And now we are going to meet someone who plays electronic instruments on our symphonic safari adventure, lets go!

Hello.

I'm Violetta Vibrato, but you can call me Vi.

Hi, Vi.

So your name is Matt?

Yes, I'm Matt Ramage.

Hi, Matt Ramage.

Can you tell me a little bit about yourself?

Sure.

I teach music technology classes at Florida State University.

That's very notable.

Now I want to learn all there is about electronic instruments and electronica, but I'm not sure I know what it is.

Can you tell me a little bit about it?

Sure.

Electronic instruments are just pieces of technology that can make musical sounds so you can make all kinds of instrument sounds.

When did you start to do that?

Probably When I was about twelve years old.

You were twelve years old.

What was the first thing that you learned to do on your computer that made, like digital music like that?

Well, the first thing I did was make a sound on a synthesizer, which is an instrument that uses electronic signals to create musical notes.

And I made a sound that sounds like this.

Thats fantastic.

That sounds just like music, and you made that all on the computer?

Yeah.

All the computer.

And you manipulated all the different sound levels and volume and pitches and all those kinds of things.

Yes, there's lots of buttons and knobs and switches to play with.

It all looks very cool, too.

It's a nice, fun color.

What would you say to somebody who was twelve years old like you were, who wanted to learn how to do that?

I would say study acoustic instruments first and then experiment with electronic instruments after you've learned the basics of music, so you learn to play what kinds of instruments?

I started on the piano and then I learned the French horn when I was in elementary school, and now I play lots of other instruments too, like the electric bass , the acoustic guitar, even some percussion instruments like the drum set or the cohone.

And you can make a lot of those sounds, or maybe even all of those sounds using the computer just like that.

Yes, the computer has examples of those sounds.

So I want to ask you if I close my eyes and hear you play an instrument, will I really think it was the instrument that was right here with me instead of it coming from a computer?

Well, there's only one way to find out.

I'm going to close my eyes.

Here we go.

OK. That was a harp.

Yeah, that's beautiful it sounded, just like a harp, that was right here with me.

So do you play this?

And use all this in an orchestra too?

Yes, you can play these synthesized instruments in an orchestra.

If you can't find someone who really plays an actual harp.

Wow, that was amazing.

Do you have favorite sounds that you like to play with using the computer like that?

Yeah, one of them is just a standard piano.

Thats amazeballs, that you can make all those sounds and it sounds like you're in an orchestra with sounds and music just like that.

You can use computer instruments if you don't have access to physical instruments.

So we've been talking about electronic instruments, but all of this is part of electronica, which means you can make all different kinds of sounds and sound effects, right?

Yes.

So what other sounds can you make that aren't instruments, that might be something that I would know?

Well, how about something like this?

That sounds like somebody's coughing!

Yeah.

Or maybe one like this That sounded like a sneeze!

Oh, could You make a burp noise?

Hmm.

Let me see if I have one of those.

Could you do that again, I'm going to pretend like I'm making the noise.

Did it look like I made that sound?

It did That's just amazing So, you say that as a twelve year old you learned to play this is it complicated to learn all the different levels that you make in all the different ways that you manipulate it?

Is it a complicated thing?

Or is it something that you think that even at twelve years old like you did that you can learn that?

It might seem complicated at first, but I think that it's actually pretty easy and it's really fun just to experiment and try, even if you have no idea how it works.

Right?

So we've been talking to all of my musician friends about being in an orchestra, and you said that you can create the sounds like in an orchestra, Is there a favorite piece that you like to play or something that you would like to demonstrate that would be in an orchestra?

Well, one of my most favorite orchestra pieces is called The Pines of Rome by Respighi the composer.

And actually, that is one of the first examples of when an electronic instrument it was used in an orchestral piece because even back in 1924, there were bird sounds recorded on a record on a gramophone and it was played with the orchestra while they played the music.

Can I hear something like that?

Sure.

Do you sit there with the orchestra and actually use this and to make all sounds like that too?

I will be doing that with the orchestra when they play Tchaikovsky's 1812 Overture.

What will you be playing and what will you be using this for in that piece?

Well, I will be playing a cannon You can make cannon noises?

I can make a cannon noise.

Can I hear it?

Sure.

Before everybody else does?

Oh, absolutely.

Ready?

Yes.

Oh.

Wow, that's powerful!

A big explosion right at your fingertips.

Woah, and you can make it as loud as you want.

I mean, I don't want to blow anybody's ears off.

But you can make that super loud.

Yeah, you can make it any volume you'd like as long as you have the right equipment.

That is, does it take a long time to set all that up?

Sometimes, if you have help from your friends, it takes less time.

That's really wonderful.

Do you work with other people to create sounds like this and all work together in a group, or is it something that you do a lot by yourself?

It can be done both ways.

I've worked in groups of people or with groups of students in a class to create a piece together, or I've worked by myself for long hours toiling away at the computer just to make my own music.

And do you make sounds or music or create things for movies like Star Wars, for example?

I haven't created any music for Star Wars, but there are many people who use these same tools exactly what I'm using here to make music for movies and TV shows.

To make all those different sounds and sound effects like the coughing and sneezing and then the burping just like that.

Yeah, it's pretty amazing what you can do with the computer.

And I've learned so much about something that I didn't know anything about before.

Thank you so much Matt for teaching me so much about electronic instruments, about electronica and all the funny and silly, sounds that You can make with that.

Thank you for joining me on my symphonic safari adventure.

Absolutely.

Thanks for having me.

Bye.

Bye