From: latta@xcf.Berkeley.EDU (Craig R. Latta)
Newsgroups: ucb.becmug,comp.music,rec.music.makers,rec.music.synth
Subject: ... Monthly Electronic and Computer Music FAQ, via NetJam, Berkeley, part /usr/users/ftp/ftp_public/misc/netjam/doc/FAQ/split/2 of 6 ...
Date: 17 Aug 1992 07:59:57 GMT
Organization: University of California, Berkeley
Distribution: world
Reply-To: Craig Latta <latta@xcf.Berkeley.EDU>
NNTP-Posting-Host: xcf.berkeley.edu
Followups-To: rec.music.synth



    equipment will produce and respond to a variety of messages on the MIDI
    bus.  Also, the proper interface hardware will allow a computer to
    control the musical equipment (see "EDITOR/LIBRARIAN" and "SEQUENCER"). 

    MIDI is often used to build a studio in much the same way that you can
    build a stereo system: by choosing individual components and combining
    them into a whole.

    The standard was instituted in 1987, and most keyboards after the Yamaha
    DX7 have it. (Nit-picky note: some built before do, too, but the DX7 is a
    good reference point.)  It includes both a hardware standard (it's a
    5 mA current loop carried on 3 wires, with 5-pin DIN connectors) and a
    serial communications protocol based on byte-oriented message packets
    running at 31.25 Kbaud.

	[for a more complete treatment of MIDI, see the item "Where
		can I find out all about MIDI?"  -- Craig]

---

Q: What are definitions for the following things?
	- aftertouch, envelope, FM, LFO, module, multitimbral, polyphony,
	     pressure, sampler, sequencer, synthesizer, velocity

A:

"AFTERTOUCH" -- same as "pressure"

"ENVELOPE"

"FM" -- frequency modulation

"LAYERING" -- see "MULTITIMBRAL"

"LFO" -- Low-Frequency Oscillator

"MIDI" -- Musical Instrument Digital Interface

    An international standard which allows communication between electronic
    music and lighting equipment from various manufacturers.

"MODULE"

"MULTITIMBRAL" -- capable of playing two or more timbres simultaneously
  From: awkerr@zia.aoc.nrao.edu (Alan Kerr)   (edited by K. Eno)
  Date: 5 Aug 92
    It means that there are multiple *timbres* on the machine: more than one
    different sound can play simultaneously.  A machine that is mulitimbral
    *usually* will let you play those different sounds on different MIDI
    channels.  "Layering" causes the synth to produce more than one sound when
    you press a single key; a "split" allows you to play one patch (a piano,
    perhaps) on one range of keys while you play a different sound (the bass)
    on another part of the keyboard.

"POLYPHONY" -- number of simultaneously playable voices
  From: crispen <crispen@EFFTOO.BOEING.COM>
  Date: 4 Aug 92

    - Polyphony and multi-timbrality.  The "polyphony" of a
    keyboard is the number of simultaneous notes that it can
    play.  However, the polyphony advertised by the manufacturer
    is usually greater than the polyphony you'll actually get,
    especially with multi-timbral keyboards.

    Imagine that you have a 16-note polyphonic multi-timbral synth.
    If you have a multi-timbral sound that has two "raw" voices that
    sound simultaneously, you're down to 8 different notes that can
    sound at the same time (16 notes of polyphony divided by two
    voices).  This is true even if the two voices are the same raw
    voice, but doubled to give a thicker sound.  If you have four
    voices in the multi-timbral sound, you're down to four notes
    that can sound at once.

    The real question, then, is how many voices (on the average)
    this keyboard requires to make up a multi-voice sound that's
    useful.  This will vary from one to four or more.  A sampler,
    for example, may only require one voice to produce exactly the
    sound you want, while some kinds of synthesizer will take three
    or more voices before the sound is halfway decent.

    When you exceed the polyphony limit (and the rule is that you
    never have as much as you want) different keyboards handle the
    overflow differently; most turn off the "oldest" voice first;
    some allow you to set the way overflow is handled.  Some quiet
    down the voice that's been turned off very subtly; others are
    noisy.  Many newer keyboards have "dynamic voice allocation"
    (DVA) which allows you to guarantee a certain number of notes
    on each raw voice; when you exceed the polyphony limit, the
    keyboard will steal from other voices with lower guarantee
    numbers so that you get more notes, but each note sounds a
    little thinner because not all the voices are sounding.

    You *must* check this out hands-on.  Play the multi-timbral
    sounds in the store with as many fingers on the keys
    as you will use in normal playing for those sounds.  If you
    like fat two-handed minor 11ths, you'll need a lot more
    polyphony than players who only play one or two notes at a time.

