External Sync Feature Added to the GMS

Posted on April 21, 2009 by John CS Keston

With some expert help from Grant Muller I have successfully added the capability of synchronization with an external MIDI signal to the GMS. This feature opens up vast possibilities for performance and collaboration with the tool. To test the feature I sent external sync from Ableton Live to the GMS, which in turn routed note information back through the IAC drivers into Ableton to drive a VST FM synth. I started by live looping a few phrases from the sequencer including a bass line, mid-range arpeggio, and some heavily delayed FM clav, then put it together with a recycled beat into a two minute micro-track. Everything heard, except the drums, are notes output from the GMS via video stimulus.

GMS External Sync Test

Time Correction Overload 2

Posted on April 10, 2009 by John CS Keston

ACB reader, Matt, suggested I try the time correction technique in the last post in a different order. Previously I had dropped the pitch two octaves and then brought it back up two with the time correction enabled. This time I did the opposite, starting by increasing the pitch then lowering it to its original position. It definitely has a different sound. I think it’s much closer to the original than the previous example, but still an interesting way to manipulate the clip.

Time Correction Overload 2

Time Correction Overload

Posted on April 9, 2009 by John CS Keston

Today during my audio production class I was demonstrating to my students how time correction impacts digital audio when pitch shifting more than a few semitones. To illustrate this I pitched down a chunk of music an octave with the time correction on in Pro Tools. The degradation was clear, but it occurred to me that it would be even more obvious if I shifted it back up to the original pitch with time correction enabled again.

This created an interesting way to effectively down-sample the audio. Intrigued, I applied the same technique over several times to hear what would happen on multiple passes. This is something I’m likely to explore more, but I tried it again on the snippet of music from Unprocessed Rhodes Pedal Noise going down two octaves and back up again. It sounds like the audio has been boiled in a pot of bathroom chemicals. Delicious!

Time Correction Overload

Processed Rhodes Pedal Noise

Posted on April 4, 2009 by John CS Keston

Here’s an excerpt from a piece of music that I created using the noise that the pedal on my suitcase Rhodes makes if you step on it the right way. The sound is processed using some of my usual techniques. I also programmed a beat of the top and laid down some reversed Rhodes and well as a simple chord progression. This probably won’t get developed much further, but perhaps I’ll use it as a segue piece of some sort.

Rhodes Pedal Noise

Six Machines

Posted on March 13, 2009 by John CS Keston

I’m calling this one minute and twenty four second experiment Six Machines, simply because after applying the first round of processing and looping the phrase a vague melody in six / eight time is discernible. The first round of involved applying destructive processing in Audacity, where I was testing how well VSTs worked in the beta version. However, after applying several randomish effects, I realized that I no longer knew what I had previously applied. Sometimes this is good for creative reasons, but if you ever want to repeat what you’ve done, it’s not. In this case it’s ok. This is odd enough that I don’t mind if I never repeat it, but interesting enough to me to post.