a continuation of yesterdays report…
The key to performing on the SalMar is pictured in the above photos of the control board showing the oscillator envelope sample feature, above the program control (clock-oscillator routing) area, and the Envelope Selection feature, below the Pitch MSB feature. Envelopes are generated according to probabilities assigned by the envelope shaping button/rings.
There is an attack time ring, a sustain level ring, and a decay ring. Greg says that having the sustain level ring lit makes the instrument tend louder, since this determines how high the attack can rise. Envelopes are independent of clocking, and therefore it is possible to hear a long rise on a rapid series of pitches. If one wants to hear each pitch discretely, the envelope capture and hold feature must be pressed until the desired moment is caught. This is where the thumb on the button and presses of the ring comes in handy.
I’ll wrap this photo essay up with some more shots of the patch panel:
These photos give one a sense of the instruments fundamental complexity, and also of the several hands who have endeavored to use, further and maintain the instrument. Some of these scribbles are likely in Martirano’s own hand.
I took a stab at editing the jams I recorded yesterday. I did not get far. The events are organic, not sectional. I’ll take another stab at it later; half hour jams are just unwieldy. It takes a some time to capture envelopes, and route clocks and oscillators. Drama can be had by turning oscillators on and off, but there is a subtlety to performing on the SalMar that is attributable to the instrument having ‘a mind of its own.’ That is very much the point; it is this aspect that makes the concept of the machine well worth study.
Greg says that Mark Smart has made a good start with virtualizing the SalMart in Native Instruments Reaktor software. Perhaps he can be coaxed into publishing that effort?
Edited the 30 minute jams down to 3 “good” minutes: