Monthly Archives: January 2019

Yamaha piano voice programming

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Most of my live playing adds orchestral instruments or B-3 organ to our liturgical church group (synth plus 12-string guitar plus grand piano). Thus, I don’t dip into either acoustic piano or electric piano too often.

Recently, we prepared a number of gospel tunes in honor of Dr. Martin Luther King. Rather than jump to B-3, I decided to practice a few songs on electric piano. The release of the new Yamaha CP73/CP88 was nearly coincident, and naturally, I became curious about the implementation of acoustic and electric piano on MODX, the closest cousin to the CP73/CP88. It also gave me a chance to explore EP on Genos™ and to try using Genos as a controller for MODX.

MODX acoustic pianos

First, a dive into MODX acoustic pianos. Montage and MODX essentially have the same sound engine, modulo differences in polyphony and a few other details that aren’t relevant to this discussion. Therefore, anything I say about MODX should apply to Montage, too.

The basic voice programming unit in MODX is a Performance. A Performance is a versatile “container” for up to 16 Parts. Parts can be split, layered, mixed and so forth. Each Part is itself a powerful programming unit consisting of up to eight Elements, where each Element is a mini, sample-playback synthesizer. (Yeah, yeah, or it could be FM.) That, in a nutshell, is the hierarchical programming breakdown. In Yamaha-speak, each Element plays back a Waveform.

The deal is, contemporary high-quality piano voices need several levels of velocity switching in order to generate the wide dynamic range and timbre of an acoustic or electric piano. These voices are sometimes called “multi-strike” because each note is struck and sampled at several, carefully controlled velocities.

In the Yamaha voice architecture, each strike level is encoded in a Waveform. One Waveform (i.e., the samples associated with a single strike level) is assigned to an Element.

Let’s say that you want to create a highly detailed acoustic piano (e.g., Yamaha CFX) with nine strike levels and key-off sounds. Right away, you need more Elements than a single Part can provide! Thus, Yamaha implement the piano as a Performance consisting of multiple Parts.

Take the Montage/MODX CFX Concert Performance, for example. This Performance consists of four Parts:

Part 1 (six elements)

    El#  Waveform       VLo  VHi  NLo  NHi
    ---  -------------  ---  ---  ---  ---
     1   CFX ppp St       2   25  C-2   G8
     2   CFX pp St       20   35
     3   CFX p St        36   45
     4   CFX mp St       46   59
     5   CFX mf St       60   74
     6   CFX f St        75   92

Part 2  (three elements)

    El#  Waveform       VLo  VHi  NLo  NHi
    ---  -------------  ---  ---  ---  ---
     1   CFX ff St       93  110  C-2   G8
     2   CFX fff St     111  125
     3   CFX ffff St    126  127

Part 3 (eight elements)

    El#  Waveform       VLo  VHi  NLo  NHi
    ---  -------------  ---  ---  ---  ---
     1   CFX pp St        2   35  C-2   G8
     2   CFX p St        36   45
     3   CFX mp St       46   59
     4   CFX mf St       60   74
     5   CFX f St        75   92
     6   CFX ff St       93  110
     7   CFX fff St     111  125
     8   CFX ffff St    126  127

Part 4 (one element, XA control: Key Off)

    El#  Waveform       VLo  VHi  NLo  NHi
    ---  -------------  ---  ---  ---  ---
     1   CFX KeyOff St    1  127  C-2   G5

That’s 18 Elements total. The Elements in Part 3 are a layer on top of the Elements in Parts 1 and 2. The Elements in Part 3 have different filter programming (and maybe something I haven’t discovered yet…)

Perhaps the voice programmer could have squeezed everything into three Parts, but in for a penny, in for a pound. In terms of versatility and re-usability, it makes sense to split the Elements (and their Waveforms) into four Parts.

By the way, the Montage/MODX CFX Concert Performance employes the Damper Resonance DSP effect, which is the same algorithm (effect type) as Genos. Damper Resonance is [u]not[/u] the same as Clavinova’s Virtual Resonance Modeling (VRM). VRM is a step up. This is another topic which comes up frequently in forums.

On the other hand, the single part MODX CFX Stage Performance consists of eight elements:

    El#  Waveform       VLo  VHi  NLo  NHi
    ---  -------------  ---  ---  ---  ---
     1   CFX pp St        2   35  C-2   G5
     2   CFX mp St       36   59  C-2   G5
     3   CFX f St        60   92  C-2   G5
     4   CFX fff St      93  125  C-2   G5
     5   CFX ffff St    126  127  C-2   G5
     6   CFX mf St        2   59  G#5   G8
     7   CFX fff St      60  127  G#5   G8
     8   CFX KeyOff St    1  127  C-2   G5

Please take note of the key ranges. Up to G5, the CFX Stage has five strike levels. Above G5, the CFX Stage is a two strike piano. Good enough for rock and roll.

The Genos voice programming structure is more restricted than MODX. Each Genos voice has eight Elements. Thus, there is a fundamental limit to the number of strikes in a single Genos voice. I wouldn’t be surprised if the Genos CFX Concert Grand voice has similar programming. Proving this hypothesis would require carefully controlled experimentation and A/B listening.

Using Genos as a controller

Genos has a rather nice FSX action keybed which is better suited for acoustic and electric piano than MODX6 or MODX7. A weighted action is even better, of course. [I did rather enjoy playing the MODX8.] I don’t play piano often enough to deal with the extra physical weight of a hammer action keybed. You make your own bed and have to lay it in! With Genos on hand, it’s worth exploiting its FSX action as a controller.

