[PD] Fun with additive synthesis

[padawan12]

On Sun, 13 Aug 2006 20:07:32 -0500
"David Powers" <cyborgk at gmail.com> wrote:

> Hi everyone,
> 
> Attached is a simple nine-oscillator additive synth experiment in PD. It has
> two interesting features:
> 1. The tuning is initially that of the ordinary harmonic series
> (2/1,3/2,4/3,5/4, etc.) However, the tuning can be changed, with interesting
> results.
> 2. A line~ object is used to control the amplitude of individual
> oscillators, and the length of the ramp time can be set. This allows one to
> create constantly mutating timbres.
> 
> Now, what I'd be curious to know is how I can get amplitude values in order
> to do cheap simulations of various instruments (flute, cello, etc.).

Back in days of yore JC Risset compiled a "Catalogue of timbres"
I don't know where you can get it now or if it's machine readable
in a way that puredata could enjoy.


> I know
> this can be done with fft's, but I don't know how to get a simple list of
> values between 0-1 that I can just plug into my additive synth. I'm sure you
> can do that simply in PD, I just don't understand how.


Pull apart the partial tracer example in the help files. It uses a phase
vocoder to do an analysis. The trick afaics is always that you get a lot
of analysis data into an array but thinning it out into data for a bunch
of breakpoint envelopes or line gens is the tough bit.

> 
> What I really wish, is that I knew how to use SPEAR to do this kind of
> thing.

Whats a SPEAR?

> 
> ~David
>