VIDEO DESCRIPTION:

Play, download and edit the free video J.S. Bach - Mass in B minor (H) BWV 232 - 01. Kyrie Eleison I (Synthesized).

The first chorus of Bach monumental Mass, played exclusively with a DX7-like virtual instrument.

A lockdown project made entirely with free software.

This was considerably more complex than I was expecting, and the results are not perfect. Bach wrote 13 interweaving melodic lines (of which 5 are vocal) plus the continuo part, and the dynamics and textures are overwhelming, especially given the enormous freedom we have in selecting electronic sounds and effects.

It was an attempt, constructive comments are very welcome.

As usual in my process I started with a couple of differently sourced scores, then wrote my own in MuseScore, MIDI-fied it and worked in Reaper to add textures, dynamics and effects.

As a tribute to John Chowning, the father of commercially viable FM Synthesis, I've only used one (free) VST: Dexed, which uses the original algorithms of the venerable Yamaha DX7.

Programming FM is hard, but I tried my best, although it is not intuitive at all, the learning curve is more like a brick wall.

Perhaps because of the work of many other electronic musicians, starting with Wendy Carlos, I felt that polyphonic contrapuntal work is easier to translate into analogue-like synthesis (i.e. sawtooths and resonant filters).

FM synthesis is less natural (although it is all made of sinusoids), but working within its constraints opens up the field for more experimentation.

The whole project was inspired by a fantastic video by @madFame (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCOwUHeN-OWwo2QOSOxxQxIg), whom I thank heartily. If you are interested in the history of FM Synthesis I suggest you check it out: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sXt_NXjc7oY

00:00 Intro
00:05 Tutti
00:37 Instrumental
02:17 Choral Fugue
04:09 Development
05:08 Intermezzo
05:41 Fugue II & Stretto
07:45 Finale

Download, play and edit free videos and free audios from J.S. Bach - Mass in B minor (H) BWV 232 - 01. Kyrie Eleison I (Synthesized) using RedcoolMedia.net web apps