Launchpad in Numerology!

The most recent release of five12 Numerology included full support for the Novation Launchpad.  It’s amazing!  Here is a demo of myself using it to sequence a track.  This track is a little bit long, but I am sequencing all the patterns and mixing everything live, so it takes a while, and I mess around with some of the different features of the launchpad support just to show some things.

 

There are a lot of different features hidden away in the launchpad support, and I didn’t get to all of them.  But I hit on the main ones.   You can completely sequence and arrange a track all from the launchpad without even touching numerology, after setting up your numerology patch!  

 

 

For this track, I was using Reaktor for some sampling and effects, and my waldorf microwave and roland mks-70 for synthesis.  Everything was sequenced and mixed in real time, no edits or overdubs.

 

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Golden Master, April 7th 2010 | Posted in Audio And Synthesis, reaktor, software, tracks

Golden REAKTOR VOSIM!!

Well, for all you poor bastards who don’t own a G2 modular, and can’t use the VOSIM patch I made for mine, I have put together a VOSIM patch in Reaktor.  Actually, part of the reason I made it was just to implement some features I couldn’t get in the G2, and because I thought it might sound different in reaktor.

part of the GUI for the vosim synth

part of the GUI for the vosim synth

 

It does sound different, and, actually, I think it sounds better in Reaktor!  Part of the reason (geek speak here) is that the ramp oscillator in Reaktor allows more precision for syncing the waveforms and there are less jitter artifacts.  Also, reaktor just sounds good :).  I was also able to mess around with a couple tricks that are easier in reaktor than on the nord.

 

another snap of the GUI

another snap of the GUI

The architecture of this synth:  It is a 3 OP VOSIM/FM hybrid.  The 3 oscillators can frequency modulate each other, and are all fed into the same VOSIM “burst envelope” which creates the fundamental frequency, and the 3 operator/oscillators are what create the formants.

I found that using a little frequency modulation can add a lot of texture to the vocal sound, or just help in creating a lot of crazy textures.

I’ve also included a fairly comprehensive modulation section.  There are only a few presets, but there is really a lot of possibilities in this synth, so enjoy!

I made a simple track to show some sounds from this Reaktor patch.  It was just a fun quick demo, but there’s some good textures in there, anyhow.  The pad/abstraction sounds are from the VOSIM synth.  The “techno” sounding synth and the drums are from the nord g2 modular.  

unsavory Associations Mp3 audio

and here is the reaktor patch:

golden vosim reaktor patch

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Golden Master, March 17th 2010 | Tags: , , , , , ,
Posted in Audio And Synthesis, microtonal, reaktor, software

VOSIM Synthesis for the Masses

I’m always on the lookout for interesting new ways to get sounds, or new synthesis methods.  Especially ones that don’t take a degree an DSP engineering to figure out.  VOSIM fits the bill.  VOSIM is a kind of formant synthesis where you can control the formant (louder peaks in the frequency spectrum, like in vocals) and fundamental frequency of a tone completely independently, without using any subtractive filters.  

Some VOSIM waveforms

Some VOSIM waveforms

Above are some VOSIM waveforms.  It’s hard to glean exactly what VOSIM is from the Csound patches and weird academic descriptions online, so I am just giving my approximate definitions and explanations here (please correct me if I’m wrong here, inter-nerds).  Basically, VOSIM is a chain of Parabol (or sine) pulses that are “windowed” or enveloped into bursts.  There can be a delay between these bursts, or they can immediately follow one another.  I found that the delay between bursts did not affect the sound as much as the frequency of the pulse trains, and it was tricky to implement (I did have a working version of a delayed-burst version of VOSIM working to get the waveforms in the image above) so I just made a version with continuous bursts (where one follows immediately after the preceding burst).

Breaking it down...

Breaking it down...

