted .
in fact sean wayland will only be permitted to use ONE NOTE . The note will be an acoustic piano string and hammer assembly . The NOTE will be UNAMPLIFIED . The piano that the note is taken from will be selected by an imperial council consisting of pianists who refuse any electronic keyboard or stylistic device concieved after 1948 . A second commitee will be chosen via secret ballot and religous preferences to decide which variety and strength of marijuana may smoke before choosing the piano NOTE . One standardised US "cone" is permitted before choice . Committee members are encouraged to play Chess during choice ( no pawns, knights, rooks , or queens allowed ) . The piano that the note is selected from must be a maple wood Steiwnway "B" . The trees used to build the piano must be from New York state . The piano chosen must have been used on a selected list of 1948 archive recordings of Elmo Hope or Dodo Marmarosa ( chosen by independant scientific double blind control experiment ) . Rueckert will use only ONCE cymbal . No other drums , but one stick is permitted ( no plastic tip ) . The cymbal must be "OLD JOHNSON" a legendary old "K" that baby dods discovered under a sleeping turkish woman in Bakırköy . Charette is permitted 3 notes . 2 for walking bass (pedals only ) , and 1 for comping/soloing . The 3 notes will be chosen by the widows of legendary american organ players . The deceased organ players must have used foot pedals . "Walking" bass using left hand by BC is frowned upon . An all vacuum tube amplifier must be used for the organ if edison phonograph horn is insufficient . The organ amplifier tubes will be chosen by committee . The aforementioned committee will be selected by similarity of DNA to median jewish new york ancestry , paying particular reference to hair "curlyness" . Preference will be given to tightly coiled or 'kinky' natural afro type hair which may have evolved to prevent the entry of UV light into the body during the gradual transition period towards the evolution of dark skin .

Sheet music is frowned upon .

In case of "utterances" and vocalisations unwittingly expelled during improvisation which may be deemed in breach of "singing" ban , each band member will recieve one stick of board designated chewing gum . The chewing gum will contain no sugar . The gum board will consist of a panel of experts including board members from wrigleys , adam nussbaum and joe locke . Any references to gum in advertisements will use the older brand name "orbit" for the sugarless product , unless Australian Lizz Smilie can be found to reenact the pronunciation of "extra" with charateristic lisp . American "voice-over" artist with imitation Australian accent and lisp is not permitted except on tuesdays .

Advertising , flyers , posters , spam is not permitted . Exception is that gig may be mentioned in "cadence" magazine gig calendar .

The band will not mention "the war"

One audience member is permitted ( not wearing any rock band "merch" ) .

THE ALBUM

No mixing "in the box" .

An engineer may be present , but said engineer must have a degree and wear a white coat . Engineer is permitted to drink English breakfast tea and eat Arnott's brand biscuits . The engineer's hearing must not be disturbed by any mood altering substances . Les Paul is permitted as assistant engineer for authenticity purposes if still breathing at time of recording .

There will be no "overdubs" or edits .

The "album" must be recorded in less than 3 hours .

First "take" which band manages to perform written " head" with no mistakes must be used . No further "takes" permitted .

Voicings , intros , outros , shout choruses , vamps , repeat signs etc is not permitted from single page of music allowed for composition . Tunes based on 1930's popular music preferred. 32 bars preferred ( with 3 times tag for ending ) .

Page of music used must be "lead sheet" . Chord symbols are permitted above melody ( no maj7 chords with alterations ) . 6th chords should be given preference to major 7th if possible . Music must be memorised before performance . No sheet music is permitted in the studio building . No photocopiers or music notation software . Sheet must be notated by union member "copyist" by hand with 3B pencil . "Eraser" or "rubbers" not permitted .

No "modal" or "free" playing is not permitted .

Drummers chart may use the term " elvinish" , but never "straight - 8 " , " ECM " , "funk" or " jungle " .

If engineer runs out of biscuit's and tea and has ability and ingredients to make a "Sazerac" , then a "bossa-nova" may be recorded . Sazerac must use an "old-fashioned", Western-style glass prepared with absinthe or pastis .

Album must be released on "vinyl" .

Use of any A-D converter is strictly prohibited and punishable . Punishment will be 35 year sentence for entire band and engineer . For duration of sentence Band and engineer will be confined to the offending recording studio . Band must survive on cocktails and Arnott's " Monte Carlo" biscuits and will be forced to listen to an exerpt of Terry Riley's "At C " continuously . Excerpt will be put into runout groove of 78 looping back into itself .

Turntable motor must run at 3600 rpm with a 46:1 gear ratio to produce 78.26 rpm. In parts of the world that used 50 Hz current, the 77.92 rpm is acceptable (3000 rpm with a 38.5:1 ratio), this is the speed at which a strobe disc with 77 lines would "stand still" in 50 Hz light (92 lines for 60Hz)

Long Playing vinyl is prohibited .

Runout groove looping back into itself ala "Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" , unless written member is granted from members of "The Beatles" still breathing at time of issue .

"Stereo" is not permitted . Any distributed recording must be mono only .

One "ribbon" mic is permitted set to "omni" with no pop-filters or "blimps" .

Vacuum tube preamp is permitted , but no other circuitry or equalization .

Compression and RIAA curve may be used during one-step "mastering process" ( computer not permitted ) to limit damage to vinyl from needle .

The microphone may not me "moved" , but musicians and instruments may be moved in relation to microphone .

No "click-tracks" . Mechanical design of metronome is permitted to check tempo before red light is on .


Microphone must be calibrated at the Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt (PTB) based in Braunschweig ( not Berlin ) . Both German atomic clock CS2 and the longwave time signal DCF77 must be in agreement .

One pistonphone is acceptable for calibration . This is an acoustical calibrator (sound source) using a closed coupler to generate a precise sound pressure for the calibration of instrumentation microphones. Pistonphone must not be used for any other purpose .

Piston must be mechanically driven to move at a specified cyclic rate, on a fixed volume of air to which the microphone under test is exposed. The air is assumed to be compressed adiabatically and the sound pressure level in the chamber can be calculated from internal physical dimensions of the device and the adiabatic gas law, which requires that the product of the pressure P with V raised to the power gamma be constant; here gamma is the ratio of the specific heat of air at constant pressure to its specific heat at constant volume. Test frequency will be 254 Hz.

aussie nut

So I bought the new keyboard . I tried it out ... The organ sounds pretty authentic . I had to have a lie down and a couple of tylenols after . The volume pedal aggravates my sciatica as I expected . Rigged up a solution with a mackie mixer and my big toe . Its not ideal and takes away from my focus at the moment but its an improvement pain wise .

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EDLO6tiC478

organ clones , genetically modified corn and gladitorial combat

should I spend $1900 and buy a nord electro 3 with improved copy of hammond guys ? why dont the smart people from sweden who made the nord organ make it touch sensitive ? I much prefer my synthesizer but you have to live in the real world i guess .
do you want to live in the modern world or would you prefer the eight century ? gladitorial combat anyone ? Don't give me that genetically modified corn either it's bad for your health .


From Wikipedia :

The organ (from Greek όργανον organon, "organ, instrument, tool") is a keyboard instrument of one or more divisions, each played with its own keyboard operated either with the hands or with the feet. The organ is one of the oldest musical instruments in the Western musical tradition, dating from the time of Ctesibius of Alexandria who is credited with the invention of the hydraulis. By around the eighth century it had overcome early associations with gladiatorial combat and gradually assumed a prominent place in the liturgy of the western church; subsequently it has reemerged as a secular and recital instrument.

various letters to professional digital audio manufacturers , synthesizer makers ...

Hi there all ,

I want to build a strange "resonator" . an incoming audio signal is split into a number of "frequency" bands .. up to 88 . Different sized ( but small ) speakers amplify each band inside a lightweight wooden? resonator . Perhaps 3 or 4 small resonators that can be miced up ( as well as having pickups ) so that it is portable . Each resonator has a number of small speakers corresponding to different frequency bands . The resonator can be adjusted .. materials can be added or removed .. perhaps its shape is "bendable " . The resonators are used to give "life" and character to digital synthesizer signals . Perhaps frequencies below 300 hz could be sent to a conventional bass amplifer via a crossover so that the resonator could be portable . Each frequency band could be adjusted ( delays , filters etc ) with software via a computer hookup . Please help me . I need help
best regards
Sean Wayland

