KVR Audio

skrasms · Post by **skrasms** » Thu Sep 15, 2005 7:35 pm

Has anyone made a tube simulator?
Not like amplifier tubes, but like PVC or plastic tubes. The kinds that make cool noises when you hit them or run stuff through them. It'd make for a cool instrument or processor if done convincingly, while being able to adjust radius and length in real time (and material). I've tried a couple ideas with various permutations of delay lines and comb filters, but nothing good came of it except some really metallic reverbs.

jmh · Post by **jmh** » Thu Sep 15, 2005 7:42 pm

So far, haven't found any. I know someone will mention Didj'itizer or whatever it was called, but...

One of the coolest basslines ever, I feel love cover by Blue Man Group or something like that

Regards,

JMH

C00kie · Post by **C00kie** » Thu Sep 15, 2005 7:43 pm

Try any flanger:
* Set resonance all the way up
* Set modulation depth to zero, so modulation speed has become irrelevant
* Play around with delay time or any other control

james0tucson · Post by **james0tucson** » Thu Sep 15, 2005 7:47 pm

Guess there are still some areas where a room full of strange toys and a couple of microphones is still the way to go.

skrasms · Post by **skrasms** » Thu Sep 15, 2005 7:51 pm

C00kie wrote:Try any flanger:
* Set resonance all the way up
* Set modulation depth to zero, so modulation speed has become irrelevant
* Play around with delay time or any other control

Yeah, I've played with flanging a lot, and it sort of hints at what I'm going for, but it's as though there's still a big chunk missing from sounding like a big tube resonating. I imagine the formant effects of different tube materials would play a major role, since in addition to the sound that bounces around inside the tube, the tube itself is in motion when it's struck.

skrasms · Post by **skrasms** » Thu Sep 15, 2005 7:55 pm

james0tucson wrote:Guess there are still some areas where a room full of strange toys and a couple of microphones is still the way to go.

Very true. I'm tempted to go to the hardware store and pick up some tubing for experimenting. I could make it into a whole science project analyzing different the frequency spectrums for different sizes/lengths being struck.

C00kie · Post by **C00kie** » Thu Sep 15, 2005 7:56 pm

Maybe try to ring-mod your signal with samples of a didgerydoo

omo · Post by **omo** » Thu Sep 15, 2005 11:05 pm

Absynth has that kind of tube fx. I always wanted it as a vst effect. Very cool thing sometimes., but still it ain't real. I've done lots of similar stuff in the past like - tubes, extension spring on a window with a telephone speaker attached onto the glass (fabulous one!), all kind of stuff in metal barrels and what not. Just get creative, there so many undiscovered creazy sounds and effects. Get any microphone out of any broken piece of junk, pickups, anything and play with them.

Steve Newton · Post by **Steve Newton** » Thu Sep 15, 2005 11:31 pm

skrasms wrote:...I imagine the formant effects of different tube materials would play a major role, since in addition to the sound that bounces around inside the tube, the tube itself is in motion when it's struck.

I think your answer lies there somewhere. EQ pre-delay, post-delay and in the feedback loop.

One EQ for the direct sound to simulate being stuffed down an enclosed spaceand possibly an "overtone" related to the tube's dimensions - the column of air in the tube would have it's own resonant frequency related to the diameter and length of the tube and that frequency would be a constant formant of the sound.

Another for the delayed signal to hint at the tube's material.

A third for the feedback loop to exagerate the "material-ness" of the sound, and control hi end screeching and low end "bloat".

Adjust the delay for the tube length.

And the feedback for the "zingynes" of the material.

Deadbeat · Post by **Deadbeat** » Thu Sep 15, 2005 11:44 pm

Tassman has 2 different tube models in it that you can set the dimensions for, though you can't change the dimensions in realtime sadly. Hope fully in a future update they'll deal with this.

I've found you can still get some pretty interesting results with them though putting modulated filters and/or phasers before and after them...

robenestobenz · Post by **robenestobenz** » Fri Sep 16, 2005 2:13 am

omo wrote:Absynth has that kind of tube fx. I always wanted it as a vst effect. Very cool thing sometimes., but still it ain't real. I've done lots of similar stuff in the past like - tubes, extension spring on a window with a telephone speaker attached onto the glass (fabulous one!), all kind of stuff in metal barrels and what not. Just get creative, there so many undiscovered creazy sounds and effects. Get any microphone out of any broken piece of junk, pickups, anything and play with them.

I thought it was possible to use Absynth [3] as an effect VST anyway?

Jaeson Merrill · Post by **Jaeson Merrill** » Fri Sep 16, 2005 2:21 am

james0tucson wrote:Guess there are still some areas where a room full of strange toys and a couple of microphones is still the way to go.

strange toys eh??

were talking about tubes here, not "toys"

hehe

lfm · Post by **lfm** » Fri Sep 16, 2005 10:55 am

Have a look at Trash from www.izotope.com which has a number of strange and artificiall box models.

And there are some tankreverbs etc as well as lfo driven filters.

I think you will get some nice stuff.

waiting man · Post by **waiting man** » Fri Sep 16, 2005 11:30 am

I suppose that a tube is nothing more that combing and dampening/reflecting. anyway, it's pretty easy to make nice irs out of tubes. got two tubes lying around my studio lately.
one is approx 1.60 meters long, heavy paper, used to pack the long iron that keep gym weights togheter (damn, can't remember the damn english name of the thing).

another is in plastic, used for posters, much shorter but larger.

I can make few irs and host'em on my page, if there's some need. I'll write here when done.

Are there any tube simulators out there at all?