Hartmann Neuron
Encyclopedia
The Hartmann Neuron was an electronic musical instrument
designed and built by industry designer Axel Hartmann of the German company Hartmann Music in the years 2001-2005. The Neuron synthesizer used an Artificial Neural Network
to create a digital computer model from sampled sounds, implementing a new synthesis technology which was developed by Stephan Bernsee
at Prosoniq
. This computer model could then be used to resynthesize a new sound, giving the player control over "musical" aspects such as instrument body size, material and other acoustic properties. This parametric approach is very different from the more mathematical approaches of other synthesizers.
model of a sound only by ear did not allow for the amount of control necessary for such a complex operation. However, combined with a sample editor, the included Modelmaker software & MIDI control via sequencing
, this difficulty can be somewhat rectified, albeit without the aid of the 3D image
of the model.
Hartmann Music had to fight a couple of technical problems which were never remedied before the company finally filed for insolvency
, after a dispute with their distributor, in 2005. Although Hartmann Music went out of business, the Neuron synthesizer is still a sought after, hard-to-find instrument with unique sound. It is still being used today, mainly in the production of film music, for example by artists like Hans Zimmer
and electronic musicians such as BT (musician)
or The Arcane Paradigm.
operating system. A custom application ran the sound synthesis algorithm, and the instrument used custom front panel displays and a custom sound card. The front panel and the casing of the synthesizer were designed by Axel Hartmann. It featured 3 orange stick controllers which allowed simultaneous manipulation of 2 assignable parameters (X/Y direction). There were 2 oscillators per voice
(called "Resynators") which were split in two parameter groupings: "Scape" would refer to the generation properties of a sound (such as the excitation
source in a real instrument), "Sphere" would contain all parameters referring to the properties of the resonating "instrument" body. The two Resynators could be combined and put through a "Blender", which allowed different modes
to be applied in the combination. The Neuron synthesizer also had an effects unit with EQ
, delay
, modulation
, distortion
, ring modulation
, reverb and spectral warping effects, a digital filter
with cutoff
, resonance
and selectable characteristics, and assignable control wheels.
MV25(N) Socket 370
, VIA Apollo chipset
with an Intel Celeron CPU, heatsink & fan. The motherboard can accept up to 2x 512MB of non-ECC PC133
SDRAM
, although the system comes with 256MB as standard. The hard disk is a PC standard 20GB IDE
unit. The audio & data PCI
i/o board is a custom Hartmann design & on-ribbon includes; MIDI, USB & the first 5.1 surround sound hardware to be incorporated into a hardware synthesiser. The PSU
is a non-ATX
design, although the exhaust fan is a standard PC part. The exhaust fan, however, is noisy in operation & may not be acceptable in the confines of a soundproofed
mixing
room. Externally, the casing is extremely solid, heavy-duty aluminium chassis with a wooden end panel. The one drawback are the four delicate plastic joysticks. However, these can be removed for transport.
Life In Balance (Steven Sciulli)
Electronic musical instrument
An electronic musical instrument is a musical instrument that produces its sounds using electronics. Such an instrument sounds by outputting an electrical audio signal that ultimately drives a loudspeaker....
designed and built by industry designer Axel Hartmann of the German company Hartmann Music in the years 2001-2005. The Neuron synthesizer used an Artificial Neural Network
Artificial neural network
An artificial neural network , usually called neural network , is a mathematical model or computational model that is inspired by the structure and/or functional aspects of biological neural networks. A neural network consists of an interconnected group of artificial neurons, and it processes...
to create a digital computer model from sampled sounds, implementing a new synthesis technology which was developed by Stephan Bernsee
Stephan Bernsee
Stephan Bernsee is a Digital Signal Processing applications developer from Germany. He is the founder of the audio software company Prosoniq and the principal developer of the sound synthesis technology used in the Hartmann Music Neuron series of synthesizers, the technology behind Prosoniq...
at Prosoniq
Prosoniq
Short for "Prosoniq Products Software", developer and license provider for tools in the audio and music industry, mostly known for their sonicWORX, OrangeVocoder, TimeFactory and the Hartmann Neuron synthesizer products.-Description:...
. This computer model could then be used to resynthesize a new sound, giving the player control over "musical" aspects such as instrument body size, material and other acoustic properties. This parametric approach is very different from the more mathematical approaches of other synthesizers.
