I think you can make something like this with a spline node and a timer. Well, the spline node only has linear segments (so no crazy curves) but you can control the volume graphically.
I'm currently working on an envelope generator that has multiple chain-able segments. It also feature a curve control which allows you to adjust from linear to exponential. I have it working, but I'm still trying to get the curve control logic a bit better. Should have something soon.
You ping this module with a trigger and it plays the automation on the spline. If you draw a pattern like the one in the video you can use it in the same way.
However, trying the patch out on the iPad I was reminded why I don't often use the spline node, placing points at the edge of the spline area can be quite fiddly. So creating gates that start and stop on the grid can be a slow process when making a complex pattern
To mitigate this, I added a multiplier to the period, so you can combine two of these pingable splines at different ratios and make a new pattern with increased complexity that still goes to a beat. I attempted to make a demo showing what I'm talking about.
@futureaztec I'll be happy to make revisions if you find something you think can be improved.
Okay so I have only been at this a week, so steep curve for me. I am going to try to upload some pics and patches. Your patch was too complex for me but I am learning a lot. I sent a midi note from Cubasis to a midi module in Audulus. Then I wired the gate over to a clock so that it would sync with the DAW clock. If there is some other way to do this let me know. I don’t quite understand what trig, period and loop do. I am just wiring things and observing results. Could you explain how to wire this up and what those patch points do? I got it working with the patch I shared here but I want to get a better handle on this.
@futureaztec, no worries. It looks like you might have the control signal going to the main out and the clock signal being sent to the period length. The period input is a number. To input a number, you double tap on the input and a text box pops up.
At any rate, I don't know exactly how best to use cubasis, but I rejiggered the patch so that it would modulate the volume of an instrument going into it.
I was using a midi note every 4 beats so I could perform a reset on other patches, like DFAM DIY. And I was using a midi note every beat so that I could generate a tap tempo for clock. This way the patch would be perfectly in sync with the daw. Not that this is the best way, just the first way I learned.
So how do you sync the gate module with the DAW?
Also, what is the function of the trig input? What is the function of the loop switch?
I suppose period is a reading of the length of time that the gate performs the modulation from point start to finish?
I used Cubasis because it seemed the simplest for what I was doing.
>I was using a midi note every 4 beats so I could perform a reset on other patches
Does Audulus receive midi when used with inter-app? I thought was one of the things that was missing from the plug-in version and one of the things that will be addressed in the upcoming plug-in overhaul. Although I'm not sure what has be fully promised, to be totally honest.
>So how do you sync the gate module with the DAW?
Well, you have to be clever, I suppose. There are two tracks going into audulus if you hard pan two incoming channels, and you can use one as a click track with a kick drum and use that like a trigger. I have used this technique with Korg Gadget and it works well if you run the kick into a envelope.
>Also, what is the function of the trig input?
You send in a gate and it will trigger the spline automation
>What is the function of the loop switch?
The loop switch causes the module to trigger itself, creating a loop. You can toggle the button or you can send it a gate, this is so you can create more complex patterns.
>I suppose period is a reading of the length of time that the gate performs the modulation from point start to finish?
The period is a number with the unit of seconds. That is why it has a little hashtag on the input.
Here is a quick guide on input notation:
blank - this is audio or modulation input and would like a signal between -1 and 1 green light - gate signal (occasionally envelope out) o - note input in Audulus 1/octave system, similar to the modular volt per octave system. # - this is a number input and can have any unit, but is often a length, a speed, or a decimal code.
You can make a module that calculates the period you hold down a gate for, if that's how you want to make it though.
>I used Cubasis because it seemed the simplest for what I was doing.
Oh yeah, it seems like a great DAW. I just seem to have bonded with Korg gadget, so I haven't felt compelled to learn the intricacies of it yet.
So to be clear, I am able to run Audulus as an Interapp audio effect. I am sending midi notes in a piano roll in the DAW, from there to channels 1 and 2. You can see where these modules are wired up in Audulus and how I am sending gates to spline. Everything’s working great and I’m getting a reset by sending a long continuous note on the second channel. My issue is with this 1.5 variable I circled. In effect it is cycling through spline 1.5 measures and resetting half way through. I want a reset on a value of 1. Kind of baffled.
