Tunesmith is still highly numeric in nature, however - compare the screens - but apart from a momentary lapse into arithmetic icons it is considerably easier to understand than Fingers. One could be inclined to comment that the programmer, Jim Johnson, has learned a few lessons from Fingers. It's subtitled The Interactive Algorithmic Phrase Generator and was released a little later than Fingers. With this on if you reduce a Tim value, the following Tim will be increased accordingly to compensate. There is, however, at least one - Shift - which lets you preserve the overall length of a series. A few music-oriented adjustments would have been useful. Unfortunately, this is by no means guaranteed to produce interesting music. It can be used to produce some interesting rhythmic textures.ĭr T is, apparently, very much a boffin in the egghead mould and most of the processes involve numeric rather than music manipulation of the data. But they also contain some pieces which can best be described as experimental. However, they are easy to invoke.Īnd the result? Well, Fingers can produce melodic material as some of the demo files prove. It's nice to know just how random you're going to get and the manual describes what they do (this involves Guassian distribution curves). The affectionately-named series control elements enable you to split a column, link columns, skip elements, make loops and insert rests.Īnd what's a composition program with a random function? Fingers has two types of randomisation. Selecting inbetween values creates phase music in which lines drift in and out of time with each other. Time Adjust alters the speed at which a line plays. ![]() You can mute a line, reverse the movement of the line icons, alter MIDI channel and program number, transpose lines and adjust velocities. ![]() For example, you can adjust the timing of each line with advance/delay parameters and you can manually skip over elements. There are many other ways to manipulate the output. (This compositional technique is not new and can be traced back to the Middle Ages.) If you can imagine putting together a piece of music by creating separate pitches and durations you'll have an idea of what the output is like. Let's assume we've cut through the jargon and see what happens next.īasically, the Tim column supplies durations which are mapped onto the pitches in the Pit column. It's a shame because the program's operation is otherwise not too difficult to understand but it certainly goes against Dr T's aims of providing a program anyone can play. And we haven't mentioned the invisible arithmetic icons yet! If you're starting to feel a little lost, don't worry, you're not the only one! The terminology used throughout the program is self-indulgent at best and deliberately elitist at worst. There are a number of series control elements which may be put in a column to produce loops and skip parameters. Line icons labelled 1 to 4 (for each of the lines) step through the columns and their position next to a parameter determines that aspect of the note. The parameters are listed in columns called parameter series with the headings Tim, Pit, Vel and S/L (staccato/legato). ![]() Each line is constructed from four parameters - time, pitch, velocity and articulation. It produces four monophonic lines of music. It's subtitled the Interactive Composition Program and Dr T, says the manual, wrote it to be used by anyone, even those with no musical ability. Both run in high or medium resolution and both can run within Dr T's MPE (Multi Program Environment). Main Screen - altered colour for better dump!įingers was written by Dr T (Emile Tobenfeld) himself while Tunesmith was written by Jim Johnson who also wrote both the Tunesmith and the Fingers manuals.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |