EM Web Clips for October 2004

Sep 21, 2004 5:23 PM

           
 

QuickPicks: Electro-Harmonix Bi-Filter

Web Clip 1
This is a simple, original, unprocessed eight-bar sequence performed on an Oberheim Matrix 6 analog synth. Its frequency is midrange, and the patch has a fairly quick attack time.

Web Clip 2
The same eight-bar sequence and patch played on the Matrix 6 is processed by a single filter in the Bi-Filter, with static settings. The dry signal is not mixed in.

Web Clip 3
The same eight-bar sequence and patch played by the Matrix 6 is again processed by a single filter in the Bi-Filter, with dynamic sweeps to the oscillator rate. The dry signal is mixed in.

Web Clip 4
The same eight-bar sequence is again played dry (without Bi-Filter processing) on the Matrix 6, but I used a different patch that has a slower attack time and a deeper frequency.

Web Clip 5
This time, the lower-pitched Matrix 6 patch is processed by a single filter with simultaneous real-time sweeps to the Bi-Filter's various filter controls, including Envelope Amount, Oscillator Amount, and Filter Frequency. The dry signal is mixed in at about 60%.

Web Clip 6
The lower-pitched Matrix 6 patch is processed in parallel by the Bi-Filter’s two filters, with dynamic sweeps to both the oscillator rate and filter controls of both filters. Again, the dry signal is mixed in, and you can hear it in the lower frequencies.

Web Clip 7
This clip is a recording of the author's speaking voice passing through both of the Bi-Filter's filters in series mode, with static settings. The result is a complex oscillation with shifting overtones.

Web Clip 8
This clip is similar to the previous one, with the audio passing through both filters with static settings, this time with the filters in parallel mode. Again, the resulting sound displays complex shifting overtones.

Web Clip 9
This clip retains one of the filter settings in Web Clip 8 while lowering the other filter’s Oscillator Amount, Range, and Filter Frequency. The Envelope Amount is raised, resulting in a clip that sounds "squashed," lower pitched, and less dynamic.

Web Clip 10
This clip reverses many of the settings of the previous example, resulting in a higher-pitched sound that is much more airy. Both Filter Frequencies have been raised, offset by a slightly lower Envelope Amount. The resulting tone is wispy, buzzy, and less "thick" sounding, showing off the Bi-Filter's range of possibilities.

Web Clip 11
This unprocessed loop was created using a Native Instruments Reaktor drum machine.

Web Clip 12
In this example, the Reaktor loop is heavily filtered by one filter with a static setting. The Oscillator Rate is narrow and the Envelope Attack and Decay settings are both long. The Envelope Amount is set fairly high, and the Filter Frequency is set medium-to-low to enhance the filter's effect on the low mids.

Web Clip 13
Here, the Reaktor loop is filtered by just one filter with a static setting, but the Oscillator Rate is set very high, as is the Filter Frequency. The Envelope Amount is set fairly high once again, and Filter Mode switches are set to highpass. These settings collectively filter much of the low-end and act mainly on the high-mids, producing a bubbling sound.

Web Clip 14
This Web Clip displays the Reaktor loop running through both filters in parallel, with static settings. The Oscillator Rate is set in the middle, producing a constantly evolving soundscape. Both filters’ Envelope Amounts are set high. One Filter Mode switch is set on highpass and the other is set on lowpass.

Web Clip 15
This Web Clip illustrates how slight changes to the filter settings can make the most subtle, yet audible differences. Here, I increased the Decay, Q, and Envelope Amount for the filter with the lower frequency setting, while narrowing the frequency setting of other filter, resulting in a slightly more pronounced top and less pronounced bottom.

Web Clip 16
The Reaktor loop again passes through both filters, with one set on highpass and the other on bandpass, but this time the filter with the lower Frequency setting gets a longer Attack and much longer Decay setting, with a lowered Envelope Amount. The filter with the band-pass setting keeps getting pushed out of its set frequency range, so you only hear high-mids popping through the mix occasionally.

Web Clip 17
zsweep across the entire length of the Clip. The Oscillator Rate is set high, and both Filter Mode switches are set to highpass, producing that thin, bubbly sound again.

Web Clip 18
This example demonstrates how you can achieve a very complex result with various frequency and oscillator sweeps by using both filters in parallel mode and setting their respective controls differently. This clip features static settings on both filters with high Q and Oscillator Amount settings. The resulting signal is high-pitched and sharply resonant. The dry signal is mixed in at a low level.