"PRESSURE" -- keyboard feature for sensing continuous key pressure

    Keyboards which are pressure-sensitive (or have "aftertouch", which
    is the same thing) can detect the amount of pressure on a key AFTER
    it has reached the end of its initial travel; this data can be used
    to vary the loudness or other characteristic of the sound, and usually
    sent as MIDI continuous controller messages as well.

    MONO pressure, also called "channel" pressure, detects the key that's
    pressed hardest; POLY pressure senses the individual amount for each
    separate key.

"SAMPLER" -- a device for playing back digitally recorded sounds
  (I know, I know, the Mellotron)

"SEQUENCER" -- a musical event recorder

"SPLIT" -- see "MULTITIMBRAL"

"SYNTHESIZER" -- device for producing sound through analog or algorithmic means

    As generally used, a musical instrument which produces a sound signal
    by means of either analog electronics or real-time, algorithmic generation
    of a digital waveform.  A variety of techniques are used:

    Additive synthesis
    Subtractive synthesis
    Ring Modulation synthesis
    Frequency Modulation synthesis
    Phase Distortion synthesis

  (But is a pipe organ a synthesizer?  How about "real" instruments"?)

"VELOCITY" -- keyboard feature for sensing how hard you initially play a note

    Velocity-sensitive keyboards detect how hard you play.  Usually they do
    this by measuring how FAST a note is played -- that is, by measuring the
    delay between the initial strike and the time the key reaches the end of
    its travel.

    The information is usually used to determine the loudness of the note,
    but can also cause effects such as a faster attack or a shorter overall
    envelope, depending on the internal architecture of the sound generator.


---

Q: Where can I get monthly price lists?

A:

	Contact Ken Shirriff (shirriff@sprite.berkeley.edu). There are
plans to make these lists available via ftp. I will make it available
from the NetJam archive and mail server if plans fall through.

		Craig

---

Q: Where can I get a USA music store list?

A:

	Contact William J. Sequeira (pixel@ihlpe.att.com). I am
waiting for info as to automatic availability of the list. I will make
it so if it there isn't any.

		Craig


+++

C: [Connectivity issues]

---

Q: What is NetJam?

A:

	NetJam provides a means for people to collaborate on musical
compositions, by sending Musical Instrument Digital Interface (MIDI)
and other files (such as MAX patchers and notated scores) to each
other, mucking about with them, and resending them.  All those with
MIDI-compatible (and other interesting) equipment, access to emailing
and compression facilities and to the Internet (send mail as below for
details), and who are interested in making music are encouraged to
participate.

	All participant and composition information is documented, and
the most actions, such as subscription, submission, translation, and
information distribution, are automated. NetJam is
platform-independent, so users of Macintoshes, PCs, Amigas, Ataris,
and machines running UNIX-variants may all communicate with each
other. There are currently 134 participants, from all over the world.

	NetJam has branched out from its initial incarnation to
support {soft/hard}ware other than sequencers. For example, many
participants have access to several interesting sound synthesis
programs, like CSound for the NeXT. In addition, NetJam archives
sampler and MAX patcher data. Any data relating to art and music is
fair game.

	Most NetJam activity takes place via email, in which
participants collaborate at their own pace on works. Recently,
however, a Wide-Area MIDI Network was implemented, so real-time
interaction is now possible.

	Submissions, participant info, and other data is archived on
xcf.Berkeley.EDU (128.32.138.1), where it is available via anonymous
ftp.  To receive the document from which this blurb is extracted (and
which explains NetJam at length) send mail to netjam-request@xcf, with
a subject line containing "request for info". Articles about NetJam
have also appeared in the Computer Music Journal (15/3), and the
Leonardo Music Journal (1/1).

	We look forward to hearing from you.


	Craig Latta
	musician and moderator
	latta@xcf.Berkeley.EDU

---

Q: What are some other emailing lists relating to electronic and
		computer music?

A:
	The nextmusic list discusses NeXT-related topics, contact
nextmusic-request@wri.com for subscription information.

	There are the EMUSIC-L and EMUSIC-D lists; unfortunately, I've
forgotten their subscription info. All I know is I'm subscribed...
don't you hate that? I just know I would embarrass myself in front of
millions of BITNETters if I tried to ask...
	
	
---

Q: What are some other midi-file/software archives on the Internet?

A:

Newsgroups: rec.music.synth
From: piet@cs.ruu.nl (Piet van Oostrum)
Subject: Re: Looking for MIDI ftp sites
Date: Sun, 9 Aug 1992 14:31:34 GMT
Reply-To: piet@cs.ruu.nl (Piet van Oostrum)
Organization: Dept of Computer Science, Utrecht University, The Netherlands

Midi files/software archives on the Internet.
---------------------------------------------

Note: the latest version of this file is available from the cs.ruu.nl
archive as MIDI/DOC/archives (See below how to access the archive).

