Comments for Audio Cookbook

Comment on Gestural Music Sequencer Documentary Short by John Keston

John Keston — Thu, 24 May 2012 13:30:43 +0000

@mandy. Grant Muller posted some detailed instructions on how to use the GMS with Windows. As a Mac user I haven’t attempted it. You’ll have to go a few pages into the comments to find his documentation. Just search for Grant. Cheers!

Comment on Dreamy New Age Synth Harp by John Keston

John Keston — Thu, 24 May 2012 13:24:16 +0000

@Pascal. Thanks for asking. Unfortunately, I didn’t save the patch. I rarely do, preferring to reprogram when necessary by ear. This isn’t always practical, but I get better at programming sounds this way. I probably have something similar that I would use as a starting point.

Comment on Dreamy New Age Synth Harp by Pascal Maier

Pascal Maier — Thu, 24 May 2012 08:22:35 +0000

Thats cool is there a way to download it to play on my synth? :)

Comment on Track Made Entirely with Korg Monotribe by John Keston

John Keston — Tue, 22 May 2012 22:00:21 +0000

@FSK1138 I will definitely check it out when/if I do the MIDI hack. Cheers!

Comment on Gestural Music Sequencer Documentary Short by Mandy

Mandy — Tue, 22 May 2012 18:13:13 +0000

hi there :) I’m very excited to started using the GMS but it does not recognize my webcam. I’m running Vista and have a logitech 200 webcam. Perhaps the program only reads certain devices, but I couldn’t find documentation on this. Thanks for any advice you can give!
Mandy

Comment on Track Made Entirely with Korg Monotribe by FSK1138

FSK1138 — Tue, 22 May 2012 16:10:17 +0000

great track you should try Mtribe it really helps to put some dynamics and real time control into the monotribe you can even save and recall sounds !!

Comment on Phase Distortion Synthesis: Libration Dub by John Keston

John Keston — Tue, 22 May 2012 14:55:22 +0000

Loud and clear, @Walter. I appreciate the detailed description. One question: if PD does not use PCMs, does it amount to a primitive sort of analog modeling? In other words, how are the waveforms being generated? Are they stored as data somewhere, or modelled by the internal software?

Comment on Phase Distortion Synthesis: Libration Dub by Walter Ego

Walter Ego — Tue, 22 May 2012 14:07:59 +0000

I’ll add further that it is confusing, because, even tonally, I’ve noticed that even the tones on the CZ 1000 sound similar to my Korg Poly 800 (which is actually an analog synth w/ analog lowpass filter), and they came out around the same year. The DCO synths (tend to) sound more cold and “digital”. I liken this to architectural design–sometimes the media or the tool determines the outcome; if you physically draw a design, it has a more human quality, if you use AutoCad, it may be easily recognized as something that originated in the digital world, since you were using digital tools. This is at least true in the world of theatre set design, and may remain true for a while. Just a thought…

Comment on Phase Distortion Synthesis: Libration Dub by Walter Ego

Walter Ego — Tue, 22 May 2012 13:59:45 +0000

I think there’s some confusion here. They are not really DCOs, contrary to what has been posted in other places. I’m certainly not an expert, but I understand Phase Distortion synthesis to be a purely digital process, very similar to what Yamaha calls Frequency Modulation (FM) as found in the DX7 and all its cousins, both on the Yamaha side and elsewhere. PD is somewhat different and better able to emulate analog tones because of the types of waves generated. But a DCO is a “digitally CONTROLLED oscillator’, i.e. an “analog” oscillator receiving digital clock information rather than voltage pulses (as in a VCO). It’s still “analog”; Roland Juno synths and the Korg Poly 800 and even monsters like the SCI Prophet T8 (and everything Dave Smith is putting out these days) all have DCOs, not VCOs, but they are not digital instruments. Their oscillator tuning is stable because it’s digital, not voltage controlled. However, CZ series synths have Digital Oscillators (everything is in the digital, computer world), not digitally CONTROLLED oscillators. (Sorry for all the CAPS, there’s no italics). But these are far from PCMs! No samples here. To put a fine point on things…if you whack the CZ 1000, it won’t make the tone waver. If you whack a Poly 800, it will give a wobble, because it’s subject to things happening in the physical world. But a digital oscillator is far from a sample, and different from “pulse code modulation” (PCM) used on Casio’s home keyboards. Capische? Walter out.

Comment on Guidelines for Making a Sound Design Demo Reel by Aidan Lytton

Aidan Lytton — Sat, 19 May 2012 03:30:25 +0000

Hey Kyle, Thanks for all the wicked tips! I’m a recently graduated University student, and this article has been essential in helping me start to build a more professional demo reel. I’ve run into one major snag though, and that’s regarding content. Not audio content, but visual. I have plenty of work to pick from for my reel, but it mostly consists of recordings of my original music which I’ve mixed or soundscapes for installations and live performances of which there is no video. Is it ok to have a sound demo which is purely audio? Or would it be a lot more beneficial to have a visual component? If so, would you recommend starting from scratch and building my demo around some visual material, or rather finding good visuals to suit the sound I already have? As I said before you’re article has already helped me a lot and any more advice is highly appreciated : )