METRIC!

Last night I went to see Metric in Orlando. Metric is Emily Haines, Jimmy Shaw, Joshua Winstead and Joules Scott Key. I am always surprised how many people don't know of this band. I think that comes from the fact that their last album was self-released, so they did not have the support of a major label. The fourth album is called Fantasies, and it was released in 2010 and it is a fantastic album. I highly recommend it. It won Album of the Year at the Canadian Juno Awards in 2010 and might just be on my top 5 albums of all time list, its that good. They just released their fifth studio album, Synthetica, and I have only listened to it a few times so far.

OK, so with an album name like Synthetica, you would expect some synthesizers and you would be right. But what I did not expect (or remember from the last time I saw them) is the their lead singer, Emily Haines, plays a Sequential Circuits Pro-One. Front and center on the stage is our old friend from 1980.

Now that I know what to listen for, it turns out the Pro-One is part of their sound and it is all over the place.

Here is a link to an old performance (lame crowd, but a good video of the Pro-One)


Here is a little clip of the guitarist Talking about the Pro-One.

From last night:

 

 I encourage you to check them out.

Metric's home page

Patches

So I brought these in today, but I guess I forgot to hand them over... Either way, I took a picture, and here they are now.

8-bit generator

Just in case y'all are interested, here's a pretty good 8-bit generator.  It has some preset randoms you can do, but it's a lot of fun to mess with it and try to get the sounds you want.  My suggestion?  Go for a Mario coin...


8-bit generator

Remix packs, contests

If anyone's interested in remixing something a little video-gamey check out Starship Amazing.

Here's there page where they offer a few different remix packs: http://starshipamazing.com/

Here's that page I mentioned on tuesday with the different remix contests. If you like your remix you can submit it to the contests and win things: http://www.remixcomps.com/

U2--Joshua Tree

Once I thought that I will never ever fall in love with rock music, because I like to keep quiet. I don’t think it is a good way to enjoy yourself by listening to the rock music, and let the sound shack your heart and break your head. But when I heard this album of U2, my heart was captured by them. I don’t know why, but I really can imagine the picture of deserts camel thorn and a lonely Joshua Tree stand on there. I can feel the wind cut its skin and everything seems bleak and desolate. I like the singer’s hoarse and wild voice, it explains the theme perfect!

Eno

It would take weeks to fully explore the reach and influence Brian Eno has had on music, not to mention popular culture as a whole. Not only is his work awe-inspiring, but his collaborations, even recently with MGMT and Coldplay's latest Mylo Xyloto, are astounding. I loved how he discussed collaborations in the interview we watched at "conspiracies." It's really a funny way to put it, but very subtle - just like Music for Airports. Though subtle, Music for Airports has a sad hopefulness to it, which is peaceful and contrasts starkly to the Dreamer that Remains and other hypnotic pieces we've listened to in class. Still the elements are the same with the multi-layers and base loop, bringing focus to the composition.

Just for fun, here's a little tune from Roxy Music.

Joes Patch

Patches

Patch 1

Patch 2

Patch 3

On Eno

At first, when I heard Brian Eno's Music for Airports, I wasn't very interested in his music. After investigating some of his other tracks, I now have him added to a few of my playlists in Spotify. His song The Big Ship is by far my favorite. The percussive samples in the background keep the song from getting too slow, or stale while the strings and vibrato-y wind instruments gather and push the song up and forward. It sounded great through my monitors compared to the speakers on my laptop. My only complaint is that it ends too quickly. I feel as if there should be some sort of climax to the song and instead there's more of a soft drop off, which is more relaxed and pleasant.



                                       

My 'wobblebass' patch

Feel of "Music for Airports"------ Michelle

Music for Airports

Actually, the song brings me a sad mod. I can image a pair of picture that all busy in the airport are static when the music is playing, and all images are freeze-framed. People hope that time can be stagnated and there is no more farewell or sadness in the airport. Sometimes, feelings of the song are difficult to describe. It much more likes a lullaby that expresses quiet and comfortable. There is a very interesting thing if we can image a picture that a child is sleeping in the airport where plays this piece of music. A happy thing for people in busy times is that they can stop doing anything occasionally and enjoy static.

