A super-quick video on adding portamento to your Reaktor synthesizers and the theory behind it.
Portamento is a glide between notes, so, rather than jumping from pitch to pitch, we have an uninterrupted, continuous connection between the notes. Since we know our low-pass filter “rounds off” our audio waveforms, let’s see what happens when we apply that to our pitch control data.
A quick and easy Pure Data patch-from-scratch tutorial building a “complex oscillator” with two sine waves cross modulating each others frequency for noisy, sophisticated sounds.
In this patch, we set up a simple FM synthesizer with one sine wave modulating another’s frequency. Then, instead of leaving it there, we take our output and use it to modulate the modulation oscillation, leading some wonderful, unpredictable complex sounds.
There’s no talking on this one, just building the patch, and listening to it go.
0:00 Sine Oscillator
0:42 Simple FM Synthesis
1:50 Cross Modulation
2:37 Commenting the Code
4:11 Exploring the Controls
Pure Data introductory tutorials here.
More no-talking Pure Data jams and patch-from-scratch videos.
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
Talking about ideas of live electronic performance of electronic music using USB Controllers, Max/MSP, and Eurorack.
Here, I walk through how you can use a USB joystick to MIDI synthesizers (like my Eurorack modular) using Max/MSP as a “translator.” Information from the joystick and its buttons comes in on the [hi] (“human interface”) object, and we can shape that data and pass it out a MIDI data to whatever we want.
In this way, we can give ourselves nuanced control of our musical performance, enhancing our electronic music instruments.
0:00 Introduction
0:35 Generative Music and Feedback
1:31 Human Agency in Musical Systems
2:18 Devices for Human Interface
3:05 Today’s Goals
3:36 The [hi] Object
5:36 Looking at the Data
6:25 Isolating the Data with [route]
7:34 Converting the Numbers to MIDI
10:10 2D Piano
11:18 Sending MIDI to the NiftyCase
15:45 Controlling Effects (Wavefolder and Filter)
17:54 A Note about Resolution
18:49 Adding an Amplitude Envelope
19:58 Quick Recap
20:46 More Sophisticated Interactions of Data
23:04 Conclusion, Next Steps
Beth Ratay has shared a wonderful performance of my 2009 piece “membrana tympaniformis” (or just “membrana”) for solo piccolo:
Originally written for Cassie Lear, this piece takes sonic inspiration from the Japanese bush warbler (ウグイス), but develops into a short but exciting showcase for the piccolo.
Building a basic but expandable FM synthesizer in Reaktor 6, making an FM operators that we can duplicate as much as we want.
In FM synthesis, we modulate the frequency of one oscillator (the carrier) with another oscillator in the audible range. We can make an FM synth in Reaktor that’s modular and quickly expandable if we make a macro with the oscillator, an envelope, and a few special controls at the FM input.
0:00 Intro / What is FM Synthesis?
1:30 Sine Oscillator with Amplitude Envelope
3:14 The “F” Input of Sine FM Oscillators
4:20 Modulating the Frequency
5:24 Modulating the Frequency in the Audible Range
6:13 Adding Musical Controls
11:50 Combining Our FM Operators
13:01 Sideband Modulation with Envelope Control
16:12 Chaining FM Operators Together
19:48 Recap / Next Steps
More beginner Reaktor tutorials here:
Intermediate Reaktor tutorial playlist here:
A mess of Eurorack CV feedback that’s not random. It’s chaotic!
This instrument creates chaotic synthesized music that I interact with using four knobs. The music that this synthesizer creates is not random. It is determined by a set of “rules” created by the different components interacting with each other. However, because each of these modules influences and is influenced by several others, the interconnected network of interactions obfuscates the rules of the system. This leads to the instrument’s chaotic, incomprehensible behavior.
As with all chaotic systems, though, if it were possible to understand all of the different components and their relationships, and do complex enough calculations, we would be able to predict the outcome of all of our interactions.
Patch notes: ….Uh…. I just kept patching things back into each other, and this is where I ended up.
A quick overview of principles and aesthetics audio “resonance” in filters and beyond.
In synthesis, we often encounter resonance controls on our filters, both digital and analog, but, more broadly speaking audio resonance the property of any device, space, or system to increase the amplitude of particular frequencies.
So what? Well, that’s a good question. Here I offer some different examples of resonance, both acoustic and electroacoustic, and perhaps there are some avenues there for you to explore in your own music and sonic art.
0:00 Defining “Resonance”
0:50 I Am Sitting in a Room
1:11 Breaking a Wine Glass
1:39 “That Really Resonated with Me”
1:56 Resonant Bodies of Instruments
2:11 Feedback Loops
2:36 Resonance as Metaphor
3:09 Where’s the Art?
More fundamentals of sound synthesis: