1.
Algorithm
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In mathematics and computer science, an algorithm is a self-contained sequence of actions to be performed. Algorithms can perform calculation, data processing and automated reasoning tasks, an algorithm is an effective method that can be expressed within a finite amount of space and time and in a well-defined formal language for calculating a function. The transition from one state to the next is not necessarily deterministic, some algorithms, known as randomized algorithms, giving a formal definition of algorithms, corresponding to the intuitive notion, remains a challenging problem. In English, it was first used in about 1230 and then by Chaucer in 1391, English adopted the French term, but it wasnt until the late 19th century that algorithm took on the meaning that it has in modern English. Another early use of the word is from 1240, in a manual titled Carmen de Algorismo composed by Alexandre de Villedieu and it begins thus, Haec algorismus ars praesens dicitur, in qua / Talibus Indorum fruimur bis quinque figuris. Which translates as, Algorism is the art by which at present we use those Indian figures, the poem is a few hundred lines long and summarizes the art of calculating with the new style of Indian dice, or Talibus Indorum, or Hindu numerals. An informal definition could be a set of rules that precisely defines a sequence of operations, which would include all computer programs, including programs that do not perform numeric calculations. Generally, a program is only an algorithm if it stops eventually, but humans can do something equally useful, in the case of certain enumerably infinite sets, They can give explicit instructions for determining the nth member of the set, for arbitrary finite n. An enumerably infinite set is one whose elements can be put into one-to-one correspondence with the integers, the concept of algorithm is also used to define the notion of decidability. That notion is central for explaining how formal systems come into being starting from a set of axioms. In logic, the time that an algorithm requires to complete cannot be measured, from such uncertainties, that characterize ongoing work, stems the unavailability of a definition of algorithm that suits both concrete and abstract usage of the term. Algorithms are essential to the way computers process data, thus, an algorithm can be considered to be any sequence of operations that can be simulated by a Turing-complete system. Although this may seem extreme, the arguments, in its favor are hard to refute. Gurevich. Turings informal argument in favor of his thesis justifies a stronger thesis, according to Savage, an algorithm is a computational process defined by a Turing machine. Typically, when an algorithm is associated with processing information, data can be read from a source, written to an output device. Stored data are regarded as part of the state of the entity performing the algorithm. In practice, the state is stored in one or more data structures, for some such computational process, the algorithm must be rigorously defined, specified in the way it applies in all possible circumstances that could arise. That is, any conditional steps must be dealt with, case-by-case
2.
Synthesizer
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A synthesizer is an electronic musical instrument that generates electric signals that are converted to sound through instrument amplifiers and loudspeakers or headphones. Synthesizers may either imitate instruments like piano, Hammond organ, flute, vocals, natural sounds like ocean waves, etc. or generate new electronic timbres. Synthesizers without built-in controllers are called sound modules, and are controlled via USB, MIDI or CV/gate using a controller device. Synthesizers use various methods to generate electronic signals, synthesizers were first used in pop music in the 1960s. In the 1970s, synths were used in disco, especially in the late 1970s, in the 1980s, the invention of the relatively inexpensive, mass market Yamaha DX7 synth made synthesizers widely available. 1980s pop and dance music often made use of synthesizers. In the 2010s, synthesizers are used in genres of pop, rock. Contemporary classical music composers from the 20th and 21st century write compositions for synthesizer, the beginnings of the synthesizer are difficult to trace, as it is difficult to draw a distinction between synthesizers and some early electric or electronic musical instruments. One of the earliest electric musical instruments, the telegraph, was invented in 1876 by American electrical engineer Elisha Gray. He accidentally discovered the sound generation from a self-vibrating electromechanical circuit and this musical telegraph used steel reeds with oscillations created by electromagnets transmitted over a telegraph line. Gray also built a simple loudspeaker device into later models, consisting of a diaphragm in a magnetic field. This instrument was a remote electromechanical musical instrument that used telegraphy, though it lacked an arbitrary sound-synthesis function, some have erroneously called it the first synthesizer. In 1897, Thaddeus Cahill invented the Teleharmonium, which used dynamos, and was capable of additive synthesis like the Hammond organ, however, Cahills business was unsuccessful for various reasons, and similar but more compact instruments were subsequently developed, such as electronic and tonewheel organs. In 1906, American engineer, Lee De Forest ushered in the electronics age and he invented the first amplifying vacuum tube, called the Audion tube. This led to new entertainment technologies, including radio and sound films, ondes Martenot and Trautonium were continuously developed for several decades, finally developing qualities similar to later synthesizers. In the 1920s, Arseny Avraamov developed various systems of graphic sonic art, in 1938, USSR engineer Yevgeny Murzin designed a compositional tool called ANS, one of the earliest real-time additive synthesizers using optoelectronics. The earliest polyphonic synthesizers were developed in Germany and the United States, during the three years that Hammond manufactured this model,1,069 units were shipped, but production was discontinued at the start of World War II. Both instruments were the forerunners of the electronic organs and polyphonic synthesizers
3.
Manufacturing
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Manufacturing is the value added to production of merchandise for use or sale using labour and machines, tools, chemical and biological processing, or formulation. Manufacturing engineering or manufacturing process are the steps through which raw materials are transformed into a final product, the manufacturing process begins with the product design, and materials specification from which the product is made. These materials are modified through manufacturing processes to become the required part. Manufacturing takes turns under all types of economic systems, in a free market economy, manufacturing is usually directed toward the mass production of products for sale to consumers at a profit. In a collectivist economy, manufacturing is more directed by the state to supply a centrally planned economy. In mixed market economies, manufacturing occurs under some degree of government regulation, modern manufacturing includes all intermediate processes required the production and integration of a products components. Some industries, such as semiconductor and steel manufacturers use the term fabrication instead, the manufacturing sector is closely connected with engineering and industrial design. Examples of major manufacturers in North America include General Motors Corporation, General Electric, Procter & Gamble, General Dynamics, Boeing, Pfizer, examples in Europe include Volkswagen Group, Siemens, and Michelin. Examples in Asia include Sony, Huawei, Lenovo, Toyota, Samsung, in its earliest form, manufacturing was usually carried out by a single skilled artisan with assistants. In much of the world, the guild system protected the privileges. Before the Industrial Revolution, most manufacturing occurred in rural areas, entrepreneurs organized a number of manufacturing households into a single enterprise through the putting-out system. Toll manufacturing is an arrangement whereby a first firm with specialized equipment processes raw materials or semi-finished goods for a second firm, manufacturing provides important material support for national infrastructure and for national defense. On the other hand, most manufacturing may involve significant social and environmental costs, the clean-up costs of hazardous waste, for example, may outweigh the benefits of a product that creates it. Hazardous materials may expose workers to health risks and these costs are now well known and there is effort to address them by improving efficiency, reducing waste, using industrial symbiosis, and eliminating harmful chemicals. The negative costs of manufacturing can also be addressed legally, developed countries regulate manufacturing activity with labor laws and environmental laws. Across the globe, manufacturers can be subject to regulations and pollution taxes to offset the costs of manufacturing activities. Labor unions and craft guilds have played a role in the negotiation of worker rights. Environment laws and labor protections that are available in developed nations may not be available in the third world, tort law and product liability impose additional costs on manufacturing
4.
Yamaha Corporation
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It is one of the constituents of Nikkei 225 and is the worlds largest piano manufacturing company. Yamaha was established in 1887 as a piano and reed organ manufacturer by Torakusu Yamaha as Nippon Gakki Company, Limited in Hamamatsu, the companys origins as a musical instrument manufacturer are still reflected today in the groups logo—a trio of interlocking tuning forks. The YA-1, of which 125 were built in the first year of production, was named in honour of the founder and it was a 125cc, single cylinder, two-stroke, street bike patterned after the German DKW RT125. In 1955, the success of the YA-1 resulted in the founding of Yamaha Motor Co. Ltd, in 1989, Yamaha shipped the worlds first CD recorder. Yamaha purchased Sequential Circuits in 1988 and it bought a majority stake of competitor Korg in 1987, which was bought out by Korg in 1993. In the late 1990s, Yamaha released a series a portable battery operated keyboards under the PSS, in 2002, Yamaha closed down its archery product business that was started in 1959. Six archers in five different Olympic Games won gold medals using their products and it acquired German audio software manufacturers Steinberg in January 2005, from Pinnacle Systems. K. Ltd, the UK piano sales & manufacturing arm was unaffected, on December 20,2007, Yamaha made an agreement with the Austrian Bank BAWAG P. S. K. Group BAWAG to purchase all the shares of Bösendorfer, intended to place in early 2008. Yamaha intends to continue manufacturing at the Bösendorfer facilities in Austria, the acquisition of Bösendorfer was announced after the NAMM Show in Los Angeles, on January 28,2008. As of February 1,2008, Bösendorfer Klavierfabrik GmbH operates as a subsidiary of Yamaha Corp, Yamaha Corporation is also widely known for their music teaching programme that began in the 1950s. Yamaha electronic have proven to be successful, popular, and respected products, for example, the Yamaha YPG-625 was given the award Keyboard of the Year and Product of the Year in 2007 from The Music and Sound Retailer magazine. Other noteworthy Yamaha electronics include the SHS-10 Keytar, a keytar which offered MIDI output features normally found on much more expensive keyboards. Other companies in the Yamaha group include, Bösendorfer Klavierfabrik GmbH, Vienna, Yamaha Motor Company Yamaha Fine Technologies Co. Ltd. Yamaha Golf Cart Company Yamaha Livingtec Corporation Yamaha Metanix Corporation Yamaha Music Communications Co. Ltd, Yamaha Pro Audio Kandō is a Japanese word used by Yamaha to describe their corporate mission. Kandō in translation describes the sensation of profound excitement and gratification derived from experiencing supreme quality, some reasonable English synonyms are emotionally touching or emotionally moving. The Yamaha Music Foundation is an established in 1966 by the authority of the Japanese Ministry of Education for the purpose of promoting music education. It continued a program of music classes begun by Yamaha Corporation in 1954, Yamaha expanded into many diverse businesses and product groups
5.
Polyphony and monophony in instruments
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Polyphony is a property of musical instruments that means that they can play multiple notes simultaneously. Instruments featuring polyphony are said to be polyphonic, instruments that are not capable of polyphony are monophonic or paraphonic. A monophonic synthesizer or monosynth is a synthesizer that produces one note at a time. Well-known monosynths include the Minimoog, the Roland TB-303, and the Korg Prophecy, duophonic synthesizers, such as the ARP Odyssey and Formanta Polivoks built in the 1970s and 1980s respectively, have a capability to independently play two pitches at a time. These synthesizers have at least two oscillators that are controllable, and a duophonic keyboard that can generate two control voltage signals for the lowest- and highest-note. When two or more keys are pressed simultaneously, the lowest- and highest-note will be heard, when only one key is pressed, both oscillators are assigned to one note, possibly with a more complex sound. The earliest polyphonic synthesizers were built in the late-1930s, but the concept did not become popular until the mid-1970s, harald Bodes Warbo Formant Orguel, developed in 1937, was an archetype of a voice allocation polyphonic synthesizer. Novachord by Hammond Organ Company, released in 1939, is a product of frequency divider organs. It uses octave divider technology to generate polyphony, and about 1,000 Novachords were manufactured until 1942, using an octave divider a synthesizer needs only 12 oscillators - one for each note in the musical scale. The additional notes are generated by dividing down the outputs of these oscillators, to produce a note one octave lower, the frequency of the oscillator is divided by two. Polyphony is achieved so long as one of each note in the scale is played simultaneously. One notable early polyphonic synthesizer was the Sequential Circuits Prophet 5, six-voice polyphony was standard by the middle 1980s. With the advent of synthesizers, 16-voice polyphony became standard by the late 1980s. 64-voice polyphony was common by the middle 1990s and 128-note polyphony arrived shortly after, there are several reasons for providing such large numbers of simultaneous notes, Even with only ten fingers, it is possible to play more than ten notes at once. Notes may continue to sound even after a key is released, the synthesizers resources may still be in use to produce the sound of the previously struck notes tapering off, especially when a sustain pedal is used. A sound may be generated by more than one oscillator or sound-source to allow more complicated sounds to be produced, a synthesizer with 16 oscillators may be capable of 16-note polyphony only when simple, single-oscillator sounds are produced. If a particular patch requires four oscillators, then the synthesizer is only capable of four-note polyphony, synthesizers may be configured to produce multiple timbres, particularly necessary when sounds are layered or sequenced. Multitimbral instruments are always polyphonic but polyphonic instruments are not necessarily multitimbral, some multitimbral instruments have a feature which allows the user to specify the amount of polyphony reserved or allowed for each timbre
6.
