There are a number of enjoyable aspects to this little project I’ve been working on. One is that it causes me to learn more about computer-generated sound. Truly, this has been a "growth experience" for me. I trust that it has not been too disagreeable for you.

As I’ve mentioned before, I find Midi very constraining. What I mean is this: I regularly have access to three computers, each with a different sound card. Between the three, I use a total of eight media programs. It turns out that various computers interpret/relay Midi information quite differently. A Midi might not sound at all on one computer the way it does on another. Depending on the card/programs on your computer, what you hear may or may not be what I actually wrote. The basic tune might be right, but the instrumentation could be completely different. I do try to write these tunes so that they sound reasonably good regardless of the computer, but none of them really sound exactly "right" on any one computer. I’m afraid that this month’s piece is a particularly good/bad example of what I’m talking about. If it sounds like bad drums played through muddy water, put it on a disk and listen on a different computer. Hopefully, you’ll hear something like what I had in mind when it was recorded.

Additionally, when I write in Midi, I am forced to choose between the 127 available non-Gorean instruments: helicopters, telephones and gunshots included. I sometimes ask myself: "what might a kalika sound like, or a czehar"? Or even: "how might they sound played together"? Here is the real problem: while Midi instruments really can do some pretty neat things, they are terrible at playing music from other planets. As a result, I have to use these electronic versions of earthen instruments to represent my interpretations of possible Gorean music.

Still, I am learning. There is now software out there that converts Midis into small compact waves. These waves can be created, altered, organized and manipulated, constrained only by the writer’s imagination. Theoretically, I could generate sounds that I believe an instrument from our little alter Earth might really make. We’ll see how that goes. I’ve only just started to investigate this software and so far, my experiments would have to be described as "just plain awful"! Hopefully, that’ll improve. If I am eventually able to produce music in these tight, flexible little waves, I’ll have more control over what you actually hear. They may even sound "Gorean".

Strummer

A Musician in the Caste of Entertainers

Koroban@mailcity.com

TurianGates.mid (midi 16.4KB - 16,838 bytes)

For Netscape users, hold your right mouse button down and select "Save Link As". Press your left mouse button to load and play. If you need a plug-in, try MIDI plug-ins. For Internet Explorer users, hold your mouse button down and select "Download Link to Disk". Make sure you have Play Sounds (both wave and midi) "on" under Options, under Edit. For many other browsers, just click on the MIDI selection and it will download.