What is Enossification?

Brian Peter George St. John le Baptiste de la Salle Eno is obviously an in credibly talented musician, arranger, composer, etc.. I chose to listen to the album "The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway" from Genesis in 1974. Peter Gabriel was the lead singer at the time and I have always been a big fan of his solo work. Genesis lost it for me with Invisible Touch Tour in 1986. But their early work is definitely excellent. It is hard to pick out what exactly Eno did for Genesis on this album, as his contribution is only listed as Enossification. I read that it also means "treatments" so, again, a very vague term, yet I think I can pick out some of his influence in the music. Especially in the short segments between tracks. They have an atmospheric tone to them and they are a relaxing breath between the chaos, the transition around the 54:00 minute mark is a prime example of this. I think this is by far the best Genesis album I have heard and have mad respect for the musicianship on this album. It is a powerful, thoughtful journey. I think it will take a few listens to fully comprehend.

Patch

An Ending (ascent) - Brain Eno

I listened to four of Brian Eno's songs and I liked this one most. All of his songs have a spacious feel as if you are walking into a wide area. The music brings you in and forces you to feel a certain way. This ambient type plays an important role in movies today because it forces the audience to be in the moment. For example, in the movie Crash, instrumental music such as "An Ending (ascent)" is played throughout the movie to convey a sense of sadness, loss, and redemption. Even if you don't full understand the scene, the music tells you how you should feel.

Found a full res blank patch

8-bit fun

So I really enjoy working with 8-bit noises, and one of my favorite things I've ever done with them is to generate a bunch and throw them into a single file, timing them perfect so as to rip out and replace the audio of a movie clip... here's an example of something I did about a year and a half ago.

Let me know what you all think.

Drums: Something wrong...

So for some reason, files are not posting to my Soundcloud account (either of them)... I don't know what the issue is, but I figure why not show you something I've done that incorporates drum loops?  I have been able to replicate drum loops through PD that I have made with other softwares, so if you listen, you can hear a couple drum loops that I have made for songs I've written and what not that were already posted to my Soundcloud...

Without You

I Have To

Wrath

It's True

I believe you can hear the drum loops pretty clearly in the beginnings of each of those, so feel no obligation to suffer through the rest.

Terry Riley

Terry Riley’s landmark compositions, In C and Persian Surgery Dervishes, very in the emotional effect they have on the listener, but both pieces are based in the same minimalist style. In minimalism, the non-essentials to the emotion-invoking experience of listening to music are removed. This leaves the base beat to create focus in the composition. Both pieces contain multiple layers and instruments, where the various instruments are what compete for the listeners’ attention. In C, repetitious base beat encourages the listener to go into a trance-like state, while the instruments bring a more hopeful, warming tune. The Persian Surgery Dervishes is much more drone like in tone and the added instruments keep the audience in state of self-reflection and tranquility. On a side note: Riley’s own Web site, terryriley.net’s background images pair perfectly with his music, exemplifying the repetition with visuals. As he was good friends with La Monte Young, Riley spent a lot of time with the NY Theatre of Eternal Music. His influence in the field of minimalist music, continues to effect modern music today, as shown in loops and sampling which are still used in everything for hits you hear on the radio to ring tones, though I would argue that much of today’s popular music which is founded in minimalism is less expressive and innovative and more driven in formula and beat.

Help

Does anybody have an idea of how this beat was done with the kick drums? I think she just increased the wavelength and pitch, but I cant quite reproduce the sound. I want to try to make this on the drum machine.

drum machine -- 3 sequences -----Michelle

http://soundcloud.com/michelle-lee-33/01-3http://soundcloud.com/michelle-lee-33/02-3
http://soundcloud.com/michelle-lee-33/03-3

Daydreaming:"Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun"

Daydreaming:"Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun"