The diagram above explains the Signal flow of my patch.  A sine wave is multiplied by itself to give sine^2.  This makes the waveform completely positive instead of bipolar.  A sawtooth wave that has only positive values is multiplied with the Sin^2 pulses to give continuous Bursts of pulses.  The length of these bursts, determined by the frequency of the sawtooth wave, gives the fundamental frequency of the tone, and the frequency of the sine^2 pulses gives the formant frequency.

sawtooth wave (orange) provides the envelope for the pulses (yellow)

sawtooth wave (orange) provides the envelope for the pulses (yellow)

There is one other trick to getting this all working–the sine^2 pulses must be phase-synced with the sawtooth wave so there are no ugly clicking sounds.  Any synthesis system with oscillators that can be synced should do this just fine.  Make sure that the sawtooth wave is ramping downwards, not upwards, as is often the case in synthesizers.

This is a very interesting synthesis method that can be implemented in just about any digital modular system!  I think more people should give it a try.  And I think there should be more dialogue online about doing cool stuff like this instead of gazillions of rehashings of classic analogue sounds and “how did so and so get this sound in such and such track.”  So, anyone else have some cool ideas?

Here is a video I made to illustrate what the VOSIM waveform looks like, and some of the sounds that can be achieved with a simple VOSIM patch:

Here is my nord G2 modular VOSIM patch:

Golden VOSIM G2 patch

I got my idea for this stuff from the fantastic “Advanced programming Techniques for Modular Synthesizers” website.

Here’s a quick track I made with the VOSIM sounds (needed my 2nd beer for this one):

Voxhinda Mp3 Audio

4 Comments

Golden Master, March 7th 2010 | Tags: , , ,
Posted in Audio And Synthesis, Nord G2 Modular, Theory, Ideas

Harmonic Ratio Arpeggiator

I’ve gone on another microtonal trip lately, and have been working with ratios again.  The thing about composing music with frequency ratios is that it places you in a brave new world where each interval is made up of TWO numbers instead of one (as in the traditional system, a fourth, third, fifth, etc).  There are also all kinds of undiscovered tones and frequencies and relationships.  There has to be a way to explore all this!

 

picture of the GUI for the reaktor arpeggiator

picture of the GUI for the reaktor arpeggiator

 

For those of you that aren’t hopeless music nerds like myself, a frequency ratio is just a relationship between frequencies.  It is also the language of a tuning system called “just intonation.”  A basic example:  In the key of A, with the root frequency being 440 hertz, the A in the next higher octave is related to the original note a440 by a frequency ratio of 2/1, and is 880 hz.  A major third is the ratio 5/4, or 550 hertz.  Instead of the normal 12 steps per octave of Equal temperament, there is an infinite gradation of frequencies that you can manipulate to your heart’s content.  

 

With all that freedom comes massive confusion.  I have been trying to come up with some systems for composing with these numbers.  The first most obvious idea would be to just make a fixed scale, choose a few notes, and play with that.  That is fun!  But, it doesn’t take advantage of all the flexibility that working with just intonation truly gives you.  Instead of just choosing 7 or 12 or 10 notes, you can start with a set of 5 notes, and make them mutate and evolve into an infinity of other frequencies, but all logically related by numerical relationships!

 

This is my first system for making melodies and chords in just intonation: a harmonic arpeggiator.  There are two different tables containing numbers for the numerator and denominator, and these tables can be moved through independently, at different speeds.  Midi input triggers notes, but only the time and octave of the input notes is taken, and the rest is controlled by the ratio sequencers.

 

I have implemented this system in both my Nord g2 modular and in Reaktor, so I can make them work together.  

 

Here is a simple melodic sort of track I did with the g2 patch:

Mp3 Audio of “Hydrogen”

 

Here is the Reaktor patch:

Reaktor Harmonic Arpeggiator

 

Here are a couple g2 patches:

G2 Harmonic Arpeggiator with Karpluss Synthesis

 

I will be coming up with more stuff soon!  I want to make some programs that allow you to dynamically change the scale as you play.  Not sure how easy that will be to do in the g2, but I’ll definitely be able to do it in reaktor.