Timbre
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The physical characteristics of sound that determine the perception of timbre include spectrum and envelope. Singers and instrumental musicians can change the timbre of the music they are singing/playing by using different singing or playing techniques, for example, a violinist can use different bowing styles or play on different parts of the string to obtain different timbres. On electric guitar and electric piano, performers can change the timbre using effects units, in simple terms, timbre is what makes a particular musical sound have a different sound from another, even when they have the same pitch and loudness. For instance, it is the difference in sound between a guitar and a playing the same note at the same volume. Experienced musicians are able to distinguish between different instruments of the type based on their varied timbres, even if those instruments are playing notes at the same pitch. Tone quality and tone color are synonyms for timbre, as well as the attributed to a single instrument. However, the texture can also refer to the type of music, such as multiple. The sound of an instrument may be described with words such as bright, dark, warm, harsh. There are also colors of noise, such as pink and white, in visual representations of sound, timbre corresponds to the shape of the image. The Acoustical Society of America Acoustical Terminology definition 12, Timbre has been called. the psychoacousticians multidimensional waste-basket category for everything that cannot be labeled pitch or loudness. Many commentators have attempted to decompose timbre into component attributes, the richness of a sound or note a musical instrument produces is sometimes described in terms of a sum of a number of distinct frequencies. The lowest frequency is called the frequency, and the pitch it produces is used to name the note. The dominant frequency is the frequency that is most heard, for example, the dominant frequency for the transverse flute is double the fundamental frequency. Other significant frequencies are called overtones of the frequency, which may include harmonics. Harmonics are whole number multiples of the frequency, such as ×2, ×3, ×4. There are also sometimes subharmonics at whole number divisions of the fundamental frequency, most instruments produce harmonic sounds, but many instruments produce partials and inharmonic tones, such as cymbals and other indefinite-pitched instruments. When the tuning note in an orchestra or concert band is played, each instrument in the orchestra or concert band produces a different combination of these frequencies, as well as harmonics and overtones. The sound waves of the different frequencies overlap and combine, the timbre of a sound is also greatly affected by the following aspects of its envelope, attack time and characteristics, decay, sustain, release and transients
7.
Electronic oscillator
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An electronic oscillator is an electronic circuit that produces a periodic, oscillating electronic signal, often a sine wave or a square wave. Oscillators convert direct current from a supply to an alternating current signal. They are widely used in electronic devices. Oscillators are often characterized by the frequency of their output signal and this term is typically used in the field of audio synthesizers, to distinguish it from an audio frequency oscillator. An audio oscillator produces frequencies in the range, about 16 Hz to 20 kHz. An RF oscillator produces signals in the frequency range of about 100 kHz to 100 GHz. Oscillators designed to produce a high-power AC output from a DC supply are usually called inverters, there are two main types of electronic oscillator, the linear or harmonic oscillator and the nonlinear or relaxation oscillator. The harmonic, or linear, oscillator produces a sinusoidal output, when the power supply to the amplifier is first switched on, electronic noise in the circuit provides a non-zero signal to get oscillations started. The noise travels around the loop and is amplified and filtered until very quickly it converges on a wave at a single frequency. RC oscillators are used to generate lower frequencies, for example in the audio range. Common types of RC oscillator circuits are the phase shift oscillator, in an LC oscillator circuit, the filter is a tuned circuit consisting of an inductor and capacitor connected together. Charge flows back and forth between the plates through the inductor, so the tuned circuit can store electrical energy oscillating at its resonant frequency. There are small losses in the circuit, but the amplifier compensates for those losses and supplies the power for the output signal. Typical LC oscillator circuits are the Hartley, Colpitts and Clapp circuits, in a crystal oscillator circuit the filter is a piezoelectric crystal. The crystal mechanically vibrates as a resonator, and its frequency of vibration determines the oscillation frequency, crystals have very high Q-factor and also better temperature stability than tuned circuits, so crystal oscillators have much better frequency stability than LC or RC oscillators. Crystal oscillators are the most common type of linear oscillator, used to stabilize the frequency of most radio transmitters, crystal oscillators often use the same circuits as LC oscillators, with the crystal replacing the tuned circuit, the Pierce oscillator circuit is also commonly used. Quartz crystals are generally limited to frequencies of 30 MHz or below, other types of resonator, dielectric resonators and surface acoustic wave devices, are used to control higher frequency oscillators, up into the microwave range. For example, SAW oscillators are used to generate the signal in cell phones
8.
Digital synthesizer
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A digital synthesizer is a synthesizer that uses digital signal processing techniques to make musical sounds. This in contrast to older analog synthesizers, which produce music using analog electronics, and samplers, some digital synthesizers emulate analog synthesizers others include sampling capability in addition to digital synthesis. The very earliest digital synthesis experiments were made with general-purpose computers, in 1975, the Japanese company Yamaha licensed the algorithms for frequency modulation synthesis from John Chowning, who had experimented with it at Stanford University since 1971. Early commercial digital synthesizers used simple hard-wired digital circuitry to implement techniques such as additive synthesis and FM synthesis, other techniques, such as wavetable synthesis and physical modeling, only became possible with the advent of high-speed microprocessor and digital signal processing technology. Two of the earliest commercial digital synthesizers were the Fairlight CMI, introduced in 1979, the Fairlight CMI was the first sampling synthesizer, while the Synclavier was originally an FM synthesizer, not adding sampling synthesis until the 1980s. The Fairlight CMI and the Synclavier were both expensive systems, retailing for more than $20,000, in the early 1980s, in 1980, Yamaha eventually released the first FM digital synthesizer, the Yamaha GS-1, but at an expensive retail price of $16,000. The cost of digital synthesizers soon began falling rapidly in the early 1980s, e-mu Systems introduced the Emulator sampling synthesizer in 1982 at a retail price of $7,900. Although not as flexible or powerful as either the Fairlight CMI or the Synclavier, its lower cost, introduced in 1983, the Yamaha DX7 was the breakthrough digital synthesizer to have a major impact, both innovative and affordable, and thus spelling the decline of analog synthesizers. It used FM synthesis and, although it was incapable of the synthesis of the Fairlight CMI, its price was around $2,000. The DX-7 was also known for its key scaling method to avoid distortion and it became indispensable to many music artists of the 1980s, and would become one of the best-selling synthesizers of all time. In 1987, Roland released its own influential synthesizer of the time and this popular synth broke new ground in affordably combining short samples and digital oscillators, as well as the innovation of built-in digital effects. Roland called this Linear Arithmetic synthesis and this instrument is responsible for some of the very recognisable preset synthesizer sounds of the late 1980s, such as the Pizzagogo sound used on Enyas Orinoco Flow. It gradually became feasible to include high quality samples of existing instruments as opposed to synthesizing them, in 1988, Korg introduced the last of the hugely popular trio of digital synthesizers of the 1980s after the DX7 and D50, the M1. This heralded both the increasing popularisation of digital sample-based synthesis, and the rise of workstation synthesizers, after this time, many popular modern digital synthesizers have been described as not being full synthesizers in the most precise sense, as they play back samples stored in their memory. However, they still include options to shape the sounds through use of envelopes, LFOs, filters, the Yamaha Motif and Roland Fantom series of keyboards are typical examples of this type, described as ROMplers, at the same time, they are also examples of workstation synthesizers. With the addition of sophisticated sequencers on board, now added to effects and other features. These always include a multi-track sequencer, and can record and playback samples. As there was still interest in synthesizers, and with the increase of computing power, over the 1990s another type of synthesizer arose
9.
Frequency modulation synthesis
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The frequency of an oscillator is altered or distorted, in accordance with the amplitude of a modulating signal. FM synthesis can create both harmonic and inharmonic sounds, for synthesizing harmonic sounds, the modulating signal must have a harmonic relationship to the original carrier signal. As the amount of frequency modulation increases, the sound grows progressively more complex, through the use of modulators with frequencies that are non-integer multiples of the carrier signal, atonal and tonal bell-like and percussive sounds can easily be created. FM synthesis using analog oscillators may result in pitch instability, however, FM synthesis can also be implemented digitally, the latter proving to be more reliable and is currently seen as standard practice. Digital FM synthesis was the basis of several musical instruments beginning as early as 1977. The Synclavier I, manufactured by New England Digital Corporation beginning in 1977, Yamahas groundbreaking DX7 brought FM to the forefront of synthesis in the mid-1980s. The technique of the implementation of frequency modulation, which was developed by John Chowning at Stanford University in 1967-68, was patented in 1975. It was initially designed for radios to transmit voice by modulating one waveforms frequency with anothers and this is why FM radio is called FM. As noted earlier, FM synthesis was the basis of some of the generations of digital synthesizers, most notably those from New England Digital Corporation. Yamahas popular DX7 synthesizer was ubiquitous throughout the 1980s, several other models by Yamaha provided variations and evolutions of FM synthesis during that decade. Yamaha had patented its hardware implementation of FM in the 1980s, allowing it, casio developed a related form of synthesis called phase distortion synthesis, used in its CZ range of synthesizers. It had a sound quality to the DX series. Don Buchla implemented FM on his instruments in the mid-1960s, prior to Yamahas patent. His 158,258 and 259 dual oscillator modules had a specific FM control voltage input, and these early applications used analog oscillators, and this capability was also followed by other modular synthesizers and portable synthesizers including Minimoog and ARP Odyssey. With the expiration of the Stanford University FM patent in 1995, the FM synthesis patent brought Stanford $20 million before it expired, making it the second most lucrative licensing agreement in Stanfords history. However, well-developed FM synthesis options are a feature of Nord Lead synths manufactured by Clavia, the Alesis Fusion range, the Korg Oasys and Kronos, various other synthesizers offer limited FM abilities to supplement their main engines. Most recently, in 2016, Korg released the Korg Volca FM, additive synthesis Chiptune Digital synthesizer Electronic music Sound card Sound chip Video game music Chowning, J. The Synthesis of Complex Audio Spectra by Means of Frequency Modulation, journal of the Audio Engineering Society
10.