The first feeling when I heard this song is classic. And I can image a beautiful rural view during listening which also leads me to daydreaming about a faun playing flute in a oneiric landscape. There is a succession of scenes through which pass the desires and dreams of the faun in the afternoon. This piece of music sounds like chanting a poem which eulogizes desires of people and the vision of future. In my view, the song contains a good deal of flute playings. The sounds of flute usually give me the feelings of ease, affinity, rural, dream, fantasy and desire. Because flutes have broad compass so that it can play out a rich melody. In a word, it is an excellent composition which gives the listener an opportunity to daydreaming. Ha!

drum machine -- 2 beats ------Michelle

http://soundcloud.com/michelle-lee-33/01-4

http://soundcloud.com/michelle-lee-33/02-4

Black Gold Sample

Couldn't find the guitar sample I really wanted use. Still needs work

http://soundcloud.com/lewis-chester/black-gold-sample

WebRep

currentVote

noRating

noWeight

three pieces of sounds practicing by drum machine

http://soundcloud.com/user347498589/sets/pd-samples
I totally make three pieces of sounds. Two of them are used the drum machine directly. And I choose one of them to module by the Cecilia. It's really cool!

John Adams & Steve Reich

John Adams's "Shaker loops" was very interesting, at some points it almost reminded me of the song "A thousand Miles" by Vanessa Carlton. It gives you the feeling that you were running or chasing something.  This style of music and expressing these fleeting emotions are widely used in pop music especially songs that are pertaining to love and exploration. On the flip side, Steve Reich with his "It's Gonna Rain" has been instrumental (literally) in rap and hip hop with the ability to sample a voice and make a beat or instrumental with it. For Example, Kanye West uses this same technique in "Gotta Have It" when he samples James Brown's voice, minus the other instrumentals. The repetitive nature could be very annoying, but if used correctly and add other instrumentals, it can be very pleasing to hear. 

Beat sampling Erik Satie

http://soundcloud.com/lewis-chester/first-sample-beat-erick-satie

Audio Examples

http://soundcloud.com/lewis-chester/chev-pd-example2

http://soundcloud.com/lewis-chester/reverberator-pd-example

http://soundcloud.com/lewis-chester/2cosigns-pd-example3

Wavemaker

I very much enjoyed Shaker Loops by John Adams. This piece of music has a great range of emotion can only be achieved by the hypnotic tone found with in. I did not expect this arrangement to take me for such a ride, rather I was anticipating a very slow melodic progression without much emotion. I was wrong. This piece starts with the ripple of water but ended up running, sprinting, jumping, falling, and so much more. I especially enjoyed the 3:30 to 4:00 minute mark.

Incredible for  just 3 violins, 1 viola, 2 celli, and a single contra-bass.

Beats for Tuesday - Joe

Beats with Voices

2 audio samples, it's a start...

  http://soundcloud.com/you/tracks

So the sound is really low, uhm still trying to figure that out

A Feeling Like That I’m Wrapped Up by Something: Songs of Led Zeppelin

      Among all of the singers, I like Led Zeppelin most. Because when I was listening his songs, I felt that I was swallowed totally by the space he built in his music and enjoying a kind of pleasure without heartbeats. I still remember the harmony sounds of Harry Partch I listened several weeks ago. I remembered it was my internal organs told me that those sounds are really powerful, because they were all attacked by them. But completely different from the music of Harry Partch, the songs of Led Zeppelin are less aggressive; it brings you a kind of touch feeling which makes you feel like in someone’s arms. Even though, there are also some passionate parts in his song, like Baby I’m Gonna Leave You, but it will not vibrate your stomach; you can only feel someone hold your arms tightly just like the scene your lover is gonna leave you. All in all, his songs can only fluid around your head, but a kind of warm and pleasure always envelop you body from beginning to the end.

Homework

Please remember to print and save your Synthesizer patch before next Thursday

+ we are still actively reading chapters 8-14 Pure Data, there may be a quiz soon! Ha!

+ Listening and blogging on one of the following

Steve Reich -- come out, it's gonna rain, drumming, 18 musicians
La Monte Young, well tuned piano, second dream
Terry Riley. in C, persian surgery dervishes
Phillip Glass-- music in 12 parts, music with changing parts
John Adams -- shaker loops

Think about HOW the NY school of minimalists have effected modern musical practices

OR

Debussy Prelude to the afternoon of a faun
Ravel bolero

Fathers of minimalism -- loop based or ambient compositions?