There is an FTP archive at ucsd.edu [128.54.16.1] . It contains a.o. MIDI
files, patches and a few programs. See the directory 'midi'.

Also one at media-lab.media.mit.edu [18.85.0.2] (directory 'music/midi')

atari.archive.umich.edu [141.211.164.8] contains Atari stuff in directory
'/atari/music'.

scam.berkeley.edu [128.32.138.1] contains netjam submissions on midifiles
in directory '/misc/netjam/submissions/' You can also get info on netjam by
mailing to netjam-request@xcf.berkeley.edu a message with Subject: request
for info

princeton.edu [128.112.128.1] has a few midi files in directory 'pub/MIDI'.

louie.udel.edu [128.175.1.3] has patches, samples, sequences and software
in 'pub/midi/'.

altosax.reed.edu [134.10.2.28] has EPS-16+ samples in /pub/samples. A list is
in /pub/docs/samples/sample.index.txt. There are some programs for the EPS
in /pub/utils (Atari ST and MSDOS). See /pub/docs/utils for info.
There is also a mailing list for EPS-owners. Send mail to eps-request@reed.edu 
for info.

Archives of the Music-Research Digest can be found at
cattell.psych.upenn.edu [12128.91.2.173] in directory pub/Music.Research

impaqt1.mem.drexel.edu [129.25.10.1] has a couple of msdos files in
'pub/files/ibm/midi'

Cakewalk files can be found at nic.funet.fi [128.214.6.100] in
'pub/msdos/sound/cakewalk' and also on ucsd.edu (see above).

Amiga users can get some things by mail from mrcserv@janus.mtroyal.ab.ca
(send a HELP message first)

Some more midifiles can be found at a mail server at at&t (see info below).

There is also a listserv containing e-music related stuff at American
University.
Send a message to listserv@auvm.bitnet containing the line:
get emusic filelist

You'll find some NoiseTracker/SoundTracker MOD files, and Soundblaster
things on the following FTP sites:

	Garbo.Uwasa.fi        into: /pc/sb and /pc/music
	Saffron.Inset.Com
	Wuarchive.Wustl.Edu
	Simtel20.Army.Mil
        snake.mcs.kent.edu    /pub/SB-Adlib/ntmods.

------------------------------------------------------------------------

AT&T:

  There is a mail-server-based archive of MIDI stuff (midifiles and other
  things) maintained for the MMML (Mostly MIDI Mailing List).  Send mail to
  midi-request@blink.att.com for details.

------------------------------------------------------------------------
NOTE: I am setting up a midi archive on our machine, so if you have info
about PD stuff (programs and midifiles) please share with me. And if you
want to share some of your own things that will be appreciated.
The archive is available with ftp from ftp.cs.ruu.nl [131.211.80.17],
directory MIDI. Also by a mail-server - send mail to mail-server@cs.ruu.nl
with the following contents:
BEGIN
PATH <a valid mail address to you>
HELP
send MIDI/INDEX
END
Note: specify a correct address (e.g. user@host.univ.edu or user@host.BITNET)
------------------------------------------------------------------------ 
Piet* van Oostrum, Dept of Computer Science, Utrecht University,
Padualaan 14, P.O. Box 80.089, 3508 TB Utrecht, The Netherlands.
Telephone: +31 30 531806   Uucp:   uunet!mcsun!ruuinf!piet
Telefax:   +31 30 513791   Internet:  piet@cs.ruu.nl   (*`Pete')


---

Q: How do I contact the editorial staff of Electronic Musician
	magazine?

A: 

Date:         Thu, 19 Dec 1991 09:28:35 EST
From: Brian Adamson <adamson%ITD.NRL.NAVY.MIL@AUVM.AMERICAN.EDU>
Subject:      contacting Electronic Musician magazine
To: Multiple recipients of list EMUSIC-L <EMUSIC-L@AUVM>

   The Jan 1992 issue of Electronic Musician magazine tells
how to submit questions to the magazine via e-mail from
Internet.  (These questions are sometimes published in their
letters to the editor column).

   Simply e-mail to:

		EMEDITORIAL@PAN.COM      (their address on PAN)
--

		         Brian Adamson
      	                 NRL Code 5523
		         adamson@itd.nrl.navy.mil

+++

C: [Software]

---

Q: What is Keynote?

A:

	Keynote, a textual, graphical, and algorithmic music editor,
is available to Berkeley.EDU sites from xcf.Berkeley.EDU, under its
site license. Users at those sites may direct inquiries to
netjam@xcf.Berkeley.EDU. Others may direct inquiries to the author,
Timothy Thompson (tjt@twitch.att.com), via
keynote-request@twitch.att.com.

