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From: gibson@unc.UUCP (Bill Gibson)
Newsgroups: net.music.synth
Subject: Re: midi setup (orchestral)
Message-ID: <493@unc.unc.UUCP>
Date: Sat, 2-Nov-85 12:05:54 EST
Article-I.D.: unc.493
Posted: Sat Nov  2 12:05:54 1985
Date-Received: Fri, 8-Nov-85 21:39:31 EST
References: <1145@decwrl.UUCP> <440@unc.unc.UUCP> <967@gitpyr.UUCP>
Reply-To: gibson@unc.UUCP (Bill Gibson)
Organization: CS Dept, U. of N. Carolina, Chapel Hill
Lines: 23
Summary: 

In article <967@gitpyr.UUCP> tynor@gitpyr.UUCP (Steve Tynor) writes:
>>                                                                But Real
>>Orchestra Music is very complex (in terms of slightly shifting frequencies,
>>harmonic content, and tempo variation) and "good" simulations probably would
>>require hours on large mainframes. I think this is done at the research center
>>in Paris.
>
>Take a listen to Walter (sorry Wendy) Carlos's Digital Moonscapes.  It's
>recorded entirely on the DK SYNERGY and GDS synthesizers.  It's about as
>orchestra like as I've heard and the SYNERGY is basically just a Z80 + a
>custom 16bit waveform processor.  Also, the price falls far short of what
>I'd call 'mainframe' prices: ~$5-6000.

I haven't heard Digital Moonscapes yet, but I have read reviews which say
it sounds very orchestral. Agreed, the IC hardware cost may fall short of
mainframe prices; however, from the (June?) interview with Wendy Carlos in
Keyboard magazine, it sounds as if *lots* of human-brain processing time
was spent getting those sounds. Perhaps the work done on the album will
generate hardware or software for the rest of us to use in getting "natural"-
type sounds.

Bill Gibson
gibson@unc                   ...[akgua,decvax,philabs]!mcnc!unc!gibson