Thinking about interesting loops as we get ready for sample based compositions: Led Zeppelin example

PURE DATA/FREESOUND HOMEWORK

Make a drum machine set of samples from freesound or your own samples and record at least 2 sequences or beats.

Arp and moog

Haven't finished this yet, but using the synths I'm putting this together...

 http://soundcloud.com/bpokorny1/thunderhorse-midi-start

PRO BLANK FOR PATCHES

http://flatline.net/Projects/Audio/Pro-One/Images/Blank.gif

pd samples edit

http://soundcloud.com/user347498589/track1

http://soundcloud.com/user347498589/2track2


I found the same piece of sound can be edited to a lot of totally different effects! It's really amazing!

pd-examples-Michelle

http://soundcloud.com/michelle-lee-33/sets/pd-examples-michelle

Audio Examples - Joe

http://soundcloud.com/joebnich/sets/pd-audio-examples-joe

ARPodyssey practice

http://soundcloud.com/michelle-lee-33/sets/arpodyssey-pd-practice

Cecilia Sounds

Cecilia Sounds

Mimoog beat with live record

Mimoog beat with live record

Really cool example of some analog patches

Sounds

Cecilia

Is anyone's computer freezing up since you've installed cecilia? Also, are any windows users having problem with inputting sound files?

Joe's Cecilia Demo

Huge database of plugins at KVR

http://www.kvraudio.com/

Cecilia

http://soundcloud.com/michelle-lee-33/sets/cecilia

Harmonics 17

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Cecilia Sounds

Having a little bit of trouble navigating around Cecilia, but found this site which explained a few things: http://emu.music.ufl.edu/cecilia/tut2.html If anyone has other helpful site, please send them my way. Thank you in advance. Cecilia: Sound 1 Sound 2 Sound 3 Sound 4 Sound 5

17 Harmonics with base 32

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The Dreamer that Remains

Honestly, I thought the beginning was cool. I appreciated the contrast of instruments and I felt like I was being hypnotized or experiencing some kind of ritual.  Around 2:30 I felt motivated to do something, like march or walk around. When the vocals begin at around 4:15 and I wasn't quite sure how I felt, I listened to it a couple of times but still didn't feel anything in particular. Afterwards, there was a short burst of chaos and I don't know if it was my headphones or the music, but the part of the sound was going in and out like the technique the Beatles used in "Here Comes the Sun" and it gave me the feeling that I was being tossed around or being push and pulled back in. Around 6:15 -8:00 when he started talking again, I got the feeling that I wanted to laugh, mainly because I've been around spoken word artist and I've experienced a lot of poetry like this. I also thought of sesame street and Christmas, but even though I felt like laughing my heart began to race a little bit like I was nervous. Then there was a short instrumental and it was over. Overall, I enjoyed the piece and will probably make a sample of it at some point. 

Okay, so here are the five noises I made in Cecilia...

Dying Space Seagull

Meteor Storm

Approved (?)

Alien Noise

gravity

I just found it is not my ears, but my belly enjoys this music

In fact, I've listened several works of Harry Partch from YouTube yesterday. But after listening this piece, I decided to rewrite my comment. From his other works, I feel that his music maybe always plays a role as harmony, which builds an environment to the melody and lyrics. But what amazed me a lot is that such sounds seem like a mastered mesmerizer who has an unimaginable power to make your heart itching and bring you to a mental status he expected. But after listening this one, I believe his sounds operate to all kinds of internal organs, not just heart. I can feel that my intestines tweak together and stomach has been oscillated in a random frequency. It's really amazing!   

My Soundcloud

So I have two soundcloud accounts.  One of them was made for my music, sound effects and the like, whereas my second is for my podcasts, which can also be found on iTunes.  Here are the links, in case you are interested in hearing any of my music or fictional stories.

