The Cycfi Alpha

I recently discovered this one-of-a-kind guitar that’s made out of carbon fiber and bamboo, equipped with DiMarzio pickups, soon-to-be equipped with a unique hexaphonic pickup, and impressive switching options that would provide a wide palette of guitar sounds. Oh, before I forget, did I mention that this is 100% Filipino-made? It is the brainchild of IT consultant, guitarist, and luthier Joel de Guzman:

It looks pretty, and (based on the recording I checked out) it sounds awesome too. Just go to http://www.cycfi.com/2011/03/finally/ so you can see what this instrument is all about.

If I could have one of these for myself (it’s pretty obvious now that I want one), it will open up more possibilities for future compositions. I could perhaps ask Mr. de Guzman to build me a custom Cycfi guitar (if I have the money for it), maybe a 7-string model with locking tuners and floating bridge or a guitar with MIDI output (something that would help me transcribe GuitarZoom lessons better). Wait a minute. I think I did ask him via email. Unfortunately, the Cycfi guitar is still in the prototype stage (Alpha) so there are no production models out yet. The instrument looks very promising, a form of innovation you rarely witness in this tropical country called the Philippines.

In a matter of months or years, will the Cycfi Guitar be featured in events like the NAMM Show or Musik Messe. I do hope so. In any case, should the time come that the Cycfi Guitar becomes available in the market, I will get my hands on one. After all, it is that sort of instrument that would implant a nagging thought in your head like, “Play me,” or “Check me out!” Therefore, I can say with confidence that this guitar induces GAS!

On a final note, Mr. de Guzman is looking for a luthier he can work with so that he could kick start the production process. If you know of one, please contact him through or drop a note here.

“I Miss You” by Shean Cleofas and Lenny Nabor

I remember some time around 2012 when I arranged this song for songwriter Lenny Nabor:

This version of Lenny Nabor’s “I Miss You” was interpreted by Shean Cleofas with arrangement by yours truly. I thought something that sounded like “Everything But the Girl” would suit the song well.

If there would be one thing I’d change in this present recording would be the dynamics. The piano overpowers everything else. I’d also make some changes in the overall mix, should I be given the opportunity to do so. So, Lenny, if you’re reading this, I hope you give me a chance to mix it. I just need a copy of the vocal track.

Apparently, Lenny has plans of working with me again on another song. I’m about to make a sample arrangement of a few bars for that new song. Let’s wait and see (and hear) what would happen next.

Detunized’s “Glass Harp” and “Intergalactic Ice Cream Man”

My good friend from Dresden, Stephan Marche, CEO of Detunized, has asked me to write a little demo for his new sample pack called “Glass Harp”. It’s available in a variety of formats such as Ableton Live Pack and NI Kontakt. If you’ve ever dreamed of having a glass armonica as part of your touring rig, this is the closest you can get to the real thing.

Anyway, I’ll leave out the specs (you can find the specs in the Detunized website) so that we can now proceed to the small piece I wrote. Influenced by the classical period (think Mozart and Haydn), I now give you “Intergalactic Ice Cream Man”, composed and performed by yours truly, along with two other compositions by two other guys. My piece is the first cut you’ll hear:

You can purchase the pack via http://Detunized.com

Using the Five Most Important Synthesizer Modules

Good day. This is Mark Galang with another post about music production in compliance with the requirements for the Berklee College of Music course called “Introduction to Music Production”, hosted for free by Coursera. In this post, I will discuss how to use the five most important synthesizer modules. These are your oscillator, filter, amplifier, envelope, and low frequency oscillator or LFO. For this tutorial, I will be using three kinds of software synthesizers namely RGC Audio’s Z3ta +1, MinimogueVA, and Mothman 1966. We can also consider this tutorial as a sort of crash course into subtractive synthesis.

1. Oscillator

In any synthesizer (even those that play back samples), the oscillator is the sound source. It produces the waveform/s that you need to shape to produce the desired sound. The most basic parameter we get to control in an oscillator is the waveform selection. We usually have a number of waveforms to choose from including sine (fundamental frequency only), pulse waves such as square and triangle (fundamental frequency + odd harmonics), and sawtooth waves (fundamental + odd and even harmonics).

