Highly successful musical instruments are never orphans; they are always part of a musical family, with different sizes, features and, of course, price: think of the guitar, violin and saxophone families. Players need a wide variation in price and power, of size and portability. Thus it’s not surprising to see a very new, but promising musical instrument, Dualo’s original du-touch, already diversifying into an instrument family.
Here are my tentative thoughts about the Dualo du-touch, and how I feel the forthcoming “S” model shows the growth of the concept.
A belated happy birthday
The first du-touch burst onto the French musical scene just a year and a bit ago. Developed and promoted by young musical visionaries who wisely began without traditional marketing. So far this instrument has been totally ignored, as far as I can tell, by the conventional musical establishment ((who have a tough time even understanding how the du-touch works)). But, its très-cool features are getting noticed. I gather it is growing rapidly in popularity among young, innovative amateur musical circles in France.
I’ve had a Dualo for a year, and it is plainly one serious instrument. In fact, I contend it has established the features that all new alternative musical instruments must have; Dualo has set a new standard.
Challenging for traditional musicians
I think the Dualo’s unique keyboard layout is the hardest thing for conventional musicians to understand. Conventional keyboard layouts extend in a straight line (ignoring the accidentals), with the notes numbered 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 etc., which is considered a simple Fact of Music. The inventor of the “dualo principle”, Jules Hotrique, realized it need not be so. You can have a split keyboard with the right hand playing the “odd” notes of the scale 1, 3, 5, 7, etc., and the left hand playing the “even” notes: 2, 4, 6, 8, etc. ( For example, C, E, G, B and D, F, A, C, respectively). Sharps and flats are placed next to each note, so that for example, changing a major to a minor chord requires a very small finger movement. See: The dualo principle
How is the Dualo’s layout an advantage?
First, it is ergonomic; the player’s fingers are near every note needed in a wide range.
The two "shapes" needed to play
Second, alternating “odd” and “even” musical patterns (progressions) are common in music; when hands can alternate as the chords alternate, music is easier (in theory anyway) to learn and play.
Third, he jiggered the layout so that it is consistent no matter what key one is in; it’s like having an automatic capo in a guitar.
Given these advantages, I believe this new layout will prove faster to play than a conventional keyboard. Musical skill takes time to build, but I’m confident we’ll start seeing real speed and accuracy among some obsessive dualists in 2 or 3 years. The new layout also gives the player an unconventional look at music, which should lead to musical innovation.
But the layout’s main advantage, in my opinion, is still that it is a lot easier for the novice to get started: dualo-principle chord progressions are very easy to learn. Also, since the du-touch is built around music theory, with consistently-shaped chord patterns, this instrument is a lot easier to do impromptu jamming and composing on.
“Conventional” features done better
The du-touch has other excellent musical and physical innovations. It is lighter and more portable than a guitar, with a unique, très-cool shape; lighted keys are hypnotically eye-catching and greatly help in learning the instrument; it has a diverse and quite decent built-in synth, enough to satisfy even Lady Gaga; it has accessible pitch-bend, tone-mod, volume and speed change functions. The only thing lacking wireless is output.
Now, a few other instruments have these features, but they are generally poorly implemented, either as gimmicks or add-on-functions a long distance from the keyboard. The Dualo’s inventors designed its features to be accessible during play.
Elegant simplicity
The Dualo du-touch also has some subtler features to help new musicians: a decent metronome, a quantizer, 3-D tilt sensors and reachable slider bars. The first two features help novices play music well right from the start, and the latter two give novice (and expert) players ways to show off.
The ability to save and share songs instantly is innovative too. If you pass your new song to your band-mate, she will learn the song quickly because her du-touch illuminates the keys to play.
The killer feature: looping
The most significant innovation is kind of subtle: the loop button has been placed so that it can be used seamlessly during play. Loops can be stored (with quantization to smooth out play), started and switched at a thought. Even I, possibly the worst wannabe musician in the world, can use this feature reasonably well.
IMNSHO, the du-touch’s intelligently integrated looping controls, combined with its other innovations, give the novice player a big leg up to performance. There is no need to practice the instrument for years before standing on the stage. Most people would only need to develop a sense of rhythm over a few months and the du-touch will help.
From orphan to family, from rugged to portable: the “S” model makes sense
Cute
There is one little problem; young musicians don’t typically have much money; the du-touch’s €990 is a trifle steep for starving students. A less expensive model should sell well. Further, I expect players will progress to bigger models as they grow in skill, perhaps keeping their lighter model for special use. I suspect a cheaper S-model will increase, over time, sales of the bigger model.
Families are stronger
It’s strange that introducing a cheaper model might make the original more valuable, but that’s how families work.
I wonder how long it will take the current crop of dualists to reach the limits of the large du-touch and demand a Dualo du-touch Grande. :)
Choral shells: Improving the sound of your choir through means fair or foul. Part 2 of 3
Wherein I pass on a bit of hard-won lore
Background
In a posting a few years back, I explained how constructing choral shells helped my show chorus. We found the shells helped our choir better hear their mates on the risers. We think they also project a clearer sound to our audience.
Here, at long last, are three postings explaining how to build the shells we made. Here are the posting contents:
Making a choral shell out of your riser Recommended first step: easy to do, actually speeds your riser setup, and looks very professional. We set ours up at every performance. Details are given in this posting.