MODX assigns a MIDI channel to each Part. The CFX Concert Performance has four Parts on MIDI channels 1, 2, 3 and 4. [This assignment is sometimes a source of frustration when sequencing with multi-Part Performances, but that’s a topic for another day.]

If we want to use Genos as a controller, we need to know the MIDI transmit channel assignments. By default, the Genos sends RIGHT1, RIGHT2, RIGHT3 and LEFT on MIDI channels 1, 2, 3, and 4 respectively, all on Port1 (AKA “MIDI A”).

First, connect the Genos MIDI A OUT to the MODX MIDI IN using a standard 5-pin DIN MIDI cable. Select the MODX Performance. Next, turn on the Genos Parts (RIGHT1, etc.) which will send MIDI data to the MODX, using the PART ON/OFF buttons in the left right corner of the Genos front panel. Finally, play.

If you get surprised by what you hear, i.e., sounds are missing, then check the Genos MIDI transmit settings and the MODX MIDI receive settings. Use the Transmit Monitor on the Genos side to make sure that you are transmitting on the correct channels via MIDI A (Port 1).

When I connect Genos to MODX, I can the first three MODX Parts in the CFX Grand Performance by sending RIGHT1, RIGHT2 and RIGHT3 on MIDI channels 1, 2 and 3. You get a pretty decent concert grand. You won’t hear any of the key-off sounds because the Genos is not transmitting on channel 4.

MODX electric piano

Let’s take a brief look at one of my favorite MODX Rhodes piano Performances: Case 73 Soft. The Case 73 Soft Performance has two Parts:

Part 1 (eight elements)

    El#  Waveform       VLo  VHi  NLo  NHi
    ---  -------------  ---  ---  ---  ---
     1   Rd73 p           1   49  C-2   G8
     2   Rd73 mp         50   85  C-2   G8
     3   Rd73 mf         86  108  C-2   G8
     4   Rd73 f         109  119  C-2   G8
     5   Rd73 ff        120  127  C-2   G8
     6   Rd73 KeyOff      1  127  C-2   E3
     7   Rd73 KeyOff      1  127   F3   C7
     8   EP2 Hard1+     107  127  C-2   G8

Part 2 (five elements)

    El#  Waveform       VLo  VHi  NLo  NHi
    ---  -------------  ---  ---  ---  ---
     1   Rd KeyNoise p    1   84  C-2   G8
     2   Rd KeyNoise mf  85  116  C-2   G8
     3   Rd KeyNoise f  117  127  C-2   G8
     4   Rd KeyOff mf    86  116  C-2   G8
     5   Rd KeyOff f    117  127  C-2   G8

Part 1 produces the main Rhodes sound while Part 2 adds the key noises. Part 1 is probably good enough by itself for sequencing. Performance Rd73 has similar programming, but adds bark when struck hard.

In order to play this two part MODX Performance from Genos, turn on RIGHT1 and RIGHT2 in order to send MIDI data on Port 1 channels 1 and 2.

Just for grins, here’s the basic programming for the Neo R&B Clean Performance — another favorite.

Part 1 (five elements)

    El#  Waveform       VLo  VHi  NLo  NHi
    ---  -------------  ---  ---  ---  ---
     1   EP3 Soft1        2   80  C-2   G8
     2   EP3 Soft2       81  101  C-2   G8
     3   EP1 Med        102  127   F2   G8
     4   EP3 Hard1      102  127  C-2   E2
     5   EP Key Off       2  127  C-2   G8

Part 2 (five elements)

    El#  Waveform       VLo  VHi  NLo  NHi
    ---  -------------  ---  ---  ---  ---
     1   Rd KeyNoise f  119  127  C-2   G8
     2   Rd KeyNoise mf  76  118  C-2   G8
     3   Rd KeyNoise p    1   75  C-2   G8
     4   Rd KeyOff f    119  127  C-2   G8
     5   Rd KeyOff mf     1  118  C-2   G8

You can see that Part 2 is essentially a ready-made patch for dropping in key noises. I love the shimmering auto-pan coupled with the ensemble detune effect.

Genos commentary

These experiments invite comparison between Genos and MODX, of course.

The featured Genos electric piano is a Rhodes Suitcase. You get the same Rhodes in darker and brighter timbres, and processed by a variety of effects (tremolo, phaser, etc.) You need to dig back into the Legacy EPs to find other Rhodes-like variations. The MODX effects give it the edge over Genos; Montage/MODX allow a longer effects chain. The Genos Suitcase EP is good, but sounds like a one-trick pony after a while. The MODX offers a broader range of Rhodes sounds immediately.

Piano aficionados on the PSR Tutorial Forum sometimes complain about a “lack of depth” in the Genos CFX grand voices. Their complaints may be grounded in fact. A Genos voice is equivalent to an eight Element MODX Part. (Warning, the mix of product terminology may becoming confusing here.) Thus, Genos is limited to the complexity of the single-Part CFX Stage Performance, lacking the “beauty layer” (Part 3) of the CFX Concert Performance. This layer would add depth to the sound as it unrolls dynamically.

