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The XV Orchestra

Virtual Music for a Real World The Virtual Orchestral Concept: The Forestdale music album is performed by the powerful XV Orchestra. The "XV" in the name stands for "Xtremely Virtual" a term which describes the orchestra perfectly because, in fact, there are NO musicians (other than neoclassical composer Tim Thompson), no instruments, no concert hall. It is a musical production system where everything takes place in virtual reality and is recorded as acoustical sound for delivery in any number of formats, including audio CD and MP3 files. The Real Equipment: The core of the system-- that which produces the raw musical tones-- is the flagship ROLAND XV-5080 Sound Module Synthesizer, an electronic marvel so powerful it is controlled by a separate computer and musical keyboard. This signature synthesizer has thousands of tones sampled from real instruments-- as well as unique electronic voices and even programmable ones! Tim chose this as the core of his system for the classically rich and warm Roland sound that is the hallmark of their music products. The Virtual Performance: The XV Orchestra is "played" by both a musical keyboard and a computer. The musical keyboard is where Tim performs some musical selections or lines (just as any keyboard player would do) on the XV-5080. Tim composes other musical lines directly into the software, by passing the keyboard entirely. To get this "captured", a new part of the XV Orchestra comes into play, the computer and its musical software. The XV Orchestra uses a computer running MOTU's (Mark of the Unicorn) Digital Performer music studio software. This powerful program is able to capture a live performance as a series of digital control signals. So the many tracks of Tim's performance can be played by the computer, instead of Tim himself. Tim lays down tracks, a series of discrete simultaneous musical events. These tracks, when played back (like the tracks on a tape recorder) then control the XV-5080, making it play many simultaneous musical lines. When the tracks are played back together, you hear all the instruments playing together -- something called a "polyphonic performance". And, of course, the sound occurs in full stereo. The XV Orchestra is more than a single musical instrument or performance, it is a system of instruments, control devices and software working together under the composer's watchful eye to create a truly Virtual experience-- that "Xtremely Virtual" musical reality and sound.

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