Composition for Computer Plus

David Scully

0748323

Faculty of Science and Engineering

Department of Computer Science & Information Systems

University of Limerick

BSc in Music, Media and Performance Technology

Submitted on day month year

1. Supervisor: Dr. Kerry Hagan

Digital Media and Arts Research Centre

University of Limerick

Ireland

Supervisor’s signature:

2. Second Reader: Mr. Giuseppe Torre

Digital Media and Arts Research Centre

University of Limerick

Ireland

Second Reader’s signature:

ii

Abstract

This project aims to expand the musical possibilities an electric gui-

tar can accomplish through digital sound processing and routing of

the guitar’s output. The guitar itself has been augmented with poly-

phonic pickup technology, called a Hexaphonic Pickup. This can al-

low for further manipulation and analysis of the guitars output more

so that when working with a traditional monophonic pickup system.

The composition for this project will utilize a surround sound set

up with each string of the guitar routed to different loudspeakers.

An exploration into the most suitable arrangement for routing sound

sources has been done. The composition will include a backing track

which will also have the various instruments routed to different speak-

ers around the audience. The guitar signal is manipulated in the

Max/MSP environment to achieve new possible sound processing.

The backing track accompanying me for the performance was pro-

grammed using a variety of plugins and VSTs in the digital audio

workstation, Reaper.

Declaration

I herewith declare that I have produced this paper without the pro-

hibited assistance of third parties and without making use of aids

other than those specified; notions taken over directly or indirectly

from other sources have been identified as such. This paper has not

previously been presented in identical or similar form to any other

Irish or foreign examination board.

The thesis work was conducted from year to year under the supervi-

sion of Dr. Kerry Hagan and Mr. Darragh Pigott at University of

Limerick.

Limerick, 2013

Acknowledgements

I would like to thank:

My supervisor Dr. Kerry Hagan for her guidance, expertise and com-

munication with me throughout this project. Fellow colleagues for

their helpful comments and knowledge in audio processing. Darragh

Pigott, for helping me organise the purchase of the hexaphonic pickup

and his help in setting up the surround system for practices and the

performance. My father for his engineering knowledge and help with

the problems I encountered with the hardware. The rest of my family

for their support and encouragement they have given me throughout

my educative years. Finally, I would like to thank all the musicians

and engineers I have ever listened to, they have helped inspire me

to compose music and delve into the field of audio/visual production

which I am learning more of everyday.

I would like to dedicate this composition to everybody I know,

friends, family, colleagues and lecturers.

Contents

List of Figures v

1 Introduction 1

1.1 Project Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

1.2 Aims and Objectives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

1.3 Motivation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

1.4 Methodology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

1.5 Thesis Outline . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

2 Historical review 5

2.1 Technology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

2.1.1 Max/MSP/Jitter by Cycling ’74 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

2.1.2 Digital Audio Workstations (DAWs) . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

2.1.3 MIDI and Virtual Sound Technology (VSTs) . . . . . . . . 7

2.2 Compositional techniques . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

2.2.1 Classical . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

2.2.2 Pop and Rock . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

2.2.3 Progressive and Electronic . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

2.3 Surround Sound . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11

3 Research 13

3.1 Composers working with computer technology . . . . . . . . . . . 13

3.1.1 Johnny Greenwood . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13

3.1.2 Eric Calderone . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14

3.1.3 Jerry Gerber . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14

iii

CONTENTS

3.1.4 Enda Bates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15

3.1.5 Andreas Paolo Perger . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15

4 Creating the set up 17

4.1 The Guitar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17

4.1.1 Hexaphonic pickup . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17

4.1.2 Audio Interface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18

4.2 Max/MSP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19

4.3 Surround Sound Array . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20

5 Description of Composition 22

5.1 Approach and Techniques . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22

6 Conclusions and Future Directions 24

6.1 Conclusions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24

6.2 Future Work . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25

Appendix A: Insert figure in Appendix 26

References 33

iv

List of Figures

1 Max Guitar Processor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26

2 Presentation Mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27

3 Arrangement of speakers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28

4 Screenshot of Logic . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29

5 Screenshot of the Reaper environment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30

6 Pickups from Ubertar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30

7 Ibanez 370DX . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31

8 Back of Guitar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32

v

1

Introduction

1.1 Project Summary

This paper discusses the main concepts and processes involved for creating a com-

position with a spatialized electric guitar that utilizes the power of a computer to

create the sound output and route the guitar’s strings to individual loudspeakers.

The project deals with the development of an augmented guitar setup, which

uses a hexaphonic guitar pickup to allow control over each individual string on

the guitar. Software will be used to achieve different sounds, effects and control

parameters which will be used during a performance, alongside a surround sound

backing track created for this project.

1.2 Aims and Objectives

Many musicians turn to technology as a means to achieve new inspiration for their

performances and compositions. For guitarists, this often means experimenting

with new effects pedals, electronic modifications, or extended playing techniques.

For example, one could use an EP2 Envelope Phaser(Envelope Phaser n.d.) to

achieve new patterns in the sound, or by replacing the classic guitar pick with an

Ebow(The Amazing EBow :: Home n.d.) one can re-establish the guitars Attack,

Decay Sustain and Release (ADSR) characteristics. The idea of a player having

1

1.3 Motivation

spare bandwidth was discussed in Cooks paper (Cook 2001) and has led to the

popularity and development of such creative measures. What this entails is that

when a musician is so familiar with the technical processes involved in playing

their music, they can afford to apply their attention elsewhere.

