Synthesizer and Electronic Music Equipment

Synthesizer and Electronic Music Equipment

Clavia - Swedish Synthesizer and Electronic Music Equipment Manufacturer

Clavia Nord Rack (Photo credit: Wikipedia)[/caption] Clavia is a Swedish electronic music equipment manufacturer that was founded in Stockholm by Hans Nordelius and Mikael Carlsson in 1983. The first Clavia product was the Digital Percussion Plate 1, the earliest electronic drum pad with sampling capabilities ever produced commercially, which they originally designed and built in a basement.

The Digital Percussion Plate would later evolve into the ddrum line of electronic percussion units in 1984, which proved hugely popular with drummers around the world. The ddrum line remained one of Clavia's most popular pieces of equipment until 2005, when the ddrum brand name was sold. Nowadays, Clavia is most well-known for its Nord Lead line of virtual analog synthesizers, the first version of which came out in 1995. The original Nord Lead was Clavia's first hardware synth and one of the very first virtual analog (or analog modeling) synthesizers available. The concept of virtual analog synthesis revolves around the use of digital signal processing technology to imitate analog waveforms.

Clavia expanded on the concept of software-powered digital emulation of analog technology with subsequent follow-up models of the Nord Lead along with the Nord Modular line of virtual analog modular synthesizers, which combine the reliability of analog modeling with the flexibility of modular internal synth architecture. Nord Modular users assemble their own synth components virtually on a computer, which is then reproduced by DSP chips on the synthesizer. Compared to other major synthesizer manufacturers,

Clavia is relatively small and employs merely a total of about twenty workers. Since the company's founding, all their synthesizers have been hand-made in Sweden using Swedish-produced components whenever possible. Taylor is a contributor at Alternative Electronics, the most comprehensive resource online for the music equipment used in alternative electronic music, where you can also read more about Clavia and their various products.

Clavia Nord Modular Rack Clavia Nord Modular G2 Engine Digital Music Corp MX-8 MIDI Patchbay patchbay Roland M-160 16ch line mixer (Photo credit: Wikipedia)[/caption]Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Taylor_P.

Moog guitars, magnetics and other mad craziness - Jamorama

Moog guitars, magnetics and other mad craziness - Jamorama

Electronic Music - The Top Tools of the Trade

Roland TR-909 (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Wurlitzer Sideman drum machine 1957, at the Cantos Foundation museum. One of the first drum machines ever built, it used solder connections to register a beat. This one has been fixed up heavily over the years in order to remain functional. It plays a sweet bassonova beat. Visited Cantos Foundation in February 2009 and took a lot of pictures and video. S l o w l y uploading photos & videos. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

the sequencer rack Roland TR-909 Roland TR-808 Korg KMS-30 Midi Syncronizer LadyAda x0xb0x #036 Korg ElecTribe SX (ESX-1) (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Sloppy pile of electronic music geek gear. left YAMAHA TG33 YAMAHA TG77 rack Behringer UB1832FX-Pro Alesis NanoVerb Novation Drum Station Roland n/a YAMAHA TX81Z Ensoniq ESQ-M on the table YAMAHA DX200 right Roland TR-707 (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

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Electronic Music - The Tools of the Trade

Since the dawn of electronic music some time in the late nineteenth or early twentieth century, musicians and inventors have been coming up with creative new ways to manipulate sound and make music. These days, there is an astounding array of hardware and software available to any artist. The tools a musician chooses to produce their music are as unique as their style. Below is an overview of some of the devices commonly used to produce electronic music:

Audio samplers
Audio samplers are instruments that can record, store and playback sounds. They often include tools common to synthesizers such as filters, pitch-shifters, and oscillators. Usually samplers come with a keyboard, sequencer, or some other form of controller. Samplers are often used to replace real instruments by musicians on tight budgets, but can also be pushed to create new, innovative, and creative sounds.

Drum Machines
Drum machines are widely used. They are popular in electronic and hip hop music. They are also often used during studio recordings and when human drummers are not available. The history of drum machines is quite long, but they never really entered public consciousness until Roland introduced the TR-808 and TR-909 in the eighties. Since then, the beats of the TR-808 and TR-909 have become some of the most recognizable sounds in pop music.

Sound Modules
What distinguishes sound modules from other electronic musical instruments is their lack of a playable interface. They must be paired with an external controller such as a midi keyboard, sequencer, or a trigger pad. Sound modules can be synthesizers, simple tone generators, digital pianos, samplers, and more. Some, known as drum modules, are geared towards producing percussive sounds. Most sound modules accept midi input and are rack mountable. Some famous modules include the Roland MKS20 and the Yamaha TX16W.