Critique
Even though the instrument was awarded numerous prizes for innovation it was difficult to operate due to its limited display capabilities, which made adjusting the tonal qualities of a sound a tedious trial and error process. Given the very high price of the instrument (around 5000 USD) many people felt that manipulating a wireframeWireframe
Wireframe or wire frame may refer to:* Wire-frame model, visual presentation of a three dimensional or physical object used in 3D computer graphics* Website wireframe, a basic visual guide used in web design...
model of a sound only by ear did not allow for the amount of control necessary for such a complex operation. However, combined with a sample editor, the included Modelmaker software & MIDI control via sequencing
Music sequencer
The music sequencer is a device or computer software to record, edit, play back the music, by handling note and performance information in several forms, typically :...
, this difficulty can be somewhat rectified, albeit without the aid of the 3D image
3D computer graphics
3D computer graphics are graphics that use a three-dimensional representation of geometric data that is stored in the computer for the purposes of performing calculations and rendering 2D images...
of the model.
Hartmann Music had to fight a couple of technical problems which were never remedied before the company finally filed for insolvency
Insolvency
Insolvency means the inability to pay one's debts as they fall due. Usually used to refer to a business, insolvency refers to the inability of a company to pay off its debts.Business insolvency is defined in two different ways:...
, after a dispute with their distributor, in 2005. Although Hartmann Music went out of business, the Neuron synthesizer is still a sought after, hard-to-find instrument with unique sound. It is still being used today, mainly in the production of film music, for example by artists like Hans Zimmer
Hans Zimmer
Hans Florian Zimmer is a German film composer and music producer. He has composed music for over 100 films, including critically acclaimed film scores for The Lion King , Crimson Tide , The Thin Red Line , Gladiator , The Dark Knight and Inception .Zimmer spent the early part of his career in the...
and electronic musicians such as BT (musician)
BT (musician)
Brian Wayne Transeau is a classically trained and Grammy-nominated American music producer, composer, audio technician, multi-instrumentalist, singer and songwriter better known by his stage name, BT. He is an artist in the electronic genre...
or The Arcane Paradigm.
Technology
The Neuron synthesizer's hardware was based around a standard PC mainboard running an early version of the Gentoo LinuxGentoo Linux
Gentoo Linux is a computer operating system built on top of the Linux kernel and based on the Portage package management system. It is distributed as free and open source software. Unlike a conventional software distribution, the user compiles the source code locally according to their chosen...
operating system. A custom application ran the sound synthesis algorithm, and the instrument used custom front panel displays and a custom sound card. The front panel and the casing of the synthesizer were designed by Axel Hartmann. It featured 3 orange stick controllers which allowed simultaneous manipulation of 2 assignable parameters (X/Y direction). There were 2 oscillators per voice
Voice
Voice may refer to:* Human voice* Voice control or voice activation* Writer's voice* Voice acting* Voice vote* Voice message-In film:* Voice , a 2005 South Korean film* The Voice , a 2010 Turkish horror film directed by Ümit Ünal...
(called "Resynators") which were split in two parameter groupings: "Scape" would refer to the generation properties of a sound (such as the excitation
Excitation
-Science:* The excited state of an atom* The excitatory postsynaptic potential* The excitation provided with an electrical generator or alternator-Agitation:*Excitement...
source in a real instrument), "Sphere" would contain all parameters referring to the properties of the resonating "instrument" body. The two Resynators could be combined and put through a "Blender", which allowed different modes
Musical mode
In the theory of Western music since the ninth century, mode generally refers to a type of scale. This usage, still the most common in recent years, reflects a tradition dating to the middle ages, itself inspired by the theory of ancient Greek music.The word encompasses several additional...
to be applied in the combination. The Neuron synthesizer also had an effects unit with EQ
Equalization
Equalization, is the process of adjusting the balance between frequency components within an electronic signal. The most well known use of equalization is in sound recording and reproduction but there are many other applications in electronics and telecommunications. The circuit or equipment used...
, delay
Delay (audio effect)
Delay is an audio effect which records an input signal to an audio storage medium, and then plays it back after a period of time. The delayed signal may either be played back multiple times, or played back into the recording again, to create the sound of a repeating, decaying echo.-Early delay...
, modulation
Modulation
In electronics and telecommunications, modulation is the process of varying one or more properties of a high-frequency periodic waveform, called the carrier signal, with a modulating signal which typically contains information to be transmitted...
, distortion
Distortion
A distortion is the alteration of the original shape of an object, image, sound, waveform or other form of information or representation. Distortion is usually unwanted, and often many methods are employed to minimize it in practice...
, ring modulation
Ring modulation
Ring modulation is a signal-processing effect in electronics, an implementation of amplitude modulation or frequency mixing, performed by multiplying two signals, where one is typically a sine-wave or another simple waveform. It is referred to as "ring" modulation because the analog circuit of...
