Sunday Synth Jam: This video captures a performance (with multitrack backing) of Alla Hornpipe from Handel’s Water Music, Suite #2 in D major.

The performance, by Mark Smart, is dedicated to the memory of his father Mervin Smart (1934-1991,) who loved Handel’s music.

Smart explains the arrangement below:

In this multitrack recording, I’m using the Haken Continuum Fingerboard to control a custom synthesizer built with Native Instruments’ Reaktor software (running on a Muse Receptor 2 for fast response). I used Cubase for the multitrack recording.

The left channel of the audio is the same take I’m playing in the video
(with some corrections). The Continuum surface is split in the Y
(front-to-back) direction so playing above the halfway point produces
a string sound and playing below it produces a brass sound. The
“Mono Interval” on the Continuum is set to 2, which means that when
you play notes more than 2 half-steps apart, you get two separate
notes, allowing you to play dual melody lines in thirds. But if you
play notes 1-2 half steps apart, you only hear whichever note you
are pressing the hardest, allowing half-step and whole-step trills.
So in the same take I can do the 2 Violins, 2 Trumpets, or 2 French
Horns by playing at different locations.

The right channel contains 9 additional tracks, also performed on
the Continuum driving Reaktor:

1. Violin 2 (when it’s not playing along with 1)
2. Violin 3
3. Viola
4. Cello and bass (this is panned a little to center)
5. Oboe 1&2
6. Additional trumpet 1
6. Additional trumpet 2
7. Additional horn 1
7. Additional horn 2

In case you’re wondering, my finger is injured and I wear a splint
on it to keep it straight. It’s a repetitive stress injury from flipping
too many people off.

(I’ve given up trying to get the video and sound in synch. It’s fine on my machine, then YouTube messes it up when I upload. And the synch changes when you move the playback pointer around while you are watching! Nothing I can do, sorry!)