my FM8 synth sounds thin at higher frequencies . useless for performance .. trying to figure out why . i know my hearing diminishes up around 30hz ... I remember clearly from the test being able to recognise the attack and timbre of the synthesized sound they played me . Is there any scientific data about timbre recognition at high frequencies ? It would be interesting to vary the timbre with a synthesizer and use a filter to cut off all frequencies above a certain threshold . I wonder when changing the threshold would affect the " timbre" . I wonder if even around 96K would affect our ability to detect timbre changes ? Switching my synth from 44 to 96 seems to make a big difference ...

Hi Sean,

Thanks for your interest in the Pacarana! In answer to your question:

> discontinued. The latency of the soft-synths makes them hard to use in jazz performance . Could I use your parcana and get better latency results than with soft synths ? Please email .

Yes, having the Pacarana dedicated to computing sound means that we can compute audio and update parameters at the sample rate (we do not have to compute blocks of samples as is sometimes necessary in soft synths. In other words, time is not quantized to blocks of samples, audio is evaluated and output on every sample).

If you have other questions, please let us know.

Thanks!

-Carla



> Hi there ,
> I am interested in your product . I have a nord modular G2X which has been discontinued. The latency of the soft-synths makes them hard to use in jazz performance . Could I use your parcana and get better latency results than with soft synths ? Please email .
> Best regards
> Sean
>
>
> --

Its been a while . Hope you are well . How about a "micro" version of the rhodes piano . Some sort of scaled down "tine" system . A much smaller and lighter version of a rhodes piano . The mechanical part is just used to generate real time digital information which is processed by the computer as a musical instrument . I imagine optical sensors picking up the "tine" or string movement and generating data . The Tines/strings wouldn't need to be the real size , but they could be MANIPUATED BETTER by the artist in real time which is what the synth lacks . When you hit it hard the thing responds like a real instrument . Shrinking things down might also get around the problem of a real piano and a rhodes in that it is sluggish and can't be played as accurately as a guitar ...
sean

That's what I want to build. Just one key with a tweeter and cpu. I can connect as many as I want and send the low frequencies to a woofer for the whole lot. Let's build just one key first. If it works we can raise the venture capital one key at a time.

Just got back from a gig by brad meldhau . One of the most famous jazz pianists. I am a "vip" at the jazz club so I got to sit 2 feet from the piano. It was a bit repetitive but the guy was playing great stuff using all ten fingers in an innovative way. I get tired of the sound of a piano but you just couldn't perform what he was doing on any keyboard. Someone needs to build a synth with a speaker and software for every note. That way I think it wouldn't sound thin in the high registers like they usually do and chords would work properly. It makes no sense for all the notes to come out of 2 speakers . You need to adjust the eq/filters etc for each note . I don't know why it was never built. Hope you are well. Sean
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Hello ,
I am a professional musician. I would like you to make for me a 2 octave midi controller keyboard with a "C" as bottom note and a "B" on the top with no edges so that I can travel with more than one of them and "put them together" at the gig . Airlines are making it harder and harder to travel with equipment . I believe this would be a great help to me and my other musician friends . I also have a few other design ideas I would love to implement if possible ! I studied Electrical Engineering before becoming a musician . It is frustrating that so much of the modern technology seems to be designed for " bedroom enthusiasts" as opposed to "serious" musicians , I would love to see things improve .
Best regards
Sean Wayland

