Kids' Rock

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Synthesizer 101

As I journey into the world of synthesizers, I've noticed that nobody really lays out what it all means to the musician. The problem is that most of the info I've found sort of assumes that I already know what I'm looking for. I can find lots of stuff that talks about LFO's, arpeggiators, and samples... but few that have helped me piece everything together. So, I'm going to take a few blog posts to talk about synthesizers, and how a rock musician can make the most of them.

To start with, you have to understand how everything is layed out in the synth world, and where the boundaries are. Take a look at this diagram, and I'll define what each word means:

• Musician: This is the guy who is creating the music. It's usually a warm body. Sometimes it can be a computer that is creating the music.
• Controller: This is what the musician actually touches so that the music will be made. Usually, it looks like a piano keyboard. However, controllers can take many shapes... including a guitar, saxaphone, trumpet, and wierd antenna thingy (like the Moog Etherwave Theremins). The controller does not make any noise (unless you drop it on the floor... but that's not the kind of noise you want.)
  
• Sequencer: This is like an automatic musician, but it's actually just a computer. The musician will program the notes and whatnot for a song (usually using the controller). The sequencer will then play back the notes, sending the signals to the sequencer at the right time so that the song has an actual tempo.
• Synthesizer: This is a device that actually makes noises. It's usually an electronic device in a box that you never see (thus the transistor icon). It responds to signals coming from the controller and/or the sequencer. It doesn't care if it's being played by a controller (i.e. a musician) or by a sequencer. All it sees is incoming notes... and it generates tones according to the incoming signal and its current settings and parameters (typically called a patch).
• Listener: Obviously, the tones from the synth are sent to an amplifier and then heard by a person. However, sometimes it's a recording device... or perhaps another signal processor. I put it here because it represents the complete process.

The blue arrows represent a signal flow from one part to the next. Between the controller, sequencer, and synthesizer the data communication is usually done through a standard protocol called MIDI, but not always. In the old days, before MIDI, it was often done by sending a voltage signal. The voltage represented the desired pitch, and the pitch change was 1 volt per octave.

This is a very flexible system. You can purchase all-in-one systems (like the Yamaha S08). However, you can also break it up and just buy a controller (M-Audio's Axiom 49), sequencer (a PC running MusE or Steinberg's Cubase), and/or a synthesizer (Dave Smith Instrument's ). Because MIDI is the standard communication protocol between them, it's easy to mix and match components. But even if you buy an all-in-one package it is important to know where the divisions are. The all-in-one systems are usually logically divided up like this, and use these terms.

What's more, these days you can do all three on a computer. It's not uncommon for me to use the computer keyboard as my controller, use a software sequencer (MusE, Rosegarden, or seq24), and use a softsynth (a software synthesizer like ZynAddSubFx or FluidSynth).

In future posts I plan to talk about musicianship with synthesizer (i.e. how to use them for music), MIDI, the basics of how a synthesizer creates tones (internally), samples, loops, some of the different types of synthesizers on the market, and integrating it all into a live setup.

Gear Lust

Most guitar players lust after guitars and tube amps. Steve yearns for a Les Paul. Mike for a Rickenbacker. Nice guitars. I'd sure like a Taylor and another Electric. But as it happens, my friend James has turned me to the dark side:


(Click here for a YouTube video of a guy putting it through its paces.)

The Dave Smith Poly Evolver Keyboard. It's got 2 digital oscillators, and 2 analog oscillators, and 4 low-frequency oscillators. (Oscillators are the basic building blocks of how a synth generates sound.) It makes some really quality wacked-out sounds. You can even plug in a guitar and use it like an effects processor on the guitar.

And it has lots and lots of knobs.

This is cool, because lately I've been programming my Church's Korg Triton LE. Lots fewer knobs. So, to change any of the parameters you have to hit [MENU] [F3] [OK] [F5] [UP] [UP] [RIGHT] [RIGHT] [RIGHT] (oops) [LEFT] [INC] [INC] [INC] [MENU] [F1] [OK] [F1]. With the Evolver or (or a Moog Voyager), you just reach up and tweak the knob.

*sigh*

Monster Cables

A couple years ago, I needed a new guitar cable with a 90° jack. I went to Guitar Center to pick one out. The cable I liked was an 18-foot Monster Cable (Performer 500 Instrument Cable). It was big, large-gage wire. There was one problem: the jacks are molded.

If the jack breaks, I won't be able to repair it (by re-soldering the connection or something). In the past, I've had really bad luck with 90° jacks. So, I ask the sales guy about it (hoping he'd point me to the cable that I wanted). He said, "I'll make you a better offer: If it ever breaks, just bring in both pieces and we'll give you a new one. It comes with a lifetime warranty." I said, "Cool." I was sold.

I bought the cable, but I didn't quite believe them. After opening the package, the Limited Lifetime Warranty read a little different. So, I made sure to save my receipt in case I ever needed it.

And recently, I needed it. The 90° jack failed me. If you moved the cable while playing, it would short circuit. And I though, "Oh, great! Now I get to find out that I've been had." So I took the cable back to Guitar Center today. I prepared my story and everything.