It is this idea of expanding the guitar’s sonic capabilities that has driven

the author to do this project. With the ever increasing power of the personal

computer, it is now possible to achieve such effects processing units capabilities

by processing the guitar in the digital realm. The composition for this project will

be created solely on the computer and also to manipulate the guitar’s individual

string’s sound output in a live performance setting, thus saving the hundreds of

Euros needed for similar effect processing.

The computer has the ability to interface with many external devices on the

market today. Audio interfaces are allowing for more possibilities for users to

connect their favourite instrument to the computer. Some audio interfaces have

many inputs and outputs and can accommodate many signal flows at one time

with very little latency issues. For this project, the author is exploring the effects

of separating each of the electric guitar’s string’s output and produce a simi-

lar experience for the audience as they would find in any other surround sound

environment. So the questions that arose at the start of the project were:

• How can one expand the guitar?

• What are the musical possibilities?

1.3 Motivation

The motivation behind this project was the interest of working with popular music

and using computers to aid in the processing of the electric guitar and to showcase

a novel approach to create a surround sound experience for the listeners. As will

be mentioned later in the research section, various composers have created musical

pieces with the aid of a computer and this led the author to explore creating a

track with a virtual ensemble purely using the personal computer. Utilizing some

2

1.4 Methodology

free VSTs one can recreate violins, cellos, etc., by sending MIDI parameters to

them within a DAW. Many musicians are now able to realize their music without

having to physically possess the numerous instruments to which they require.

1.4 Methodology

To expand and open up the guitar, the author started to look at hexaphonic

pickup technology. This approach would lead to many different musical possi-

bilites. For example it is possible to have multiple digital effects on different

strings, enable a string to become a controller to affect parameters and not have

an output, or the strings could be panned in a surround sound space. For this

project, the author will explore all these different avenues for expanding his mu-

sical horizon and bring forth a new type of composition.

1.5 Thesis Outline

The remaining chapters of this dissertation are as follows:

Chapter Two will discuss the research of guitarists working with computer

technology carried out during this project.

Chapter Three is a brief historical review of the technology, compositional

techniques, and surround sound.

Chapter Four presents the creating of the system to be used in the live per-

formance.

Chapter Five describes the composition.

Chapter Six draws conclusions and evaluates the system used. Lastly, it sug-

gests possible future works.

• Appendix shows the figures pointed to in this paper. .

Attached to this dissertation is a DVD containing the following items:

• folder 1 : The Max/MSP patches and a pdf version of the report.

3

1.5 Thesis Outline

• folder 2 : The stereo and surround sound files.

4

2

Historical review

2.1 Technology

The history of the technology in audio processing and recording, from a digital

stand point, dates back about 50 years. A review into the history of the various

technological elements used in this project are discussed below and is interest-

ing to see how computers, audio generation, audio interfaces, electric guitars,

computer software, etc., have evolved in such a short period of time.

2.1.1 Max/MSP/Jitter by Cycling ’74

After connecting all the signals to the audio interface and connecting that to

the computer, it is now possible to process and manipulate each signal inde-

pendently or in groups of strings using digital sound processing software. The

software chosen for this project was Cycling 74 Max/MSP (Max 5) because the

author is most familiar with this programming environment. Max is a visual pro-

gramming language for music and multimedia developed and maintained by San

Francisco-based software company, Cycling 74. The Max environment has been

around for about 20 years, and it has been widely used by composers, perform-

ers, software designers, researchers, and artists for creating innovative recordings,

performances, and installations.

Max was originally written by Miller Puckette in the mid- 1980s and its name

5

2.1 Technology

pays homage to Miller’s influence Max Matthews. It was first used in a piano and

computer piece called Pluton (written by Philippe Manoury in 1988), synchro-

nizing the computer to the piano and controlling a Sogitec 4X, which performed

the audio processing. Max has a number of extensions and incarnations; most

notably, a set of audio extensions to the software appeared in 1997, derived in

part from Puckette’s subsequent work in Pure Data. The add-on package, MSP

for Max (short for either Max Signal Processing or the initials of Miller S. Puck-

ette), allowed for the manipulation of digital audio signals in real-time, allowing

users to create their own synthesizers and effects processors. A major update was

released in 2008 for Max/MSP/Jitter, Max 5, which included a revamped user

interface and new objects. Then in November 2011, Cycling 74 released Max 6,

which saw further improvements to the user interface and a new audio engine

compatible with a 64-bit operating system.(Max at Seventeen 1 n.d.)

The author of this paper however has not had the chance to use Max 6 so

will be looking into obtaining it in the near future to see what it has to offer,

especially with the new [Gen˜] object. This new object can be more efficient to

achieve similar processes as previous Max/MSP/Jitter objects. It uses text based

expression language (codebox) and allows for the design of algorithms that can

run on the GPU or CPU, on Windows or Mac. A few patches found online has

helped with the design of the patch used for the performance. Darwin Grosse up-

loaded a tutorial detailing how he achieved a Guitar processor in Max/MSP(Max

5 Guitar Processor, Part 1 Cycling 74 n.d.). This patch provided ideas of the

sounds possible and a guide as to how to achieve them (See figure 1). Other

inspiration came from Joel Rich, who demonstrates how he achieved a Johnny

Greenwood effect, known as the Stutter Effect(ax/MSPMAX/MSP Tutorial HD

- Jonny Greenwood style stutter effect - YouTube n.d.).