Hi len ,
i doubt I would ever get these things built but would love to try ...I have been reading "musical aplications of microprocessors" (hal chamberlin 1986) . Its old but interesting . I recently purchased the native instruments " komplete 5" . It's an enormous tool with lots of potential . Some of it is pretty poorly designed I think . It came with 10 DVDs of samples and there are l0000 patches or something, and the manuals are good for toilet paper . It comes with a hardware interface ( with no audio ? ) and no master volume knob which seems pretty silly to me ... One cool thing is they have designed a system for the knobs which has greater resolution than midi . It "feels" really good to turn the knobs ( sounds pornographic dont it ! ) . Well see if i can get it to work . The latency is OK if you just use the FM8 , but complex patches and effects and it craps out . Its more stable as a stand alone than with cubase , when I really think I can hear the jitter . To me that is the critical thinkg . You can cope with 5-10 miliseconds of latency if it is constant .
I would love to build a one key synth with a CPU , with a string or a tine ... and an advanced interface , perhaps tracking the key movement constantly and generating continous messages . Each key could be connected to your personal computer , tuned , voiced , etc . They would lock together and you could change " patches" from your personal computer . It would be programable so that other people who cant play can design patches for me ;) You could bring as many of them as you wanted wherever you went . Each one would be super light and indestructible ... well its nice to dream over here ... each key would also have minijack out and could be connected to some sort of "resonator " ... an array of tiny speakers in a lightweight box which was adjustable in shape ... you could stretch you resonator , or line with materials to change its acoustic properties ... i saw that harmoniser online searching for my string idea ... it looks and sounds fantastic . thanks for your emails and putting up with my ridiculous rants and raves
sean

Hi len ,
hope you are well. I have had my best idea yet I think . I think constantly about how to capture the way the timbre of a note changes when you play a piano harder . I found a new physical modelling patch for my nord synthesizer which someone built recently which sounds really rich . I would still love to get more control over it . There already exist a "moog guitar" and roland has a VG99 guitar synth or something . I think it would be cool if there was a single stringed instrument with no frets ( just a short string ) which created midi signals . You could play the string anyway you wish to create different amplitude/timbre variations , but the pitch could be controlled with a keyboard . I probably should talk to the guys at moog or Roland . I imagine it would be cheap to produce , and the technology is in place . There is already a "breath-controller" , which is cool , but nothing like this . You could hit the string with piano hammers and would sound like a piano ....
sean

Is there a synth that allows you to map a different attack envelope to every possible midi volume level?
I think I need a combination of that , fm synthesis for timbre and a few attack samples thrown in also mappable to midi volumes. I want each key to be seperate and the whole thing can be dissasembled. Each key would have an audio out and a usb in/out. Large numbers of keys could be connected via usb to a computer to group the outputs if it was too noisy to have a whole lot of audio outputs...hope all is well . I must come and visit. Sean
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Hi len ,
can you help me build a little box with a CPU , midi in/out , usb , and a couple of sliders .
The thing could be programmed to reassign notes via midi . the sliders/wheels would let you scroll through scales/patches on the fly .
With me playing the thing on gigs and making it famous , I think there would be a market for it if it was small and cost less than $500
If can't do it , tell me how to go about making it happen ....

best regards
sean


I just had a conversation with a guitarist friend in Sydney. He is
planning to come over and record some music with me in NY in April .
James like many guitarists doesn't like the sound of headphones when
recording. He was asking me if he could sit " in the control room "
with the speakers and engineer during the recording session. This is a
problem because he smells kinda funny and will upset the engineer and
various band-members girlfriends who will be hanging out in there .
Being a guitarist he also hates volume and will want to listen to the
music so quietly that it will spoil the good-times the engineer and
hangers-on would usually have. Is there someway you can build us a
little DSP box to make the headphones sound like you are sitting a few
feet from a pair of Yamaha NS10 speakers in an acoustically treated
room ( treated so there are no standing waves from parallel wall
reflections or bass frequencies building up in the corners of the room
) . If not a standalone DSP box , an audio plug in for protools might
do the trick . Funnily enough many of the worlds best guitarists like
to have speakers to record too. There are a lot of guitarists in the
world and with an endorsement from james or eddie van halen you might
be able to move quite a lot of units assuming the thing could be built
for around $200 .... I see itunes has already stolen your wifi speaker
idea . Might be time to get back to music/synthesizer where you belong
. I have a few other synth ideas , but that is another 15 emails which
I dont have time for now .
hope your good .
best regards

blogging

I was going to write my opinion here today about various subjects including .
1) The lack of good reporting about new scientific research in the contemporary newspapers .
2) Organic food
3) Home Births
4) Synthesizers
5) Wynton Marsalis
6) Which music is more important : Gerald Finzi or James P Johnson

Unfortunately I didn't have the time