Making an upper choral shell – this posting This exotic-looking setup gives a pure, unified choral sound. Downside: it’s more work to build and set up. However, you may try out a small version to see if it is effective and practical for your group. Herein I give a design for a small, 16-foot shell that can be expanded, and hint at how to build a smaller, quartet-sized one.
Simulating a choral shell with choral microphones – a planned posting The Maple Leaf Singers switched to this (and dropped the upper choral shell) because we:
Found relatively inexpensive, good choral, microphones
Have a mixer with spare channels, monitors and house speakers
Are able to store them compactly and deploy them quickly
Can dynamically adjust our sound while performing; our technician can, for example, boost a section’s sound to balance the sound
Making an upper choral shell for the upper-riser singers or a small group of singers or players
Overview
The plastic sheet material used to make signs (brand name Coroplast [I actually used Hi-Core]) is inexpensive, reflects sound surprisingly well, is light and easily curved. Better yet, it can be quickly curved with invisible fishing line into a focused sound reflector and un-curved in an instant for storage.
So far, so good. The only trick then, is to get this big reflector into place behind the performers and eliminate any features that might distract the audience.
Right: Instant sound reflector. Thin white strings and a red plastic sheet were used to create this small demo.
First, we need to join sheets together. Luckily, plastic sheets can be easily and temporarily stuck together with “hook and loop fastener” a.k.a. Velcro. to make bigger structures.
Right: This stuff has very high sheer strength: even with just 4 square inches of Velcro, I could not pull the two sheets apart.
To allow the upper shell to be held up behind the performers, a light wooden brace (batten) is added and attached to the plastic with yet more Velcro. The batten can be suspended from the stage rigging, or held up by microphone stands or a purpose-built stand. Below is the way the first, experimental section looked in my living room, suspended from the high ceiling. [To the side is my long-suffering wife, who is wisely ignoring the whole process]
and here's how it looks assembled on stage.
How does the upper shell help?
The lower shell described in this post benefits the singers and audience in several ways, but much sound is still lost.
Adding an curved upper shell further increases sound between performers, sends sound to the audience, and more audience sound comes back to the performers.
As an added bonus, the upper choral shell's clean white panels look good.
Downsides to the upper shell:
Quite vulnerable to being knocked over by a breeze, so can’t be used outdoor
Plastic sheets are translucent, so some stage lighting will shine through.
Takes appreciable extra time to setup, unlike the riser-covering shell described in the previous posting.
What’s needed to create a 16-foot shell
We need a system that can be easily set up in just minutes, yet can be collapsed and stored easily.
I’ll show you how to use a pair of 8’ X 4’panels, making a 16-foot reflector shell. to see how if you like the effect.
This design can be easily extended to 20, 24, 28 or 32 feet as shown below. We even tried a double-level shell.
Material
About 2 packs of white 15' X 2“ wide 'industrial' Velcro (or equivalent) $ 46 Note: the hook and loop structure varies - stick with a single brand.
White Coroplast or equivalent 4’ X 8’ sheets, 2 sheets $ 36
The strongest fishing line you can find – 40 lb test or so. $ 10
4 sanded 8’ X 1” x 3/4” wood slats - check for straightness $1.60 ea. $ 8
Box of #8 1-1/2” wood screws $ 11
Some 1 ¼” nails
Bottle of white glue to re-enforce the batten $ 5
Red and Black Felt making pens
* prices at my local hardware store Total Cost: ~$115
Tools
Sharp utility knife to cut plastic –optional
Scissors to cut tape
4’ straight-edge and measuring tape
Cloths and strong grease-removing cleanser for cleaning Coroplast plastic sheets
Cordless drills with drill bits to drill holes in batten for screws, and to drill in the screws
drill bits: 1/8" bit to pre-drill h0les for #10 screws and a 1/32" bit for fishing-line holes
Procedure overview
Steps to creating an upper choral shell
String fishing line through the sheets so they can be adjustably curved and un-curved
Apply Velcro so that the sheets can be reversibly linked together
Create an easily-assembled batten
Apply Velcro to the batten and sheets so that your batten can stick tightly to the sheets
Put together the whole shell assembly
“Flying” the assembly, either from the ground, or from the stage rigging
Mark the assembly for easy rebuild, then disassemble and store it
Step 1: Set up the sheets to be reversibly and adjustably curved
[] Here we just put some holes in the sheets, put fishing lines through the holes, tying the lines snugly, and then set up Velcro tabs to allow the fishing line to curve the Coroplast as desired.
Put some holes in the sheets: 2" from the top, 6" and 36" from the corner. Use a 1/32" bit.
String fishing lines through the holes.
Tie the lines snugly in the back – suggest using needle-nosed pliers and a barrel knot.
Make Velcro tabs to allow the fishing line to curve the Coroplast as desired:
Put a Velcro hook tab on the line
Clean off the sheet where the Velcro will go, then place a strip of loop tab on the sheet in the right spot to curve the sheet
Adjust the curve: with a partner at the other end of a sheet, curve the sheet to the right amount, and make sure there are strips of loop Velcro in the right place to curve the sheet evenly.