Additive synthesis
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Additive synthesis is a sound synthesis technique that creates timbre by adding sine waves together. The timbre of instruments can be considered in the light of Fourier theory to consist of multiple harmonic or inharmonic partials or overtones. Each partial is a wave of different frequency and amplitude that swells. Additive synthesis most directly generates sound by adding the output of multiple sine wave generators, alternative implementations may use pre-computed wavetables or the inverse Fast Fourier transform. These sinusoids are called harmonics, overtones, or generally, partials, in general, a Fourier series contains an infinite number of sinusoidal components, with no upper limit to the frequency of the sinusoidal functions and includes a DC component. Frequencies outside of the audible range can be omitted in additive synthesis. As a result, only a number of sinusoidal terms with frequencies that lie within the audible range are modeled in additive synthesis. A waveform or function is said to be periodic if y = y for all t, the bandwidth of r k should be significantly less than f 0. Additive synthesis can also produce sounds in which the individual overtones need not have frequencies that are integer multiples of some common fundamental frequency. While many conventional musical instruments have harmonic partials, some have inharmonic partials, inharmonic additive synthesis can be described as y = ∑ k =1 K r k cos , where f k is the constant frequency of k th partial. In the general case, the frequency of a sinusoid is the derivative of the argument of the sine or cosine function. If this frequency is represented in hertz, rather than in angular frequency form and this is the case whether the partial is harmonic or inharmonic and whether its frequency is constant or time-varying. For example, F. Richard Moore listed additive synthesis as one of the four categories of sound synthesis alongside subtractive synthesis, nonlinear synthesis. In this broad sense, pipe organs, which also have pipes producing non-sinusoidal waveforms, summation of principal components and Walsh functions have also been classified as additive synthesis. Modern-day implementations of additive synthesis are mainly digital, Additive synthesis can be implemented using a bank of sinusoidal oscillators, one for each partial. Group additive synthesis is a method to group partials into harmonic groups, an inverse Fast Fourier transform can be used to efficiently synthesize frequencies that evenly divide the transform period or frame. It is possible to analyze the components of a recorded sound giving a sum of sinusoids representation. This representation can be re-synthesized using additive synthesis, one method of decomposing a sound into time varying sinusoidal partials is short-time Fourier transform -based McAulay-Quatieri Analysis
11.
Audio filter
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An audio filter is a frequency dependent amplifier circuit, working in the audio frequency range,0 Hz to beyond 20 kHz. Audio filters can amplify, pass or attenuate some frequency ranges, common types include low-pass filters, which pass through frequencies below their cutoff frequencies, and progressively attenuates frequencies above the cutoff frequency. Low-pass filters are used in audio crossovers to remove content from signals being sent to a low-frequency subwoofer system. A high-pass filter does the opposite, passing high frequencies above the cutoff frequency, a high-pass filter can be used in an audio crossover to remove low-frequency content from a signal being sent to a tweeter. A bandpass filter passes frequencies between its two frequencies, while attenuating those outside the range. A band-reject filter, attenuates frequencies between its two frequencies, while passing those outside the reject range. An all-pass filter passes all frequencies, but affects the phase of any given sinusoidal component, in more complex cases, an audio filter can provide a feedback loop, which introduces resonance alongside attenuation. Audio filters can also be designed to gain as well as attenuation. In other applications, such as with synthesizers or sound effects, audio filters can be implemented in analog circuitry as analog filters or in DSP code or computer software as digital filters. Generically, the term audio filter can be applied to anything which changes the timbre. Electrical resonance Electronic filter Equalization Feedback Linear filter Oscillation Self-resonant frequency
12.
Attenuator (electronics)
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An attenuator is an electronic device that reduces the power of a signal without appreciably distorting its waveform. An attenuator is effectively the opposite of an amplifier, though the two work by different methods, while an amplifier provides gain, an attenuator provides loss, or gain less than 1. Attenuators are usually passive devices made from simple voltage divider networks, switching between different resistances forms adjustable stepped attenuators and continuously adjustable ones using potentiometers. For higher frequencies precisely matched low VSWR resistance networks are used, fixed attenuators in circuits are used to lower voltage, dissipate power, and to improve impedance matching. Attenuators are also used to match impedance by lowering apparent SWR, basic circuits used in attenuators are pi pads and T pads. These may be required to be balanced or unbalanced depending on whether the line geometry with which they are to be used is balanced or unbalanced. For instance, attenuators used with coaxial lines would be the form while attenuators for use with twisted pair are required to be the balanced form. Four fundamental attenuator circuit diagrams are given in the figures on the left, since an attenuator circuit consists solely of passive resistor elements, it is linear and reciprocal. Key specifications for attenuators are, Attenuation expressed in decibels of relative power, a 3 dB pad reduces power to one half,6 dB to one fourth,10 dB to one tenth,20 dB to one hundredth,30 dB to one thousandth and so on. For voltage you double the dBs so for example 6 dB is half in voltage, nominal impedance, for example 50 ohm Frequency bandwidth, for example DC-18 GHz Power dissipation depends on mass and surface area of resistance material as well as possible additional cooling fins. Above SHF special waveguide structure is required, important characteristics are, accuracy, low SWR, flat frequency-response and repeatability. The size and shape of the attenuator depends on its ability to dissipate power, RF attenuators are used as loads for and as known attenuation and protective dissipation of power in measuring RF signals. Power attenuator Guitar amplifier This section concerns pi-pads, T-pads and L-pads made entirely from resistors, all impedance, currents, voltages and two-port parameters will be assumed to be purely real. For practical applications, this assumption is often close enough, the pad is designed for a particular load impedance, ZLoad, and a particular source impedance, Zs. The impedance seen looking into the port will be ZS if the output port is terminated by ZLoad. The impedance seen looking into the port will be ZLoad if the input port is terminated by ZS. The attenuator two-port is generally bidirectional, however, in this section it will be treated as though it were one way. In general, either of the two figures above applies, but the figure on the left will be assumed most of the time
13.
Keyboard expression
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Acoustic pianos, such as upright and grand pianos, are velocity-sensitive—the faster the key strike, the harder the hammer hits the strings. Baroque-style clavichords and professional synthesizers are after-touch-sensitive—applied force on the key after the initial strike produces effects such as vibrato or swells in volume, tracker pipe organs and electronic organs are displacement-sensitive—partly depressing a key produces a quieter tone. The piano, being velocity-sensitive, responds to the speed of the key-press in how fast the hammers strike the strings, several piano predecessors, such as the harpsichord, were not velocity-sensitive like the piano. To avoid this confusion, pressure sensitivity is often, perhaps usually, the MIDI standard supports both velocity and aftertouch. In general, only electronic keyboards implement true pressure sensitivity. Some manufacturers advertising incorrectly uses the term touch-sensitive for velocity sensitivity, even on a touch-sensitive keyboard, not all digital instrument sounds may incorporate velocity sensitivity into the sounds envelope. For example, the pipe organ sound often has no velocity-sensitive effects. The manufacturers and distributors of some inferior keyboards incorrectly describe their purely velocity-sensitive instruments as pressure-sensitive, the clavichord and some electronic keyboards also respond to the amount of force applied after initial impact—they are pressure-sensitive. This can be used by a skilled player to slightly correct the intonation of the notes when playing on a clavichord. Unlike in an action, the tangent does not rebound from the string, rather, it stays in contact with the string as long as the key is held. The volume of the note can be changed by striking harder or softer, when the key is released, the tangent loses contact with the string and the vibration of the string is silenced by strips of damping cloth. By applying a pressure up and down the key with the finger. While the vibrato on fretless string instruments such as the violin typically oscillates in pitch both above and below the note, clavichord bebung only produce pitches above the note. Sheet music does not often explicitly indicate bebung, composers generally let players apply bebung at their discretion. When sheet music does indicate bebung, it appears as a series of dots above or below a note, on electronic keyboards and synthesizers, pressure sensitivity is usually called aftertouch. A minority of instruments have polyphonic aftertouch, in each individual note has its own sensor for pressure that enables differing usage of aftertouch for different notes. Aftertouch sensors detect whether the musician is continuing to exert pressure after the strike of the key. The aftertouch feature allows players to change the tone or sound of a note after it is struck
14.
Computer data storage
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Computer data storage, often called storage or memory, is a technology consisting of computer components and recording media used to retain digital data. It is a function and fundamental component of computers. The central processing unit of a computer is what manipulates data by performing computations, in practice, almost all computers use a storage hierarchy, which puts fast but expensive and small storage options close to the CPU and slower but larger and cheaper options farther away. In the Von Neumann architecture, the CPU consists of two parts, The control unit and the arithmetic logic unit. The former controls the flow of data between the CPU and memory, while the latter performs arithmetic and logical operations on data, without a significant amount of memory, a computer would merely be able to perform fixed operations and immediately output the result. It would have to be reconfigured to change its behavior and this is acceptable for devices such as desk calculators, digital signal processors, and other specialized devices. Von Neumann machines differ in having a memory in which they store their operating instructions, most modern computers are von Neumann machines. A modern digital computer represents data using the numeral system. Text, numbers, pictures, audio, and nearly any form of information can be converted into a string of bits, or binary digits. The most common unit of storage is the byte, equal to 8 bits, a piece of information can be handled by any computer or device whose storage space is large enough to accommodate the binary representation of the piece of information, or simply data. For example, the works of Shakespeare, about 1250 pages in print. Data is encoded by assigning a bit pattern to each character, digit, by adding bits to each encoded unit, redundancy allows the computer to both detect errors in coded data and correct them based on mathematical algorithms. A random bit flip is typically corrected upon detection, the cyclic redundancy check method is typically used in communications and storage for error detection. A detected error is then retried, data compression methods allow in many cases to represent a string of bits by a shorter bit string and reconstruct the original string when needed. This utilizes substantially less storage for many types of data at the cost of more computation, analysis of trade-off between storage cost saving and costs of related computations and possible delays in data availability is done before deciding whether to keep certain data compressed or not. For security reasons certain types of data may be encrypted in storage to prevent the possibility of unauthorized information reconstruction from chunks of storage snapshots. Generally, the lower a storage is in the hierarchy, the lesser its bandwidth and this traditional division of storage to primary, secondary, tertiary and off-line storage is also guided by cost per bit. In contemporary usage, memory is usually semiconductor storage read-write random-access memory, typically DRAM or other forms of fast but temporary storage
15.
Sound effect
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In motion picture and television production, a sound effect is a sound recorded and presented to make a specific storytelling or creative point without the use of dialogue or music. The term often refers to a process applied to a recording, in professional motion picture and television production, dialogue, music, and sound effects recordings are treated as separate elements. Dialogue and music recordings are never referred to as sound effects, even though the processes applied to such as reverberation or flanging effects, the term sound effect ranges back to the early days of radio. In its Year Book 1931 the BBC published an article about The Use of Sound Effects. It considers sounds effect deeply linked with broadcasting and states, It would be a mistake to think of them as anologous to punctuation marks. They should never be inserted into an already existing. The author of a broadcast play or broadcast construction ought to have used Sound Effects as bricks with which to build, treating them as of value with speech. If it fails to do so its presence could not be justified, the sound of people talking in the background is also considered a BG, but only if the speaker is unintelligible and the language is unrecognizable. These background noises are also called ambience or atmos, Foley sound effects are sounds that synchronize on screen, and require the expertise of a foley artist to record properly. Footsteps, the movement of hand props, and the rustling of cloth are common foley units, design sound effects are sounds that do not normally occur in nature, or are impossible to record in nature. These sounds are used to suggest futuristic technology in a fiction film. Each of these sound effect categories is specialized, with sound editors known as specialists in an area of sound effects, Foley is another method of adding sound effects. With this technique the action onscreen is essentially recreated to try to match it as closely as possible, if done correctly it is very hard for audiences to tell what sounds were added and what sounds were originally recorded. In the early days of film and radio, foley artists would add sounds in realtime or pre-recorded sound effects would be played back from analogue discs in realtime. Today, with effects held in digital format, it is easy to any required sequence to be played in any desired timeline. In the days of silent film, sound effects were added by the operator of an organ or photoplayer. Theater organ sound effects are usually electric or electro-pneumatic, and activated by a button pressed with the hand or foot, photoplayer operators activate sound effects either by flipping switches on the machine or pulling cow-tail pull-strings, which hang above. Sounds like bells and drums are made mechanically, sirens and horns electronically, due to its smaller size, a photoplayer usually has less special effects than a theater organ, or less complex ones
16.
