Discuss Notion Music Composition Software here.
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I'm using the built in electric guitar sound and the amp sim with a little gain turned up. If I could figure out a way to automate the HP Filter, it makes a pretty good Wah-wah effect.
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by Surf.Whammy on Fri Mar 31, 2023 10:15 pm
acequantum wroteI'm using the built in electric guitar sound and the amp sim with a little gain turned up. If I could figure out a way to automate the HP Filter, it makes a pretty good Wah-wah effect.


The best way to do this is in Studio One Professional, but you can use FREE AmpliTube 5 CS (IK Multimedia) in NOTION as a VST 2-compatible effects plug-in . . . :)

THOUGHTS

There are better amplifier emulators and wah-wah effects plug-ins . . .

Studio One Professional has an amplifier emulator that does a very good job of emulating the tone and texture of a Vox AC30 amplifier; and IK Multimedia has some FREE effects plug-ins that are very nice . . .

FREE software ~ IK Multimedia

The FREE versions are called "CS"; and they come with a lot of good stuff . . .

AmpliTube 5 CS has amplifier emulators and effects, including wah-wah . . .

As you know, NOTION is not a Digital Audio Workstation (DAW) application; so no Automation, but it can run VST effects plug-ins that are VST 2 compatible . . .

It should run in NOTION 6.8.2 on a Windows machine . . .

It does on the Mac . . .

When the goal is a tasty amplifier+loudspeaker emulator and wah-wah directly in NOTION 6.8.2, then download, install, and register AmpliTube 5 CS, which is FREE; but doing it in Studio One Professional provides Automation and more control . . .

Lots of FUN! :)

Surf.Whammy's YouTube Channel

The Surf Whammys

Sinkhorn's Dilemma: Every paradox has at least one non-trivial solution!
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by acequantum on Sat Apr 01, 2023 2:09 am
Thank you for the suggestions. I was hoping to use everything that was built into notion without having to use external VSTs.

Its too bad about the lack of automation. I can control the hp filter live with the mouse but its tough to be consistant.
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by acequantum on Tue May 02, 2023 4:15 pm
I'm still trying to see what I can do that's "DAW" like out of the box with Notion. I guess I'm trying to push it beyond just notation and quick playback.

Is there any way to route audio to different outputs? I'm not talking about the buses that exist on the mixer, but to other outputs on my audio interface? I would like to be able to route audio from say staff 1 to my interface audio 1+2 and then have staff two go to audio 3+4 etc.

I thought the buses could be routed to other external (or internal) audio channels but they all funnel to the main output setup in preferences. Is there anyway to assign these buses to actually different audio outputs?
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by Surf.Whammy on Wed May 03, 2023 12:31 pm
acequantum wroteIs there any way to route audio to different outputs? I'm not talking about the buses that exist on the mixer, but to other outputs on my audio interface? I would like to be able to route audio from say staff 1 to my interface audio 1+2 and then have staff two go to audio 3+4 etc.

I thought the buses could be routed to other external (or internal) audio channels but they all funnel to the main output setup in preferences. Is there anyway to assign these buses to actually different audio outputs?

There are a few ways to do this . . . :)

THOUGHTS

Always remember that NOTION originally was designed primarily to provide virtual instrument audio for accompanying or enhancing musical performances . . .

[NOTE: This is one of the reasons I find it so amusing when some of the slower folks suggest that "blah-blah-blah" application for music notation is so much better than NOTION. Sounds spanky, but none of them do what NOTION does in this respect . . . ]

While using NOTION to control and output to external signal processors is not something I have done, the logistics of routing audio from a computer to external signal processors (physical devices) and sound reinforcement systems has always been present in NOTION, and I understand this type of audio signal routing . . .

Generally, it's a one-way activity (going from NOTION outward to external signal processors), and in a performance the processed audio usually is routed to a physical mixing board and then to a sound reinforcement system suitable for the respective venue . . .

In a very real sense, this is what NOTION does, although here in the sound isolation studio I use it as a virtual orchestra connected to a Digital Audio Workstation (DAW) application like Studio One Professional; and I do this because I use microphones and direct instruments like electric guitar, electric bass, and one or two synthesizers (Alesis ION Analog Modeling Synthesizer and KORG Triton Music Workstation) in addition to the virtual festival of VSTI virtual instruments and PreSonus native instruments . . .

[NOTE: With Studio One Professional 5 and earlier, I used NOTION as a ReWire helper device to create the music notation required to play virtual instruments; but starting with Studio One Professional 6, which does not support ReWire, I moved everything into Studio One, although it continues to be possible to compose and playback instruments in NOTION prior to sending the music notation to Studio One Professional 6 . . . ]

This works, but I like the NOTION-based music notation editor in Studio One Professional 6; so now I do nearly all the music notation work directly in Studio One . . .

NOTION does not record voice and other instruments via microphones; so you need a DAW application to do this type of recording . . .

[NOTE: Watch and study this video--in particular observe the virtual festival of what technically are called "external signal processors" and are mounted in "rack travel cases" . . . ]

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These are two of the external signal processor "racks" here in the sound isolation studio:

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There are a few requirements, and perhaps the most important requirement is to have an external digital audio and MIDI interface like a MOTU® 828mk3 Hybrid, MOTU® 828x, PreSonus® Studio 1824c, PreSonus® Quantum 2626, or PreSonus® Quantum, depending on which one works best with your computer . . .

[NOTE: This has two dual XLR + TRS microphone and guitar inputs, plus eight TRS inputs and outputs. If you need more, then there are additional MOTU devices that add more TRS (tip-ring-sleeve) and XLR inputs and outputs. For reference, a stereo or two-channel cord is TRS (tip-ring-sleeve). XLR microphone cables costs about $20 each, which is separate from the cost of the microphones. XLR is monarual but balanced, hence three wires . . . ]

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MOTU® 828mk3 Hybrid Digital Audio and MIDI Interface

[NOTE: The PreSonus unit has the advantage of dual XLR+TRS inputs . . . ]

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PreSonus® Studio 1824c Digital Audio and MIDI Interface

On the NOTION side, read pages 5.11, 5.13, and 9.16 in the NOTION User Guide . . .

