mauriziodececco

By the way, nobody here remember the Arturia Origini https://www.soundonsound.com/reviews/arturia-origin, i think a 2009 exemple of what an hardware V Collection could be ? Maurizio

There is not a lot going on here as well. The screen/wheel is used essentially to navigate a tree like menu structure, so few line of text, to show one or two image pointing you to the instrument used by the current sound(s), to show the value of a parameter when you touch a know (without turning it), and to show and change the level of each part when you touch the part1 and part2 button. It is big enough for this work. About the controls: it have exactly the same controls that Analog Lab have, their bet is that there enough people using Analog Lab live to show that the wrokflow is adequate and putting it in hardware make sense. Personally, i'll wait for an hardware version of the full V Collection :), but i think it make a lot sense for a preset based gig. Maurizio

Yes. And take in account that the loading time regards sounds from the Augmented series plugin (three on 39 instruments), a very small part of the Astrolab capabilities. Synths, organs, epianos, etc load instantaneously (well, fast enough :). Maurizio

As i said in the dedicated thread, i visited the SynthFest France on Saturday. Arturia was there, with three Astrolab, i played a bit with one of them, and got a private and later a public demo/presentation. I resume what i heard/view in the following, trying to avoid to add my personal bias :). Just a bullet point description. The Astrolab is a version of Analog Lab in hardware. It is not a version of V Collection. Analog Lab is a preset based player of the sounds that V Colllection can generate. Their idea is to provide a way to bring Analog Lab on stage without a laptop. So, 4 macro controls, and 4 effect knobs, what you get in Analog Lab. And a large collection of presets. It is not a stage piano, piano plugin are included as a way to tweak and modify piano sounds, not to compete with a stage piano; they expect the Astrolab to be used as a second (upper ?) keyboard in most of the cases. Important point: the intend to keep Astrolab in sync with the new versions of V Collection/Analog Lab. As of today there are three instruments missing, but they will be added with an update this summer. Later, they will add the new V Collection instruments in future updates. Run on an ARM with a Linux kernel. The keyboard have bluetooth and wifi; it will be possible to load sounds on the fly using a mobile phone App connected to the keyboard by wifi. You can export/import a complete setup to an USB key. (to bring it to a backstage machine, for exemple). The audio input is routed to the plugins input: it is advertised for the vocoder, but actually it works for all the plugins that have an audio input; they tried with the MS-20 and they could use it as a mono guitar synth. Routing the audio to the effects/output is considered for future updates (if i understood correctly). Effects can be edited in detail using a menu tree. Some plugin (like the Farfisa, for exemple) may include effects in their structure; the effects on the front panel are added to those of the plugins. Loading time for the sounds (i think the subject have been already discussed here ?): modelled sounds are loaded quickly, without delay. But sounds based on samples (i.e. those of the Augmented family of plugins) take some time; they talked about 1 second. Sound navigation: various mecanisms, starting from user soundbanks, bookmarks to preferred sounds, and playlists. You have a row of category buttons to help searching sounds. Playlist have three levels (Projet - Song - Sound); and the category buttons become fast access buttons to the first ten sound of a song. Other sounds can be accessed using the wheel or the arrow buttons. As already remarked, no global random access to sounds. Splits: on a any key, using a color code for the by-key LEDs. Final, personal impressions: nothing to say about the sound, they are those of the Arturia Plugin, and they technical quality is great. Keybed; i was standing up at the wrong angle, but the keybed was good, i got the impression it was a little lighter than my NE6D 61 keybed, but a lot better than the MODX7. User interface: personally, i found it great: consistent and compatible with the philosophy of the keyboard. Screen is not too small, for menu navigation is surely better than what you have on the NE for exemple; so, for what they keyboard actually does, the UI is adequate and intuitive. The wheel is complemented by arrows buttons. Hope this helps, Maurizio

Sorry for the horrible photo quality. Anyway, the first photo is a photo of one of the surviving original PS3300, owned by Olivier Grall, that apparently have one of the largest collection of vintage synths in this part of the planet. It was in perfect working conditions, and we got a demo. The second, is a prototype of the Korg re-edition of the PS3300, that will be officially announced at the SuperBooth in Berlin. It was also in working condition and we got a demo of it, too. The main differences with respect to the original are less weight (the case is less deep), preset memories (that will include microtuning) and MIDI, including sending and receiving CC for the panel knobs (if i understood correctly). Both machines were off-limits, i could not try them :).

Last but not least. Spot the differences. More in the next post.

You know this one, but i had never saw it in real life. I tried it, the problem is the machine is intimidating, i like knobby machines but this was really too much, needs time to start to understand what you should tweak.

Well, this is not a preset machine. Clearly. Two people needed to patch it. I haven't tried it, and for the sound, they were building something, but it was early, just blips and raw oscillators :). Maurizio

As i discussed a couple of years ago, having gained 2 euros in royalties made me officially a professional musicians (from the point of view of the french administration) and now i have to fill forms each year to declare how much i gain from music (spolier, 0 euros :). But his have some advantages, one of them being invited to visit the SynthFest France. Got a free ticket (not big deal, tickets are very affordable) but the nicest part was a tour of the hot spot of the exposition before the place opened for the public. SynthFest is a small SuperBooth, with a few big player (Nord, Arturia, Korg, Sequential, Novation), and a lot of small artisanal producer. I have the possibility to try the Astrolab (but i discuss this subject in the corresponding thread, not here), and to see and hear a few interesting objects. In the couple of posts, i'll show the photos of these objects, and some comments when appropriate. Maurizio

Why it should ? It is not a ROMpler, Arturia VIs are modelled (VA or other technique) (with the exception of the new 'augmented' stuff). I think an NI equivalent would be a ROMpler, and if playing all the Komplete stuff would be highly competitive with existing keyboards. Arturia stuff is a lot more on synths and vintage keyboard emulation ; i love playing the Farfisa Compact, it have exactly the same 50Hz hum that had my Compact when i was a teenager :). Anyway, I cannot really wrap my brain around the idea: as a VA synth, is probably one of the most powerful ever produced; for exemple you got an ARP 2600, an EMS VCS3 and a Buchla Easel, and a Moog Modular emulation inside, do you know any other VA keyboard that is modular (Nord Modulars excluded) ?. On other side, even if it is all this, is a preset machine, fully programmable with your computer if you have a V Collection. So, full dive in the studio to prepare the performance. So, in some sense, the same use case of instruments like the MODX. A lot less fun :). IMHO, giving the two point above, the one split point and the limited UI and controls make sens; anyway, you cannot use the UI to tweak the sounds in depth, so, the whole set seems at least coherent. Anyway, this weekend there is a SynthFest in Nantes, in France, and Arturia will be there; i will be there the Saturday, and if they present the Astrolab I'll try to check it out, and I'll report :). Without any guarantee, send me your specific questions in PM, if possible i'll try to get an answer. Maurizio

In an electro/jazz/ambience projet, a NW2 too. Maurizio

Ehm, after all this great music, difficult to post :). But i would like to share my progress on the melodica with the community. Again a concert with my class at the American School of Modern Music in Paris. coached by Aneta George. First video is Spleen by Richard Galliano: Second Video: Beatrice (Sam Rivers) and Happy People (Kenny Garret): Thanks for listening :). Maurizio

A random sequence is a sequence that in order to be generated by an algorithm need an algorithm whose size (in number of instructions or lines of code) is proportional to the length of the sequence. 🥸 Maurizio PS: just a one of the definition used in IT. It may require more details, but the idea is there

Exactly the conclusion I arrived to after using the MODX for a couple of years in electronic and jazz improvisation based setup. Not being actually able to do any unplanned adjustment in the rehearsal/gig setup ruled out its use in the electronic experimental project; extra financial given by the sale of an OB-6 allowed to switch to a Nord Wave 2 (discussed already in another thread). In this context, I fully use the NW2 interface to tweak the sound while playing; usually I ends up with a very different patch at the end of each piece. Nice way to generate new presets that will be tweaked next time. I continued to use it for my jazz/funk setup, but even if the sound were great (Purgatory Creek Rhodes), and the live tweaking a bit less fundamental (but still important), it was the key bed that I really couldn't adjust to, even after two years. I was happier with the NW2 keyed, so I finally decided I really am a Nord guy, and switched back to a Nord Electro 6D 61, just a bit heavier (and financially affordable with the sale of the MODX, probably we are lucky in Europe). Of course, this is just me, and my specific set of projects and workflows. For studio work, while I liked the MODX sound, I largely prefer a computer only workflow, at least for digital sound sources. Maurizio

Eh eh, i was about to write the same thing, my brother is also a drummer, and we do the same thing, sometimes in band, sometimes alone just for fun. It just started a few years later (around 75).

AFAIK, the Mk3 still have some kind of TP100. I searched the NI forums of the subject, and i found something in this sense, but i found no official information, so you should double or triple check before believing me

Do you see any potential value/interest in the Apple Vision Pro (or similar AR devices ?) ? Like interacting with 3D controls while playing ? Should i resurrect my MIDIBlob application for the Apple Vision Pro (just joking) ? Maurizio

Well, my dream machine would be a new synth (sort of, probably), a new keyboard instrument that like the B3 or the Rhodes at the time (or like the Mini Moog, or like the Prophets/Oberheim/DX at their respective time) will generate a new set of styles, a new keyboard language, even a new industry sector. Something that will inspire a new generation of musicians, and a new generation of me-too, and later clones or even real copies made by Behringer, with its set of patent and copyright infringements allegations. Something new, something innovative, something fresh. What ? I have no idea, i don't work any more in the music related IT research :). Maurizio