Brett's Music and Sound effects

Brett's Podcasts (Ace Guthrie and Dark)

Let me know what you all think, or if you have any questions... I'm always looking for input and/or extras in my episodes haha.

Dreamer that Remains

The music starts playing and so I grab my head phones.  Within seconds of hearing the first sounds, I think of the Lavender town song.  It is slow, creepy and only a few notes played as ominously as a stormy night on Friday the 13th.  By 1:45 there is a change in the music.  The first of many to come.  Now I feel slightly relaxed, the music still carries an eerie feeling but no longer so creepy or depressing.  At 3:07 there is another change in the music.  Vocals are now added as a male and female can be heard like a ghost in the background.  They were audible but there was a tinge of unearthlyness about them.  The sudden striking of the violin continues to shock me every time I hear it, the madness only increases as odd sounds are thrown interweaving with one another.  There is a kind of organized madness about this section by 5:50.  And just as suddenly, the music quits and now there are mellow sounds gently beeping on my ear.  And at 7:10 I am listening to a rough voice singing an eery song.  At 8:20 he will sing a verse and will be followed up by contrasting voices.  All this laid upon the xylophone type bed of the music.  Now at 10:10 chaos, then nothing.

If you would like to explore Partch More

BBC Documentary about the Genius Harry Partch
http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLC6A94D2D7624C9B8

American Public Radio, with links to play some of his inventions!

http://musicmavericks.publicradio.org/features/feature_partch.html

Strange & Cool

The Dream that Remains


I feel very strange but very cool when I heard this sound at the first time. The piece of music brings me this kind of feel--heavy and deep. But I think the style is modern classical, modern and experimental. In my opinion, it would be similar style and rhythm with Indian dance music on the first part of it. And dancers can create excellent dance works if extracting the first half as the background music. It combines narrator, chorus and background music on the second half which gives me strong feel about Italy Opera. There is a constantly performance scene in my mind during listening to it. It's a pity that I cannot confirm all the instruments appearing in this piece of music. I am also working to explore. I also think that the music can be treated as an expression of  performance art. It can be seen as an experimental process and a kind of performance art during this creation entirely. The music demonstrate that purely instrumental music in complex rhythmic layers, showcasing the magical and extensive collection that the instrumentalist had grown to be. In a word, it is an excellent and amazing music. 

Dreamer that Remains

0-.50 Daunting, sounds like a theatrical piece for a horror. 1.00-1.15 starts sounding like a battle or something. Militant. Don't really know what to make of 1.15-2.30. Musical, but dissonant, not really enjoying it. 3.00 starts getting interesting. like the strings. Getting dissonant again, more chanting. 3.30 would sound awesome with some percussion. 4.00 I really just feel as if I'm listening to the soundtrack of a snuff film or a horror or something creepy. Maybe shouldn't be listening at night. 5.00 Reminds me of a bunch of kids let loose in a music store. Nothing seems calculated or timed but it is. 5.40 shows that. Playing this on my monitors, roommate just walked in asking if I was watching some sort of psychological trippy movie. "Do not loiter", broke the illusion, can't help but laugh at this part. Almost seems like a joke. 8.00 is getting strange. What is he trying to say in this song. Maybe it's the dissonant music in the background, but he sound crazy. 9.50 really lets loose. Finally the end of the song. Wouldn't be hurt if I never had to listen again. I guess I can see the musical quality to it, and I understand how it can produce certain feelings. Still, not very pleasurable to listen to.

Harmonic Scale (to 17)

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Fortissimo!

Harry Partch's "The Dreamer that remain" is an extremely loud and complex piece of music. I can not say that I was a big fan, but I respect the work and the complexity of the arrangement. The first three to four minutes were extremely stressful and I found myself almost sweating from the intensity. Due to my musical heritage, the second half brought to mind the works of an early Jim Morrison, an off beat Disney movie, and the sinking of Hy-Brazil from Erik the Viking...all mixed together for what I assume would be a really bad trip. The emotion pulled out during this arrangement is obviously meant to be intense and I must say if that was Mr Partch's intention, he hit that objective dead on.