In the Mothman 1966, three waveforms are available called diamond (triangle), 8-bit saw (sawtooth), and wind (sine):

The MinimogueVA (obviously modeled after the Minimoog) has a couple more parameters other than standard waveform selection. You can adjust the tuning and the register of the oscillator as well as apply an overdrive (distortion) effect.

The Z3ta is the most complex of these softsynths. Its oscillator section has more choices for waveforms along with more parameters to shape them. There is even an option available for users to draw their own custom waveforms.

2. Voltage Controlled Filter (VCF)

More complex waveforms such as sawtooth can often sound harsh, and this is why a filter (more properly called voltage controlled filter or VCF) is present in all synthesizers. The filter functions much like an EQ except that in synthesizers, we can expect its parameters to change over a short period of time. The most common kind of filter in a synthesizer is a low-pass filter, the rationale being it is the best filter for cutting out brightness or harshness in the fastest way possible. In a synthesizer, the cutoff parameter is probably the most important. In a typical low-pass filter, raising the knob or slider for cutoff will raise the cutoff frequency meaning that you cut off less of the high frequencies and make the sound brighter. Lowering the cutoff knob will cut more high frequencies, making the sound of your oscillator darker.

One of the fun things about using these synthesizers is when you are modulating the filter’s cutoff, either manually or through an LFO. Sometimes you may want the realtime use of the filter cutoff to be more obvious. This is where the resonance parameter can be very useful. Increasing the resonance will make your use of the filter more pronounced. When the resonance parameter is up to a particular level, some of the high frequencies seep through as you turn the cutoff knob or slider to either direction.

The Mothman’s VCF features the basic control parameters:

In the MinimogueVA, the filter’s resonance is aptly called emphasis. Contour Amount adjusts the Q of the filter and velocity adjusts how fast the cutoff knob responds:

The Z3ta’s filter can be changed from the standard low-pass to others such as notch, band pass, and high pass:

3. Amplifier

The synthesizer’s amplifier works by raising the amplitude of the signal coming from the oscillator after it passes through the filter. The most basic control over the amplifier is the master volume section of the synthesizer as shown in all three featured synthesizers:

However, we can also have more specific control over the amplifier, allowing us to shape how each note is articulated. This is where we make use of the…

4. Envelope

The envelope is one component of the amplifier that adjusts the amplitude of the sound at certain points over a very short amount of time. The amplifier’s envelope has four parameters:

Attack Time – The amount of time it takes for the signal to reach peak amplitude after a note on command (i.e. pressing a key).

Decay Time – The amount of time it takes for the signal to reach the designated sustain level.

Sustain Level – A designated amplitude level during the main sequence of the sound’s duration. The level of the sound after decay time has passed.

Release Time – The amount of time it takes for the sound to go from sustain level to zero after a note off command.

These parameters spell out conveniently as the acronym ADSR.

By adjusting these parameters, we can emulate the responses of various instruments such as the organ, violin, brass, piano, etc. For example, the organ has a “switch” type of envelope, and so we would set attack to 0, decay to 0, sustain level to any amount desired, and release to 0. If we want the synthesizer to have a piano-like response where the note dies off slowly after pressing a key, we set attack to 0, have a long decay time of about a few seconds, and then set sustain level and release time to 0. If we want the sound to “swell”, we set the attack time above 0.

The amplitude envelope generator is pretty much standard in all three featured synths, although the MinimogueVA has got envelope controls for filter as well and the Z3ta has additional parameters beyond the traditional ADSR:

5. Low Frequency Oscillator (LFO)

Other than willfully adjusting all the parameters of our synthesizers with our hands, you can assign an LFO to do this for you in a cyclical manner. An LFO typically operates at a frequency below the threshold of hearing, typically at a repetitive pattern determined by the kind of waveform used and the rate at which the LFO operates.

We can use the LFO to have control over the oscillator for vibrato effects, the amplifier for tremolo effects, and the filter for automatic filter sweeps.

The Mothman’s LFO can be assigned to the oscillator or filter. You can select the waveform as well as adjust its speed.

For the MinimogueVA, the third oscillator (OSC3) can be used as an LFO and can be assigned to various parameters:

As for the Z3ta, we can make use of the modulation matrix to route the LFO to control the other components of the synth ranging from the oscillator to the main volume control:

And so this ends a rather lengthy discussion about the five most important modules of any synthesizer.

