Pd Envelope Follower Patch from Scratch

by SimonPosted on No Comments

In this no-talking, step-by-step video, I build an envelope follower patch from scratch using Pure Data Vanilla.

I route the amplitude of an incoming drum beat to control various parameters of a sawtooth oscillator ([phasor~]) in real time:

🔹 First, the amplitude of the sawtooth wave follows the drum signal.

🔹 Next, the oscillator frequency responds dynamically to the drum’s envelope.

🔹 Next, I patch the drum’s amplitude to modulate the cutoff frequency of a filter.

🔹 Finally, I make an old-school envelope filter by applying the envelope-following filter to its own input.

This is a hands-on demo for anyone interested in interactive audio, modulation techniques, or learning how to build dynamic control structures in Pd. All done in Pure Data Vanilla, from scratch, with no external libraries. Perfect for beginners exploring envelope followers or anyone wanting to see modular ideas implemented visually.

More Pd no-talking tutorials here:

Pd Comb Filter Patch from Scratch

by SimonPosted on No Comments

Building a comb filter in Pure Data Vanilla from scratch.

A comb filter is a filter created by adding a delayed signal to itself, creating constructive and destructive interference of frequencies based on the length of the delay. All we have to do is delay the signal a little bit, feed it back into itself (pre-delay), and we get that pleasing, high-tech robotic resonance effect.

There’s no talking on this one, just building the patch, and listening to it go.

0:00 Playing back a recorded file
0:35 Looping the file
1:00 Setting up the delay
2:08 Frequency controls for the filter
2:52 Setting the range
3:48 Automatic random frequency
4:25 Commenting the code
5:39 Playing with settings

More no-talking Pd patch from scratch:

Subharmonics in Pure Data

by SimonPosted on No Comments

Quick and easy Pure Data tutorial, making chords from subharmonics (like the Moog subharmonicon). The result is a kind of Coltrane-y generative music system.

Subharmonics are whole-number divisions of a frequency (as opposed to regular harmonics, which are whole-number multiples of a frequency). The resulting “subharmonic series” (or “undertone series”) is an inversion of the overtone series, with subharmonics getting closer the lower (i.e. higher division) that they are. Played together, these harmonics create harmonies quite distinct from those created with overtones.

I go up to the 9th subharmonic here, but of course you can just keep going.

There’s no talking on this one, just building the patch, and listening to it go.

More Pd Tutorials Here