But on bright side, we all can loiter!

Oh, let us loiter

So... the dreamer that remains...

Plain and simply, it started off making me feel like I should be walking the plank.  I closed my eyes and saw myself plunge into the water, shortly to be circled by sharks.  That was when it got weird… or stopped, rather, because I realized I was trying to make a story out of what I had seen, and remembered that I was simply supposed to feel the music.  It did, at one point, make me feel a bit tired.  About five minutes in, it made me feel nostalgic of my childhood, in that, for some reason, it reminded me of Aladin.  It later made me think about some of the songs and poems I have written in an attempt to make something that makes no sense.  It also made me think a little bit about Monty Python when the singing of loitering ensued.  All in all, it wasn't the type of piece I'd normally listen to, but it was the cause of some serious random thought.

17/16

Right off the bat, the noise was definitely in my head... not a pleasant thing to listen to, and I felt as though I could hear severaal extra pitches that were lightly making their way into into the mix, kind of pulsating at low levels.  I heard some ghost sounds in there too, some squeals and buzzing, and it was probably placebo or unrelated, but my sinus pressure increased.  Six minutes in and I had a headache, albeit mild.  Almost eight minutes in and my ears were physically hurting.  Almost nine minutes in and the sound seemed to get a little more harmonious... then I finished.  No hallucinations or anything, but I definitely, for a time, heard a constant oscillation, like quick sound waves / pulses giong "woowoowoowoo" really fast.  I had a sense that something was wrong the whole time.

Thoughts on the Dreamer that Remains

To me, Harry Partch's systematic composition with microtonal scales is a fantastic example of music evoking emotions before before the lyrics tell you what to feel. For example, at approximately 6:39 in the piece before the singer begins recounting childhood sights and signs, the music took on brighter tone which made the listener curious and think child-like exploration. The first 6 minutes of the piece seemed very eerie and at times, dark. Perhaps that is the connection to the disillusionment and uncertainty that comes with dreams of children dissolving. Or I could completely be misreading the composition. As to how a felt during the piece, here is a break down of my reaction/emotions to it during various time intervals: Beginning -- I was a little anxious and not sure what to expect. The pause fueled the uncertainty. 2:15 -- The piece takes on an eerie feel with what I think are steel drums in the background. 2:50 -- My heartbeat quickens with harsh sound in the background 3:15 -- Still feels creepy, but searching 4:27 -- The low tones with the violin, give the piece a sadness 5:05 -- Very rythmnic and repetitive, but bells are unpredictable and keep me feeling anxious. 5:49 -- It is not happy, but much more chaotic. Feels like something will happen. 6:39 -- Felt very curious, childlike, even before the singer started talking about children. Much brighter tone. 9:54 -- Very up beat. Makes me think it would be played over a scene where someone is running and exploring.