I have an arrangement similar to what other described: a table fixed to the wall (60 cm depth), 32" with a wall support, monitor fixed too to the wall, and below a keyboard on a K&M 11810. No wheels, i just move it (the floor do not need special attention). A word of caution: initially i used a taller keyboard support, and the table was around 4/5 cm higher. I used this set up as my office for working from home, in the Covid times and i still do three days a week. After a few month, i started develop pain in both shoulders, slowly growing with time. After my doctor was a tendonitis or bursitis. Luckely in the same period i got some training on workplace ergonomic in my job, and i realised what was the problem. I bought a better, higher seat, and changed the keyboard support, lowering the table, and the pain went away. So, if you use the studio many hours a day, take care that it is correctly dimensioned, especially concerning the height of the chair and table. Maurizio

A few years ago, we had a concert with my jazz/funk group; we invited a friend band to do a couple of songs during the break; the singer put a one pint glass of beer on my then shine new Nord Electro. The morning after i subscribed an insurance for all my instruments, covering accidents and theft in concerts and rehearsals 😎

Well, if you look around internet you’ll find many slightly different definition of the terms; on a nice answer on Quora, for example, a guy define the note as a kind of event or object, that have two attributes, pitch and length. And then go on saying that pitch id the perceived highness of a note, and can be defined as a frequency or a name. In the context where i was working, pitch was intended as a continuous value, corresponding to semitones/cents away from a more or less arbitrarily reference note (a C0 of some sort). This value is continuous, like frequency, and correspond to a specific note when close enough in the specific scale you are using. Ok, this is a very physical/mathematical and arbitrary definition of the concept, but since it was used in writing software, it had to be. But outside the terms and their definition, the point i was making is that the human hear/brain is not sensible to frequency or more precisely to differences between frequencies, but to the logarithm of frequency, or more precisely to ratios between frequencies. Maurizio

Yes, i worked with Miller Puckette for a few years (before he left Paris for San Diego) and Eric Lindemann; i met David Ziccarelli a couple of times. First on Max/Fts on the ISPW, later on the software only project that became finally jMax. Great time. About the cepstrum, i probably lost a couple of details since the time 😉; actually i worked on the software infrastrutture (Max itself) and not on the application. I miss those time quote a lot 😜 Maurizio

Well, i know that the discussion moved on, but a bit of technical information can be interesting, so i'll add it, feel free to ignore :). A long time ago, i was working a Ircam, on the Max family of software; one of the things Max was user for were interactive algorithmic compositions; essentially, a Max program reacted to what the musicians were doing, trying to follow them on the score, and adding sound or effects or lights or whatever. Pitch recognition was an important part of the process. I am sure that there have been many progress since then (almost 30 years ago :), but at the time the algorithm (called cepstrum if i rember well) used was not based on the above definition, but on the analysis of the harmonics structure; the algorithm applied an FFT to the FFT of the signal; if the spectrum of the original signal jave a periodic content it means that the original signal have a regular harmonic content, and probably something that can be perceived as a pitch; so, by taking the spectrum of the spectrum, the fundamental of this spectrum tell you the regular distance between the harmonics in the original signal spectrum, and so the pitch. Sorry if it sound complicated, it actually is :). In other words, instead of looking to the fundamental, that may even not be there at all, you look at the harmonics, and see if they are organized as if harmonics of a given fundamental. It worked well for monophonic instruments, woodwinds and brass, usually. I think it should more of less work also with instruments like a piano where you actually have three (very close) fundamentals and three set of harmonics. What the actual ear/brain does i have no idea, i am computer scientist :). Maurizio PS: final point, not especially important: pitch is not frequency, pitch is the base 2 logarithm of frequency; hopefully, because the fact that the harmonic structure is linear with frequency and the the pitch perception is logarithmic is what "allows" complex harmonic structures.

Either commuting, on earplugs or Bose headphones with my phone, or at home usually cooking, using KEF LSX. Or when studying music in my super-small home studio/office (4m2), using Mac on Genelec monitors. Source is usually Apple Music. Maurizio

I do not have perfect pitch; i cannot give a name to a note; but i cannot improvise on a transposed keyboard; my hand fell in the wrong place, somehow my brain connect 'pitch as perception' to the physical reality of a key (more that visual, i play melodica with closed eyes usually :). This make me think that the perception behind pitches is a very complex and articulated phenomena. And by the way, just to make things more complex: even if you stick to physical definition, pitch is not strictly frequency of oscillation; it is, if you have a sine wave; if you have a piano, with three strings generating a lot of almost but not completely harmonic partials, it is something a lot more complex to define, mathematically speaking. Maurizio