The CD making

Oh what a work on it. Of course to make an easy song and to produce an easy single it's better. Bot when you need to realize a Concept Album and you decide to record it in Dolby, well ... it's another story :)

I just got my album "Karen", that's a Concept Album I recorded initially in Stereo.

Well,I decided to transform it definitively in Dolby, because I'm a great supporter of 3D sound and pictures, so I asked and obtained licenses from Dolby Labs in San Fransisco and I started to realize this.

Well, few people knows that I'm working at my home, I don't have a superstudio or SSL consoles ( at the moment :D perhaps YOU as sponsor of me, will give me those things :D ) or NEVE or Neumann micros and so on.

But I think I have fantasy and I have creativity. I have not clue in what percentage, but surely I have enough to do these operations by myself. And I did them :D

Long long long operations are necessary in order to compile the interleaved file and to work on it especially when the computer is not a performing one with 8 processors and so on, but an old PIV with 1G RAM ... but ok ... every challenge is an occasion to learn more and more ...

I wanted just to point out those things in order to clear out that: inspiration ( the art of the Muse from who we have the word "Music" ), it's not necessarily passioned love or "the wanted to be together" ... but you know ... other people need to be guided through life's Law ... else tehy are not able to make correct distinguishes ;)

Anyway, I'm happy to see that my CD "KAREN" is up and running as I thought ... a bloody CD is now online in http://www.reverbnation.com/tormyvancool ... a dream came true :D

It's not the first work I realized in Dolby ... the real first one is my single "Concert voor Barbara" dedicated to a friend of me: Barbara Carpinelli.

Don't worry: she's not my girl friend and she will be never my girl friend .. not her and not Karen too ... this should be clear. They are beautiful girls inspired me to realize this musicwork.

But while Barbara knows very well this, she's a smart girl too, well Karen is always confused about ... just "normal belgian behavior" ... don't worry, I'm used to this deep-less manner to think, that here in Belgium certain persons have :) :) :)

In this case it's not an audio re-manipulation but it was really made assigning each source to the real horizon. The result is astonishing ... when you listen to it with the HOme Theater, despiting the encoding manner ( Dolby Pro Logic II or Dolby Digital if in DVD or Dolby MLP if in DVD-A ), not only the involvement of the listener and the realism is huge, but even the details of each instrument plaid in the Orchestra is enormously evident.

So that I decided to produce also other two singles:

• "Onbestemde Melancholische Ziel" ( Melancholic Errant Soul )
• "Fractaal Gefluister" ( Fractal Whisper )

with the same technology, and indeed the results are fantastic.

Then I definitely decided to re-mix my single "Tears" ... and now my whole CD "Karen"

The hours employed to work on them are a lot of, but the result pays back :)

The experience was so enthusiastic that from this moment on, I will never produce a "normal stereo" piece anymore.

Don't worry, all the mp3 you have available to purchase ( just 0.99 USD ! Come-on, don't tell me it's too much ;) ) coded in Dolby Pro Logic II, are fully compatible with Stereo.

Do you know one thing ? Well you can easily burn a CD with them and listen to it with your Home Theater ( the 99.9% of them are supporting Dolby Pro Logic II ) and you can enjoy

I hope you will share with me this experience too

Theremin (Termen)

