Hexaphonic Guitar System: 1

I finally found a sixth Lexicon MPX-G2, so I was able to complete my hexaphonic guitar system!

Back around 1977, I read an article in Guitar Player magazine about, "hex fuzz." The amazing advantage to hexaphonic distortion is that you can play complex harmonies without them turning into dissonant mush. It sounds like several guitars playing in harmony instead of just one. The problem back then was that the solid state overdrive circuits were primitive, and so they sounded very cheesy. The idea stuck with me, however, and when MPX-G2's started coming down in price, I realized that with six of them and the RMC Breakout Box, I could finally make a high quality hexaphonic system. I started collecting them about four years ago, and it's taken me this long to find six nice units. This post will be about how I put the system together.

To do it right, you need a lot of cables of the correct length.

I needed seven foot long and two foot A/C cords, twelve two foot patch cables, ten 6' guitar cables, and six 1' MIDI patch cables.

Then, of course, a half-dozen MPX-G2's. The original list price for these was $2,400.00, so that's $14,400.00 worth of Lexicons at the original price!

I put the units in an 8U SKB rack with a Furman AR-1215 power conditioner on the bottom, and an Ashly LX308B stereo mixer on top. The Ashly is very cool, because it has 8 channels, each of which has left and right inputs.

The first step is to install the A/C cables. Everything goes down the left to the bottom of the rack, so they will be away from the patch cables: Less chance for noise.

Then the MIDI patch cables. Every THRU goes to the next unit's IN. That way, a single MPX-R1 remote can change programs on all of them at the same time!

And now, the 12 audio cables. See how nice and neat this is? The audio cables are away from the A/C cables, so it will be nice and quiet.

Here's the entire system, powered up. The next step was to dump all of the programs from the stereo unit on the top to the hexaphonic units below. I got my first MPX-G2 in 1999, so I've been tweaking those programs for almost 15 years now!

Ta da! The dump from unit one to units two through seven went off without a hitch. Now all of the Lexicons have the same programs in them.

Tomorrow, I'll connect the hex rack to the Lexicon FW810s FireWire recording interface, and the Breakout box, and I'll be able to start modifying the programs to add distortion. That's done in the preamp section, so this could take a while.

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Guitar Mania

Sorry for the slow pace of posting, but I'm meticulously working out my new recording setup to include the Synclavier and Hexaphonic guitar. It's coming along great, but I need one more Lexicon MPX-G2 to finish it.

In the mean time, I've been getting more guitars to experiment with. First up is an open headstock version of the Blackbird Rider Nylon guitar with an RMC Polydrive.

The open headstock looks more, "normal" and makes it easier to string the guitar. Mostly I just wanted a viable backup though.

Then, out of the blue, my friend Jim Kozel made a Rider Nylon with the new GrapTech Ghost system. He decided it wasn't for him, so I bought it.

Unlike with the Polydrive, all the controls are on the guitar. The sound is also radically different from the Polydrive. Not sure which I prefer yet, but it is nice to have something different that will also work with the hexaphonic system and the Synclavier.

I really hope an MPX-G2 shows up on eBay next month so I can get to sorting the hex system out.

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The Synclavier Has Arrived

So psyched. The Synclavier arrived at about 9:30 this morning, and it took me over an hour to unpack the pallet it came on and then get the stuff in the house. I was exhausted and drenched in sweat by the time I was done, so I took a shower and a break and then set the installation up. The Synclavier works fine, but unfortunately, it seems the old Mac G4 can't run my 17" Studio Display. Pity, as the size is perfect. As a result, I ordered an ASUS 19" flat screen VGA monitor, which will be here in a few days.

As I said before, that's the only Ferrari Racing Red - technically called Rosso Corsa - Synclavier keyboard ever made. I feel extremely fortunate to have ended up with it.

Exactly the same as my car. HA!

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It Is Coming

There is only one Ferrari Racing Red Synclavier keyboard in. the. world. Made for a famous studio in LA. Fitting that I should end up with it, since I'm, "The Ferrari Guy" in my neighborhood.

The system should be here in a coupe of weeks. Can't wait. I have felt incomplete these past five years without one.