Tabletop Synthesizers
Like sound modules, tabletop synthesizers sport a small form factor. Unlike modules, they include a compact controller. Their size and portability can be an advantage for touring musicians and those short on space. Despite their small size, they can pack an incredible sonic punch. People familiar with club and dance music may recognize the sound of the tabletop Access Virus synthesizer. Another popular tabletop synth is the Minimoog Voyager XL.

Audio Sequencers
Audio sequencers can trigger patterns of notes as part of a drum machine, sampler, or synthesizer. These sequencers are often referred to as step sequencers and are usually monophonic. Sequencers can also be used to playback and record longer pieces of music, and arrange polyphonic material. These types of sequencers can be found in production stations and other standalone hardware, but have largely migrated to computer software where they are often included as part of a DAW, or digital audio workstation.

Production Stations
Production stations combine the power of audio sequencers, drum machines, controllers, and samplers. These standalone devices can be all an artist needs to make music. Oftentimes, they come pre-programmed with patterns and loaded with samples. The grooves of Akai's popular MPC series have unquestionably left their mark on hip hop music.

These days, computers are replacing a lot of electronic instruments that used to be only available as stand-alone hardware. Oftentimes, a DAW will include software equivalents of all of the hardware instruments mentioned in this article. Despite this fact, leading manufacturers continue to innovate and release new hardware instruments every year. This is good news for electronic musicians who now have almost unlimited choices as to what tools they want to use to create their music.

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Analog Music Gear For Under $300

Affordable Analog Synthesizers - Analog Music Gear For Under $300

 by P. Taylor

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Musicians and artists who swear by analog synthesizers and other analog music equipment can be found throughout all genres of electronic music. The alleged advantages of such pieces of gear include the absence of audio aliasing and quantization noise; however these audio anomalies are nonetheless introduced during later stages of the recording process when converting to digital format.

Review: Arturia MiniBrute analog synthesizer by soundsandgear

The true lure of analog gear is the character of the sound produced and the aesthetic of using vintage equipment, both of which are difficult to quantify.
In any case, the most sought-after analog music gear is often absent from the home studios of aspiring electronic musicians, due in no small part to the cost of acquiring such equipment. While certain models, such as the ARP 2600 for example, can easily cost many thousands of dollars, there are plenty of other popular models of analog synthesizers widely available for just a few hundred dollars.

The Roland JX-8P, first produced in 1985, is one such synthesizer. Used by bands such as Depeche Mode, The Human League, Covenant and The Future Sound of London, the JX-8P is regularly sold second-hand for around $200. Although programming capabilities on it are limited, the JX-8P offers musicians true analog sounds of the 1980s for a fraction of the cost compared to similar gear.

Another piece of budget analog music gear is the Matrix 1000 from Oberheim. As with the JX-8P, the Matrix 1000 requires an external programmer to edit its patches, though it comes equipped with 1000 presets from the legendary Matrix 6, with which is shares a common design and architecture. The Matrix 1000 rack unit is perfect for musicians who want to add an analog feel to their recordings without having to invest hours into patch programming. The Matrix has been used by bands ranging from Depeche Mode and Pet Shop Boys to:wumpscut:, Front 242, Mortiis and Juno Reactor.

While Moog and Sequential Circuits may be the big names in analog synthesis, musicians on a budget have a number of alternatives they can turn to in order to achieve the same great sounds.

Taylor is a contributor at Alternative Electronics, the most comprehensive resource online for the music equipment used in alternative electronic music, where you can also find the entire top 10 list of budget analog synthesizers.

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White Noise in Electronic Music

White Noise in Electronic Music

by James Hollow


It took a while for me to realise how much that hideous sound which comes out of an un-tuned TV is used in electro. It has many different uses, a few of which I shall list below.

• Giving synths a bit more character.
• Noise snares.
• Build ups and drops.

Adding white noise to synths
Doing this creates a bit of a retro vibe, or you can just use it to create a bit of "fizz". Some artists (Chris Lake) use it for making a bass synth a bit more filthy. Don't go overboard though, you just want to add a touch of grit, otherwise it'll just sound odd.