You will have a sheet that can be adjustably bent. (Don't bend it too much!: it will crease permanently).
Step 2: Apply Velcro so that the sheets can be reversibly stuck together
Put the sheets on clean ground, face-down, so that you are working on the back side of the sheets
Cut 6” strips of 2” wide white “loop” Velcro, apply in three points: top, middle and bottom sides. The intent is to use the Velcro to pull the adjoining sheets together tightly at the critical top, middle and bottom edges.
Cut 6” long strips of Velcro hook-side tape and do not take off the backing. These strips will be used to pull the sheets together. Stick them on the look Velcro on the sheets for storage.
Put the sheets aside temporarily.
Step 3: Create an easily-assembled batten
The batten is assembled from two pieces of wood, offset by 6”, this makes for a very light, straight (the two pieces can straighten each other) wooden back that can easily be screwed into adjacent sections, using the 6” overlap.
Making a batten section
Here's the steps to make a section.
Check that the pieces are the same length, all 8’ long and sound.
Mark off 6” from the end.
Overlap the wood pieces, offset by 6", as shown, to make an “L” beam.
Be aware that the 3-D shape you are making has a handedness – make them all with the same overlap shape!
Lay a line of glue down on the join; this will make the L-beam quite strong
Nail or screw the pieces together enough to hold snugly together until the glue dries, and so that you can work with the batten
Make the batten end-stubs – take one batten and cut it in half at the exact middle these will be the end
Fit the batten sections together, overlapping the 6” offset sections, as shown to the right.
Note that you will have 2 end pieces that are not interchangeable;: there will be a stage-left and a stage-right version.
Drill screw-holes in the 6” overlap section, so that they can be screwed together.
I made a piece of wood with pre-drilled holes, used it as a drilling guide to make sure all the screw holes were in identical places, so the battens were inter-changeable. The guide also saved time measuring and marking drill holes.
Joining the batten sections together
After all this setup, the battens can be screwed together in just minutes.
Step 4: Apply Velcro to the batten and sheets so that your batten can be reversibly stuck to the sheets
Lay the sheets together, ends aligned, face-down on the clean ground – you will be kneeling on the sheets.
Put the batten together and determine on the sheets where it will run. I suggest 2/3rds of the way: 32" from the bottom. Mark a line to follow, and put 6” strips of loop Velcro on the sheet every 2’ along the line. Put the complementary hook Velcro on the batten in matching points. Trim off any extra Velcro from the batten.
Drill 3/8” holes in the batten top-bar, so that suspension wires and hooks can be run through the batten.
Step 5: Assemble the whole shell assembly
To assemble the choral shell – several people needed.
Lay the sheets on the ground.
Take the 12” “hook” strips you previously prepared and stick them to straddle the gap between sheets, over the loop Velcro placed on the top, middle and bottom edges. Pull the hook tape tight. The sheets should be held together without a gap.
Put the batten on the sheets, sticking the Velcro on the batten to the sheet.
Important! – Get a black and red permanent maker and mark all screw-points in red circles and the placement in black letters; e.g. “Stage Left”, “Section A1”, “A1 to A2 join”, “Section A2””, “Stage Right”
==> Make sure anyone in the chorus can re-assemble the shell.
Try it out
Lift up the assembly.
Pull on the fishing line tabs to curve the sheets, and adjust the curve until you are happy.
Congratulations – your upper choral shell is ready to fly.
Step 6A: “Fly” the assembly – from the ground
You should be able to suspend the choral shell assembly using 2 microphone stands for each section. Put a 1" hook about 18' from the ends of the batten sections, and arrange something in the top of the microphone stand to hook into. I used tape. It was inelegant, but worked.
Each microphone stand needs a heavy weight, ideally a theatre saddlebag, to hold it in place.
Step 6B: Or “fly” the assembly – From the stage rigging
Safety first – check with your stage hands and follow their advice. They may want to be doubly safe and screw the shell to it's batten. You may want to bring some white tape to cover the screws.
Step 7: Disassemble and store the upper choral shell
Detach the choral shell from the rigging – several people may be needed. Hold up the unit by the batten, with the sheets upright
Un-curve the sheets
Pull off the velcro that binds one sheet to the adjacent sheet (store this velcro by sticking it to the left end of each sheet)
Pull one sheet at a time from the batten
When all sheets have been pulled off, put the batten on the floor
Unscrew the sections of batten, but don’t unscrew the screws all the way out; leave them for the next assembly
Tape the batten together with duct tape or bungee cord for carrying and storage
So how does it SOUND?
Here’s a rough list to what to expect, sound-wise.
If you have a 4-row or five-row setup, the 3 upper rows should hear each other noticeably better.
The director should hear the group better: he/she will stop bugging you to sing louder.
The biggest effect we noticed was the people on each end could hear each other, e.g. our altos could hear our sopranos and vice-versa. Not surprising: this upper choral shell roughly doubles again the sound energy going from end to end on the risers.
For the audience, the sound should not seem that much louder as clearer. the direct improvement should be just noticeable. As with adding the lower shell, the choral shell will stop sound leaking back-stage, and creating a muddy reflection off the back of the theatre. The two effects combined should make a significant difference.
As a consequence of point 4 above, the black choral shell seems to make the room more cosy.
