Jeskola Buzz is a
freeware
Freeware is software, most often proprietary, that is distributed at no monetary cost to the end user. There is no agreed-upon set of rights, license, or EULA that defines ''freeware'' unambiguously; every publisher defines its own rules for the f ...
modular software music studio environment designed to run on
Microsoft Windows
Windows is a group of several proprietary graphical operating system families developed and marketed by Microsoft. Each family caters to a certain sector of the computing industry. For example, Windows NT for consumers, Windows Server for serv ...
using
MFC. It is centered on a modular plugin-based machine view and a multiple pattern
sequencer
Sequencer may refer to:
Technology
* Drum sequencer (controller), an electromechanical system for controlling a sequence of events automatically
* DNA sequencer, a machine used to automatically produce a sequence readout from a biological DNA sam ...
tracker.
Buzz consists of a
plugin architecture that allows the audio to be routed from one plugin to another in many ways, similar to how cables carry an audio signal between physical pieces of hardware. All aspects of signal synthesis and manipulation are handled entirely by the plugin system. Signal synthesis is performed by "generators" such as
synthesizer
A synthesizer (also spelled synthesiser) is an electronic musical instrument that generates audio signals. Synthesizers typically create sounds by generating waveforms through methods including subtractive synthesis, additive synthesis and ...
s, noise generator functions,
samplers, and trackers. The signal can then be manipulated further by "effects" such as distortions, filters, delays, and mastering plugins. Buzz also provides support through adapters to use
VST/VSTi,
DirectX/DXi, and DirectX Media Objects as generators and effects.
A few new classes of plugins do not fall under the normal generator and effect types. These include peer machines (signal and event automated controllers), recorders, wavetable editors, scripting engines, etc. Buzz signal output also uses a plugin system; the most practical drivers include
ASIO
''Asio'' is a genus of typical owls, or true owls, in the family Strigidae. This group has representatives over most of the planet, and the short-eared owl is one of the most widespread of all bird species, breeding in Europe, Asia, North and S ...
,
DirectSound
DirectSound is a deprecated software component of the Microsoft DirectX library for the Windows operating system, superseded by XAudio2. It provides a low-latency interface to sound card drivers written for Windows 95 through Windows XP and can h ...
, and MME. Buzz supports
MIDI
MIDI (; Musical Instrument Digital Interface) is a technical standard that describes a communications protocol, digital interface, and electrical connectors that connect a wide variety of electronic musical instruments, computers, and re ...
both internally and through several enhancements. Some MIDI features are limited or hacked together such as
MIDI clock sync.
Development
Buzz was created by
Oskari Tammelin who named the software after his
demogroup
Demogroups are teams of demosceners, who make computer based audio-visual works of art known as demos. Demogroups form a subculture collectively known as the demoscene.
Groups frequently consist of students, young computer enthusiasts who spend ...
,
Jeskola.
In 1997-98 Buzz was a "3rd Generation
Tracker" and has since evolved beyond the traditional tracker model.
The development of the core program, buzz.exe, was halted on October 5, 2000, when the developer lost the source code to the program. It was announced in June 2008 that development would begin again, eventually regaining much of the functionality.
Development was restarted in June 2008.
Plugin system
Buzz's plugin system is intended to operate according to a
free software
Free software or libre software is computer software distributed under terms that allow users to run the software for any purpose as well as to study, change, and distribute it and any adapted versions. Free software is a matter of liberty, no ...
model. The header files used to compile new plugins (known as the Buzzlib) contain a small notice that they are only to be used for making freeware plugins and Buzz file music players. The restriction requires that developers who wish to use the Buzz plugin system in their own sequencers pay a fee to the author.
Notable users
Some notable electronic musicians who use Jeskola Buzz include:
*
Andrew Sega
Andrew Gregory Sega ( ; born May 20, 1975), also known as Necros, is an American musician best known for tracking modules in the 1990s demoscene as well as for composing music for several well-known video games. He was a member of the synthpop d ...
*
Hunz
Hunz is an electronic pop music group from Brisbane, Australia. The name Hunz can refer to either the group or its composer, keyboardist and vocalist, Hans van Vliet.
The group was formed in 2005 by Johannes (Hans) van Vliet (born 15 December ...
*
Andreas Tilliander
Berndt Andreas Tilliander (born 1977) is a Swedish electronica, drone and techno producer who significantly contributed to the evolution of the 'clicks & cuts' genre with his first albums ''Cliphop'' (Raster.Noton) and ''Ljud'' (Mille Plateaux). ...
*
James Holden, whose early work was produced entirely within Buzz.
*
Lackluster
Esa Ruoho (born 26 October 1978 in Helsinki, Finland), better known as Lackluster, is a Finnish electronic music producer and performer from Kontula, Helsinki. He is also known as Esa Ruoho, XLLV, Can'O'Lard and Kökö and the Köks.
Ruoho has ...
*
Oliver Lieb
Oliver Lieb (born 1969 in Frankfurt, West Germany) is a German electronic music producer and DJ. Lieb is known to have more than a dozen aliases with over 200 productions and remixes in various electronic genres such as trance, house, and tech ...
*
The Field
See also
*
Buzztrax
Buzztrax is a free software project designed to create a clone of the Buzz music composer. Its functionality is to preserve the playability of the compositions made with Buzz. Songs are made by adding virtual sound generators and effects, conne ...
is an effort to recreate a Buzz-like environment under a
free software
Free software or libre software is computer software distributed under terms that allow users to run the software for any purpose as well as to study, change, and distribute it and any adapted versions. Free software is a matter of liberty, no ...
license which runs under
Linux
Linux ( or ) is a family of open-source Unix-like operating systems based on the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released on September 17, 1991, by Linus Torvalds. Linux is typically packaged as a Linux distribution, which ...
.
*
Visual programming language
In computing, a visual programming language (visual programming system, VPL, or, VPS) is any programming language that lets users create programs by manipulating program elements ''graphically'' rather than by specifying them ''textually''. A VP ...
References
{{Reflist
External links
BuzzMachines.com- The central buzz website for the last couple of years, since Oskari's own web site ceased to host Buzz distributions anymore. Several distributions of Buzz which include the core and selected plugins are distributed through this website.
Jeskola BuzzLatest beta versions of Buzz
*
Andrew Sega
Andrew Gregory Sega ( ; born May 20, 1975), also known as Necros, is an American musician best known for tracking modules in the 1990s demoscene as well as for composing music for several well-known video games. He was a member of the synthpop d ...
Taking Tracking Mainstream Part 1Part 2Part 3Part 4Part 5
Tracking history with Buzz presentation, Notacon
Notacon (pronounced "not-a-con") was an art and technology conference which took place annually in Cleveland, Ohio from 2003 to 2014. Notacon ceased operations in 2014. The name Notacon became a bacronym for Northern Ohio Technological Advancement ...
conference, April 27, 2007
Audio trackers
Demoscene software
Music software plugin architectures