Musical keyboard
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A musical keyboard is the set of adjacent depressible levers or keys on a musical instrument. Depressing a key on the causes the instrument to produce sounds, either by mechanically striking a string or tine, plucking a string, causing air to flow through a pipe. On electric and electronic keyboards, depressing a key connects a circuit, since the most commonly encountered keyboard instrument is the piano, the keyboard layout is often referred to as the piano keyboard. The twelve notes of the Western musical scale are laid out with the lowest note on the left, because these keys were traditionally covered in ivory they are often called the white notes or white keys. The keys for the remaining five notes—which are not part of the C major scale— are raised, because these keys receive less wear, they are often made of black colored wood and called the black notes or black keys. The pattern repeats at the interval of an octave, the arrangement of longer keys for C major with intervening, shorter keys for the intermediate semitones dates to the 15th century. The break was between middle C and C-sharp, or outside of Iberia between B and C, broken keyboards reappeared in 1842 with the harmonium, the split occurring at E4/F4. The reverse-colored keys on Hammond organs such as the B3, C3, the chromatic compass of keyboard instruments has tended to increase. Harpsichords often extended over five octaves in the 18th century, while most pianos manufactured since about 1870 have 88 keys, some modern pianos have even more notes. While modern synthesizer keyboards commonly have either 61,76 or 88 keys, organs normally have 61 keys per manual, though some spinet models have 44 or 49. An organ pedalboard is a keyboard with long pedals that are played by the organists feet, pedalboards vary in size from 12 to 32 notes. In a typical layout, black note keys have uniform width. In the larger gaps between the keys, the width of the natural notes C, D and E differ slightly from the width of keys F, G, A and B. This allows close to uniform spacing of 12 keys per octave while maintaining uniformity of seven natural keys per octave, over the last three hundred years, the octave span distance found on historical keyboard instruments has ranged from as little as 125 mm to as much as 170 mm. Several reduced-size standards have been proposed and marketed, a 15/16 size and the 7/8 DS Standard keyboard developed by Christopher Donison in the 1970s and developed and marketed by Steinbuhler & Company. There have been variations in the design of the keyboard to address technical and musical issues, thus, an octave would have eight white keys and only four black keys. During the sixteenth century, when instruments were tuned in meantone temperament, some harpsichords were constructed with the G♯. The broken octave, a variation of the short octave
17.
MIDI
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A single MIDI link can carry up to sixteen channels of information, each of which can be routed to a separate device. These messages are sent via a MIDI cable to other devices where they control sound generation, a simple example of a MIDI setup is the use of a MIDI controller such as an electronic musical keyboard to trigger sounds created by a sound module. This MIDI data can also be recorded into a hardware or software device called a sequencer, advantages of MIDI include compactness, ease of modification and manipulation and a wide choice of electronic instruments and synthesizer or digitally-sampled sounds. MIDI technology was standardized in 1983 by a panel of industry representatives. In June 1981, Roland founder Ikutaro Kakehashi proposed the idea of standardization to Oberheim Electronics founder Tom Oberheim, in October 1981, Kakehashi, Oberheim and Smith discussed the idea with representatives from Yamaha, Korg and Kawai. Smith proposed this standard at the Audio Engineering Society show in November 1981, MIDIs development was announced to the public by Robert Moog, in the October 1982 edition of Keyboard magazine. By the time of the January 1983 Winter NAMM Show, Smith was able to demonstrate a MIDI connection between his Prophet 600 analog synthesizer and a Roland JP-6, the MIDI Specification was published in August 1983. The MIDI standard was unveiled by Ikutaro Kakehashi and Dave Smith, MIDIs appeal was originally limited to professional musicians and record producers who wanted to use electronic instruments in the production of popular music. The standard allowed different instruments to speak with other and with computers. This interoperability allowed one device to be controlled from another, which reduced the amount of hardware musicians needed to own, MIDIs introduction coincided with the dawn of the personal computer era and the introductions of samplers and digital synthesizers. The creative possibilities brought about by MIDI technology have been credited as having helped to revive the industry in the 1980s. MIDI introduced many capabilities which transformed the way musicians work, MIDI sequencing made it possible for a user with no notation skills to build complex arrangements. A musical act with as few as one or two members, each operating multiple MIDI-enabled devices, could deliver a performance which sounds similar to that of a larger group of musicians. By performing preproduction in an environment, an artist can reduce recording costs by arriving at a recording studio with a song that is already partially completed and worked out. Educational technology enabled by MIDI has transformed music education and those new to the subject of MIDI might confuse it with digital audio. MIDI symbolically represents a note, whereas digital audio represents the sound produced by the note, MIDI was invented so that musical instruments could communicate with each other and so that one instrument can control another. Analog synthesizers that have no digital component and were built prior to MIDIs development can be retrofit with kits that convert MIDI messages into analog control voltages. When a note is played on a MIDI instrument, it generates a signal that can be used to trigger a note on another instrument
18.
Electronic keyboard
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An electronic keyboard or digital keyboard is an electronic musical instrument, an electronic or digital derivative of keyboard instruments. Broadly speaking, in a popular context, the term electronic keyboard or just a keyboard mostly refers to any type of digital or electronic keyboard instrument. These include synthesizers, digital pianos, stage pianos, electronic organs, however, in true musical terminology, an electronic keyboard is an inexpensive synthesizer equipped with built-in power amplifier and small loudspeakers. Electronic keyboards are capable of recreating a wide range of instrument sounds with less complex sound synthesis, Electronic keyboards are usually dedicated for home users, beginners and other non-professional users. The least expensive models do not have velocity-sensitive keys, but mid- to high-priced models do have these feature, home keyboards typically have little if any sound editing capacity. The user typically selects from a range of voices or sounds. Home keyboards have a lower cost than professional synthesizers. Casio and Yamaha are among the manufacturers of home keyboards. An electronic keyboard may also called a digital keyboard, portable keyboard, or home keyboard, referring their digital-based sound generation and light-weight, portable build. In Russia, most kinds of keyboards were often referred to as a synthesizer. The term electronic keyboard may also be used to refer to synthesizer or digital piano on colloquial usage, Most keyboards use a keyboard matrix circuit to reduce the amount of wiring that is needed. Electronic hardware can also do this, Sound generator, A digital sound module typically contained within an integrated ROM, which is capable of accepting MIDI commands and producing sounds. Keyboard sound generators are mostly based on PCM synth, amplifier and speakers, an internal audio amplifier built to the sound generator chip and low-powered speakers that amplify the sounds so that the listener can hear them. Power supply, Keyboards may or may not have a power supply system built to the main circuit board. Flash memory, Most electronic keyboards have an amount of onboard memory for storing MIDI data and/or recorded songs. Floppy disks were obsolete by the early 2000s, with memory cards start to replace them shortly afterwards, USB storage were originally less common at the time, but was later popularized by Yamahas Tyros2 workstation keyboard in 2005 and has become a standard feature ever since. Most keyboards today uses USB storage, with the exception of some Casio, keyboard instruments can be found as far back as the hydraulis in the 3rd century BCE, which developed into the pipe organ, and small portable instruments such as the portative and positive organ. Additional keyboard instruments, the clavichord and harpsichord, were developed in the 14th century CE, as technology improved, more sophisticated keyboards were developed, including the 12-tone keyboard still in use today
19.
Yamaha DX1
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The Yamaha DX1 is the top-level member of Yamahas prolific DX series of FM synthesizers. It features two sets of the same synthesizer used in the DX7, allowing either double the polyphony. In addition, it twice the amount of voice memory as the DX7. It has an independent voice bank for each of two synth channels, each of 64 performance combinations can be assigned a single voice number, or a combination of two voice numbers - one from channel A and one from channel B. The Yamaha DX5 is a derivative of the DX1, introduced in 1985 with a list price of US$3,495 and it has the same synth engine, but lacks the DX1s fully weighted keys, polyphonic aftertouch, aesthetics, and user interface features. It includes 76 keys with channel aftertouch and slightly improved MIDI features, smith Tangerine Dream FM Tone Generators and the Dawn of Home Music Production. Yamaha Synth 40th Anniversary - History, the development outline of Yamaha FM sound synthesizer, especially, the prototypes of GS1, DX series, DX1, and these tentative programing interfaces are seen. Yamaha DX1 Worldwide Information Center DX1 and DX5 info site, including owners club, vintage Synth Explorer Site information Sonic State Site user reviews Yamaha DX5 page
20.
Yamaha DX11
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The Yamaha DX11 is a digital synthesizer and one of the later DX-series instruments produced by Yamaha in the 1980s, having been released in 1987-1988. It is a 4-operator FM synthesis-based instrument and the version of the popular TX81Z rack module which was released one year prior. The DX11 had 61 keys, and its memory included 128 preset patches,32 user-programmable patches and 32 Performances and it also had a slot for an external memory cartridge, and a cable for saving and loading sound data to tape. Like other DX-series instruments, no on-board arpeggiator or sequencer is present, in terms of voicing, the DX11 is backwards-compatible with its predecessor keyboards but offers various new possibilities. Its multitimbral features in Performance mode allowed up to 8 different patches to be assigned to independent ranges of keyboard notes, up to 8 individual sounds could also be stacked together in this mode, resulting in complex multi-layered tones not possible on previous DX models. Compared to the TX81Z, the DX11s voice architecture was enhanced with the addition of a pitch envelope. The DX11 would edit the appropriate operators parameters accordingly, allowing changes to a sounds character more similar to an analog synthesizer. The popularity of the TX81Z module and DX11 4-OP FM synthesizer has spawned a few computer emulations, Ableton Operator, FM-Four by ToneBytes, and FM4 by GTG Synths. In Japan the DX11 was named the V2, but this was not used in the west for fear of association with the Nazi V2 war missile of the same name
21.
Drum machine
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A drum machine is an electronic musical instrument designed to imitate the sound of drums, cymbals, other percussion instruments, and often basslines. Drum machines are most commonly associated with electronic music such as house music. They are usually used when session drummers are not available or if the production cannot afford the cost of a drummer. Also, many modern drum machines can also produce sounds, as well as allowing the user to compose unique drum beats. In the 2010s, most modern machines are sequencers with a sample playback or synthesizer component that specializes in the reproduction of drum timbres. The invention could produce sixteen different rhythms, each associated with a pitch, either individually or in any combination, including en masse. Received with considerable interest when it was introduced in 1932. The next generation of rhythm machines played only pre-programmed rhythms such as mambo, tango, Chamberlin Rhythmate In 1957 Californian Harry Chamberlin constructed a tape loop-based drum machine called the Chamberlin Rhythmate. It had 14 tape loops with a head that allowed playback of different tracks on each piece of tape. It contained a volume and a control and also had a separate amplifier with bass, treble, and volume controls. The tape loops were of real acoustic jazz drum kits playing different style beats, with additions to tracks such as bongos, clave, castanets. First commercial product – Wurlitzer Side Man In 1959 Wurlitzer released a drum machine called the Side Man. The Side Man was intended as an accompaniment for the Wurlitzer organ range. The Side Man offered a choice of 12 electronically generated, predefined rhythm patterns with variable tempos, the sound source was a series of vacuum tubes which created 10 preset electronic drum sounds. Combinations of these different sets of rhythms and drum sounds created popular rhythmic patterns of the day, e. g. waltzes and these combinations were selected by a rotary knob on the top of the Side Man box. The tempo of the patterns was controlled by a slider that increased the speed of rotation of the wiper arm, the Side Man had a panel of 10 buttons for manually triggering drum sounds, and a remote player to control the machine while playing from an organ keyboard. The Side Man was housed in a cabinet that contained the sound-generating circuitry. Raymond Scott In 1960, Raymond Scott constructed the Rhythm Synthesizer and, in 1963, scotts machines were used for recording his album Soothing Sounds for Baby series
22.