Given what we know about the CFX Concert programming, Yamaha could release a full CFX expansion pack for Genos. The full CFX voice would need RIGHT1, RIGHT2 and RIGHT3 to handle all of the extra elements and their layering. Only three parts are needed if the CFX key off waveform is moved to the second part which currently has only three active elements. The Genos player would need to enable RIGHT1, RIGHT2 and RIGHT3 to make all parts active, but this is a small price to pay and could be easily configured into a registration.

Summary

Well, there you have it. I hope that my analysis will help you to understand and better appreciate both MODX and Genos piano voices. The MODX waveform set is quite rich in EP sounds, so get cracking!

Copyright © 2019 Paul J. Drongowski

Yamaha SHS-500 Sonogenic (pre-review)

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[I had a chance to think about yesterday’s SHS-500 Sonogenic announcement. Please think of this blog post as a pre-review.]

The Yamaha SHS-500 Sonogenic is a fun instrument for people without musical training. It could very well be fun for musical amateurs and pros, too!

The SHS-500 is an interesting alternative to arranger keyboards. With an arranger keyboard, one typically uses the left hand to play chords which drive auto accompaniment. The right hand carries the melody or some kind of sweetener. Even though some pros like to denigrate arranger keyboards, truly entertaining and creative use of an arranger keyboard takes serious skill as well as knowledge of chords and harmony. [Click images to enlarge.]

Let’s face it — most ordinary folks just want to play along with popular hits. [A “popular hit” depends upon your musical era!] With auto accompaniment, you need to play the harmony either by ear or following a lead sheet. Sure, you can also play along with an MP3 or WAV file, but neither the MP3 or WAV file is analyzed for chords, nor are derived chords displayed such that you can follow along as you play.

The SHS-500 has a different approach. [I’m going to refer to it as “SHS” for brevity and easy of typing.] The SHS communicates with Yamaha’s Chord Tracker app. Chord Tracker not only plays digital audio files, Chord Tracker analyzes the song within and displays its chords. With an SHS attached to your smart device, Chord Tracker sends the chord information to the SHS where it is displayed. Even cooler, the chord information determines the (musically allowable) scale tones to be generated by the SHS.

Bottom line: An untrained user can plays along with their favorite hit. They can flog away at the keyboard and the SHS figures out the correct notes to “play” given the current chord in the song. Cool! You can also record audio data to Chord Tracker.

This is the SHS “Jam mode.” There are five jam modes: 1 Finger, Melody A, Melody B, Melody C, Backing.

Three buttons on the neck control song playback in the app: [Fast Reverse], [Play/pause] and [Fast Forward]. Pitch bend and modulation wheels are also on the neck.

One can connect the SHS to Chord Tracker through USB or wireless Bluetooth. I suspect that Bluetooth will be the dominant option as who wants to dance and play while tangled up in a cable? Same for battery power over AC adapter.

Yamaha priced this product right. Although the MSRP is $499, the street price will be $300 USD. Yamaha initially priced the Reface series models too high and eventually the price was lowered depending upon depend for specific models. (You can tell which models move well and which don’t.) Reface pricing settled around $300. The SHS is targeted for the youth market and a high price would be a turn-off or out of the financial reach of most teens.

Yamaha can sell at a lower cost because they repurposed hardware from the VKB-100 Vocaloid keytar. The VKB-100 is sold mainly to the Japanese market since the player “sings” in Japanese. Yamaha made a smart decision here by repurposing the VKB-100 for the world-wide youth market. Essentially, it’s the SHS’s software which is brand new.

I’m sure there will be people who scoff at the SHS-500. I, for one, love any product or instrument that encourages the love of music. Music education in the USA has taken a big hit due to testing mania and back-to-basics. I’d really like to see more young people take up musical instruments and the SHS-500 Sonogenic might be the ticket. [Plus, I’d really like to have one. :-)]

SHS-500 effect types

    Dist.1     Distortion
    Dist.2     Distortion
    DSP Chrs   Chorus
    Flanger    Flanger
    Phaser     Phaser
    Tremolo    Tremolo
    RotarySp   Rotary Speaker
    LPF        Low Pass Filter (cutoff adjustable)
    HPF        High Pass Filter (cutoff adjustable)

There is also a filter function with adjustable cutoff frequency and resonance.

SHS-500 voice list

The Yamaha SHS-500 has thirty voices. Here is a table from the reference manual.

    No.  Voice              Display   MSB  LSB  PC1  
    ---  -----------------  --------  ---  ---  ---
    001  Saw Lead 1         SawLead1  104   20   91  [Gemini]
    002  Saw Lead 2         SawLead2    0  104   82  [RS SawLead1]
    003  Quack Lead         QuackLd     0  112   85  [Portatone]
    004  Bright Decay       BriteDcy  104   21   85  
    005  Square Lead        SquareLd    0  112   81  [Square Lead]
    006  Under Heim         UndrHeim  104   51   88  
    007  Analogon           Analogon  104   52   82  
    008  Synth Brass        SynBrass    0  113   64  [Ober Brass]
    009  Electric Piano     E.Piano   104   28    5  
    010  DX Electric Piano  DXPiano     0  112    6  [DX Modern]
    011  Electric Guitar    E.Guitar  104    3   31  
    012  Jazz Guitar        J.Guitar  104    0   27  
    013  Acoustic Guitar    A.Guitar    0  117   26  [Steel Guitar]
    014  Electric Bass      E.Bass    104    6   34  
    015  Slap Bass          SlapBass    0  112   37  [Slap Bass]
    016  Synth Bass         SynBass     0  112   39  [Resonance Bass]
    017  DX Bass            DXBass      0  118   40  [DX100 Bass]
    018  Piano              Piano       0  112    2  [Bright Piano] 
    019  Piano & Strings    Pno&Strs  104   39    1  
    020  Piano & Pad        Pno&Pad   104   40    1  
    021  Air Choir          AirChoir    0  112   55  [Air Choir]
    022  Strings            Strings     0  116   49  [Bow Strings]
    023  Brass              Brass       0  117   63  [Pop Brass]
    024  Trumpet            Trumpet     0  115   57  [Trumpet Sweet!]
    025  Flute              Flute       0  115   74  [Flute Sweet!]
    026  Alto Sax           AltoSax   104    2   66  
    027  Tenor Sax          TenorSax  104    3   67  
    028  Harmonica          Harmnica    0  112   23  [Harmonica Sweet!]
    029  House Kit          HouseKit  127    0   65  
    030  Power Kit          PowerKit  127    0   88  [Power Kit 1]

