mystery modulation?

[arp_laszlo]

I'm still using the demo of Aspect and went through the roygbiv tut with Aspect while seeing how Fabfilter Twin 2 stacked up. (I own Twin and Aspect is #1 on my to-buy list )

Obviously the oscillators on different synths will not sound identical, and and I like Aspect's a little better than Twin's. Early on, while working on the sawtooth wave I kept hearing what sounded like a mild flange, and I was unable to ascertain the source. I was able to approximate it on Twin by modulating the oscillator sync with an LFO. Did I miss something on Aspect that was causing this, or perhaps I did something inadvertently?

btw - I was checking the other Aspect threads and I notice some peeps complaining about it sounding too digital. In old tracks of mine people have been duped, with all my digital, belly, fm-like sounds coming from Albino and never from an FM synth! I like the range of Aspect and there's just something about the sound that moves me. Can't wait to see what Xenos comes up with!

[colin@loomer]

Thanks for your positive comments - glad you're getting good use out of Aspect. Everyone seems to like the Aspect Roygbiv tutorial, so I'd be interested in any other classic synth sounds that anyone wants recreated in a tutorial.

As for the Oscillator flange, without seeing or hearing the patch I'm not sure what could be causing it. The Oscillators themselves don't have any fake analog drift*, but it could quite easily becoming from either some subtle Oscillator Pitch Modulation, or perhaps even Filter Cutoff or Filter Mix modulation.

It can be very easy to build up fairly complex audio routes in Aspect, but they are generally easily to visualize if you work back from the Output Section. Another helpful tip is to save the patch with the "Store" button, make some changes, and then compare the changes to the original with the "A|B" button. I also find this to be a useful technique when you are polishing off a patch and want to make those final subtle tweaks.

* For fans of drift, this is easily emulated in Aspect though. I like using Noise -> Slew Generator with a fairly low lag rate -> Oscillator Pitch Modulation & Filter Cutoff. This tends to give a more chaotic drift than using LFOs, plus it frees up your LFOs for use as modulation sources.

[arp_laszlo]

I used a new patch and wasn't that far into the tut so I'd like to think that I didn't make a mistake. I'll see if I can replicate it and post an example.

As for sounds/tutorials I'd go for almost any of the sinewy sounds from Aphex Twin's Selected Ambient Works Vol II. Or I was going to have a go at taking Gustavo Bravetti's tut on making a Booka Shade sound with Ableton Operator and make it on Aspect &/or Twin.

btw - any chance of a group buy forthcoming?

[colin@loomer]

Some Aphex Twin ambient works style sounds? Seems like a great idea, and a perfect excuse to listen to an album I haven't heard in ages! I'm sure I'll be able to get some suitably SAWII style sounds out of Aspect.

Re: group buy - we don't have any planned for the near future, but are constantly listening to what people want regarding features and pricing so it's certainly not completely out of the question at some later point.

By the way, I just checked out a few of your tracks at http://arpha.us/ - great stuff, reminds me of Warp's output during the later 90s/early 2000s. I'm really enjoying Blue Light Above.

[arp_laszlo]

Man, flattery will get you everywhere. Including getting some of my money Only issue is budgetary constraints, but if one of my tracks gets licensed I can always use that as an excuse ('Hey honey - see? I made money with my music.')

Much thanks on the compliment - I used to listen to a lot of IDM at the turn of the century, and of course Warp was at the top of the list. BLA is one of my favorites, and it was made before I got sucked into the idea of Making Dance Music and subverted my natural musical tendencies in the process.

I've not made music in about 3, maybe 4 yrs (BLA is from 2002, I think) and I sheepishly admit that only now am I trying to learn synthesis, paying attention to an individual synth's oscillators, etc. I need to take a hack at SAW style synths too, once I start to understand how to get the basic sounds. I'm also looking forward to using Aspect with my BCR2000 - they're practically made for each other.

btw - have not been able to create that flange I heard. I didn't bother saving the patch since I'm using the demo, figuring I'd just follow the tut. I did however not realize that the filter was on by default, which makes a big difference in the sound. Is it intentional that the overall amplitude drops when the filter is not bypassed?

Also ... can you blog a bit about what synths inspired you to create Aspect? The tut immediately makes me think of the SH101, but I'm sure that's not the only one.

[colin@loomer]

As requested, I will at some point blog in more detail about the design choices behind Aspect. In the meantime though, yes, you are right in the SH-101 influence. The other main inspiration is the Korg MS semi modular series. I'm a big fan of simple instruments, the kind where the interface just begs to be tweaked, and so aim to meet that fine line between simplicity and flexibility. In terms of the influences of software synths: Native Instruments fantastic Pro-53. I've been using that synth for maybe five or six years now, and still finding new sounds, which is mighty impressive for a fairly simple two Oscillator/one Filter synth with a fixed architecture. I think the Pro-53 shows us that 'depth' is not necessarily related to 'options'.

As for the filter amplitude drop, it's simply due to the gain structure of the filter itself. The filters output over a fairly huge dynamic range (particularily when high resonance is used), so a touch of dynamic gain is required to make the volume more or less constant when sweeping the cutoff or resonance. Plus the filters themselves do obviously remove frequencies, so some attenuation is to be expected. And finally, don't forget that the Master Volume in the Global section can be used to set the overall output level.

[arp_laszlo]

I'm a big fan of simple instruments, the kind where the interface just begs to be tweaked, and so aim to meet that fine line between simplicity and flexibility.

Congrats then - you nailed that with Aspect. I'm writing a blog about not 'feeling' Zebra in spite of the sound because I just don't want to play with it. Aspect & Twin just beg to be tweaked. otoh, FAW Circle begs to be tweaked but the sound does nothing for me, so getting both right is important.

I don't think I ever gave Pro53 a fair shake (fie on me for just wanting presets to play with at the time). It's been discontinued, no? I'll keep an eye out for a deal. Maybe that'll be Audiomidi's no brainer deal for the coming week and I'll grab it.

I can understand the MS series too - I've wanted an MS20 for ages ever since I read (apocryphally, perhaps) that it was one Aphex Twin's mangling tools (specifically running FM synths through the filter).