 

10 Comments

Golden Master, February 8th 2010 | Tags: , , , , , , , ,
Posted in Audio And Synthesis, Nord G2 Modular, microtonal, reaktor, software, tracks

Golden Reaktor Grain Sampler!

I haven’t really posted any reaktor patches on this blog.  I have quite a few Reaktor patches that I’ve made that i’m pretty proud of, however!  So, I’m going to try and start parting them out and bringing them here for people.  I try to comment them so they make sense, but you know–these patches were designed for my idiosyncratic way of working.

 

Snapshot of the GUI of the sampler.

Snapshot of the GUI of the sampler.

The GoldenCloudSampler .ens file is here.

This sampler was designed to work with my way of thinking about granulation and sampling.  There is a comprehensive modulation section where you can use clock-synced sequencers as well as LFO’s and envelopes to control the grain, filter, pitch, and volume parameters.  The start time in the sample, and speed of the traversal through the sample, are also randomizable upon midi note input.

There is also a sequencer which lets you flip through the various samples loaded into the sample map, synced to tempo.  I like to use groups of similar-sounding samples, and flip through them, to add a constantly evolving feel.  

Enough of that technical mumbo jumbo!   here are a couple tracks that i’ve written, using this sampler.

“Sun Choke” Mp3 audio.  This track’s sound is all from reaktor, and everything but the drums is from this sampler patch.

“whiteFish” Mp3 audio.  This track’s sampling work is a blend of samples from a shakuhachi, and a persian santur.  Other sounds were added from my synthesizers as well.  The String-like granulated sound that comes in after the introduction, and gets loudest about halfway through the track, is from this sampler.  The flute sounds were produced by another sampler instrument I made, which i’ll post up here soon as well.

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Golden Master, January 19th 2010 | Tags: , ,
Posted in Audio And Synthesis, reaktor, software, tracks

g2 Granular Synthesis update

I made a new and improved granular patch for the G2, based on the one I posted here earlier.  This one gives you two streams of grains per-keyboard note: one of bandpass filtered noise, and one of FM synthesis grains, that you can cross-fade between with the control pedal input on the G2.  The speed of the grains is controlled with the mod wheel, and many other controls are mapped to the front panel knobs.  I like how it turned out!  You can also hear this patch being used in the bagger288 track in my previous blog.

 

mm, grains, tasty

mm, grains, tasty

Here is a track where I get some sounds with this new patch:

Strange Grains MP3 audio

here is the g2 patch:

DoubleGrain

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Golden Master, December 31st 2009 | Tags: , , ,
Posted in Audio And Synthesis, Nord G2 Modular, tracks

G2 Patch: Golden Drums Sequencer

One of the things I was most excited about getting this G2 modular Keyboard for, was the great interface for live performance and sequencing.  Before I got it, I didn’t even realize that it had such great built-in step sequencing features!  Lacking a good drum machine (honestly, I think the only drum machine worth having out there is the ridiculously expensive $1500+ Elektron Machinedrum), I decided to make the g2 into a groovebox.

goldenDrum

Anyhow, here is an MP3 demo.  All the sounds and sequences in this demo were edited from the keyboard interface, without using the computer.

Golden Drums mp3 demo

Here is the g2 patch:

Golden Drums Sequencer G2 Modular Patch

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Golden Master, December 28th 2009 | Tags: , , , ,
Posted in Audio And Synthesis, Nord G2 Modular

Granular Synthesis on the G2

More g2 stuff!  One of the things I was excited about getting this Nord Modular for was doing granular synthesis with it.  I’ve loved playing with granular synthesis in Reaktor and Audiomulch, and with various VST plugins.  Doing granular synthesis was somewhat limited in the Nord Micro Modular I had before getting this G2 because of the limited polyphony.  But the G2 is much more powerful, and it handles granular synthesis/processing easily!

granpatch

A simple patch for FM granular synthesis in the g2!