Joes 17 note harmonic series in txt form

#N canvas 463 135 608 642 10;
#X obj 86 242 sig~;
#X floatatom 33 145 0 0 0 0 - - -;
#X obj 176 37 cnv 15 400 400 empty empty Select_a_Note_below 10 12
0 14 -261682 -86277 0;
#X floatatom 370 236 5 0 0 0 - - -;
#X obj 359 384 sig~;
#X msg 305 373 64;
#X msg 261 340 128;
#X msg 228 303 192;
#X msg 215 254 256;
#X msg 214 200 320;
#X msg 235 145 384;
#X msg 274 106 448;
#X msg 322 85 512;
#X msg 375 78 576;
#X msg 427 94 640;
#X msg 464 123 704;
#X msg 491 164 768;
#X msg 502 210 832;
#X msg 500 258 896;
#X msg 477 306 960;
#X obj 32 536 cnv 15 300 60 empty empty Stereo 20 12 0 14 -66577 -262144
0;
#X obj 156 553 dac~;
#X obj -6 37 cnv 15 160 45 empty empty This_sends_the_root 10 12 0
12 -261234 -66577 0;
#X obj 9 62 tgl 15 0 empty empty click_here_to_send 17 7 0 10 -262144
-1 -1 64 64;
#X obj 346 446 cnv 15 200 150 empty empty TURN_ME_ON_HERE 20 12 0 14
-233017 -66577 0;
#X text 441 504 <-Click to start;
#X text 434 552 <-Click to stop;
#X msg 356 485 \; pd dsp 1 \;;
#X msg 357 544 \; pd dsp 0;
#X msg 443 348 1024;
#X msg 403 380 1088;
#X obj 24 340 osc~ 512;
#X obj 235 469 osc~ 512;
#X text 151 9 17 Notes of a Harmonic Series by Joe Nicholson;
#X connect 0 0 31 0;
#X connect 1 0 0 0;
#X connect 3 0 4 0;
#X connect 4 0 32 0;
#X connect 5 0 3 0;
#X connect 6 0 3 0;
#X connect 7 0 3 0;
#X connect 8 0 3 0;
#X connect 9 0 3 0;
#X connect 10 0 3 0;
#X connect 11 0 3 0;
#X connect 12 0 3 0;
#X connect 13 0 3 0;
#X connect 14 0 3 0;
#X connect 15 0 3 0;
#X connect 16 0 3 0;
#X connect 17 0 3 0;
#X connect 18 0 3 0;
#X connect 19 0 3 0;
#X connect 23 0 1 0;
#X connect 29 0 3 0;
#X connect 30 0 3 0;
#X connect 31 0 21 0;
#X connect 32 0 21 1;

Video showing use of harmonic synthesis in ableton

Gillian-Michelle for you!

http://www.pd-tutorial.com/

#N canvas 18 100 1012 749 12;

#X text 19 108 CONTROLLING OUTPUT AMPLITUDE;

#X obj 27 277 +~;

#X obj 27 331 +~;

#X text 105 355 <-- this is a subwindow--right click on it;

#X text 130 375 and select "open" to see inside.;

#X obj 27 362 output~;

#X obj 309 254 osc~ 512;

#X text 89 205 1/1;

#X msg 95 231 128;

#X msg 135 214 256;

#X msg 173 203 384;

#X msg 213 190 512;

#X msg 252 176 640;

#X msg 328 137 896;

#X text 131 189 2/1;

#X msg 367 125 1024;

#X msg 286 154 768;

#X msg 413 113 1152;

#X msg 460 101 1280;

#X msg 503 86 1408;

#X msg 548 73 1536;

#X text 171 179 3/1;

#X text 212 165 4/1;

#X text 249 148 5/1;

#X text 284 129 6/1;

#X text 326 114 7/1;

#X text 366 102 8/1;

#X text 410 90 9/1;

#X text 457 81 10/1;

#X text 499 66 11/1;

#X text 548 52 12/1;

#X text 592 40 13/1;

#X msg 595 66 1664;

#X msg 645 55 1792;

#X text 637 32 14/1;

#X msg 690 47 1920;

#X text 686 24 15/1;

#X msg 739 34 2048;

#X text 738 14 16/1;

#X msg 790 29 2176;

#X text 783 5 17/1;

#X msg 255 105 272;

#X obj 24 232 osc~ 256;

#X connect 1 0 2 0;

#X connect 2 0 5 0;

#X connect 2 0 5 1;

#X connect 6 0 1 1;

#X connect 8 0 6 0;

#X connect 9 0 6 0;

#X connect 10 0 6 0;

#X connect 11 0 6 0;

#X connect 12 0 6 0;

#X connect 13 0 6 0;

#X connect 15 0 6 0;

#X connect 16 0 6 0;

#X connect 17 0 6 0;

#X connect 18 0 6 0;

#X connect 19 0 6 0;

#X connect 20 0 6 0;

#X connect 32 0 6 0;

#X connect 33 0 6 0;

#X connect 35 0 6 0;

#X connect 37 0 6 0;

#X connect 39 0 6 0;

#X connect 41 0 6 0;

#X connect 42 0 1 0;

Additive Synthesis: Harmonic Series

http://www.pd-tutorial.com/english/ch03s02.html

3.2 Additive Synthesis
	Chapter 3. Audio

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3.2 Additive Synthesis

3.2.1 Theory

3.2.1.1 The harmonic series

The additive series of frequencies (i.e., the series that results from simply adding the same Hertz value repeatedly), which results in a string of intervals of decreasing size, is called the harmonic series:

You can also derive the series by repeating an experiment devised by Pythagoras (ca. 570-510 BCE) in which a string is divided into various proportions:

The ratios describe the length of the two parts of the string in relation to each other.

