Classic Computer Magazine Archive START VOL. 2 NO. 6 / SPECIAL ISSUE #3

MAKING TRACKS WITH MIDI

The Pointer
Sisters'
MIDI Magician
Greg Wheichel

By Mard Naman

The Pointer Sisters have been cranking out Top Ten hits for more than a decade. Their power pop sound has graced everything from TV specials to popular films such as Beverly Hills Cop, and they remain a big concert draw around the country. But the next time you hear one of their monster hits like "Jump" or "Automatic," listen very closely. Because to achieve their infectious, good-time sound, the band uses the MIDI capabilities of the Atari 1040 ST.

And the Pointer Sisters-Anita, Ruth and June - can thank one man for making their live band MIDI-friendly: keyboardist Greg Whelchel. He and fellow keyboardist Marc Ritter have become experts on the ST and the uses of MIDI in concert.

FROM XE TO ST
Greg originally did his sequencing with an Atari 130 XE, but when the ST became available, he bought one immediately. He especially likes the fact that, unlike some other genres of software, professional MIDI packages abound for the ST Whelchel has tried software from many companies, such as Dr T's and Steinberg Research, but favors Hybrid Arts' SMPTE Track. "The main reason I use Hybrid is it's the only one that allows you to directly sync to SMPTE time code," Whelchel says. "The timing is much better when you can sync to SMPTE."


Whelchel sequences
parts that are
"just too boring
to play
night after night."

Whelchel wouldn't think of trading his 1040 for anything else. In fact, he prefers it to the Macintosh. "The Mac doesn't have a MIDI port," he says, "which means you've got to shell out another $150 and cart around another box. The other thing I don't like about the Mac is the screen is so tiny. . . I like a bigger screen and the option of color or monochrome. The Mac II has this option, but it's a $7,000 computer.

"I started using the Atari, and I liked it a lot so I've stuck with it. I think it's a great computer and I've got a lot of non-music software for it as well. I use it to do all my accounting, bookkeeping and writing."

But Whelchel's main use for it is for making great music. "In concert, about one-third of our songs are sequenced," Whelchel says. "We're always playing on all the songs, of course, but we augment with sequencing on a third of the tunes."

WE ARE NOT DEVO
Greg considered sequencing all his parts completely, but rejected this idea for good reason. "The whole point is to have a live show," he says. "Several performers have tried sequencing everything-Howard Jones tried it and so did Thomas Dolby and Kenny Loggins-and audiences didn't like it. They're going to see a live performance and spontaneous interaction between the performer and the audience. That's part of the fun of it."

According to Whelchel, "The main reason we sequence is either to play real mechanical parts, like a typical repetitive sequence that's supposed to sound robotic, or something that's just too boring to play night after night. If I'm real sick of playing a part, I can put it on the sequencer and let the machine do it.

"Another use for sequencing is to play something Marc and I can't physically play because we already have too many parts. We've only got two hands and the Pointer Sisters' tunes are real synthesizer-intensive. In fact, there are more synthesizer parts than anything else. At times, even between the two of us, we can't possibly cover them. But with the Atari 1040, we can do it all!"

PRESENTING THE ST BACKUP SINGERS
Another (surprising) use for the ST's MIDI system has been to sequence the Pointer Sisters' background vocals. One of the handy things about sequencing the background vocals is that two of the sisters can leave the stage for costume changes while the third takes a solo turn. "For example, Anita does a solo tune called 'More than a Memory' while Ruth and June leave the stage to change costumes, even though there are a lot of background vocals on that tune," says Whelchel.


From left to right-keyboardist Greg Wheichel, Ruth Pointer, June Pointer, Anita
Pointer and keyboardist Marc Ritter on the set of "Top of the Pops." Photo by
Dave Sessions, courtesy Hybrid Arts.

Sequencing the background vocals was simple enough. Says Whelchel, "We went into the studio and Anita sang all the background vocals. The vocal blend is unbelievably good because she's blending with herself Marc and I took the 2-inch tape and just sampled the background vocals right off the master It sounds great!"

LESS IS MORE?
Although he might admit to being a "techno-junkie," Whelchel believes some bands actually overdo it in the equipment department-and more is not necessarily better. "You don't need a lot of synthesizers to have a great show or a great sound," he says. "A variety of excellent synthesizers that do different things, yes. But you don't need ten of each. You basically need one. By MIDIing things together, by using digital delays and digital reverbs and chorusing, by stacking them and layering them and mapping to change controllers around, you can really get out of one synthesizer what you need to get out of it. You can have a devastating sound with a minimal amount of equipment. That's the approach I take."

Whelchel's stage setup is as follows: The Emulator SP-12 drives the Atari 1040 and the 1040 plays synthesizers on both sides of the stage. "We bought six 6-foot MIDI cables, chopped them in half and connected them to standard mike cable connectors," he notes. "Because the MIDI signal only uses three of the five pins in the MIDI plug, two are unused. A standard mike connector has three pins, so we just use those three pins. That way we can run the MIDI cable as long as we want."

Whelchel says a piece of hardware called The Mapper (manufactured by Axxess and distributed by Intelligent Music) "allows me to find all the splits I'm doing, as far as keyboard assignments and note assignments. I can call up all the patches, make all the controller changes, any redefinition of any MIDI code I want to make for each song. I don't even need to hit any buttons anymore. I don't have to set up any digital delays. I don't have to call any patches on any synthesizers. I don't have to load up any samples. All I do is hit one button on the Yamaha DX7II, which calls up the sequence for that song. Then I have a foot switch on the floor to step through all the changes."

This all works very smoothly when there are no mechanical problems. But what happens when something goes wrong in concert? After all, during a live performance you can't exactly call for time out to work on your machines. Whelchel has never had a problem with his Atari, but has found a few bugs in some of his other equipment. "The biggest problem I have," says Whelchel, "is stuck notes on the Yamaha DX7II. The only thing you can do is shut off the synthesizer for a split second and then turn it back on. If anyone's really listening, they'll notice there's a DX-7 part suddenly missing. But it doesn't affect the timing, because the SP-12 and the Man are pretty much handling the timing. If there's nothing on the receiving end, the Atari doesn't really care. It sends out its data anyway."

EXTRACURRICULAR ACTIVITIES
Whelchel does more than play keyboards for the Pointer Sisters. For example, Greg and two other keyboard players put together the music for the Ice Capades last year- the first time they had used sequenced music. "We did the entire prerecorded music for the Ice Capades using the ST," Whelchel says. "It worked great. We used samplers and synthesizers to make the tape, then they augmented the prerecorded sound with a live orchestra during their show. Until last year, they had an orchestra and did the traditional recording tape. What we did was totally MIDI-all sequenced. The only thing we did live was some big band stuff, because that's a style that's really hard to duplicate with the synthesizer."

For the Ice Capades, Whelchel got a good chance to see the ST and the Macintosh working side by side, because both were used on the project. To Whelchel, it was no contest. "The ST worked a lot better" he says. "The Mac was a bit tedious to work with because you have to use an intermediary box in order to convert SMPTE time code into something the Macintosh will understand. On the other hand, the ST just ran it directly with no problem."

IT'S NOT JUST FOR GAMES ANYMORE
When he's not working for the Pointer Sisters or the Ice Capades, Whelchel does TV jingles for companies like Toyota, McDonald's and Nissan. "When I started doing commercials with this group of musicians, I brought my Atari ST to the studio," Whelchel remembers. "The engineers and the other musicians didn't know anything about it. They thought it was a game computer. They thought we were going to play 'Marble Madness,' not play music!" he laughs. "The unfortunate reality is that the Macintosh had quite a head start on the ST. All the people with money-studios and rich musicians-at first got the Macintosh because that's all there was. Either that or the IBM PC, which is a horrible computer. So there I was with my Atari and we'd lay down tracks to picture into the computer. Then I'd ask for a line with SMPTE code coming out of it. We'd play it and they were just shocked, unbelievably shocked that we could just locate to anywhere instaneously."

Whelchel enjoyed the impressed looks on the engineers' faces. "I'd say, 'Just roll picture' and they'd ask, 'Don't we have to start from the beginning or do some sort of translation?' I'd say, 'No, just roll.' "Since that time, two of the engineers Whelchel works with have purchased STs and so have two of the keyboard players he does commercials with.

All of which just goes to prove that the ST is winning converts right and left. And it's not doing it on the strength of its name alone. It's doing it on the strength of its performance, both on stage and in the studio.

Mard Naman is a freelance writer who specializes in personality profiles. He is a frequent contributor to START

PRODUCTS MENTIONED

  • SMPTE Track, $575. Hybrid Arts, 11920 West Olympic Blvd., Los Angeles CA 90064, (213) 826-3777.
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