Make Noise - New Spectraphon Module
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foosnark
- KVRAF
- 7016 posts since 9 Jan, 2003 from Saint Louis MO
Yeah, it's really surprising that nobody showed a spectrum analysis. That's 100% going to be the first thing I do when I get mine.
But to be completely fair, I am a nerd.
But to be completely fair, I am a nerd.
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Shabdahbriah
- KVRAF
- 10397 posts since 19 Jun, 2008 from Seattle
I was also surprised by that glaring 'omission'... Ditto.

Last edited by Shabdahbriah on Thu May 25, 2023 11:43 am, edited 1 time in total.
I'm not a musician, but I've designed sounds that others use to make music. http://soundcloud.com/obsidiananvil
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elxsound
- KVRAF
- Topic Starter
- 9425 posts since 18 Aug, 2007 from NYC
Would it be effective enough to download the audio from one of these videos and run that through a spectrum analyzer?Stefken wrote: ↑Thu May 25, 2023 11:15 amA clear explanation but soundwise no highlights for me.vurt wrote: ↑Wed May 24, 2023 8:32 am https://youtu.be/H4uhPJ9Fjq4
some good information and a nice performance too
shame about the idiot in chat.
What i d like to see in sam mode is a spectrum analysis of the incoming signal and then see how the slide and focus knob affect the spectrum of the oscillator.
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Stefken
- KVRAF
- 2417 posts since 9 Nov, 2016
It will reveal some things but there are quite a few interactions and you have zero control over them.elxsound wrote: ↑Thu May 25, 2023 11:43 amWould it be effective enough to download the audio from one of these videos and run that through a spectrum analyzer?Stefken wrote: ↑Thu May 25, 2023 11:15 amA clear explanation but soundwise no highlights for me.vurt wrote: ↑Wed May 24, 2023 8:32 am https://youtu.be/H4uhPJ9Fjq4
some good information and a nice performance too
shame about the idiot in chat.
What i d like to see in sam mode is a spectrum analysis of the incoming signal and then see how the slide and focus knob affect the spectrum of the oscillator.
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Stefken
- KVRAF
- 2417 posts since 9 Nov, 2016
Well, it s a pretty tedious process to map what s going on in a video (with talking on top) to a spectrogram, but i gave it a little try with the panic girl video .
For SAM mode.
With the slide knob, you can see that the harmonic distribution slides along the horizontal axis of the spectrum, when you turn the knob.
With a low setting, you see a lot of upper harmonics, and as you set slide to a higher setting, these distributions get mapped to lower frequencies, giving it a more bassheavy tone. Off course, the source material plays an important role too. It would be interesting to test with e.g. material with a lot of mid frequencies (say, a voice ?
) and then see that midfrequency distribution slide and get mapped to the lower harmonics.
With the focus knob. I took a printscreen with the slide knob at a high setting and then
1) focus knob on low.
2) focus knob on high
On low focus, you have a fuller, denser spectrum with somewhat apparent 'formant mountains'.
On high focus, you get a much thinner spectrum with highly discrete err... focused spikes of sine waves. The overall amplitude of the spikes is also lower.
* This exercise was not conducted under scientifically proven circumstances
* No animals were hurt during the course of this exercise
See it more as an appetizer to spark your interest.
For SAM mode.
With the slide knob, you can see that the harmonic distribution slides along the horizontal axis of the spectrum, when you turn the knob.
With a low setting, you see a lot of upper harmonics, and as you set slide to a higher setting, these distributions get mapped to lower frequencies, giving it a more bassheavy tone. Off course, the source material plays an important role too. It would be interesting to test with e.g. material with a lot of mid frequencies (say, a voice ?

With the focus knob. I took a printscreen with the slide knob at a high setting and then
1) focus knob on low.
2) focus knob on high
On low focus, you have a fuller, denser spectrum with somewhat apparent 'formant mountains'.
On high focus, you get a much thinner spectrum with highly discrete err... focused spikes of sine waves. The overall amplitude of the spikes is also lower.
* This exercise was not conducted under scientifically proven circumstances
* No animals were hurt during the course of this exercise
See it more as an appetizer to spark your interest.
You do not have the required permissions to view the files attached to this post.
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Stefken
- KVRAF
- 2417 posts since 9 Nov, 2016
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Stefken
- KVRAF
- 2417 posts since 9 Nov, 2016
so, where are those Make Noise groupies when you need them?



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elxsound
- KVRAF
- Topic Starter
- 9425 posts since 18 Aug, 2007 from NYC
That was very cool. At times it was hard to hear spectraphon, but subtle performance use cases are nice too.Stefken wrote: ↑Fri May 26, 2023 9:38 am https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a-QJ59QD650
Some nice sounds in here

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Stefken
- KVRAF
- 2417 posts since 9 Nov, 2016
I wonder what spectraphon will do with ambient material and pads.elxsound wrote: ↑Fri May 26, 2023 10:11 pmThat was very cool. At times it was hard to hear spectraphon, but subtle performance use cases are nice too.Stefken wrote: ↑Fri May 26, 2023 9:38 am https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a-QJ59QD650
Some nice sounds in here![]()
From the little we ve seen it will most likely create a layer of dirt/harshness that you can blend in with the original as it s character seems rather harsh.
Very different from panharmonium. A pity Spectraphon won t be doing any ambient duties.
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foosnark
- KVRAF
- 7016 posts since 9 Jan, 2003 from Saint Louis MO
The harshness and dirt I've noticed all comes from strong upper harmonics and growly FM. Dialing in Shift and Partials should keep it in check pretty easily. One of the patch ideas I want to try is using it to create a sort of washy harmonic reverb using a lot of Focus (maybe ducking Focus a little with the envelope follower, so it doesn't blur too much except during the tail).Stefken wrote: ↑Fri May 26, 2023 11:31 pm I wonder what spectraphon will do with ambient material and pads.
From the little we ve seen it will most likely create a layer of dirt/harshness that you can blend in with the original as it s character seems rather harsh.
Very different from panharmonium. A pity Spectraphon won t be doing any ambient duties.
But then, I always felt that Panharmonium always wanted to sound either like chiptunes or bad MP3s

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Stefken
- KVRAF
- 2417 posts since 9 Nov, 2016
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foosnark
- KVRAF
- 7016 posts since 9 Jan, 2003 from Saint Louis MO
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elxsound
- KVRAF
- Topic Starter
- 9425 posts since 18 Aug, 2007 from NYC
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foosnark
- KVRAF
- 7016 posts since 9 Jan, 2003 from Saint Louis MO
Focus in SAM mode is doing more than I expected. I figured it was just a kind of slew for the amplitudes, but it seems to be a bandwidth control for the partials. Or maybe I was wrong about the filter speculation and it really is using FFT, or wavelets or some other thing. It doesn't really matter I guess 
Something Walker mentioned in the chat that I didn't see in the manual: the arrays are stored on a memory card as small data files that you can save on a computer. Which implies to me that one could also generate new arrays using some other method and transfer them
I imagine we will have our hands full just using it normally for a good while though!

Something Walker mentioned in the chat that I didn't see in the manual: the arrays are stored on a memory card as small data files that you can save on a computer. Which implies to me that one could also generate new arrays using some other method and transfer them