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Fuga Electronica

I haven't much to post right now, but there are many irons in the fire. John Hill of Synhouse is testing my Synclavier, so I should have that next month sometime, and I also have another Rider Nylon guitar in final build too, so July ought to rock.

After finishing the Ricercare for Orchestra I realized I had enough pieces for an album. I had collected most of the fugues in a folder called, Fuga da Camara - Chamber Fugues - but realized I could do an electronic album with them on the Synclavier now. Hiring classical musicians to record them would cost a fortune - I'd basically need an orchestra and all the chamber groups they could form - but with the Synclavier, I can do it all myself as a purely electronic album. Besides, combining the geekiest form of composition with the geekiest synth of. all. time. will be something unique. So, I'm going to call it, Fuga Electronica and it will have the following nine pieces:

01] Alegro: Four-Voice Sonata-Fugue in E Minor (Orig. Guitar Duo), 2011 - 3:00

02] Lament: Three-Voice Sinfonia in D Minor (Orig. String Trio), 1990 - 3:30

03] Valse Macabre: Three-Voice Fugue on a Tone-Row (Orig. Wind Trio), 1995 - 3:00

04] Andante: Four-Voice Fugue in F Minor (Orig. String Quartet), 1994 - 5:00

05] Jubilate: Four-Voice Ricercare in F Major (Orig. Wind Quartet), 2006 - 6:30

06] Scherzo Comico: Three-Voice Fugato in D Minor (Orig. Chamber Orchestra), 2005 - 1:00

07] Allegretto: Three-Voice Fugue in A Minor (Orig. Solo Guitar), 2005 - 2:00

08] Adagio: Five-Voice Ricercare in A Minor (Orig. Symphony Orchestra), 2013 - 10:00

09] Finale: Free-Voiced Ricercare in E Minor (Orig. Solo Guitar), 2007 - 5:00

Total Time: 39:00

So basically, a nine movement electronic symphony or, A Symphony of Fugues, which might make a good subtitle.

Long before I became a virtuoso composer of counterpoint, I was a virtuoso Synclavier programmer who created electronic music like this piece called Fractals (MP3). In that, all of the sounds and effects were created by me (Except, I think, the church bell), and all you're hearing is a 32 voice stereo additive/FM Synclavier: No reverb, no chorus, no compression, nothing. So, I'm going to do this treatment with my "new" Synclavier and nine of the fugues I've written.

I love how there are circular and cyclical aspects to musical evolution. I really thought something would come along to replace the Synclavier for me, but it never happened. So, back to the beginning!

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Kazuhito Yamashita: Dvorak Symphony No. 9 "From the New World"

I've been meaning to post this for a couple of months, but got absorbed by the Ricercare for Orchestra.

A reader has alerted me that there is a copy for download at the Scribd site:

Dvorak, Symphony No. 9 "From the New World" Transcribed by Kazuhito Yamashita

Scribd is $9.00 per month, and I haven't explored it yet, but it's sure nice to have this transcription after wanting it for so many years. If anyone out there knows where Yamashita's transcriptions of Firebird and Pictures at an Exhibition are, please contact me because I'm looking for those too.

UPDATE: 06/04/13. Yamashita's transcription of Pictures and an Exhibition is also on Scribd:

Mussorgsky, Pictures at an Exhibition, transcribed by Kazuhito Yamashita

Alas, Stravinsky's Firebird Suite is not there, and that's the one I want the most (Figures).

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Ricercare in A Minor for Orchestra

I couldn't leave this piece alone for the past several days, so I got the orchestration done. I'm not going to go through many of the compositional elements again, so if you want to know about the compositional processes, just read the two posts previous to this one. Here, I'm just going to mention a few things about the orchestration, and otherwise let the piece speak for itself.

The previous version was v2.0 and this one is v2.4: v2.1 was just the cut-and-paste of the sting parts into the winds and brass, v2.2 I added rests to the winds and brass, v2.3 I added articulations, and 2.4 I added dynamics (I don't need much in the way of dynamics for a fugue, as it is a stately and restrained type of thing). I like to do it this way, because it is like sculpting the sound: The strings are the background, the winds and strings add depth to that, and then the rests, articulations and dynamics turn the sound into something akin to a musical version of a topographical relief map.