I just discovered this instrument recently. It looks alike a magic one.
it was invented in 1912 by russian Lev Termen, so that the real pronunciation should respect the real name of the inventor. But English language has modified in Theremin.
Lev Termen has realized this magic instrument in a easy way.
It' basically constituted by three oscillators.
The first two are dedicated to pitch generation and the third one to the expression: volume control.
But in what does it ?
Well, basically is a wood box with two antennas. One horizontal and the other vertical ( as the one of your radio ). If you stand up your hand and you get closer to the vertical antenna, there is a sound emitted by a loudspeaker. The pitch of that sound, will be higher and higher directly related with the distance between your hand and the antenna. The closer you are to the antenna, the higher is the pitch and vice versa.
Sound intensity is given by the distance between the other hand and the horizontal antenna.
Lev Termen was thinking to an Orchestral Director. When his hands are going down, this indicates to the musician to fade out or anyway to decrease the sound level. Vice versa, when the hands are going up, it means: get louder.
So that the closer you get to the horizontal antenna, the less loudy sound will be emitted from loudspeaker and vice versa.
Technically, as I told, is very simple. There are for the pitch, two oscillators. The first one fixed n a determined frequency ( typically 160 kHz, well out from audio range ) and a second one that's free and connected to the antenna, and oscillates at the same frequency of the first.
When you move an obstacle ( as your hand for instance ) from/to the antenna, it variates the capacitance. Dielectric is the air between your hand and the antenna. What happens then ? It happens that in the reality, changing the value of the capacitance, you change also the frequency at which the oscillator is working. A very simple circuitry, very similar to the one that is in our AM radio, detects the difference between the fixed oscillator and the variable one, and it give this frequency to a loudspeaker, by an amplifier. Normally that difference falls down in the audio band and we are able to listen to it.
An example. Suppose that both oscillators are working to 160 kHz. so that 160-160=0 and no sound is emitted.
Well, now we get close to the antenna. Capacitance of one of these, will be increased and the frequency of this oscillator diminishes. Suppose that it reach 158 kHz. Then 160-158 = 2 kHz. and a sound closer to higher C ( DO ), that's 1093 Hz = 2.093 kHz is emitted and we ear it very well.
Suppose now that we get a little far away from the antenna, and the variable oscillator produces 159.560 kHz ... calculating the difference we have: 160-159.560 = 0.440 Khz that's means 440 Hz: the main A ( LA ) and so on. Moving continuously the hand toward and backward the antenna, it's possible to change the pitch as a "Glissando". Exercise permit to reach a really good result.
Note that the circuitry calculating the difference, it calculate positive differences between fixed oscillators and variable one. Not vice versa. So that if variable is higher than the variable, no sound is emitted because there is not negative frequency. It cannot be 160-170 = -10 kHz. It doesn't make any sense.
This is the technical explanation, but you can imagine to watch a musician ( Thereminist ) that is producing sound just moving her hands on the air.It looks alike spooky and magic :-)
Intensity ( loud ) of the sound, works almost in the same way. there is only one oscillator connected to a filter.
This oscillator operates almost to the same frequency than the other two but it's not important. When the frequency get closed to the resonance value of the filter, the tension out of the filter is higher than when the oscillator is far away form the resonating filter's frequency.
So that get closer to the horizontal antenna with your hand, frequency will be lower, and more closed to the resonating frequency of the filter. Voltage out from this filter is higher, and polarize a VCA ( Voltage Controlled Amplifier ) that will change the value of the amplification , in this case: it will diminish it. Getting far away from the antenna, it will be obtained the opposite result and the volume will be louder.
A lot of words spent for this magic instrument. Now, the main producer is Moog, the inventor of Synthesizers, but you can easily build it up.
Here you can find it and buy it if you like: CLICK HERE
and here you can watch something magic:
CLICK HERE it's on Youtube
Do you'd like to have the electric diagram of Moog ? Here below there is it

It's not determinant what type of transistor you are using, due the frequency range that is very low. General purposes transistors can be used. Critical points are the inductances. Keep inmind that if the inductance is not the correct oen, you can get some difficulty in the functioning.
Moog is sold also in Kit and it costs a little less, about 66€ less ( today September the 21st 2008 ), it's a good experience

My history with music

Since child, I studied guitar. My Mom was music teacher of Guitar, Accordion and Mouth Harmonica, so that I took some lesson from her.
Well, at the same time I was studying Recorder due school duties. I think it's quite classic. It's the easier instrument for all beginners in order to close them to music.
But passion was increasing. At the same time I'm quite reserved. I mean: I like to do things for my self, alone. I have to reach my goal with my own capabilities. With this characteristics I reached many goals but guys: what a fatigue. I will never suggest to be as I am ;-)
For a while I continue to study music than I stopped for some years, because I was not able to understand very well secrets. then I restarted at 20-22y.o. successfully always for my own. With this choice, I started also some ind of musical workshop, some composition. But it was not what I felt, what I wanted. Later I met a Bassist, as Job colleague, and he gave me the motivation to continue and some good indication. In few weeks I studied functional Harmony and I composed some piece of New-Age. You know, this is my genre, the kind of music that I fee intimally. So that I proceeded further, having strong influences from Pink-Floyd so that: Psychological genre, Jean Michel Jarre, "Il Guardiano del Faro" an italian author that brought for the first time in italy the synthesizer: Moog, and others as Tangerine Dreams and so on.
Of course I have my own style. To have influences doesn't mean: to copy. I have my personality also in music. And challenges never stopped. Once emigrated in Belgium, as hobby I subscribed my self to Music Accadmy ( Conservatory ) and I proceeded further with Violin and Jazz/Blues/Light Music Guitar. I successfully done the first three years in only one, and at the present time I'm proceeding with the fifth year ( AMC ) contemporary to the 8 year ( AMT ).
Why do I tell those things ? Is it just to show that I did it ? No! Absolutely. Music is not Conservatory or only rules. Music is what you feel inside. The expression with notes, of your heart. Then why do I tell those things ? Only to present my self. Nothing else. Just a little fragment of my life. Do am I better of others just because I did this "time compression" in Conservatory ? Absolutely NO. A lot of people are really better than me. Believe me: to be better than me it's not necessary fatigue ;-) I'm just introducing my engagements, my efforts that I employed in order to start an hobby as composer. I have realized many pieces, you can even listen to them here on "myspace" site: http://www.myspace.com/TormyVanCool Of course you can like them or not. It's up to you. But I created with passion. I don't gain any money. Of course I publish my last CD: KAREN, in iTunes, Amazon and others. So that you can tell: ahhhhhh now we see. You are gaining a lot of money ... yes guys ... really a lot of money ... in total I gained 25 USD ... those are the money for Rights :-) in how many days ? Just two months :-D and this thing continues :-) I will never be reach for music. Passion is passion and when is shared with others that appreciate what you are doing: it's reached the goal. I'm interested to this.
Well I will continue my research with music and my experimentations. Of course I really hope ou like it.