For reference, it's unlikely that an audio interface card in a Windows computer will have the required inputs and outputs, as is the case with an Apple computer . . .

This is the reason you need an external digital audio and MIDI interface . . .

If you look at the bottom of the channel strips in the NOTION Mixer, you will see dropdown listboxes where you can assign channel pairs to corresponding staves and buses.

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This is the way you do the high-level routing of the NOTION-generated audio, which can be generated by the native NOTION "bundled" virtual instruments or by VSTi virtual instruments . . .

The external digital audio and MIDI interface has inputs and output for signals, where for reference the output of an electric guitar is a signal . . .

NOTION channel pairs are stereo, which in this context maps to two channels rather than true stereo, while a typical electric guitar is monaural or one-channel . . .

External signal processors are monaural or stereo (two-channel); and they usually have "balanced" input and output ports--although "balanced" varies based on context--which indicates that you can route audio from NOTION to the external digital audio and MIDI interface and then to external signal processors, which in turn can be "chained", with the end of the "chain" routing the output back to the external digital audio and MIDI interface or a physical mixer or sound reinforcement system . . .

With a Digital Audio Workstation (DAW) like Studio One Professional, you can use external signal processors as effects, the same was as VST effects-plug-ins . . .

Studio One has elaborate routing capabilities, but in contrast this is not the case with NOTION, because NOTION is not a DAW, although when functioning as a ReWire host controller, it can accept input to its buses . . .

The practical, economic aspect is that you can spend several thousands of dollars on the combination of an external digital audio and MIDI interface and a nice set of external signal processors . . .

If you add a set of effects pedals and a Fulltone Echo Unit for electric guitar, then this can add $5,000 or more to the total . . .

[NOTE: There are motion pedals on the floor, although not shown in the photo. Observe all the audio cables, typically "monaural guitar cords (TS, tip-sleeve)" or stereo/two-channel guitar cords (TRS, tip-ring-sleeve)", each of which costs from $5 to $20 depending on length, where the shorter cords are called "patch cords" or something similar. Since TRS cords work for monaural, I get TRS cords; but since I have a custom modded Stratocaster with two separate and independent output signals, I use a 1/4" male TRS to dual 1/4" male TS cord splitter. The Stratocaster has a female TRS output port rather than a typical female TS output port; so the splitter cord takes is from two-channel to a pair of single-channels. It's not stereo, but instead is two-channel where each channel is monaural. The Really Big Knob controls the six-position Rothstein Guitars Varitone device . . . ]

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The Fabulous Fifty Million Dollar Trinaural Stracaster® ft. The Really Big Knob™

Platinum Lab Varitone (Rothstein Guitars)

One way to provide a perspective on the potential complexities of using external signal processors with NOTION is to focus for a moment on the custom-modded Stratocaster; its various pickup selector switches; and the different sets of effects pedals . . .

It might appear to be simple; but there are 32 combinations of pickup and effects selections; and for practical purposes there are 3 sets of effects pedal combinations, which (a) in toto is a lot of stuff to remember, let alone comprehend in an immediately conscious way, and (b) is only the tone, texture, and effects aspect, which makes it a producing and audio-engineering activity . . .

In some respects, it's like flying a Boeing 747 or a spaceship . . .

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[NOTE: This electric guitar solo is done with the custom-modded Stratocaster and the aforementioned guitar effects pedal rigs, composed and played in real-time on the fly on the first take. With the exception of the various motion pedals, the other effects are preconfigured--each effects pedal or unit has its own set of buttons, knobs, and parameters--but so what. It's best enjoyed and understood when you listen with studio-quality headphones or Apple AirPods . . . ]

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[NOTE: The TS, TRS, XLR, balanced, and unbalanced aspects are electromagnetic physics and can be a bit much at times. MIDI cables and strategies are another matter, and they too can be a bit complex. Initially, it took me a while to make sense of all this stuff, which included taking some online courses in MIDI; and even though I understand it now, I had to do a bit of editing over the past few days to ensure everything is accurate, which I now think it probably is. At the time, several years ago, I waded into it in great detail; and this resulted in getting the correct types of patch cords and MIDI cables, so that now I use them without needing to think about it in an immediately conscious way . . . ]

Recording everything and listening to it as you work is another matter, and this cannot be done in NOTION, because (a) NOTION is not a DAW and (b) NOTION does not have audio input channels like a DAW . . .

Yet, if it's all "outward" in NOTION, where audio is sent via an external digital audio and MIDI interface to a studio monitor system, headphones, or a sound reinforcement system--which conceptually is like the Meat Loaf setup, with a few caveats--then this can be done with NOTION when you have the required external digital audio and MIDI interface and external signal processors . . .

When you consider everything, I think it becomes obvious that this is easier to do with Studio One Professional 5 and ReWire; but you also can export the music notation from NOTION and then send it to Studio One Professional 6 but not via ReWire, since Studio One 6 does not support ReWire . . .

For reference, I have all this stuff because prior to 2010 I did not know about VSTi virtual instruments and VST effects plug-ins; and overall this stuff cost approximately $10,000 (USD) . . .

It was an excellent way to make sense of everything, including MIDI via a KORG Triton Music Workstation (88-grand piano weighted keys); and I suppose if I decided to perform as a "one-man band" at one of the local nightclubs, it could be useful; but other than an enhanced, hands-on learning experience, I think in retrospect it would have been smarter to spend the money on a faster Apple computer and a virtual festival of VSTi virtual instruments and VST effects plug-ins--except that this stuff is very good to have when I need to play something on a real electric guitar or the KORG Triton . . .

It's also important to understand that headphones are the least expensive listening option; but otherwise you will need a calibrated studio monitor system with onboard amplifiers and appropriate inputs and outputs, where here in the sound isolation studio I use Kustom® self-powered loudspeaker units and subwoofers, mostly because I know how to do this safely and from the perspective of sound reinforcement it costs less . . .

Why does it cost less? :roll:

Folks who do sound reinforcement associate at one time or another with what one might call "rock stars" and tend not to be impressed by them in terms of their technical audio engineering abilities, hence give no attention to marketing blurbs like "Justin Bieber says the Wally Studio Monitor is totally awesome" . . .

All that marketing stuff generally is complete and total nonsense, where one of my favorites is the term "nearfield", which in plain English means "you need to be near to it to hear anything" . . . :P

What matters are (a) the specifications and (b) the specifications are accurate and honest, which is the reason I recommend self-powered PreSonus Sceptre S8 studio monitors and Temblor T10 deep bass subwoofers for folks who never have done sound reinforcement work and probably do not have OSHA-approved hearing protection and a digital SPL meter . . .

Why OSHA-approved hearing protection?

The Kustom® self-powered loudspeaker units and deep bass subwoofers I use here in the sound isolation studio--which for reference is 6 ft. wide by 7 ft. tall and 12 ft. long--are sufficient to be the sound system for a small nightclub, hence if not set correctly can be so loud as to cause permanent hearing damage or even permanent hearing loss . . .

[NOTE: These are self-powered two-way units with 15" woofers and horns . . . ]

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Kustom-KPC15P-Loudspeakers

[NOTE: These are self-powered 12" deep bass subwoofers . . . ]

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Kustom-PA112S-Subwoofers

There is a safe way to set the output levels of the loudspeakers and deep bass subwoofers; and I know how to do this; but while doing the various configuration procedures, I wear OSHA-approved hearing protection like the ones used by airline workers when working around jet airplanes . . .

Why Studio One Professional 5 (ReWire) or Studio One Professional 6 (Send) in conjunction with NOTION?

With Studio One (either strategy), you do not need the external digital audio and MIDI interface and external signal processors (physical electromagnetic devices--rack-mount or guitar-style effects pedals) . . .

Studio One handles all the routing of audio signals in its virtual workspace (Instrument Tracks, Audio Tracks, and VST and native effects . . .

Studio One and a nice set of advanced VSTi virtual instruments and VST effects plug-ins does everything virtually without needing an external digital audio and MIDI interface and external signal processors--plus it handles recording, playback, and editing of recorded audio on Audio Tracks . . .

With Studio One Professional 6, you need virtual instruments, although PreSonus Sphere has plenty of them, and Studio One includes some nice virtual instruments . . .

With Studio One Professional 5, you can send audio from NOTION to Studio One via ReWire channels, of course . . .

So long as it's outgoing from NOTION, you can do this with real hardware and external signal processors and guitar-style effects pedals; but you need "patch cords" and all the hardware, plus you need to do the signal routing . . .

With Studio One, it's all virtual; and while you select and determine which VST and native effects to use, Studio One handles the virtual routing, which effectively is the same as if it were done in the physical world . . .

Read the aforementioned NOTION User Guide pages and sections; and if you have a few questions, post a reply . . .

Lots of FUN! :)

P. S. I am working on a book about all this stuff--digital audio production--and might actually publish it this year . . .

It started with a focus on Studio One Professional 5, NOTION, and ReWire; but PreSonus dropped ReWire support in Studio One Professional 6, so this required writing a few more chapters, which I am doing now . . .

For reference, I touch-typed this post in real-time on the fly with a few diversions to locate photos and other stuff; so it's information known intimately to me, which is fabulous . . .

[NOTE: This is mixed for listening with studio-quality headphones and Apple AirPods . . . ]

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Fabulous! :)

Surf.Whammy's YouTube Channel

The Surf Whammys

Sinkhorn's Dilemma: Every paradox has at least one non-trivial solution!
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by Surf.Whammy on Mon May 08, 2023 12:59 am
These are the updated Complete Digital Music Production Diagrams . . . :)

THOUGHTS

The first diagram is the one when Studio One Professional 5 is the Digital Audio Workstation (DAW) application and ReWire host controller with NOTION 6 and Reason 10 (Reason Studios) working as ReWire helper devices . . .

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Old ReWire Strategy

The second diagram is the one when Studio One Professional 6 is the Digital Audio Workstation (DAW) application and NOTION 6 only is used via network SEND and Receive. . .

Since Reason 11 does not support ReWire, the Reason 11 (Reason Studios) Rack Extension VST is used . . .

Music notation is done directly in the Studio One workspace, and there is no support for ReWire . . .

Nevertheless, music notation can be sent offline from NOTION to Studio One but not interactively as it was done in ReWire sessions . . .

This is the best way to do it . . .

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New Studio One Professional 6 Strategy ~ No ReWire

I am doing songs and science fiction radio plays using the new strategy where everything is done directly in Studio One Professional 6, including the music notation . . .

[NOTE: This is mixed for listening with studio-quality headphones and Apple AirPods . . . ]

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Lots of FUN! :)

Surf.Whammy's YouTube Channel

The Surf Whammys

Sinkhorn's Dilemma: Every paradox has at least one non-trivial solution!
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by acequantum on Mon May 08, 2023 6:16 pm
Thank you for the time you put into your detailed responses.

You've given me a couple of ideas to try. My goal is to do as much as I can out of the box with Notion just using its own built in effects, instruments and routing.

However, I know this is super limiting so I might "cheat" a little! We'll see. I've been playing around a little with manually controlling effects while Notion is playing.

One thing that I just don't think can be done - but: In a DAW, I might have 3 or 4 guitar or other same instrument tracks. Each panned opposite, and each played and recorded independently. The result is a huge fat sound for that instrument.

Something similar can be accomplished in Notion with staves. In this particular case, I intend on doubling guitars. However, I want to be able to control the effect of them all at once through a single Amp sim - like a send track with effects. I can route the staves to the same bus, but when I look on Notion's bus in the mixer, the built in Amp sim is missing from the list of effects. Again, my goal is to use Notion out of the box with its own bag of tricks. I want to avoid using a third party independent Amp sim VST on the bus.

