The Yamaha AN1x Synthesizer mailing list

ARG!!

 I know! As I got home I blushed with shame. I remembered as an 
expert on a totally diferent field forum... when people came in a 
spilled their hearts out. hehe, I could smell their enthusiasm as I 
know you did mine. I promiss to take a bath tomorrow... or the next ;)

Sorry for the anxious driven "help!" post guys! The thing is, it is 
actually a TOUGH job being the frontman, manager, techy dude, 
composer and lyricist, arranger, stage manager and anything else you 
might imagine bla bla bla and fan club (lol) all at once... plus, 
full tme job, another band and last year psychology graduate!

 Some times I oveload in craziness

  And the thing is, my ISP cut my home connection, and at work it is 
a RARE privilage to actually be able to logo on, and when I do, I 
never know for how long 'till I'm kicked out! For instance, I had no 
lunch today to be able to be here. So when I touched the keyboard 
yesterday, I felt like a Ymgwie Malmsteen (?) super charging an 
alphabet super solo! I spilled everything I could remember before 
been thrown out!

 I have the manual, not the quick guide, but most of the lingo is 
strange and new to me, and I am LOVING the process and the scratching 
of my head. I do grasp it, baby steps, and by the minute I upgrade. 
But I've been give a real chance to shine with my band, very short 
notice and soon, invested all I had on the keyboard to pump our 
sound, came in 3 weeks late, and its way too much to deal with (and I 
am not including the an1x here...)... so my dispair was apparant.

 I have the editor and have made a sequence-order voice assignment to 
the bank, but there is still the mute. but I will eventually be 
creative to go round this. I have to print the pdf manual and get it 
near the keyboard for hands on practice.

 Thank you Jim and Rainbow Jimmy!

 And special thanks to Ed for the morphing explanation. It was 
fantastically helpfull and insightfull.

 cheers!

 El dude

 Ps: even still, everyone else is still invited to give their 2 cents 
worth... thanks!

 