	A mailing list for discussions about Keynote has been created.
If you'd like to be added, send mail to keynote-request@blink.att.com.
If you don't know what Keynote is, here's a short description:

    Keynote is an awk-like programming language and graphical editor
    for MIDI data, with both algorithmic and realtime applications.
    The graphical interface is based on only a few built-in functions -
    the entire user interface of a complete music editor (piano-roll
    style with pop-up menus) is written in Keynote itself, and is hence
    completely customizable and extensible by the user.  Although it
    works best on UNIX systems under the X Window System, Keynote is
    portable and runs on the Macintosh and Amiga.

	Discussion on the list will include availability and porting
issues, usage hints and tutorials, sharing of user experiences, and
discussion of further development.  An archive server has also been
set up to allow sharing of documentation, examples, and music.

   ...Tim Thompson...AT&T Bell Laboratories/Holmdel/NJ...tjt@blink.att.com...

---


Q: What is Keynote?

A:

	Keynote, a textual, graphical, and algorithmic music editor,
is available to Berkeley.EDU sites from xcf.Berkeley.EDU, under its
site license. Users at those sites may direct inquiries to
netjam@xcf.Berkeley.EDU. Others may direct inquiries to the author,
Timothy Thompson (tjt@twitch.att.com), via
keynote-request@twitch.att.com.

	A mailing list for discussions about Keynote has been created.
If you'd like to be added, send mail to keynote-request@blink.att.com.
If you don't know what Keynote is, here's a short description:

    Keynote is an awk-like programming language and graphical editor
    for MIDI data, with both algorithmic and realtime applications.
    The graphical interface is based on only a few built-in functions -
    the entire user interface of a complete music editor (piano-roll
    style with pop-up menus) is written in Keynote itself, and is hence
    completely customizable and extensible by the user.  Although it
    works best on UNIX systems under the X Window System, Keynote is
    portable and runs on the Macintosh and Amiga.

	Discussion on the list will include availability and porting
issues, usage hints and tutorials, sharing of user experiences, and
discussion of further development.  An archive server has also been
set up to allow sharing of documentation, examples, and music.

   ...Tim Thompson...AT&T Bell Laboratories/Holmdel/NJ...tjt@blink.att.com...

---

Q: What is MusicTeX, and how can I get it?

A:

	MusicTeX is a TeX music typesetter, and is available via ftp
at the sites returned by 'archie musictex' (see entry on 'archie'
above for details).
	Sorry for the cop-out answer. Anyone got a better one?

		Craig

---

Q: What is MixView, and how can I get it?

A:

Date: Mon, 16 Sep 91 15:39:51 PDT
From: doug@foxtrot.ccmrc.ucsb.edu (Douglas Scott)
To: MixviewFans@foxtrot.ccmrc.ucsb.edu
Subject: mixview version 3.2 now available

Greetings to you all on my mixview mailing list.  The
newest version of mixview, my X - based soundfile
editor/processor, is now available on a new anonymous
ftp site where I now work:  foxtrot.ccmrc.ucsb.edu
(128.111.92.30), as pub/mixview-v3.2.tar.Z.  [Version 3.1
was withdrawn -- 3.0 was the most recent distribution].

The new version features a record command (for those of
you running it on NeXTs), plus a play command that allows
you to stop the play at any point.  As soon as I hear that
there is still interest, I will activate and debug the
record command for those of you working on
SparcStations.

Anyone who needs the source mailed via uucp, let me know.

As usual, please let me know if you wish to be removed from
my mailing list.


Douglas Scott                              (805)893-8352
Center for Computer Music Research and Composition
University of California, Santa Barbara
Internet: (NeXTMail ok)   <doug@foxtrot.ccmrc.ucsb.edu>


---


Q: What is "DUB", and how can I get it?

A:

Date: Tue, 11 Jun 91 11:05:54 PDT
From: Robert_Poor@NeXT.COM
To: nextmusic@silvertone.Princeton.EDU
Subject: DUB: Mixing and overdubbing in real time

Comrades:

Let's make a deal.  I have written "DUB," an application that mixes  
together multiple sound files on the fly and overdubs (records) at  
the same time.  It's ugly but it works but it's UGLY.  I'm not proud  
of it.  The user interface is the worst thing I've written since I  
-- 
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Craig R. Latta           Experimental Computing Facility                (XCF)
Composer, Software and   ParcPlace Systems, Inc.        (latta@parcplace.com)
    Recording Engineer   NetJam, Berkeley                (netjam-request@xcf)
Newsgroups: comp.music