2.1.2 Digital Audio Workstations (DAWs)

The two main DAWs used in the creation of this composition were Cocko’s Reaper

and Apple’s Logic Pro. The reason behind using these two was simply the avail-

ability of them. The full version of Reaper can be downloaded for evaluation with

6

2.1 Technology

no time-limited features. After the evaluation time has expired however you can

purchase either a full commercial license for $225 or a discounted license for $60 if

you plan on using it commercially (EAPERREAPER | Audio Production Without

Limits n.d.). This was the best DAW found by the author for a Windows PC as it

offers so much versatility and ease of use. Using a computer and no other software

you can import any audio and MIDI, synthesize, sample, compose, arrange, edit,

mix, and master songs or any other audio projects. You can add hardware such

as audio interfaces (AD/DA: analog-to-digital/digital-to-analog) and connect a

microphone for a complete recording studio, suitable for recording anything from

a soloist to an orchestra. There are inexpensive audio interfaces designed just to

plug guitars in to, and there are very fancy audio interfaces designed to convert

many simultaneous line and microphone inputs like the MOTU Ultralite used in

this project.

Logic Pro is a digital audio workstation and MIDI sequencer software appli-

cation for the Mac OS X platform. Originally Logic was created by the German

software developers Emagic, this company was later bought by Apple in 2002 and

Logic Pro became an Apple product. Logic Pro is part of Apple’s Logic Studio

bundle of professional music applications. Logic Pro offers software instruments,

synthesizers, audio effects and recording capabilities for music synthesis.(Logic

Pro 9 User Manual: Welcome to Logic Pro n.d.) Logic Pro can work with MIDI

keyboards and control surfaces for input and processing as well as offering MIDI

outputs. The cheaper version of Logic Pro is Logic Express which sports the

same user interface and much of the functionalities of Logic Pro but can only

work with a two-channel stereo mix, while Logic Pro can handle multichannel

surround sound. This project utilized this surround sound function for the com-

position to achieve the desired panning and localization of the various instruments

of the backing track.

2.1.3 MIDI and Virtual Sound Technology (VSTs)

In the composition for this project the author wanted to explore the use of MIDI

(Musical Instrument Digital Interface) to create the notes for various instruments.

7

2.2 Compositional techniques

With the large amount of VSTs, available both on the market and for free on-

line, it is possible to recreate an entire orchestra ensemble by just using MIDI

commands to play the VSTs. A lot of time went into finding good, free VSTs

which sounded as close as possible to the original sound of the instrument being

emulated. Since MIDI can carry event messages that specify notation, pitch and

velocity, and other control signals, it allows for full control over the sonic qualities

offered by VSTs. This project uses VSTs to simulate the sounds produced by

a piano, violin, viola, bass guitar, strings, cello, drums, and a synthesizer. The

only real instrument recorded and heard in the performance is the electric guitar.

2.2 Compositional techniques

Compositional techniques are the methods used to create music. A number of

useful skills in composing include writing musical notation, music theory, instru-

mentation, and handling musical ensembles (orchestration). Other skills include

techniques such as improvisation, musical montage, preparing instruments, using

non-traditional instruments, and other methods of sound production.

2.2.1 Classical

What is referred here by classical is the Western music from the 16th century

on. The term of “classical music” appeared in the early 19th century. It was

an attempt to label the period from Johann Sebastian Bach to Beethoven. The

common practice period is when many of the ideas that make up Western classi-

cal music took shape, standardized, or were codified. It began with the Baroque

era, running from roughly 1600 to the middle of the 18th century. The Classical

era followed, ending roughly around 1820. The Romantic era ran through the

19th century, ending about 1910.(Intro to Classical Music n.d.) Like all types

of music, classical music continues to develop still today. The period of classical

composition beginning from around 2000 has been designated 21st-Century Clas-

sical Music. Many classical artists today agree that classical music has become

too diverse to categorize. Musical styles has been evolving over the years, from

the simplicity of the Gregorian chants from Medieval times transformed into the

8

2.2 Compositional techniques

complex and ornamental lines and counter points of the Baroque period. This

then led to the emergence of simple melodies and phrasing of the Classical pe-

riod. This was followed by the Romantic period where the music tapped into

emotion and fantasy. The music of the Baroque and Classical eras can be classed

as ’Structural Music’ where personal and emotional responses are minimal but

the listener is engaged in the evolution of the theme by the use of complex notes

and the relationship between them. (History of Classical Music - Eras n.d.)

2.2.2 Pop and Rock

This section will be an overview of most types of popular Rock music, from Rock

and Roll, Hard Rock, Metal, Melodic Metal, etc. There are a few fundamental

techniques used in these musical styles. Changing the key of the piece during

the song can add tension or change the feel of that part of song e.g. Bon Jovi’s

Living on a Prayer. This is also the reason why tempo changes are used and

these can lead to a more engaging listening experience. Most Rock music these

days take inspiration from other genres such as Classical. This clash of musical

styles can be heard from the band Metallica for example to great effect. Various

techniques have arisen for Rock guitarists since the late 70’s. The major player of

the scene would be Eddie Van Halen with his popularization of the two-handed

tapping technique and the dive-bomb effect with the whammy bar. There is

usually a basic formula for constructing a Rock song. An example of this would

be: (intro)ABABCAB(end) where A is your verse, B is your chorus and C is your

solo/bridge.

