SMF Reader for Scope
Anyone ever hear of Algorithmic Arts? My friend that has written 3rd party devices for the Scope platform, has informed me that this company has written a soft sequencer that could be used with Scope platform, that can also read SMFs. If this is true, it sounds complex, but I can't find anything on PlanetZ in regards to this. I would love to hear from anyone that uses this for algorithmic composition, or step sequencing, etc.
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blazesboylan
- Posts: 777
- Joined: Sat May 25, 2002 4:00 pm
- Location: The Great White North
- Contact:
John Dunn
BTW looks like your post got doubled...
Cheers & let me know what you find out!
Johann
<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: blazesboylan on 2005-09-06 22:55 ]</font>
BTW looks like your post got doubled...
Cheers & let me know what you find out!
Johann
<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: blazesboylan on 2005-09-06 22:55 ]</font>
Brother Man Johann, Thanks for the help. I searched for his name, but when I searched I put a space between his first and last name. That was enough to discourage further searches. I believe we have crossed paths in here before. Once again you have come to my rescue. The website explains very little, and I know nothing of algorithmic composition. My immediate concern is the SMF reader. I'm hoping to sequence on a QX-1 sequencer, and transfer it to Scope somehow. The last thing I want to do right now is add another layer of code on what I consider a very stable live rig right now. If it is in Scope, I tend to believe it will be more optomised. I would use Sonar, SX, or Live. But I don't like the ton of code that goes with them. Just a simple SMF reader, or 8 track sequencer with a way to send a click out. Do you know if Johns' device can do this? Also, I'll explain my rig, and why I want to use an internal MIDI sequencer.
2 x 88 note controllers
GS3 on MC3000, Scope on M Audio KS 88.
I layer Celmos Bluewave with Oberheim XPander. It's like having a PPG 2.3 with all the fat ass balls of a big Oberheim. I'm loving it. Ocassionally I use the Minimax which is quite good, and the B2003. STM1632 seems sufficient for live gig at this point
but I need to retire the Yamaha QX-1. It hasn't failed, EVER! But Scope's MIDI in seems to produce a noticable lag, to me at least, when the QX-1 MIDI out sends it info to the Scope MIDI in. It seems like a 15 to 20ms delay, and yes I can hear that. My drummers' ride cymbal is 6ms, this I can,t really hear, but the 15 to 20ms range I do hear. Since it's following a click that would be no problem live, but in my next gig after this tour, it's 6 nights a week. Yes back to the lounges temporarily. I have a vision where VDAT could have all the vocals pre-recorded, and I could use the SMF reader also. This would enable me to use the incredible sound of VDAT, and store multitudes of SMFs so when I come back to town from different tours, I can walk back into some of these gigs with no fear of lengthy rehersals with local winers. This would give me quite an edge with local EDs, and agents. Plus it'll sound great through Scope/GS3.
Thanks Again, as you can see I have entirely too much time on my hands.
2 x 88 note controllers
GS3 on MC3000, Scope on M Audio KS 88.
I layer Celmos Bluewave with Oberheim XPander. It's like having a PPG 2.3 with all the fat ass balls of a big Oberheim. I'm loving it. Ocassionally I use the Minimax which is quite good, and the B2003. STM1632 seems sufficient for live gig at this point
but I need to retire the Yamaha QX-1. It hasn't failed, EVER! But Scope's MIDI in seems to produce a noticable lag, to me at least, when the QX-1 MIDI out sends it info to the Scope MIDI in. It seems like a 15 to 20ms delay, and yes I can hear that. My drummers' ride cymbal is 6ms, this I can,t really hear, but the 15 to 20ms range I do hear. Since it's following a click that would be no problem live, but in my next gig after this tour, it's 6 nights a week. Yes back to the lounges temporarily. I have a vision where VDAT could have all the vocals pre-recorded, and I could use the SMF reader also. This would enable me to use the incredible sound of VDAT, and store multitudes of SMFs so when I come back to town from different tours, I can walk back into some of these gigs with no fear of lengthy rehersals with local winers. This would give me quite an edge with local EDs, and agents. Plus it'll sound great through Scope/GS3.
