Last night I finished the first draft of my fugue. I say first draft because there are still a few notes that I am not happy with. In isolation each voice sounds consistent but all together… well there are some, not dischords exactly, but places I might be able to polish.
Eldest Brother asked me how I composed (did I use score?) so I figured I’d describe the process. Basically I have four MIDI tracks defined in a SONAR project, each configured to send to a single instance of the TruePianos VST instrument.
You can tell from the segments that I have been building it up a few bars at a time, and then I tweak the notes in the piano-roll view, selecting a voice at a time to edit:
This draft is very mechanical sounding. That’s ok given that it is a kind of “audio score”. In the final version I intend each voice to be performed in real-time on a different instrument (probably Piano, “Hammond”, Guitar, and Chapman Stick).
The end of the fugue leads directly into Part 4 of the full composition, which is why it finishes up with that shuffle chord sequence.
Seriously, I don’t know what the legal position is here. I’m sure that, as an endorser, Ms. Keys has a contract that says she can only play Yamaha instruments in public/publicity photos. This is kind of bending the rules, though, isn’t it?
I can’t fault her taste in synthesisers though. The Roland Jupiter-8. Awesome, classic instrument.
Last post I described my experience setting up my Stick to have bass strings on both sides of the fingerboard. One roadblock is that the Stick uses a stereo output jack to carry each side. This is cool for independent processing of bass and treble registers, but if you’re trying to play both registers as a single bass instrument, you might want to treat the output as a single mono source, without switching cables around. (Basically, I wanted to mess round with chords without messing around with cords. Heh. I slay me.)
After much searching on the web I found Gollihur Music, and after absorbing the information on Bob’s site, I ordered a K&K Pro-ST Dual Channel Pre-amplifier, for $124. It seemed like the ideal thing from the specs.
It arrived the other day. It’s a nice, compact black box with two knobs (volume for each channel) and three jacks (stereo input, main mono out, and a second output that splits the output and retains the channel separation. So basically if you want to keep the pre-amp feature but process the two channels independently, you can. This seems like the best of both worlds.
There’s a small screw at the side that you have to remove to take the lid off. This thing is very solidly built, it feels very reliable.
Once the lid is off, you can plug in the required 9-Volt battery, and adjust the channel gain and EQ pots. There is even a little metal “screwdriver” for this purpose, tucked away inside with velcro to keep it from knocking around.
Yes, this device allows you to set the gain and bass/mid/treble for each channel independently. Perfect for my situation, where the treble side of the Stick sounds a bit too trebley, despite the bass strings that are used.
I plugged in the Stick and experimented with adjusting the EQ.
With the volume turned all the way up, it seems as though the default available gain is about 120% unity.
If you’re looking to amplify a piezo pickup or similar (I have a Dean Markley acoustic pickup I was thinking of using with my Wendler bass, for example) then you can change the amount of gain on each channel using adjustments to the mini-pots. They are set half-way by default.
I ended up knocking back the treble pot a little to even out each side of the Stick. I couldn’t get it perfect – the two registers just sound different, that’s just the way it is, but I could get a definite improvement over the flat response, so it was worth it.
With the stick hanging off my military-style web belt, the preamp’s handy belt clip lets me use a short TRS “patch cord” to direct the Stick’s stereo output to the preamp input. Then my regular “Monster” mono instrument cable takes the preamp output away to my POD, etc, for recording.
I suppose I should explain why I found myself talking to Mr Chapman of Stick Enterprises the other day. I’ve come to the point in one of my compositions where I determine what instrument I should use for the bass guitar. It could be that I’m going to use the Stick. I’d also been doing some reading on the Stick Enterprises web site about “dual bass reciprocal” tuning, which drops the 5 treble strings down in pitch to be more in the region of a regular bass guitar. This apparently allows for some alternative fingerings in playing complicated bass lines. (The “bass” side has strings pitched a 5th apart (like a double bass), while the “treble” side is strung in 4ths (like a guitar or bass guitar)).
