I was working on some patches with bandpass filters that were initially [vcf~], but I ended up deciding not to vary the center frequency, so I replaced them with [bp~]. Now I find that [bp~] sounds different; e.g., a [phasor~ 100] going through a [bp~ 440 3] sounds different from one going out the left outlet of a [vcf~ 3] with [sig~ 440] going into its center inlet. What's the deal? How do I replace a non-varying [vcf~] with a [bp~] that sounds the same?

Here's something that took me too long to make, and this specific recording of it isn't perfect, but what the hell. You may recognize the chord progression from this version.

It's a combination of sequenced and generative modules. I made it all in Pd, with the kick drum and bass synth and maybe some other stuff borrowed from obiwannabe, a couple of effects modules modified from hardoff's DIY2 library (phasers, flanger, wetfilter, specdelay), and a compressor adapted from Johannes Kreidler's limiter. I hope you like it.

(edit: also I haven't listened to it on any other speakers to see if it's mastered properly, but once again, what the hell.)
(edit 2: replaced the mp3 with another recording where the solo doesn't distort)

I'm used to Linux, so can anyone explain to me how to write file path names in Windows so I can load sound files to tables or to [readsf~]? Also, I think I remember reading that spaces in pathnames don't work, so how do I specify that a file is in same folder the patch is in? Thanks!

How do I do it? [pan~] works, but I'd like to know how to do it with vanilla Pd objects so I can figure out what's happening mathematically (or conversely, to know what has to happen mathematically so I can build it).

I've been working on something really glitchy and digital-sounding, but I got sick of hearing it, so I made a cheesy jazz version. I used obiwannabe's jazz drum patch (modified slightly), a walking bassline generator I programmed, and the same walking bassline generator modified a bit for the vibraphone (which is really samples of a Mellotron because I was too lazy to find good vibraphone samples or finish my banded waveguide percussion patch).

I'm thinking more like a real vacuum cleaner than a typical techno hoover sound, but still tonal enough to play melodies. I imagine that obiwannabe's motor patch could be modified with some kind of comb filters or parallel oscillators to get more of a mechanical suction sound, but I'm not sure how... Has anyone done anything like this before? Basically I'd like a nice little voot-voot-voot-voot timbre to play as one instrument in a composition.

I was messing around with the adc~ object, and I can get sound from my computer's microphone input, but not from the line in. How can I get it to work?

I just recorded this little waveguide feedback experiment: http://www.lubbertdas.org/feedbackdrones.mp3 (it's like 16+ minutes long with no musical development, so don't say I didn't warn you).

Most of it could probably be done with analog instruments and equipment, but I promise I'll incorporate it into something more digital-sounding at some point.

How come when I subtract .357 from .358, I get 0.00100002? The errors are several orders of magnitude larger with some numbers.

How do I cleanly upgrade my current installation of pd-extended to the new one? I'm on Ubuntu Studio Gutsy.

In one of my other threads, I asked obiwannabe for some waveguide examples, and he posted the patch from here. So I studied Kim's patches and didn't really understand them, because I had quite a bit to learn about waveguides.

So I read a bunch of stuff on Julius O. Smith's site, and built my own waveguide guitar based on my understanding of the concepts he presents. I haven't gotten too deeply into the math, but I created a guitar where the string models have a delay for each axis with energy transfer between the axes (and through the body). I have no idea how correct this is, but it sounds OK:

http://www.lubbertdas.org/waveguideguitar.pd
http://www.lubbertdas.org/waveguideguitardemo.mp3 (playing an excerpt from "A Quick One While He's Away," with some percussion accompaniment)

The patch was made in Pd-extended, and includes [packel] from Zexy in the strum message interpreter. It's also kind of CPU-expensive. I think I read that the body response can be commuted to the impulse or something, but I don't know if that applies in this situation because these recirculating delay systems hurt my brain.

This patch was something I first made several years ago in Max/MSP, inspired by Leon Gruenbaum's Samchillian controller. Here it is in cleaned-up Pd form:

http://www.lubbertdas.org/rela.pd
And here's an example of how to connect it to an instrument: http://www.lubbertdas.org/relaphasor.pd

Basically what you do is use the QWERTYUIOP keys (not sure if you need to change the patch for different keyboard layouts) to go up and down a scale by different degrees. The space bar repeats the last note, the - and = keys temporarily transpose the current note up or down a semitone, and the ` key turns sustain on and off. You can also change the musical key and scale.

It's hard to play a melody with this patch, but it's good for wanky prog theatrics, especially if you connect it to a more expressive-sounding instrument.

