How are/were the following effects done?

[arcticzebra]

1)

~150 kB mp3 file:

http://web.starman.ee/crispy/effect.mp3

The sweeping suggests phasing or flanging, but how is the "digitized" effect achieved? Through the use of a vocoder? If so, then I could really use some pointers on the setup because there's no way I can get this kind of sound out of Reason's native effect modules... I'm rather dense on the assortment of various VST effect choices out there (plus I'd much rather if I could avoid VST altogether).

2)

Speaking of effects, does anyone have any insight on how the computer's voice (wasn't she called Shodan?) in System Shock II was done? There's a lot of short repeats and pitch changes; but also some more outlandish distortions (sort of like a very digital-sounding overdrive). If you've played the game, you'll know who Midwives were. For instance, does the effect that was used in their voice have an actual name?

3)

Is there any information available anywhere on tube/tape saturation (call it distortion) and analog harmonization techniques in general. There seems to be a complete vacuum in this department on the WWW: nothing on the major DSP sites and nothing I could find on Amazon in any of the DSP-related books available there.

As a good example, Reason's Scream module provides a number of less widely used effects most of which seem to be either self-engineered or "top-secret".




PS - for the most part I am looking for information on how to implement any number of these effects myself. Apparently it's all too simple to find extensive information on various filtering, equalization and convolution techniques. But quite honestly these simply aren't that interesting... :/

PPS - since I'm new here and I've never posted a poll before, I'm doing that now...

To elaborate on the poll question: I don't mean restoration or noise removal, but rather more specific effects, such as extensive chorusing, artificial stereo imaging, phasing, unnatural-sounding EQ tweaking, etc.

Cheers,
AZ

[shamann]

1) The clip could be a vocoder run through a flanger. Clips like that, effects might often be stacked, so it might not be obvious what they are doing. Could also be they used detuning of multiple waves on the carrier.

2) Dunno, never played the game.

3) re: saturation. You might find something helpful at either of these links:
http://www.simulanalog.org/articles.htm
http://www.geofex.com/effxfaq/distn101.htm

[arcticzebra]

Mmkay - thanks for the reply; I'll have a read at the links, although I still find it mildly unsettling that there's no definitive source of information either online or on paperback on these topic in general (mainly because a lot of commercial applications, such as Izotope's products) use these methods. And I'm a bit skeptical of them having worked out their own algorithms for everything.

The only decent explanation of effects is on Harmony-Central and that's not too comprehensive either...

[shamann]

So, are you asking to see code for saturation?

If so, there are some examples here: http://www.musicdsp.org/archive.php

[arcticzebra]

Code isn't strictly what I'm looking for (although in many cases it's a lot more to the point and explains things a lot better).

Saturation in itself is a simplified breakdown of the processes that take place when you record something on an analog medium; the difference is sort of like shooting on HD (digitally recorded and mastered music stored on a CD or equivalent) and on film (music recorded live on an analog medium). The kind of DSP algorithms I'm looking for can be paralleled to shooting in digital, then replicating the effects of as if having shot on film. I don't know if this explains anything, but in a nutshell it's all about subtlety.

The rest of the effects I mentioned are simply poorly documented, that's all...

[Music Engineer]

1)
PS - for the most part I am looking for information on how to implement any number of these effects myself. Apparently it's all too simple to find extensive information on various filtering, equalization and convolution techniques. But quite honestly these simply aren't that interesting... :/

a very comprehensive documentation/explanation of audio effects can be found in the book "DAFX - Digital Audio Effects" by Udo Zölzer. besides many other things there is also a chapter about distortion. for me, this book is a must-have.

[runagate]

1)
PS - for the most part I am looking for information on how to implement any number of these effects myself. Apparently it's all too simple to find extensive information on various filtering, equalization and convolution techniques. But quite honestly these simply aren't that interesting... :/

a very comprehensive documentation/explanation of audio effects can be found in the book "DAFX - Digital Audio Effects" by Udo Zölzer. besides many other things there is also a chapter about distortion. for me, this book is a must-have.

[arcticzebra]

1)
PS - for the most part I am looking for information on how to implement any number of these effects myself. Apparently it's all too simple to find extensive information on various filtering, equalization and convolution techniques. But quite honestly these simply aren't that interesting... :/

a very comprehensive documentation/explanation of audio effects can be found in the book "DAFX - Digital Audio Effects" by Udo Zölzer. besides many other things there is also a chapter about distortion. for me, this book is a must-have.

Thanks! That's much more like it!

[Kingston]

Is there any information available anywhere on tube/tape saturation (call it distortion) and analog harmonization techniques in general. There seems to be a complete vacuum in this department on the WWW: nothing on the major DSP sites and nothing I could find on Amazon in any of the DSP-related books available there.

As a good example, Reason's Scream module provides a number of less widely used effects most of which seem to be either self-engineered or "top-secret".

There's no lack of information on saturation techniques at all. Pretty much everything is available online. You just have to know what to look for and the correct keywords.

Waveshapers/waveshaping/filtering/filters. That's what you're looking for. The "top secrets" come from the techniques used to combine these. De-emphasis or pre-emphasis play a massive role on reason scream effects, as do the type of waveshapers used. When going one level higher in quality or flexibility you can combine all kinds of modulations/intra-modulations, or bandlimiting (oversampling) with the said techniques.

There is a wide variety of tube amplifier and transformer digital implementations, too.

One could say there's TOO MUCH info available on these.

The real task comes when sorting out the best processes and creating the actual sound that people perceive as good. There are also several awesome technical papers on these techniques available by AES. (not free, but it's worth getting a hold of them.)

[runagate]

1)
PS - for the most part I am looking for information on how to implement any number of these effects myself. Apparently it's all too simple to find extensive information on various filtering, equalization and convolution techniques. But quite honestly these simply aren't that interesting... :/

a very comprehensive documentation/explanation of audio effects can be found in the book "DAFX - Digital Audio Effects" by Udo Zölzer. besides many other things there is also a chapter about distortion. for me, this book is a must-have.

Um, I quoted but apparently my text disappeared...
What does Reason's Scream sound like? I've not heard of that.

Thanks for the reading suggestion. I bet it's more fun than "The Master Accoustician's Handbook" which, while informative, is a bit like reading the phone book.

[AndrewSimon]

Are digital methods overused in today's music?

Not in my music.

[arcticzebra]

Thanks for the insight, Kingston - I managed to get my hands on a copy of DAFX (suggested by braindoc) and it explained what I wanted to know quite reasonably to me.

runagate - you can read about Reason's Scream 4 unit here: http://www.propellerheads.se/home/disco ... icle=part6 and view its interface here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scream_4_Distortion.

Simply put, it's probably one of the more potent distortion units out there, and definitely top of the line in the static arsenal that Reason has to offer. And when used properly, it can really make some awesome sounds, that I can guarantee.

Talking about books - this one, I think, contains some relevant information; the problem is that it isn't available anywhere near me and it costs a fortune: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/013252 ... e&n=283155.

In other words:

[runagate]

You should ask your local librarian about helping you research what you need
while carrying an armload of books to check out. It's a little known fact
that librarians will research things for you as long as they understand that you're
serious and a nerd like them.