Monthly Archives: February 2010

Testing What, Exactly?

Posted on February 28, 2010 by midiguru

Artificial intelligence is an area of research that fascinates a lot of people. I’m not entirely sure why. It seems to me that promoting human intelligence would be a far more useful activity. But I digress. In dissecting the article … Continue reading →

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Coping Mechanisms

Posted on February 25, 2010 by midiguru

Can a computer program ever compose music that’s as good as what a first-rate human composer can devise? I claim that the answer is “no.” And I’m going to prove it. I started thinking about this question after reading a … Continue reading →

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Always Insist on Live Music

Posted on February 22, 2010 by midiguru

Now that I’ve started composing and recording again in my computer, I’m wondering anew what to do with the music once it’s finished. I can put mp3’s up on my website, and I do, but of course nobody ever visits … Continue reading →

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Tone Poem

Posted on February 20, 2010 by midiguru

Yesterday I downloaded the new presets and data for Camel Audio Alchemy. Then I spent some time checking out the sounds. What a shockingly great synthesizer! Also on my hard drive are u-he Zebra 2.5 and ACE, Spectrasonics Omnisphere, FXpansion … Continue reading →

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Simple Pleasures

Posted on February 19, 2010 by midiguru

A couple of months ago, I told an editor at Electronic Musician that I’d write a Master Class feature on Steinberg Cubase 5. Since then, my world has changed slightly. For weeks I’ve been going back and forth (mostly forth, … Continue reading →

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It’s Not Just

Posted on February 16, 2010 by midiguru

Here’s a puzzle. With a modest investment in a computer and software, it’s quite easy to make music in which our familiar 12-note equal-tempered scale is replaced with alternate tunings of one sort and another. Alternate tunings are a rich … Continue reading →

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The Great Boomer Shortage

Posted on February 14, 2010 by midiguru

Sunday morning at 24 Hour Fitness, and 35 or 40 people are working out. It’s the usual assortment of types — guys with major tattoos, guys for whom weight-lifting is probably an intellectual achievement, couples in sweats who park their … Continue reading →

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Immortality in Cyberspace

Posted on February 14, 2010 by midiguru

Every musician knows the names Haydn, Mozart, and Beethoven. (Non-musicians may be a little hazy about Haydn.) But Muzio Clementi is largely forgotten today. I’ve been reading Performance Practices in Classic Piano Music by Sandra Rosenblum. How I came by this book … Continue reading →

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Chess Is Not What You Think

Posted on February 11, 2010 by midiguru

The coming of the computer has surely caused interest in chess to shrivel. First, computer games are faster-paced and more fun! Second, an ordinary Mac or PC plays better chess than you do, so what’s the point? But that’s the … Continue reading →

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Do the Twist

Posted on February 6, 2010 by midiguru

Today I’m in pain, and it’s because yesterday I was having so much fun playing music. No, playing the piano doesn’t hurt. Neither does playing the cello (though I’ve been having a little problem with one finger, thanks for asking). … Continue reading →

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