As a consequence of all these "little" improvements, you should sing better; more in pitch; more in sync, with less strain.
Contact Me
I hope this helps your chorus. If it does, please let us know. Comments are appreciated. If it does not, then we really need to know! Please send details to MusicScienceGuy.
If you have just a quartet, a single-sheet shell, with an upper and lower sections should do the trick. With a single sheet, you don’t need a batten, just a sheet that can be curved as described in the “Set up the sheets to be reversibly and adjustably curved” section below. You then need to suspend it and use Velcro to fasten the upper sheet to the lower.
Another, probably better way, would be to place the sections on end - then they can rest on the ground, and will be more stable.
I used 2 sturdy microphone stands for this demo. Note the weight I put on the legs.
Improving the sound of your choir through means fair or foul Part 1 of 3
In a posting long ago, I explained how we of the Maple Leaf Singers made choral shells to help us better hear our riser-mates, and project a clearer sound to our audience. Here, at long last, are details on how to do make your own.
I have broken this advice into three parts:
Making a choral shell out of your risers;this posting. This is the recommended first step: it’s easy to do, actually speeds your riser setup, and looks very professional. See below for the details.
Making an upper choral shell. See Here This is more exotic, but is possible to try out a small version to see if it is effective for your group.
Simulating a choral shell with choral mikes. (another planned posting) We (The Maple Leaf Singers) switched to this technique because : 1) Very good choral mics recently became available at a reasonable price 2) They are more portable than choral shells and can be set up in minutes, in many venues 3) Our sound can be dynamically adjusted during a performance
How to make your choir’s risers into a choral shell
A choral shell covers our riser
"Choral-shelling" a riser is easy to do, actually speeds your riser setup (if you currently use black curtains), and the clean black panels look quite spiffy, as show on the right and above.
This change is also quite easy to try out before committing:
Buy 4 plastic sheets when you have an on-riser practice;
Put them on the riser and try songs or phrases with or without the sheets leaning on the risers
If you don't like the effect, or don't hear much difference, take the sheets back
What’s needed to cover a thirty-foot (7 - 8 sections) riser
Material
About 45 feet of black, 3/4“ wide Velcro (or equivalent), sticky-back, $75
Black Coroplast or equivalent 4’ X 8’ sheets, qty 4 $100
Optional: if you have a end-railings (We made ours) get an extra sheet
45 feet of high-quality 3/4” black vinyl tape, e.g. 3M $30
10 feet of duct tape (optional: to mark back of plastic sheet) $5
Optional: more sheets & tape for the riser-steps Total Cost: ~$200-$250
Tools
Sharp utility knife to cut plastic
Scissors to cut tape
4’ straight-edge and measuring tape
Cloths and strong grease-removing cleanser for cleaning the risers and plastic sheets
Procedure
The plastic sheets go on the inside of the riser railing, not behind. As sheets can overlap we don’t need an exact fit. The reflecting sheets are stuck to the riser with Velcro. Here's how to set it up:
Set up full riser.
Prepare and apply Velcro tape to inside of riser railings.
Clean off, with strong detergent, the upper bar of the riser railings, on the inside (forward-facing side); it will likely have a bit of grease from hands or manufacture
Apply the soft-feeling loop side Velcro tape to the railing, pressing down firmly for several seconds. It should lock in place like it has been glued.
Why put the loop-side on the railing?: it feels a lot better than the "hook" side.
Cut, prepare and trim black plastic sheets
Put a plastic sheet on the riser and check how high you want it to come up – we chose about an inch higher. Note: we put the raw panels up and came to a consensus; this approach worked well.
Trim the sheets to this height. I think we trimmed off 5” or so, ending up 43” high. Save the trimmed plastic – it may be useful for covering the steps.
Take the black vinyl tape and tape along and over the edge that you want to be the top edge to smooth it. The top riser people will thank you: the idea is to prevent “paper” cuts.
Cut the sheets exactly in half: 4’ wide, so that the sheets can be stacked, carried and stored.
The corners will be sharp! Trim off round these corners a half-inch or so with a knife or scissors and put a bit of tape over them.
Prepare and apply Velcro tape to sheets.
Rest the sheets on the riser railing, top up, and decide which side will be the front. (Often there will be marks or price & UPC labels on one side).
The sheets may be dusty and may have grease on them. Clean off the dust and grease at the height of the Velcro strip that you have put on the riser.
Cut up the “hook” side (prickly feeling) Velcro tape into squares (long strips are not needed), and apply to the plastic sheet, back side, at the same height as the velcro on the railing, pressing the velcro onto the plastic firmly for several seconds. It should lock in place tightly. I suggest that you put the squares in about 1 inch in from the edge, one in the centre and two midway between the centre and the edge squares, You don’t need a lot of Velcro; if you use too much the plastic panels will be too hard to pull off the risers.
Cut squares of the loop Velcro and apply two squares on the front side of the panels, at the same spot as the two velcro squares near the edge on the back side. These extra squares are so that the plastic panels stack and stick together and are easy to carry and store; without this modification, the sheets slide like a deck of Teflon-coated cards.
Make the sheets easy to orient and mount
Finally, mark the back top of the panels with two 10”-long strips of duct tape arranged in the shape of an upside-down “V” (it will point out the top end). This shaves seconds off of riser setup time.
