Easy Low-Pass Gate in PureData

by SimonPosted on No Comments

Building a simple low‑pass gate (LPG) in Pure Data Vanilla, combining filtering and an envelope for that “West-Coast”, organic, percussive sound.

In this no-talking, patch-from-scratch video, I create a basic LPG patch, showing how to combine a low‑pass filter with an envelope to emulate the behavior of classic analog LPGs used in modular synthesizers like the Buchla.

Low‑pass filters, unlike VCAs commonly used in “East-Coast” synthesis, change both the timbre and amplitude of a signal at the same time. Emulating this idea in our digital synths can be a cool way to create natural‑sounding plucks and percussive tones.

More Pd Patch-from-Scratch videos here:

Making a “Krell Music” Patch in Pure Data (Generative Sci-Fi Music)

by SimonPosted on One Comment

Putting together a music (muzak?) generator in Pd inspired by Todd Barton’s self-generating patch on the Buchla Synthesizer.

In my regular journeys across the internet, I came across the concept of a “Krell Music” patch–a self-generating patch created by Todd Barton, inspired by Bebe and Louis Barron’s soundtrack to the 1956 film “Forbidden Planet.” The Barrons’ soundtrack to the film is amazing, and a bit beyond what I can get into here (see links below). Barton’s Buchla patch tries to capture some of the dynamic timbres of that score.

My oversimplification of the idea is this: a note has an amplitude envelope–attack and release–and when that amplitude envelope ends it triggers the next envelope. At the same time, that trigger selects a new (likely different) attack and decay time, as well as a new pitch and timbre for the next note. So we create a continuous series of musical tones, each distinct from the one before it.