Voices number 029 and 030 are drum kits. Bank select and program change values which match PSR (Tyros, Genos) are noted.

Copyright © 2019 Paul J. Drongowski

Winter NAMM 2019: Yamaha Sonogenic

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Drop what you’re doing right now and take a look at the Yamaha Sonogenic SHS-500.

[Update: Yamaha SHS-500 Pre-review]

“Sonogenic SHS-500 is a new type of instrument from Yamaha that is perfect for music lovers who want to participate in making music, but maybe haven’t learned how. This Keytar (“Key”board + Gui”tar”) gives you the freedom to dance, jump and move around while you play!” [Click images to enlarge.]

“Jam Mode – Play with your favorite music on the spot. Thanks to Jam Mode you can instantly enjoy playing along with your favorite songs. Simply connect the instrument with the free app Chord Tracker, and play along with songs stored on your smart device. No matter which keys you press, the notes automatically match the song, so you don’t have to worry about hitting the wrong notes, fingering technique or even knowing the proper scales and chords.”

The tutorial video is interesting because it implies (shows?) Chord Tracker sending scale information back to SHS-500 as the happy teen whacks away at the keyboard as if it’s a Guitar Hero controller. At least the player is human and not the dog in the overview video! Poor Yamaha is going to take a thwacking for that video…

Here are some brief specifications including USA pricing:

  • 37 keys
  • Pitch bend, modulation, control knobs
  • USB audio interface: 44.1kHz, 16-bit, stereo
  • AWM2 tone generation, 48 note polyphony
  • 30 voices
  • 9 DSP effects plus 4 Master EQ presets
  • 5-pin MIDI OUT in addition to USB-B
  • Wireless Bluetooth (including MIDI)
  • Battery power (six AA cells) or adpater (PA-130)
  • 3.3 pounds (1.5kg)
  • MSRP: $499, Street: $299.99

Oh, yes, it bears repeating: 5-pin DIN MIDI OUT.

If you lusted for the Vocaloid VKB-100 keytar simply because, the Sonogenic SHS-500 is (maybe) your axe. Yamaha alluded to an electronic instrument in a new category. This is it.

The VKB-100 included 13 non-vocal instrument sounds as I describe in my overview article on the VKB-100. Sound quality is like an entry-level Yamaha PSR arranger. In fact, I’m sure that a few of the voices (if not all) were taken from the PSR-E4xx series. The SHS-500 is like the VKB-100, except Yamaha threw away Vocaloid and added more musical instruments. I guess Yamaha have given up on selling non-Japanese Vocaloid products.

Yamaha basically creating a fun keytar for the non-Japanese speaking world. For that, they are smart cookies!

In case you aren’t fast enough to read the video frames as they flash by, here are the SHS-500 voices and drum kits:

    001 SawLead1    011 E.Guitar    021 AirChoir
    002 SawLead2    012 J.Guitar    022 Strings
    003 QuackLd     013 A.Guitar    023 Brass
    004 BriteDcy    014 E.Bass      024 Trumpet
    005 SquareLd    015 SlapBass    025 Flute
    006 UnderHeim   016 SynBass     026 AltoSax
    007 Analogon    017 DXBass      027 TenorSax
    008 SynBrass    018 Piano       028 Harmnica
    009 E. Piano    019 Pno&Strs    029 HouseKit
    010 DX Piano    020 Pno&Pad     030 PowerKit

So far, this is very similar to the non-vocal instruments in the VKB-100.

Other announcements

Elsewhere in Yamaha key-related news, Yamaha announced the Pianica, PSR-E360, a slew of YDP digital pianos for the home, and the N1X AvantGrand for mucho dollaro (MSRP: $10,999). The Pianica is a breath-blown reed instrument so you can get your Jon Batiste on. The PSR-E360 is an entry-level arranger keyboard with faux wood grain. And naturally, the previously announced Yamaha CP73/CP88 stage pianos are featured at NAMM.

Copyright © 2019 Paul J. Drongowski (except quoted excerpts).

Winter NAMM 2019: You Komplete me

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Native Instruments are trolling the low end and that ain’t bad.

I haven’t jumped into the deep end of the NI pool. Over the holidays, I downloaded the free player versions of Guitar Rig 5, Kontakt and Reaktor 6. I believe in the low end theory which says that you can make good music without dropping a lot of change.