Test it out.
The appearance should be good
It should be faster to put up the sheets that it was to put up black curtains.
Last of all, try out a few songs with and without the panels in place.
Acoustically there should be a fairly slight to modest improvement for the top risers, more for the middle risers and more yet for the bottom riser and floor singers. Sound travels around people better than one would think.
I’d love it if someone could enlist a test “audience” to see what the change in sound is like. Ideally, blindfold the testers, but I expect this is asking for too much scientific rigor :) .
More: if you have end-railings (we made a pair) add plastic sheets to them too. They are more work to cut out but the effect is strong (think of them as sound-mirrors); creating an effect like adding 3 to 6 extra singers.
Adding panels to the steps
A surprising amount of recoverable sound escapes through the riser steps, as shown right.
This is a lot of lost sound, equivalent to a couple of 4X8' sheets! Further, sound lost under the steps is not lost, it bounces off the walls farther back in your venue and muddies the sound.
For this reason, and because putting those little curtains on the steps is a time-consuming pain, I recommend also putting sheets over the gaps between steps. About 2-3 extra panels are needed.
As you might expect, this is very similar to putting plastic sheets to the rise railings, with some important differences:
It’s important to never introduce a tripping hazard: panels must never stick up above the step and ideally should be ½ inch below the step level
The panels must be cut to 4 different lengths, to match the riser widths at each level.
Make sure the corners are well rounded and the panels have no rough spots.
Make a couple of extra step cover panels for each size; this removes the need to hunt for the last matching panel.
Use blue vinyl tape (easy for the mounting person to see) to round the top of the panels. The blue is not visible from the audience, but is easy to position correctly.
It’s not hard to mount the panels on the matching riser steps, but it requires a bit of practice. You need a set of applicators that know what to do and can train newbies.
Introducing the new choral shell
The first time you introduce the panels, have everyone practice once before a show. The application technique is not hard to learn, but requires practice without a deadline.
The applicators must be told that the panels have to match the steps. (It’s surprising how many people take a long time to notice the size differences; those that don’t get very confused and frustrated).
The applicators must be aware of the importance of keeping the top edge of the panel below the step.
Safety first
A designated riser setup safety person should double-check the risers to make sure everything is set up, especially that the step-panels do not stick up above the step.
Once everyone was in the habit of setting up the shell, we found it was quick and easy.
Results
After all that work, you'll receive the biggest un-compliment of all; your audience won't notice any of your handiwork. It should be totally "part of the background".
Here’s a rough list to what to expect, sound-wise.
If you have a 4-row or five-row setup, the lower rows should hear each other noticeably better.
The director should hear the lower riser people better: whatever groups are on the top level will be asked to sing louder
The biggest effect we noticed was the people on each end could hear each other, e.g. our altos could hear our sopranos and vice-versa. Not surprising: this choral shell roughly doubles the sound energy going from end to end on the risers.
For the audience, the sound should not seem that much louder - the direct improvement should be just noticeable. However, the choral shell will stop sound leaking back-stage, and creating a muddy reflection off the back of the theatre. The two effects combined should make a difference.
As a consequence of point 4 above, the black choral shell seems to reduce the variation in the quality of the performance venue: a poor venue does not sound as bad to us.
As a consequence of all these "little" improvements, you shouldsing better; more in pitch; more in sync, with less strain.
Contact Me
I hope this helps your chorus. If it does, please let us know. Comments are appreciated. If it does not, then we really need to know! Please send details to MusicScienceGuy.
Recently a call went forth for super-brief "elevator pitches" about global warming. I am no expert, but have followed the science, events and drama for more than 20 years. Here goes my stab at slimming the topic to the core:
Earth's Blanket back then
The Earth has an invisible secret: we are covered with a very effective, very warming blanket. This blanket is our atmosphere, and it contains a crucial ingredient; thin heat-trapping gases. These so-called “greenhouse” gases are dilute; just 1 part per thousand. Without this insulation warming us the Earth would average a chilly -18 °C. The blanket warms our planet up by an amazing 33 °C.
Here’s the problem: we are steadily making the blanket much thicker. Compared to a century or so ago, our air now contains over twice (~110% more *) the insulating gases. With steadily increasing insulation over us, the Earth is inevitably heating up, and at an increasing pace.
Now twice the thickness ...
Luckily, the added blanket or two won't double-up the heating by another 33 °C: we'd all be pretty sunk if the Earth were heading for average temperatures above +40 °C. With blankets one naturally gets diminishing returns; the first one gives the most warming, the second one, not so much. Climate scientists have carefully measured, calculated and checked, but blankets, even earth-sized ones, are basically simple. With the gasses added to date they can’t see how Earth can avoid warming by at least 2 - 3 °C. Worse, when we hit blanket number 3 (or 4) Earth's average warming will inevitably pass 6 °C.
So warming is happening (see the chart below). The only real questions are: how long will it take, and what will the peak be? See my following posts.
Temperature data from four international science institutions. All show rapid warming in the past few decades. The 10 warmest years in the 134-year record all have occurred since 1998, with 2010, 2005 and 2015 ranking as the warmest years on record. The coldest was 1912.
