Exactly what is a "Sound Module" ?

krazykiki81 · Groupie Joined: 30 Nov 2005 Posts: 41

Can someone please tell me what a sound module is? And exactly what all does a sound module do? Is it needed? If it's really needed, then why?

Stacey · Posted: Mon Jan 15, 2007 5:43 am Post subject:

A Sound module (sometimes referred to as tone generator) is an electronic musical instrument without a human-playable interface such as a keyboard, for example. Sound modules have to be "played" using an externally connected device. The external device may be a controller, which is a device that provides the human-playable interface and may or may not produce sounds of its own, or a sequencer, which is computer hardware or software designed to play electronic musical instruments. Connections between sound modules, controllers, and sequencers are generally made with MIDI, which is a standardized protocol designed for this purpose.

Sound modules may use any number of technologies to produce their sounds. A sound module may be a synthesizer, a sampler, a digital piano, or a rompler.

krazykiki81 · Groupie Joined: 30 Nov 2005 Posts: 41

Stacey wrote:

A Sound module (sometimes referred to as tone generator) is an electronic musical instrument without a human-playable interface such as a keyboard, for example. Sound modules have to be "played" using an externally connected device. The external device may be a controller, which is a device that provides the human-playable interface and may or may not produce sounds of its own, or a sequencer, which is computer hardware or software designed to play electronic musical instruments. Connections between sound modules, controllers, and sequencers are generally made with MIDI, which is a standardized protocol designed for this purpose.

Sound modules may use any number of technologies to produce their sounds. A sound module may be a synthesizer, a sampler, a digital piano, or a rompler.

\As in "controller", do you mean "keyboard midi controller"....whatever it's called. I always hear about it, but I've never known exactly what it does.

Well since the sound module has to be connected to controllers, then will I be better off just purchasing music production hardware such as a keyboard synthesizer or a sampling groovebox?

Paco DomiNova · Posted: Mon Nov 05, 2007 12:31 am Post subject:

Well since the sound module has to be connected to controllers, then will I be better off just purchasing music production hardware such as a keyboard synthesizer or a sampling groovebox?
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It's not easy to hit the sweet spot on this one, since there are so many types of electronic musicians these days, and just one musician may prefer to work in different ways.

I think if you're somewhat a novice, or at least a computer-music novice, it's great to have everything at hand; keyboard, computer, sound generator(s) and recorder/sequencer(s,) even if space isn't at a premium.

It might be better and cheaper to go with one keyboard that's light, compact and 'replaceable' because when you wind up doing edits in front of the computer things have to be within eyesight......forget the expense of multi-monitor systems for the moment. But I would make sure in advance of this that the software you intend to run is preset-compatible with the board (the hardware) in that it's pre-mapped and you just load the map to make the controls activate the MIDI parameters that you want them to. Mapping is easier now, but choosing 8-16 of 127 parameters is a lot of patience to ask of anyone.

If you want to progress rapidly and produce a great deal of material, I think the best way is to draw from your strongest suit of talents; i.e., if you're a hot guitarist who wants accompaniment or to flesh out existing recordings, go for the system that will let you keep at least one hand on the guitar. Keep things rather simple (and you might even consider using cheesier pre-made drum tracks that you prefer since most systems now let you replace tracks with better ones later if you wish,) and keep the creative process streamlined so you're not bogging down with either having to travel from one element of the system to another, from thinking in, for example, guitar rhythm parts and having to switch frequently to whether the drumming in staying within quantization limits.

Really one of the most overlooked tools is the notebook and pencil. They've been around for centuries for a reason.

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