Native Instruments have announced KOMPLETE START, “a new collection of sounds, instruments, and effects that’s 100% free; and new software integration that puts millions of loops and samples from Sounds.com at your fingertips.” The latter part of that message steals a page from Loopmasters’ Loopcloud. This builds on the success of NI’s Sounds.com site.

The KOMPLETE START page promises:

  • Produce and perform with over 2,000 studio-quality sounds — for free
  • 15 pro-grade synths and sampled instruments, plus effects, loops, and samples
  • Browse, preview, and play it all in your recording software with KOMPLETE KONTROL

KOMPLETE START includes over 6GB of instruments, effects, loops and samples. Synths are: TRK-01 Bass, Mikro Prism, Lazerbass, Carbon 2, Space Drone and Newscool. Sampled instruments include World, Band, Synth, Vintage, Urban Beats, Kinetic Treats and the Play Series Selection. Guitar Rig 5 Player is included (17 cabinet emulations and 13 effects) plus the Supercharger tube compressor.

Now, a lot of this sounds like the old free bundle and you would be right. There’s a few new freebies here and there. If the first taste is good, you can upgrade to Komplete 12 Select for $99 USD.

NI have new low-end hardware, too. The Komplete Kontrol M32 is a keyboard controller (32 mini keys)with OLED display, touch strips, knobs and NKS integration. Street price is $129 USD. Ableton Live 10 Lite is bundled in, just in case the ten copies that you have aren’t enough.

Komplete Kontrol M32 features are:

  • Play Smarter: Chord progressions and arpeggios
  • Eight touch sensitive knobs premapped for presets
  • Buttons for DAW control
  • Octave transpose buttons
  • Two touch strips
  • A four-direction push encoder for navigation
  • 10GB of content including the Scarbee Mark I
  • USB MIDI (USB bus powered)
  • TRS pedal input (assignable to sustain)

This sounds like an inexpensive way to get familiar with NKS integration. Not bad. I like these kinds of introductory packages because I can try the software and donate the microcontroller if I don’t like it. There is always some deserving youngster…

NI also announced the Komplete Audio 1 (one channel) and Komplete Audio 2 (two channel) audio interfaces. Street price is $109. Specs for the Komplete Audio 2 are:

  • 2 inputs: 2x combi-XLR/jack inputs with 48V phantom power and individual gain control
  • Outputs: Stereo jack out
  • VU-meter for adjusting levels
  • Direct monitoring for blending audio playback while recording
  • Big volume knob
  • Headphone out with high power output and volume control
  • USB 2.0 bus powered
  • Audio quality: Premium quality at 192 kHz and 24 bit
  • Included software: Ableton Live 10 Lite, MASCHINE Essentials, MONARK, REPLIKA, PHASIS, SOLID BUS COMP, and KOMPLETE START

Per Internet tradition, let’s gripe before we’ve even seen product. I wish it had 5-pin MIDI IN and OUT. The new Mackie and PreSonus interfaces one-up the new NI interfaces in this regard.

The Komplete Kontrol M32, Komplete Audio 1 and 2 are pre-order items. NI are projecting March 6, 2019 availability for the M32.

Copyright © 2019 Paul J. Drongowski

Winter NAMM 2019: Super fly

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In the portable amps category, Blackstar are launching the Super Fly mini amp: two 3 inch speakers, 12 Watts, Bluetooth, battery power (eight AA cells), tilt back stand, optional rechargeable battery pack. [Click image to enlarge.]

Mini amps are usually designed for electric guitar. So, if you’re a keyboard player looking to put your synth or digital piano through one, don’t expect a clean sound. I was super excited by the original Blackstar Fly until I ran a synth into it. Of course, if you’re looking for grunge, that’s fine.

What gives me hope about the Super Fly: The Super Fly has two channels: an XLR/jack combi input for microphones and line level instruments and the usual instrument input for guitars, including overdrive. Potentially, Blackstar have paid attention to the clean sound and not simply “clean” in the sense of clean guitar (still colored!) There are separate, per channel EQ and reverb controls. As I said yesterday, when it comes to mini amps, definitely try-before-buy.

Musicradar has the UK price at 199£. We should expect a USA price at about $259 USD.

IK Multimedia have pumped steroids into the successful iLoud Micro Monitor and will be shipping the iLoud MTM: 100W RMS, 103dB SPL, 40Hz to 24kHz frequency range, $349.99USD. They will be available during the second quarter of 2019. Each monitor unit has a pair of 3.5 inch woofers and a 1 inch tweeter. The “MTM” means a midrange-tweeter-midrange symmetrical design. The iLoud MTM performs built-in acoustic self-calibration using its built-in ARC™ reference microphone.

The original iLoud Micro Monitor sounds damned fine and I’m looking forward to hearing the iLoud MTM when it’s available.

Looking for an 88-key controller? Test the Akai MPK Road 88: 88 keys (duh!), fully weighted hammer action, aftertouch, pitch bend and mod wheels, class-compliant USB, 5-pin MIDI IN and OUT, 2 expression pedal inputs, 1 sustain pedal input, 4-output USB soundcard, 67 pounds (shipping weight). Street price: $899.

The board is fairly slim although 67 pounds is scary if you don’t have your personal road crew. Best yet for touring — it has a detachable hinged cover. At least you won’t have to put this beast into a road case!

BTW, I think we should expect more from Yamaha at Winter NAMM 2019. Their NAMM preview press release hints at portable keyboards, hybrid pianos, combo instruments and band instruments.