Audio sequencer
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The term audio sequencer or audio sequencing seems to be not clearly defined. Search results of audio sequencer, Google. com 2, Amazon. com, Audio Sequencers, Musical Instruments, Amazon. com
23.
Pop music
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Pop music is a genre of popular music that originated in its modern form in the United States and United Kingdom during the mid 1950s. The terms popular music and pop music are used interchangeably, although the former describes all music that is popular. Pop and rock were synonymous terms until the late 1960s, when they were used in opposition from each other. Although pop music is seen as just the singles charts, it is not the sum of all chart music. Pop music is eclectic, and often borrows elements from other such as urban, dance, rock, Latin. Identifying factors include generally short to medium-length songs written in a format, as well as the common use of repeated choruses, melodic tunes. David Hatch and Stephen Millward define pop music as a body of music which is distinguishable from popular, jazz, according to Pete Seeger, pop music is professional music which draws upon both folk music and fine arts music. Although pop music is seen as just the singles charts, it is not the sum of all chart music, the music charts contain songs from a variety of sources, including classical, jazz, rock, and novelty songs. Pop music, as a genre, is seen as existing and developing separately, pop music continuously evolves along with the terms definition. The term pop song was first recorded as being used in 1926, Hatch and Millward indicate that many events in the history of recording in the 1920s can be seen as the birth of the modern pop music industry, including in country, blues and hillbilly music. The Oxford Dictionary of Music states that while pops earlier meaning meant concerts appealing to a wide audience. Since the late 1950s, however, pop has had the meaning of non-classical mus, usually in the form of songs, performed by such artists as the Beatles. Grove Music Online also states that, in the early 1960s pop music competed terminologically with beat music, while in the USA its coverage overlapped with that of rock and roll. From about 1967, the term was used in opposition to the term rock music. Whereas rock aspired to authenticity and an expansion of the possibilities of music, pop was more commercial, ephemeral. It is not driven by any significant ambition except profit and commercial reward, and, in musical terms, it is essentially conservative. It is, provided from on high rather than being made from below, pop is not a do-it-yourself music but is professionally produced and packaged. The beat and the melodies tend to be simple, with limited harmonic accompaniment, the lyrics of modern pop songs typically focus on simple themes – often love and romantic relationships – although there are notable exceptions
24.
John Chowning
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John M. Chowning is an American composer, musician, inventor, and professor best known for his work at Stanford University and his invention of FM synthesis while there. Chowning is known for having discovered the FM synthesis algorithm in 1967, in FM synthesis, both the carrier frequency and the modulation frequency are within the audio band. Chownings breakthrough allowed for simple—in terms of process—yet rich sounding timbres, which synthesized metal striking or bell like sounds, and which seemed incredibly similar to real percussion. He spent six years turning his breakthrough into a system of importance and eventually was able to simulate a large number of musical sounds. In 1974 Stanford University licensed the discovery to Yamaha in Japan, with whom Chowning worked in developing a family of synthesizers and this patent was Stanfords most lucrative patent at one time, eclipsing many in electronics, computer science, and biotechnology. The first commercial musical instrument to incorporate FM Synthesis was the Synclavier I and their Synclavier II, introduced in 1980, was frequently used in the production of popular music beginning that year. The first Yamaha product to incorporate the FM algorithm was their GS1, some thought it too expensive at the time, Chowning included. Soon after, in 1983, Yamaha made their first commercially successful digital FM synthesizer, another important aspect of Chownings work is the simulated motion of sound through physical space. In 1972 he was first able to create the illusion of a continuous 360-degree space using only four speakers, Chowning graduated from Wittenberg University with a Bachelor of Music in 1959. He studied music composition for two years with Nadia Boulanger in Paris and received his PhD in 1966 from Stanford, where he studied under Leland Smith and he was the founding director in 1975 of the Center for Computer Research in Music and Acoustics at Stanford University. Chowning also worked for a number of years at IRCAM, in Paris, Chowning married Elisabeth Keller and they had two children, John and Marianne. Both John and Marianne had two children, Jade, Sam, Madeline, and Evan, johns second marriage is to Maureen Tiernay and they had one child named James Scott. One of Chownings most famous pieces is called Stria and it was commissioned by IRCAM for the Institutes first major concert series called Perspectives of the 20th Century. His composition was noted for its inharmonic sounds due to his famous FM algorithm, other famous compositions include Turenas, which was one of the first electronic compositions to have the illusion of sounds moving in a 360-degree space. With Phoné, he became the first to put FM over voice synthesis, artificial Voice, translated by Niiki Halpern. Ircam Centre Pompidou archive from 15 July 2007, accessed 26 March 2015), the New Grove Dictionary of Music andMusicians, second edition, edited by Stanley Sadie and John Tyrrell. The Sound of Innovation, Stanford and the Computer Music Revolution, review, John Chowning, Phone / Turenas / Stria / Sabelithe. Olivier Baudouin, Pionniers de la musique numérique, Sampzon, Delatour,2012 John Chowning, Paris, Ina – Michel de Maule,2005
25.
Sine wave
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A sine wave or sinusoid is a mathematical curve that describes a smooth repetitive oscillation. It is named after the sine, of which it is the graph. It occurs often in pure and applied mathematics, as well as physics, engineering, signal processing and many other fields. Its most basic form as a function of time is, y = A sin = A sin where, A = the amplitude, F = the ordinary frequency, the number of oscillations that occur each second of time. ω = 2πf, the frequency, the rate of change of the function argument in units of radians per second φ = the phase. When φ is non-zero, the entire waveform appears to be shifted in time by the amount φ /ω seconds, a negative value represents a delay, and a positive value represents an advance. The sine wave is important in physics because it retains its shape when added to another sine wave of the same frequency and arbitrary phase. It is the only periodic waveform that has this property and this property leads to its importance in Fourier analysis and makes it acoustically unique. The wavenumber is related to the frequency by. K = ω v =2 π f v =2 π λ where λ is the wavelength, f is the frequency, and v is the linear speed. This equation gives a wave for a single dimension, thus the generalized equation given above gives the displacement of the wave at a position x at time t along a single line. This could, for example, be considered the value of a wave along a wire, in two or three spatial dimensions, the same equation describes a travelling plane wave if position x and wavenumber k are interpreted as vectors, and their product as a dot product. For more complex such as the height of a water wave in a pond after a stone has been dropped in. This wave pattern occurs often in nature, including wind waves, sound waves, a cosine wave is said to be sinusoidal, because cos = sin , which is also a sine wave with a phase-shift of π/2 radians. Because of this start, it is often said that the cosine function leads the sine function or the sine lags the cosine. The human ear can recognize single sine waves as sounding clear because sine waves are representations of a frequency with no harmonics. Presence of higher harmonics in addition to the fundamental causes variation in the timbre, on the other hand, if the sound contains aperiodic waves along with sine waves, then the sound will be perceived noisy as noise is characterized as being aperiodic or having a non-repetitive pattern. In 1822, French mathematician Joseph Fourier discovered that sinusoidal waves can be used as building blocks to describe and approximate any periodic waveform
26.
Digital audio
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Digital audio is technology that can be used to record, store, generate, manipulate, and reproduce sound using audio signals that have been encoded in digital form. A microphone converts sound to an electrical signal, then an analog-to-digital converter —typically using pulse-code modulation—converts the analog signal into a digital signal. This digital signal can then be recorded, edited and modified using digital audio tools, digital audio systems may include compression, storage, processing and transmission components. Conversion to a digital format allows convenient manipulation, storage, transmission, modern online music distribution depends on digital recording and data compression. The availability of music as data files, rather than as objects, has significantly reduced the costs of distribution. Before digital audio, the music industry distributed and sold music by selling copies in the form of records. With digital audio and online distribution systems such as iTunes, companies sell digital files to consumers. This digital audio/Internet distribution model is less expensive than producing physical copies of recordings, packaging them. An analog audio system captures sounds, and converts their physical waveforms into electrical representations of those waveforms by use of a transducer, the sounds are then stored, as on tape, or transmitted. The process is reversed for playback, the signal is amplified. Analog audio retains its fundamental wave-like characteristics throughout its storage, transformation, duplication, analog audio signals are susceptible to noise and distortion, due to the innate characteristics of electronic circuits and associated devices. Disturbances in a system do not result in error unless the disturbance is so large as to result in a symbol being misinterpreted as another symbol or disturb the sequence of symbols. A digital audio signal may be encoded for correction of any errors that occur in the storage or transmission of the signal. This technique, known as channel coding, is essential for broadcast or recorded digital systems to maintain bit accuracy, the discrete time and level of the binary signal allow a decoder to recreate the analog signal upon replay. Eight to Fourteen Bit Modulation is a code used in the audio Compact Disc. A digital audio system starts with an ADC that converts a signal to a digital signal. The ADC runs at a sampling rate and converts at a known bit resolution. CD audio, for example, has a rate of 44.1 kHz
27.
Analog synthesizer
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An analog synthesizer is a synthesizer that uses analog circuits and analog signals to generate sound electronically. The earliest analog synthesizers in the 1920s and 1930s, such as the Trautonium, were built with a variety of vacuum-tube, after the 1960s, analog synthesizers were built using operational amplifier integrated circuits, and used potentiometers to adjust the sound parameters. Analog synthesizers also use low-pass filters and high-pass filters to modify the sound, the earliest synthesizers used a variety of thermionic-valve and electro-mechanical technologies. Another notable early instrument is the Hammond Novachord, first produced in 1938, early analog synthesizers used technology from electronic analog computers and laboratory test equipment. Synthesizer modules in early synthesizers included voltage-controlled oscillators, voltage-controlled filters. Additionally, they used envelope generators, low-frequency oscillators, and ring modulators, some synthesizers also had effects devices, such as reverb units, or tools such as sequencers or sound mixers. Because many of these modules took input sound signals and processed them, famous modular synthesizer manufacturers included Buchla & Associates, Moog Music, ARP Instruments, Inc. and Electronic Music Studios. Moog established standards recognized worldwide for control interfacing on analog synthesizers, using a logarithmic 1-volt-per-octave pitch control and these control signals were routed using the same types of connectors and cables that were used for routing the synthesized sound signals. A specialized form of analog synthesizer is the analog vocoder, based on equipment developed for speech synthesis, vocoders are often used to make a sound that resembles a musical instrument talking or singing. Patch cords were expensive, could be damaged by use, and made complex patches difficult, thus, later analog synthesizers used the same building blocks, but integrated them into single units, eliminating patch cords in favour of integrated signal routing systems. The most popular of these was the Minimoog, though less flexible than a modular design, normalization made the instrument more portable and easier to use. This first pre-patched synthesizer, the Minimoog, became highly popular, the Minimoog also influenced the design of nearly all subsequent synthesizers, with integrated keyboard, pitch wheel and modulation wheel, and a VCO->VCF->VCA signal flow. In the 1970s, miniaturized solid-state components let manufacturers produce self-contained, portable instruments, Electronic synthesizers quickly become a standard part of the popular-music repertoire. The first movie to use music made with a synthesizer was the James Bond film On Her Majestys Secret Service in 1969, after the release of the film, composers produced a large number of movie soundtracks that featured synthesizers. Notable makers of analog synthesizers included Moog, ARP, Roland, Korg. Because of the complexity of generating even a single note using analog synthesis, polyphonic analog synthesizers featured limited polyphony, typically supporting four voices. Oberheim was a manufacturer of analog polyphonic synthesizers. The Polymoog was an attempt to create a polyphonic analog synthesizer
28.