Modifications you may want to make:
-try adding keyboard shortcuts for certain key/scale changes, or to certain notes of the scale
-assign two keys to take you up/down one degree of the current scale without retriggering the note attack. This adds a great hammer-on/pull-off functionality to guitaristic shredding.
-figure out how to use a MIDI keyboard with it so you can play a note on the MIDI keyboard and go up or down from there on the QWERTY keyboard

EDIT: Forgot to mention that this probably only works right in Pd-extended, as it uses [sort] from Zexy.

http://www.lubbertdas.org/tonalandatonal.mp3
http://www.lubbertdas.org/tonalandatonal.pd

This patch might glitch (the demo mp3 does a little), since I kept adding more CPU-intensive stuff until my computer could barely handle it. Also, it probably only works in Pd-extended, as it uses [sort] and the reverb patch from the extras.

There's a lot of stuff in there that I find handy to reuse for other patches, so go ahead and dissect it if you like it. I might post some abstractions of the more interesting individual modules.

Thanks to obiwannabe, from whose tutorials I copied a lot of stuff, and hardoff, whose analog distortion patch is in here.

These timbres are totally bitchen! I keep getting surprised by new and exciting sounds and gestures all the way through the piece.

I dig it, especially the second half. The lines remind me of video feedback.

This is so much fun!

@alistair_blunt said:

I got it! thank you, I thought Ardour had automatic updates...
I'm trying it now with midi but it has some issues... error messages and it isn't working properly I cannot set it with jack and calf or qsynth... I'll find a way.
cheers

Yeah, I tried Ardour 3 the other day and realized that its MIDI editing function is still basically unusable.

From a thread on the Ardour forum:

@paul said:

there are many issues with MIDI editing. after the next "major" release of ardour, there will be a heavy duty focus period on this stuff.

I've also tried Rosegarden for sending MIDI to Pd, ZynAddSubFX, etc., and it worked for my purposes, but I found it a bit primitive in some ways. Haven't experimented with Qtractor yet.

Also, I'm guessing Maelstorm is right about using [vd~], although I can't say I noticed if it was out of tune, probably because it sounds like a banjo anyway to begin with.

OK, I found your problem.

The issue is that the "pick location" slider value isn't being sent, since it's being sent to $0-pick-location, and if the stringunit patches are separate, the $0 identifiers will be different (see here and here). I need to explain a bit more for this to make sense.

What the pick-position-delay-calculator and pick-position subpatches do is create a comb filter for the impulse based on where you pluck the string, filtering out harmonics that would have a node at that point. For example, if you pluck an open string on a guitar at its midpoint, it should make a relatively hollow/fat/warm sound, because the even harmonics (the second harmonic and all its multiples) are filtered out. So since in the pick-position-delay-calculator subpatch I have the frequency of the open string set to MIDI note 40 (the loadbanged message) and the default pick position set somewhat arbitrarily to 1/4 up the string from the bridge (the [/ 4] object), and the slider isn't changing the pick position anymore in your patch, the comb filter will filter out every fourth harmonic of MIDI note 40, or every harmonic of MIDI note 64, 76, etc.

You can remedy that by changing the name $0-pick-location in the properties of the slider and in the stringunit patch to pick-location. But there's also a somewhat subtler issue that I should also explain.

Generally you need to be plucking a little way up the string for the note to sound pleasant -- it will sound somewhat harsh/tinny if you pluck too close to the bridge. But, assuming a constant pick position, you can't actually fret indefinitely high notes, as you can't fret higher than you pluck (well, you can, but the model doesn't make sense that way -- really I should have limited the range of note values, with a lower limit at the open string and an upper limit at the pick location or lower). Obviously if you fret and pluck the note at the same point, you'll get nothing, as is the case for MIDI note 64 plucked 1/4 of the string length from the bridge on a string tuned to MIDI note 40.

So that means that if you want a wider range of notes than from the open string to the point at which the string is plucked, you'll have to change the pick position dynamically based on the note you're playing, or have the different open strings tuned differently, or have different picking locations on the different strings, etc. Does that make sense?

I made this patch a couple of years ago, so I barely remember, but there's definitely going to be a little bit of variability in sustain because of the filters. You can try playing around with the center frequencies too; just make sure that no notes end up feeding back. I also read somewhere that you can combine the body response into the impulse somehow, obviating the need for body formant filters in the feedback loop entirely, but I haven't looked into that (and that would probably just make it cheaper without changing the sustain characteristics).

I kind of prefer the second one I made, although it's more computationally expensive. That one has polyphony, albeit modeled after a guitar (six strings tuned to different open-string frequencies). It could probably be improved in lots of ways by someone with a more advanced understanding of waveguides.

I'll try looking at the original one again, but could you post your version? Because there might be several different ways of making it polyphonic.

EDIT: Ignore that last part -- I forgot that the forum doesn't show attachments to posts when you're on the page to post a reply.