Author: Michael Werecat Dean

New feature: Streaming Radio BipTunia on YouTube

Radio BipTunia 24/7 eternal random YouTube stream. Copy it:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=RD0llYRZPcc

Bookmark it:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RD0llYRZPcc

BipTunia music, some Microtonal. BipTunia music, some Microtonal. BipTunia will appeal to fans of Gary Numan, Brian Eno, Aphex Twin, Pink Floyd, Tangerine Dream, Helios Creed, Captain Beefheart, The Residents, Kraftwerk, Terry Riley, Frank Zappa, Sonic Youth, Devo,  Butthole Surfers, Chrome, Young Marble Giants, Giorgio Moroder, Front Line Assembly, Miles Davis, Jean Michel Jarre, and Ornette Coleman.

A couple new quick Astro pix with my new AstroCam

Got a ZWO ASI2600MC Pro USB3. VAST improvement over shooting with DSLR, even modded good DSLR.

Butterfly Nebula in Cygnus, 44 minutes integration (I’ll be doing much longer, these were tests.):

Pelican Nebula and North American Nebula in Cygnus, 29 minutes (!):

Location in the sky of the Butterfly Nebula:

Plate solved Pelican Nebula and North American Nebula:

FreakBone-9000, experimental beta wild sounding microtonal VST2 (and WHY THIS VST is VST2 only)

DOWNLOAD FreakBone 9000 beta VST2 HERE (2.5 meg zip)

FreakBone 9000 is a crazy intentionally messy sounding microtonal VST2 synth based on Microtone 5000. But moving the Mod Wheel on your controller activates the oddness. Demo MP3 link of FreakBone 9000 above.

(It has a different VST ID, so won’t interfere with any projects you’ve made with Microtone 5000.)

It has 32 presets and 5374 microtonal tunings. Any tuning with work with any preset or you can make your own presets with any of the tunings.

This synth is very similar to Microtone 5000, except the Mod wheel works, is set to wrong extremely far out (yet harmless) values, and it makes the mod wheel do different freaky things.

HOW TO USE FreakBone 9000

This is the VST without the tuning files, so if you have Microtone 5000, unzip and put in the same folder, as FreakBone 9000 needs to share the microtonal tuning files from that VST (folder is named TuningFiles):

If you don’t have Microtone 5000, get it here. (FreakBone 9000 will work with the tuning files for either the VST2 or VST3, either version of each, of Microtone 5000. It’s all the same tuning files. Will also work with the tuning files (same files) in Simple Microtonal Sampler, either VST2 or VST3 of that will be fine, too.)

Don’t wiggle the mod wheel as you would with other VSTs, so much as gently move it to different positions, or even just leave it where it sounds good. Will sound all kinds of crazy. Try moving it just a little ways away from off. Then a bit more. Then all the way. Sometimes the best sound is in the middle somewhere or near the start, sometimes full throttle.

There will not be a VST3 of this one.

WHAT PARAMETERS DOES THE MOD WHEEL CHANGE?

It changes whatever the

LFO Assign

drop-down picker in the lower left is set to. (If you use the OFF setting on that picker, it does nothing.)

And those sliders to the left of that drop-down affect it.

Usually the VF Rate slider (far bottom left) has to be somewhere in the middle for the most extreme effect.

That’s normally the kind of thing that a Mod Wheel would change, but my VF Rate slider can go to -20v (virtual), on most synths it wouldn’t. Would probably go to zero or maybe -1.

WHOSE CAT IS THAT?

That’s our cat Beast. He’s a little freak bone.

–Michael W. Dean, BipTunia (music), and BipTunia Synths.

May 1, 2023

=–==–=-

TUNINGS IN AUDIO EXAMPLE

Through all of it as chimes:

  • zesster_c (Harmonic six-star, group C on Eb, from Fokker
    8)

Then these five, about a minute each over that with different sounds and slowly moving the mod wheel:

  • kurzweil_arab (Kurzweil Emperical Arabic)
  • lambdoma _prim (Prime Lambdoma)
  • mohajira-to-slendro (From Mohajira to Aeolian and Slendros)
  • ptolemy_diat5 (Sterea lyra, Dorian, comb. of 2 Tonic Diatonic 4chords, also Archytas’ diatonic 7)
  • rast pentachord 5-limit (Rast pentachord 600:675:744:800:900)

=—————–

SOMEONE ASKED ON FACEBOOK “WHY VST2 ONLY? I HEARD VST3 IS BETTER”?

