Archive of the former Yahoo!Groups mailing list: MOTM

Hi All -

Just back from vacation. Two weeks away from all musical tools is a
recipe for epiphane, albeit a painful wait to try things out.

Here is a way to do basic granular synthesis using only four
modules: two oscillators, on EG, and a VCA. For theory check out
Curtis Roads' "Microsound" from MIT Press.

Oscillator one is set at 20 Hz to about 800 Hz (between about 2 and
4.5 on the COURSE knob) and will output pulses in the 10 to 50 msec
range (you do the math, I suck at it). The PULSE output is sent to
the GATE or TRIGGER in of the EG. The EG's DECAY and RELEASE are set
to zero with ATTACK and SUSTAIN set to about 2. The + OUT of the EG
goes to a 110 CV IN. Another oscillator's SIN out is sent to the
110's IN (this is the signal to be granulated). Send the out to the
console, but if you have a scope send it there, too.

Play with the COURSE knob on oscillator 1 and the ATTACK and SUSTAIN
values on the EG.

What's happening is that we are 'granulating' the output of the
second oscillator. Each granule has it's own little envelope but is
played at a rate below which we can detect pitch. Taken together
the grains create a new timbre and texture.

Cool!

Try feeding ANYTHING into the IN of the VCA (guitar, vocals, drum
loops, sequences). Paul suggested MiniWave, which is a great idea...

Mike

PS - Paul, the 700 doesn't work as well for 'chopping' as you put
it, because the 'envelope' in AUDIO mode is fixed at 5 msec which is
not that usefule in granular synthesis. Makes a cool weird noise,
though!

m