Kontrast

Kontrast is an augmented wavetable synth. It takes the techniques of modern wavetable synthesis and expands them into another dimension — literally.

Today, wavetables are typically three-dimensional (a series of two dimensional waveforms), with a single parameter that chooses which waveform to scan. But what if we we entirely reconsider how this waveform is scanned? The roots of this idea reach back to the late 1970s, when the concept of a "wave terrain" first appeared to describe this wavetable perspective. Methods of scanning wave terrains would become collectively known as Wave Terrain Synthesis.

In Wave Terrain Synthesis, sound is created by tracing a path across a surface (Terrain) and reading its height values at points (x, y). This path is called a trajectory. The scan occurs at audio rates, and the rate of trajectory repetition determines the note. In wavetable synthesis, this trajectory is simply a repeating straight line. In wave terrain synthesis, the trajectory may take on any shape. The timbre is a result of both the shape of a trajectory, and the shape of the terrain beneath it.

In Kontrast, the scanlines can be considered trajectories, and the wavetable a wave terrain. So is Kontrast a wave terrain synth? Yes. Is it a wavetable synth? Also yes. Simply put, Kontrast is both. It inherits the strengths of both traditions: the familiar act of scanning a wavetable, expanded into the richer sonic possibilities unlocked by trajectories of any shape.

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YouTube.com/watch?v=T5zHcadq6Cw