Copyright © 2019 Paul J. Drongowski

Winter NAMM 2019: Today’s catch

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Given all of the on-line resources and forums, I don’t really try to cover the music tech universe. Sites like MusicRadar, etc. have staff for that. I prefer to take note of products that I will visit again in the future. Shucks, my memory ain’t so good anymore.

One product worth another look is the McDSP APB-16 Analog Processing Box.

McDSP have a solid record as plug-in providers. Now it looks like they are venturing into the hardware realm. Digital DSP is no biggy, but McDSP are promising programmable analog processing — sixteen analog channels controlled by a Pro Tools plug-in. Other specs from the press release are:

  • Premium analog components
  • Multiple analog saturation options
  • APB-ready software plug-in bundle
  • Sample accurate automation
  • AKM 32-bit DAC and ADC
  • Thunderbolt 2 and 3 compatible

The press release is an announcement, so details and technical information are scant. The APB-16 is scheduled for release in the second quarter of 2019. No price, of course.

I’m always a sucker for small, cute, practice amps. The IK Multimedia iRig Micro Amp grabbed my attention: 4 inch speaker, 15W RMS (adapter), 7.5W (battery), iOS/USB interface (24-bit up to 96kHz), battery-powered (6 AA cells), 3 band EQ, 2.8 pounds (1.26kg). Of course, it integrates with AmpliTube. $149.99USD.

It’s definitely try-before-buy with these tiny amps, especially when putting a keyboard through them. I’d like to run Reface YC into it. It would definitely be cool to add AmpliTube Leslie into the signal chain. IK Multimedia have a winner in the iLoud Micro Monitor, so I’m hopeful. The price is right, too.

IK Multimedia are hawking their NAMM sale (40% off popular software titles). That’s a good reminder to watch for NAMM specials. I snagged Toontrack EZKeys on a holiday special and I’m looking to expand. Oh, gosh, I should really write up a mini review! I really had to try EZKeys to “get it.”

Loopmasters are pre-announcing version 4 of their Loopcloud sample management tool. Version 4 will be available during the first quarter of 2019.

The Loopcloud Version 4 loop editor will “slice, edit, bounce and save”, apparently allowing definition of patterns that can be applied again and again to other samples.

I’ve been warming up to the Loopcloud concept and workflow having purchased a library or two during holiday sales. Although I still like having big local libraries, there is simply too much material to sort through. And, we’ve all had the experience of buying a library and then using 0.0001% of it. Much better to buy incrementally unless you really, really love an entire library.

Loopcloud is quite generous with new sounds for trial, too. The trial sounds are the same as the Loopmasters’ Taster Packs, but it’s possible to try sounds in a musical context of your own making.

Here’s a few more very quick hits:

Wow, it’s like Winter NAMM 2019 has already happened — and the show still hasn’t opened!

Copyright © 2019 Paul J. Drongowski

Winter NAMM 2019: Make it redder

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Just in case the world isn’t red enough for you, Nord have introduced the Nord Piano Monitor by Audio Pro. [Click image to enlarge.]


The monitors mount directly on the Nord Piano 4 using (optional) mounting brackets. The brackets also allow attachment to mic stands.

Specs are (courtesy of Nord):

  • Dual inputs for keyboard and aux
  • Weight 5,5 kg / pair
  • Tweeter size 3/4″
  • Woofer size 4 1/2″
  • 2 x 80 Watt

I guess that real specs (e.g., frequency response, etc.) and USA pricing will come later.

Audio Pro AB of Sweden make a raft of high-quality consumer speaker systems, including Drumfire which they call “The loudest playing multiroom speaker ($699 USD).

Southside Johnny used a Fender guitar amp with his turntable. He was quoted, “I don’t want good. I want loud.” Loud never goes out of style.

The obligatory video for non-readers. 🙂

Spectral (component) modeling

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The subject of Yamaha’s Spectral Component Modeling (SCM) technology comes up from time to time. Yamaha have successfully employed SCM in its CP1/CP4 stage pianos and Reface CP instrument. Players love SCM because it avoids sonic discontinuities due to velocity switching, giving a more natural and dynamic character as the player digs in or strikes gently.

Before getting into my own comments, here are two sections of background information.

Yamaha Spectral Component Modeling

Yamaha, as usual, are mum about the actual technical details. The following quote is taken from the Yamaha FAQ “What is Spectral Component Modeling (9/27/2010)?”

The CP1’s tone generator produces sounds based on performance data that is created by playing the keyboard and operating various controllers. The type of piano sound produced is defined by the currently selected Performance and the Master Equalizer. Each Performance is made up of two individual piano parts together plus a Reverb block.

Each of the Parts in the Performance is subdivided into three distinct blocks namely, the Piano block, the Modulation Effect block, and the Power-Amplifier / Compressor block. These blocks allow the characteristics of the instruments to be faithfully reproduced by simulating a broad spectrum of piano types, amplifiers, effectors, and other critical elements. Using the Piano Customize function to assemble these blocks in various combinations, not only can standard vintage settings be reproduced, but unique hardware combinations can be realized that would never be possible in the real world.

Each Performance allows the piano sounds produced by two different Parts to be sent through a common Reverb block for finishing. Performances also contain a Common Settings area that allows a name, a keyboard mode, controllers, pan settings, and several other parameters to be configured for each. These common settings can be used to make final adjustments to the individual Performances.