Since I only ever use my Stick for bass lines, it seemed like something I could try out to see if I liked it.
So I phoned up Stick Enterprises and ordered a set of medium gauge DBR strings, and at Emmett’s recommendation, they also included a complete set of replacement brass slotted post screws.
The strings and posts arrived last week, and I have now completed the conversion. However, it was a little more of a project to do than I hoped.
I replaced the post screws one string at a time, and this was no problem at all. I was a little disgusted at how corroded and grubby the old posts were. The new ones are shiny and look great.
I had to widen the string slots at the base of the Stick to accommodate the heavier gauge strings on the treble side. I confess I resorted to taking a regular wood saw and – with great care – widened the slots for strings 2,3,4 and 5 (in this view, that’s numbered from right to left).
The next hurdle was that the lowest string on the base side (position 6), being medium gauge and heavier than the existing set, was too fat to thread through the hole in the shaft! I tried shaving the last 3 inches of the string down with a file (this has worked before) but I couldn’t get it to fit. I was convinced that I would have to leave the older, lighter string on but I really didn’t like the feel at all. I ended up drilling out the hole in the tuner with a drill bit. Yow. I wish I hadn’t have to do that. But it worked – the string threaded through the hole and I was able to put the full set of new strings on.
The final problem has been with the pickup. It’s a stereo pickup, with independent channels for the treble and bass sides. This has not been a problem for me, because I only use the bass side and therefore I can process the output through my (mono) effect chain. With both sides now in the base register, it totally defeats the purpose if I have to choose which side to play on exclusively. (Newer Stick pickups have a mono mode switch.) Another issue is that the two sides sound different. The combination of differences in string gauge plus pickup position means that splitting a bass riff between the two sides results in distracting tonal variations.
The solution is that I need to find a 2 channel pre-amp that will merge the two outputs, and give me independent EQ’ing. I’ve been doing some research and I think I’ve found something that might work, but that’s a subject of another post.
I mapped it out in the structure of this mega-opus. Right here, see? “Part 4: Interrupt and Fugue”.
Do you really think this composition needs a fugue?
Sure. Every mega-opus has a fugue in it. It’s “cool” and it’s how people know that you’re, you know, a serious composer.
…You do know what a fugue is, don’t you?
Sure! It’s a fiddly bit with multiple voices that come in one by one, playing with counterpoint and harmony until everything explodes together in a joyous cascade of notes. Sometimes more than once.
…um, OK. You really think you can write one?
Come on, how hard can it be? We already have a bunch of themes to work with. And, of course, I’ll have your help too, naturally.
So I spoke to Emmett Chapman on the phone the other day… <schoolgirl>Squeeeeeeek</schoolgirl>
Basically I’m ordering some strings for the Stick in order to try out Dual Bass Reciprocal tuning, and he wanted to discuss what I’d need to do in order to replace the brass slotted screws at the nut and bridge string suspension points. Due to the heavier gauge strings, and the fact that my Stick is a relatively early generation model, there would be some intonation differences and other minor side effects. Still, he was interested in the experiment. I’ll write more about that when the strings and replacement screws arrive.
Melodic progressive rock songs and instrumental interludes, a touch of 70’s influence but a product of the dystopian Now.
“Very smooth, hi-tech sounding delivery…” – Chris Jemmett, alt.music.yes
“This guy is awesome.” – Dazed, on the Carvin Forum.
“..on a rare occasion you just have to conclude that the prog world should be feasting upon the birth of a new and promising act. That’s exactly the case with this [first] album.”
– Theo Verstrael, DPRP.net
“I find this new album attractive, [..] slightly less appealing than the 2014 debut. But as that is often the case with great artists, let it not distract you from trying this fine album. Especially those that are interested in bands that play varied, cleverly made, well played and sung [..], this might just be your cup of tea.”
– Theo Verstrael, DPRP.net
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