Thanks Again, as you can see I have entirely too much time on my hands.
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blazesboylan
- Posts: 777
- Joined: Sat May 25, 2002 4:00 pm
- Location: The Great White North
- Contact:
Ha ha don't we all! 
Well I'm no synth expert (in fact I'm about as synth-dumb as any luddite) but in response to your questions / thoughts / etc:
1) I'm afraid I know nothing about Algorithmic Arts. I was excited about the possibility of a MAX/MSP type environment based on SCOPE, but I haven't heard anything about John's progress and have never used his product. I am still intrigued though so if you find out more, please share!
2) From what I've seen (using the lovely SDK) the reason for MIDI lagtime is entirely because it is considered "asynchronous". Whereas audio is tight because it is "synchronous". To me this was a very unfortunate design decision...
Nevertheless I've found some *very* interesting results, using the SDK to build devices that have *no* GUIs. GUI features, I believe, slow down the asynchronous signals such as MIDI. If you have no GUI, suddenly the MIDI lag time disappears.
I have a project which is entirely MIDI remote-controlled. I used to use the standard CW devices, which necessitated delaying by as much as 100 ms between control messages. (Generally it wasn't quite that bad, but the PEQ4 was the particular problem. Even 100 ms wasn't always enough, and I would get the wrong freaking EQ bands changing gain/Q!!!)
Now that I've switched to a GUI-less setup, I can send a burst of several thousand MIDI control messages in a second or two -- and every control is set properly.
So it's just a guess that GUIs slow things down... But since I don't have anything else to go on, I'll believe it for now.
(I'm sure one of the resident smart people will ream me for my silly logic...
)
3) I'm not sure how many steps you need, but maybe Wolf's would be a good option?
Wolf Audio Sequencer
I have his superb Matrix Delay. I'm looking forward to having money again, some day, so that I can invest in more Wolf, Celmo and now Orbitone plugins...
Anyway I dunno if any of this helps at all, I hope at least a little, but man... I would love to see a slutty photo of all your gear some time!
Cheers s4l,
Johann
Well I'm no synth expert (in fact I'm about as synth-dumb as any luddite) but in response to your questions / thoughts / etc:
1) I'm afraid I know nothing about Algorithmic Arts. I was excited about the possibility of a MAX/MSP type environment based on SCOPE, but I haven't heard anything about John's progress and have never used his product. I am still intrigued though so if you find out more, please share!
2) From what I've seen (using the lovely SDK) the reason for MIDI lagtime is entirely because it is considered "asynchronous". Whereas audio is tight because it is "synchronous". To me this was a very unfortunate design decision...
Nevertheless I've found some *very* interesting results, using the SDK to build devices that have *no* GUIs. GUI features, I believe, slow down the asynchronous signals such as MIDI. If you have no GUI, suddenly the MIDI lag time disappears.
I have a project which is entirely MIDI remote-controlled. I used to use the standard CW devices, which necessitated delaying by as much as 100 ms between control messages. (Generally it wasn't quite that bad, but the PEQ4 was the particular problem. Even 100 ms wasn't always enough, and I would get the wrong freaking EQ bands changing gain/Q!!!)
Now that I've switched to a GUI-less setup, I can send a burst of several thousand MIDI control messages in a second or two -- and every control is set properly.
So it's just a guess that GUIs slow things down... But since I don't have anything else to go on, I'll believe it for now.
(I'm sure one of the resident smart people will ream me for my silly logic...
)3) I'm not sure how many steps you need, but maybe Wolf's would be a good option?
Wolf Audio Sequencer
I have his superb Matrix Delay. I'm looking forward to having money again, some day, so that I can invest in more Wolf, Celmo and now Orbitone plugins...
Anyway I dunno if any of this helps at all, I hope at least a little, but man... I would love to see a slutty photo of all your gear some time!
Cheers s4l,
Johann
Brother Man Johann,
Thanks for input. I will continue my quest for a 3rd party solution.
How can I send a photograph on the internet?