Credit: NASA. http://climate.nasa.gov/faq/
And that is my "elevator pitch". I hope you find it useful -
* Source: Carbon Dioxide Information Analysis Center (CDIAC), posting updated Feb 2014. Totaling the "Increased radiative forcing" column gave an eyebrow-lifting 3.28 W/m2 . Of this, 1.88 is due to CO2, 1.40W/m2 is due to gases other than CO2: other gases boost the CO2 blanket by 74%. ________________________________________________________________
What the heck is the "greenhouse effect"?
Is the "Greenhouse Effect" a dated term?
Here's a question for you:
The term "greenhouse effect" is slightly, in some ways, more accurate.
But is it confusing? A greenhouse is abstract, while everyone understands blankets.
There's a common theme in Hollywood movies, where the heroes battle with some monster and vanquish it. The action pauses, and they catch their breaths after putting out their utmost, an utmost that was barely enough.
The most thoughtful member of the band looks up, clears his or her throat a bit deferentially, and says "You know, it's weird, but my new measurements and calculations show that the enemy will recover and is still growing." The rest of the tired troupe blink and the youngest whispers with shaking breath "You mean it is going to get bigger?" The thoughtful one pauses, thinks carefully, and says "much, much bigger."
Not a movie script?
Real life does not usually resemble a Hollywood movie, but with global warming we might just be following the above script. Why? Partly because scientists, while thoughtful, are notoriously slow and cautious, and partly because climate scientists never want to appear alarmist. As a rule, a scientific prediction either nails it, or understates.
Lately there has grown up a curious practice of climate-science skepticism. If a predicted climate change is "probably X" and only half X happens, the skeptics say "See! X didn't happen; ergo there is no climate change". Other times, X (for example: record droughts) happen, but are dismissed because Y (for example: snow in Boston) also happened.
Yet climate scientists base their temperature estimates on very solid laws of nature, and the only real wiggle-room those laws give is in timing and location. So, contrary to the skeptics' view, seeing just half X is not a good sign; global warming may just have been holding back or hiding a bit.
In light of new measurements and calculations
Earth's Energy Imbalance; Hansen et al.
New climate information is coming in all the time. We now know, courtesy of 3,847 new Argos ocean probes, first that a huge amount of "greenhouse effect" heat is being loaded into the deep sea, and second, that a mere 4% of the newly trapped heat went into warming the land from 2005 through 2010. See the chart to the right.
This is fascinating yet sobering: the record high global temperatures seen in the last decade were caused by less than one twentieth of the incoming extra energy. Climate energy flows are rather large.
Note that these are flows. Flows are subject to variation and change. When they are changing they will not always be steady and do not have to balance ... for a while.
Energy does not disappear, but it can hide
Question to ponder
Despite Anthony Watts' proclamations in the WattsUpWithThat blog, energy is relentless conserved, even if it's not for the moment on our doorsteps.
For years climate researchers very strongly suspected that the extra trapped heat was going into the ocean, but until the Argos probes were deployed, they could not prove it.
However, there is no guarantee that Earth's new heat won't decide to go somewhere else. Or that new sources of heat won't appear.
In Hollywood movie terms: if the monster gave up early, you can rest assured sure he/she will be back ... with his mom.
Midi music production is a complex, weird thing, especially if you trust what the software says.
Carl Lumma asked me how I checked the latency in my previous posting. I answered, basically, that I believed what the Kontakt and other software settings said: 2 milliseconds, and trusted my ear.
Well, this bothered me - it was not that hard, in principle, to test the actual music production externally: (1) just record the sound production from my computer, including the clicks of the keys: (2) edit the sound and (3) measure the delay between the key click and the actual start of sound from the speaker.
Simple, right? And I was curious: what would reality be? So I did it. The results were a bit weird.
The "Manufacture's" Claim
So here is what Kontakt 5's configuration says:
2.0 seconds until the sound comes out?
without ASIO - a bit slower?
So one would expect 18 extra milli-seconds would be saved by the Creative Labs sound-card - Creative's ASIO, I infer, talks directly to the Sound Blaster sound-card's DAC chip, and the interface program (ASIO driver) they use is fast.
The measurement starts
The measurement was pretty simple: I used my iPhone's Voice Memos application to record the sound of a jammer keyboard (ironically I had just spent a fair bit of work quieting my keyboards, making my job harder) and the sound of my software synth's (sample generator) output. Here's what they look like by themselves when loaded into Audacity. First, the click of the key:
The sound of a key
Then the sound of the software synthesizer:
A surprising amount of delay...
Note that the musical piano sound takes a fair bit of time to emerge - 38 ms or more. If we trust the manufacture's ~2 millisecond delay specification, that leaves a whopping 36 ms that the synth, emulating a piano, waits. Weirdly, To my ear this is an "instant" response.
Buyer beware
OK, so let's do a A/B comparison; comparing the sounds created with the "2.0 latency" Sound Blaster ASIO and the sound created with the same hardware using the WAS API driver.
The former goes straight to the hardware, the latter goes through a layer of Microsoft code that has access to the sound card's hardware.
(for your listening pleasure, here are the sounds:
Here's what it looks like in Audacity, with a few tweaks:
So the sound actually starts in 38 ms with the "2.0 ms latency" (lets assume the Axis-49 controller is very fast, sending a sound as soon as the key hits bottom), while the Microsoft software layer does not respond until 90 ms (.09 seconds) have passed.