Any suggestions?

p.s. I also like your totally indulgent guitar solo!
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by Surf.Whammy on Tue May 09, 2023 5:27 am
acequantum wroteMy goal is to do as much as I can out of the box with Notion just using its own built in effects, instruments and routing.

Everything you want to do can be done easily in Studio One Professional 6, but I think some of it can be done entirely within NOTION using a technique I call "sparkling" . . . :)

THOUGHTS

I fully understand the desire to do things in a very specific way, even when for all practical purposes it either (a) is impossible or (b) is highly unlikely to be possible . . .

When the focus is on doing things within NOTION, the suggestion I have is to focus on the flavor of NOTION which is embedded in Studio One Professional 6 . . .

It is NOTION, but its graphic user interface (GUI) and integration with the Digital Audio Workstation (DAW) aspects of Studio One is consistent with standalone NOTION in a ReWire session . . .

Like you, I am intrigued by the technique of using multiple instances of virtual instruments--and on the Audio Track side of Studio One, doing this to duplicate audio . . .

This is something the Beatles did for vocals and George Harrison's lead guitar solos; and as they evolved, John Lennon did not like to double-track his vocals, hence asked the engineers at Abbey Road Studios to create a device to do this automagically, which they did with tape machines by electrically varying the tape machine transports and their time-based characteristics . . .

Even though the Beatles were very precise singers and musicians, there always were subtle variations when they double-tracked or triple-tracked something (vocal or lead guitar solo); and among other things these variations created the Haas Effect, which occurs when two identical sounds arrive within 5 to 25 milliseconds of each other, with the result being that the auditory perceptual apparatus of the human brain combines the two sounds and perceives them as one louder sound . . .

This is an easy way to cause a sound to be perceived louder without actually being physically louder . . .

Haas Effect ~ Wikipedia

[NOTE: My hypothesis on the Haas Effect is that it originated as a survival mechanism perhaps enforced by Darwinian selection, where the idea is that the sounds of tiger paws on leaves or some type of dinosaur hooves or feet were combined in early human minds as a type of early warning system to give folks a tiny bit more time to jump off the path or to do something to avoid an approaching predator. Humans who did this survived and created progeny with the same perceptual abilities; and some time later George Martin and the audio engineers at Abbey Road Studios, as well as Sam Phillips at Sun Records, used it to enhance Beatles and Elvis Presley vocals and George Harrison's lead guitar solos. If you listen carefully with studio-quality headphones of Apple AirPods to "Can't Buy Me Love" (Beatles), you can hear the vocal doubling, which at that time was done by singing the melody and lyrics a second or third time, as is the case with George Harrison's lead guitar solos in this song . . . ]

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[NOTE: Compare the remastered stereo version to the live performance to get a sense of the vocal and lead guitar enhancements done via double-tracking and perhaps triple-tracking . . . ]

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On the software engineering side, this is the way a lot of audio effects are programmed--in particular flanging, echoes, and in some instances controlling and enhancing tones and textures . . .

This is something I discovered when I became interested in designing and programming Reason Rack Extensions, where the basic concept is that there is a steady stream of samples delivered, which in colloquial terms are called "lollipops" and visually look a bit like a Tootsie Roll Pop--a piece of round candy on a stick . . .

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Stream of Lollipops

Rotate the stream of lollipops and map them to the back-and-forth motion of the paper cone of a loudspeaker (a.k.a., "woofer"); and this is what actually happens:

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Consider a simple echo or digital delay unit . . .

The original sound--a series of samples--is delivered as a stream, and you make a copy of it and then after a small delay you add the copied stream to the ongoing original stream . . .

The result is that you hear the original stream combined with a delayed copy of it; and this is the way a simple echo or digital delay is created . . .

You can do this in NOTION by having two staves and copying the notes of the first or original stave to a seond stave where you insert a rest of some typically short duration at the start of the copied notes on the second staff . . .

The notes are identical for the two staves, but by inserting a short duration rest at the start of the second staff, it acts as an echo . . .

Depending on the tempo, if the inserted rest maps to an eighth note, then the result is the original stream of notes and the same stream but delayed by an eighth note duration . . .

If you wanted to create a slapback echo this way, then the inserted rest would need to be approximately 100 to 125 milliseconds . . .

Consider the tempo is 120 beats per second, which after doing the arithmetic maps approximately to 1 beat having a duration of 8 milliseconds; and in 4/4 time this maps to a quarter note having a duration of 250 milliseconds or 30 beats . . .

Simplify the arithmetic by rounding and setting 1 beat to 10 milliseconds . . .

Then 100 milliseconds maps to 10 beats, or one-third of a quarter note, more or less . . .

This is very easy to do in Studio One either (a) with music notation or (b) by copying and pasting audio clips to duplicate Audio Tracks and then moving then on the timeline, where an audio clip in Studio One literally is like a piece of electromagnetic tape in digital form; but unlike electromagnetic tape, its contents and various data can be edited, which ultimately is what VST effects plug-ins do . . .

Run it through the Melodyne Editor (Celemony), and it becomes possible to separate things, where for example the audio clip might be a recording of a flute and a piano, in which case--at least in theory, perhaps with some manual editing--Melodyne should be able to separate the audio clip so the flute notes are different from the piano notes . . .

You can create custom echoes and other effects in Melodyne, as well, which makes Melodyne very powerful . . .

For reference, Studio One Professional uses Celemony software that makes it easier to use Melodyne; and it includes an authorized copy of Melodyne Essentials . . .

I have the full version of the Melodyne Editor, which adds more capabilities and functions for working with polyphonic audio . . .

On the software engineering side of creating effects, the individual audio units are "samples" or "lollipops"; but in Melodyne, the units are called "blobs" . . .

[NOTE: Melodyne can export "blobs" as MIDI, which then can be imported to NOTION and transformed into music notation and exported from NOTION as MusicXML, which is another powerful capability of Melodyne and NOTION; but Melodyne runs in Studio One, not in NOTION, so you need Studio One, Melodyne, and NOTION to do this . . . ]

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[SOURCE: Project: Realvox Blue (PreSonus NOTION Forum) ]

It's all the same, essentially . . .

