Posted
I watched the videos and I am intrigued by Synfire Pro but I am still not clear what exactly it can do for me. It seems like it relies on having a fixed chord progression, and then it allows you to develop an arrangement for orchestra primarily, and draw different scale shapes and have it automatically shift appropriately for the key. But this seems to be sort of a localized arrangement tool from what I can see.
Can you get the big structure of a 8 minute piece of music? Can you see the returns to the theme?
How would use Synfire to complete a composition? Can someone briefly describe the process. Say you have a theme and you want to develop it in the style of Bach or Beethoven or whatever. Can you take Bach piece as sample in some way but with your own melody?
Can you type in a new chord at some point, and then have all of the lines adapt? Does the chord change drive everything else or is the chord analysis dependent on the musical content?
To what extent can you randomize, invert, retrograde or create varations of a them? Can you morph between two separate melodies?
Can you make a library of your own melodic ideas then grab them and stick them and adapt them?
I am just trying to get a handle on exactly how I am going to use this.
Mo., 09.02.2009 - 18:22 Permalink
Hi,
thank you for your questions. There are probably quite a few people interested in the answers.
Synfire does not require a fixed progression. Its unique capability is to separate harmony from figures (texture), so you can indeed replace either part at any time. It is even possible to replace harmony in part or whole for an otherwise complete composition.
The process of interpreting figures to match a progression is far more than just transposition or snapping to suitable pitches. That would ruin the original musical expression and sound awful in most cases. If it was that simple, a solution would have been offered 20 years ago already.
[quote]Say you have a theme and you want to develop it in the style of Bach or Beethoven or whatever. Can you take Bach piece as sample in some way but with your own melody?
Exactly. After importing the Bach piece, you can pick the figures and transform them in many ways: Reverse, Upside-down, stretch/shrink, scale up/down, split, distort, make relative to either vertical or horizontal scales and much more. Or you could replace them by figures from another piece, e.g. create a blend of Bach and Beethoven (or your own works).
[quote]Can you type in a new chord at some point, and then have all of the lines adapt?
Yes, that's what it's all about.
[quote]Does the chord change drive everything else or is the chord analysis dependent on the musical content?
It works both ways: Change the chord and the lines follow, or change the lines (e.g. using static pitch symbols for a vocal melody) and open the harmonizer to have Synfire suggest new chords.
[quote]To what extent can you randomize, invert, retrograde or create varations of a them?
Concerning the editing possibilities of figures, there are no limits. Randomization however is subtle and will not generate new musical expression out of nowhere. Random parameters are used to control blends and morphing for the most part.
[quote]Can you morph between two separate melodies?
Yes. The more segments a figure is built from, the better.
[quote]Can you make a library of your own melodic ideas then grab them and stick them and adapt them?
Absolutely! That's exactly what Synfire is made for.
I would recommend you wait for the demo to be released and check for yourself. We're currently working on this. If you have any more questions, they are welcome.
Andre
Di., 10.02.2009 - 08:28 Permalink
Thank you very much Andre for your detailed responses. I am very excited to try it. I think these people who are looking for audio processing are missing the point of what Synfire can offer within the realm of midi.
Actually I have been trying to buy the early bird special for some days but the order won't go through. The order remains in my cart when I log in each time, but when I click on checkout it gives me an error message. I tried again today and the same thing happened as last week. Is there some other way to place my order? Perhaps via email or phone call?
thanks
Greg