Now that 38 delay appears to the ear to be quite prompt. the 52 extra milliseconds using the Microsoft engine is quite audible. The weird thing is the "manufacture's" claim that the delays are 2 ms and 20 ms. How do we reconcile these numbers?
Assume, for the moment, that the delay of 36 ms (38-2 ms) is due to the emulation of a piano. then one would expect the WAS API to be just an extra 18 ms on top of the 38, giving 56 ms. Instead, we see a fair bit more, 52 ms, more. No wonder the keyboard feels really, really slow without a good ASIO driver.
What The Heck!
I don't have an answer, but I am happy with my current setup :)
Moral
When you can, measure the real world ... and use your ear.
It is finally possible to get a near-zero latency keyboard on a PC! It's most excellent to have.
However, some tweaking is needed to get a stable, effective system; you have to do more than plug in a new sound card. Herein I give you what worked for me, so you can hopefully get what you want quickly, avoid a fair bit of fiddling, and most important, never get that uncontrollable urge to throw your computer out the window.
A little background
To put things in context: my old setup was OK: I had a decent, but old sound card - a Creative Labs' Sound Blaster X-FI Titanium HD “Audiophile Sound Card”. It has a in-house Creative Labs' ASIO driver. which gave me, it said, about 20 ms latency - noticeable at first touch, but consistent and I could live with it; I knew of nothing better in a windows platform. I had tried the on-board sound with the ASIO4 ALL driver, which gave me the same or greater latency.
However, the X-FI card and/or the Creative Labs driver started to give me grief - it would freeze my computer at random times - being intermittent it took a long time to track down. Likely the card / firmware was too old for Windows 7 or had an intermittent hardware glitch.
Looking over the rather scarce options - there aren't many sound cards out there these days - I saw the Sound Blaster Zx for $125 Cdn, advertising "one millisecond latency".
First, does my setup like it?
First, Windows and the SB ASIO driver seem to work together well:
My venerable copy of DPC Latency checker v1.2.0 reports a latency peak of .170 milliseconds; i gather that this means my desktop Windows is well behaved and meshes well with the hardware.
The numbers look good
The card meshes well with my Kontakt 5 player, which estimates a 2.0 ms latency.
Also the card has 5.1 outputs, and a nice clean sound. It was easy to set up, with one important tip: clean out all of your old SoundBlaster driver's and software first. I didn't because some of the old software packages were useful. Big mistake, that. ;)
Blow me down - The SB Zx does work
It makes my jammer keyboards very nicely responsive: press key; instant sound.
... but you need two sound outputs
Per instructions from the SoundBlaster manual, I tried to use the single SB sound card, by disabling the on-board sound. But Windows error messages began popping up. for everything. Kontakt 5 & Sound Blaster's ASIO driver apparently grab exclusive use of the audio card (think of it; this makes sense if microsecond response is to happen).
Windows messages, system sounds and internet browser messaged simply could not get a sound in edgewise with this cozy couple. The attempting routines would eventually give up, issue an error message or just plain freeze up.
My solution: keep the old motherboard based sound system going, and plug a small pair of stereo speakers into the motherboard. Windows and the others seem to actively prefer sending messages to the on-board sound card. If one does not have a pair of extra speakers handy, I imagine that you could combine the outputs from the 2 sound systems with a Y-jack.
Now, how can I do the same to my laptop?
Alas, now my portable jammer's laptop 20 ms latency is much more evident. Fixing this is problematic - USB is designed for high throughput, not quick response.
Please let me know, dear reader, if you have a solution.
A new instrument is something that you are going to be spending serious time with, perhaps more than you do with your girlfriend/boyfriend. So it's not a bad idea to check it out, to see if it will hold out for the years that it will be your close friend.
Also consider: there's a lot more expected in a modern instrument. A classical instrument really is just a few strings, some wood and some metal contrived to make a bit of sound.
A modern musical instrument does more; a lot more.
Carefully, carefully
I very gently took apart my Dualo (not without a lot of trepidation) and took a peek.
There's really a lot in there; circuit boards for:
Two different keyboards, each with variable-touch membrane buttons for sensing finger-touch - I didn't even know such buttons could be made!
A slide sensor, like a simpler (perhaps) version of the Vmeter .
3D motion sensors
A visual display
A motherboard with a lot on it: a powerful computer, interfaces of several kinds and lots of other functions.
Impressive: five computer-design-aided multiple-layer PCB boards,. The complex circuitry looks clean, with indications that it is very much a work in progress; several revision numbers, and lots of test points for checking the various components are correctly functioning.
<< looks simple? au contraire!
Each of these represents a blink'n lotof work (with perhaps the exception of the display which they may have been able to source from stock{but probably didn't!}), a lot of money, and rarest of all, a lot of expertise in this most highly specialized field.
This is eyebrow-lifting: my opinion of the French investment/manufacturing industry has jumped. This seemingly casual group of people that developed the Dualo du-touch are not as they seem. This "modest" little device packs a lot of smarts, ingenuity and not a little state-of the art high-tech.