Round back downward, and say 100 milliseconds is about one-fourth of a quarter note, which will be a sixteenth rest . . .

It's approximate, but I think the concept is clear . . .

POSSIBLE STRATEGY

While you cannot have an Amp Simulator on a bus, you can have it on regular staves; and it is possible to have a set of staves for guitar where each staff has its own Amp Simulator with different settings . . .

I do something similar in NOTION to put a series of notes in motion across what i call the "Rainbow Panning Arc"; and as I recall I did this with NOTION 3 or perhaps NOTION 4 . . .

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In this technique, I have eight staves for the instrument; and I put the notes on the staff which in the NOTION Mixer is panned where I want to hear the note . . .

This is done within NOTION; and it takes a few hours per sparkled instrument . . .

As necessary, I "pad" the respective measures and staves with leading rests . . .

Trailing rests are not needed in a measure unless there is a note in the measure which follows the rests . . .

[NOTE: This is the way to "automate" the panning location control knob in NOTION, where the respective panning location for each staff is set according to the indicator at the end of the staff name, with "Synth L.1" mapping the the "L.1" panning location on the "Rainbow Panning Arc" (see above). This will work for "automating" the Amp Simulator, where there is one staff for each of the desired Amp Simulator settings. The duration of notes and the way notes appear on the respective staves will map to the motions you otherwise would make with the mouse or trackpad. It takes a while to do the music notation this way, but it works . . . ]

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I call this technique "sparkling"; and this is an example of "sparkling" a psaltery harp so its sounds appear at various panning locations:

[NOTE: Listen to this with studio-quality headphones or Apple AirPods to hear and understand the technique . . . ]

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Using a variation of the "sparkling" strategy, I think you can do a type of pseudo-automation in NOTION, where you start with the full stream of the electric guitar notes and then spread the notes over several staves, each stave with a desired configuration of the Amp Simulator . . .

Think like a software engineer, and remember that internally at the deepest and most primitive level, it's all about lollipops, where Studio One and NOTION are lollipop factories . . . :+1

Each staff corresponds to a motion you would do manually to control the Amp Simulator . . .

If you want to have eight Amp Simulator settings, then have eight staves to represent the eight Amp Simulator settings; and put notes on the respective staff that has the desired Amp Simulator settings at that moment in time . . .

Remember that it's all lollipops, samples, and blobs arriving on a discrete timeline . . .

Step back a few paces and consider what you actually are doing when you manually change the settings of the Amp Simulator to create different effects . . .

If you do rapid motions, then it might create a tremolo effect; and you can do this by using shorter duration notes on the "sparked" staves . . .

It will take a while--perhaps hours--but so what . . .

You might need to use sparkled sixteenth or thirty-secondth notes; but depending on the tempo this can create tremolo and perhaps other motion-based effects, including flanging, phasing, and wah-wah . . .

One might suppose if you use microtonal notes, this might work for emulating vibrato--noting that NOTION supports microtonal notes . . .

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Of course, it would be vastly simpler to do this with native or VST effects plug-ins in Studio One; but the "sparkling" technique probably can do some of what you want to do solely within NOTION--although at the expense of taking hours and hours rather than just a few minutes . . .

It's the same with elaborate panning, where in Studio One this is easily done via Automation . . .

Lots of FUN! :)

P. S. I usually have two drumkits and two electric rhythm guitars, which I pan to various locations; and two drumkits usually map to 16 Instrument Tracks in Studio One . . .

I like to add motion and to alternate panning locations, which is very nice when listening with studio-quality headphones and Apple AirPods, which is fabulous . . .

[NOTE: There are two drumkits in this song; and there are four kick drums . . . ]

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Fabulous! :)

Surf.Whammy's YouTube Channel

The Surf Whammys

Sinkhorn's Dilemma: Every paradox has at least one non-trivial solution!
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by Surf.Whammy on Fri May 12, 2023 5:41 pm
I did a quick experiment, and "sparkling" works . . . :)

THOUGHTS

The experiment took just a few minutes for 32 measures, and while it's not perfect, it's sufficient as a proof of concept . . .

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Simple Tremolo Sparkling

As everyone knows, Fender-style tremolo is a motion effect where the volume level is alternated between (a) high and (b) low, with controls for rate or frequency of variation and depth . . .

In the mid-1960s, a few Fender amplifiers had an onboard effect called "harmonic tremolo", and this YouTube video provides the details:

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[NOTE: This provides even more information on the circuits, where in some respects the key is the times of the modulation, from which it's possible to determine the desired rates and so forth . . . ]

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The key bit of information is the way the "harmonic tremolo" modulates the equalization or frequencies . . .

Connecting a few dots, I used the NOTION 6 "EQ" control to do the frequency-range modulation or varying . . .

This works nicely and provides the clue that combining NOTION 6 native effects and their various parameters can create unique effects, all within NOTION . . .

For reference, it's important to understand that the various parameters and "note vs. rest" values tend to be very specific when the goal is achieve obvious and useful custom effects via "sparkling" . . .

Remember that it's all lollipops, and the strategy involves mapping the various NOTION 6 effects and their respective parameters to mimic what happens in the corresponding analog circuits . . .

In fact, it's all a matter of creating a mapping of what you might do by manually varying various parameters, knobs, or settings of NOTION 6 effects using "sparkling" where (a) two or more staves represent the hand or mouse motions and (b) the effects for each staff provide the generated audio changes . . .

So far I have done two very simple experiments--one with volume level-only and one combining volume-level and equalization, each with only two staves and 1/16th notes--but this is sufficient for me to state with no doubt that "sparkling" works . . .

Obviously, it's vastly easier to do this in Studio One Professional 6 with native effects or VST effect plug-ins; but it's an interesting concept and set of strategies when done only within NOTION . . .

Using an analogy, metaphor, or simile, it's a bit like having a pack of 128 Crayola crayons vs. having a simple pack of 8 Crayola crayons or oil paints . . .

