This feature is a collection of comments on the subject of
AMPLE composition. Some of them were prompted by Richard Nevill's comments which
were mentioned in the previous issue's Update section.
A fuller version of Richard Nevill's comments begins the
discussion:
The music files on the issue 002 disc reinforce a suspicion I
have long had that the Music 500/0 demands to have music especially composed
for it, rather than to have pale conversions of popular and classical
'standards'. If the standard set by "Terra Cotta Army" and virtually
all the other contributions is maintained, I for one will be well pleased!
Richard Nevill
I refer to Richard Nevill's comment regarding a possible
need for the Music 500(0) to have specially composed music rather than to have 'pale
conversions of standards'.
Whilst I think we all must be aware that this synthesiser
has its limitations, this should not stop us from attempting to produce
'authentic' types of sound. After all, so many sounds in 'popular' music these
days have been produced by other synthesisers. True orchestral sounds are
another matter, of course, but why shouldn't we try to emulate the Berlin Philharmonic
if we want to?
Conversely, we do not HAVE to try to produce the same sounds
as particular groups or bands. Instead, we can produce unique performances and arrangements
for our own enjoyment if no one else's. It doesn't matter for whom or for what
the original music was composed.
Having said the above tongue in cheek, I must admit that, because
of the limitations of the actual synthesiser (and Richard does say 'Music
500(0)'), he has a point. This is why I have high hopes for the MIDI interface which
should enable much better (and VERY much more expensive!) synthesisers to be
driven by AMPLE Nucleus, a programming/software combination it would be hard to
beat at any price, including, for example, the Atari ST/Steinberg Pro24 set-up.
This applies especially to non-musicians such as me who rely on step-time
entry.
Ted Royffe
Re Richard Nevill's comment on composing for AMPLE, I
couldn't agree more. Sometimes I think I'll scream if I hear yet another
tedious version of Bach or Scott Joplin. I like Bach (I'm not so sure about
Joplin!) and I've transcribed one or two pieces myself, but I don't think other
people are likely to find them very exciting. Pieces like 'Terra-cotta Army'
show off the capabilities of the Music 500/0 much better. I'd like to see AMPLINEX
supporting this kind of work, which is trying to explore the new musical medium
of AMPLE in its own terms, not imitating other media.
David Westbrook
In the nicest possible way I should like to take issue with
Kevin Doyle when, in his review of Music City by Ian Guinan, he says
"AMPLE versions are not meant to be soundalike versions of the
original" and "The value of creating AMPLE copies of well-known music
is questionable".
As a frustrated composer and conductor with equally
frustrated ambitions to become a decent pianist and violinist, I am at last,
through the medium of AMPLE, beginning to realise some of these forlorn hopes.
I can now interpret and conduct light orchestral pieces to my own liking.
I can play piano and violin pieces with almost virtuoso
accuracy including those of a difficulty which put them way beyond my own amateur
technique. I can play virtually the whole range of instruments in an orchestra.
I can arrange and hear performed with differing instruments the small number of
simple compositions I wrote in my heyday over forty years ago. I might even
start writing music again and be able to hear it played in various forms.
How else could I do this except through AMPLE?
I think AMPLE has tremendous possibilities and if the
progress and improvement of the last ten years is continued over the next ten,
as I am sure it will be, I can see electronic music becoming indistinguishable
from authentic musical sounds. What a boon AMPLE would have been to the Beethovens
and Mozarts of the past.
If we accept that all sound is music of one sort or another,
it is equally clear that different sounds appeal to different people and at
different ages. For some years now the popular teenage trend has been the reproduction
of weirdo electronic sounds against a background of heavy rhythmic thumping
played at about 140 decibels.
If that appeals to them - OK; but don't let us forget the
more gentle type of melodious music of which there is a vast repertoire.
AMPLE can accommodate both, and the fact that AMPLE can
produce an electronic representation of a well-known piece should not, in my
humble opinion, be frowned on. In fact, if the representation and
interpretation is good enough, it might even be greeted with raised eyebrows by
the 'highbrows' as I am sure will be the case in years to come. In the meantime
some of us continue to strive for that elusive perfection.
G H Richardson
Published in AMPLINEX 004, March 1988
