The Yamaha AN1x Synthesizer mailing list

----- Original Message ----- 
Fra: Bruce Wahler <bruce@...>
Til: <AN1x-list@yahoogroups.com>
Sendt: 1. juni 2001 14:20
Emne: Re: [AN1x-list] Violin Sound


> Jerry,
> 
> >Can anyone offer me any tips for a violin sound (especially envelope
> >settings). I am thinking of a solo fiddle, not a string pad. I don't
> >expect it to be realistic, just playable in a fun way.
> 
> I've never done a fiddle on the AN1x, but I have programmed the sound on 
> various synths over the years, and here are some thoughts:
>     * If you're starting with a string-patch sort of sound, remove most, if 
> not all, of the chorus and detune from the sound.  A real violin has some 
> interesting phase relationships going on, but cyclical swirling isn't one 
> of them.
>     * Violinists/fiddlers use widely varying styles of bowing the 
> strings.  I usually start with a very long attack on the notes, with 
> velocity modulation added to shorten the attack of both the VCF and 
> VCA.  This way, if notes are played softly, they are lightly/slowly bowed, 
> while harder notes are quickly bowed.  The amount of modulation varies, 
> depending on the player's technique, so you'll need to experiment 
> here.  Legato mode may help, too, as the first note of a fast passage often 
> has a much longer attack than following notes.
>     * Pitch bending is a very important part of solo violining.  Portamento 
> may provide the amount you need, but I rely on the pitch and ribbon 
> controllers.  I usually set the pitch wheel for +/-12 steps, so that I can 
> make those head-for-the-clouds bends at the end of a lick.

You may remember me...I'm a newcomer and you (as always it seems) gave me some great advice on building up sounds. By the way...thanks it all helped...

    But your statement here was interesting too. I have only briefly played with the ribbon controller and meant to get back to it but have been busy with other, mostly using the modulator wheel. What is the advantage of the ribbon? Why is it (or is it?) more natural for example than a mod wheel....in what kinds of cases do you prefer the ribbon over the mod wheel?

While we're at it, I know I can assign most (if not all) parameters to a controller...but if anyone had a list over the TOP best things to assign to the mod wheel, and also to the ribbon controller I bet it would help....Anyone?

I know I have assigned really dumb things to it...to find out they don't affect the sound or not in a nice vibrato way, or anything...a lot of times I mess it up and assign a paramter that then won't unset....:-)

Thanks
Jim

>     * Solo violin playing relies heavily on vibrato, added in after the 
> initial attack.  Some players use delayed vibrato only; others use the 
> wheel or ribbon (Z-axis) to add it.
> I hope this helps.
> 
> Regards,
> 
> -BW
> 
> --
> Bruce Wahler
> Design Consultant
> Ashby Solutions"
> www.ashbysolutions.com
> CloneWheel Support Group moderator
> 978.386.7389  voice
> 978.964.0547 fax
> bruce@...
> 
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Jim,

At 12:50 a 6/2/2001 +0200, you wrote:
>----- Original Message -----
>Fra: Bruce Wahler <bruce@...>
>I have only briefly played with the ribbon controller and meant to get 
>back to it but have been busy with other, mostly using the modulator 
>wheel. What is the advantage of the ribbon? Why is it (or is it?) more 
>natural for example than a mod wheel....in what kinds of cases do you 
>prefer the ribbon over the mod wheel?

It's not necessarily more "natural" than the wheel, but it is a lot faster, 
and more closely coupled to the player's hand movements, IMHO.  It also has 
the advantage of an automatic return-to-zero as soon as the hand is removed.

I prefer the wheel when I plan to add a constant amount of modulation for a 
fairly long time -- opening a filter, or panning/morphing from one sound to 
another -- or when I need greater accuracy.  I prefer the ribbon for quick 
stabs, or when I want to modulate two things at the same time.  (The 
two-mod technique is tricky at first, but it comes in handy!)  As with all 
human interfaces, whether you agree or not is a matter of personal taste.