From a simple set of colors, you can mix all the other colors . . . :+1

In some respects, this might be a grand waste of time; but I think devoting a bit of attention to making sense of the rule will reveal or lead to the discovery of some useful "color blending" information and rules . . .

PANNING

I did this when I was exploring how to control panning within NOTION; and this led to some very useful information, including the fact that NOTION does not have simple panning controls, although they are capable of being nearly simple panning controls . . .

This also happens in Studio One and most of other Digital Audio Workstation (DAW) applications for so-called "panning" controls for stereo tracks--unless "splitters" are used . . .

[NOTE: This is the "splitter" used in Studio One, and it separates the two-channels of a stereo Audio Track so that each monaural channel has true panning . . . ]

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Dual Pan Control ~ Studio One

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Dual Pan Control ~ Studio One Professional 6

The problem is that most "panning" controls for stereo tracks actually are balance controls, hence for panning are completely and totally useless, because they do not do proper panning . . .

Instead, they are volume controls for the respective left and right channels and move the actual location of nothing . . .

For a monaural track, a panning control moves the location of the audio to one side or the other, as well as locations in-between; so if you move the monaural panning control to far-left. then the sound is heard at far-left only, and so forth . . .

In great and disturbing contrast, most stereo "panning" controls actually are balance controls and do no panning at all . . .

Discovering this was one of the important bits of information I discovered when I was exploring panning; and it's a significant bit of information . . .

FACT: A balance control only changes the respective volume levels of the left and right channels of the stereo (two-channel) audio, which for ruthlessly doing producing and audio-engineering makes balance controls totally worthless.

Put on a pair of studio-quality headphones or Apple AirPods. and listen to this Led Zepellin song:

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Various instruments and vocals appear in distinct locations, as well as move across the "Rainbow Panning Arc" from time to time; and this is done via true panning controls--not via balance controls . . .

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To the point, this is impossible to do with stereo balance controls . . . :shock:

It requires true panning controls, which always are monaural (single channel Audio Tracks) . . .

There are rules for panning, and they generally are shown on the "Rainbow Panning Arc", where for headphones there is a gain or volume rule, since to be the same perceived loudness a sound at far-left needs to be higher volume than a sound at top-center, and so forth . . .

The rules are similar for studio monitor systems, but it's easier to hear this stuff when you listen with headphones . . .

For reference, the panning controls in NOTION are almost true panning controls, but not absolutely . . .

PRECISION LOCATING

Reverberation and echoes are useful in setting the perceived location of sounds within the sonic landscape, but being ruthlessly precise requires using true panning controls . . .

Combining true panning controls (monaural) with reverberation, echoes, and other motion-based effects produces the most control over where and when sounds are heard . . .

Absent monaural sound sources, reverberation and echoes do not have sufficient isolating and focusing abilities . . .

This might appear to be counterintuitive, but it's an indisputable fact . . .

It's producing and audio-engineering; and it's the way perceived music magic is created . . .

Lots of FUN! :)

Surf.Whammy's YouTube Channel

The Surf Whammys

Sinkhorn's Dilemma: Every paradox has at least one non-trivial solution!
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by acequantum on Sat May 13, 2023 1:35 pm
You've laid out some very interesting possibilities.

What I glean overall from this, is using multiple staves for the same instrument and "phasing" or switching between them with different, or similar effects set at different levels.

In theory, one could have one staff drop to zero volume or at least very low at a given time, and another staff shoot up to standard volume: each track having the same effects but set differently. It would create a sort of automation - all within Notion.

Thanks for the idea. That's actually pretty clever.
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by Surf.Whammy on Sat May 13, 2023 4:01 pm
acequantum wroteYou've laid out some very interesting possibilities.

What I glean overall from this, is using multiple staves for the same instrument and "phasing" or switching between them with different, or similar effects set at different levels.

In theory, one could have one staff drop to zero volume or at least very low at a given time, and another staff shoot up to standard volume: each track having the same effects but set differently. It would create a sort of automation - all within Notion.

Thanks for the idea. That's actually pretty clever.

Glad to help! It's an interesting strategy to ponder . . . :)

THOUGHTS

My mother was a writer and English professor, so one of the things I learned at an early age was outlining, which really is just a way to make elaborate, balanced lists . . .

Everything in an outline needs to have at least two parts, and if there is no obvious second part, then you invent one . . .

In other words, if there is an (a), then there at least should be a (b) . . .

With this in mind, there are five native effects in NOTION 6:

(1) Amp Simulator {Amplifier, Gain, Reso, High Pass Filter, Output}

(2) Compressor {Ratio, [Threshold (Hard Knee, Soft Knee)], Gain, Attack, Release, Auto}

(3) EQ {[LF, Gain, Q], [MLF, Gain, Q], [MHF, Gain, Q], [HF, Gain, Q]}

(4) Limiter {Threshold, ON/OFF}

(5) Reverb {Dry/Wet, Room, Damping, Pre-delay}

There are several items or objects:

(1) Staves

(2) Notes {Single, Double, Triple, . . . , Complex}

(3) Rests {Single, Double, Triple, . . . , Complex}

(4) Slurs, Glissandi, Portamento

(5) Note and Rest Durations

(6) Syncopation (Tuplets, Complex Durations}

(7) Instruments

(8) Pitch, Dynamics, Articulations, Playing Styles

Regarding instruments, one of the things I learned when I was playing string bass in a school orchestra is that a timpani can be emulated by a string bass and a bass drum or deep tom-tom, where the string bass (a.k.a., "contrabass") plays the role of the timpani foot pedal, and the bass or kick drum provides the percussive aspect . . .

I probably would have learned more, but I was 12 years-old and liked to end every piece with a Mozart "da-da-da-duh", which soon led to the conductor--a bassoonist--expelling me from the orchestra, an action that thrust me directly into the dark worlds of Rock & Roll and Jazz . . . :P

This probably was for the best, since I could not read bass clef and mostly just composed bass lines "by ear", which also annoyed the conductor . . .

Continuing, these are some but perhaps not all of the various items, objects, and things with which one can devise strategies for creating and modifying sounds in NOTION . . .

