Casio CZ/ VZ/ FZ - Pro Series

yeah, something like that.

john bischoff wrote some software to do this kind of stuff in 1976.
it's not new, in fact its been the subject of lots of interesting
work.

even seen stuff with different fixed cycloid orbits and such, and an
undulating wave terrain fed from realworld data.

but yeh, i recently got interested enough in the mathematics of
scanning orbit and surface interaction to make a stab at a usable
implementation (e.g. 'actual instrument'). i also think i've boiled
down a nice handful of orthogonal (-ish) control parameters, which
most of the older work stopped short of attempting.

most of the older work also restricts itself to symmetrical orbits and
continuous surfaces; i tend to think when you've heard one chebyshev
waveshaper you've heard them all, and the real interesting sounds
involve asymmetries and discontinuities (witness the half-sine cz
waveform... utterly bonkers, if all you wanna think about are
continuous functions.)

this has its limits of course; it's fun babbling into a waveshaping
buffer with a microphone, but there's already plenty of ways of
producing chaos in the world...

if i ever get anything done that's releasable, i'll certainly make
some utilities to generate wave surface data as well. dunno how
'sophisticated' any of this'll be; probably not very; probably pretty
crude since software i make on my own time tends to be for my own,
crude, amusement; not gonna spend my life making pretty gui's if i
don't want to use them myself.

played a little with interpolation. not even sure if i can even hear
the difference between linear and higher-order in this particular
case, given that the tables are sufficiently large (couple mb of ram
doesn't hurt too bad, these days...)

i have worked out some nice optimizations of how to lay out the
surface data for linear interpolation speed, so prolly stick with
that. it is a damn effficient method overall.


On Tue, Aug 12, 2008 at 11:51 PM, Scott Nordlund <gsn10@...> wrote:
>
> It occurred to me a few years ago that a general-purpose two-dimensional
> lookup table (z as a function of x and y) could be a very powerful synthesis
> tool, and not even particularly computationally expensive (even with fancy
> interpolation).
>
> Standard digital waveform playback, FM, phase distortion, waveshaping (as in
> the Korg 01W), PPG-style wavetables, and Ensoniq-style loop point modulation
> could all be considered a subset of this (given sophisticated enough tools
> for generating this matrix of values, anyway). Cascading multiple stages of
> this, and even allowing simultaneous realtime reading and writing of the
> data would get you well into uncharted territory.
>
> Of course I've got other things to do, so I haven't looked into it further
> than "oh that would be neat".
>
> I'm not sure if this is what's in mind, but I recognize that it's very rich
> territory anyway.
>
> To: CZsynth@yahoogroups.com
> From: synergeezer@...
> Date: Wed, 13 Aug 2008 01:48:47 +0000
> Subject: [CZsynth] Re: waldorf microwave vs CZ & poly-
>
> Huzzah! Ezra B.!
>
> I know lots of people who have ethical beliefs which are more
>
> restrictive than the mere law (and especially considering the limited
>
> enforceability of current hi-tech law).
>
> But I want to know more about your "3-D phase distortion wave terrain
>
> synthesizer". I've been studying musical waveforms for many years,
>
> with an eye toward re-synthesizing "natural" sounds, especially using
>
> phase distortion, iPD, FM, plus additive. I love CZs, VZs, Yamaha
>
> DXII, TX816 and FS1R, and Synergy DKII (hence, my moniker). I've
>
> worked (mostly using Mathematica) to find algorithms with associated
>
> _ranges_ of parameters to synthesize "natural" instruments that don't
>
> exist. I could describe my _ranges_ of parameters as a third
>
> dimension of the sound. But, what do _you_ mean?
>
> What is your goal with your "3-D phase distortion wave terrain
>
> synthesizer" and how are you approaching it?
>
> - synergeezer
>
> --- In CZsynth@yahoogroups.com, "ezra buchla" <ezra.buchla@...> wrote:
>
>>
>
>> i really don't want to talk about this here anymore. people don't want
>
>> to hear it. of course they don't. (everyone else, i'm sorry, i'm not
>
>> good at ignoring bait but i'm really done after this.)
>
>>
>
>> i only have one question, i've asked it a few different ways,
>
>> everything else is tangential, and i don't believe you've come close
>
>> to answering it:
>
>>
>
>> do you think it's ok for people who listen to a lot of music to do so
>
>> exclusively through illegal downloads?
>
>>
>
>> (that was what you seemed to be saying in the first place (not just to
>
>> me). if it's a straw man, i'm sorry: i just want to hear you say yes
>
>> or no.)
>
>>
>
>> this question applies to a lot of people, whatever you might imagine
>
>> and whatever justifications you might make for your personal behavior
>
>> (which, by the way, i'm not even calling into question).
>
>>
>
>> i live in an underground music scene. i believe what i believe (sorry,
>
>> never did join the debate team, not interested). i'm not perfect or an
>
>> epitome of righteousness but i think i've done more than my part to
>
>> contribute to the art that i love, and i'm sick of seeing apathy all
>
>> around me. i'm sick of people professing to be "fans" of music who
>
>> refuse to buy anything or even put something in the donation jar
>
>> (whether it's the guilt-plus-convenience market of the iTunes store or
>
>> a literal jar in the punk house basement). i think obtaining ALL your
>
>> music through filesharing is a symptom of apathy and moral weakness,
>
>> and hurts art forms (like the album) which i will be sad to see the
>
>> last of.
>
>>
>
>> somehow the kids in europe fileshare AND pay money for music, and the
>
>> kids in the US don't. i believe this really is an issue of ethics and
>
>> the relative value placed on arts and artists. fans of strange music
>
>> in europe have made the decision that their enlightened self-interest
>
>> will be best served by supporting the people that make the art that
>
>> they consume. the details of the system that enable this are
>
>> unimportant as long as it works somehow (capitalism, utopianism...
>
>> whatever).
>
>>
>
>> if you sincerely want to answer to this, fine. if all you want to do
>
>> is keep telling me how naive i am, or that my community doesn't
>
>> matter, please refrain.
>
>>
>
>> i admit to being very confused by a lot of what i see out there; i'm
>
>> still trying to figure things out; i doubt that anyone has all the
>
>> answers. i know that there are ways to make things work for all kinds
>
>> of practitioners of music, i'm just afraid that the potential
>
>> solutions are not coming fast enough or gaining wide enough
>
>> acceptance.
>
>>
>
>> i Do insist that my perspective is valid: i've spent my whole life
>
>> surrounded by professional musicians, i've played literally Thousands
>
>> of shows myself, i've helped run venues and labels (which, btw, are
>
>> not unsuccessful to this day), and i think things have gotten very
>
>> noticeably worse just in the last 8 years or so.
>
>>
>
>> mybe you disagree on that, maybe it's just my little bubble-world that
>
>> is suffering (though it really can't be THAT little). i respect that,
>
>> i'll admit to the limited big-picture relevance of myself, my friends,
>
>> my art, my taste, and my stylistic community, and i want to drop it.
>
>>
>
>> i'm really, really done now. there are better things to do.
>
>>
>
>> i'm working on a 3-D phase distortion wave terrain synthesizer
>
>> (cz-inspired !) and you probably won't hear from me until that's done.
>
>>
>
>> thanks, apologies, be peaceful and prosper.
>
>>
>
>> - ezra b.
>
>>
>
>>
>
>> On Tue, Aug 12, 2008 at 6:04 AM, zoinky420 <zoinky420@...> wrote:
>
>> > --- In CZsynth@yahoogroups.com, "ezra buchla" <ezra.buchla@> wrote:
>
>> >>
>
>> >> the problem is that the underlying technology has a built-in bias
>
>> >> towards letting music be copied. i agree that legalities are pretty
>
>> >> worthless in this situation.
