Synth Basics: What is polyphony?

Whenever you buy a new digital piano, keyboard or synthesiser, one of its key specifications is the amount of polyphony.

But what exactly is polyphony?

In pure musical terms, polyphony is used to describe two or more independent melodic voices. This is in contrast to monophony (a single voice) or homophony (a single melody with chords).

However, when it comes to electronic musical instruments, we’re simply concerned with how many tones can be sounded at any one time.

These sounds don’t have to be melodic — in fact they don’t even necessarily have to be audible to the human ear!

Polyphony is the number of sounds an instrument can generate simultaneously.

That’s the theory, and in principle it’s pretty simple. In practice, however, things get a bit more complicated.

Let’s take a look at a digital piano. It may say that it has 64 note polyphony. That sounds rather a lot, right? After all, you only have ten fingers so you can’t play more than ten notes at any one time.

Correct — in part.

However, consider how most pianists play the piano, with judicious use of the sustain (damper) pedal.

Now consider that, in a digital piano (as opposed to an acoustic one, which effectively has unlimited polyphony) every single note counts towards the total polyphony from the moment it is first played, when a key is struck, to the moment its sound finally decays.

Long passages of music with heavy use of sustain could have tens or even hundreds of notes sounding at any one time, which is why a high polyphony count is generally considered a good thing.

If any instrument “runs out of sounds”, then generally new sounds take priority and currently playing sounds are abruptly cut off. This can produce an unnatural, clipped sound.

Now let’s look at a synthesiser instrument.

You may assume that every note you play is a single sound, but your selected sound might be a composite of several sounds. That eats into polyphony.

As a further complication, some manufacturers “bank” polyphony into two or more groups. So, an instrument that claims 128 notes of polyphony may in fact offer two distinct groups of 64 notes. Some sounds may be available in one group but not the other, so, depending on which sounds you select, you may not always get full polyphony.

Now consider the use of rhythm and other accompaniments on home keyboards.

Every auto-accompaniment you play could be using multiple sounds at any one time, reducing the amount of polyphony remaining for the sounds you wish to play over the top.

And finally, it’s fairly obvious that if you are using either an on-board sequencer, or one on your computer that uses the keyboard’s own sounds, then you’ll need more polyphony in order to play two or more tracks of sounds simultaneously.

So, when purchasing a keyboard instrument or synth unit, consider its polyphony and whether it will be sufficient for your needs.

Generally, the higher polyphony the better, though you will pay more for the privilege.

Image by Horla Varlen

Popularity: 3% [?]

JR Hexaton Pro comes to iPhone: Jordan Rudess approved!

Developers continue to push the envelope for using the iPhone as a music creation device. JR Hexaton Pro is one of the latest rhythm generators/live performance apps available.

Pairing Amidio, makers of other hit iPhone apps such as Star Guitar and noise.io with legendary keyboard player Jordan Rudess (who demoed Yamaha’s Tenori-On last year) and you know you’re going to get something pretty special.

It’s pretty unique too, being the first drum machine / rhythm and loop generator built on a hexagonal playing surface. It also responds to the iPhone’s movements, making for some interesting live performance possibilities.

Amidio describes it:

“JR Hexatone Pro is something totally new. There’s nothing like it, it creates sonic textures based on absolutely unique principles. It can be called a 6-channel 6-directional step sequencer with variable step length and artificial intelligence of each channel. Given that you can easily load your custom samples, you can create anything, any kind of loops, for all music styles.

The best way to see what’s going on is to watch Jordan demo the app.

Alternatively, check out the factory presets here:

It’s available from the iTunes Store right now.

Popularity: 5% [?]

Roland intros new JUNO-Di portable versatile synth

Roland has expanded its line of JUNO synths with the addition of the JUNO-Di.

Features include:

• high portability – can run off batteries
• 1000+ sounds including grand and electric pianos, lush strings, beautiful guitars, powerful brass, percussion, plus banks of exotic instruments, modern synth sounds, and much more.
• Easy sound modification system.
• Simple navigation with dedicated sound category buttons and setting up of layers, splits and rhythms.
• Large LCD.
• Microphone input and vocoder section.
• Built-in USB-based song player

Full specifications below:

Keyboard	61 keys (with velocity)
Sound Generator Section
Maximum Polyphony	128 voices
Parts	16 parts
Wave Memory	64 M bytes (16-bit linear equivalent)
Preset Memory	Patches: 1082 + 256 (GM2) | Rhythm Sets: 20 + 9 (GM2) | Performances: 64
User Memory	Patches: 128 | Rhythm Sets: 8 | Performances: 64 | Favorites: 100
Effects	Multi-Effects: 3 systems, 79 types | Chorus: 3 types | Reverb: 5 types | Mic Input Reverb: 8 types
SMF/Audio File Player Section
File Format	Standard MIDI File: format-0/1 | Audio File: WAV, AIFF, MP3
Others
Rhythm Pattern	Preset: 24 groups x 6
Arpeggiator	Preset: 128
Chord Memory	Preset: 17
Controllers	D Beam Controller | Pitch Bend/Modulation Lever | Sound Modify Knob x 5
Display	18 characters 1 line + 20 characters 2 lines custom LCD (with backlit)
External Storage Device	USB Memory (supports USB 2.0 Hi-Speed Flash Memory)
Connectors	Output Jacks (L/MONO, R): 1/4 inch phone type | Headphone Jack: Stereo 1/4 inch phone type | Mic Input Jack: 1/4 inch phone type | EXT INPUT Jack: Stereo miniature phone type | Hold Pedal Jack | MIDI Connectors (IN, OUT) | USB COMPUTER Connector (supports USB MIDI)
Power Supply	DC 9 V: AC Adaptor or Ni-MH AA SIZE Rechargeable Battery (optional) x 8
Current Draw	600 mA
Battery life for continuous use	Rechargeable nickel metal hydride batteries: approximately 5 hours * differs depending on the conditions of use * approximately 4 hours if USB memory is connected * Carbon-zinc or alkaline batteries cannot be used.
Accessories	Owner’s Manual | CD-ROM (Sound Editor, Librarian, Playlist Editor, USB Driver) | USB Memory Protector | AC Adaptor (PSB-1U) | Power Cord
JUNO-Di Editor System Requirements
Operating System	Microsoft (R) Windows (R) XP Home Edition/Professional | Microsoft (R) Windows Vista (R) * This does not work with the 64-bit Edition of Windows (R). * This does not work with the Windows (R) XP Media Center Edition.
CPU	Intel (R), Core (TM), Pentium (R) processor 1.5 GHz or higher
RAM	512 MB or more
Hard Disk	200 MB or more of free space
Display/Colors	1024 x 768 dots or higher/24 bit Full Color or more
Others	CD-ROM Drive | USB port
Operating System	Mac OS X v10.4.3 or later
CPU	Intel (R), Core (TM)/Xeon (TM), PowerPC G5
RAM	512 MB or more * For Mac OS X v10.5 or later, 1GB or more.
Hard Disk	200 MB or more of free space
Display/Colors	1024 x 768 dots or higher/16.7 million colors or more
Others	CD-ROM Drive | USB port
Size and Weight
Width	1,008 mm | 39-11/16 inches
Depth	300 mm | 11-13/16 inches
Height	104 mm | 4-1/8 inches
Weight	5.2 kg | 11 lbs. 8 oz.

Product page | Buy Roland JUNO synths at Amazon

Popularity: 6% [?]

Concept electronic drums have real possibilities

There’s some great stuff comes up on Yanko Design, such as these concept electronic drums, shaped a bit like a UFO and in gorgeous glossy black that’s just aching to be played with.

These electronic drums won’t only produce some kind of synthetic drum/percussion sound when struck, but also a visual treat in the form of a multicoloured hand print.

Radhika writes: “With each strike, the surface produces lighted impressions of your hand to highlight the effect. I can picture myself sitting in a dim-lit room, thumping this, beat for beat to the songs that I like, and the magical display of lights corresponding to my mood. This is music heaven!”

Yes, it’s a concept, so specifications are fairly irrelevant, though I reckon once the actual form is constructed, it’d be a rather trivial affair to fit it with MIDI or OSC so that it could be used to trigger other effects and sound modules – perhaps even a lighting rig. Maybe a video output that could be used to project the hand prints.

Whether this will ever make it to production is another matter, but it’s another one of those really cool designs that I could imagine really enjoying playing.

Popularity: 1% [?]

Review: Tripper for iPhone

A couple of days ago Xyster.net released Tripper for the iPhone.

Tripper is a fairly simple 16-step looping sequencer spanning ten distinct notes. All highlighted notes are played, together with colourful animation.

At present there’s just one sound, which could be likened to some kind of toy/electric piano. There’s not a lot of fancy stuff – you can’t swipe your finger to create runs of notes, alter sounds, change velocities, or do the sorts of things a Yamaha Tenori-On would offer you, but then you wouldn’t expect that from a 59p (99c) app.

One interesting feature is the ability to create “Game of Life” cell formations onto the board and have the melodic patterns evolve over time.

