EVENING AND MORNING: THE FIFTH DAY 2 (Sea/Gulls) (2003) for MIDI keyboard, computer and WaveFront sound card with SampleStore Arthur B. Hunkins Then God said, "Let the waters abound with life, and above the earth let winged creatures fly below the firmament of the heavens." And so it was. God created the great sea monsters, all kinds of living, swimming creatures with which the waters abound and all kinds of winged birds. God saw that it was good, and God blessed them saying, "Be fruitful, multiply, and fill the waters of the seas; and let the birds multiply on the earth." And there was evening and morning, the fifth day. Genesis I: 20-23 New gifts arose, never seen in such forms in the universe-- rocks, oceans, continents, multicellular creatures that moved by their own inner power. Life was born! Gifts that had taken the form of fireball and helium, galaxies and stars, rock and water, now took the form of Life! Life--a new gift of the universe, a new gift in the universe. Matthew Fox (retelling the creation story as gift--in the Prologue to his book, "Creation Spirituality") GENERAL EVENING AND MORNING is a work for one or more performers on a single MIDI keyboad. The keyboard connects via MIDI input cable to an IBM- compatible computer containing a WaveFront (ISA-bus) sound card with SampleStore capability. Sound boards meeting these criteria are Turtle Beach Systems' Monterey, Maui, Tropez, Tropez Plus, and Rio daughterboard (mounted on a TB Tahiti; the Rio will not work with any other mothercard--Rio/Tahiti = Monterey). Except for the Maui, minimum sample RAM must be added to the board by the user; the smallest amount, 256K, is sufficient. (RAM is required even though only factory-supplied ROM samples are used.) The keyboard needs to have a minimum four-octave (49 key) range, and be velocity sensitive. The sound card's output is stereo, and stereo pan position is an important feature of EVENING AND MORNING. A wide, well-differentiated stereo field is required in performance. If two performers collaborate in the realization, they can either split the keyboard "down the middle" (C2-B3, C4-C6), OR one take the bottom three octaves (C2-C5--all the surf sounds) and the other the top octave (C#5-C6--the gulls). With three performers, one takes the lower keyboard half (C2-B3); a second handles the third octave, C4- C5; and the third, C#5-C6. This is not a composition in the usual sense, but rather a framework for improvization--a set of performance materials. It simply creates a live-performance MIDI instrument accompanied with descriptive detail, and possible suggestions for performance realization. The work exists as two WaveFront "drum kit" files, SeaGulls.wfd--for all cards except the Tropez Plus, and SeGu2001.wfd--for the Tropez Plus (also known as the TBS 2001). The "special edition" for the Tropez Plus is necessitated by a bug in the WavePatch software for this card. The Random variable, which plays an important role in all instrument designs, only works correctly (in the Tropez Plus implementation) with respect to Pan position. All other instances required modification, and were replaced by Velocity. (Thus, velocity sensitivity in performance is a PARTICULARLY crucial element for the Tropez Plus.) In all other respects, the two "versions" are near identical. PREPARATION FOR PERFORMANCE WavePatch 1.3 (not included with these materials) is required for performance. (If WavePatch 1.3 is not part of your bundled software, it may be downloaded free from http://www.tbeach.com; filename is wpatch13.zip.) Make sure WavePatch is installed in Windows and is working properly with your WaveFront card. (Note that installation of WaveFront cards in Windows 95 and higher is often difficult. The default WaveFront synth IRQ 2/9 is sometimes unavailable--used for power management functions on many modern motherboards. The Maui seems particularly conflict-prone; IRQs 9 and higher create problems. IRQ 5 (and 7, for cards other than the Maui) seems the best alternative. Hint: Installation conflicts ALWAYS involve the WaveFront synth's IRQ, never its I/O address or any "Memory Range." Keep in mind that digital audio is not the issue, a wavetable MIDI synthesizer is. Also, on the Tropez Plus, the additional MPU-401 interface IRQ is irrelevent. All of these WaveFront sound cards have been successfully installed under Windows ME, on a system board with an ISA slot. They should work as well under Windows 95 and 98. Because WaveFront drivers do not exist for Windows NT, 2000 or XP, MORNING AND EVENING cannot be performed on these operating systems.) Enter the WavePatch application, and under File, select Load Drum Kit, and load your copy of SeaGulls.wfd or its Tropez Plus equivalent, SeGu2001.wfd. Next, under Window, select Master Controls; choose the appropriate MIDI input device (usually External In) as the Audition