MOTM

Hi All -

Just back from vacation.  Two weeks away from all musical tools is a 
recipe for epiphane, albeit a painful wait to try things out.

Here is a way to do basic granular synthesis using only four 
modules: two oscillators, on EG, and a VCA.  For theory check out 
Curtis Roads' "Microsound" from MIT Press.

Oscillator one is set at 20 Hz to about 800 Hz (between about 2 and 
4.5 on the COURSE knob) and will output pulses in the 10 to 50 msec 
range (you do the math, I suck at it).  The PULSE output is sent to 
the GATE or TRIGGER in of the EG. The EG's DECAY and RELEASE are set 
to zero with ATTACK and SUSTAIN set to about 2.  The + OUT of the EG 
goes to a 110 CV IN.  Another oscillator's SIN out is sent to the 
110's IN (this is the signal to be granulated).  Send the out to the 
console, but if you have a scope send it there, too.

Play with the COURSE knob on oscillator 1 and the ATTACK and SUSTAIN 
values on the EG.

What's happening is that we are 'granulating' the output of the 
second oscillator.  Each granule has it's own little envelope but is 
played at a rate below which we can detect pitch.  Taken together 
the grains create a new timbre and texture.

Cool!

Try feeding ANYTHING into the IN of the VCA (guitar, vocals, drum 
loops, sequences).  Paul suggested MiniWave, which is a great idea...

Mike

PS - Paul, the 700 doesn't work as well for 'chopping' as you put 
it, because the 'envelope' in AUDIO mode is fixed at 5 msec which is 
not that usefule in granular synthesis.  Makes a cool weird noise, 
though!

m

Sound examples are at:

http://www.synthtech.com/demo/new

Paul S.

It's worth looking at these in a waveform editor.  You can see that 
each little granule has it's own envelope...

Mike

--- In motm@y..., "Paul Schreiber" <synth1@a...> wrote:

> Sound examples are at:
> 
> http://www.synthtech.com/demo/new
> 
> Paul S.

Very cool Mike.  Hmmm...I wouldn't be surprised if the MP3 encoding process
loses some of the detail and therefore the timbre is a bit off.  (I guess
this could be checked by playing the mp3 through the scope.)  This is a good
starting point for more complex sounds.  Did I hear some Time Machine in one
of those clips?  That one sounded wack.

George

----- Original Message -----

From: mmarsh100 <mmarsh@...>
To: <motm@yahoogroups.com>
Sent: Friday, July 12, 2002 2:08 PM
Subject: [motm] Granular Synthesis on MOTM


> Hi All -
>
> Just back from vacation.  Two weeks away from all musical tools is a
> recipe for epiphane, albeit a painful wait to try things out.
>
> Here is a way to do basic granular synthesis using only four
> modules: two oscillators, on EG, and a VCA.  For theory check out
> Curtis Roads' "Microsound" from MIT Press.
>
> Oscillator one is set at 20 Hz to about 800 Hz (between about 2 and
> 4.5 on the COURSE knob) and will output pulses in the 10 to 50 msec
> range (you do the math, I suck at it).  The PULSE output is sent to
> the GATE or TRIGGER in of the EG. The EG's DECAY and RELEASE are set
> to zero with ATTACK and SUSTAIN set to about 2.  The + OUT of the EG
> goes to a 110 CV IN.  Another oscillator's SIN out is sent to the
> 110's IN (this is the signal to be granulated).  Send the out to the
> console, but if you have a scope send it there, too.
>
> Play with the COURSE knob on oscillator 1 and the ATTACK and SUSTAIN
> values on the EG.
>
> What's happening is that we are 'granulating' the output of the
> second oscillator.  Each granule has it's own little envelope but is
> played at a rate below which we can detect pitch.  Taken together
> the grains create a new timbre and texture.
>
> Cool!
>
> Try feeding ANYTHING into the IN of the VCA (guitar, vocals, drum
> loops, sequences).  Paul suggested MiniWave, which is a great idea...
>
> Mike
>
> PS - Paul, the 700 doesn't work as well for 'chopping' as you put
> it, because the 'envelope' in AUDIO mode is fixed at 5 msec which is
> not that usefule in granular synthesis.  Makes a cool weird noise,
> though!
>
> m