Electric piano
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An electric piano is an electric musical instrument which produces sounds when a performer presses the keys of the piano-style musical keyboard. Unlike a synthesizer, the piano is not an electronic instrument. Instead, it is an electro-mechanical instrument, some early electric pianos used lengths of wire to produce the tone, like a traditional piano. Smaller electric pianos used short slivers of steel to produce the tone, the earliest electric pianos were invented in the late 1920s, the 1929 Neo-Bechstein electric grand piano was among the first. Probably the earliest stringless model was Lloyd Loars Vivi-Tone Clavier, a few other noteworthy producers of electric pianos include Baldwin Piano and Organ Company and the Wurlitzer Company. Early electric piano recordings include Duke Ellingtons in 1955 and Sun Ras India as well as tracks from the 1956 sessions included on his second album Super Sonic Jazz. Another factor driving their development and acceptance was the electrification of popular music. Musicians adopted a number of types of electric pianos for rock. This encouraged their manufacturers to modify them for use and then develop models primarily intended for stage use. However, some performers still perform and record with vintage electric pianos, in 2009, Fender Rhodes produced a new line of electro-mechanical pianos, known as the Rhodes Mark 7 followed by an offering from Vintage Vibe. The Neo-Bechstein electric piano was built in 1929, the Vierlang-Forster electric piano was introduced in 1937. The RCA Storytone electric piano was built in 1939 in a joint venture between Story & Clark and RCA, the case was designed by John Vassos, the American industrial designer. It debuted at the 1939 Worlds Fair, the piano has normal strings and hammer action but no soundboard. The sound is amplified through electromagnetic pickups, circuitry and a speaker system, many types were initially designed as a less-expensive alternative to an acoustic piano for home or school use. Some electric pianos were designed with multiple keyboards for use in school or college piano labs, electric piano is a heterogeneous category encompassing several different instruments which vary in their sound-producing mechanisms and consequent timbral characters. Yamaha, Baldwin, Helpinstill and Kawais electric pianos are actual grand or upright pianos with strings, the Helpinstill models have a traditional soundboard, the others have none, and are more akin to a solid-body electric guitar. On Yamaha, Baldwin and Kawais pianos, the vibration of the strings is converted to a signal by piezoelectric pickups under the bridge. Helpinstills instruments use a set of electromagnetic pickups attached to the instruments frame, all these instruments have a tonal character similar to that of an acoustic piano
29.
Random-access memory
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Random-access memory is a form of computer data storage which stores frequently used program instructions to increase the general speed of a system. A random-access memory device allows data items to be read or written in almost the same amount of time irrespective of the location of data inside the memory. RAM contains multiplexing and demultiplexing circuitry, to connect the lines to the addressed storage for reading or writing the entry. Usually more than one bit of storage is accessed by the same address, in todays technology, random-access memory takes the form of integrated circuits. RAM is normally associated with types of memory, where stored information is lost if power is removed. Other types of non-volatile memories exist that allow access for read operations. These include most types of ROM and a type of memory called NOR-Flash. Integrated-circuit RAM chips came into the market in the early 1970s, with the first commercially available DRAM chip, early computers used relays, mechanical counters or delay lines for main memory functions. Ultrasonic delay lines could only reproduce data in the order it was written, drum memory could be expanded at relatively low cost but efficient retrieval of memory items required knowledge of the physical layout of the drum to optimize speed. Latches built out of vacuum tube triodes, and later, out of transistors, were used for smaller and faster memories such as registers. Such registers were relatively large and too costly to use for large amounts of data, the first practical form of random-access memory was the Williams tube starting in 1947. It stored data as electrically charged spots on the face of a cathode ray tube, since the electron beam of the CRT could read and write the spots on the tube in any order, memory was random access. The capacity of the Williams tube was a few hundred to around a thousand bits, but it was smaller, faster. In fact, rather than the Williams tube memory being designed for the SSEM, magnetic-core memory was invented in 1947 and developed up until the mid-1970s. It became a form of random-access memory, relying on an array of magnetized rings. By changing the sense of each rings magnetization, data could be stored with one bit stored per ring, since every ring had a combination of address wires to select and read or write it, access to any memory location in any sequence was possible. Magnetic core memory was the form of memory system until displaced by solid-state memory in integrated circuits. Data was stored in the capacitance of each transistor, and had to be periodically refreshed every few milliseconds before the charge could leak away
30.
Vibrato
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Vibrato is a musical effect consisting of a regular, pulsating change of pitch. It is used to add expression to vocal and instrumental music, Vibrato is typically characterised in terms of two factors, the amount of pitch variation and the speed with which the pitch is varied. In singing it can occur spontaneously through variations in the larynx, the vibrato of a string instrument and wind instrument is an imitation of that vocal function. In practice, it is difficult for a singer or musical instrument player to achieve a pure vibrato or tremolo, electronic manipulation or generation of signals makes it easier to achieve or demonstrate pure tremolo or vibrato. A Leslie speaker creates vibrato as a byproduct of tremolo production, as a Leslie speaker is moved by the rotating mechanism on which it is mounted, it moves closer to or farther away from any given object not also mounted on the mechanism. e. However, the size of effect is likely to be tiny compared against the tremolo effect since the distance oscillation is very small. The use of vibrato is intended to add warmth to a note and this can add a shimmer to the sound, with a well-made instrument it may also help a solo player to be heard more clearly when playing with a large orchestra. The rate and extent of the variation in pitch during vibrato is controlled by the performer, wind and bowed instruments generally use vibratos with an extent of less than half a semitone either side. Despite his technique, he was unable to play without vibrato, the featured saxophonist in Benny Goodmans Orchestra, George Auld, was brought in to play the part. Many classical musicians, especially singers and string players, have a similar problem, the use of vibrato in classical music is a matter of some dispute. For much of the 20th century it was used almost continuously in the performance of pieces from all eras from the Baroque onwards, especially by singers, a drastic change in approach cannot be understood wholly without regarding the rise of notionally historically informed performance from the 1970s onwards. However, there is no proof that singers performed without vibrato in the baroque era. Vocal music of the renaissance is almost never sung with vibrato as a rule, there are only a few texts from the period on vocal production, but they all condemn excessive use of vibrato. However, it should be understood that vibrato occurs over a range of intensities, slow, fast, wide. Leopold Mozart’s Versuch einer gründlichen Violinschule, for example, provides an indication of the state of vibrato in string playing at the end of the baroque period. This however, does not give anything more than an indication of Mozarts own personal taste, in this respect he resembles his contemporary, Francesco Geminiani, who advocated using vibrato as frequently as possible on short notes for this purpose. Certain types of vibrato, then, were seen as an ornament, in wind playing too, it seems that vibrato in music up to the 20th century was seen as an ornament to be used selectively. Martin Agricola writing in his Musica instrumentalis deudsch writes of vibrato in this way, occasionally, composers up to the baroque period indicated vibrato with a wavy line in the sheet music
31.
Tremolo
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In music, tremolo, or tremolando, is a trembling effect. There are two types of tremolo, tremolo picking, in which a single note is repeated extremely rapidly, is also possible on classical guitar, acoustic guitar and electric guitar. Between two notes or chords in alternation, an imitation of the preceding that is common on keyboard instruments. Mallet instruments such as the marimba are capable of either method, a roll on any percussion instrument, whether tuned or untuned. This non-standard use of the term refers to pitch rather than amplitude. True tremolo for a guitar, electronic organ, or any electronic signal would normally be produced by a simple amplitude modulation electronic circuit. Electronic tremolo effects were available on many guitar amplifiers. In the 2010s, electronic effects units in the form of pedals are also available as a method to produce this sound. The measured tremolo, presumably played with rhythmic regularity, was invented to add dramatic intensity to string accompaniment, however, it was not till the time of Gluck that the real tremolo became an accepted method of tone production. Four other types of historical tremolos include the obsolete undulating tremolo, the tremolo, the fingered tremolo. The undulating tremolo was produced through the fingers of the right hand alternately exerting and relaxing pressure upon the bow to create a very uncertain–undulating effect, there is some speculation that tremolo was employed in medieval Welsh harp music, as indicated in the transcription by Robert ap Huw. In musical notation, tremolo is usually notated as regular repeated demisemiquavers, generally, there are three strokes, except on note which already have beams or flags, quavers then take two additional slashes, and semiquavers take one. In the case of semibreves, which lack stems, the strokes or slashes are drawn above or below the note, because there is ambiguity as to whether an unmeasured tremolo or regular repeated demisemiquavers should be played, the word tremolo or the abbreviation trem. is sometimes added. In slower music when there is a chance of confusion. Above the staff, Arpeggio, a chord played one note after the other Leslie speaker, a rotating speaker horn
32.
Dynamics (music)
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In music, dynamics are instructions in musical notation to the performer about the loudness at which to play a note or phrase. More generally, dynamics may also include aspects of the execution of a given piece. The two basic dynamic indications in music are, p or piano, meaning soft, more subtle degrees of loudness or softness are indicated by, mp, standing for mezzo-piano, meaning half soft. Mf, standing for mezzo-forte, meaning half loud, più p, standing for più piano and meaning softer. Più f, standing for più forte and meaning louder, use of up to three consecutive fs or ps is also common, pp, standing for pianissimo and meaning very soft. Ff, standing for fortissimo and meaning very loud, ppp, standing for pianississimo and meaning very very soft. Fff, standing for fortississimo and meaning very loud. Some pieces contain dynamic designations with more than three consecutive fs or ps, in Holsts The Planets, ffff occurs twice in Mars and once in Uranus often punctuated by organ and fff occurs several times throughout the work. It also appears in Heitor Villa-Lobos Bachianas Brasileiras No,4, and in Liszts Fantasy and Fugue on the chorale Ad nos, ad salutarem undam. Igor Stravinsky used ffff at the end of the finale of the Firebird Suite, ffff is also found in a prelude by Rachmaninoff, op. 3-2. Shostakovich even went as loud as fffff in his fourth symphony, gustav Mahler, in the third movement of his Seventh Symphony, gives the celli and basses a marking of fffff, along with a footnote directing pluck so hard that the strings hit the wood. On another extreme, Carl Nielsen, in the movement of his Symphony No. 5, marked a passage for woodwinds a diminuendo to ppppp, another more extreme dynamic is in György Ligetis Études No. 13, which has at one point a ffffff and progresses to a ffffffff, in the baritone passage Era la notte from his opera Otello, Verdi uses pppp. Steane and others suggest that such markings are in reality a strong reminder to less than subtle singers to at least sing softly rather than an instruction to the singer actually to attempt a pppp, dynamic indications of this kind are relative, not absolute. Mp does not indicate a level of volume, it merely indicates that music in a passage so marked should be a little louder than p. Interpretations of dynamic levels are mostly to the performer, in the Barber Piano Nocturne. Another instance of performers discretion in this piece occurs when the hand is shown to crescendo to a f
33.