Input and (if necessary) slide Volume to maximum. Specify Maximum Voices as 24 (unless you need more--up to 32, at a SLIGHT sacrifice of quality). Make sure that Rechannelize is NOT checked. Then, either change the indicated Drum Channel number to the MIDI output channel of your keyboard, OR--on your KEYBOARD--select channel 10 (WaveFront default drum channel) as output channel. Finally, close the Master Controls window. Leave the WavePatch application open while performing EVENING AND MORNING. At this point, if your MIDI keyboard is not controlling the WaveFront synth, open your WaveFront Control Panel, select Synth, then Configure, and verify that Audition Mode is enabled. Close the Control Panel when you are finished. PERFORMANCE CONSIDERATIONS The overall effect of the "structured improvization" should be that of a layered texture that shifts and evolves, probably slowly. Each key represents a layer. The performance may well begin with a textural and dynamic crescendo, and end with a comparable diminuendo. (One possibility is to open and close with a "static" surf sound--see below.) In general, individual keys--especially surf sounds--remain pressed for substantial lengths of time, and enter and exit independently, creating a slow rate of incremental textural change. In this case, each shift in surf sonority (particularly "static" surf sound) is given the opportunity to be heard (even to well establish itself) before the next begins. Initial crescendo and final diminuendo should be accomplished in part by changes in velocity. Amplifier level remains unchanged throughout. Opening and closing softly, with slowly shifting sonority, is intended to produce a relaxed, meditative experience. Though such was the primary inspiration for the development of the SeaGull "drumkit," alternate interpretations are certainly possible. Starting with dense, active collages of either gull or "active" surf sounds is equally feasible, as is a general textural crescendo of such sounds at or toward the end. The element common to ALL realizations is that of "evolving texture." The 49-key, 4-octave SeaGulls "drumkit" contains a number of ranges characterized by different sonorities. Though there are notable differences among ranges, it should be noted that velocity determines amplitude for ALL patches. The lower half of the keyboard (C2-B3) consists of "active" surf samples--12 different editings of the single (long) WaveFront seashore sample. From high to low, the edited samples are progressively longer. While the samples duplicate themselves in the two octaves, the entire span descends by "semitones," as one might expect. In this keyboard range, pan position is random. In addition, to a degree, velocity affects attack time--the loudest sounds having the most immediate attacks. The third octave, C4-C5, consists of a single, "static" surf edit. There are 13 transpositions of the short loop, again in the usual "semitone" arrangement. This surf is relatively unmodulated, except by slight periodic pitch displacement (SeaGulls.wfd only)--in contrast to the highly "activated" (frequency and amplitude modulation) lower- octave surf. Pan position is here determined by velocity, with loudest events extreme right, softest extreme left. Adjacent keys reverse this position. The top octave, C#5-C6, comprises the gull samples. It can be divided into several subgroups. Each half contains the same 6 steady-state ("pure"-sounding) ROM loops, unedited. The top six are similar in their modulation contours--though in groups of three, the attack portions of the on-going patterns are progressively shortened (from high to low key). The lower six keys represent different contours; whereas the upper range swoops in large motion both up and down, C#5- D#5 swoop up only, and E5-F#5 swoop down. The internal dynamics of these three groupings also work differently, though--again--all patches/layers are velocity sensitive. Pitch-wise, the keys transpose in the expected direction, but adjacent keys are about 4 semitones apart. The internal repetition speed of these events is random (except in SeGu2001.wfd, where velocity determines speed), and events with a slower rate generally have a slightly larger overall swoop span. Whereas the six top notes predictably start from the top of their pitch curves, the six unidirectional lower curves do not; they randomly begin at any point in their contour. Finally, the notes G5 and A#5 have a somewhat different internal repetition rate: the rate is not randomly selected and fixed, but randomly variable during the same "note," giving a slightly unsteady repetition rate (SeaGulls.wfd only). With regard to SeGu2001.wfd, the internal repetition rate of all gull loops is controlled by key velocity, with each adjacent key reversing the action of its neighbor (low velocity equals slowest vs. fastest speed, for