The Thor Polysonic Synthesizer (which would be called “Thor” later for convenience in this article) is a new-introduced device in Propellerhead Reason 4. The following passages would explain what it does by dividing it into different parts, and then describe how each part coordinates with other parts and external devices. This article supposes that the reader has the basic idea of general settings/buttons of Reason.
The controller panel
Pitch bend & Range setting
Modulation Wheel
Keyboard Modes:
Mono Legato vs. Mono Retrigger
whether a new “attack” of the envelope is triggered
Polyphony & Release Polyphony
The later sets how many released notes are not cut even there are new note-on.
Portamento setting
when to do portamento, “auto” means “only when the previous note is still held”
Trigger setting – It sets what inputs would trigger the note/oscillators.
Rotaries and Buttons – would be covered later…
Master Volume – only for outputs 1 & 2 (though Thor may have 4-channel outputs)
Voice & Global sections
This part is just like routed basic synthesizers. 3 oscillators are mixed into 2 different filters and then mixed again. The twice-mixed audio then is modified by different envelopes and filters. Though Thor has some advanced usage for much more complicated routings. Something important to note in the voice sections (left half part):
Each oscillators and filters could be different types by clicking the arrow pop-up in the upper left corner.
In fact, Filter 2 could have 4 inputs: 3 oscillators and the audio from the shaper.
The mixer does not “mix” the audio inputs from the 3 oscillators, it just modifies their amplitude. You should turn on the routing (by lighting up the numbered-button at the left side of the filters) to feed needed oscillators’ signals to filters.
Knobs for oscillators
OCT, SEMI, TUNE: units for them are octaves, semitones and cents, respectively. By using these knobs, we can assign different pitches for different oscillators even by pressing only one key.
KBD: stands for “keyboard track”, not only an on/off setting. For instance, by setting it as 64 and pressing E3, we’ll get a D3 frequency.
Others depend on oscillator type.
Knobs for filters
Drive: modifying the input level, would be silence if set to zero
FREQ and RES: frequency and resonance.
ENV: the level of the filter effect modified by “Filter Env” (below the “Amp” part)
INV: decides whether to invert the envelope, just like the button in SubTractor.
VEL: decides how much the velocity would affect the envelope level. (Note the difference between velocity and volume)
Other details
The knob “KBD FOLLOW” in LFO1 works like keyboard tracking.
The output of Shaper would not be zero by setting its drive zero.
After panning in the Amp part, the audio signals are treated as stereo.
Some settings may change other settings. For example, with KBD set nonzero, a filter’s FREQ value would not be constant anymore.
You can do AM on OSC1 and OSC2.
The level of synchronization of OSC1 to OSC2 and OSC3 could be assigned. (BW stands for “bandwidth”) This means that OSC1 may affect the frequency of the other two.
Modulation Bus Routing Section
This section is another feature of Thor and could be divided into 3 small parts. Let’s start with the easiest left half part by examples.
The 1st line of the section means that the audio signal of LFO1 would affect the pitch of OSC2 by level 15.
The 4th line means that Rotary1 (which is in the controller panel) would affect Freq of Fiter3 in its opposite way.
The 5th line means that the amount of modulation would also depend on the value of Rotary2.
The 2 parts in the right half part are both based on the basic part. The 1st line in the right half part means that wheeling up the modulation wheel would cause the decrement of “Filt1 Freq” and increment of “Filt1 Res”; the lower right part, in short, allows us to modulate a destination by 3 sources.
Other details
The button “CLR” would clear the settings of its line. (Just try!)
“Audio Input” of 3 filters and Amp could be assigned as destination. The assigned input would NOT clear the original input, that is, we can route audio signals from other external devices to Thor’s filters.
On the other hand, if a filter has no input from the voice section, the filter may still have output.
CV and Audio signals could be routed to each other.
To the right of the button in Controller Panel there’s a spin set for a pitch. If set, pressing that key would NOT trigger a note-on, but momentarily turn on the button’s modulation. Note that it works only for un-lit button.
Step Sequencer
Well, this section could be said independent from the Thor device. You don’t have to understand the niggling routing settings to use this part. This section is like a simplified Matrix Pattern Sequencer. You can specify each step’s pitch, velocity, gate length, duration … etc. The main differences you may note are that in Thor:
To make the notes pronounced, you should turn on the “STEP SEQ” in Trigger part of Controller panel.
There are only 16 steps available, but you can use less than 16 if you wish. (By screwing the STEPS knob in the lower right or clicking the red circle) Turn off the pink rectangle light would cause that step to be mute.
There are no pattern banks or shuffle function.
You can use non-synced rate on step running.
And then let’s check other settings…
Run mode and direction
Repeat
The sequencer would not stop after pressing RUN button.
1 Shot
The sequencer would run the whole step once.
Step
The sequencer runs only one step by each RUN pressing.