>While we're at it, I know I can assign most (if not all) parameters to a 
>controller...but if anyone had a list over the TOP best things to assign 
>to the mod wheel, and also to the ribbon controller I bet it would 
>help....Anyone?

It's really personal taste, but here's my $0.02:

Mod Wheel -- vibrato, if it's used in an on/off sort of way; VCF cutoff or 
resonance; slave VCO frequency on sync patches; morphing

Ribbon X -- pitch bends:  I like to set it up so that up OR down movements 
from center cause the same change (both up or both down); slave VCO 
frequency (for talking sounds)

Ribbon Z -- very heavy vibrato, for quick stabs


Regards,

-BW

--
Bruce Wahler
Design Consultant
Ashby Solutions"
www.ashbysolutions.com
CloneWheel Support Group moderator
978.386.7389  voice
978.964.0547 fax
bruce@...

> But your statement here was interesting too. I have only briefly 
played with the ribbon controller and meant to get back to it but 
have been busy with other, mostly using the modulator wheel. What is 
the advantage of the ribbon? Why is it (or is it?) more natural for 
example than a mod wheel....in what kinds of cases do you prefer the 
ribbon over the mod wheel?

>>>>>>For me, the big difference is that you can attack the ribbon, 
anywhere along it's length. You don't have to slide up from zero or 
64 to get there. This makes it great for trills, if it is assigned to 
pitch for example. As bruce said its good for fast stuff. The only 
weak point of it, is that it has only a 128 step resolution, so you 
have to keep the pitch range pretty small, if you are using it for 
pitch (the pitch wheel, by comparison has much more steps, I think 
128 times 128 according to the midi spec, so you can do huge sweeps 
without a stepping sound). I find that for other things, the ribbon 
is pretty good, but again, you have to keep the range small, or the 
sound gets grainy.


> While we're at it, I know I can assign most (if not all) parameters 
to a controller...but if anyone had a list over the TOP best things 
to assign to the mod wheel, and also to the ribbon controller I bet 
it would help....Anyone?

>>>>>>>>>The mod wheel - I tend to use very traditionally. For more 
lead and bass typs sounds I use it for vibrato/tremolo application 
and for patch morphing. For pads, I sometimes program a timbral 
change (filter cutoff, pulse width, etc) so I can control the mood of 
the song.

On the ribbon - I have a couple of tricks that are particular to the 
An1x. Basically the ribbon on the AN1x is great for triggering things 
like envelopes. One thing I like to do is create a pitch envelope of 
about 20-30 and a pitch depth of zero. Then I assign pitch depth to 
the ribbon (X axis). I set this value to "direct" so that the 
midpoint is no envelope, the left-hand-side of the ribbon is a sweep 
up and the right-hand-side of the ribbon is a sweep down. Now if you 
just control the pitch of both oscillators with the pitch envelope, 
you get regular results, but remember that the more synthetic-
sounding features of the AN1x can be modulated by the pitch envelope 
also (FM, Oscillator sync etc). I usually just have one oscillator 
swept by the pitch envelope, so that the oscillators 'grind' against 
each other. So now when playing, your patch sounds normal (because 
the pitch envelope depth is zero), but if you tap the ribbon, you 
hear an explosion, as the pitch envelope creates FM, or other 
interesting sounds. Where you tap on the ribbon, determines the pitch 
and direction of the explosion. So you can have a lead sound and when 
you reach a climax, you can trigger these noises. A pretty cool 
synth, because it sounds like a modular with these effects.

Also the Z axis is great for wah things like opening the filter. 
Especially if you have a lot of amplifier feedback (try the BEF 
filter with a lot of feedback), you can make it scream when you press 
the ribbon (Z pressure). Remember you don't have to use the LPF all 
the time, as you can control the brightness of the sound with the osc 
edge. Don't hurt your ears doing this. It can be really nasty.

My $0.01. I hope these ideas help. I myself am learning a lot from 
these discussions.

Cheers,

Jerry