Tag Archives: Random Processing

Spontaneous Polymerization

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Number five in my sequence of experiments with FM synthesis is a bit noisier than the previous entries which is typical of sounds produced by randomizing parameters. Most of these I leave by the wayside, or edit specific parameters to make them more usable. However, this sound endeared me with is dirty and gravely characteristics. It caused me to imagine some scientific device of the future capable of materializing products or replicating a potato in a manner of seconds. This is the sound of that hypothetical device.

Spontaneous Polymerization

Mendelian Inheritance

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Here is the third sound in my installment of FM synthesis experiments. Once again I’m using artificial selection to simulate a genetic algorithm. In this case I selected a rhythmic sound out of a large collection of randomized sounds then repeated the two bar loop four times to create an eight bar pattern based on the sample. To me it sounds like some sort of high tech laboratory equipment being operated.

One quick note. I will be out of the country from Friday, November 7 through Wednesday, November 12, 2008. On Friday, November 7 I’ll be posting my 100th consecutive sound, and want to continue the trend while I’m out of the country. So, I’ll be scheduling a series of entries based on these FM synthesis experiments to post automatically while I’m away.

Mendelian Inheritance

Bit Reduced Down Sampled Fuzzed and Resonated

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Absolutely nothing is distinguishable in these samples after all the processing that has been applied. My goal was to make a sequence of random samples sound as nasty as possible by applying down sampling, bit reduction, and distortion, then bring it back into something tolerable by applying some resonance filters and reverberation.

I automated the frequency and dry mix of the resonator so I could create some Theremin like pitch sweeping as well as bring in and out the noise of the bit reduced samples throughout the piece. What I ended up with is a palate of odd textures and diffused noise suitable for frightening the neighbors on a chilly Autumn evening.

Downsampled Fuzzed and Resonated

Filtered Synth Drums at 125bpm

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I programmed this beat and ran it through some pretty thick filtering followed by compression with a touch of delay automated in here and there for a few dub effects. Another technique I used to get some different fills going in the pattern was to add a MIDI arpeggiator and turn it on at certain moments to change the feel. The arpeggiator was programmed to randomize the notes in the sequence using specific note durations. I alternated between eighth notes and thirty-second notes.

Arpeggiating at eighth notes slowed down the feel of the beat since the high hat pattern was programmed in sixteenths, while arpeggiating the pattern to thirty-seconds created some simulated fancy fill work. These techniques can be hit or miss, so whenever I use them to produce I generally render the track several times with the random behaviors enabled then scour the output for “gems”. Finally I collect the “gems” and use them as fills selectively. Another example of unnatural selection at work.

Filtered Synth Drums at 125bpm

Power Tool Percussion

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Today I decided to record my electric drill. It was on a list of “things i need to record”. Power tools make some great sounds with all sorts of textures and frequencies. I captured the sound of the drill in stereo at a variety of speeds. I also got the sound of switching the drill from forward to reverse. Afterward I chopped it up into a percussive loop and ran it through beat repeat to get a nice mechanical loop going.

Beat repeat has pitch decay setting that incrementally lowers the pitch of repeated slices, which you can hear in the piece. I also maximized the chance settings to increase the likelihood of repeats happening and the variation setting to vary the length of the slices used in the repetition.

Power Tool Percussion