Traditionalists will hate the way I set the score up, but I came into orchestration after years of composing electronic music, and there are no transposing instruments with MIDI; every instrument is just a timbre to me. The score is also set up non-traditionally, as I like every section to be a reflection of the strings, in the same order (No horns above the trumpets), and with the same clefs. It should be obvious that I do this to facilitate the cut-and-paste approach I use. Since I don't have an orchestra, it doesn't really matter anyway. If someone wanted to perform it, I'd prepare a traditional score (But you'd have to PAY ME to do that. lol).

Here's todays MIDI to MP3 of the music: Ricercare in A Minor for Orchestra

I've learned the setup details for my MIDI2MP3 program, so the quality is way better now. It really is a wonderful convenience.

For the exposition, I use a very conservative approach with just the winds doubling the appropriate string parts in unison. In the brass, I was considering a soprano saxophone for the top part, and it goes up to the highest note on that instrument, but the soprano sax sound font was horrible, so I used a piccolo trumpet instead, and I like this solution a lot. See how every section is a reflection of the string section? This has always seemed like the most logical way to do it, to me. If I had more MIDI channels, I would have a saxophone section too, but strictly for auxiliary sounds and with a much tighter range: Soprano, alto, tenor, and baritone. That way you could keep them in their sweet spots, and there is already enough in the bass and contrabass octaves. I will regain this ability, by the way, when I get my next Synclavier: It has 128 MIDI channels!

Here is the rest of the exposition, presented without commentary.

Now that the exposition is over, we have tutti strings and winds here in the second episode statement...

... as well as the interlude.

Then the middle entries - or the development area: Fugal and sonata terminology has kind of merged in my mind - start off with an unaccompanied duet between oboe and clarinet. Since I have two of each, I may mark this as a soli section and have them trade off so they don't tire.

The flutes then enter to make it a trio, but the clarinet is poised to drop out after the pedal (Another reason for soli: That will take quite a bit of wind).

Now the bassoon enters, and when the augmented statements begin, the strings reenter.

When the doubly-augmented statements begin, the winds bow out.

That leaves the strings to play the doubly-augmented statements by themselves.

When the augmented statements reenter, so do the winds.

And then, with the return of the doubly-augmented fragments that prove the three-voice perpetual canon, they exit again, and the stage is set for the brass.

Having the tuba begin the brass entries is nice and dramatic.

When the next series of thematic statements begin, the winds reenter and things are huge and solid sounding.

I ran out of instruments: The entry in the contrabass octave that begins in measure one-hundred-twelve has no new sound associated with it, but that is the only one; things worked out almost perfectly.

So, when the episode and interlude return, it is tutti for all voices playing. This sounds magnificent.

For the recapitulation/five-voice perpetual canon, the brass start things without accompaniment, and with the piccolo trumpet starting things off, it ought to be very dramatic live. Unfortunately, the trumpet sound font I had to use sounds pinched up there, but the rest of the brass sound great, considering that they are a sound font set.

When the augmented versions start, the stings come back with them.

And when the second set of original subjects begin, the winds come back.

So we have a complete orchestral tutti for the first time here for the ending. Those next augmented statements beginning in one-hundred-forty-six do not require new sounds, because they are incomplete statements.

As I said, I don't think a lot of dynamics are required for this, but for the ostinato that begins in the contrabass octave at measure one-hundred-fifty, I do use sforzati. This gives a driving wallop for the ending.

And so there you have it. Everything ends on five octaves of pure tonic.

Whatever kind of piece you are orchestrating, you need both logical tactics, and a logical strategy. Fugues are relatively easy in this regard, actually, because there aren't really an unlimited number of possibilities. Basically, whenever a subject statement appears, you want it to get a new sound, or be in a new texture. That's your strategy. And then the tactics are the use of the various choirs to provide the variety that logic dictates. It only took me three or four days to do this one, since I didn't have to agonize over a plethora of possibilities. It just naturally fell into place.

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