Are synthesisers “real” music instruments?

Yes. If flutes are musical instruments, so are most other things.

Penny whistles are OK though.

R.I.P: Bebe Barron, Tristram Cary

Bebe Barron died on 20th April, at the age of (most sources say) 82. With her then husband Louis, she created the still stunningly unique electronic soundtrack to the classic science fiction film Forbidden Planet. This news item from Variety is refreshingly to the point. Refer to the usual sources for a selection of facts and hype - but the Barrons were genuine pioneers in electronic music, and their legacy of work remains in a class of its own.

Not so widely reported is the fact that just a few days later, on the 24th April, Tristram Cary died, also at the age of 82. He created music using tape, electronics and scores for conventional acoustic instruments, and coincidentally we were enjoying his soundtrack to the original appearance of the Daleks in an episode of vintage Dr Who from 1963 just last week. This posting seems informative although it concerns itself particularly with Tristram Cary’s cartoon soundtracks. Other posts mention his role in the British synthesiser manufacturer EMS, whereas the BBC describes him as “the Murray Gold of his day”, predictably missing the salient points entirely. More helpfully the Music Thing site links to an old but relevant documentary called What the Future Sounded Like. Let’s watch it now. And then we should watch Forbidden Planet yet again, to remind ourselves of what the future used to look like too, back in the days when at least some of the time people looked forward to it!

R.I.P.

Roland gear

Spotted on eBay:

A fix for MOTU 896HD squealing

Since this doesn’t seem to be widely reported on the Web (if at all - so it can’t be a common problem), here’s a tip for anyone getting squealing noises when using a MOTU 896 audio interface under Mac OS X. A typical fault is that some applications, including iTunes, will output sound normally whilst others, perhaps Logic and even MOTU’s own Digital Performer. The answer is to launch the MOTU Audio Setup application and make sure that the Optical Input and Output are both set to “ADAT” - even if you’re not using optical I/O!

As always, YMMV - but this tip is surprising and reliable enough to mention.

Using “incompatible” Audio Units under OS X 10.4.9

Musicians who are thinking about upgrading to version 10.4.9 of Mac OS X should beware that the included new version of auval, which checks Audio Units for programs such as Logic, may reject some of their plug-ins. The auval Audio Unit validator applies stricter testing, and plug-ins which fail its assault course will no longer be loaded by Logic.

If you have already upgraded and are experiencing problems due to the stricter testing, you might be interested in a thread in the Sonikmatter forums, which reveals a way to reinstall an earlier version of auval. Alternatively, by launching the Logic AU Manager from Logic’s Preferences menu, you will be able to put a check mark against any listed plug-ins you want to run, even if they have failed the auval tests. Logic will alert you to the danger of running the plug-ins, but you will still be able to run them.

Some of the coverage of Mac OS X 10.4.9 has been very critical of Apple for increasing the rigour of its AU testing, but which seems a little unfair: faulty plug-ins can reduce the stability of Logic and other AU hosts, so it is right that auval should be improved to test Audio Units as thoroughly as possible; and, as shown, there are workarounds if you need them!