Build Ups and Drops
This is probably the most common use for white noise. Don't ask me why it works but it just does. For some reason the sound of a hiss just gets people going, I guess its sort of like the sound of pressure being released or something.
Anyway, it just helps make transitions a bit more exciting. You can often hear it straight at the beginning and many other times in many dance tracks.
There are thousands of other ways to make it your own too, like adding chorus, phasing, reverb and delay effects. One really great effect is to put a very fast LFO filter on it to give it a "fizzing" sound.

Noise snares
Adding noise to a snare will give it that real "pssht" sound (think Justice - Genesis). In fact, a lot of distinctive retro snares use a lot of white noise. These are generally used in drum and bass and hard electro, but can be used in most genres. It just helps to give it some real impact.

How MIDI Works in Electronic Music Production

How MIDI Works in Electronic Music Production

 

One of the biggest challenges facing electronic music is the ability to recreate the natural expression that is an intrinsic part of any human performance. From the guitarist who strums certain notes harder than the others to the flute-player who sustains some notes whilst shortening the rest, it is this human element that contributes to the beauty of music and prevents it from becoming monotonous and dull. So how can an electronic music producer inject this human element into the computer hardware, software & synthesizers that they are using?

The answer is MIDI. MIDI (or Musical Instrument Digital Interface) is a communications protocol which allows devices such as synthesizers to be connected to and controlled by a sequencer. Think of it as a series of instructions that can tell an end device how to behave. By carefully programming and automating MIDI control change (CC) messages, a producer can recreate the subtle nuances of a human performance in their digital instruments.

MIDI can be used to control how hard a note is played, how much pitch modulation should be applied, and even how much brightness a note should have. MIDI is also very useful for controlling rack mounted synths, as their external interface may not contain any physical real-time controllers.

The MIDI protocol makes 128 controllers available to any MIDI enabled device (CC 0-127). Many of these controllers are standardized and mapped to specific functions such as those mentioned above, whilst some are available to be interpreted by the device independently. Each controller has an associated variable parameter which controls the state of the function.

 One practical example of using CC messages would be to incorporate stereo panning in an instrument that is controlled by a particular MIDI channel. As control change 10 corresponds to Pan, the sequencer would need to send a series of CC 10 messages to the receiving device (eg. a synth). Each message would contain an instruction to set the Pan variable to a particular value. Each time that the specific control change message is received by the synth during the course of the arrangement being played back, it would adjust the Pan appropriately across the stereo field.

Alex likes to write on a number of subjects. He also maintains a site on stairlifts, which contains info on stairlift prices.  

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Synthesizer and Electronic Music Equipment

Synthesizer and Electronic Music Equipment

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Clavia - Swedish Synthesizer and Electronic Music Equipment Manufacturer

 

Clavia Nord Rack (Photo credit: Wikipedia)[/caption]   Clavia is a Swedish electronic music equipment manufacturer that was founded in Stockholm by Hans Nordelius and Mikael Carlsson in 1983. The first Clavia product was the Digital Percussion Plate 1, the earliest electronic drum pad with sampling capabilities ever produced commercially, which they originally designed and built in a basement. 

The Digital Percussion Plate would later evolve into the ddrum line of electronic percussion units in 1984, which proved hugely popular with drummers around the world. The ddrum line remained one of Clavia's most popular pieces of equipment until 2005, when the ddrum brand name was sold. Nowadays, Clavia is most well-known for its Nord Lead line of virtual analog synthesizers, the first version of which came out in 1995. The original Nord Lead was Clavia's first hardware synth and one of the very first virtual analog (or analog modeling) synthesizers available. The concept of virtual analog synthesis revolves around the use of digital signal processing technology to imitate analog waveforms.  

Clavia expanded on the concept of software-powered digital emulation of analog technology with subsequent follow-up models of the Nord Lead along with the Nord Modular line of virtual analog modular synthesizers, which combine the reliability of analog modeling with the flexibility of modular internal synth architecture. Nord Modular users assemble their own synth components virtually on a computer, which is then reproduced by DSP chips on the synthesizer. Compared to other major synthesizer manufacturers, 

Clavia is relatively small and employs merely a total of about twenty workers. Since the company's founding, all their synthesizers have been hand-made in Sweden using Swedish-produced components whenever possible. Taylor is a contributor at Alternative Electronics, the most comprehensive resource online for the music equipment used in alternative electronic music, where you can also read more about Clavia and their various products.

Beats software Download Click Here!

  

 Clavia Nord Modular Rack Clavia Nord Modular G2 Engine Digital Music Corp MX-8 MIDI Patchbay patchbay Roland M-160 16ch line mixer (Photo credit: Wikipedia)[/caption]Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Taylor_P.