Cool! I guess I never know that inter-app audio worked between Audulus and Cubasis, because it doesn't when you have an ES-8 plugged in. Today I leaned :)
You have your gate signal connected to the multiplier knob and not the trigger input. You want to have that knob set to 1 because you want your period to be around 1 bar of your track. If you want two bars you set it to 2, etc.
I made a patch that should sort it out. I added a module that calculates the periods between re-trigger pulses. You should be able to load and it should just work.
Can this patch be beefed up in any way? I noticed that your original example has two instances of the spine node that included an exponential/logarithmic node into a wave combiner. I am also wondering about some sort of pluck VCA. I know that in Reaktor you can get a snappy sound. If I were to switch out the VCA could I get more pronounced subtractive expressivity?
Here is the description of the module from Reaktor:
"The West Coast LPG represents the Blocks take on the low pass gate, a peculiar filter circuit originally designed by synthesizer legend Don Buchla for controlling the dynamic properties of a sound. It uses an optocoupler that smoothes the LPG's response to external control. When excited by a sharp-edged signal via its Pluck input, the LPG opens and closes in a natural sounding manner, giving sounds a plausible quality that is reminiscent of a drum hit or a plucked string."
It would also be nice if spline had a snap to grid function and I am looking forward to what @stschoen said about curves.
Certainly! But I think it's definitely up to you how to best implement those changes, the patch I uploaded was just my take on how I would achieve complex results. Feel free to use those other modules in your patch in new ways :)
>"The West Coast LPG represents the Blocks take on the low pass gate, a peculiar filter circuit originally designed by synthesizer legend Don Buchla for controlling the dynamic properties of a sound. It uses an optocoupler that smoothes the LPG's response to external control. When excited by a sharp-edged signal via its Pluck input, the LPG opens and closes in a natural sounding manner, giving sounds a plausible quality that is reminiscent of a drum hit or a plucked string."
See the attached patch, that's what I have been using for plucked LPG sounds in audulus. I think the only thing it really lacks when compared to my euro rack LPG is a dampening circuit, but I would say it's a fair replica.
>It would also be nice if spline had a snap to grid function and I am looking forward to what @stschoen said about curves.
Don't you worry, if @stschoen is taking his time, it's only because it's gonna be good. You should check out some his modules for plucked filter sounds though.
I finally finished my my chain-able envelope generator. Posted it this afternoon I would have loved to make it with a graphical interface similar to the spline node, but Audulus doesn't have the tools at the moment. On the other hand you can modulate the times and levels on this one.
@futureaztec, the spline node only provides a linear output. There is a mapper node which provides a curve, but it only features a single curve. It would be possible to chain a group of mapper nodes together and traverse them sequentially but it would be difficult to to ensure that the end of one node matched the beginning of the next. You could apply a curve to the output of the spline node but it would be difficult to vary the curve for different sections. Although my design doesn't feature a graphical display, with the appropriate number of modules, it can reproduce the curves in the video.
I have been having some fun with Roberts designs. I should really arrange something more sonically substantial, but I really like his notion of using two splines to modulate. Note that midi is being routed on channel 16 in Cubasis to the midi module in Audulus also set to 16 but you can set this up however you like to get a good sync. I fed a high pitched midi synth flute through Audulus as an Inerapp Audio effect.
One question. What is the best way to implement the range or amount of modulation received by a knob itself, so that I can control how much a low pass filter opens up, for example, without needing to dim down the actual heights of spline itself?
I'm glad you are enjoying the pingable spline :) You are looking to trim the modulation? Find it in the Module Library>Utility>Modulation>Modulation Attenuate-Offset.
Happily getting carried away now. Integrating a modulated delay was fun. I usually deal with delay as an effect in the DAW but the cpu seems to be handling it very well inside Audulus. The results are much more interesting to me. The attenuation offset makes a huge difference for fine tuning.
Yeah it's easy to get carried away! Especially when you uncover one of the many worlds of infinite possibilities within Audulus. But at the end of the day, all that really matters is the sound, and a little trim can mellow a raw idea into something worth listening to.