MY REPLY:

Sigh…..All my other VSTs are VST3 and VST2. I don’t want to have to update this twice each time, and it’s experimental, not a main release. Steinberg is only discontinuing VST2 in Steinberg DAWs. It’s unlikely any other DAW are going to ruin backwards compatibility by taking effort to remove a feature they already have.
If I only do one not two releases, I do VST2 instead of VST3 because most people with VST3 preference can also use VST2, but not vs versa. They’re all 64-bit.
Everyone else still allows them and will likely continue. Most devs don’t have the license from Steinberg to still make VST2s, I have it, I got it a day before they shut it off 5 years ago.
I’m tired of explaining this, but VST2 vs VST3 is something that doesn’t apply with my synths. Applies with things that have niche functions I don’t use. Anyone who is not using Cubase who thinks “I want this as VST3 because VST3 is better” is suffering from “emperor’s new clothes.”
Sorry if I sound heavy handed, but I’m really tired of busting my ass to make free cool shit and explaining this for a few different side projects, and I provide VST3 on my COMPLETELY FREE VSTs, that are the only easy to use microtonal VSTs that are free and come with over 5000 tuning files and don’t require any downloading or configuring beyond the VST.
I also make the ONLY FREE MICROTONAL VST SAMPLER. And it’s in VST3 and VST2. Free.
I don’t mind if people keep asking this, but I’d love it if even 1% of the people who use my stuff free wrote a review somewhere or shared it somewhere. Everyone just takes, tells me what to do, never donates, and almost never reviews or shares. I’ve even seen videos of people using my VSTs without even mentioning what they are.
You’re more polite than most, as lot of people are more demanding when they ask the question you asked. Dealing with this type of thing is why most people making free (no-cost) software give up after a few years.

 

ON TRYING TO GET PEOPLE TO SAY “XENHARMONIC” INSTEAD OF “MICROTONAL.”

—

(Posted on two Microtonal / Xenharmonic Facebook groups, one here has a lot of comments with all sorts of takes on this)

I see a lot of energy devoted to that here, and elsewhere by people here.
I know the difference, and I know why Xen is more specific, (can be less than 12 per octave, not just more than 12 per octave, plus, who even needs octaves??)

And I know it’s also less based on a reaction to one type of tuning, 12TET. It seems less ethnocentric to say XEN.

I’ve even had people here CORRECT me (!) when I say “Microtonal”, like I’m some noob who doesn’t make Xen music and software. That comes off as welcome as someone proselyting their religion.

I see people trying to force it with the public, but it’s NEVER going to work, in my prediction. It also comes off as nitpicky when the best thing to do is just play the music for people and not worry about their nomenclature as much at first, or the math (unless they’re really into math.)

I taught a bunch of people who don’t play music the difference, tried to get them to say “Xen” or “Xenharmonic” instead of “Microtonal.” But “microtonal” always wins out in what they actually use, in the court of public opinion.

Fighting this is like telling young people not to use their own slang. Actually it’s more like Linux / GNU co-inventor (and GNU License inventor) Richard Stallman. He spends a lot of his time, for decades, sending emails trying to convince the world that they’re wrong, and they need to only ever:

1. Say “Ga-Nu Slash Linux” where they normally say Linux
and
2. “Free Software” doesn’t mean software that doesn’t cost money. It can ONLY means software licensed under the GNU License (or a license with equivalent rights.)

He’s sent several of these emails to me. And I’ve seen dozens of them he’s sent to other people and organizations, and many that he’s published, plus he travels giving talks that are largely about that.

Some high 90s percent of people will always say “free software” for software that costs no money, not for open source software. And some high 90s percent of people will never say “Ga-Nu Slash Linux” instead of “Linux.”

It’s a losing battle to try to get people to use Xenharmonic by telling them to use it, especially by correcting them.

I’m not saying stop using xenharmonic here, and I’m not saying rename the Xenharmonic Alliance.

I’m saying the public doesn’t care and you’re not going to get most people to switch.

Thoughts? (I bet y’all have some, and I bet a lot of people disagree.)

–Michael W. Dean

EDIT: OK, solved. Let’s call it “Micronal.” (not microtonal) This may have been a typo from Steve O’Brien, but I dig it, and it’s one syllable shorter than both microtonal and xenharmonic. lol.