February 2022 – Simon Hutchinson

Using Reaktor 6 to build a synth with XY timbre controls.

The term “Vector Synthesis” was coined to describe Sequential Circuits’ 1986 Prophet VS synthesizer. This synth included a joystick with two dimensions of control that allowed for dynamic, real-time control of the timbre of the instrument by cross-fading between its wavetables.

Here, let’s steal that idea of X/Y control over timbre, and see if we can make a quick Reaktor synthesizer with the same real-time interactivity.

0:00 What is Vector Synthesis?
1:28 XY Plane
2:30 XY Controlling One Oscillator
3:59 Crossfading Oscillators
6:12 2D Crossfading
9:34 Different Waveform in Each Corner
13:50 Adding a Filter
14:37 More Sophisticated Oscillators
16:00 Polyphony
16:49 Next Steps

Reaktor 6 Beginner Tutorials here
More Intermediate Reaktor Tutorials here

How to receive and parse OSC (Open Sound Control) messages in Pure Data Vanilla for real-time musical control.

Open Sound Control, like MIDI is a protocol for transmitting data for musical performance. Unlike MIDI, though, OSC data is transmitted over a network, so we can easily transmit wirelessly from our iPhones or other devices. Another, difference, though, is that OSC messages don’t have standard designations (like MIDI “Note On” or “Note Off”), so we need to set up ways to parse that data and map it to controls ourselves.

Here, I go over the basics of receiving and parsing OSC data in Pure Data Vanilla, setting us up to make our own data-driven instruments.

0:00 Intro
2:46 [netreceive]
4:07 Sending OSC Messages
5:28 [oscparse]
6:02 Data!
7:11 [list trim]
8:09 [route]
9:03 [unpack]
9:46 Using the Data for Musical Control
13:52 Recap (Simplified Patch)
14:55 Explanation of Opening Patch

Month: February 2022

Vector Synthesis in Reaktor 6 Primary (Make your own Prophet VS?)

Open Sound Control (OSC) in Pure Data Vanilla