For elaborate panning, I used as many as eight staves when creating "sparkles"; and in some respects the only limit is whatever one decides an 'orchestra" can be . . .

[NOTE: In Studio One, there is Automation, but elaborate and rapid panning tends to be easier to do via "sparkling" the music notation of the respective instrument(s). In contrast, "smooth flying" is easy to do with Automation . . . ]

Considered in this perspective, I think it's reasonable to suggest an "orchestra" can emulate natural events, like some of the classic "early morning or dawn" compositions--one of which I "borrowed" in a recent science fiction radio play . . .

[NOTE: The "morning" music begins at 08:30. The motion effects and foley sounds are best enjoyed when listening with studio-quality headphones or Apple AirPods . . . ]

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Some folks might suggest the desire to create sounds and effects only with NOTION and its native instruments and effects is a bit odd; but so what . . .

I did this for elaborate panning at a time when I had not discovered Automation; and as noted, "sparkling" panning controls tends to be easier and more precise in some scenarios as compared to Automation . . .

In Studio One, Automation is done by drawing curves or lines; and this is practical when the thing being Automated needs to make smooth changes over time; but when a set of 16th or 32nd notes each need to be different in some effect, it's easier to do it via a set of staves and "sparkling" . . .

Rollback everything a few centuries, and there were limits to what could be done in practical ways--mostly via a combination of percussion and an occasional cannon--but now there are synthesizers and elaborate effects . . .

Summarizing, NOTION does not support Automation; but you can emulate Automation via "sparkling" where notes and rests on a staff can be used to create different effects and sounds at various instants in time, which effectively is what Automation and VST effects plug-ins make possible . . .

Lots of FUN! :)

Surf.Whammy's YouTube Channel

The Surf Whammys

Sinkhorn's Dilemma: Every paradox has at least one non-trivial solution!
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by Surf.Whammy on Fri May 26, 2023 1:25 am
I created a NOTION score to demonstrate some of the techniques for doing everything within NOTION 6 using only native NOTION instruments and effects . . . :)

THOUGHTS

It's not too elaborate, but it's sufficient as a proof of concept . . .

There are four electric guitars, one of which has a guitar tab and does a few guitar articulations; electric bass; upright bass; and some NOTION drums and cymbals . . .

I used all the native NOTION effects; and in particular I like the tone of the bass and other drums, each of which is on a separate staff to keep everything simple . . .

[NOTE: As with everything I post, this is best enjoyed and understood when listening with studio-quality headphones or Apple AirPods . . . ]

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There is a custom echo done by duplicating the music notation for one of the electric guitars and then shifting it to the right on the timeline by an eighth note, which requires adjusting every measure and takes a while, but so what . . .

Once you time-shift the first few measures to create the echo, you can copy and paste to extend the echo; so it takes less time than one might imagine . . .

The flanging or phasing on the electric guitar, as well as the vibrato, is done with the tabbed electric guitar using the unique articulations and playing styles of the tabbed electric guitar in NOTION . . .

As best as I can determine, there is no documentation in the NOTION User Guide for the various parameters and options of the NOTION effects; but some of them are self-obvious . . .

So far, I notice little, if any, differences in the Amp Simulator types; and I have no idea what "Reso" happens to be . . .

A few of the other parameters make little obvious sense; but with more experimentation this might become clearer . . .

I am guessing "Reso" is short for "Resonance", but none of its values maps to anything I would call "resonance"; so that part of the Amp Simulator is a bit confusing . . .

Whether I will do more experiments is a different matter, but (a) it's intriguing and (b) I like the bass, kick drum, and the overall drumkit, which actually is stellar . . .

Lots of FUN!

Surf.Whammy's YouTube Channel

The Surf Whammys

Sinkhorn's Dilemma: Every paradox has at least one non-trivial solution!
User avatar
by acequantum on Sat May 27, 2023 8:23 pm
Nice! I see you separated out your drums. That can be very useful if one wants to balance the kit and maybe give the kick more umph!

The Reso is the resonance. Basically this works in conjunction with the HP Filter. The resonance creates a feedback of the filter and sort of amplifies certain frequencies and harmonics that are allowed to pass through the HP filter. Depending on the period of feedback, separate oscillation can occur. The short answer is the sound will become more abrasive and trebley with a higher HP Filter and increased Reso.

The Amp sim types change quite a bit once you start messing with the overdrive and the Filter/Resonance. My guess is that each "Sim 1,2,3 or 4" are actually different impulse responses modeling slightly different amp cabinets.

After working through several ways of controlling things in Notion, I've decided how I want to test things out to do some wah-wah guitar stuff just using Notion out of the box. My mom used to play a Woodstock album she had and I remember hearing Jimi Hendrix live on that. Sometime before the national anthem, there was a break with this super wah-wahy guitar stuff going on. I never knew what the name of the tune was and thought the band was just jamming on the spot. Because of wanting to create a wah-wah effect in Notion, this memory came to mind so I went searching on the internet. I found out that this was Voodoo Child which I had never really heard before except the excerpt on the album.

I wasn't able to find what was on my mom's album (at least how I remember it) but I found a youtube video of a Maui live performance. So, I've decided to transcribe that performance into Notion.

I listened to it a few times then tracked down the studio version. They are a bit different especially in speed and feel. The studio version is way more bluesy and a bit easier to understand vs the cacophony that is the Maui performance! I think Jimi and the drummer decided to solo through the entire thing - only the bass player keeps it in the pocket!

But anyway, I'm going to give transcribing the live performance a try. I won't spend ten years on it so it's likely not to be 100% accurate. There are so many effects and soloing and it's so much faster than it's supposed to be it's hard to discern individual notes but I'm curious how it will translate - or rather, how I can translate it to Notion. My ear will tell me tonality when I can't zero in on notes so I think the "sound" will be generally accurate.
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by Surf.Whammy on Sun May 28, 2023 10:42 am
acequantum wroteNice! I see you separated out your drums. That can be very useful if one wants to balance the kit and maybe give the kick more umph!

I was a bit surprised by the native NOTION drums and drumkit, as well as the basses, although not so much the basses since I started having an electric bass and an upright bass ("string bass" or "contrabass') years ago . . .

I do something similar when using Studio One Professional 6; but as noted, I was pleasantly surprised by the "umph" I was able to get using just NOTION . . .

As you know, NOTION has a separate compressor and a simple but effective limiter; and I used both of them for different reasons . . .

As a proof of concept, I am satisfied that a combination of "sparkling" and the unique guitar tab articulations with native NOTION effects can do more than most folks might imagine; and for reference I had forgotten abut the NOTION guitar tab stuff, which among other things included vibrato, whammying. and a virtual festival of string bends . . . .

Several years ago, I did an experiment to determine how surreal the NOTION guitar tab articulations could be; and I think that was when NOTION 3 was the current version . . .

It's in 24/4 time signature. which was possible 10 years ago; and I think it's a bit amusing that NOTION gets a bit confused and jumps backward and then forward along the timeline but keeps the tempo focused.

It uses microtonal scales for the the piano, which was another aspect of the experiment . . .

The drumkit is a loop from Addictive Drums (XLN Audio) of Daniel Erlandsson (Arch Enemy). who is one of my favorite drummers . . .

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I discovered "Ravenous" (Arch Enemy) and listened to it over-and-over to hear Daniel Erlansson's drumming; but I could not decipher the screaming lyrics until sometime around New Years Day; and once I made sense of the lyrics, I decided that Angela Gossow needed to be spanked, so I composed a song about her underpants, which was before I discovered NOTION 3 and was when I was doing everything with real instruments . . . :P

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[NOTE: The last time I checked, there were four people on the planet who compose and perform songs about underpants, with Captain Underpants being the undisputed champ. Curiously the other three--including me--are based in Texas . . . ]

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[NOTE: This is mixed for listening with studio-quality headphone and Apple AirPods--stereo and motion effects . . . ]

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acequantum wroteThe studio version [of "Voodoo Child"] is way more bluesy and a bit easier to understand vs the cacophony that is the Maui performance! I think Jimi and the drummer decided to solo through the entire thing - only the bass player keeps it in the pocket!


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[NOTE: There is a reasonably accurate guitar tab for "Voodoo Child" . . . ]

Guitar Tab for "Voodoo Child" (Jimi Hendrix) ~ Songsterr.com

When I was teaching myself how to play lead guitar, I studied "Come On (Let The Good Time Roll") and transcribed the lead guitar solos note-by-note using a notation scheme that now is called a "guitar tab" but at time was unknown to me; and there were no personal computers in those days . . .

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[NOTE: This starts around 1:15 in the album version of the song. My focus at the time was on the fingering; so I devised a method of notating finger positions and things like string bends, which was all I needed to know since I was doing everything "by ear" and just needed to see the fret positions, string bends, and all that stuff. Some of the tab notations might make sense only to me, but so what. Once I identified the notes and transcribed them, I would play short phrases over-and-over for hours until (a) I committed them to memory and (b) could play them rapidly at full speed or faster. Once this strategy clicked, playing lead guitar became intuitive; but it took a while--not a few hours but sometime as many as 100 hours of playing the same four or five notes over-and-over. In retrospect, I was creating neural pathways and finger dexterity (fretboard and picking). After a while, conceptually it changed from playing only one note to phrases comprising a series of notes; so while there are times when lead guitar solos focus on individual notes, there also times when a phrase is conceptualized as if it were a single note, which is the only way it can be done, at least by me . . . ]

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The lead guitar solo in my original song "All I Want To Do"--which is a naughty homage to former-First Lady Laura Bush--mostly is three adjacent half-step notes played over-and-over, which since the song is in 4/4 time is a lot more difficult than it might appear . . .

[NOTE: As best as I can determine, I think I learned a lot of double entendre words and phrases playing in nightclub musical groups when I was in high school. "All I want to do is knock on wood and think about you" is right there with "Turning Japanese" (The Vapors) . . . :P ]

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I played the Jimi Hendrix Experience song on a record player at half-speed, which made the lead guitar notes sound like bass notes; and over several months transcribed it and learned how to play it at regular tempo . . .

Skip forward about 50 years, and you can use Audacity to play stuff at half speed when you want to transcribe what appears to be a difficult lead guitar solo . . .

Audacity (AudacityTeam.org)

Jimi Hendrix was brilliant, of course, but he used distortion and a few effects pedals (wah-wah, fuzz, and octavia); so while it sounds like he is playing a lot of notes, a good bit of it is done with effects pedals . . .

Octavia (Wikipedia)

Another useful but of information is the Jimi Hendrix had long fingers; so instead of playing the typical three-fret "box", he played a four-fret or even five-fret "box" . . .

My fingers are not so long; so I focus on the three-fret "box", which is what Jimmy Page (Led Zeppelin) and Ace Frehley (KISS) use . . .

[NOTE: There are four-fret intervals on the high-pitch "b" and "e" strings, but it's mostly three-fret intervals. I call it the "HY" pattern, because it looks like lower-case "hy" as a mnemonic . . . ]

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"HY" Lead Guitar Pattern

[NOTE: Jimmy Page has long fingers, too; but he tends to focus on the three-fret "box"; and he used the same primary effects pedals as Jimi Hendrix but augmented it with an EchoPlex magnetic tape echo unit or two . . . ]

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[NOTE: I think it's obvious that Ace Frehley learned a few Jimmy Page and Jimi Hendrix riffs, but he modified them and owned them--in particular changing the 3-bend "G"-string to 1 on the "b[/b"] string ([i]same note) to 1 on the "[b]e" string (fifth)--making it a bend to the fifth rather than to the same note . . .[/i] ]

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For reference, Django Reinhardt's fret hand was injured in a fire; and he only had two fingers that worked; yet he probably was the fastest lead guitar player of them all . . . :thumbup:

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Lots of FUN! :)

Surf.Whammy's YouTube Channel

The Surf Whammys

Sinkhorn's Dilemma: Every paradox has at least one non-trivial solution!

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