WHAT IS CYBERSYMPHONY
The concept of cybersymphony was created in 1993 by Mats Wendt to build a foundation for symphonic music created by computers and synthesizers.
The aim of cybersymphony is to transfer the symphony orchestra to synthesizers and computer to create one fixed instrument for one person to play.
The instrument consist of two things, the cybersymphonic LAW that defines what the instrument is, and any synthesizer that meets the requirements.
This may seem strange but is quite obvious. A traditional instrument is perhaps manufactured out of wood and metal parts. The composition of these parts is the instrument.
Now, if one is about to transfer the whole symphony orchestra to computers, one does not have the wood and metal any more. One needs to substitute this with a definition. This definition is the cybersymphonic LAW.
The Law is designed so that synthesizers may develop in the future, yet the cybersymphony orchestra remains the same.
Mats Wendt
CYBERSYMPHONY AND GENERAL MIDI; what is the difference?
General midi is a standard that make it possible for different synthesizers to play a music file with the same instrument patch as the original. For instance, piano is always the first instrument in the general midi patch list. So if a piece of music was created on one synthesizer with the piano sound, any other general midi compatible synthesizer will play the notes with the piano sound.
Cybersymphony have a totally different aim. The goal here is not to make a compatible patch list but to create a fixed instrument.
General midi says nothing about how the music is created. You can play a contrabass sound like a piccolo flute but this immediately breaks the paragraph 1.1 in the cybersymphonic law, that states; an instrument must be played like the real counter part. You can then have an opinion on if this is a badly played contrabass. You can have a second go at recording the contrabass and perhaps make a result that was more like a real contrabass, and the Law works. You can now say that the new recording is better than the last. This judgment can be made with help of the cybersymphonic law.
This is how the Law works. It bounds and transfers the symphony orchestra to the world of synthesizers and computers creating one super instrument for one person to play.
And most important; it creates the platform for refinement and elevation of the art form. Without the Law no refinement or judgment is possible for symphonic music made with computers.
Mats Wendt
MORE ON THE SUBJECT
Arguments for the LAW
In 1993 when this matter came to my attention, it was a great need for separating the symphonic computer music from the vast electro acoustic field.
There was a great need for a fixed base. A universal definition of what a
symphony orchestra is and how it is played when transferred to computers.
The idea I got was: In a world with no boundaries the definition is the substance
like a program. So, the Cybersymphony orchestra must be a Law
Cybersymphony is in a way the middle way between the instrumental music and the Electro acoustic music.
The physical shape of the instruments binds a symphony orchestra. A flute must look like a flute does, and be very carefully manufactured to achieve the flute tone, when played at. The law substitutes these physical boundaries.
The law was created to preserve the symphonic sounds whose construction are beyond genius and carefully tested over centuries to form a perfect palette. By combining them, a composer can achieve everything.
The boundaries of the symphony orchestra are greater than total sound freedom, like silicon could be sand or a computer depending on how the material is organized.
The LAW was created to define the symphony orchestra as one super instrument, something that takes years to be good at like learning to play the violin. No "push a button" mentality.
The LAW was further more created, to form a common platform, so it is possible to have an opinion of the quality of the music. This is necessary for the music to refine and rise as an art form.
Mats Wendt
THE
CYBERSYMPHONIC LAW
Created in 1993
Mats
Wendt All rights reserved
1. IN GENERAL
1.0 All sounds must have a real
counterpart.
(Violin, oboe and so on, with the
correct register span.)
1.1 All instruments must be played like
the real counterpart.
This is the tricky one. It implies that you have to learn how to play each
instrument in a realistic manner. This can never fully be achieved but stand
as beacon to direct the effort. It also implies that all register spans and
technical limitations of
the real instrument must be considered.
1.2 All instruments or instrument sections must be located on separate
midi channels
1.3 No sampling of mixed sounds may occur.
(For example, a violin and a flute in the same
sound are forbidden they must be separated on different midi channels.)
2. THE SECTION SOUNDS
2.0 Section sound may be used
(For example, 8 violins playing a single tone forms a sound,
6 alto violins, 4 cello, 2 contrabass forms other section sounds.)
2.1 It is illegal to mix section sounds
(For instance, alto violin section
and cello section sounds must lay on separate midi channel and have individual
dynamic shape. The Instruments may be organized like in a music score. Vl1,
Vl2, Vla, Vc, Cb.)
3. DYNAMICS
3.0 The Orchestral dynamic
is created by the parts individual dynamics.
(Separate midi channels. no sort of mastervolyme is allowed to shape dynamics)
3.2 Dynamic is formed by continuos
volume and the keystroke
(Velocity. This is the instrument!!!
a clavier on witch you can pick up mididata by the tones you press, how hard
you press it and by regulating the continuous volume, form the dynamic shape
of the tone. It is so easy and so hard due to paragraph 1.1)
4.
THE ORCHESTRAL TIMBRE
(the color of the orchestral sound)
4.0 The Orchestral
timbre is created through the sum of the sounding separate midi channels
Created in 1993 by Mats Wendt
All rights reserved.
The LAW may be freely distributed but nothing in the text may be altered.
The text can be translated if the content remains intact.
Homepage: http://www.matswendt.com
Example of cybersymphonic music
www.eddan.net
What cybersymphony is not!
Downloading a mid file from internet's classical libraries and "cut n' paste" this file in a sequencer program and fiddle with the tempo parameters, is not cybersymphony. In fact, cybersymphony was created to resist the effects of devaluing the individual efforts, in computer-based creation.
A
l l r i g h t s r e s e r v e d
CYBERSYMPHONIC INSTITUTE © 1993-2005
Listen to the cybersymphonic portal work Eddan.
all
parts present avalible 16 hours |
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Flash
player mp3 40 kbps mono |
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THE CYBERSYMPHONY ORCHESTRA
an
orchestra for the new millenium
Quick
facts
Aim: To transfer the symphony orchestra to computers.
Purpose: To create a fixed instrument that is independent of development in hard and software.
Benefits: To preserve the symphonic sound pallet intact .
Then: The journey started in 1993.
A work can only be considered as cybersymphonic if it fully complies with all paragraphs of the cybersymphonic law.