example). Actually, this "neighboring reverse-action" principle applies to all random or velocity control of pan position in either version as well. Pan position and attack time determination also differ between the two sets of six notes. Whereas the top six keys pan randomly, the lower notes' position is determined by velocity (like the "steady" surf described above). Also, velocity is associated moderately with speed of attack for these lower six. While the surf sounds are largely approached as a matter of evolving textural density, the gulls are open to a wider variety of treatment. These sounds are more individual and clearly delineated; keypresses could well be shorter, and with greater and more extensive overlapping. Several could occur simultaneously, or nearly so. It is certainly not necessary to employ all sample types in a single performance. A given realization could consist only of gull sounds, or only surf--or exclusively "active" or "static" surf. One or several gull sounds could be used to the exclusion of others, or only unidirectional gull contours, etc. A particularly meditative rendition could consist merely of "static" surf and an occasional lonely gull fragment. A version featuring spotty gull "events" over a single sustained "static" surf "note" (or an overlapped succession of such notes) might also work well. As a general principle, textures are probably best kept somewhat transparent, rather than allowed to thicken overly. The surf samples can become muddy when excessively superimposed. Rehearsal is largely a matter of planning and realizing evolving textural densities, while becoming sensitive to the effect/role of various layers in the textural collage. Special attention needs to be paid to key velocity as it affects attack time and pan position. Sensitivity to the long release times must also be developed. Performances may either be well planned (even "scored") in advance, or spontaneous and interactive. They could conceivably even be realized as MIDI sequencer files, such as in Cakewalk, incorporating Cakewalk Application Language (CAL) to customize/randomize "performance" elements such as layer entry and duration, key velocity, textural density, or layer selection itself! The only requirement for any kind of realization is that the general norms outlined here be respected. Minimum duration is five minutes, but substantially longer performances are encouraged. DEFEAT EFFECTS PROCESSING ON THE MONTEREY AND TROPEZ PLUS Two WaveFront soundcards with SampleStore--Monterey and Tropez Plus-- contain real-time effects processors. By default, both boards initialize with a modest amount of reverberation. This reverb, and all other processing, must be turned off. To do so on the Monterey, click on Window, then Reverb View, and set the Mix slider to zero. The Tropez Plus requires initializing the Tropez Plus (Wavefront) Control Panel. With WavePatch open, bring up the Control Panel and click on "FX Clips." Check the "Bypass All FX" box then close the Control Panel. MAKING A MIDI CABLE Unfortunately, the MIDI connector for Turtle Beach Monterey and Maui sound cards requires a proprietary TBS adapter/cable that is difficult to obtain. (Tropez and Tropez Plus thankfully use the joystick/MIDI connector common to most sound cards.) This non-standard adapter is not packaged with the boards themselves, and can no longer be ordered from Voyetra/Turtle Beach. (You MAY still be able to obtain one from the following URL: http://www.midi-classics.com/c/c2642.htm - Stock#: 2642, Monterey 9-pin MIDI Adapter Cable @ $19.99.) Happily, you can construct your own fairly easily, with parts available from Radio Shack. The instructions below create one MIDI INPUT ONLY cable for Monterey and Maui sound cards. Parts: Radio Shack 42-2151 5-pin DIN cable (6')--$5.99 (this is the single MIDI input cable--the only MIDI cable you'll need to perform this piece); 276-1537 9-position male D-sub connector--$1.49; 276-1508 9-position metal D-sub hood for above connector--$2.79. Construction: Begin by cutting the DIN connector off one end of the MIDI cable. Strip about an inch of the plastic cover from that end of the cable; then twist the cable shield strands together while snipping off all the other wires EXCEPT the black and red. (Black corresponds to pin 4--the next to left pin as you view the remaining DIN connector with pins curving upward; red corresponds to pin 5--next to right.) As you view the D-connector from the OUTSIDE with the row of four pins to the LEFT, solder the black lead to the TOP LEFT pin (pin 6) and the red lead to the TOP RIGHT (pin 1). (Solder to the OTHER end of the pins you identified visually.) Then assemble the hood, taking the twisted shield and curling it around one of the two screws that hold the hood together. This is the most painstaking part of the assembly; but with it you are finished!