Wind instrument
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The pitch of the vibration is determined by the length of the tube and by manual modifications of the effective length of the vibrating column of air. In the case of wind instruments, sound is produced by blowing through a reed. Using different air columns for different tones, such as in the pan flute and this method is used on nearly all brass instruments. Changing the length of the air column by lengthening and/or shortening the tube using a sliding mechanism. This method is used on the trombone and the slide whistle, changing the frequency of vibration through opening or closing holes in the side of the tube. This can be done by covering the holes with fingers or pressing a key which then closes the hole and this method is used in nearly all woodwind instruments. Making the column of air vibrate at different harmonics without changing the length of the column of air, almost all wind instruments use the last method, often in combination with one of the others, to extend their register. A more accurate way to determine whether an instrument is brass or woodwind is to examine how the player produces sound, in brass instruments, the players lips vibrate, causing the air within the instrument to vibrate. For example, the saxophone is typically made of brass, but is classified as an instrument because it produces sound with a vibrating reed. In the Hornbostel-Sachs scheme of musical instrument classification, wind instruments are classed as aerophones, sound production in all wind instruments depends on the entry of air into a flow-control valve attached to a resonant chamber. The resonator is typically a long cylindrical or conical tube, open at the far end, a pulse of high pressure from the valve will travel down the tube at the speed of sound. It will be reflected from the end as a return pulse of low pressure. Under suitable conditions, the valve will reflect the pulse back, with increased energy, Reed instruments such as the clarinet or oboe have a flexible reed or reeds at the mouthpiece, forming a pressure-controlled valve. Standing waves inside the tube will be odd multiples of a quarter-wavelength, with a pressure anti-node at the mouthpiece, the reed vibrates at a rate determined by the resonator. For Lip Reed instruments, the controls the tension in their lips so that they vibrate under the influence of the air flow through them. They adjust the vibration so that the lips are most closed, and the air flow is lowest, standing waves inside the tube will be odd multiples of a quarter-wavelength, with a pressure anti-node at the mouthpiece, and a pressure node at the open end. For Air Reed instruments, the thin grazing air sheet flowing across an opening in the pipe interacts with an edge to generate sound. The jet is generated by the player, when blowing through a thin slit, for recorders and flue organ pipes this slit is manufactured by the instrument maker and has a fixed geometry
34.
Pipe organ
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The pipe organ is a musical instrument that produces sound by driving pressurized air through organ pipes selected via a keyboard. Because each pipe produces a pitch, the pipes are provided in sets called ranks, each of which has a common timbre. Most organs have multiple ranks of pipes of differing timbre, pitch, a pipe organ has one or more keyboards played by the hands, and a pedalboard played by the feet, each keyboard has its own group of stops. The keyboard, pedalboard, and stops are housed in the organs console, the smallest portable pipe organs may have only one or two dozen pipes and one manual, the largest may have over 20,000 pipes and seven manuals. A list of some of the most notable and largest pipe organs in the world can be viewed at List of pipe organs. The origins of the organ can be traced back to the water organ in Ancient Greece, in the 3rd century BC. By the 6th or 7th century AD, bellows were used to supply organs with wind, beginning in the 12th century, the organ began to evolve into a complex instrument capable of producing different timbres. A pipe organ with great leaden pipes was sent to the West by the Byzantine emperor Constantine V as a gift to Pepin the Short, King of the Franks, in 757. Pepins son Charlemagne requested a similar organ for his chapel in Aachen in 812, by the 17th century, most of the sounds available on the modern classical organ had been developed. From that time, the organ was the most complex man-made device - a distinction it retained until it was displaced by the telephone exchange in the late 19th century. Pipe organs are installed in churches, synagogues, concert halls, schools and they are used in the performance of classical music, sacred music, secular music, and popular music. The beginning of the 21st century has seen a resurgence in installations in concert halls, the organ boasts a substantial repertoire, which spans over 500 years. The organ is one of the oldest instruments used in European classical music that has commonly been credited as having derived from Greece. Its earliest predecessors were built in Ancient Greece in the 3rd century BC. The word organ is derived from the Greek όργανον, a term for an instrument or a tool, via the Latin organum. The Greek engineer Ctesibius of Alexandria is credited with inventing the organ in the 3rd century BC and he devised an instrument called the hydraulis, which delivered a wind supply maintained through water pressure to a set of pipes. The hydraulis was played in the arenas of the Roman Empire, the 9th century Persian geographer Ibn Khurradadhbih, in his lexicographical discussion of instruments, cited the urghun as one of the typical instruments of the Eastern Roman Empire. It was often used in the Hippodrome in the capital of Constantinople
35.
Singing
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Singing is the act of producing musical sounds with the voice, and augments regular speech by the use of sustained tonality, rhythm, and a variety of vocal techniques. A person who sings is called a singer or vocalist, Singers perform music that can be sung with or without accompaniment by musical instruments. Singing is often done in an ensemble of musicians, such as a choir of singers or a band of instrumentalists, Singers may perform as soloists, or accompanied by anything from a single instrument up to a symphony orchestra or big band. Singing can be formal or informal, arranged or improvised and it may be done as a form of religious devotion, as a hobby, as a source of pleasure, comfort, or ritual, as part of music education, or as a profession. Excellence in singing requires time, dedication, instruction, and regular practice, if practice is done on a regular basis then the sounds can become more clear and strong. Professional singers usually build their careers around one specific genre, such as classical or rock. They typically take voice training provided by teachers or vocal coaches throughout their careers. Though these four mechanisms function independently, they are coordinated in the establishment of a vocal technique and are made to interact upon one another. During passive breathing, air is inhaled with the diaphragm while exhalation occurs without any effort, exhalation may be aided by the abdominal, internal intercostal and lower pelvis/pelvic muscles. Inhalation is aided by use of external intercostals, scalenes and sternocleidomastoid muscles, the pitch is altered with the vocal cords. With the lips closed, this is called humming, humans have vocal folds which can loosen, tighten, or change their thickness, and over which breath can be transferred at varying pressures. The shape of the chest and neck, the position of the tongue, any one of these actions results in a change in pitch, volume, timbre, or tone of the sound produced. Sound also resonates within different parts of the body and an individuals size, Singers can also learn to project sound in certain ways so that it resonates better within their vocal tract. This is known as vocal resonation, another major influence on vocal sound and production is the function of the larynx which people can manipulate in different ways to produce different sounds. These different kinds of function are described as different kinds of vocal registers. The primary method for singers to accomplish this is through the use of the Singers Formant and it has also been shown that a more powerful voice may be achieved with a fatter and fluid-like vocal fold mucosa. The more pliable the mucosa, the more efficient the transfer of energy from the airflow to the vocal folds, Vocal registration refers to the system of vocal registers within the voice. A register in the voice is a series of tones, produced in the same vibratory pattern of the vocal folds
36.
Flute
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The flute is a family of musical instruments in the woodwind group. Unlike woodwind instruments with reeds, a flute is an aerophone or reedless wind instrument that produces its sound from the flow of air across an opening, according to the instrument classification of Hornbostel–Sachs, flutes are categorized as edge-blown aerophones. A musician who plays the flute can be referred to as a player, flautist, flutist or, less commonly. Flutes are the earliest extant musical instruments, as paleolithic instruments with hand-bored holes have been found, a number of flutes dating to about 43,000 to 35,000 years ago have been found in the Swabian Jura region of present-day Germany. These flutes demonstrate that a musical tradition existed from the earliest period of modern human presence in Europe. Flutes, including the famous Bansuri, have been a part of Indian classical music since 1500 BC. A major deity of Hinduism, Krishna, has been associated with the flute, the English verb flout has the same linguistic root, and the modern Dutch verb fluiten still shares the two meanings. Attempts to trace the word back to the Latin flare have been pronounced phonologically impossible or inadmissable, the first known use of the word flute was in the 14th century. According to the Oxford English Dictionary, this was in Geoffrey Chaucers The Hous of Fame, today, a musician who plays any instrument in the flute family can be called a flutist, or flautist, or simply a flute player. Flutist dates back to at least 1603, the earliest quote cited by the Oxford English Dictionary, flautist was used in 1860 by Nathaniel Hawthorne in The Marble Faun, after being adopted during the 18th century from Italy, like many musical terms in England since the Italian Renaissance. Other English terms, now obsolete, are fluter and flutenist. The oldest flute ever discovered may be a fragment of the femur of a cave bear. In 2008 another flute dated back to at least 35,000 years ago was discovered in Hohle Fels cave near Ulm, the five-holed flute has a V-shaped mouthpiece and is made from a vulture wing bone. The researchers involved in the officially published their findings in the journal Nature. The flute, one of several found, was found in the Hohle Fels cavern next to the Venus of Hohle Fels, on announcing the discovery, scientists suggested that the finds demonstrate the presence of a well-established musical tradition at the time when modern humans colonized Europe. Scientists have also suggested that the discovery of the flute may help to explain the probable behavioural and cognitive gulf between Neanderthals and early modern human. A three-holed flute,18.7 cm long, made from a mammoth tusk was discovered in 2004, the earliest extant Chinese transverse flute is a chi flute discovered in the Tomb of Marquis Yi of Zeng at the Suizhou site, Hubei province, China. It dates from 433 BC, of the later Zhou Dynasty and it is fashioned of lacquered bamboo with closed ends and has five stops that are at the flutes side instead of the top
37.
Wind controller
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A wind controller, sometimes referred to as a wind synth, or wind synthesizer, is a wind instrument capable of controlling one or more music synthesizers or other devices. Wind controllers are most commonly played and fingered like an instrument, usually the saxophone, with the next most common being brass fingering. Models have been produced that play and finger like other instruments such as the recorder or the tin whistle. Another form of wind controller uses software to convert the sound of an unmodified wind instrument directly into MIDI messages. Since a wind controller usually does not make a sound on its own, for this reason, a wind controller can sound like almost anything depending on the capabilities of the connected sound generator. However, EWI models like the Akai 4000S have a true sound output, the fingering and shape of the controller put no acoustic limitations on how the wind controller sounds. For example, a controller can be made to sound like a trumpet, saxophone, violin, piano, pipe organ, choir. The first widely played wind controller was the Lyricon from Computone which was designed around 1971 by Bill Bernardi with Roger Noble, the Lyricon was based on the fingerings of the saxophone and used a similar mouthpiece. The Lyricon also expanded the range several octaves beyond the accustomed range for woodwind players. Tone generation on the Lyricon was limited to an analog synthesizer designed specifically to interpret various wired analog outputs from the instrument. The original version synth was a design, offering control of individual partials. Later, they produced the Lyricon II - a more conventional 2 VCO synth - and the Wind Driver controller, notable early recording artists on the Lyricon include Roland Kirk and Tom Scott. Third-party adaptations would later bring the Lyricon into the MIDI era, Nyle Steiner developed the Electronic Valve Instrument in the mid 70s - a sort of brass synth. The instrument had a non-traditional appearance - a square tube with a canister hanging below the end, initially it was supplied with a Steiner Parker Microcon synth or could be used with other makers synth, but later a dedicated synth was built into the EVI case. He also designed the Mastertouch, a controller for other instruments. Around 1980, Steiner Parker closed and the designs were taken up by Crumar, Steiner also build a few custom Electronic Wind Instruments for big name players, including Michael Brecker. By the late 80s his designs were being developed by Akai, around this time, Steiners own EVI playing career really took off, seeing him playing on many major movies, TV themes and with top recording artists. He continues to improve and develop the EVI and EWI, the Variophon was invented by Jobst Peter Fricke, Wolfgang Voigt and Jürgen Schmitz around 1975 at the Acoustical Department of the Musicological Institute of the University of Cologne
38.
Patch bay
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Patch panels are commonly used in computer networking, recording studios, radio and television. Patchbays make it easier to connect different devices in different orders for different projects and this means that devices mounted in racks or keyboard instruments can be connected without having to hunt around behind the rack or instrument with a flashlight for the right jack. Using a patchbay also saves wear and tear on the jacks of studio gear and instruments. Patch panels are being used more prevalently in domestic installations, owing to the popularity of Structured Wiring installs and they are also found in home cinema installations more and more. It is conventional to have the top row of jacks wired at the rear to outputs, patch bays may be half-normal or full-normal, normal indicating that the top and bottom jacks are connected internally. With top half-normal wiring, the same happens but vice versa, if a patch bay is wired to full-normal, then it includes break contacts in both rows of jacks. Dedicated switching equipment can be an alternative to patch bays in some applications, switches can make routing as easy as pushing a button, and can provide other benefits over patch bays, including routing a signal to any number of destinations simultaneously. However, switching equipment that can emulate the capabilities of a patch bay is much more expensive. There are various types of switches for audio and video, from simple selector switches to sophisticated production switchers, however, emulating or exceeding the capabilities of audio and/or video patch bays requires specialized devices like routing switches and crossbar switches. Switching equipment may be electronic, mechanical, or electro-mechanical, some switcher hardware can be controlled via computer and/or other external devices. Some have automated and/or pre-programmed operational capabilities, there are also software switcher applications used to route signals and control data within a pure digital computer environment. Distribution frames are cheaper, but less convenient, cable management Wiring closet This article incorporates public domain material from the General Services Administration document Federal Standard 1037C
39.