When a string is bowed, it doesn't just vibrate as a whole, but also in every whole number proportion:

Here the ratios describe the length of the vibrating section in relation to the length of the entire string.

All of these partial vibrations (called 'partials' or 'harmonics') result in sound as well, so every sound made on a string is in fact already a chord!

The special thing about this chord is that all of its pitches melt together, at least when their relative volumes decrease as the pitches get higher. Every natural sound has overtones. Due to characteristics inherent to the human ear, we hear all of these pitches as just one tone.

In contrast, the upper partials themselves (i.e., the partials above the fundamental) do not have any overtones. An isolated sound without overtones does not exist in nature, but such a thing can be created using electronic means. These are called sine tones, a name that stems from the shape of their waveform:

Physicist Jean Baptiste Joseph Fourier (1768-1830) discovered that every periodic sound can be represented using only sine tones (of different frequency, amplitude, and phase), the sum of which is then identical with the original. Such an analysis and the corresponding mathematical process is called a Fourier analysis and Fourier transformation.

Using this principle, it is possible to create every periodic sound by layering many sine tones, a process called "additive synthesis".

In Pd, as already mentioned, "osc~" can be used to generate a sine tone. Sine tones are a very characteristic sound of electronic music, as they are produced and can only be produced using electronic means.

Using a number of "osc~" objects, whose frequencies form an additive series, you can create a chord based on the overtone series:

Typically, amplitudes become smaller as the frequencies get larger in order for the chord to blend better (though for some instruments, it is characteristic for certain partials to be louder than those on either side of them, e.g., the clarinet). The arrangement and relative volumes of overtones determine a sound's color. You can also speak of its spectrum.

The fact that our ears blend the overtones together becomes clear when you change the fundamental frequency:

We'll just use the first eight partials here. (N.B. The term 'partial' includes the fundamental whereas the term 'overtone' does not. In other words, the 1st partial = the fundamental frequency, 2nd partial = 1st overtone, 3rd partial = 2nd overtone, etc.)

Even if you leave out the lower partials, you hear the fundamental frequency as the fundamental when you change it:

Our brain calculates the fundamental based on the remaining spectrum. This non-existent tone is called a residual tone.

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3.2.2 Applications

3.2.2.1 A random klangfarbe (German: sound color)

patches/3-2-2-1-random-color.pd

For the sake of space, this example has been limited to just the first seven partials:

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3.2.2.2 Changing one klangfarbe into another

patches/3-2-2-2-colorchange.pd

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3.2.2.3 Natural vs. equal-tempered

Let's look at the difference between natural and equal-tempered intervals (first enter the fundamental frequency!):

patches/3-2-2-3-natural-tempered.pd

Showing the difference between natural and equal-tempered tuning in cents (hundredths of a half-step):

You can see here: the 7th partial is 31 cents flatter than the equal-tempered seventh.

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3.2.2.4 More exercises

Create an overtone chord with manipulated overtones, i.e., with imprecise overtones.

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3.2.3 Appendix

3.2.3.1 Pd's limitations

The previous example of random klangfarbe reveals one of Pd's limitations: you can't randomly determine the number of oscillators. You have to at least determine the maximum first.

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3.2.4 For those especially interested

3.2.4.1 Studie II

One of the pioneering pieces in the history of electronic music is 'Studie II' by Karlheinz Stockhausen, written in 1954. This work uses only sine tones and mixtures thereof in non-tempered intervals. The author strongly recommends you analyze this piece!

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3.2.4.2 Composing with spectra

In the fourth chapter of his book "Audible Design", composer and theorist Trevor Wishart describes many possibilities for composing with spectra.

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