Bristol

🗃️ Specifications

📰 Title:	Bristol	🕹️ / 🛠️ Type:	Tool
🗃️ Genre:	Development	👁️ Visual:	2D
🏷️ Category:	Development ➤ Audio Production ➤ Organ & Piano	🏝️ Perspective:	First person (interface)
🔖 Tags:	Development; Audio Production; Organ	⏱️ Pacing:	Real Time
🐣️ Approx. start:		👫️ Played:	Single
🐓️ Latest:	2013-01-24	🚦 Status:	04. Released (status)
📍️ Version:	0.60.11	❤️ Like it:	9. ⏳️
🏛️ License type:	🕊️ Libre	🎀️ Quality:	7. ⏳️
🏛️ License:	GPL-2	✨️ (temporary):
🐛️ Created:	2014-03-20	🐜️ Updated:	2024-06-22

📦️ Deliverables

📦️ Package name:	bristol, monoBristol	..... 📦️ Arch:
📄️ Source:		..... 📦️ RPM:
⚙️ Generic binary:		..... 📦️ Deb:
🌍️ Browser version:		..... 📦️ AppImage:
📱️ PDA support:		..... 📦️ Flatpak:
✨️ Not use:		..... 📦️ Snap:

🚦 Entry status

📰 What's new?:		👻️ Temporary:
💡 Lights on:		🎨️ Significant improvement:
👔️ Already shown:		💭️ New version published (to be updated):
🎖️ This work:		🚧️ Some work remains to be done:
👫️ Contrib.:	goupildb & Louis	🦺️ Work in progress:
🎰️ ID:	14228

📖️ Summary

📜️[en]:	An emulation package for a number of different 'classic' synthesisers including additive and subtractive and a few organs	📜️[fr]:	Un émulateur de synthétiseurs analogiques et numériques vintages

🎥️ Videos

🎲️ Gameplay: (202xxx♺), (202xxx♺), [fr](202xxx♺),

📕 Description [en]

📜️ "blabla" 📜️

Bristol is an emulation package for a number of different 'classic' synthesisers including additive and subtractive and a few organs. The application consists of the engine, which is called bristol, and its own GUI library called brighton that represents all the emulations.

There are currently twenty something different emulations, each does sound different although the author maintains that the quality and accuracy of each emulation is subjective. One of the main reasons for putting together this site (host by Sourceforge which provides the rest of the services required by bristol) is to depict all the different emulations.

The algrithms employed were 'gleaned' from a variety of sources including the original owners manuals, so they may be a better source of information. Some of them were built just from descriptions of their operation, or from understanding how synths work - most of them were based on the Mini Moog anyway. Many of the synths share components: the filter covers most of them, the Prophets and Oberheims share a common oscillator and the same LFO is used in many of them. Having said that each one differs considerably in the resulting sound that is generated, more so than initially expected. Each release refines each of the components and the result is that all emulations benefit from the improvements.

All the emulations have distinctive sounds, not least due to that the original instruments used different modulations and mod routing. The filter, which is a large defining factor in the tonal qualities of any synth, is common to all the emulations. The filter implements 3 different algorithms and these do separate each of the synths: the Explorer layering two low pass filters on top of each other: the OB-Xa using different types depending on 'Pole' selection. The 3rd filter algorithm is a butterworth used by for the Leslie rotary speaker crossover.

The write-up includes the parameter operations, modulations, a description of the original instrument and a brief list of the kind of sounds you can expect by describing a few of the well known users of the synth.

All emulations are available from the same engine, just launch multiple GUIs and adjust the midi channels for multi timbrality and layering.

It is noted here that the engine is relatively 'dumb'. Ok, it generates a very broad range of sounds, currently about 15 different synthesisers and organs, but it is not really intelligent. Memories are a part of the GUI specification - it tells the engine which algorithm to use on which MIDI channel, then it calls a memory routine that configures all the GUI controllers and a side effectof setting the controllers is that their values are sent to the engine. This is arguably the correct model but it can affect the use of MIDI master keyboards. The reason is that the GUI is really just a master keyboard for the engine and drives it with MIDI SYSEX messages over TCP sessions. If you were to alter the keyboard transpose, for example, this would result in the GUI sending different 'key' numbers to the engine when you press a note. If you were already driving the synth from a master keyboard then the transpose button in the Brighton GUI would have no effect - the master keyboard would have to be transposed instead.

This apparant anomaly is exacerbated by the fact that some parameters still are in the engine, for example master tuning is in the engine for the pure fact thatMIDI does not have a very good concept of master tuning (only autotuning).

Irrespective of this, bristol is a synthesiser so it needs to be played, tweaked, driven. If you think that any of the behaviour is anomalous then let me know. One known issue in this area is that if you press a key, transpose the GUI, then release the key - it will not go off in the engine since the GUI sends a different key code for the note off event - the transposed key. This cannot be related to the original keypress. This could be fixed with a MIDI all notes off event on 'transpose', but I don't like them. This effect is also in part due to the Brighton model for the keyboard - you have to click a key 'on', and then click it 'off' again. There have been requests for key-off on button release, but this prevents you playing chords from the GUI. Perhaps it should be a GUI option, your input would be appreciated.

🍥️ Debian :Bristol is a synthesizer emulator application.
Bristol uses the sound card PCM generator and can be MIDI driven, furthermore it can be set to use the low latency scheduling feature of the kernel, reducing audio under runs. It can handle any number of simultaneous synthesizers (they all connect to the same engine). It supports splitting and layering the keyboard with multiple synthesizers on a single midi channel.
Currently Bristol emulates the following keyboards:
Moog Mini, Moog Voyager (Bristol "Explorer"), Sequential Circuits Prophet-5, Roland Juno-6, Yamaha DX-7, Hammond (single manual), Hammond B3 (dual manual).

📕 Description [fr]

Un émulateur de synthétiseurs analogiques et numériques vintages, par Nick Copeland (ncopeland) & contributeurs.

Bristol est un émulateur de synthétiseurs vintages incluant des synthétiseurs additifs, soustractifs et quelques orgues, et supportant le serveur audio Jack.
Cette application consiste en un moteur (émulateur) dénommé Bristol et sa propre bibliothèque d'interfaces dénommée brighton représentant toutes les émulations.

🌍️ Wikipedia :Bristol est un logiciel d'émulation par synthèse d'anciens synthétiseurs, d'orgues électroniques et de pianos électriques. Cette application est constituée d'un synthétiseur audio et d'une interface utilisateur appelé brighton. Il est possible de lancer plusieurs instruments différents. Ils partagent alors le synthétiseur audio qui agit comme un serveur audio pour ces instruments.

La dernière version publiée en mai 2013 2007 est la 0.60.11 et ce logiciel est activement développé. Près de 40 instruments émulés comprennent plusieurs Moog, des prophet, des Korg, ARP, VOX ainsi que le Hammond B3 (une des émulations les plus complexes), un piano électrique Rhodes et quelques autres.

La qualité de l'émulation est différente selon le modèle émulé. Certains instruments comme le Hammond donnent un résultat très proche de l'original alors que d'autres comme les Oberheim ne donnent pas justice aux originaux.