Getting ready for the night before Halloween
By Maurice Biron | mont.bleu@videotron.ca | Vienna/Strasse/7023
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Visit Maurice's special RealAudio music page at erealaudio.htm. It will open in a separate browser window. Or listen to the strange sounds of "Halloween" while you read the author's background information.
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It was the day before Halloween,
Anticipating what was going to be seen,
Making the sounds to match the scene ...
Quoting the books, here is a description of the 2 Proteus that I use, the Proteus/2 XR Orchestral and the UltraProteus. In the UltraProteus, I use the Banks 0, 1, 2 only.
PROTEUS/2 XR Orchestral
The (new) PROTEUS/2XR contains 256 User RAM locations in which you can store your own custom presets. These RAM locations are loaded with 256 great-sounding factory presets, 64 of which are duplicated in unalterable ROM locations, for a total of 384 presets in all! With all these great presets you can spend more time playing, and less time programming your favorite synth. Check'em out!
ULTRAPROTEUS
UltraProteus contains sixteen megabytes of Pop, Rock, Orchestral and World samples from the Proteus family of instruments.
In addition, it includes hot new drum sounds, new waveforms, and the Proformance" stereo grand piano.
This amazing array of sounds can be combined or spliced, modulated and then shaped through one of 288 Z-Plane filters. Sampled sounds can be re-shaped and expressively controlled, allowing you to articulate the subtle nuances of complex instruments.
The primary and secondary layers of the preset are essentially two instruments with complete modulation controls.
The memory is organized into banks of 128 programmable RAM presets, unalterable ROM presets and Hyperpresets.
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Bank | Contents | Description |
| 0 | RAM Presets | ROM Presets: cannot be moved or altered unless they are first copied to a RAM location |
| 1 | ROM Presets |
| 2 | RAM Hyperpresets | RAM Presets: can be moved, erased, or modified as desired |
| 3 | Card Presets |
| 4 | Card Hyperpresets | Hyperpresets: groups of presets arranged on the keyboard to form splits or layers |
There is one major thing though: there is no way that I can remember what each one of the presets sounds like! Sure, I remember what most of the Pop, Rock, Orchestral and World samples sound; for the rest, I have some favorites and others that I edit for special effects.
So here is what my mini-studio looks like:
1. MIDI piano
2. computer, with an interface Music Quest MQX-32M and 3 programs: Encore, WaveLab, Real Producer G2 and RealPlayer Plus G2
3. sound modules, Proteus/2XR and UltraProteus
4. effects machine, DP/2
5. microphone
6. mixer, Mackie 1202-VLZ
7. sound system, amplifier AIWA and 4 speakers
8.headphones, to respect the neighbors after 11pm and before 7am (I rarely use them, I don't like to have those on my ears; besides, my turtles like music, I can tell! hahaha)
Halloween Inspirations
I have listened to the sounds of UltraProteus when I just bought it.
Some of the sounds in bank 2 could not fit in the pop and classical styles I am used to arranging or composing.
Judge by their names:
Stratus
Rave-In
Club X
Zoid Complex
Between Lives
Monster Rash
The Machine
But these instruments were the first ones to try for Halloween.
With the Huge Empty Hall Reverb effect of the DP/2, the ambience would be appropriate.
On October 31 at night, my street will be invaded by ghouls, ghosts, skeletons, monsters and witches of all kinds.
The sounds will have to match the physical events (blowing wind, creaking doors, bells that toll the knell, walking witch, grumbling strange people, roaring thunder and trees that break) but also the mood (a low note at the piano, a tremolo at the strings, a high note at a synthesizer).
Well, the music, or the soundtrack, should be most appreciated by the ghostly teenagers. But the speakers not being visible, as it should be in such an occasion, the soundtrack will likely cause a bit of uneasiness in some of the very young spooky children who decide that, after all, in this masquerade, it would not be worth facing the trick to get the treat.
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