--- In AN1x-list@yahoogroups.com, "Ed Edwards" <edward.edwards@v...> 
wrote:
> OK, Mr. Dude,
> 
> So far, you've received advice from two of our most knowledgeable 
and active
> list members.  If I might venture into what Jim and Jim Rainbow 
have said, here
> are a few ideas:
> 
> Referring to your numbered questions below -
> 
> 1. Morphing is a concept pulled from the visual world into the 
audio.  What
> Yamahaha was doing was enabling the change of sounds via a variable 
controller
> (wheel, knob or pedal) so that the parameters from one sound would 
gradually
> change to that of another.  Let's go to the visual world for an 
example.  So
> you've got a picture of a gorilla and a picture of Paris Hilton.  
First you have
> to use similar points in the visual range to morph between.  
Hopefully you've
> got a portrait of each, or a full picture.  If not, the morph won't 
work well.
> Remember Michael Jackson's amazing "Black or White" video?  Each 
morph was a
> portrait.  The morph points were strategically placed at the eye 
pupils, outline
> of the head, chin, jaw, hair, neck and chest.  So when the face 
went from one to
> another the morphing software was able to link similar points 
together.  To be
> able to morph from a portrait to a standing picture would have 
required that the
> person's chin grow legs, a body, feet and arms and just wouldn't 
work very well.
> Having similar starting points makes morphing work.   So too with 
the audio
> parameters in the AN1x.  Starting with a sound that makes use of 
advanced
> functions such as FM and trying to morph it into a simpler sound 
that is
> something like subtractive synthesis of a square wave won't work 
all that well.
> You've got to have similarities to morph between.  Remember, 
morphing is done
> between Scenes.  Two scenes are stored in each patch.  They can be 
as different
> as a gorilla and a banana.  Remember, there are 2 oscillators in 
each scene.
> One of the most common morphing mistakes is to have the oscillators 
in different
> ranges (out of tune, +12, -24, etc.) from each other.  When the 
controller is
> moved, the software has to move the pitch of the oscillator up or 
down to the
> other.  A lot of times it sounds like crap.  Try to match the pitch 
of each
> oscillator to the same range if you want to morph.
> 
> 2.  See above.
> 
> 3.  Jim Acker covered this.  Knob assignment is done in the Matrix 
section.
> 
> 4.  You need to experiment and learn which parameters are 
effective.  As a
> guitarist, would you lean down and turn up the feedback control on 
your chorus
> pedal during a ballad?  Probably not because it would begin to howl 
and whoop.
> Ya gots ta get the groove thang going on it, baby...!
> 
> Rainbow Jim is referring to making a "patch chain" where you place 
the sounds in
> sequential order and increment them as you need them live.  This 
can also be
> assigned to a pedal switch.
> 
> I enjoyed Jim Acker's statement "it takes time".  You've entered 
the nebulous
> world of synth programming.
> 
> May the spirit of Bob Moog live on in all who search for the 
elusive tweak and
> the most excellent sound.
> 
> Ed Edwards
> Leader: Ezekiel's Wheel  »»»»Retro-Progressive Rock««««
> http://www.ezekielswheel.com
> http://www.untiedmusic.com/ezekiel
> http://www.headholemines.blogspot.com
> °·.·°·.·°·.·°·.·°·.·°·.·°·.·°·.·°·.·°·.·°·.·°
> 
> 
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: AN1x-list@yahoogroups.com [mailto:AN1x-list@yahoogroups.com]
On
> > Behalf Of a_1x_dude
> > Sent: Monday, August 22, 2005 1:26 PM
> > To: AN1x-list@yahoogroups.com
> > Subject: [AN1x] Getting ready for live gig, help!
> >
> >
> >
> >  Hi everyone.
> >
> >  I am a first time, two week old, an1x owner :)
> >
> >  first time synth (I am a guitar-man) - and I've always wanted a 
moog
> > or a juno... blahh!! this baby ROCKS BIG! Plus it is a great midi
> > keyboard, the aftertouch is lovely. wow...
> >
> >  sorry for stating the obvious. Just that I am very VERY pleased.
> >
> >  I went ahead a leeched all your banks, tested practically every
> > voice available. This was to get aquainted with the an1x, the 
editor,
> > plus get sounds for an upcoming gig!
> >
> >  I will soon refer to it as OUR list bank, because as soon as
> > possible, I too will share my own coockings. I can just spend 
HOURS
> > jaming alone.
> >
> >  But I need your help. Please bear in mind I am a guitarist, first
> > time ever in contact with a keyboard. I have read and read and 
read,
> > but holidays are over, and have no time to investigate on my own!
> >
> >  1 - Is it possible to morph or pre-load one sound into another? 
What
> > I would need is to eliminate (if possible) the silent time between
> > one one voice to another. like, from a crazy thumping lead to a
> > sparkling space bubble fx .. but, simply holding the footswitch,
> > choosing the preset and hiting Y just mutes it...
> >
> >  2 - I undertand the concept of the scenes, but is it possible to
> > have to entirely different sounds on each scene, like the sounds I
> > tried to explain before? or are the scenes mere variations of the
> > same original sound? I am asking this because I quite honestly 
have
> > never been able to listens to a decent scene change that 
drastically
> > modified the identity of the first. Let me explain. Sorry for not
> > being quite clear, still have to get aquainted with synth-lingo ;)
> >
> >  I read scene 1 can morph to scene 2, or just jump strainght one 
to
> > another, or used both at the same time. Tried it, true, more or
> > less... I have been through gzillions of sounds, and none 
perfectly
> > morphed between scenes, there were always slight reminiscences of 
the
> > previous sound, and comparing that to the sound on the individual
> > scene higlighted (intead of both on, one at a time) - the 
difference
> > seems to be even higher!
> >
> >
> >  3 - When I load up a patch and start fidgeting with the knobs, 
90%
> > of the time I get on the screen, for example
> >
> >   42: - - - - - - -
> >     :   90
> >
> > Something like that. and does nothing. Have to manually choose 
what I
> > want. ok, so I got to assign it to a knob. Cool. How? I just cant
> > figure it out
> >
> >  But what puzzles me is that on that same patch/voice, with the 
same
> > lcd layout but on a different knob, a not too intense but quite
> > present ressonace sweep is obtained! Shouldn't it say
> >
> >  46: Ressonance
> >    :   46 (whatever)
> >
> >  so as to show that the knob is assigned to whatever parameter?
> >
> >  Shouldnt it just be silent?
> >
> >  4 - ok, so I am in a middle of a song right, and there is this 
part
> > where everyone is going to freak out sonicly. On some voices, I 
grab
> > a knob and tweak away really cool, but sometimes, when I press VCF
> > and go to, lets say, the feedback or ressonance or whatever, the
> > slightest twist to the left or right instantly mutes the sound (or
> > goes complete bonkers, or very high shreaks) because the knob 
before
> > being touched was in a position where the filter blocks the sound,
> > then I keep moving and the voice appears again and I now know 
where
> > NOT to go with the knob sweep. How to I proceed live? So I can 
create
> > AND repeat something audible and not just squizofrenic synth mumbo
> > jumbo at random? A piece o paper with the setting and before 
playing
> > ajust the knobs? on all parameters?! on all voices? isn't that 
just a
> > hell of a lot of work? I mean, because to find out the exact 
position
> > of each filter as to retain the original sound is almost 
impossible,
> > because what I end up doing in just steer away from the original
> > sound...
> >
> >  Damn, I am reading myself and I am getting confused. I a so sorry
> > for not being clearer. Anyway, sorry for the lenghty post, but I 
am
> > quite in a jam, the gig is coming up, I am the guy dealing with
> > EVERYTHING... eeek!! :)
> >
> >  thanks! Any suggestions highly appreciated!
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
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> >
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> >
> > The AN1x Control Synthesizer FAQ::
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