>
>> >>
>
>> >> ethics as self-interest seems to work
>
>> >
>
>> > No, they don't. If ethics 'worked', if 'karma' existed, we would not
>
>> > need a legal system. We have a legal system in order to mitigate,
>
>> > albeit as much as possible, which is never as much as we'd like, the
>
>> > unjust nature of the world. But when that system is so inapplicable
>
>> > to a particular case that it fails wholesale, as it does in the case
>
>> > we are discussing, then we must seek an alternative.
>
>> >
>
>> >> ethics and economics seem pretty intimately related, to me...
>
>> >
>
>> > Well as PT Barnum put it, a sucker is born every day. Ethics are
>
>> > related to economics as hope is related to fact. You cannot expect
>
>> > your competitor to act ethically in abscense of punative law if he
>
>> > doesn't. You're living a self-righteous pipe dream if you don't
>
>> > think that even YOU would leverage whatever advantage you could in a
>
>> > society devoid of punative law. You'd run slipshod over everyone
>
>> > while simultaneously deluding yourself into thinking your actions are
>
>> > the epitome of ethical behavior, just like the robber barons did at
>
>> > the turn of the 19th century.
>
>> >
>
>> > i think "least" might actually represent
>
>> >> a bigger chunk than i want to accept. maybe the answer is that no-
>
>> > one
>
>> >> needs labels, including musicians. but i suspect it will be harder
>
>> > to
>
>> >> coalesce people around a style, hard to keep the the stylistic
>
>> >> momentum that drives innovation and creates new imitation-worthy
>
>> >> stuff, when every artist is struggling tooth-and-nail against each
>
>> >> other for the attention of a few marketing behemoths, without the
>
>> >> small-group support network that "the label" used to provide.
>
>> >>
>
>> >
>
>> > Ok, well obviously you are very concerned about this subject, and are
>
>> > motivated to put considerable energy into thinking about it. But, I
>
>> > think you are having so much trouble with it because you are scared
>
>> > of its implications. I think that if you were more confident, you'd
>
>> > be more optimistic. The people telling us to stop talking about this
>
>> > here certainly aren't the ones who are going to come up with any
>
>> > ingenius solutions, but someone like you certainly could, if you
>
>> > manage to get your priorities straight.
>
>> >
>
>> >> really? yuck. i kind of do think that that time on the train might
>
>> > be
>
>> >> worth something, though.
>
>> >
>
>> > Well today I had to take my mother to the eye clinic and while I was
>
>> > waiting in the car for her outside and all the people were arriving
>
>> > to work at the hospital across the street, almost all of them had
>
>> > Ipods on. I was surprised they were that ubiquitous, I had no idea.
>
>> > Just goes to show what sheep most people are. There are lots of mp3
>
>> > players on the market, most just as flashy as the Ipod these days,
>
>> > but everyone and his yuppy cousin has to have an Ipod. At least we
>
>> > know they're listening to mainstream crap artists who can't even make
>
>> > a spurious claim about being impoverished by mp3 downloading. Of
>
>> > course my original statement stands, they are only listening to Ipods
>
>> > the way to and from work, not all day long, but I am still surprised
>
>> > by how many Ipods are actually in use these days during the rushhour
>
>> > commutes.
>
>> >
>
>> >> > And why do you assume I deserve more? You know nothing about my
>
>> >> > music. Perhaps it is only worth a pittance...
>
>> >>
>
>> >> ok, but let's assume that at least some music is worth something
>
>> >> significant. or maybe we can't agree on that, in which case i give
>
>> > up.
