this work showcases a max/msp patch which creates washes of granular synthesis from a live input. sounds that meet the synth engine are sampled to a buffer~ object, then spliced and diced with 2d.wave~. each parameter of the 2d.wave~ granular output is individually tweakable, and presets can be mixed and overlapped using a midi interface, specifically, the novation launchcontrol xl. wet and dry versions of our live input can then be timestretched and stereo-fied before running through a reverb system. wet and dry blends are then controlled by our midi interface, as well as the interpolation between reverb presets.

this project allows for patch modification without ever touching a keyboard or mouse. as the following recordings hopefully demonstrate, this opens up the opportunity to create and modify complex sound while simultaneously producing the engine’s input. i really enjoyed recording this pieces, and hope to use this patch more in the future! these recordings are just a start!

the first track is a guitar, the second is a drum set (with a dry recording overlayed), and the third is a guitar with a synthesizer. enjoy

google drive link

this collection of sounds presents a max/msp performance tool that functions as a live-input granular synthesis-esque sonic manipulator. as sound is fed into the engine, size-adjustable snippets of incoming audio are recorded to a max buffer~. from said buffer, said audio is played back with max.msp’s groove~ object.

this playback is, of course, contingent on a variety of different ux points: snippit playback pitch, sample beginning and end time, a wet/dry mix, and sample generation rate. prior to all of this modification, the incoming audio is passed through only if above a certain user-determined threshold. attack and decay for this ducking effect are also user-controlled. intended to be a performance tool, this project can perform in numerous roles: from tempo-controlled looping, to pitch shifting, to full-blown reactive granular synthesis.

each of the attatched tracks was recorded from the sound card and lightly mixed in reaper. small amounts of compression, reverb, and limiting were used as necessitated. also, a key element of this patch is the ducker subpatch, which was found and modified from this thread. thank you and enjoy i really like how this turned out.

google drive link

do note: this delightful max tutorial is what allowed me to implement the dual pfft~ greater than/less than amplitude filtration. to this base patch, i added the midi keyboard control and the poly implementation of the amplitude filter, which allows for extremely quirky, layered filtration. the below sounds are cool, but using this patch ‘live’ is the real benefit of it, i’d say.

google drive link

this project takes a minimalist yamaha psr-6 loop and convolves it in four ways. the first of which, a balloon popping in my apartment’s staircase is used as a impulse. every day when I walk up the stairs, there’s one little section of noticeable, dry reverb. this process mimics it well. the next is a balloon popping inside of my washing machine with the top closed and the recorder inside. it is flat and plate-like, and very smooth sounding. both of these impulse reverbs have very short trails. the next two are more musical impulse recordings. the first is a bit of electric piano improv using the same yamaha fm. the second is a little sustainy guitar bit with a bunch of reverb. enjoy :)))

This patch takes an input, runs it into a delay with feedback, then sends the output of that signal into two delays, one in the left channel and one in the right. each of those two signals feeds back into itself, as well as into the input of the opposite side’s signal. for each three of these delay chains, the delay time and pitch modulates randomly. from there, the pitch modulation effect from the feedback is mitigated by a pitch corrector, which fixes each note (or rather, attempts to) to an A. this semi-randomly modulated signal, paired with a nearly-self-oscillating delay chain and enforced pitch effect, creates irregular swells and digital artifacts within a smooth wave of delay.

drive: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1fgAeqN-eK4_rT5vyeMRwL-Cu93NiJY-h

sample sound from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RHSbZBuqOvU

This project exploits the lo-fi sampling capability of the 1987 toy keyboard, the Casio SK-5. It maximizes the SK-5’s processing power by using all three sample modifications available, sample reversal, pseudo-reverb, and sample looping. Beginning with an arbitrary voice sample, we record the dry, unaffected sample onto a computer, then apply the three mentioned modifications, then record on a computer once more. 

This modified sample is then played from the computer into the SK-5’s microphone input to resample as the next recursive level. Each subsequent level of resampling thus reverses a previously reversed sample, applies another layer of reverb, and loops the sample at a slightly different time, creating both rhythmic and harmonic artifacts.

the chain, more simply:

recording of unknown voice with sk-5’s built-in mic  ->

{ record onto computer without modifications            ->

internal SK-5 processing: reverse,  ‘reverb,’  loop       ->

record onto computer with above effects                 ->

 resample affected sound from computer onto SK-5}            

repeat  {}’s 20 times