Sheet Music and Audio

May 16, 2024  AI Music-from-Text Generator--Google MusicFX

Artificial Intelligence is upon us.  Love it or hate it, it is currently making its mark on the way we live and our world.  Creating and performing beautiful music is no longer in the domain of a gifted few.  Practically anyone can now generate music that is pleasing to the senses.

Click on the Artificial Intelligence (A. I.) link in the left sidebar to listen to some examples in the May 16, 2024 post linked therein.

July 21, 2023 Audio Recordings--School Band and Choir from 60's and 70's.  The following are four concerts recorded in the early sixties and late 70's.  They were performed by the high school band and choir at the school where I worked.

I provided sound equipment--reel-to-reel tape deck and omni-directional microphones--for the Christmas Concert on one occasion.  The master tape(s) were used to make records for the students and community as keepsakes and gifts.  Not many households had reel-to-reel tape recorders, etc. in the 60's and 70's, but most had record players or stereos.  Here's the Link to the folder containing all four concerts:  MHS Band and Choir.  (Click selection to play within each concert folder--audio only).
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Note:  Sixties concert was was monophonic.  Seventies concerts were converted from taped analog stereo to mp3 format.

The Christmas Concert was recorded on reel-to-reel at 15i/s (inches per second).  It is still very crisp and clear after it was converted to mp3 in more recent times.  

Audience noise and shuffle can be heard in the background along with other acoustical flaws that give the listener the feeling they're seated in the school auditorium.

February 20, 2022 Audacity 3.1.3--Free Download.  Here's a free application for recording and manipulating audio.  It can be downloaded for Windows, Mac, and Linux :    Audacity Download.  The manual is also available online:   Audacity Manual.

Audacity has tons of options with many file formats from which to choose.

July 2, 2021  Midi Connectivity--Technology.  I've always been fascinated with pianos.  We had one in our home when I was growing up but never made an effort to learn how to play it.

My first electronic keyboard was purchased at Davy B's Guitar City in the early 70s.  It was a Fender Contempo (organ) and had a selection of voices changed by flipping switches above the keys.  It predated midi and micro computers.  This was back in the day when rock bands like Three Dog Night frequently featured the organ.  I wanted to be able to produce that sound.  Here's what I'm referring to--watch the video Easy to be Hard on YouTube; and also from YouTube, House of the Rising Sun, performed by The Animals, part of a compilation called Music from the Vietnam War beginning at the 22:47 mark in the video.  For some reason mine never sounded that good.  Also, check out the link to UCR's website Ultimate Classic Rock.

The Contempo's keyboard had undersized keys with a section of inverted-colored keys on the left.  Its case and stand were bulky and during the years I played with it, it remained set up and plugged into my stereo amplifier with one dedicated humongous bass speaker.  For fear of blowing out my stereo speakers, they were always disconnected before turning on the Contempo (organ). After my next acquisitions it was stored in a closet for 30 years before giving it away 10 years ago.

The next purchase came shortly after personal computers became popular.  At the time, I owned an Apple II and a couple of years later upgraded to a Franklin Ace and Laser 128  which were Apple Clones for the Apple IIe and IIc, respectively--they had midi in/out ports.  During these years I purchased my first midi keyboard--a Yamaha Porta-Sound bought at Sears in the late 80's.  Its total length was about 30 inches.

After realizing my fingers didn't fit very well, I bought a larger midi compatible Casio keyboard with foot pedal at Radio Shack.  In 1998 I upgraded to another Midi Compatible Yamaha with nearly full-sized keys.  It's sound quality and touch were far superior to previous models.

By 2010 I had worn out the keyboards on both the Casio and Yamaha keyboards and purchased another midi compatible Casio at Best Buy with more keys--finally they were full-sized.  Although its sound quality and touch isn't as good as the Yamaha's, it does everything I need (See photos at the bottom of this page).  Its key action has improved over the years.  For really good sound and touch, I'll use the old upright piano in the living room.

Instruments