[linux-audio-user] Re: "Music" made with Linux!

Juhana recently posted:

(A) Someone who makes great songs with commercial synths should
replace the synth track with a track made with an open source synths.
For the demo purposes only.

(B) Someone could create a MIDI file which plays great with
commercial synths. The output should be recorded for us.
Then we try to create the same with open source synths, possibly
improving the software at the same time.

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While at first I thought: "I don't want to do this, but I'd like to hear
the results." But when Flo responded so negatively, I began to examine
my own reaction.

This is a good idea. All of the synth manufacturers that I'm aware of create
numerous tunes to show off the synth. It would be nice to have something
that allows one to compare sounds between synths as well. These demo tunes
usually show off advanced features of the synth, whereas sometimes all I
want is to hear a simple phrase. The Roland XV-3080 has a function wherein
by merely pressing in the volume knob, a phrase is generated so the user
can hear the tone (patch, instrument, performance, combination, etc.).
I use this function all the time to simply hear the difference between patches
and performances. It doesn't always work well, but it does help.

Now doing this will not be easy. The phrases chosen need to be chosen
based on the type of intrument and so on. For some instruments, it just
isn't possible to audition like this using MIDI files. But many synths
can do this. I'll probably start with variations of the Roland phrases.

I'll see what I can do to create a set of phrases for comparisions, then
ask that others add to it. If some sets of recordings could be posted
for popular synths, then users (esp. newbies) could decide whether or not
it would be beneficial to try and install it or go elsewhere.

Now I fully realize that one needs to hear tones in context and all that,
but surely people would admit to using audition functions for comparisons.
And it's possible to create audition phrases WITH context, too.

Thanks for that suggestion Juhana. I have my own instrument-creation
programs and will probably find audition phrases more useful than my
mere hacking on the keyboard.

Regards to all,
Dave.
Received on Tue Aug 9 00:15:06 2005