Music notes: Using the TX16W AKWF samples, and more thoughts about presets
2025-04-04
In this post I am sharing some observations about using the AdventureKid Waveforms with the Yamaha TX16W sampler and my evolving thoughs on using presets in my music.
Using the TX16W with the AKWF single cycle waveforms
I previously wrote about how I batch-converted the AdventureKid Waveforms to work with the Yamaha TX16W sampler and the Typhoon operating system. That post was focused on the technical challenge of finding the right format to convert the samples to. But what is it like to use them?
It turns out the converted samples work really well in the TX16W. I copy some samples to a (virtual) floppy, load all floppy contents in memory with the "Load *" function, and the samples are ready to use in the TX16W "Voice" editor. I don't have to go into the sample editor (the "Wave" menu) at all.
Knowing that the AKWF waveforms are all just short blips, it is very satisfying to select and play one of them on the TX16W and hear a clear continuous tone instead. It is nice that I can play the sounds 4.5 octaves above their base pitch (73.5Hz) because that base pitch is so low. There is little aliasing until you are in the highest 1-2 octaves, and then the aliasing overtones have a fixed harmonic relation to the sampled sound. I don't understand the details but this seems to be something special about how resampling in the TX16W works.
The end result is that with the AKWF waveforms, the TX16W becomes a synthesizer with DDS oscillators. It would have been nice to apply filters to these oscillators but the filters of the TX16W are notoriously weak-sounding. It works better for me to run the output of the whole instrument through a static analog filter if I want to sculpt it. This is how I made the sound in the intro of this song.
The TX16W is still a puzzle to me, but at least now I know one thing it is good at.
More thoughts about using presets
I have mentioned before that using synthesizer presets is a contentious topic in electronic music production. Some people argue strongly against it because your music ends up sounding like that of others, while other people argue that your listeners can neither tell nor care where you got the sounds from.
I want to start off by saying that I think it is senseless to argue about this because it's up to each electronic musician to decide if and how they want to use presets in their music or not. I don't want to tell other people what to do or that they're doing things wrong. So in what follows I am talking about what works for me in my music.
What I find is that I am gravitating more and more to the "don't use presets" position. Last time I wrote about them I already mentioned one reason, namely that I find browsing presets frustrating and ineffective. It does not help me get started on a song and if I'm already working on a song it does not help me find a new sound to put in it. Finding a preset you like is a buzzkill.
The originality argument is now also growing on me. I agree with the argument that the general audience does not care about where I got my sounds from, but I am also part of the audience and I care. In fact for my music I am the audience. I make music for myself to listen to and I have to like it. Years ago I went through a large collection of internet DX7 presets and I made a selection of about 50 sounds I really liked. I am now tired of hearing these sounds reappear in my songs.
In a 1993 interview with Aphex Twin I read this interesting quote:
I have a library of stuff, but it's stuff I haven't used yet. Once I've used it, I wipe it so I don't use it again. For instance, if I have a DAT with 500 clonks on it, and I use 20 of them, erasing those 20 means I've whittled that backlog down to 480.
I find this a scary idea. If you've gone to the trouble to save a sound, why would you go and delete it? You don't delete files, you just buy a bigger hard drive! But in fact I do understand why he said this and I think it makes sense for me too. It's the same thing I do with all my analog preset-less synthesizers: once I wrap up the current song the sounds are gone and I can't go back. Let the same be true for the digital ones that can save presets.
So from now on I want to delete the presets I used when I finish a song. Time will tell if I can keep up the nerve.