User Manual

Crumar Seven User s Manual '
CHAPTER 4. ADVANTAGES OF MODELING AND/OR SYNTHESIS VS. THE OLD TECHNIQUE OF SAMPLING.
In many examples a sampled sound can be compared to a photograph, but we'd like to make a different example that better explains
the difference between playing samples or playing a real-time synthesizer. Video games. Towards the beginning of the 90's, when game
consoles started to get powerful enough for 3D graphics, some older adventure games still used portions of filmed material, shot with
real actors just like a short movie, trying to offer the player the chance to interact with the movie by using three or four variants of the
same clip under different scenarios. That was realistic from the visual point of view, as it was nothing but the digitized version of a VHS
tape, but it felt pretty static and annoying from the player's perspective because there was very little room for interaction, a bit like a
quiz game with three possible answers at each question, it's either 1, 2 or 3. On the other hand, real-time 3D games could offer a less
realistic image but a greater sense of realism in matter of game interaction, the character could move around the virtual environment,
explore rooms and landscapes, interact with other characters, and so on. Now, just guess which technique has had a future and which
has not.
Back to sound generation now. Playing a sampled piano, for example, means having a limited number of pre-recorded samples to deal
with, probably three or four samples each three or four notes, and that's all. Bigger modern sample libraries offer a ridiculous 15 ~ 20
GB worth of sampled material trying to “capture” the essence of an instrument by increasing the number of possible samples, but still
it's about a limited number. Still, there's no way to interact with samples, no way to change their harmonic content if not by applying
some equalization or compression, which is something that's only worth doing on a master stereo buss, because it would be too CPU
intensive to do on each single sample.
Modern physical modeling sound synthesis can be compared to the graphic engine of a modern 3D video game, it can be very realistic,
but most importantly feels real, offers interaction. The Crumar Seven bases its foundation on eight different powerful real-time
synthesizers, each specifically designed and developed to faithfully reproduce one type of piano sound. And, just in case, number nine
is a sample player.
Crumar Seven User's Manual - Page 9