<< the shell that holds the many sensors
These guys have access to some serious expertise, more than a little money (!), and somehow have been able to avoid the many sneaky traps that ambush innovators like the inventors of the Axis-49 and the Thummer. I did not think the French innovation culture was as progressive as this; I'm pretty sure the Canadian culture would not permit projects like this to go forward.
OK, OK, MusicScienceGuy likes it - but will it work reliably?
Yes, each device should work just about forever, provided care is taken with the connectors (and these are cleverly placed in a protective alcove): these instruments have basically no moving parts (the bubble/membrane switches only move a tiny bit and are probably silicon-rubber).
What else did they do? So who are these guys?
Next we look at the other work needed to create the Dualo du-touch.
The late Carl Sagan once said "If you wish to make an apple pie from scratch, you must first invent the universe" (link).
Well, creating an new instrument is not quite so complex, but there is still one heck of a lot to do. I'm sure the team that developed (and is still developing) this instrument must feel that they are indeed inventing the world.
Lets start with the outside of the Dualo, then in the following postings, take a glance inside and then look at the hidden work needed to create the du-touch.
Thinking outside: the box
The first thing I noticed was the well-designed box: this was not just a simple picture on cardboard, with a bunch of foam pellets for cushioning.
Everything was organized and neat, like opening an iPhone box on a larger scale.
Someone put this complex package together by hand, perhaps by a volunteer: I thank you, mon ami.
My serial number hints that this is the 24th output of the current assembly line.
A gourmet box
I'm reminded of a gourmet meal, such a meal that doesn't just have to taste good, it also has to appear to be a work of art.
How soup is served in Vancouver these days ==>
So is this is the 21st-century reality for new instrument creation?
Does it not only have to sound good and play well?
Does it need gourmet packaging, even though this is irrelevant to function (and looked at only for perhaps 2 minutes), while the new owner uncovers his/her purchase.
I wonder how much this lovely package cost to design, and how many people it took. to create it.
At least the power supply is easy ...
So the Dualo developers apparently felt their instrument had to be designed and packaged to sell well in boutique stores.
What else does it need? Well it would be nice if it can work anywhere on the planet, regardless of the local electricity supply quirks.
This has become vastly easier with the emergence of the USB standard for devices. This is a wonder full innovation from our point of view, allowing a great increase in the number of easily available potential customers.
But the regulators require you dance with them ...
But you still have to pay the local authorities their economic rent: for example, the US Federal Communcations Commision requires the Dualo be certified (again) even though it was tested to identical standards for the EU. I suspect the FCC's primary motive is to collect its fees.
And that's just the beginning
Daunting requirements, mounting expenses, and that's just the box the thing is delivered in.
My Christmas present arrived today, courtesy of my very understanding wife. It's a Dualo du-touch, made in Fr ance and invented by an group of young enthusiasts. Price: about $1000 and change in Canadian loonies. Duty and taxes added a bit over 20% to that.
Big caveat: anything I say about the Dualo people is impressions gathered by reading their websites and facebook postings and will not be 100% accurate.
This is the second round of Dualo production: the first, in August & September, was almost late-stage prototypes. This batch, I gather, is a much more stable product, although they are still getting up to speed on side issues like English manuals.
Now, to get to the central question that my many blog readers (all three of you) are asking: what gives; have you given up on the jammer keyboard?
By no means; I'm just starting to do well on the jammer (and more on that shortly). I bought a Dualo because it has many "must-have" features for any practical portable 21st-century instrument, and I need to see how they are implemented so I can the design the next-generation jammer. I am not disappointed, the Dualo has solid features.
My wife has her own motives. She wants me to have an instrument that is not tied to a computer, trains my ear, can be taken to parties, and does not lock me into a single instrumental view of music.
First impressions
Here on the west coast of Canada, we are swamped by devices made in Asian countries. they tend to have a standard, shiny "plastic-y" look and feel. It's nice to have in my hands a device that has a nice heft and feel; the texture is that of high-quality rubber/powder material; it's not slippery.
The buttons are ... interesting ... They don't move like the keys of my Axis-49, instead they are rubbery and move by less than .5mm. Yet they have velocity sensitivity. My best guess is that they sense the shock-wave of the impacting finger, perhaps with tiny accelerometers? I'll reserve judgment pending some solid practice sessions.
The controls seem, at first touch, complicated but are starting to make sense. The reality of holding the instrument and actually getting an audible response from it is very vivid; much more "real" than expected.
My fingers and mind are reeling
However, now I know exactly now an old-time pianist feels when I show him my jammer keyboard and gush that it's bigger than the invention of the grand piano.
After months and months of playing music on the jammer, and learning its particular "layout of music" deeply in my fingers and brain, it's a heavy shock to encounter a different layout. My fingers are having tough time even playing "Mary had a little lamb", and my brain - not too strong at
the best of times - is reeling.
Shock! - someone actually was influenced by this blog ...
I recently e-conversed, with Bruno, one of the co-inventors of the Dualo, and he floored me with:
Many many thanks for your email. I know your blog and your website, and you were one of the first we saw on internet when we started to build the company. That was for us a source of motivation as we though that this is a proof of the existence of a community (and a market) for new layout.
Well knock me over with a feather. I'm glad that I was of help in deciding to get the Dualo into production. :)
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