Used as a virtual instrument along with a sequencer and some of the iPhone’s other synth apps, this could be used to general an interesting, evolving base for mmore ambient/experimental compositions and performances.

A pause/edit button would be a useful addition to make it possible to build up a pattern without the instrument playing. It makes setting up accurate formations, particularly for use in “Game of Life” mode, very difficult.

It’s possible to save compositions for later playback, but although the app states that it’s possible to email these to other users, I’ve not found out how.

Another cool feature for power users on my wish list would be the ability to transmit notes via OSC, for hooking up to an external sequencer/sound generator, or the ability to save a composition’s MIDI file for later editing.

More sounds, of course, and maybe some other gestures, would be great, but this is the first version and it is a very inexpensive app. Good job from Xyster for fun and maybe a bit of inspiration too.

Tripper App Store link

Popularity: 3% [?]

AudioCubes: funky new cubes with sensors can shape your samples and music in real time

I’ve just started exploring AudioCubes, a cool hardware cube that can interact with its surroundings and with other cubes (up to eight) as well as control software via MIDI and generate lo-fi audio.

It’s worth taking a look at the videos to see how they work, rather than me trying to explain it to you. Suffice it to say they look pretty cool and I’m sure there are some amazing uses you could put them to in both audio and lighting rigs.

Check out manufacturer Percussa’s home page, the YouTube channel, Flickr photo gallery and blog.

Basic specs for the cubes are:

• Dimensions: 75mm x 75mm x 75mm
• Weight: 0.4 Kg
• Wireless transmission range: approx. 40cm
• Battery Autonomy / Full Charge Time: approx. 3 hours
• USB 2.0 (HID) (per cube): full speed data rate (12Mbps) for fast trigger / continuous controller info, MIDI compatible
• Audio In/Out (per cube): 1/4 inch jacks for lo-fi sound processing (32kHz / 9 bit)

They work with software on the latest Mac OS X and Windows systems.

They’re not cheap, though. A single AudioCube costs €219 (about $291 / £256), set of two cost €399 ($530 / £467), four at €649 ($836 / £572) and eight at €1,269 ($1,668 / £1,120). Here’s the online store.

(Via GizmoWatch)

Popularity: 1% [?]

iPhone musician to play Wembley Stadium

When the iPhone was first launched it didn’t immediately jump up and shout about its music creation credentials. Sure, it’s an iPod, but that’s really about playback of music — the closest I really expected it to get to music creation was by hooking two or more together with some digital decks and DJing with them.

Nevertheless, two years on and with third-party applications aplenty, the iPhone has such gems as Star Guitar, noise.io, PaklSound1, Bloom, SynthPond, and numerous other music composition and synth creation tools.

Perhaps, then, it’s no surprise that the iPhone will be the gadget star of forthcoming concerts at Wembley Stadium:

The London Evening Standard reports:

Singer, songwriter and producer Gary Go will be playing his iPhone instead of guitars and drums at a series of Take That concerts in July.

Go, 24 – real name Gary Baker – has already written several tracks for his first album using software downloaded to the phone. He used it to recreate guitars, drums, piano and horn sections.

All the demos for his album were laid down using a virtual four-track recording studio installed on his phone.

“I think it’s pretty amazing that I’m going to be using a mobile phone on stage at Wembley Stadium in front of so many people. I grew up behind the stadium, and used to listen to concerts in my back garden, ” said Go, whose single Open Arms is released on 11 May.

“My biggest worry is that my phone will ring mid-song.”

We’ll be ramping up our coverage of iPhone musical apps over the coming weeks, because (particularly for a mobile phone/entertainment device) there’s some pretty nifty bits of software available to complement or even replace recording studio and live performance gear and PC software.

Popularity: 2% [?]

iPhone gets Star Guitar synthesiser

The number of music applications available for the iPhone just keeps growing, with Star Guitar being just one.

Amidio Software, creators of noise.io, put together an app that lets you play guitar in a variety of styles from a single touchscreen interface.

144 of the most common chords can be played just by tapping a few buttons on the interface, and there are several varieties of guitar and style available.

Unlike some software, the app isn’t designed to simulate the method of playing the guitar, but instead is meant to inspire and to provide an adequate “stand in” when you don’t have a real guitar or guitarist available.

It also allows vocals to be recorded along with the chords, and compositions can be saved in WAV file format and also used with the iPhone’s Beatmaker sequencing software.

Of course it’s not a perfect substitute for a real guitar but it can aid in composition, impromptu performances and just having fun.

Here’s a video demo of the app in action. It currently costs US$3.99 and can be downloaded from the iTunes App Store now.