, reverb and spectral warping effects, a digital filter
Digital filter
In electronics, computer science and mathematics, a digital filter is a system that performs mathematical operations on a sampled, discrete-time signal to reduce or enhance certain aspects of that signal. This is in contrast to the other major type of electronic filter, the analog filter, which is...
with cutoff
Cutoff
In theoretical physics, cutoff is an arbitrary maximal or minimal value of energy, momentum, or length, used in order that objects with larger or smaller values than these physical quantities are ignored in some calculation...
, resonance
Resonance
In physics, resonance is the tendency of a system to oscillate at a greater amplitude at some frequencies than at others. These are known as the system's resonant frequencies...
and selectable characteristics, and assignable control wheels.
Construction
Internally, the motherboard is a ShuttleShuttle Inc.
Shuttle is a Taiwan-based manufacturer of motherboards, barebone computers, complete PC systems, and monitors. Throughout the last 10 years, Shuttle has been one of the world's top 10 motherboard manufacturers, and gained fame in 2001 with the introduction of the Shuttle SV24, one of the world's...
MV25(N) Socket 370
Socket 370
Socket 370 is a common format of CPU socket first used by Intel for Pentium III and Celeron processors to replace the older Slot 1 CPU interface on personal computers. The "370" refers to the number of pin holes in the socket for CPU pins...
, VIA Apollo chipset
Chipset
A chipset, PC chipset, or chip set refers to a group of integrated circuits, or chips, that are designed to work together. They are usually marketed as a single product.- Computers :...
with an Intel Celeron CPU, heatsink & fan. The motherboard can accept up to 2x 512MB of non-ECC PC133
PC133
PC133 is a computer memory standard defined by the JEDEC. PC133 refers to Synchronous DRAM operating at a clock frequency of 133 MHz, on a 64-bit-wide bus, at a voltage of 3.3 V. PC133 is available in 168 pin DIMM and 144 pin SO-DIMM form factors...
SDRAM
SDRAM
Synchronous dynamic random access memory is dynamic random access memory that is synchronized with the system bus. Classic DRAM has an asynchronous interface, which means that it responds as quickly as possible to changes in control inputs...
, although the system comes with 256MB as standard. The hard disk is a PC standard 20GB IDE
AT Attachment
Parallel ATA , originally ATA, is an interface standard for the connection of storage devices such as hard disks, solid-state drives, floppy drives, and optical disc drives in computers. The standard is maintained by X3/INCITS committee...
unit. The audio & data PCI
Peripheral Component Interconnect
Conventional PCI is a computer bus for attaching hardware devices in a computer...
i/o board is a custom Hartmann design & on-ribbon includes; MIDI, USB & the first 5.1 surround sound hardware to be incorporated into a hardware synthesiser. The PSU
Power supply
A power supply is a device that supplies electrical energy to one or more electric loads. The term is most commonly applied to devices that convert one form of electrical energy to another, though it may also refer to devices that convert another form of energy to electrical energy...
is a non-ATX
ATX
ATX is a motherboard form factor specification developed by Intel in 1995 to improve on previous de facto standards like the AT form factor. It was the first big change in computer case, motherboard, and power supply design in many years, improving standardization and interchangeability of parts...
design, although the exhaust fan is a standard PC part. The exhaust fan, however, is noisy in operation & may not be acceptable in the confines of a soundproofed
Soundproofing
Soundproofing is any means of reducing the sound pressure with respect to a specified sound source and receptor. There are several basic approaches to reducing sound: increasing the distance between source and receiver, using noise barriers to reflect or absorb the energy of the sound waves, using...
mixing
Audio mixing (recorded music)
In audio recording, audio mixing is the process by which multiple recorded sounds are combined into one or more channels, most commonly two-channel stereo. In the process, the source signals' level, frequency content, dynamics, and panoramic position are manipulated and effects such as reverb may...
room. Externally, the casing is extremely solid, heavy-duty aluminium chassis with a wooden end panel. The one drawback are the four delicate plastic joysticks. However, these can be removed for transport.
Prominent Musicians
- Hans ZimmerHans ZimmerHans Florian Zimmer is a German film composer and music producer. He has composed music for over 100 films, including critically acclaimed film scores for The Lion King , Crimson Tide , The Thin Red Line , Gladiator , The Dark Knight and Inception .Zimmer spent the early part of his career in the...
- Michael CretuMichael CretuMichael Cretu is a Romanian musician. He is known also as Curly, MC or Curly M.C. because of his fair curled hair . His peak musical activity was with the Enigma project, which was mainly based in Germany....
- Brian Transeau
- The Arcane Paradigm
Life In Balance (Steven Sciulli)