The Master Equalizer block is used to set EQ parameters that effect all Performances. In this way, the tone of the CP1 can be adjusted to match the room acoustics so that each of the Performance selected will have the desired sound.

Thus, the term “SCM” is a bit of scientific truth and a bit of marketing-speak. “Spectral Component Modeling” refers not only to spectral synthesis, but it encompasses the DSP effects, equalization and compression processing. The latter elements are part of Yamaha’s Virtual Component Modeling effort in which Yamaha model vintage gear that lends character to a synthesized sound.

Spectral modeling

What then is spectral modeling? For a brief answer, I quote J.S. Smith III of Stanford’s Center for Computer Research in Music and Acoustics (CCRMA).

Spectral modeling can be viewed as “sampling synthesis done right” [154]. That is, in spectral modeling synthesis, segments of the time-domain signal are replaced by their short-time Fourier transforms, thus providing a sound representation much closer to the perception of sound by the brain [66,109,205]. This yields two immediate benefits: (1) computational cost reductions based on perceptual modeling, and (2) more perceptually fundamental data structures. Cost reductions follow naturally from the observation [168] that roughly 90% of the information contained in a typical sound is not perceived by the brain. For example, the popular MP3 audio compression format [27,28] can achieve an order of magnitude data reduction with little or no loss in perceived sound quality because it is based on the short-time Fourier transform, and because it prioritizes the information retained in each spectral frame based on psychoacoustic principles. To first order, MPEG audio coding eliminates all spectral components which are masked by nearby louder components.

The disadvantages of spectral modeling are the same as those of sampling synthesis, except that memory usage can be greatly reduced. Sampling the full playing range of a musical instrument is made more difficult, however, by the need to capture every detail in the form of spectral transformations. Sometimes this is relatively easy, such as when playing harder only affects brightness. In other cases, it can be difficult, such as when nonlinear noise effects begin to play a role.

An excellent recent example of spectral modeling synthesis is the so-called Vocaloid developed by Yamaha in collaboration with others [5]. In this method, the short-time spectrum is modeled as sinusoids plus a residual signal, together with higher level spectral features such as vocal formants. The model enables the creation of “vocal fonts” which effectively provide a “virtual singer” who can be given any material to sing at any pitch. Excellent results can be achieved with this approach (and some of the demos are very impressive), but it remains a significant amount of work to encode a particular singer into the form of a vocal font. Furthermore, while the sound quality is generally excellent, subtle “unnaturalness” cues may creep through from time to time, rendering the system most immediately effective for automatic back-up vocals, or choral synthesis, as opposed to highly exposed foreground lead-singer synthesis.

Zooming out, spectral modeling synthesis can be regarded as modeling sound inside the inner ear, enabling reductions and manipulations in terms of human perception of sound.

[5] X. Amatriain, J. Bonada, A. Loscos, and X. Serra, “Spectral processing,” in DAFX – Digital Audio Effects (U. Zölzer, ed.), pp. 373-438, West Sussex, England: John Wiley and Sons, LTD, 2002, http: //www.dafx.de/.

[27] M. Bosi and R. E. Goldberg, Introduction to Digital Audio Coding and Standards, Boston: Kluwer Academic Publishers, 2003.

[28] K. Brandenburg and M. Bosi, “Overview of MPEG audio: Current and future standards for low-bit-rate audio coding,” Journal of the Audio Engineering Society, vol. 45, pp. 4-21, Jan./Feb. 1997.

[66] B. R. Glasberg and B. C. J. Moore, “A model of loudness applicable to time-varying sounds,” Journal of the Audio Engineering Society, vol. 50, pp. 331-342, May 2002.

[109] B. C. J. Moore, An Introduction to the Psychology of Hearing, New York: Academic Press, 1997.

[154] J. O. Smith, “Viewpoints on the history of digital synthesis,” in Proceedings of the 1991 International Computer Music Conference, Montreal, pp. 1-10, Computer Music Association, 1991, http: //ccrma.stanford.edu/~jos/kna/.

[205] E. Zwicker and H. Fastl, Psychoacoustics: Facts and Models, Berlin: Springer Verlag, 1999, second updated edition, 80pp., CD-ROM/softcover.

Of course, this assumes that Yamaha have adopted this specific approach/technology for SCM!

Commentary

Thus, one may view spectral modeling as a compression technique as well as a synthesis technique. Spectral modeling encodes sound in a similar way as MP3 or other psychoacoustic compression methods.

Why did Yamaha adopt spectral modeling? We need to consider the technology available to Yamaha in the 2010 time frame. In 2010, the SWP51L “Standard Wave Processor” was Yamaha’s workhorse tone generation chip. The SWP51L has a fixed address width to waveform (sample) memory. Acoustic pianos are notorious memory hogs. It’s possible that Yamaha run up against the physical hardware addressing limit of the SWP51L. Yamaha needed to break this barrier and the psychoacoustic compression offered by SCM was one way out.

The CP1 stage piano employs three SWP51L tone generator ICs. Two SWP51Ls are a master/slave pair and performed tone generation (synthesis). The third SWP51L is dedicated to effects (including damper resonance). The master/slave pair share waveform memory which consists of two MR26V51252R (512Mbit) memory devices for a total of 128MBytes of waveform P2ROM. Considering the sound set and sonic quality of the pianos, this is an insanely small waveform memory and well-within the addressing range of the SWP51L.