Web Clip 19
In this Web Clip, the Reaktor loop runs through only one filter, yet the Q is set quite high along with the Oscillator Amount. The Oscillator Rate is very slow, and the LFO Shape is set to Triangle to enhance the resonance. This results in a high-pitched and sharply resonant signal that slowly rises and falls.

Web Clip 20
This final example shows how formidable the Bi-Filter can be with low frequencies. Here, the Reaktor loop passes through both filters in series, with both set to Low-Pass. The filters’ Oscillator Amount and the Oscillator Rate are set high, while their Decay settings vary and are also set high. The result is a dirty, pulsating, mono-tonal bass line almost devoid of the higher bleeps, or anything above about 200 Hz.

NATIVE INSTRUMENTS Intakt (Mac/Win)

Web Clip 1
Intakt includes over a gigabyte of audio loops in a variety of styles. Here I’ve recorded a short piece entirely of Harmonic Loops and Atmospheric FX from Intakt’s sample library.

PSPAUDIOWARE Nitro 1.0 (Mac/Win)

Web Clip 1
A simple four-bar guitar loop is subjected to 9 of Nitro's 192 factory presets.

Soundhack Spectral Shapers 1.0 (Mac/Win)

Web Clip 1
+spectralgate is used to apply the frequency spectrum of a guitar loop (heard first) to a drum loop (heard first raw, then processed).

Web Clip 2
+morphfilter is used to morph between two string-pad spectra for processing a noise burst recorded in a stairwell.

SYMBOLIC SOUND Kyma X (Mac/Win)

Web Clip 1
This aggregate-synthesis example uses the analysis of a digeridoo sample to control the parameters of a grain cloud. The grain duration is changing over time.

Web Clip 2
This example was created using Kyma’s Vocoder.

Web Clip 3
This example mixes a granulated dog howl and air-raid siren.

Wed Clip 4
A waveshaped drum loop is played back at random start times.

Web Clip 5
The Random Sound Builder selects from a list of possible inputs in this example.

Web Clip 6
In this example, a script randomly restarts a filtered loop.

Web Clip 7
This Kyma classic uses the spectral-morphing capabilities to turn a Harley-Davidson motorcycle into a lion and back.

Wed Clip 8
A Bach Invention is performed on a virtual instrument that morphs from a metallic to a wooden sound. The patch was created by Kyma-user David McClain.

Trading Spaces

In all of these examples you’ll hear the dry source file first, and then you’ll hear the results after the convolution process is applied.

Web Clip 1
In this example, a female vocal sample was processed with a drum loop in Christian Knufinke’s SIR. Notice how the voice takes on a metered rhythmic character.

Web Clip 2
In this example, a drum loop was processed using the Sproingburb IR from Spirit Canyon Audio’s Spectral Relativity series. Processing was done in Acoustic Mirror.

Web Clip 3
In this example, the Standard Impulse preset in Samplitude’s Room Simulator was used to process a drum loop.

Web Clip 4
In this example, a mosquito sample was crossed with a bell IR in Nuendo’s Acoustic Stamp.

Web Clip 5
This file contains a sample of a cat, the cat convolved with a cymbal, and the cat convolved with a jaw harp. The example was created with Voxengo Pristine Space.

Web Clip 6
This file shows off Altiverb’s EMT 140 Plate IR on an acoustic guitar.

Web Clip 7
In this example, a snare drum is processed using one of the IR-1’s Sydney Opera House IRs (row C, seat 26).

Web Clip 8
A synth line is processed using one of Space Designer’s outdoor IRs, with the filter on and the resonance on a high setting.

Web Clip 9
One of ImpulseVerb’s IRs is a model of a circular glass room, which is used here to process a drum loop.

Web Clip 10
In this example, SoundHack convolves a heavily-processed vocal line with an IR - downloaded from the Web - of a Lexicon reverb on a hall setting.

KORG Legacy Collection 1.0 (Mac/Win)

Web Clip 1
MS-20’s factory Programs supply you with a versatile assortment of basses, leads, pads, and effects.

Web Clip 2
The Victor Position control lets you combine wave sequences in any proportion and crossfade from one to another.

Web Clip 3
Here I played the same brief sequences on Legacy Collection’s Wavestation and on a rackmount Wavestation SR—first the hardware, then the software. When you compare their sounds, the difference is negligible.

Web Clip 4
Legacy Cell combines MS-20, Polysix, and two effects processors to create a whole greater than the sum of its parts, as these sounds illustrate.