Frank Barknecht wrote:
Hallo,
Stephen Cameron hat gesagt: // Stephen Cameron wrote:
Interesting idea, though I'm not sure adding random delays
really "humanizes" things.
Humans, even bad musicians, don't play randomly "wrong", so it is
indeed not exactly humanizing to just add some random deviations. How
to really humanize is an ongoing debate. One interesting concept in
this regard is described in the work of Jeff Blimes and in his concept
of the "Tatum". A short introduction is this paper:
http://ssli.ee.washington.edu/people/bilmes/mypapers/icmc93_paper.pdf
Blimes also did listening tests with various approaches on humanizing
including random, Gaussian variations. These were rejected by most
listeners as "sloppy" and "random" and this approach according to his
paper is the worst one to "humanize".
Ciao
Well, I called it 'humanizer' just because it is how this kind of
functionality in sequencers and drum machines has always been called,
AFAIK. It doesn't pretend to make a track programmed in a sequencer more
human.
However I really find it useful when used with small range settings,
even applied to the kind of tracks that in some music styles (like
electronic music) could also have been left as they were programmed.
As Stephen said, if you just randomize the timing and the velocity of a
sequenced drum track it doesn't sound as a real drummer at all. But you
can program the more audible variations by hand, add a very subtle
randomization to the whole track and use a slightly wider range for the
cymbals.
Anyway, as I said, I've always used this functionality in various
situations (but I can't speak for my own results). It is builtin in
cubase, digital performer and any other commercial software sequencer
I've tried in my life.
Don't think of it as a pretentious attempt to revolutionize computer
music. It's just a little utility app that somebody might find useful in
some situations.
Even more, I believe that an application that sounds just like a real
drummer for instance, is possible, but I'm not really interested in such
thing artistically speaking.
Cheers,
c.
--
www.cesaremarilungo.com
