Friday, January 9, 1998
Disaster strikes. The nightmare of anyone who works with computers: the hard disk crash. I calmly handle the situation and start back to work again (although I'm still emotionally shattered from the experience).

I'm creating songs with XG and the MU-100. I start working with the MU-100 but can't get into it because the sounds are too dry, especially compared to my old friend, the GS. It seems to take forever to overcome the initial awkwardness. Anyway, I playback some random phrases on my sequencer and am pleased. Just as I start to feel like I'm getting the hang of it, I try some MIDI files from an off-the-shelf library. The performance is less than spectacular. Maybe it's the library that's bad but I am disappointed.

I check the setup...hum, looks easy enough. Next the manual... tons of parameters. I don't know what to do with so many Sys Ex's! I notice that there's no Check Sum and am relieved. XG is beginning to look more manageable. Next, I pull out the "XG Bible" (published only in JAPAN) and bookmark some important pages. This book comes with tons of great tools on a CD-ROM... and many are for the Macintosh!

The XG Bible is useful in many ways. It's actually better than the XG user's manual for someone like me, who doesn't even have some of the basic XG devices. The book also includes a number of setting examples. Some of the effect examples look pretty good (although I haven't actually used any of them yet).

My first step is to go over the user interface. In the beginning, the MU100 display panel looked completely foreign to me. The problem was that the control parameters are on the third level, which would totally mess me up whenever I'd run for Cho, Rev or Pan. I guess it's how manufacturers make products affordable, placing old components and parts onto new machines.

Anyway, back to sounds. The piano voices sound weird and you can hear alias noise on some shots. I realize that every sound module has some drawback. We professionals have a habit of picking-up on every little problem because it's our job to cover up these problems when we create the music. Let's all look out for each other! (^ ^;)

Saturday, January 10
Took the XGBulk2Event 1.5.1 (480) for a test spin. This tool looked like it was pretty powerful but I could never seem to make it work. Finally, I realized that it's an XG-compatible tool which assigns MU-100. It didn't seem to have a template but I sat down and sketched a first song anyway.

I had been asked to do something jazzy. I decided on a combo of three wind instruments. Only normal voices were being used so the trick was going to be in expressing the characteristics of each instrument. First came the intro. The individual voices sounded kind of weird on their own, but the piano voices went very well with the other instruments as an ensemble. In fact, it was incredible. The acoustic bass was surprisingly rich and easy to use. The sound could be described as a cross between Barcus-berry and Underwood pickups. I was still hoping for a little more expression though.

Tuesday, January 13, 1998
"Mr. S, where's the template?" "It's in the Developer's Kit I already gave you."

Developer's Kit = all kinds of tools for creating XG data, all on one CD-ROM. (Most of the contents are also downloadable from DevZone.)

From the display panel, I entered my parameter edits into the template but couldn't find the filter. I guess it was probably in NRPN. I searched again and found it named as Controller 74, Brightness. Both of these names are referred to in the manual; does this mean that they are the same parameter? Finally, I decided to just use what was available on the template. Using the template, I completed the sketch of the first song.

Wednesday, January 14, 1998
Started to work on a sketch for the second song. I've been asked to put together some dance music. The XG drum kit isn't very good for dance but you can usually work something out by employing some voice parameters. Unfortunately, I'm not really an expert on how to do this. I decided to take an easier route.

The style I had in mind was techno. I chose the voices, did the refrain and arranged it into a song. Finally, after peppering it with a few effects, the sketch was ready. As you can see, my approach to this genre of music is just like cooking.

Friday, January 16, 1998
I printed the documents from the Developer's Kit and asked my assistant to create an index for them. Late that night I set out to complete another sketch. I am still clumsy in the new environment and the process is time consuming. Again, I have problems with the XGBulk2, (although it was probably my own lack of experience that was to blame). I had no option but to go through the process manually. I had never done it manually before so progress was slow. Next time I will prepare the text for the template in advance.