2.2.3 Progressive and Electronic

Throughout the the mid to late 60s and 70s Progressive rock started to hit the

music scene. Originating in the United Kingdom, musicians started to explore the

psychedelic side of music. Drugs such as marijuana and LSD was becoming pop-

ular amongst musicians and they said that it enabled them to see and hear more

of the music.(Progressive Rock - Definition, Genres & Articles n.d.) Progressive

rock is categorized by a sacking of traditional song structure, introduces complex

rhythms and odd time signatures. Progressive rock allows for pure creativity in a

9

2.2 Compositional techniques

musical sense and usually incorporates various electronic elements to add futur-

istic sounds to the piece. Pink Floyd are the one of the most popular Progressive

rock bands with concept albums such as The Dark Side of the Moon(1973) and

Wish You Were Here(1975).

10

2.3 Surround Sound

2.3 Surround Sound

This section will look at the various commercial multichannel surround sound

systems available.

To start off, there is four-channel surround. 3-1 stereo or LCRS surround is

similar to the previous three-channel stereo. An additional surround channel is

added to the three-channel stereo, this additional channel is routed to a loud-

speaker usually placed behind the listener. This is the original Dolby Pro Logic

format(Logic Pro 9 User Manual: Welcome to Logic Pro n.d.), and this system

was developed first for a cinema environment. Quadraphonic reproduction uses

four loudspeakers in a square arrangement, which are at the four corners of the

listening space, this arrangement consists of two front loudspeakers, left and right,

and two rear loudspeakers, back left and back right.

The 5.1-channel surround system is the most popular in use(Ultimate surround

sound guide: Different formats explained | Digital Trends n.d.). It is essentially

a 3-2 stereo setup with three front channels with two rear/side channels. The

three front channels give a three-channel stereo sound image, while the two rear

speakers provide the supporting ambience, effects or ‘room impression’(Rumsey

and Mccormick 2006). The ‘.1’ unit of the 5.1 corresponds to the dedicated

low frequency effects (LFE) channel, which is routed through a sub-woofer. This

delivers only bass information and is usually less than 120 Hz.(Dolby 5.1-Channel

Music Production Guidelines - 5.1 Channel Music Production Guidelines.pdf n.d.)

For this project a 6.1-channel surround system will be used for the perfor-

mance. It is similar to the previous 5.1 system but with the addition of a sur-

round channel. This channel is routed to a loudspeaker located directly behind

the listener. The 6.1-channel audio is now a common option for a surround for-

mat(Understanding Surround Sound Formats n.d.). A 6.1 system has a more

powerful envelopment effect than a 5.1 system, as sound energy from behind the

also influences the sensation of envelopment(Furuya et al. 2001). This system is

effective for this project as it allows for each string of the guitar to have its own

dedicated speaker.

11

2.3 Surround Sound

Other systems that can be implemented for different situations include 7.1,

9.1, 10.2, and even up to 22.2 but for the purpose of this project need not be

discussed in this paper.

12

3

Research

This section will look at the technologies and approaches researched by the au-

thor into this field of experimentation. A discussion of the reasoning behind the

decisions reached by the author regarding each area of importance is presented

below.

3.1 Composers working with computer technol-

ogy

3.1.1 Johnny Greenwood

Johnny Greenwood, the guitarist of the band Radiohead, has been a long-time

fan of using computers to enhance his compositional techniques and approaches.

Greenwood is experimenting with interactive programs like Max/MSP. However,

he thinks it is unlikely that he will be producing solo computer music as he told

Computer Music Journal in 2004.

“The idea is that taking a laptop off a shelf is like picking up a gui-

tar or an organ. Newer technology, but not better, just different.

Having said that, I cant imagine using it alone. When we play the

song Gloaming live, the laptop takes over for the end section, using

a Max/MSP patch which steals sections of whatever everyone else is

doing, and carries on when they all stop. But I dont use laptops for

13

3.1 Composers working with computer technology

generating sounds very often, mainly sound manipulation and MIDI

generation. I prefer generating sounds other way. Ive always felt

uncomfortable having to use other peoples software to make music.

However limitless sequencers, audioeditors, and plugins claim to be,

you still find yourself being forced, however subtlely, to work in certain

ways. My copy of Emagic Logic insists on looping the first four bars

whenever it can (although its good software in lots of ways) With

Max/MSP I finally got to think about sound and MIDI, and their

manipulation, in a much purer way I felt that all direct contact with

computers had been taken away from me, until I found Max/MSP.”

(Radiohead At Ease | Jonny interview in Computer Music Journal

n.d.)

3.1.2 Eric Calderone

Eric Caledrone has become a Youtube sensation ever since he started doing his

series of ....Meets Metal in which he takes popular music and plays them in a metal

context.(Erock | Shredder Home of Eric Calderone n.d.) He was the influence

for using the various VSTs to obtain many instruments to accompany in the

composition for this project. It opened up a whole new world of possibilities for

composing this author had never realized. He uses Apple’s Logic studio to create

his orchestration and the plugin superior drummer for the drums, all of which he

programs/plays himself. Eric connects his guitar to a Line 6 audio interface and

runs the VST, Guitar Rig 5, in his DAW to achieve his various guitar tones.

3.1.3 Jerry Gerber

Jerry Gerber has written orchestral and chamber music, songs, piano music, vocal

music and music for electronic instruments. He has composed for film, television,

computer games, concerts, dance and interactive media, and wrote all of the

original music for the remake of the popular children’s television show, The Ad-

ventures of Gumby. He uses computers to compose, interpret, produce and record

music. The DAW he uses is Cakewalk’s Sonar to sequence, compose, orchestrate

and mix his compositions.