However, it was pretty painless. They asked what was wrong with it and said, "Yeah... broken jack. We replace them for that." And they gave me a new cable. Pretty cool.

So, the whole sales pitch about being "optimally engineered for the best instrument performance possible" — that's just guitar player talk. Don't pay attention to it. But it's a good cable with a lifetime warranty — and do pay attention to that.

I like my Monster Cable. :-)

Art Rock (What's that song about?)

Sometimes when I listen to music I get too cought up in the meaning of the song. I spend time analyzing the lyrics to try and figure out what they are saying. I try and figure out what they are getting at. Sometimes I'll refuse to like a song until I understand it. Or sometimes I'll like a song until I find out what it's about. Do you do this? It gets even worse when you characterize yourself as a Christian artist. Now you have the implied responsibility of communicating some truth or encouragement to the listener.

There are two secular albums that are changing my attitude in this regard: Radiohead's In Rainbows and The Killers' Sam's Town. (Warning to parents: Sam's Town has some mildly offensive material.) Many of the songs on these albums actuall have no real meaning. Rather, they are trying to convey emotions and situational feelings.

One great example is Radiohead's Wierd Fishes. There's not a real story or a situation. It's more like something we encounter all the time. At the beginning of the song it's like we're following something exciting. Chasing a dream maybe. And the more we go after it, the more exciting it becomes. We chase it faster. Then all of the sudden: we're stranded. And things become very akward and uncertain. You will probably experience the song a little differently. You might think of it as a person rather than a dream. Or a journey. Or you might think of fishes. But chances are that the emotions will be similar.

At the end of Sam's Town is a song called "Exitlude" that starts like this:

Agressively
We all defend the role we play
Regrettably
Times come to send you on your way

We've seen it all
Bonfires of trust
Flash floods of pain

It doesn't really matter
Don't you worry it'll all work out
No, it doesn't even matter
Don't you worry that ain't what it's all about

So... when listening to music... sometimes you need to chill out and just experience it. And for Christian artists... sometimes we need to write a few pieces that convey something of the emotion and maybe a little less logic. Even in a worship piece. Now, that's not to say that we should be cavalier about truth... and allow untrue things into our worship songs. No, instead I'm giving you permission to write worship songs that aren't exactly clear in what they are talking about or what they are getting at. Pieces that are getting at the experience of God and the oly rather than the truth of God.

Chord Charts (Guitar)

My kids wanted some chord charts for the guitar. Heres a few good ones:

1. For beginners (1 pg., G/C/D/etc.)
   
2. For advanced players (7 pages, HTML/PDF/Postscript)
3. Both

When I get a chance, I'll make my own charts and place them in the public domain. In the meantime, enjoy these links. :-)

Counting past 4

Know of any good praise and worship music in odd meters? The answer is probably no. The conventional wisdom is "it's hard for people to worship God if they can't find the beat." But the problem is hardly ever with the listener finding the beat, it's the musicians who are dying! To prove my point, here are several "odd meter" songs that are very popular and people hardly ever lose the beat:

• Pink Floyd's "Money." The song is basically in 7/4... but some measures are in 6/4 and some measures are in 8/4. You never lose the beat... but as a casual, non-7/4 listener... there's something mysterious about the song that you can't quite grasp.
• Dave Brubeck's "Take Five." The whole song is 5/4. You don't get lost as long as you don't keep track.
• One reason Mat Kearney's song "Nothing Left to Lose" got so popular is the cadence at the end of the chorus when he sings, "...Push the pedal down / Watch the world around fly by us." He inserts a 2/4 measure in the 4/4 song to give the funny cadence. (Thanks, Courtney, for pointing that out to me!)
• Charlie Hall's "All We Need" is about as close as we get in praise and worship music. (Yes, I know there's a non sequitur 5/8 measure in Chris Tomlin's "Famous One.") The whole song is 4/4, but he sings the verses in 7-bar phrases to keep the song moving... giving you a slightly funny feeling when it happens. (Not that there's anything wrong with that.)
  

So why do it? It all comes down to your melody. What suits your melody well? Chances are, though... having been fed 4/4, 3/4, and 6/8 since you were a baby (for 3 square meals a day)... you brain just plain works in 4/4. Even worse: did you start with a beat/chord progression and use that to inspire a melody?

So, that's why I've been intentional about odd meters for the past few months. Recording 5/4 and 7/4 rhythms and improvising over them. Trying to get a feel for where the stresses can/could/should happen. Trying to write a song in 5/4 or 7/4 without it sounding like it's 5/4 or 7/4. One morning, I even woke up with a melody in my head. After I recorded it, I realized it was in 7/4.

What I've been finding is that you can evoke some different moods and funny feelings by doing this. Generally, it ends up working a little like "All We Need" where you've created a little extra anticipation because of the "dropped" beat. Nobody really notices it, but they get sort of a sense of yearning or desire.

So, what are you experimenting with these days?