It took me quite a while to write this tutorial but I think I could improve on this tutorial through video and audio examples. As of this time, I’m not capable of capturing video for a demonstration. If time permits, I will record some audio examples that demonstrate the functions of each synthesizer module.

Riding the Fader on a Musical Performance

Hello. My name is Mark Galang, and I’m here today to talk about riding the fader on a musical performance. This piece has been written in compliance with the peer-reviewed assignment requirement for the course “Introduction to Music Production” by the Berklee College of Music, hosted for free by Coursera.org.

Nothing is more satisfying than hearing a musical performance by humans. However, as much as we’d like human performance to be perfect, it is far from from being one. While the quirks of a live performance may sometimes be tolerated, studio recordings usually are more demanding. Therefore we use a couple of processes here and there to somewhat address imperfections, and one of these techniques is riding the fader. Riding the fader aims to Control dynamics over a recorded audio track in an effort to achieve some sort of balance I.e. to decrease volume of sections that are too loud and increase sections that are too soft. To demonstrate how to do this, I have opened up a project in Cakewalk Sonar 11, and I will be manipulating the bass track.

To start riding the fader, I have to enable automation write first by clicking on the W button on the bass track. You’ll notice that it would turn red as soon as I click on it. Once that’s been accomplished, I can now start recording automation once I press play or record. Let’s begin.

1. Opening a Project

For this assignment, I have used the same project I recorded for the previous piece (How to Prepare a Project and Record Audio in a DAW). I selected the bass track for this particular task.

2. Enabling Automation Write

To start actually recording volume fader movements (“riding the fader”), I clicked on the small button that looks like a “W”. It’s the automation write button. Once it turns red, I know that it has been enabled and I could then start recording fader movements after I hit the play or record button.

3. Riding the Fader

I started playing back the project and then manipulated the volume fader so that Cakewalk Sonar would begin recording my fader movement. Generally, I try my best to follow the shape of the waveform to somewhat preserve the actual dynamics I recorded during performance. I was aiming to somewhat reduce the amplitude of sections I felt I had played too loud.

4. Editing the Volume Envelope

Once I have recorded the volume fader movements, I can now see that Cakewalk Sonar has generated a volume envelope with nodes that I can move around. If I want to make adjustments to the envelope, I can just move the nodes either upwards to increase volume or downwards to decrease.

Upon completing the task of riding the fader, I realized that it is far from perfect. I was just using the mouse to perform this task and I think I would have achieved better results if I had a control surface connected to my DAW. I think that it would take me a while to edit the nodes in the automation that I wrote. I was not happy with the result. In the end, I decided to scrap my work and I would try another time to ride the fader (or perhaps use a compressor plugin).

I do think that riding the fader is a skill that takes as much precision as playing an instrument. It demands careful listening and practice to achieve good results without resorting to editing the envelope later. I’m not surprised that compressors were developed to automate this process.

I hope that this short piece has helped you in understanding how to control dynamics in musical recordings through riding the fader. If you have any comments, feedback or constructive criticism for me regarding this post, please let me know. I would be happy to read them as I would like to further improve myself. Thank you very much for your time and attention.

How to Record an Electric Guitar or Bass without an Amplifier

Good day. My name is Mark Galang, and I am a freelance musician and composer from Paranaque City, Philippines. This is my first peer-reviewed assignment for Introduction to Music Production, a Coursera.Org course provided by the Berklee College of Music. Part of my work involves recording electric guitar and bass parts. Certain circumstances prevent me from recording with an amplifier (lack of a good room and neighbors), and so I usually record without one. This tutorial will teach you how to record an electric guitar or bass without an amplifier.

For this tutorial, we need the following equipment:

A computer with a DAW of your choice installed (I’m using a PC with a copy of Cakewalk Sonar)

USB or Firewire Audio Interface (TASCAM US-122 USB Audio Interface)

Electric Guitar or Bass

Instrument cable with 1/4″ plug (at least one)

Studio monitors and/or headphones

Guitar/Bass effects pedals and extra instrument cable/s (optional)

1. Before you begin recording, make sure that your audio interface is connected to your computer via USB or Firewire and that your speakers and/or headphones are connected to the line out/headphone out of your audio interface.

2. Set the level of your audio interface’s instrument input channel to zero. If you have a device that you can switch between mic and instrument mode (LoZ and HiZ), please switch it first to instrument or HiZ mode.

