Author: Keith Kothman

Due 12/12/14, by 8:00 am. In-class performance at 9:45 (change from the syllabus) overview Compose a short work using virtual analog synthesis. The work should be between 1:30 and 2:00 (minutes). Material created with the Retro Synth in Logic Pro X will occupy a significant portion of the final project. You will need to create…

We dealt with mix automation with our negative space and multitrack projects. Now we’re going to look at how we can apply automation to software instruments, and control that automation with a MIDI controller. expanded automation Any parameter in any plugin that can be adjusted with on-screen controls usually can be automated. For the Retro…

We don’t have time to get incredibly in-depth with MIDI editing in Logic Pro X, but we should cover some basic techniques. I’ll also point out some traps to avoid. track editing Track editing of MIDI data is basically confined to region commands. You can create (empty) regions, loop regions, cut/copy/paste regions, and extend/shorten the…

Logic Pro X allows for MIDI recording in the expected ways – live input, step input, and drawing with the pencil tool – but it presents a few quirks. This post will go over the basics of MIDI recording, using our ever-present Retro Synth software instrument. some basics before starting Now is a good time…

Saving your work on a computer is good.* Backing up your saved work on a computer is also good.** *Saving your programs/patches*** on the Retro Synth allows you to save work in progress (if you like something even a little, save it), to make variations of programs you like, and to generally develop a library…

We will be using the Retro Synth in Logic Pro X as our analog synthesis instrument. The basic process is to Create a software instrument track Load the Retro Synth as your instrument Use the Analog tab in the Retro Synth Play the synth using any attached MIDI keyboard creating the software instrument track When…

In conjunction with learning MIDI, we will be learning some simple analog synthesis to produce sounds for the final project. I’m not going to go too far into the history of analog synthesis, other than to mention that when we talk about today, we are actually talking about virtual analog synthesis. Virtual means that we are…

Since we are only working with MIDI for a short time in this class, we will keep our focus on a very limited set of MIDI commands: Noteon/Noteoff Continuous Controller Pitch Bend Noteon/Noteoff messages include data for the number of the MIDI note pressed, and the velocity that it was pressed with. Keep in mind…

I have a previous post that outlines MIDI information. Jeffrey Hass has a full chapter as part of his online Introduction to Computer Music. (pages 1 – 5, 11 and 12 are the most applicable to what we are doing) For our purposes (a short intro), it is most useful to understand the following concepts: devices ports…

this assignment document is also available on the course site on Blackboard due 11/4, at the beginning of class overview Building on your knowledge of sample processing learned in your two-track collage, and DAW experience from your negative space project, create a two-minute work of concrete music using classic musique concrète techniques and granular synthesis.…