Popularity: 1% [?]

Casio CK-500 unearthed by Retro Thing

Now this has got to be one of the most bizarre keyboards I’ve seen in a long time. Of course, at the time the Casio CK-500 was cutting edge, but now it shouts 1980 very loudly with all the retro stuff it has on it.

Even ignoring the fact it’s got a dual cassette deck which can be used for dubbing tapes (remember doing that), the whole thing just looks so ancient.

Bohus at Retro Thing describes the electronic beauty that he still owns:

The keyboard is nothing special – it’s the same guts as their MT-68. It’s got those same lovable analog “blip blip” rhythms that you fell in love with on the organ at your grandma’s. The tones aren’t anything really remarkable either, though the built in mixer to adjust the volume on the various automated parts of your performance are a nice touch. To get started, just hit a punch-button to dial up your instrument sound, then select between a dozen rhythms and auto-accompaniment styles.

The real eye-catcher here is the dual-well stereo tape deck. The A & B decks are switched from where you might expect them to be, but you can still easily dub tapes (though not with a single touch as many decks of the era). Now if we could only figure out those cool turntablist tricks on dual tape decks.The buttons ka-chunk satisfyingly into place – no servos here! Another interesting aspect is that the radio features AM, FM, and shortwave. So if you’ve got six D cells tearing a hole in your pocket, you can bring the CK-500 along on your boat or while you’re DXing around the country, and not miss any of the thrills of shortwave radio.

I almost feel like getting hold of one of these just to record and mash up some weird sound mixes. I probably won’t though. For a start, I don’t own any cassette tapes any more.

(Via Retro Thing)

Popularity: 2% [?]

Korg shows off new M50 Music Workstation [NAMM09]

Korg has taken the fundamentals of its flagship M3 Xpanded workstation and put it out in the form of the more affordable M50 Music Workstation.

The latest version offers 73 keys (six octaves) together with angled control panel and full-size TouchView interface.

The EDS (Extended Definition Synthesis) sound engine delivers stunning sounds and brilliant effects. New additions include a three-stage velocity-switched stereo piano programmed in conjunction with samples of the damper resonance, producing an extraordinarily natural sound. Also new are a number of vintage keyboards, including the classic Korg SG-1 Sampling Grand, acclaimed by artists around the world, numerous authentic electric pianos and clavs, along with legendary 1960s-era tape playback strings and flute sounds.

The M50 offers 256MB of PCM data shaped into 608 Programs, as well as 384 Combinations by Korg’s renowned voicing staff, covering all the acoustic, synthetic and imaginative sounds that current players demand. User-edited data can also be saved into the internal memory, with space for 640 Programs, 512 Combinations and 48 Drum kits. The M50 offers several advanced sound-shaping features, including low-aliasing oscillators, a powerful Filter topology and detailed EGs (Envelope Generators), plus a Drive parameter and AMS (Alternate Modulation Source) Mixers.

The M50 provides 5 Insert Effects, 2 Master Effects and 1 Total Effect, along with 170 Effects types; up to 32 Effects Presets are available per effect. An independent three-band EQ is available for each Program, the Drum Track and each of the sixteen timbres/tracks.

The Drum Track gives users over 670 natural-sounding grooves to jam with in Program and Combi modes, and to help stimulate the songwriting process. Dual arpeggiators offer up traditional arp performance with five preset patterns (UP, DOWN, ALT1, ALT2, RANDOM), as well as advanced polyphonic arpeggiation that can generate everything from simple phrases to complex rhythmic gestures – even fixed note drum and percussion grooves. Two patterns can be used simultaneously in Combination mode or Sequencer mode to create complete ensemble backing, especially when used in conjunction with the Drum Track.

An intuitive sequencer provides 16 MIDI + 1 Master tracks with all the tools needed to capture and easily shape musical ideas into polished productions. It features up to 128 songs, allows users to record 210,000 notes and offers a high resolution of 480 PPQ (parts per quarter-note).

The proprietary M50 Editor and Plug-In Editor software lets users edit the sounds using a computer, and allows the M50 to act as a plug-in instrument for their DAW (VST, Audio Units and RTAS are supported). The editor librarian also enables users to exchange sounds between the M50 and M3. Further, an SD card slot provides easy and affordable management of Programs, Combinations and Sequences, as well as sounds, songs and other data.

Korg’s proprietary 320×240 pixel TouchView display ensures excellent visibility and operability, making it easy to select sounds and adjust parameters. Other controls include a joystick and multiple switches and triggers.

Pricing and availability to be confirmed.

Korg

Popularity: 6% [?]

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