3. Plug in your electric guitar or bass into the audio interface’s instrument input (also known as guitar input) using your instrument’s cable. If you have effects pedals, make sure you have connected them as well in between the instrument and the audio interface.

4. Open up your DAW and create a new project.

5. Select one of your DAW’s audio tracks and assign the input device where your electric guitar or bass is connected.

6. Raise and adjust the level of the input channel at the audio interface where your instrument is connected. Before recording, play some music with the instrument first to check the levels. Make sure that the level is not too high to avoid distortion. Most audio interfaces have an LED or display that allows you to check levels. If the level is above 0 dB, it goes into the “red” zone (or causes a red LED to flash) meaning that the level is too high and it will cause distortion (not the good electric guitar amp kind!) or clipping to occur.

7. If your device has a direct monitoring feature, switch it on so that you can monitor your instrument during recording in real time. Otherwise, you can turn on your DAWs live monitoring feature. Live monitoring on a DAW, however, takes up more computer resources to run and suffers from some degree of latency.

9. Once you’ve set up the appropriate levels, arm the audio track in your DAW and then you can start recording.

Here below is a link to an example of guitar and bass work that used the procedures described in this lesson:

Prior to signing up for this class, I had learned how to record in this manner through trial and error. As a result, I’ve had my share of badly recorded audio. I accept those mistakes though as the part of the learning process. All in all, I think the entire process or recording without an amplifier went well. Nowadays, I make use of a Digitech RP255 multi-effects pedal to emulate a variety of amp sounds and guitar effects. With the combination of the direct monitoring feature in my audio interface, I can hear my guitar processed with the effects that I want in real time. When using the direct monitoring feature when recording, I prefer to switch the audio interface to mono mode so I can hear the guitar’s output on both speakers (since it’s only connected to one input). Previously, I was using VST amp simulators and effects plus live playback monitoring in my DAW. As described in the lesson, the problem with this is latency plus the fact that VSTs use up computer resources.

Thank you for taking the time to read and evaluate this lesson. I do hope that I have presented the lesson accurately. If you have any feedback or if there’s anything else I could have done to explain things better, I would love to hear from you.

“Archery” by Pixel Delight Studios, LLC Now Available

About a month ago, I was hired by Pixel Delight Studios, LLC as a sound designer for their latest game available for Android devices. This game is called “Archery – Shoot the Apple”. If you have dreams of shooting arrows towards a hapless individual with an apple on his head, this would fulfill such a wish.

The rules of Archery is simple: shoot an arrow towards an apple placed upon the head of a young man, and do your best to avoid hurting (or killing) said young man. As you advance in level, the distance between the archer and the apple increases.

To download this delightful game (and enjoy some sounds I had created for it), go to http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/archery-pixel-delight-studios-llc/1113938850?ean=2940043936332. It costs only $0.99 to download and be like William Tell.

Kidoteca’s Magical Music Box: iPads and Android Tablets as Instant Mega-Music Boxes

Have you received a music box as a gift during your childhood years? Now you can go back to those sweet childhood memories filled with wonder and excitement through Kidoteca’s Magical Music Box. I would be quick to admit my bias when m writing this review (I worked on its music after all), but I just can’t contain my excitement over it. Truth of the matter is that I really love it, and I think most of you will too.

I just received a complimentary copy of the software from Stanislas Hauptmann of Kidoteca. As soon as I had it installed in my iPad, I couldn’t help but be filled with awe and excitement as all of the 16 piece of music that I arranged for this instrument came to life.

The present version of the Magical Music Box gives you a total of 6 different music box styles. Instead of a single diorama you might find in an actual music box, you can actually “dress up” your music box depending on your mood or whatnot. However, (again, here’s my bias going off), the most important thing about the Magical Music Box is the music itself.

I arranged a total of 16 pieces for this instrument. These piece range from the most serious of classical music pieces like “Beethoven’s Symphony No. 5”, children’s classics like “Old MacDonald” and others. Of all the selections in the Magical Music Box, “Swan Lake”, “Beautiful Dreamer” and “Invention No. 8” are my favorites.