>
>> >
>
>> > I'm the one who could be exasperated enough to give up, since you're
>
>> > clearly working hard to misunderstand, misrepresent, or completely
>
>> > ignore things I've repeatedly said in this thread. I'm now going to
>
>> > spell it out for you one last time, and if you continue to pretend
>
>> > you didn't read it, I will copy and paste it every time you do so:
>
>> >
>
>> > Bands obtain the value of the worth of their output, period. If the
>
>> > value of the worth of the output of mediocre bands drops to that of
>
>> > the value of the worth of lousy bands, I don't have a problem with
>
>> > that. I strive for excellency, not mediocrity. I will be pleased
>
>> > when those mediocre bands can no longer make a living at music so
>
>> > they have to get real jobs. I've got four words to say to
>
>> > them: "Move over, comin' thru!" Besides, they don't have to get day
>
>> > jobs necessarily, they can simply let the medicore band break up,
>
>> > then form another band with other guys who have the desire to strive
>
>> > for excellence. Besides, I'm a huge advocate for a livable welfare
>
>> > income for the unemployed.
>
>> >
>
>> > The day excellence stops being worth the highest value is the day the
>
>> > world will go to hell in a handbasket, and not a moment sooner. It
>
>> > is the responsibility of the excellent to provide for the incapable,
>
>> > not the mediocre. Because the mediocre are not incapable, they are
>
>> > capable of excellence but do not try to excell, for whatever reason
>
>> > (such as laziness, delusion, ignorance, and various other reasons the
>
>> > mediocre remain the mediocre).
>
>> >
>
>> >>
>
>> >> i wish small bands (the kind that play instruments in groups)
>
>> > weren't
>
>> >> having such a hard time surviving, no matter how critically
>
>> > acclaimed
>
>> >> they get. no one can stand to do it for more than a couple years any
>
>> >> more.
>
>> >
>
>> > There has always been critically acclaimed art that does not
>
>> > translate into commercial success. That's not mp3 downloading's
>
>> > fault, that's bad taste's fault. But you're not rallying for better
>
>> > taste in consumers, because your priorities in this subject are mixed
>
>> > up.
>
>> >
>
>> >> there's no chance to grow and become something worth imitating
>
>> >> in future generations (going back to the sonic youth example).
>
>> >>
>
>> >
>
>> > Your Sonic Youth example is weak, mine's solid. Did you even stop to
>
>> > think about what you were writing when you said that Sonic Youth's
>
>> > early messy noise would not have propelled them onto better things if
>
>> > people had been able to obtain high-quality recordings of that messy
>
>> > noise? If you had, it might have dawned on you that 'messy noise'
>
>> > and 'hi fidelity' are somewhat diametrically opposed. Sonic Youth,
>
>> > like all indie band in the 80s, thrived on tape-trading among die-
>
>> > hard music fans. Then, in order to gain commercial success, they
>
>> > thrived on albums being purchased by less-than-die-hard-fans. Now,
>
>> > how many times are you going to prompt me to repeat that? Will you
>
>> > ever simply accept that you haven't come up with any arguments I
>
>> > haven't already heard plenty of times, and so you aren't going to be
>
>> > bringing me around to agreeing with me, no matter how many times you
>
>> > repeat yourself or I repeat myself.
>
>> >
>
>> >> it's a very different prospect to render out some techno and get a
>
>> > few
>
>> >> dollars a month from ads.
>
>> >>
>
>> >
>
>> > So now you're saying only techno can thrive from mp3 downloads?
>
>> > Nonsense. Look, a techno artist generally only has to pay himself.
>
>> > A band has three or four members. And lo and behold, the latest
>
>> > trend is massive ensembles like Polyphonic Spree and Arcade Fire. If
>
>> > these 'hot new' band are afraid of not making enough money to survive
>
>> > due to mp3 downloading, and they can't afford to tour, why the hell
>
>> > do they have so many friggin members on the payroll???
>
>> >
>
>> > Look, every time you come up with a hypothetical point I completely
>
>> > trash it with facts. You're going to have to do a lot better than
>
>> > that if you want to win this argument with something other than
>
>> > browbeating.
>
>> >
>
>> >> >> but there are
>
>> >> >> exceptions. deerhunter comes to mind. no age come to mind.
>
>> >> >>
>
>> >> >
>
>> >> > Never heard of them. Maybe because I don't do MySpace.