Don McLean的偶像Buddy Holly外表斯文,多才多藝,他生前創作的知名作品不少,現在大都已經變成五○年代的象徵歌曲,譬如"Everyday"和"Peggy Sue Got Married",Holly在1959年2月3日清晨意外過世時,McLean還是個利用晨間送報打工的13歲青少年,正沉醉於音樂世界中,期待有天自己的樂團能夠在舞會中為大家演唱,讓大家隨音樂起舞。"American Pie"完成於1970年前後,剛剛揮別紛擾的六○年代,距離Holly過世大約十年。
Don McLean對六○年代的悲觀看法與尖銳批判不一定人人認同,但作為一個價值觀明確的社會觀察者,他用了非常富聯想力的詞句,唱出心底最沉痛的聲音,光是其中的原創與反省精神,便值得樂迷尊敬了。
American Pie by Don McLean
A long long time ago I can still remember How that music used to make me smile And I knew if I had my chance That I could make those people dance And maybe they'd be happy for a while But February made me shiver with every paper I'd deliver Bad news on the doorstep I couldn't take one more step I can't remember if I cried When I read about his widowed bride But something touched me deep inside The day the music died So...
*Bye, bye Miss American Pie Drove my Chevy to the levee but the levee was dry Them good ole boys were drinking whiskey and rye Singing this'll be the day that I die This'll be the day that I die
Did you write the book of love And do you have faith in God above If the Bible tells you so? Now do you believe in rock and roll? Can music save your mortal soul? And can you teach me how to dance real slow?
Well, I know that you're in love with him 'cause I saw you dancing in the gym You both kicked off your shoes Man, I dig those rhythm and blues I was a lonely teenage broncing buck With a pink carnation and a pickup truck But I knew I was out of luck The day the music died I started singing(*)
Now, for ten years we've been on our own And moss grows fat on a rolling stone But that's not how it used to be When the jester sang for the king and queen In a coat he borrowed from James Dean And a voice that came from you and me Oh and while the king was looking down The jester stole his thorny crown The courtroom was adjourned No verdict was returned And while Lenin read a book on Marx The quartet practiced in the park And we sang dirges in the dark The day the music died We were singing(*)
Helter skelter in a summer swelter The birds flew off with a fallout shelter Eight miles high and falling fast Landed foul on the grass The players tried for a forward pass With the jester on the sidelines in a cast Now the half-time air was sweet perfume While sergeants played a marching tune We all got up to dance Oh, but we never got the chance 'Cause the players tried to take the field The marching band refused to yield Do you recall what was revealed The day the music died? We started singing(*)
Oh, and there we were all in one place A generation lost in space With no time left to start again So come on Jack be nimble, Jack be quick Jack Flash sat on a candlestick 'Cause fire is the devil's only friend And as I watched him on the stage My hands were clenched in fists of rage No angel born in hell Could break that Satan's spell And as the flames climbed high into the night To light the sacrificial rite I saw Satan laughing with delight The day the music died He was singing(*)
I met a girl who sang the blues And I asked her for some happy news But she just smiled and turned away I went down to the sacred store Where I'd heard the music years before But the man there said the music wouldn't play And in the streets the children screamed The lovers cried, and the poets dreamed But not a word was spoken The church bells all were broken And the three men I admire most the Father, Son, and the Holy Ghost They caught the last train for the coast The day the music died And they were singing(*)
前情提要:本文提到的都未完成,所以聽的時候會覺得到一半就結束了(如果你有聽完的話XD)。另外,鋼琴不是我彈的。 這學期初時原本因為罐頭的關係想要用Csound寫首安魂曲,不過接下來卻是不知怎地在一週內生出了一個五聲部卡儂... MP3下載:http://www.box.net/rssdownload/154492654/CanonForBrassQuintet.mp3(其實我的音色庫很糟糕,直接下載本文最前面的壓縮檔聽MIDI還比較乾脆XD) 手法是模擬帕爾海貝家喻戶曉的那首(其實原版的裡面有很多不錯的曲式概念的),以固定的合聲進行玩同度(或八度)的卡法。我嘗試用共同音的方式讓和聲進行從C Dorian轉到G minor再轉回來,也因此並非全是完全一度(或八度)的進行,不過雖然要轉到G minor的時候甚至已經不符合Canon的規則,仍然沒有轉的很成功。後來才發現是因為附屬和弦的配置讓人覺得真的轉到該屬調去了: 在C Dorian的調區,用的和聲進行是(每兩拍配一個和聲)|| i IV | VII III | viº V/v | v v ||,但是最後的附屬和弦根本就會被聽成iiº - V - i的進行。而在G minor的調區和聲的設計是:|| i iv | VII III | VI iiº | V V ||,原則上級數配置是差不多的,不過最後仍然沒有終止感.... 另外,配器上目前也只是單純的亂選,看樣子還是要翻管絃樂法了....(之前還有在數音社版看到有人轉了Artistic Orchestration,不過還沒看..) 總之,因為和聲設計的關係出了這麼大的紕漏,導致自己對這首感覺還蠻失落的,畢竟要改也很不對勁,不改的話也只能說它是個「美麗的錯誤」。(美麗嗎?也只是勉強可以聽罷了)而且上次在數音社放給大家聽的時候獲得的一致評價是連自己都有同感的:冗長。
The loudness is very poor, you may have to adjust your volume.
Final assignment for improvisation course in NCTU IMU. A steel guitar is used. The key is E Phrygian.
Though believing myself having a better idea about improvisation these days, my skill on guitar is still poor as you can hear. I feel unrestrained to be alone. I think I'd be restricted if cooperating with other classmates. But this seems no good...