To
understand what buzz is and how it works i will first of all explain what
a tracker is and how it works. A normal tracker is a music program that
uses samples as instruments, let's say you sample a C on a piano, but
you want to play it as a D, well then just play the sample a little faster
and it'll be a D. The length of the sample will not be the same but the
illusion when many instruments are added will be that there is a "real"
piano playing a melody. Now this in short means that you can make piano
songs without having a piano, a synth or a midi bank to play it from,
it also means you are completely free to add any instruments and sounds
to your songs. There is still a big problem though, if it is supposed
to sound like a real instrument it must be altered in volume and such
between each note, this is fixed by having a volume and effect setting
for each note.
| -Buzz
and software synths |
So
you are probably wondering how this has anything to do with buzz, well
buzz is a tracker. however, buzz unlike many other programs is not only
a tracker, it's more of a tracker controlled software synth. Now to understand
that we also need to dig deeper into what a software synth is. A software
synth is a synth made purely of software run by the computers cpu, a tracker
is a software synth in a way. A tracker is however a sample based software
synth, buzz uses samples but it can also make sounds just like analog
synths does it. With an oscillator making a sound with a specified waveform.
A sound made from a waveform has some advantages over a sample, it will
never sound pitched or distorted just because you choose to let it play
a very high or very low note. It will also be very editable over time,
meaning you can change it with filter sweeps and such to make it sound
completly different. This was not possible to do with the samples in the
older trackers.
So
the first question that arises now may perhaps be on how you get buzz
to sound, via a midikeyboard, through programming a note sheet? Neither
of the two, buzz uses a tracker interface which let's you use your computers
keyboard as a midi keyboard. Each key will have a specified function in
buzz, some will play notes, others will alter parameters.
Buzz
is neatly organised like a studio, you make a generator (synth, drummachine
or other) connect it to an effect of choice which you connect to the master
(amplifier). All generators and effects are controlled by patterns which
you place in the sequencer, this let's you control every part of the sound
with complete precision. You can also make advanced connections between
the machines by connecting a generator through a chain of effects or perhaps
connecting it to 4 different effects which all go to the master.
| -Buzz
compared to other music programs |
Note
that there really is no other program able to do what buzz does, it uses
a classic and very popular idea and crosses it with the new musicprograms
such as rebirth, beatbox and reality. And the best thing is that the version
out now is completely free, this also enables you to download new synths,
drummachines and effects which are constantly improved. The reason to
why i started using buzz is simply because i earlier used fasttracker
II but had problems getting it to run correctly under win98, i heard about
buzz and decided to give it a try. Since then I've been stuck with buzz
and in my eyes it's the most complete music tool on the market.
But why settle for what I'm saying, why not give
it a try yourself? Go to the install buzz section and read up on how you
get your very own copy of buzz.
- back to index -
©2000 - newt
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