14

3.1 Composers working with computer technology

“I use software synthesizers like Tera or Massive orchestrated with

acoustic instrument samples, including orchestral instruments, choirs

and individual vocal samples.”(Composers and Computers n.d.)

3.1.4 Enda Bates

As discussed earlier, reading Enda Bates’ paper “Adapting polyphonic pickup

technology for spatial music performance”(EndaBates-HexGuitar-ICMC08paper.pdf

n.d.) was the initial influence for this project. The use of polyphonic technology

for the electric guitar was new to the author of this paper thus opening up the

world of enhanced guitar compositions not previously known of. Bates is a com-

poser, musician, producer and academic based in Dublin, Ireland. He received

his PhD in music composition at Trinity College Dublin in 2010, where he now

lectures.

“His research work includes spatial music composition and perfor-

mance, the aesthetics of electroacoustic music, and the development

of music software and hardware such as the hexaphonic guitar and

multi-channel granulation algorithims”.(Enda Bates Biog n.d.)

He has performed original works for a hexaphonic guitar at the 2007 and 2008

Dublin Electronic Arts (DEAF) Festivals and at Soundings 0402 in Limerick.(Enda

Bates Past Performances n.d.)

3.1.5 Andreas Paolo Perger

Andreas Paolo Perger is a contemporary guitarist, improviser and composer. His

original music integrates improvisation, composition, spatialization, and social

aspects into the process of origination. He is working in the experimental field be-

tween traditional instrumentation and electronic music. He performed a concert

for 5.1 surround guitar back in 2007 in Vienna. The guitar has been developed in

collaboration with Stevens Guitars and Huber-Amps since 1993. The difference

between a guitar and the 5.1 surround guitar is the surround option. Each string

sounds in one separate loudspeaker. The development of this guitar followed the

idea to integrate the sound of the guitar into a spacial context, to reach more

15

3.1 Composers working with computer technology

contemporary sound and playing possibilities like delay, loops, scratches, vinyl

sounds, cassette recorder sounds, and electronic sounds, without using electronic

guitar effects.

“All these sounds come out very well spatially, when played on this

guitar. Melodies, lines, chords, and rhythms get a fragmentary char-

acter in the room, opening up the sound of the guitar by changing

the musical meaning of traditional idiomatic”. (Andreas paolo perger

| o record | o aufnahme | lo-fi mp3 n.d.)

16

4

Creating the set up

This section is a guide to how the author created the setup used for this compo-

sition and performance.

4.1 The Guitar

4.1.1 Hexaphonic pickup

The polyphonic technology used in this project was a hexaphonic guitar pickup

designed for an electric guitar. Hexaphonic pickups (also called divided pickups

and polyphonic pickups) have a separate output for each string (Hexaphonic as-

sumes six strings, as on a guitar). A lot of time went into researching which

hexaphonic pickup would be best suited for the author’s needs. It was decided

early on in the project that the author would want the best natural sounding

pickup but also not too expensive. In the end it was narrowed down to two

makes of hexaphonic pickups, the Roland GK-34 system or Paul Rubenstein’s

custom made Ubertar Hexaphonic guitar pickups (see figure 6). Rubenstein de-

velops hexaphonic pickups from scratch, which are much more similar to regular

magnetic pickups and claim to offer a much truer tone. It was the custom made

Ubertar pickup which was decided on as it could achieve greater tonal qualities

for each string which is a key goal in this project; also due to the fact that the

author has a guitar with a spare pickup cavity to house the new pickup made

this a logical choice.

17

4.1 The Guitar

In the paper (ndaBatesICMC08.pdfENDABATESICMC08.PDF n.d.), the au-

thor describes a method for separating the audio signals from each string of an

electric guitar. The six signals were panned separately to create a spatialized

array of sounds. Several pieces were composed specifically for spatialized per-

formance with hexaphonic guitar. This project by Enda Bates was the main

influence for this FYP project and is a good start when composing for a hexa-

phonic guitar performance.

The guitar used is an Ibanez RG370DX. Initially it came with three pickups

set up as such, Humbucker-Single-Humbucker. A few years ago the author had

replaced the factory Humbuckers with EMG active humbuckers. This meant that

the passive single coil pickup couldn’t be used in conjunction with new active

ones. The author removed this pickup all together. This left an open spacing

for a new pickup (See figure 7). When this project was first being discussed

with the supervisor she suggested the use of polyphonic guitar technology. This

led to research into the different methods of obtaining such polyphony with the

guitar. Everything fell into place when it was discovered that Paul Rubenstein

of Ubertar pickups creates modified standard pickups. This meant that they

could fit straight into the Ibanez with very little hacking of the guitar. The only

hacking needed was to drill a hole through the body from the pickup cavity and

make a hold for the DIN socket which outputs the individual string’s signals to

the breakout box. Purchasing the hexaphonic pickup and breakout box was all

from Ubertar who also included the 7-pin DIN cable required for connecting the

pickup to the breakout box (See figure 8).

4.1.2 Audio Interface

Upon breaking the polyphonic signal up into the individual strings from the

breakout box, an audio interface is needed to connect the six outputs of the

pickup to the computer for processing. Instruments such as electric guitars and

basses are basically simple transducers that do not put out enough power to

attain line level. In order to record guitar, bass or other high impedance (Hi-Z)

signals, you either need a direct box (DI) or an audio interface with one or more

18

4.2 Max/MSP

dedicated Hi-Z instrument inputs (Guitar and Bass - Home Recording n.d.). An

instrument input functions like a mini direct box, converting the high-impedance

instrument signal to a level that can be handled by pro-level recording gear. This

will enable you to record guitar or bass without using an amplifier. The audio

interface to be used in this project is the MOTU Ultralite6 which was supplied

by the supervisor of this project. The reason why this interface was chosen was

due to the 8-channel input and output located on the device, also its ability

to connect to a Mac using a Firewire connection. This was acquired from the

project’s supervisor Dr. Kerry Hagan during the initial setup and programming

of the Max/MSP patches. For the performance Darragh Pigott’s MOTU Ultralite

Hybrid will be used which allows for both USB and Firewire connections whereas

the normal Ultralite only provides firewire connectivity.