>
>> >>
>
>> >> oh well. these are people who started self-releasing and on myspace,
>
>> >> and are now on kranky and sub pop. deerhunter might be best known as
>
>> >> the current NIN opener slot, succeeding peaches and bauhaus.
>
>> >>
>
>> >
>
>> > Well it was a good movie, but not exactly an inspired band name! Why
>
>> > do so many band names suck these days, anyway?
>
>> >
>
>> >> You said you get a thrill out of some punk
>
>> >> listening to your tunes off MySpace.
>
>> >>
>
>> >> no,
>
>> >
>
>> > "if some teenager halfway across the world downloads my record and is
>
>> > stoked enough on it to share it with 500 of his online friends, many
>
>> > of whom are also stoked, how could i not be happy" - you.
>
>> >
>
>> > i could give half a crap about myspace. what i appreciate is being
>
>> >> able to go to portugal and play to a large sold-out crowd of stoked
>
>> >> kids; i suspect that "the internet" has something to do with this.
>
>> >> this is the most awesome aspect of digitally distributed music, to
>
>> > me:
>
>> >> reaching a lot more people in different places than you could with
>
>> >> mail-order catalogues. the less awesome aspect is not being able to
>
>> > do
>
>> >> it full-time because there's no money in it. i can survive on tour
>
>> > but
>
>> >> i don't want to have to tour 10 months a year, like the kids in my
>
>> >> band's "touring lineup" do...
>
>> >
>
>> > As usual, I'm having trouble finding a point in that paragraph. If
>
>> > you want to tour, then tour, and do it for as long or as short of a
>
>> > period as you want. If you manage it well, you'll probably make more
>
>> > money than if you didn't tour, but you don't necessarily have to tour
>
>> > into order to survive. XTC stopped touring in the mid 80s after Andy
>
>> > Partridge's nervous breakdown and they survived till 2005, and I
>
>> > really doubt they split up over mp3 downloading.
>
>> >
>
>> >> > Well I can't comment on experience, but I'm reluctant to take your
>
>> >> > experience at face value simply because you've been wrong about so
>
>> >> > many other aspects of this conversation.
>
>> >>
>
>> >> oh, sure... so WRONG...
>
>> >
>
>> > Yes, and unfortunately, like most people, you tie your desire to not
>
>> > be wrong to your ego. But at least you're smart enough to know the
>
>> > topic is worth discussing, unlike many in the peanut gallery here,
>
>> > and you're self-confident enough to think you are doing a good enough
>
>> > job of arguing this topic when you're not, to keep arguing it, which
>
>> > is both good and bad (that is, it's good to stick to your guns, but
>
>> > not after all your limbs have been chopped off and you still want to
>
>> > fight, like the knight from the Monty Python movie)... The only
>
>> > thing better than being wrong is being right. Being wrong gives you
>
>> > the chance to find out what's right, but most people who, upon
>
>> > discovering they're wrong about something, aren't glad to find that
>
>> > out, and refuse to accept the information that is right. And there's
>
>> > not much those of us on a higher frequency can do about that other
>
>> > than point it out and hope that nobody accuses us of being insulting.
>
>> >
>
>> >>
>
>> >> It seems to me that if fans
>
>> >> > don't have to pay for the music, that's money they can use to buy
>
>> >> > stickers, or t-shirts, or other 'merch', including tickets to the
>
>> >> > show itself...
>
>> >>
>
>> >> i addressed this somewhere else. the show used to function as a
>
>> > portal
>
>> >> to get people to buy recordings. now it doesn't.
>
>> >
>
>> > That's ridiculous. Nobody (or at least, VERY few) people buy tickets
>
>> > to concerts of bands who they've never heard before. People go to
>
>> > concerts after they've listened to the bands recordings (previously,
>
>> > from radio, friends, and records bought after hearing them on radio
>
>> > or from friends - and now, from mp3s, friends, and records bought
>
>> > after hearing mp3s or from friends).