One more great thing about the Magical Music Box is the interactive interface. Upon opening the music box, you can start cranking it up to produce sounds from it just like the real thing. If your iPad has a folder-style case, you’ll see that if you cover up the screen, the music box is going to stop playing. Again, this is the same as real music boxes where closing the lid would stop the mechanism from playing. If you’re not in the mood to crank up the music box, you could just press the gramophone icon so that it would play as if it was a player piano. Another cool thing about it is that you can access tiny bits of history regarding each piece of music in the Magical Music Box.

At the present time, there are two versions of the Magical Music Box. You can try out the Lite version for free before you decide to purchase a copy. I think you can get way more for your money if you purchase the full version, which is only $0.99 on the App Store at the present time.

You can get a copy of Kidoteca’s Magical Music Box through the following links:

iOS Users

Android Users

The iPad as an Amazing Musical Tool

Just last week, my wife and I bought a new iPad from one of the shops at the SM Mall of Asia. I had been contemplating about getting a tablet computer or e-book reader for years given the advantages they have. I always thought that I could at the very least have one as a library or sheet music stack on the go. Upon getting an iPad, it opened up a whole new world to me.

The first thing about the iPad that was obvious to me was that I can use it as a musical instrument. This is due to Jordan Rudess’s influence, having seen him on many Dream Theater videos that feature the iPhone and then the iPad as an alternative to his Haken Continuum. Taking cue from that influence, my first app purchase was Wizdom Music’s Tachyon and MorphWiz. These two apps simply blew my mind away as it transformed my iPad into a new musical instrument, sort of like a fretless instrument with more controls. More toys for me to make a noise with then.

The second obvious application for the iPad was as a sheet music reader. I have plenty of sheet music in PDF format and so I got Adobe Acrobat Reader installed in the tablet, loaded up some of my sheet music in it, and there I go. I now have most of my sheet music with me in just a small package. No more folders or extra envelopes to bring with me then.

Reading all over the web, I realized that I can do more with it that those things I’ve mentioned. I have GarageBand in my iPad so theoretically I can perform multitrack audio and MIDI recordings with it. I have most of the things required to make that happen such as a couple of keyboards (from the massive Kurzweil PC88 to the Korg Nanokey), my trusty Technics digital piano, some guitars, and my Zoom H4n recorder. All I lack now is the digital camera connection kit for the iPad (essentially an iPad port to USB adapter). Since the Zoom H4n and the Korg Nanokey has been confirmed to work with the iPad, if I get that connector then boom! A recording studio on the go that’s more mobile than my laptop rig.

Since I’m a music transcriber, I’ve also thought about how the iPad would work as a scorewriter. It’s unfortunate that Sibelius for iPad hasn’t been written yet. However, there’s Symphony Pro and Notion for iPad. Since I’ve been reading reports about how both iPad scorewriters are prone to crashing, I held off the decision to purchase one or the other.

The iPad’s WiFi connectivity can turn it into a remote control surface for DAWs like Sonar, Logic Pro, Cubase, etc. This I haven’t tried yet but I’m assuming that it would be a good alternative to getting an actual control surface. I would have to admit though that nothing beats the actual hardware. But if you’ve got an iPad, it maybe worth trying out.

Having spent only a few days with the iPad, I now have an understanding of why a number of musicians prefer to use the iPad, iPhone, Mac Books and other Apple products for their music production needs. It’s easy to use, and it’s already optimized. I didn’t need to do any tweaks of sort to get things like MorphWiz running. With my PC-based music production gear, I had to spend hours tweaking various aspects of it to get them running smoothly. The big turn off for Apple products is the price. The iPad is not cheap, though I got mine lower since the New iPad just got released and I got the iPad 2. If I’ve already seen that much from just spending a few days with the iPad, I suppose there’s still a lot of exciting things for me to look forward to as this new device helps me in creating new music.

Flipbook Assignment 01 Complete

Just yesterday evening, I have finished my music composition and sound design project for Flipbook’s (www,flipbook.asia) initial digital gifts. It was tough but it was a really great experience.

It’s a good thing that I had some assistance from my wife and son, performing voice work for some of the animation cuts. I could never have accomplished the project without my new Zoom H4n, a great handheld recording device that seems to turn any room into a recording booth. A couple of times, I even used a car as a booth with considerably good results.

Anyway, all that’s left for me to do now is wait for feedback from Flipbook. After accomplishing this feat, I now have some time on my hands to give my cats their long-awaited bath sessions, something that they’re not so thrilled about.