This audio interface provides professional audio quality at sample rates up to

192 kHz and plenty of inputs and outputs, including two mic/instrument inputs,

six line-level analog inputs, ten channels of analog output, stereo S/PDIF(Sony/Philips

Digital Interconnect Format) and a stereo headphone output. All together it has

ten seperate inputs and fourteen seperate outputs. It also allows for connecting

your favourite MIDI device. This product provided the necessary means for con-

necting all the inputs of the guitar, with a high sound quality, and unnoticeable

latency times. This means that Max/MSP then recieves the signal of any string

independently as soon as its played.

4.2 Max/MSP

By using the [adc˜] object with six outputs corresponding to the six inputs from

the audio interface, each string can have their own flow of processing. As men-

tioned earlier, other people’s patches for guitar processing aided in the design

of the patches used in this project’s composition. Six [gain˜] objects were used

to control the volume of each string before they go proceed to the different ef-

fects and more gain sliders to control the volume after the signals have passed

through the effects. The different effects used in the performance are delays,

reverb, tremelo and flanger. The tremolo and flanger effects are only applied to

19

4.3 Surround Sound Array

the two high strings, B and E. The reason for this is for clarity reasons, because

if the lower strings were also passed to these effects it would create a wall of

indiscernible notes. To achieve a tremolo effect you simply multiply the signal

with a low frequency cosine wave [cycle˜] object. This patch uses 4 Hz for this

control frequency. The flanger effect is similar but the cosine wave is applied to

the delay line of a signal to modulate the delay time. In this patch a [cycle˜]

object varies the delay time. “When a signal with a time-varying delay (espe-

cially a very short delay) is added together with the original undelayed signal, the

result is a continually varying comb filter effect known as flanging. Flanging can

create both subtle and extreme effects, depending on the rate and depth of the

modulation” (SPMSP Tutorial 29: Flanging n.d.). A [comb˜] object is applied

to the high E string. This mixes the current input sample with earlier input

and/or output samples. in other words, it combines a delayed version of the high

E string to itself, causing constructive and destructive interference. An example

of comb filtering in acoustics can occur when two loudspeakers are playing the

same signal at different distances from the listener thus resulting in a delayed

version of the direct sound on top of said direct sound. These effects receive the

string’s signal after it passes through a [gizmo˜] object which shifts the pitch

of an incoming sound to provide harmonized delay effects. The [gizmo˜] object

must be used inside a [pfft˜] with an overlap of four or more – using an overlap

of two will produce quite audible amplitude modulation. When used outside a

[pfft˜] it does nothing(Gizmo˜ Reference n.d.). To fill out the sound of the two

low strings, reverb was applied by using Max’s example of how to create reverb .

All the outputs of the effects and the direct guitar signal are passed to their des-

tined output in a [dac˜] object with six inputs corresponding to the six outputs

from the MOTU interface. See figure 2 in appendix for the cleaned up Max/MSP

patch in presentation mode. This mode allows for easy access to levels, effects,

loading and recording of sounds.

4.3 Surround Sound Array

As mentioned earlier, the surround sound system used will be the 6.1 surround

sound. This allows for the routing of each string and the different effects to be

20

4.3 Surround Sound Array

spatialized around the listeners. The ‘.1’ will not be used for the performance

as the aim is to highlight the guitar’s spatialization. The backing track will also

be formatted to allow for the spatializing of the different instruments used. This

aims to envelope the listeners in the sound field and provide a unique way of

experiencing a musical piece from all sides (See figure 3). The surround sound of

the backing track was done using Logic Pro’s surround sound panning capabilities

(see figure 4).

21

5

Description of Composition

5.1 Approach and Techniques

The approach taken for creating this projects composition can be broken down to

two parts. Firstly, the Max/MSP patches needed to be programmed as to realize

the sounds possible with a guitar and find the desired sound and effects to be

used. This part was carried out from the outset of the project up until Christmas.

On the return to college for the second semester the hexaphonic pickup was now

installed and ready to be used. The patch only needed the addition of the inputs

and outputs of the analog and digital converters.

Secondly, during the Christmas break research was done into the techniques

and approaches of composers to orchestrate their own virtual instruments. On the

first attempt of creating a backing track the author looked at trying to recreate

the musical piece by Mike Oldfield, The Bell. This provided good practice for

achieving various instrument’s sounds but the author abandoned this idea in

favour of creating an altogether original piece.

This started out by playing around on the guitar for a few days to come up

with a melody for the theme of the piece. The key of F major / D minor is

used. A simple G Dorian lick is used for the intro and is played by a piano

VST with the relative chords. A strings VST was used to create an orchestrated

feel to the intro without overshadowing the other instruments. This along with

22

5.1 Approach and Techniques

a background ‘droney’ synth which plays throughout the piece, following the

notes and chord progression of the piano, adds an element which can be used

effectively in a surround sound environment. This was used to show the influence

this course has had by using some minimalist music techniques. La Monte Young

defines drone music as “the sustained tone branch of minimalism”(Notes on The

Theatre of Eternal Music and The Tortoise, His Dr - theatre.pdf n.d.). A cello

VST and bass guitar VST is then brought in to add some bass to the melody

which outlines the notes of the D minor scale and reinforces the feel of the song.

