iZotope Iris

[Bobbotov]

Cogito is brilliant, great stuff Bob!

Vielen Dank!

[IDM Superstar]

here's a challenge, pick a sample and let's see who can make a more interesting 10 second thing out of it.

you use iris and i'll use a wave editor or a tracker

my argument, after chasing spectral morphing and additive resynthesis for almost 10 years, is that it's all shit

you have a pitch shifter, some band pass filters, an LFO, and on top of it all a bunch of awful resynthesis artifacts

i dare anyone to make something that doesn't sound like a 16kpbs ambient radio stream from 1998

[Shabdahbriah]

[...] my argument, after chasing spectral morphing and additive resynthesis for almost 10 years, is that it's all shit [...] i dare anyone to make something that doesn't sound like a 16kpbs ambient radio stream from 1998

Sooo, basically... since YOU can't make anything un-shit with it in ten years, it must not be a viable 'form' of musical expression for anyone?

Rather limited "argument".

[Neon Breath]

i dare anyone to make something that doesn't sound like a 16kpbs ambient radio stream from 1998

No idea if you're joking or not, but either way that's one hell of a funny post

[IDM Superstar]

Sooo, basically... since YOU can't make anything un-shit with it in ten years, it must not be a viable 'form' of musical expression for anyone?

Rather limited "argument".

anything is a viable form of musical expression, im just posting about the one that's got a 50 page thread but sounds like it's an SOS using a walkie talkie produced by Real Media over at the glass factory saying there's been a shipping mishap and they're drowning in tennis balls

i was super hyped about this stuff for years until i realized it all sounds the damn same, i thought i'd be spectral morphing a goose into the gravitational collapse of a neutron star by now, but no, it's still squeaky warbly pew pew

[Shabdahbriah]

Sooo, basically... since YOU can't make anything un-shit with it in ten years, it must not be a viable 'form' of musical expression for anyone?

Rather limited "argument".

anything is a viable form of musical expression, im just posting about the one that's got a 50 page thread but sounds like it's an SOS using a walkie talkie produced by Real Media over at the glass factory saying there's been a shipping mishap and they're drowning in tennis balls

i was super hyped about this stuff for years until i realized it all sounds the damn same, i thought i'd be spectral morphing a goose into the gravitational collapse of a neutron star by now, but no, it's still squeaky warbly pew pew

I can't argue the "same/same" aspects for the most part, as I agree with you. That is certainly a part of the challenge, indeed.

I feel that way about a number of synths/emu's that have been done-to-death, and certainly a LOT of so/so spectral/granular tools, so I can relate to your "disappointment/disillusionment" there. I am always "looking" for and searching out 'unique' approaches to sound design, and clever alternatives to the norm, however.

That said: as I spend most of my time in audio "editors" (Sound Forge/WavLab, etc.), that is how I approach Iris, and many other things that are called "synths", whether spectral, granular, or additive... they are sound generation, and manipulation tools. Some good, some not so... some exceptional, some mediocre. That's the playing field.

I really enjoy the interface and work-flow of Iris, and it's very well thought-out/implemented for an initial release (IMO).

Definitely an 'interactive' step forward for spectral "design" and experimentation (IMO), that will (and has) appeal(ed) to many people "new" to this area of synthesis/editing, as well as a breath of fresh air to those of us who have spent many years with it.

It certainly is not the end-all-be-all by any means, but Iris has 'earned' its 'place' in my tool-box.

[2c]

[TwoToneshuzz]

here's a challenge, pick a sample and let's see who can make a more interesting 10 second thing out of it.

I don't know if that's the point with Iris, seems to me it's geared for performing a mix of 3 plus sub, with all the benefits of realtime tweeking. There's been tools out there that can do Spectral editing on a Sonogram for years,

you use iris and i'll use a wave editor or a tracker

my argument, after chasing spectral morphing and additive resynthesis for almost 10 years, is that it's all shit

Spectral morphing? Who said anything about spectral morphing in Iris? I thought spectral morphing was a different technique from what we are doing here? Shoudn't you have posted over in the RayBlaster thread. That sounds like exactly the thing that you don't need or want... My understanding of spectral morphing is where you take the frequency curve generated from one soundsource and impose it on another. Somewhat like the vocoder effect.


I can see that if you've been working with spectral morphing and additive resynthesis (not an Iris functionality) with poor results after an enourmous amount of time and effort as being very dissapointing, were you working nine to five, and didn't get any coffee breaks?

I'd say just take a well deserved break, rest your ears, and go on a walkabout..

Personally I've also done lots of experimentation in the past that didn't lead to any golden windfall sonically speaking, but I also get lost when I go travelling and sometimes I find interesting things that are all my own.

you have a pitch shifter, some band pass filters, an LFO, and on top of it all a bunch of awful resynthesis artifacts

Your setup here has absolutely nothing to do with Iris, Iris is about painting on a masked out Sonogram to reveal what the soundspectra is made up of. There's no resynthesis artifacts. There's perhaps harmonics that get revealed that don't play well together but that's your choice as the editor.. There's always the danger of placing loop points in unfavourble spot that cause clicks, or boosting harmonics that distort the output.Hard selections could also lead to artifacts, but they are not because of resynthesis.

i dare anyone to make something that doesn't sound like a 16kpbs ambient radio stream from 1998

You can dare what you like, any tool carefully used can produce results that are acceptable, it's a time issue, and it's quality issue, garbage in garbage out. It's also just a tool, it's up to the user to know what he's doing as no matter how good the tool used in an uninformed way you can quickly run in to trouble.