>
>> >
>
>> >> i think it's retarded
>
>> >> to have to be a popular clothing designer as well as a popular
>
>> >> musician in order to make money off your music.
>
>> >
>
>> > And I think it's ignorant to make that claim. The artists who start
>
>> > up clothing lines do so because they want to make $20 million this
>
>> > year instead of $5 million like last year.
>
>> >
>
>> >>it also sucks to have
>
>> >> to charge $10 or $15 a head to get into a punk rock show; really
>
>> >> limits the audience. if you could expect 30% of those people to buy
>
>> > a
>
>> >> record, you could charge less or even make the shows free (because
>
>> > so
>
>> >> many more potential record customers would show up).
>
>> >>
>
>> >
>
>> > There are festivals of every size happening all the time all over the
>
>> > place, hundreds if not thousands of them all over north america this
>
>> > summer, and they all need crappy little nobody bands to play, and
>
>> > they all pay well from corporate sponsors or govt. entertainment
>
>> > funds. A few years ago my exgirlfriend dragged me to her gay karaoke
>
>> > friend's regular gig in a cover-band at a dive bar out in the
>
>> > sticks. They were paid $700 a night and played every night, and this
>
>> > is too patrons whose only income is their welfare cheques. There is
>
>> > absolutely no shortage of work for musicians who want to work. But I
>
>> > suppose you'll say you don't want to play in a crappy cover bar band
>
>> > to welfare cases. You want Chad Kroeger to sign you to 604 so you
>
>> > can be a rock star. Yeah, well I've heard it all before, long before
>
>> > the term 'mp3' existed. Very little has changed, and certainly not
>
>> > nearly as much as you keep squaking about, Chicken Little!
>
>> >
>
>> >
>
>> >> plus the profit margin for records sold at shows is WAAAY higher
>
>> > than
>
>> >> through any distributor, digital or otherwise.
>
>> >>
>
>> >
>
>> > Of course there's the fact that unless you're already popular enough
>
>> > to be making a living as a recording artist, nobody will be able to
>
>> > find your mp3s to download for free anywhere online because nobody
>
>> > will bother encoding them and passing them around, because nobody
>
>> > wants them because nobody's heard of you. So if they go to your
>
>> > show, and want to hear your recorded output, they have no choice but
>
>> > to buy your CD at the show, that is, until you become successful
>
>> > enough that people are encoding and uploading your mp3s to pass
>
>> > around. But you don't want to hear that, no, you'd rather pretend
>
>> > there is a crisis that doesn't exist.
>
>> >
>
>> >> my point there was that even though people have less disposable
>
>> > income
>
>> >> in, say, spain or slovenia, even though they are way more cost-
>
>> > minded
>
>> >> with their technology (which means linux and filesharing are huge),
>
>> > i
>
>> >> STILL get paid more as a musician in slovenia than i do in america.
>
>> >
>
>> > Great, thanks for proving my point. They download more illicit mp3s
>
>> > in europe and you make more money from europe. Hence, more illicit
>
>> > downloading of mp3s equals more money for artists. Case closed.
>
>> >
>
>> >> these kids already
>
>> >> have the mp3's but they still buy records! it's amazing!!!
>
>> >
>
>> > And yet, encouraging americans to adopt a more cosmopolitan,
>
>> > international viewpoint like the europeans isn't part of your non-
>
>> > existent strategy of solution.
>
>> >
>
>> >>
>
>> >> maybe bands that know how to play live music will just disappear
>
>> > from
>
>> >> america. i don't really think that's cool, but whatever...
>
>> >>
>
>> >
>
>> > Right, and peak oil will bring Mad Max out of the desert and into the
>
>> > city, and y2k bug will send airplanes falling out of the sky. 9/11
>
>> > was an inside job. The jews orchestrated the holocaust themselves.
>
>> > Any other outrageous nonsense or fearmongering you'd like to add?
>
>> >
>
>> >
>
>>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> __________________________________________________________
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>
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