Say It With Pictures

Sep 1, 2008 12:00 PM, By Dennis Miller

           
 

EIGHT PROGRAMS THAT CONVERT IMAGES TO MUSIC

BONUS MATERIAL
The UPIC System

U&I Software MetaSynth 4 (Mac, $499 [MSRP])

MetaSynth virtually defined the field of image-to-sound conversion on the modern desktop. It's long been the premier application in the field, and as it stands, it remains the most robust and versatile among this group. In addition to its graphics-related features, MetaSynth is a massive synthesis powerhouse, with tools for spectral analysis followed by multiple types of resynthesis, spectral morphing, sample processing, a variety of traditional synthesis techniques, effects, and much more. It even has a built-in timeline on which you can sequence sonic events.

FIG. 7: It’s easy to import an image file into MetaSynth and filter it, or you can draw a new image from scratch.

MetaSynth is noted for its unique, rather dark and affected interface. But once you get past its exterior, you'll find an intuitive and well-thought-out structure. The program's features are grouped into six main work areas called Rooms. For image-related work, the two of most interest are the Image Synth and Image Filter Rooms. The Image Synth Room is where you load an image (PICT format only) and determine how it will be used to generate a new sound. (You can also draw a new image from scratch; see Fig. 7 and Web Clip 7.) By default, the program will use additive synthesis, and you may find that many of your files initially produce similar-sounding results. But with only a few tweaks, you can switch to FM or granular synthesis, samples, or any arbitrary waveform you want, and that's just the first step of the conversion process.

MetaSynth lets you scale the duration of your new sound file up to a maximum of just under 13 minutes, and you can mix analyses of different source sounds. For example, you could analyze a graphic image, filter it with the spectrum of a vocal sound, then resynthesize it using a flute sample for each partial. The possibilities are limitless.

The Image Filter Room comes with dozens of preset filters, and it's simple to add your own. It's also easy to make pseudovocoder sounds or impose complex polyrhythmic patterns onto a static source sample. Though MetaSynth doesn't work entirely in real time, it does offer full-fidelity real-time previewing on most modern machines. Using a fast computer, you'll find it very comfortable to explore and experiment with the program's numerous processing functions.

Since its inception, MetaSynth has been a Mac-only program. If you're on a PC and really want to check it out, I suggest you do what I did: buy a Mac and give it a try.

VirSyn Poseidon 1.4 (Mac/Win, $279 [MSRP])

Like others in the VirSyn family, Poseidon has a somewhat unusual interface, offering the majority of its controls on only a single screen. The image conversion process, called Analyze Bitmap, is the counterpart to the sound-analysis command, Analyze Sound. Both run from the same menu, and both produce a 2-D (or 3-D if you prefer) spectral plot (see Fig. 8). Though you can't edit the analysis directly, you can determine the way it will be used to generate a new sound. For instance, you can loop through only a small segment of time, adjust the playback speed, modify the number of partials the new sound will contain (from 1 to 512), and determine whether it will include inharmonic or only harmonic partials. You can also map a number of these controls to MIDI data, which allows you to “perform” the modifications in real time.

FIG. 8: Poseidon lets you choose how you want to display the spectrum of the image you import. The 3-D waterfall view is shown here.

Poseidon, like Cameleon, doesn't create a new sound file directly from an image but uses the analysis data, regardless of its source, as the core of a synth patch. You can save the data in Poseidon's VRD file format, then freely substitute the spectral analysis that a preset patch uses for data generated by the image. So, for example, if you have a vocal patch that uses envelopes and other parameters characteristic of vocal sounds, you could substitute the analysis of an image for the underlying sound that the vocal patch uses, thereby applying the vocal characteristics to the image-generated sound.

Poseidon runs as both a standalone application and a VST plug-in, and like other VirSyn software, it includes only fairly basic documentation. You'll also need a Syncrosoft dongle just to try out the demo of the program. But like Cameleon, Poseidon is a very good-sounding professional soft synth. With dozens of sound-editing options, you should find more than enough ways to tweak your image conversions into very musical results regardless of what you start with.

Associate Editor Dennis Miller is a composer and animator. Check out his work at www.dennismiller.neu.edu.

Izzy Gets Down

Mark Coniglio is the mastermind behind Isadora ($350), a real-time video- and audio-programming and performance environment that runs on both Mac and PC. Coniglio uses the software in his work as artistic codirector of the innovative New York-based dance company Troika Ranch (troikaranch.org) and has spent many hundreds of hours refining the system for real-time use.