[wasi]

i dare anyone to make something that doesn't sound like a 16kpbs ambient radio stream from 1998

anything is a viable form of musical expression, im just posting about the one that's got a 50 page thread but sounds like it's an SOS using a walkie talkie produced by Real Media over at the glass factory saying there's been a shipping mishap and they're drowning in tennis balls

i was super hyped about this stuff for years until i realized it all sounds the damn same, i thought i'd be spectral morphing a goose into the gravitational collapse of a neutron star by now, but no, it's still squeaky warbly pew pew

IDM Superstar, you put the I in IDM, lol. It's almost like you've been listening to my stuff.

Buck heck, I still like turning a pic of a slate into a drone or filtering a pad sound with a tree or a sunset. But from now on, I'll have to read your post every time before I start. Great stuff.

"an SOS using a walkie talkie produced by Real Media" Priceless.

[standalone]

here's a challenge, pick a sample and let's see who can make a more interesting 10 second thing out of it.

Hello Mr. Superstar, someone accepted your challenge:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-19765443

Someone who obviously isn't a Superstar, as you are.

[Neon Breath]

i dare anyone to make something that doesn't sound like a 16kpbs ambient radio stream from 1998

In fact, you've already lost your challenge, man. Richard David James uses spectral resynthesis in his work since quite a long time now. (with success buy the way)

[TwoToneshuzz]

I thought I'd just mention to those of you who are missing some modulation options in Iris that you have very powerful tools in Numerology Pro. In most Hosts. and if you want you could try this:

http://www.kvraudio.com/product/lfotool-by-xfer-record

As an extra level to get your Iris patches activated. You could setup the Macro knobs within Iris and then use the Lfo tool to modulate them or use midi learn in Iris and modulate parameters directly with the Lfo tool.

I haven't used it as I've got my modulation options in Numerology. But I refer the LFO tools as it's highly recommended by a poweruser called Two Soldiers on the Maschine and Numerology Five12 forums.

[Shabdahbriah]

http://www.kvraudio.com/product/lfotool-by-xfer-records

^^^ ftfy ^^^

LFOTool is a 'secret weapon'... (shhhh)

[aMUSEd]

http://www.kvraudio.com/product/lfotool-by-xfer-records

^^^ ftfy ^^^

LFOTool is a 'secret weapon'... (shhhh)

Looks interesting but Cableguys Midi shaper is a bit cheaper but appears to have more midi features (though not the audio processing granted).

[Shabdahbriah]

http://www.kvraudio.com/product/lfotool-by-xfer-records

^^^ ftfy ^^^

LFOTool is a 'secret weapon'... (shhhh)

Looks interesting but Cableguys Midi shaper is a bit cheaper but appears to have more midi features (though not the audio processing granted).

Here's the details from Steve's page:

LFOTool is an FX utility plug-in for VST and AudioUnit hosts for both Macintosh OS X® and Windows®. It empowers music producers to create tremolo, auto-pan, trance-gate, side-chain compressor simulation, and dubstep-type wobble effects with minimal effort.

LFOTool will process incoming audio as well as generate a MIDI message stream for controlling other instruments.

This unique plug-in also allows users to sculpt custom LFO curves and shapes and comes equipped with dozens of presets to achieve desired results quickly.

Consistent with other products in Xfer Records' software lineup, LFOTool is coded entirely in C++ in order to minimize the CPU load during operation.

Features

- LFO with customizable point+tension-curve editor, 12 graphs in a preset (switchable via MIDI notes or automation)

- up to 4 graphs simultaneously (Cutoff/Reso/Pan/Pitch)

- graph preset shapes from a drop-down menu, able to save your own

- can optionally send MIDI CC out to control other softsynths, effects, or external hardware which responds to MIDI CC messages.

- BPM (with optional swing) or Hz LFO rate control

- sample-accurate sync

- dozens of presets included

- both Mac OSX and Windows versions included

- 64-bit VST and AudioUnit support

Vids:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xj3daxaA2mo

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uFOuDh3BgB4

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=94MRdk9zTHw

[TwoToneshuzz]

Lfo tool combined with Iris as it is now basically blows the lid of the limitations of the program.

Consider having two instances of Iris load with six identical samples in each of the slots then modulating the heck of of each to get different spectral thinks happening with different pan curvers pitch bends, frequency savy compression effects and you probably will never get to the bottom of whats possible with just a few well chosen samples with braod spectral content.

I have Numerology that can pretty well do the same so right now I'm working with a bout twelve Lfo's modulating various parameters, like pan Lfo amount and speed. On one Instance of Iris.

But again all this modulation is more post production on an almost finished sound materiel. The core activity in Iris is getting/choosing/assembling good material to work with and the Sonogram painting..

Sonogram painting can actually also be used to create pseudo Lfo effects directly. You could also use the output from and Iris instance fed nto an envelope follower and patch that into a CV for making a amplitude control on another instances of Iris's output.