Yes, that was TM - good ear, George!  MP3s are kind of a pain, but 
they are easy to distribute.  I think there are phase prblems with 
MP3s.  There is a plug-in that corrects this somewhat but I haven't 
laid out the cash for it.  I think of it as a Xerox copy of the 
original.  Enough info to give you an idea but not good enough for 
formal publishing.  Doesn't stop some, though, does it?  :)

Mike

--- In motm@y..., <groovyshaman@s...> wrote:
> Very cool Mike.  Hmmm...I wouldn't be surprised if the MP3 
encoding process
> loses some of the detail and therefore the timbre is a bit off.  
(I guess
> this could be checked by playing the mp3 through the scope.)  This 
is a good
> starting point for more complex sounds.  Did I hear some Time 
Machine in one
> of those clips?  That one sounded wack.
> 
> George
> 
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: mmarsh100 <mmarsh@s...>
> To: <motm@y...>
> Sent: Friday, July 12, 2002 2:08 PM
> Subject: [motm] Granular Synthesis on MOTM
> 
> 
> > Hi All -
> >
> > Just back from vacation.  Two weeks away from all musical tools 
is a
> > recipe for epiphane, albeit a painful wait to try things out.
> >
> > Here is a way to do basic granular synthesis using only four
> > modules: two oscillators, on EG, and a VCA.  For theory check out
> > Curtis Roads' "Microsound" from MIT Press.
> >
> > Oscillator one is set at 20 Hz to about 800 Hz (between about 2 
and
> > 4.5 on the COURSE knob) and will output pulses in the 10 to 50 
msec
> > range (you do the math, I suck at it).  The PULSE output is sent 
to
> > the GATE or TRIGGER in of the EG. The EG's DECAY and RELEASE are 
set
> > to zero with ATTACK and SUSTAIN set to about 2.  The + OUT of 
the EG
> > goes to a 110 CV IN.  Another oscillator's SIN out is sent to the
> > 110's IN (this is the signal to be granulated).  Send the out to 
the
> > console, but if you have a scope send it there, too.
> >
> > Play with the COURSE knob on oscillator 1 and the ATTACK and 
SUSTAIN
> > values on the EG.
> >
> > What's happening is that we are 'granulating' the output of the
> > second oscillator.  Each granule has it's own little envelope 
but is
> > played at a rate below which we can detect pitch.  Taken together
> > the grains create a new timbre and texture.
> >
> > Cool!
> >
> > Try feeding ANYTHING into the IN of the VCA (guitar, vocals, drum
> > loops, sequences).  Paul suggested MiniWave, which is a great 
idea...
> >
> > Mike
> >
> > PS - Paul, the 700 doesn't work as well for 'chopping' as you put
> > it, because the 'envelope' in AUDIO mode is fixed at 5 msec 
which is
> > not that usefule in granular synthesis.  Makes a cool weird 
noise,

> > though!
> >
> > m

Hi Mike,

Thanks for your interesting 'granular sound' tip. I noticed that if 
you choose the GATE IN on the EG instead of the TRIG and increase the 
pitch of oscillator one, you get a different, heavier distorted 
sound. But listening to the demo's I think you already found that 
out... 

Michel


--- In motm@y..., "mmarsh100" <mmarsh@s...> wrote:
> Hi All -
> 
> Just back from vacation.  Two weeks away from all musical tools is 
a 
> recipe for epiphane, albeit a painful wait to try things out.
> 
> Here is a way to do basic granular synthesis using only four 
> modules: two oscillators, on EG, and a VCA.  For theory check out 
> Curtis Roads' "Microsound" from MIT Press.
> 
> Oscillator one is set at 20 Hz to about 800 Hz (between about 2 and 
> 4.5 on the COURSE knob) and will output pulses in the 10 to 50 msec 
> range (you do the math, I suck at it).  The PULSE output is sent to 
> the GATE or TRIGGER in of the EG. The EG's DECAY and RELEASE are 
set 
> to zero with ATTACK and SUSTAIN set to about 2.  The + OUT of the 
EG 
> goes to a 110 CV IN.  Another oscillator's SIN out is sent to the 
> 110's IN (this is the signal to be granulated).  Send the out to 
the 
> console, but if you have a scope send it there, too.
> 
> Play with the COURSE knob on oscillator 1 and the ATTACK and 
SUSTAIN 
> values on the EG.
> 
> What's happening is that we are 'granulating' the output of the 
> second oscillator.  Each granule has it's own little envelope but 
is 
> played at a rate below which we can detect pitch.  Taken together 
> the grains create a new timbre and texture.
> 
> Cool!
> 
> Try feeding ANYTHING into the IN of the VCA (guitar, vocals, drum 
> loops, sequences).  Paul suggested MiniWave, which is a great 
idea...
> 
> Mike
> 
> PS - Paul, the 700 doesn't work as well for 'chopping' as you put 
> it, because the 'envelope' in AUDIO mode is fixed at 5 msec which 
is 