This patch only uses 17% of the DSP power in one patch on the g2.  So this is really just a starting point, I have a lot of options!  Using all the control data on a keyboard to modulate granular synthesis parameters is a lot of fun–here, I have the aftertouch modulating the grain length, velocity modulating the FM index, and the mod wheel adjusting the frequency of the grains.

Here is an audio sample.  This is really just a demo track, of me having a lot of fun getting sounds from this patch by playing it on the keyboard.

MP3 audio of Granular Synthesis on the G2

and here is the patch file:

g2 granular patch

1 Comment

Golden Master, December 20th 2009 | Tags: , , , , ,
Posted in Audio And Synthesis, Nord G2 Modular, software

Live Set Preview: Guitar and Drums

I’ve been working on my live set that I’ll be playing next month on Dec 4th at the “Sugar” bakery in the first hill neighborhood here in seattle.  I’m using the stuff i’ve been blogging on lately: Audiomulch, the Novation Launchpad.  I’m also playing my guitar through some external effects before it goes into my battery of effects in Audiomulch, and then looping the guitar signal in one of Audiomulch’s looper contraptions.

 

My fretless guitar, midi foot controller, a couple pedals.

My fretless guitar, midi foot controller, a couple pedals.

Anyhow, the idea is to make a live set with nothing much more than guitar looping, and some backing percussion.  I knocked the frets off this guitar a long time ago, and it helps me to think of the instrument more as a big playground of frequencies and sounds, instead of like a normal guitar.  Here’s a couple tracks!  I’m really only about 1/2 way done preparing for this set, in my mind, so my live set should be more refined and hopefully broader sounding than these loops.  But I’m pretty satisfied with the results thus far.

Guitar Improvisation #1 audio

Guitar Improvisation #2 audio

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Golden Master, November 21st 2009 | Tags: , , ,
Posted in Audio And Synthesis, News, tracks

Live music: signal flow, performance, Geiger Counters

 

Watch out for Rads

Watch out for Rads

 

I have been preparing for a show I’m playing next month here in seattle.  When I am getting ready for a live set, that usually means that I am putting a patch in Audiomulch or Reaktor.  This time, I am putting something together in audiomulch 2.0.  

I’ve played a handful of shows at various venues, though not too many.  But almost all of my tracks are based on live improvisations in my home studio, so I do a lot of thinking about how to play improvised electronic music.  Over time, i’ve developed a way to route all of my audio so that I can take a fairly basic audio signal, and without too much effort, run it through a small group of effects in almost any way, using the same set of effects to make endless different sounds.  

 

snapshot of the signal flow section of my audiomulch patch

snapshot of the signal flow section of my audiomulch patch

The “8×8Matrix” you see in the center of the above picture is the heart of almost all of my live processing stuff that I do.  Being able to take any input and dynamically route it to any output is an amazing thing.  And taking those outputs, putting them back into the inputs, and re-effecting them, is even better.  With this sort of setup, and a decent midi controller to manipulate the matrix from, you can take just a few effects and make entire universes out of them.  

I find this is one of the ideal ways to manipulate feedback, especially if there are time based effects in your group of effects processing units, like delays, reverb, or especially delayed granulation.  While many people focus on using granular processing for manipulating things on the “micro” timescale, I think it is one of the best ways to make interesting textures with respect to larger musical structures.  more on this later, maybe.

This live set I am working on is going to be focused on looping electric guitar with effects and some percussion in the background.  I’ve set up my midi footpedal to control audiomulch’s Live Looper contraption, and will be using a novation launchpad to control the mixing matrix, the playback of the recorded loops, and other things.

Anyhow, I did an improvisation tonight with audiomulch, and a drum synth plugin I enjoy using, “microtonic.”  I used some of the methods I just described above to process the drums.  I’ll post more updates and improvisations as I work on this business.

MP3 audio of “Broken Counter”

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Golden Master, November 15th 2009 | Tags: , , , , ,
Posted in Audio And Synthesis, Theory, Ideas, tracks
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