KVR Audio

ahanysz · Post by **ahanysz** » Sun Jul 12, 2020 12:56 am

Thanks, I'll look forward to the update!

I have two more questions that I can't see answered in the manual.

1. How exactly does velocity sensitivity work? I notice that a lot of the factory presets have note velocity mapped to attack level. For these presets, I can play loud and soft, going down to almost zero volume, and it makes sense. But if I create a new preset with just a partial source, it's already a little bit velocity-sensitive, although the minimum volume doesn't go as low. In this case I can't see any modulations listed, or any way to adjust the amount of velocity sensitivity. What's going on here?

2. What exactly is PWM doing? I haven't previously seen it used for something that's not actually a pulse wave. If I put a pure sine wave through PWM and look at the partial viewer, I can see the amplitude going down. For more complex waves, I see partial amplitudes changing in interesting ways, but not changing in frequency. A square wave with PWM at 50% duty cycle is different from an unmodulated square wave, and a square wave with different duty cycles is still odd harmonics only, so this isn't the standard PWM algorithm that I've seen in the past.

musicdevelopments · Post by **musicdevelopments** » Mon Jul 13, 2020 11:02 am

The v1.09 update is available now.

1. As you noted, velocity sensitivity is achieved by assigning Note On Velocity to the ADSR Attack Level. You can set the velocity curve, or use the "Replace ADSR Attach Level In Loaded Presets" setting to always use the same velocity curve for all loaded presets.
All presets should include the ADSR Envelope (or Natural Envelope) because there must be something which controls the sound level and removes the sound instance when necessary.
When there is no ADSR in the preset, the program inserts a hidden ADSR so that the preset work as expected for MIDI input. This is mentioned in the manual.

2. OMG you are right! There was a small bug in the PWM algorithm. But it still sounded like PWM

This bug is fixed in v1.09, thanks for reporting it.

Thanks,
Attila

ahanysz · Post by **ahanysz** » Mon Jul 13, 2020 11:28 am

Ah, the hidden ADSR is what I missed. Thanks!

For PWM, my question still stands: what does pulse width modulation actually mean for a wave that's not a pulse wave? (Or will this be obvious as soon as I download the update and try it?) Can you give a short description of the algorithm, or a definition of "duty cycle" for non-square waves?

ahanysz · Post by **ahanysz** » Mon Jul 13, 2020 11:37 am

PS I've just found the mention of the hidden ADSR in the manual. It's in the "tutorial" section, not in any of the reference chapters. I didn't find it the first time because I'd scanned the contents page for anything relating to volume or modulation, and done a search for the word "velocity". On the whole, the manual is pretty good, but I haven't memorised the whole lot yet, so I still rely on searching :-)

musicdevelopments · Post by **musicdevelopments** » Mon Jul 13, 2020 5:10 pm

PWM modifies the harmonics not just for square waves. It does not set, but multiplies each harmonic with a sine function.
This is an interesting read:
https://electricdruid.net/timbral-evolu ... th-sounds/
I hope you did not find another issue with PWM...

It is also possible to simulate FM synthesis in an additive synthesizer, maybe in a future version if there is demand for it...

layzer · Post by **layzer** » Tue Jul 14, 2020 9:14 am

theres no thread for lots of things... lets fix that.

.jon · Post by **.jon** » Tue Jul 14, 2020 10:59 am

musicdevelopments wrote: ↑Mon Jul 13, 2020 11:02 am The v1.09 update is available now.

Been diving into the demo of this version and found no bugs or issues, and while there is an obvious learning curve, it's actually easier to tame than it first appears. And I've become rather fond of the UI already. Next step- reading the manual!

One note about the sliders- seems that shift-drag (to get finer control) is what I almost always use, and I wonder if it could be a preference setting to have it default to fine, and have shift-drag be the coarse control?

musicdevelopments · Post by **musicdevelopments** » Wed Jul 15, 2020 10:38 am

Hi .jon,

thank you for the feedback about the UI.
I added a new setting "Increase Slider Precision". The first click on the slider should set the clicked value (unlike clicking with Shift held down), but dragging horizontally will set the values more precisely. It is still possible to use the Shift keys for finer control.

Thanks,
Attila

Eclectrophonic · Post by **Eclectrophonic** » Wed Jul 22, 2020 8:48 am

ahanysz wrote: ↑Tue Jul 07, 2020 1:07 pm The "filters" are pretty amazing. They're not the usual 2-pole or 4-pole sort of filters; the fact that the sound is represented spectrally means you can make a perfect brick wall filter if you want, and other "impossible things".