> not that usefule in granular synthesis.  Makes a cool weird noise, 
> though!
> 
> m

Hi Michel -

I'm still trying to understand this one, too!  Further experiments 
revealed that if you change the duty cycle of the pulse, you get a 
different timbre.  Also curious: if you use both GAT and TRIGGER you 
get no sound at all!

Did you hear #8?  That was a mono chord from a synth into 
4 'granularizers' spread in a wide stereo field.  Really cooL!

Mike

--- In motm@y..., "michelhav" <anymail@x> wrote:
> Hi Mike,
> 
> Thanks for your interesting 'granular sound' tip. I noticed that 
if 
> you choose the GATE IN on the EG instead of the TRIG and increase 
the 
> pitch of oscillator one, you get a different, heavier distorted 
> sound. But listening to the demo's I think you already found that 
> out... 
> 
> Michel
> 
> 
> --- In motm@y..., "mmarsh100" <mmarsh@s...> wrote:
> > Hi All -
> > 
> > Just back from vacation.  Two weeks away from all musical tools 
is 
> a 
> > recipe for epiphane, albeit a painful wait to try things out.
> > 
> > Here is a way to do basic granular synthesis using only four 
> > modules: two oscillators, on EG, and a VCA.  For theory check 
out 
> > Curtis Roads' "Microsound" from MIT Press.
> > 
> > Oscillator one is set at 20 Hz to about 800 Hz (between about 2 
and 
> > 4.5 on the COURSE knob) and will output pulses in the 10 to 50 
msec 
> > range (you do the math, I suck at it).  The PULSE output is sent 
to 
> > the GATE or TRIGGER in of the EG. The EG's DECAY and RELEASE are 
> set 
> > to zero with ATTACK and SUSTAIN set to about 2.  The + OUT of 
the 
> EG 
> > goes to a 110 CV IN.  Another oscillator's SIN out is sent to 
the 
> > 110's IN (this is the signal to be granulated).  Send the out to 
> the 
> > console, but if you have a scope send it there, too.
> > 
> > Play with the COURSE knob on oscillator 1 and the ATTACK and 
> SUSTAIN 
> > values on the EG.
> > 
> > What's happening is that we are 'granulating' the output of the 
> > second oscillator.  Each granule has it's own little envelope 
but 
> is 
> > played at a rate below which we can detect pitch.  Taken 
together 
> > the grains create a new timbre and texture.
> > 
> > Cool!
> > 
> > Try feeding ANYTHING into the IN of the VCA (guitar, vocals, 
drum 
> > loops, sequences).  Paul suggested MiniWave, which is a great 
> idea...
> > 
> > Mike
> > 
> > PS - Paul, the 700 doesn't work as well for 'chopping' as you 
put 
> > it, because the 'envelope' in AUDIO mode is fixed at 5 msec 
which 
> is 
> > not that usefule in granular synthesis.  Makes a cool weird 
noise, 

> > though!
> > 
> > m

--- mmarsh100 <mmarsh@...> wrote:

 if you use both GAT
> and TRIGGER you 
> get no sound at all!
> 

Did your try using the TRIGGER on the GAT?  Usually
that makes lots of noise.

Got any GITTENS?

tom

__________________________________________________
Do You Yahoo!?
Yahoo! Autos - Get free new car price quotes
http://autos.yahoo.com