A melody was written then on the guitar to be played by a violin VST to provide

the higher pitched melody. A viola VST is introduced to add another layer to

the two other members of the violin family.

The music fades away except for the piano melody and drone synth for a

breakdown section which then builds up with the re-introduction of the cello and

strings. The violin then comes in as well as a slowly intensifying drum loop to

finally build into the ‘energetic’ part of the song with the rhythm of the distorted

electric guitar. A melody was written for the viola to add another lead instrument

to the mix at this part as well as a fast strummed lick of octaves played on a

distorted guitar. The distortion guitar sounds were achieved by using the Guitar

Rig 5 VST and recording it alongside the other tracks in real-time. The drums

fade out on a kick and the initial theme is returned to with just the piano, synth,

strings and violin family. Then just as energetic theme ended on a kick drum, so

too, does the whole piece after a slight swell in volume.

23

6

Conclusions and Future

Directions

6.1 Conclusions

This project has allowed the author to explore the compositional process through

the use of computers and their real instrument emulation. With the initial project

idea of expanding the sonic possibilities an electric guitar is capable of, the project

developed into a surround sound composition as well as a surround sound guitar

performance. This reflects the author’s inspiration from the research carried out

and the musical influences of various composers. The work Enda Bates has done

in spatializing the guitar was of interest to the author and with this the works

of the other artists mentioned in this paper to create a surround sound track

which utilizes digital means to form an ensemble of instruments. This project

has given an interesting insight into how composers can create songs at home and

then, if they want, send it to a real orchestra to perform it with the more rich

sounding real instruments. As the technology of VSTs improve it may be possible

to achieve this richer sound and do away with the need to record the instruments

but it will never be able to replace the feeling and emotion a performer of an

instrument can produce. On the performance night, the audience experienced a

new way of hearing a solo guitarist play in a surround sound setting and thus

be engulfed in the music and guitar performance. For the performance it was

necessary to have a low CPU intensive Max/MSP patch as it was unknown as to

24

6.2 Future Work

the power of the PC used on the night. For this reason not a lot of effects were

incorporated. There is a sub-patcher in the submitted main patch which shows

how other effects can be obtained and applied to desired strings.

6.2 Future Work

Future works with this approach to performing with a guitar can further expand

the possibilities for a musician. One such idea is to use one of the string’s signals

to control a parameter or object in Max/MSP, such as turning on or off an effect

when a certain note is played by using a pitch tracking object such as [sigmund˜].

The vast amount of different sound processing Max/MSP is capable of can be

applied to the guitar signal, and with the use of a hexaphonic pickup can further

produce more musical possiblities for a guitarist to experiment with. Also, as

mentioned earlier, the new [Gen˜] object for Max/MSP could see developers

creating their own sound processing objects and bridge that gap between native

objects and external programming.

25

Appendix

Figure 1: Max Guitar Processor - Darwin Grosse’s Guitar processor for

Max/MSP [Source: (Max 5 Guitar Processor, Part 1 Cycling 74 n.d.)]

26

Appendix

Figure 2: Presentation Mode - The Max patch used for the performance.

[Source: (Scully 2013b)]

27

Appendix

Figure 3: Arrangement of speakers - Loacted around the audience with the

performer inbetween and behind speakers 3 and 4 [Source: (Scully 2013c)]

28

Appendix

Figure 4: Screenshot of Logic - This is the spatializing of individual tracks into

a speaker array [Source: (Scully 2013d)]

29

Appendix

Figure 5: Screenshot of the Reaper environment - The different instruments

are imported as audio files after creating the midi track earlier [Source: (Scully

2013a)]

Figure 6: Pickups from Ubertar - Pickups and breakout boxes from Ubertar

[Source: (Ubertar Hexaphonic Guitar Pickups - Home n.d.)]

30

Appendix

Figure 7: Ibanez 370DX - This is the guitar used with hexaphonic pickup in

the middle

31

Appendix

Figure 8: Back of Guitar - This shows the back of the guitar with the 7-pin

DIN housed on an aluminium plate

32

References

andreas paolo perger | o record | o aufnahme | lo-fi mp3 (n.d.), http://www.andreas-

paolo-perger.at/record aufnahme.htm.

URL: http://www.andreas-paolo-perger.at/record aufnahme.htm 16

Composers and Computers (n.d.), http://www.compositiontoday.com/blog/142.asp.

URL: http://www.compositiontoday.com/blog/142.asp 15

Cook, P. (2001), Principles for designing computer music controllers, in ‘Proceedings

of the 2001 conference on New interfaces for musical expression’, p. 14.

URL: http://dl.acm.org/citation.cfm?id=1085154 2

Dolby 5.1-Channel Music Production Guidelines -

5.1 Channel Music Production Guidelines.pdf (n.d.),

http://www.aesnashville.org/PDFs/Technical/Dolby/5.1%20Channel%20Music%20Production%20Guidelines.pdf.

URL: http://www.aesnashville.org/PDFs/Technical/Dolby/5.1%20Channel%20Music%20Production%20Guidelines.pdf

11

Enda Bates Biog (n.d.), http://www.endabates.net/about.html.