What does 2-pole, 3-pole, 4-pole mean?
Googling said each pole means 6dB/Oct So it's simply that, 1 pole would be 6dB/Oct, 2-pole is 12dB/Oct and 4-pole 24dB/Oct cut-offs cause not really heard filters described like that before?

ahanysz · Post by **ahanysz** » Wed Jul 22, 2020 9:33 am

Eclectrophonic wrote: ↑Wed Jul 22, 2020 8:48 amWhat does 2-pole, 3-pole, 4-pole mean. Googling said each pole means 6dB/Oct So it it simply that, 2-pole is 12dB/Oct and 4-pole 24dB/Oct cut-offs cause not really heard filters described like that before?

Yes, that's basically it. If you know a bit about complex numbers, then the poles also encode some information about resonance as well as the cutoff. There's a cute tutorial at http://yehar.com/blog/?p=121 and a ton of other information out there if you do a bit more googling.

tl · Post by tl » Fri Jan 29, 2021 12:49 am

musicdevelopments wrote: ↑Mon Jul 13, 2020 5:10 pmIt is also possible to simulate FM synthesis in an additive synthesizer, maybe in a future version if there is demand for it...

... there is.

Regards,
tl.

ramblue · Post by **ramblue** » Wed Mar 31, 2021 8:33 pm

musicdevelopments wrote: ↑Mon Jun 08, 2020 10:30 am Scala and TUN files support will be added in a next version.

Hi! First of all thank you so much for this incredible software that allows for partial manipulation, it's so amazing. Any idea when the microtuning support will be available? Estimated wait time?

There are so many tunings available in the drop down list...why can't I adjust one to values of my choosing and get going? I couldn't find the tunings as presets. Mind telling us if they can be adjusted? That way I don't have to wait until the next version, which might take too long.

The thing most people don't understand is...making very specific timbres is something very important in microtonality because it allows us to either manage psychoacoustic roughness between partials or design a timbre that is very compatible with the musical scale we want to play. So this software isn't just a "I want to play around and see what kind of unique fun timbre I can produce" for us...it's a "this is the only solution that lets me achieve the exact timbre I have in mind".

Example: remove the 5th harmonic and its multiples, change the 11th harmonic to exactly the frequency of the 11th harmonic of a different fundamental, etc.

This is one of the best tools for research into how we can design timbres for specific scales. So microtonality is essential.

and here is our group on facebook with over 6000 members, many of whom would love to have this: https://www.facebook.com/groups/497105067092502

and here is a sister group with over 4000 members: https://www.facebook.com/groups/xenharmonic2

point is...we desperately need this and there are a lot of us haha. Please let me know if we can edit those tunings and when the next version will be available. Thank you!

musicdevelopments · Post by **musicdevelopments** » Thu Apr 01, 2021 3:08 pm

Hi ramblue,

thanks for your kind words! I realize this is an important feature, so editing tunings is being implemented now, and the new update will be available in 4 days, on April 5th. If all goes well, importing Scala and TUN files will be in this update.

I am not on Facebook, so I'd be very grateful if you posted a short message in these groups about Syne.

Many thanks!
Attila

musicdevelopments · Post by **musicdevelopments** » Mon Apr 05, 2021 4:45 pm

Syne v1.1 was released today with microtuning support!

Changes:

Microtuning support: Scala (.SCL) and AnaMark (.TUN) files can be imported
Note tunings can be edited under Settings / Tuning
The tuning presets are stored in an editable text file
'Increase Slider Precision' setting added
The detached editor windows are resizable
Minor UI improvements
Fixed: rare hanging notes and other bug fixes
User guide updated

Syne is available at a 40% discount ($53) until April 20! Click for more info.

tl · Post by tl » Tue Apr 06, 2021 10:42 am

musicdevelopments wrote: ↑Mon Apr 05, 2021 4:45 pm Syne v1.1 was released today with microtuning support!

Changes:

Microtuning support: Scala (.SCL) and AnaMark (.TUN) files can be imported

Note tunings can be edited under Settings / Tuning

The tuning presets are stored in an editable text file

'Increase Slider Precision' setting added

The detached editor windows are resizable

Minor UI improvements

Fixed: rare hanging notes and other bug fixes

User guide updated

Syne is available at a 40% discount ($53) until April 20! Click for more info.

No thread for MusicDevelopments Syne?