Sustain pedal
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A sustain pedal or sustaining pedal is the most commonly used pedal in a modern piano. It is typically the rightmost of two or three pedals, when pressed, the sustain pedal sustains all the damped strings on the piano by moving all the dampers away from the strings and allowing them to vibrate freely. All notes played will continue to sound until the vibration naturally ceases and this lets the pianist sustain notes which would otherwise be out of reach, for instance in accompanying chords - and accomplish legato passages which would have no possible fingering otherwise. Raising the sustain pedal also causes all the strings to vibrate sympathetically with whichever notes are being played, a device similar to the sustain pedal in effect was invented by the piano pioneer Gottfried Silbermann, it was operated by the players hands rather than a pedal. A later eminent early builder, Johann Andreas Stein, may have been the first to allow the player to lift the dampers while still playing, until the onset of the Romantic era in music, the sustain pedal was considered a special effect, used only in particular circumstances. Only with the Romantics did a fairly constant use of the come to be regarded as an essential element of piano sound. Appropriate use of the pedal is often left to the musicians discretion, the most common symbol for this is a horizontal line below the grand staff, which lifts up and down with the pedal. An alternative notation is the use of indicating where the pedal should be depressed. Occasionally there is a direction at the start of a movement instructing that the sustain pedal be applied continuously throughout. This may be marked with senza sordini, or similar wording, in General MIDI, the sustain pedal information is controlled by Control Change number 64. The sostenuto pedal is a device that sustains only notes which are depressed at the time the pedal is depressed. It is the middle of three pedals, but in some upright pianos the middle pedal instead lowers a veil of felt between the hammers and the strings for quiet practising. For mechanical pianos it is possible to press down the sustain pedal only partially such that the dampers just touch the strings very slightly and this technique for the advanced pianist is called half pedaling and allows a fine variation of the sound. It can be observed that with half pedaling the damping is more effective for the higher tones, an example for a musical piece that is played with half pedaling by some pianists is Beethovens Moonlight Sonata. Most recent digital pianos also support this effect, electronic keyboards often include a sustain pedal, a simple foot-operated switch which controls the electronic or digital synthesis so as to produce a sustain effect. Several recent models use more sophisticated pedals that have a variable resistance, vibraphones have sustain pedals that allow the metal bars to ring. Some tubular bells have a sustain pedal, the Cimbalom has a sustain pedal which allows its strings to ring or abruptly mutes them. Soft pedal Expression pedal Sostenuto Mute
40.
Effects unit
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An effects unit or pedal is an electronic or digital device that alters how a musical instrument or other audio source sounds. In the 2010s, most effects use solid state electronics and/or computer chips, some vintage effects units from the 1930s to the 1970s and modern reissues of these effects use mechanical components as well or vacuum tubes. Musicians, audio engineers and record producers use effects units during live performances or in the studio, typically with electric guitar, electronic keyboard, while guitar effects are most frequently used with electric or electronic instruments, effects can also be used with acoustic instruments, drums and vocals. Rackmounted or audio console-integrated reverb effects are used with vocals in live sound and sound recording. Examples of common units include wah-wah pedals, fuzzboxes and reverb units. A stompbox or pedal is a metal or plastic box placed on the floor in front of the musician and connected to the instrument. Pedals are usually the least expensive format, a rackmount device mounts on a standard 19-inch equipment rack and usually contains several types of effects. Rackmount effects typically have buttons and/or knobs on the face of the chassis for controlling the effects, an effects unit is also called an effect box, effects device, effects processor or simply effects. In audio engineer parlance, a signal without effects is dry, the abbreviation F/X or FX is sometimes used. A pedal-style unit may be called a box, stompbox. When a musician has multiple effects in a rack mounted road case, Effects units are available in a variety of formats or form factors. Stompboxes are usually the smallest, least expensive, and most rugged effects units, rackmount devices are generally more expensive and offer a wider range of functions. An effects unit can consist of analog or digital circuitry or a combination of the two, during a live performance, the effect is plugged into the electrical signal path of the instrument. In the studio, the instrument or other sound-sources auxiliary output is patched into the effect, form factors are part of a studio or musicians outboard gear. Stompboxes are small plastic or metal chassis which usually lie on the floor or in a pedalboard to be operated by the users feet, pedals are often rectangle-shaped, but there are a range of other shapes. Typical simple stompboxes have a single footswitch, one to three potentiometers for controlling the effect, and a single LED that indicates if the effect is on, depending on the type of pedal, the potentiometers may control different parameters of the effect. For a chorus effect, for example, the knobs may control the depth, some pedals have two knobs stacked on top of each other, enabling the unit to provide two knobs per single knob space. An effects chain or signal chain is formed by connecting two or more stompboxes, effect chains are typically created between the guitar and the amp or between the preamplifier and the power amp
41.
Expression pedal
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An expression pedal is an important control found on many musical instruments including organs, electronic keyboards and pedal steel guitar. The musician uses the pedal to control different aspects of the sound, separate expression pedals can often be added to a guitar amplifier or effects unit and used to control many different aspects of the tone. e. The organ produces the same whether the key or pedal is depressed gently or firmly. Moreover, the tone will remain constant in pitch, volume, the expression pedal gives the organist control over the external source of power, and thus the volume, of the instrument, while leaving his or her hands free. This system of control is completely distinct from the act of adding stops or pulling more drawbars. As the pedal is pressed forward with the toes, the volume of the sound is increased, as it is depressed with the heel, the volume is decreased. A mechanical mechanism connected the box to a pedal that the organist would use to open and close the shutters, when the box is shut, less sound is released into the venue. In American and British organs, the division is usually named the Swell. Thus, the pedal is sometimes known as the swell pedal or swell shoe. Larger organs may have two or more expression pedals, allowing the volume of different divisions to be individually controlled, no matter how well a swell box is designed, the sound of the pipes is altered by their enclosure. Even when the shutters are opened, the pipes do not speak as clearly into the room as they would if they were otherwise unenclosed. On pipe organs, the pedal should not be confused with the crescendo pedal. Historically, the palettes were manipulated by a ratchet swell, a lever operated by the foot to the side of the console, the lever would fit into two or three different notches, which would lock the position of the lever, and therefore the shutters, in place. To change the position of the shutters, the lever would be kicked sideways to allow it to travel into a new position, the lever was weighted so that its default position was at the top, with the shutters closed. As the lever was lowered, the shutters would open, the balanced swell pedal was developed in the late nineteenth century so that the opening of the box could be fixed at any degree. This pedal is fitted above the center of the pedalboard and it usually rotates towards and away from the organist through a distance of about 90° from an almost vertical position to a near horizontal position. Because the pedal is balanced, the organist does not need to hold it in position, in addition, this location for most expression pedals, above the center of the pedalboard, is much more convenient for use by both feet if necessary. Correspondence to The Musical Times in 1916 debates the merits of both the ratchet lever and balanced pedal systems of expression
42.
Modulation (music)
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In music, modulation is most commonly the act or process of changing from one key to another. This may or may not be accompanied by a change in key signature, modulations articulate or create the structure or form of many pieces, as well as add interest. Treatment of a chord as the tonic for less than a phrase is considered tonicization, Modulation is the essential part of the art. Without it there is music, for a piece derives its true beauty not from the large number of fixed modes which it embraces. The modulating dominant is the dominant of the quasi-tonic, the pivot chord is a predominant to the modulating dominant and a chord common to both the keys of the tonic and the quasi-tonic. For example, in a modulation to the dominant, ii/V-V/V-V could be a chord, modulating dominant. For example, G major and D major share 4 chords in common, G, B minor and this can be easily determined by a chart similar to the one below, which compares chord qualities. The I chord in G major—a G major chord—is also the IV chord in D major, so I in G major, any chord with the same root note and chord quality can be used as the pivot chord. However, chords that are not generally found in the style of the piece are not likely to be chosen as the pivot chord. The most common chords are the predominant chords in the new key. In analysis of a piece that uses this style of modulation, an enharmonic modulation takes place when one treats a chord as if it were spelled enharmonically as a functional chord in the destination key, and then proceeds in the destination key. There are two types of enharmonic modulations, dominant seventh/augmented sixth, and diminished seventh. A diminished seventh chord meanwhile, can be respelled in multiple ways to form a diminished seventh chord in a key a minor third. C♯-E-G-B♭, A-C♯-E-G, D-F♯-A takes us to the key of D major - a parallel modulation, enharmonically, C♯-E-G-B♭, A-C♯-E-G = A-C♯-E-G, C♯-E-G♯ modulates to C# minor - a major seventh modulation/half-step descending. C♯-E-G-B♭, C♯-E♭-G-B♭ = E♭-G-B♭-D♭, A♭-C-E♭ leads to A♭ major - a minor third AND relative modulation, in short, lowering any note of a diminished seventh chord a half tone leads to a dominant seventh chord, the lowered note being the root of the new chord. Raising any note of a seventh chord a half tone leads to a half-diminished seventh chord. This means that any diminished chord can be modulated to eight different chords by simply lowering or raising any of its notes and this type of modulation is particularly common in Romantic music, in which chromaticism rose to prominence. Other types of enharmonic modulation include the augmented triad and French sixth, augmented triad modulation occurs in the same fashion as the diminished seventh, that is, to modulate to another augmented triad in a key, a major third or minor sixth away
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Keyboard amplifier
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A keyboard amplifier is a powered amplifier and loudspeaker in a wooden speaker cabinet used for amplification of electronic keyboard instruments. Another difference between keyboard amplifiers and guitar/bass amplifiers is that keyboard amps are designed with a relatively flat frequency response. For example, a player may perform with an stage piano, a keytar. Each channel input typically has its own pre-amplifier, keyboards amps in the lower cost range and power output range may only provide equalization controls for the overall mix. Higher-priced, higher power output keyboard amps designed for professionals may have controls for each channel. Two notable exceptions to the low distortion rule are keyboard amplifiers designed for the Hammond organ or clonewheel organs, with electric pianos used in a rock or funk band, natural tube overdrive is often added to the sound. This distinction affects the design of the loudspeakers, the speaker cabinet and they usually include tuned bass reflex ports or vents for increased efficiency at low frequencies. Since keyboard amplifiers have to be able to very high notes, they are often equipped with a tweeter. Electric piano players in rock and funk also often seek to add natural tube overdrive to their sound, unlike bass amplifiers and electric guitar amplifiers, keyboard amplifiers are rarely used in the amplifier head and separate speaker cabinets configuration. Instead, most keyboard amplifiers are amplifiers that integrate the amplifier, tone controls. Another unusual aspect of keyboard amplifiers is that they are designed with a wedge shape. This permits them to be used as monitor speakers which is suitable for a seated keyboardist. In some genres, such as rock, for example, keyboardists may perform with several synthesizers, electric pianos. Keyboard amplifiers often have onboard reverb effects, most inexpensive to mid-priced amplifiers currently produced are based on semiconductor circuits. Solid-state amplifiers vary in power, functionality, size, price. The smallest, most inexpensive practice amplifiers may have two channels with volume controls and one or two tone controls. Home practice amps have from 20 to 30 watts of power, small keyboard amplifiers designed for small band rehearsals have 50 to 75 watts, a 12-inch speaker, and possibly a tweeter. Large keyboard amplifiers designed for shows in clubs or halls have 200 to 300 watts of power, a 12-inch or 15-inch speaker
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