[sdiy] MIDI isn't musical : Flame bait? Hells, yeah!

[Ian Fritz]

At 05:53 AM 1/15/2002, Chris Randall wrote:
> > Obviously it would be dumb to take control information from an
> > instrument and just use it to control the same instrument.
>
>Wouldn't that statement more or less define the purpose of a sequencer,
>hard- or software? I think that since that is what most people use MIDI for,
>it may be obvious, but it certainly isn't dumb.

Umm ... don't most people record from a keyboard controller (which makes no 
sound) and play back to different synths? My statement was in response to 
the previous post which stated that it wouldn't make sense to instrument a 
Hammond with sensors and actuators just to be able to record and play back 
via MIDI. It sounds like you didn't read the posts and are taking my 
comment out of context.

> > The emphasis of commercial synths has mostly been on the note on /
>note-off
> > paradigm (which is why I have stayed with analog for most of my wind
> > controller work). But there are some devices that allow a fair amount of
>CC
> > modulation that can be used for enhancing expression. The Yamaha VL
>synths,
> > for example.
>
>The Yamaha VL series just make it obvious, to use your terminology.

Sorry, make *what* obvious.

>Most
>synths nowadays are able to take advantage of a fair number of control
>options, especially the knobby ones. I cite as an example the Kurzweil K2xxx
>series, in which most every parameter of a sound or sample can be controlled
>by whatever CC you choose to assign.

Things are definitely better in this area than a few years ago, and the 
K2xxx's are phenomenal instruments (if you can afford them). I would look 
at something like my JV-1080 as a more typical moderately priced machine. 
It allows only three modulation channels. As other poster have been 
indicating you would need many more channels than this for a good guitar 
synth.


>Are you confusing the actual method in
>which a device creates sound (VL being physical modelling, and with a nice
>compliment of sounds specifically designed to take advantage of CC#2 data)
>with what that same device spits out its MIDI port?

No, of course not.

>Define the fair amount of CC modulation that you need, please.

Huh? That depends on the application, of course.

>The keyboard
>itself, and whatever the manufacturer chooses to provide on the front panel
>for controlling sounds, have little or nothing to do with the MIDI stream,
>as far as playing that particular instrument in real time is concerned.
>(Brings us back to the B3 again.) Hence the EWI / EVI analogy is moot, since
>that is the panel and control surface that Akai (or whatever flavour you
>use) decided to provide you, the wind instrument afficianado, with. The
>controller interfaces directly to the unit. MIDI doesn't come in to the
>picture until after the fact, when you decide to go out on a limb and
>control another synthesizer or record your performance into a sequencer, bad
>timing and lack of expression be damned.

Sorry, I can't follow this at all. I didn't make any EWI/EVI analogy.

   Ian