URL: http://www.endabates.net/about.html 15

EndaBates-HexGuitar-ICMC08paper.pdf (n.d.), http://www.endabates.net/EndaBates-

HexGuitar-ICMC08paper.pdf.

URL: http://www.endabates.net/EndaBates-HexGuitar-ICMC08paper.pdf 15

EndaBatesICMC08.pdf (n.d.), http://www.endabates.net/EndaBatesICMC08.pdf.

URL: http://www.endabates.net/EndaBatesICMC08.pdf 18

Enda Bates Past Performances (n.d.), http://endabates.net/pastperformances.html.

URL: http://endabates.net/pastperformances.html 15

33

REFERENCES

Envelope Phaser (n.d.), http://www.pigtronix.com/products/envelope-phaser/.

URL: http://www.pigtronix.com/products/envelope-phaser/ 1

Erock | Shredder Home of Eric Calderone (n.d.), http://www.shredguitareric.com/.

URL: http://www.shredguitareric.com/ 14

Furuya, H., Fujimoto, K., Ji, C. Y. and Higa, N. (2001), ‘Arrival direction of late sound

and listener envelopment’, Applied Acoustics 62(2), 125 – 136.

URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0003682X00000529 11

gizmo˜ Reference (n.d.), http://www.cycling74.com/docs/max5/refpages/msp-

ref/gizmo˜.html.

URL: http://www.cycling74.com/docs/max5/refpages/msp-ref/gizmo .html 20

Guitar and Bass - Home Recording (n.d.), http://www.netplaces.com/home-

recording/recording-individual-instruments/guitar-and-bass.htm.

URL: http://www.netplaces.com/home-recording/recording-individual-

instruments/guitar-and-bass.htm 19

History of Classical Music - Eras (n.d.), http://www.naxos.com/education/brief history.asp.

URL: http://www.naxos.com/education/brief history.asp 9

Intro to Classical Music (n.d.), http://classicalmusic.about.com/od/classicalmusic101/a/intro072104.htm.

URL: http://classicalmusic.about.com/od/classicalmusic101/a/intro072104.htm 8

Logic Pro 9 User Manual: Welcome to Logic Pro (n.d.),

http://documentation.apple.com/en/logicpro/usermanual/.

URL: http://documentation.apple.com/en/logicpro/usermanual/ 7, 11

Max 5 Guitar Processor, Part 1 Cycling 74 (n.d.),

http://cycling74.com/2008/07/28/max-5-guitar-processor-part-1/.

URL: http://cycling74.com/2008/07/28/max-5-guitar-processor-part-1/ 6, 26

Max at Seventeen 1 (n.d.), http://www-crca.ucsd.edu/˜msp/Publications/dartmouth-

reprint.dir/.

URL: http://www-crca.ucsd.edu/ msp/Publications/dartmouth-reprint.dir/ 6

Max/MSP Tutorial HD - Jonny Greenwood style stutter effect - YouTube (n.d.),

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qruCD1K8qmo.

URL: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qruCD1K8qmo 6

34

REFERENCES

MSP Tutorial 29: Flanging (n.d.), http://www.cycling74.com/docs/max5/tutorials/msp-

tut/mspchapter29.html.

URL: http://www.cycling74.com/docs/max5/tutorials/msp-tut/mspchapter29.html

20

Notes on The Theatre of Eternal Music and The Tortoise, His Dr - theatre.pdf (n.d.),

http://www.melafoundation.org/theatre.pdf.

URL: http://www.melafoundation.org/theatre.pdf 23

Progressive Rock - Definition, Genres & Articles (n.d.),

http://www.progarchives.com/Progressive-rock.asp.

URL: http://www.progarchives.com/Progressive-rock.asp 9

Radiohead At Ease | Jonny interview in Computer Music Journal (n.d.),

http://www.ateaseweb.com/2004/05/22/jonny-interview-in-computer-music-

journal/.

URL: http://www.ateaseweb.com/2004/05/22/jonny-interview-in-computer-music-

journal/ 14

REAPER | Audio Production Without Limits (n.d.), http://www.reaper.fm/.

URL: http://www.reaper.fm/ 7

Rumsey, F. and Mccormick, T. (2006), Sound and Recording: An Introduction, Music

Technology Series, Taylor & Francis.

URL: http://books.google.ie/books?id=nI2mX-t6SJAC 11

Scully, D. (2013a), ‘Creating the song in Reaper’. 30

Scully, D. (2013b), ‘Max/MSP Performance Patch’. 27

Scully, D. (2013c), ‘Speaker Placement’. 28

Scully, D. (2013d), ‘Surround bouncing in Logic’. 29

The Amazing EBow :: Home (n.d.), http://www.ebow.com/home.php.

URL: http://www.ebow.com/home.php 1

Ubertar Hexaphonic Guitar Pickups - Home (n.d.),

http://www.ubertar.com/hexaphonic/.

URL: http://www.ubertar.com/hexaphonic/ 30

35

REFERENCES

Ultimate surround sound guide: Different formats explained | Digital Trends (n.d.),

http://www.digitaltrends.com/home-theater/ultimate-surround-sound-guide-

different-formats-explained/.

URL: http://www.digitaltrends.com/home-theater/ultimate-surround-sound-guide-

different-formats-explained/ 11

Understanding Surround Sound Formats (n.d.), http://www.crutchfield.com/S-

pzjPTy0uO7n/learn/learningcenter/home/hometheater surround.html.

URL: http://www.crutchfield.com/S-pzjPTy0uO7n/learn/learningcenter/home/hometheater surround.html

11

36