The Reface CP, also SCM-based, uses very modest compute (SWX08 processor and tone generator) and wave memory. The Reface CP and Reface YC have the same digital logic board. Unfortunately, I have only the Reface YC service manual, but a notation in the overall block diagram implies a 64MByte waveform memory in the Reface CP.

So, why isn’t SCM used today, Reface CP excepted? The current generation tone generator, the SWP70, does not have the same hard addressing limit as the SWP51L. The SWP70 employs Open NAND Flash Interface (ONFI) commodity memory. Thus, the high compression offered by spectral modeling is no longer needed and conventional sample-playback synthesis (AWM2) is “good enough.” Yamaha engineering is probably loath to carry and support two different sampling/synthesis techniques for cost reasons.

Now whether “good enough” satisfies sonically or not is a subjective question…

From the promotional angle, Yamaha are featuring the CFX grand piano. The CP1 featured the CFIII and S6. To be current, Yamaha would need a spectral modeling implementation of the CFX — an additional, perhaps unnecessary expense.

I’d like to point out that 64MBytes of wave memory is not much more than the small budget DGX-650, which has 32MBytes of wave memory. Thus, Yamaha could build an absolute killer DGX — a model that would totally cannibalize sales of its high-end piano offerings! Business first.

Copyright © 2019 Paul J. Drongowski (except quoted excerpts as cited)

Winter NAMM 2019: Short bits

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The Effigy Labs MIDI foot controller is a pedal that frees your left hand from MOD wheel and pitch bend duties. The pedal sends MIDI on both USB-B and DIN-5 outputs. The pedal takes power from either USB, internal 9V battery or external AC adapter. Although the pedal is programmed at the factory to send modulation and pitch bend, it can be configured to send other MIDI messages including System Exclusive (SysEx) messages. Their site mentions open source software, but I couldn’t easily find a link to code.

The Effigy Labs foot controller pedal is $299 USD. Folks are either gonna love the industrial look or they’re gonna hate on it.

Here’s the demo video.

Teenage go modular

By now, you’re heard about the new modular synth gear from Teenage Engineering. The range include:

  • 170: An analog monophonic synth with built-in programmable sequence (complete kit: $349 USD).
  • 400:: 3 oscillators, noise, random generator, 2 envelopes, 2 VCA, LFO, mixer, speaker, power pack and 1-16 step sequencer (complete kit: $499).
  • 16: Stand-along keyboard and programmable step sequencer (complete kit: $149).

Teenage Engineering have the assembly and usage manual on-line.

Keeping with the Pocket Operator theme, the new modules are skeletal and good-taste industrial. The sheet metal parts come flat so this is a fold-your-own synth. Looks like the 400 is already out of stock.

Ace up their sleeve

ATV Corporation are reviving the Ace Tone brand. Ace Tone is noted for many vintage classics like Rhythm Ace (FR-1, FR-2, FR-6 and so on), the EC-10 echo chamber, various pedals/amplifiers, and of course, those luscious combo organs (Top-1, Top-3, Top-5, and so on). This will start much speculation about the future products which will bear the Ace Tone name. ATV currently produce a line of percussion and drum instruments.

Copyright © 2019 Paul J. Drongowski

Winter NAMM 2019: Akai Pro Force

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Wow! Winter NAMM 2019 is one week away and we’ve seen major new products everywhere.

The Akai Pro Force is a much-anticipated product — a standalone, Ableton Live-like workstation. Force is a clip-oriented production workstation with real-time pitch and time stretch. Force will include FX plug-ins from AIR Music Technology. Synth engines include TubeSynth, Bassline, Electric, and Hype. [Click image to enlarge.]

Here’s a dump of the features courtesy of Akai:

  • Standalone – no computer needed
  • Matrix of 8×8 RGB pads for triggering clips
  • 7-inch multi-touch screen
  • 1 push encoder wheel for navigation and selection
  • 1 crossfader A / B
  • 2 combo inputs Xlr / Mic Jack / instruments / line
  • 4 TRS outputs
  • MIDI In / Out / Thru minijack (minijack to 5-pin adapters included)
  • 4 configurable CV / Gate outputs
  • Remix, merge and produce with 6 different programs for complete audio / MIDI / CV sequencing
  • Performance modes including drum MPC, notes, smart note suite, chords and chord progression
  • MPC Sample Editor
  • Automatic detection of BPM, real-time time stretching and pitch modulation
  • 8 Q-Link touch-sensitive potentiometers with individual graphic OLED display
  • 4 powerful and fully customizable synthesis engines
  • 16 GB of internal memory (including more than 10 GB of sounds included)
  • SD card slot and 2 USB 3.0 ports compatible with USB storage devices or MIDI controllers
  • 2.5 “SATA connector internally (SSD or HDD) for an extension of the internal storage by the user
  • 1 Type-B USB port for connecting to a Mac / PC computer
  • 1 TRS headphone output
  • Weight and dimensions: 3.87 kg, 350 x 389 x 72.5 mm

Expected USA street price is $1,499 USD. The integrated display is a 7-inch, back-lit color touch screen.

Of course, the specs do not convey what it’s like to actually use the Force. [Oh, dear. This is already so cliched, I’m embarrassed.] Akai have deep experience with controller workflow, so the Force shouldn’t disappoint.

Akai intend to deliver Ableton Live controller capabilities in March 2019.

Copyright © 2019 Paul J. Drongowski