b. Sound modules
Sound modules are electronic instruments that contain a bank of sounds that rely on an external interface (such as a keyboard controller or a sequencer) to trigger its internal sounds. Usually this is accomplished through MIDI, a protocol typically used in electronic music. A whole book can be written about MIDI, its features, and advantages but since this guide is supposed to get you started rather than confuse you already, I’ll keep it brief. In a nutshell, MIDI stands for Musical Instrument Digital Interface and is an industry standard communication protocol in electronic music. It is used for communication between interconnected electronic music devices through MIDI messages (no audio is transfered), sent from the sending device to the receiver. So in relation to sound modules, MIDI messages are sent from either the sequencer or a keyboard controller to trigger the sounds on the module. In essence, these MIDI messages can be sent in the form of musical notes, and typically dictate how they will be played by the sound module. An example of the properties MIDI messages can send are things like velocity, volume, timings, etc. Sound modules, in rack form, are a good option because they are usually cheaper than buying the keyboard version which essentially contains the same sounds such as drum kits, bass, and other instruments. For example, The Yamaha Motif ES sound module is several hundreds of dollars cheaper than it’s keyboard counterpart, but lacks some features the keyboard version may offer, notably the keys, sliders and knobs, and smaller display. While sound modules can range from a few hundred dollars to several thousand, there is yet another solution for us trying to stick to a tight budget, and that’s where the world of VSTs come in handy. Now if you’re thinking, “Damn, another term I’ve got to remember” but you’ll be glad to know this one. VST stands for Virtual Studio Technology and is basically software replacements for real hardware instruments. Many instrument companies who have traditionally made hardware instruments are now putting them out in software form as VST plug-ins. These VST plug-ins can then be loaded as a channel into FL Studio and played as if it were a hardware device connected via MIDI cable. E-MU, who originally came out with the Proteus 2000 hardware sound module, no longer produce it and have now come out with the Proteus X which sells for about $150. The Proteus X features the same Composer sound bank as the original Proteus 2000 created in 1999. Additional sound banks can be purchased through E-MU’s website such as the Mo’Phatt and Planet Earth for only $50 which were both popular hardware sound modules.