I am very illiterate on email, etc. I am constantly reading and learning, and would be happy to accomadate you if I only knew how. Plus I am traveling and using local libraries to stay online, for my audio computer has never been online, and will never be subjected to excessive bloating. It has been 100% stable, I even torture it sometimes with memory stress tests, and push the DSPs just to see if I can gag them. It doesn't gag until soft meter reads 90% plus. I am very happy to use Scope live with GS3. I like my sound better now than ever, and I have used acoustic Grand Pianos, Hammonds, CS80, XPander, ARP String, Lexicons, Leslies, D6 Clavinet, Chamberlin Melotron. The new rig sounds better than miked equipment of the past. This is the live rig that I use now. Send me some info on how to send pictures on the internet, and I would be honored to ablige.
The keyboard stand was custom made by Standtastic back in 1990. It can now be bought online at Musicians Friend. It holds my rackmounted LCD, and my Oberheim MC3000, and Oberheim XPander.
My backline rig is made up of an 8U SKB Industrial 24" Shock-Rack which consists of 4U ATX chassis, Surgex 1U Power Rack, Alesis Q20 for various plate algorhythms, Lexicon MPX-550 for various Halls and Rooms, and an MAudio 8 x 8 MIDI Rack. 2 x Barbetta Sona 31s,one on each side of the rack. On top of the rack is where the Motion-Sound Pro3T sets. All of these are elevated by 38 inches on top of QuikLok stands. 2 x BS336s for Barbettas, and the WS550 for the super heavy SKB. This is a fraction of the size of my x-hardware rig, and the benefits in sound sculpturing is incomparable. I am in a constant state of orgasm. My road crew slams beers 30 minutes sooner now. And I race to my room to keep playing. Yes its true, I pass up all sexual, and drug related advances. I am a changed man. I'm so devoted to my new rig, I have it set up in my room
and running a comparison sake DAT right along side of my rig within 45 minutes of our last song. Now thats what I call progress.
Be Fruitfull, and Multiply,
Jimmy V.
Thanks for input. I will continue my quest for a 3rd party solution.
How can I send a photograph on the internet?
I am very illiterate on email, etc. I am constantly reading and learning, and would be happy to accomadate you if I only knew how. Plus I am traveling and using local libraries to stay online, for my audio computer has never been online, and will never be subjected to excessive bloating. It has been 100% stable, I even torture it sometimes with memory stress tests, and push the DSPs just to see if I can gag them. It doesn't gag until soft meter reads 90% plus. I am very happy to use Scope live with GS3. I like my sound better now than ever, and I have used acoustic Grand Pianos, Hammonds, CS80, XPander, ARP String, Lexicons, Leslies, D6 Clavinet, Chamberlin Melotron. The new rig sounds better than miked equipment of the past. This is the live rig that I use now. Send me some info on how to send pictures on the internet, and I would be honored to ablige.
The keyboard stand was custom made by Standtastic back in 1990. It can now be bought online at Musicians Friend. It holds my rackmounted LCD, and my Oberheim MC3000, and Oberheim XPander.
My backline rig is made up of an 8U SKB Industrial 24" Shock-Rack which consists of 4U ATX chassis, Surgex 1U Power Rack, Alesis Q20 for various plate algorhythms, Lexicon MPX-550 for various Halls and Rooms, and an MAudio 8 x 8 MIDI Rack. 2 x Barbetta Sona 31s,one on each side of the rack. On top of the rack is where the Motion-Sound Pro3T sets. All of these are elevated by 38 inches on top of QuikLok stands. 2 x BS336s for Barbettas, and the WS550 for the super heavy SKB. This is a fraction of the size of my x-hardware rig, and the benefits in sound sculpturing is incomparable. I am in a constant state of orgasm. My road crew slams beers 30 minutes sooner now. And I race to my room to keep playing. Yes its true, I pass up all sexual, and drug related advances. I am a changed man. I'm so devoted to my new rig, I have it set up in my room
and running a comparison sake DAT right along side of my rig within 45 minutes of our last song. Now thats what I call progress.
Be Fruitfull, and Multiply,
Jimmy V.