6 Jun
2005
6 Jun
'05
8:05 a.m.
Hi Lachlan,
Lachlan Davison wrote:
I'm a bit lost now... There seem to be many opinions on how to use these pads.
I'm usually not really into synthetizing/modeling, more into using samples. But
I've been told that using a convolution engine as BruteFIR I could be able to
apply the signature of any sound to the raw signal that comes out of the pad.
With this convolution approach, no need to "trigger" anything anymore, just use
the signal as it is, and run it through the convolution engine. But BruteFIR
seems like a complex tool, and I currently have no knowledge about so-called
convolution.
If Smack is part of your thesis, as I read on your website, I'd recommend that
you build some pads, similar to mine. This way you should be able to tune Smack
much easier, so that it becomes a more giggable tool, using the pads.
Once you get this working, just drop me a mail so that I give it a try, from a
drummer point of view.
All that said, I must confess that I still believe that triggering is the only
real choice according to my needs. This would need such settings as
gain/xtalk/threshold in order to correctly convert the raw pad signal into a
such "trigger" event. This may be much harder to achieve than it sounds (1).
And I now think that this trigger-detection engine should indeed output midi, so
that you can plug into many different devices/applications. Now, once a midi
signal is issued, and ends up playing a sample or synthetizing a sound, nothing
forbids to further exploitate the original signal, as in the following diagram :
pad signal -----> trigger to midi conversion -----> sampler/expander
| |
| |
+-----------------------> effect filter <--------------+
|
+----> final sound
The "sample/expander" could either be a sampler as Specimen, or a synthetizer as
Smack.
Then, the "effect filter", could reuse the original pad signal form and
caracteristics in order to alter what's coming out of the
"sampler/expander".
Velocity may happen at the midi level, but other complex caracteristics that are
carried buy the original signal pad could be fed into a convolution engine,
into some dedicated Smack routines, or even into some LADSPA plugin.
I'm not sure about all of this, just ideas for now... While these ideas get more
precise, I may buy myself some Roland/Alesis dedicated hardware, with some
effect pedal in order to actually do music ;-)
References :
(1) See the Alesis DM-5 manual, section "About trigger parameters", page 40 :
http://www.alesis.com/downloads/manuals/DM5_Manual.pdf
--
og
Assembling
piezo microphones, cardboard, foam, wood and a cymbal stand,
I have just made my first DIY electronic pads. Actually it's electronic
percussions, because I will play these mostly with hands.
Hi,
There will be a lot of developments in smack in the coming months on modeling hand drums
and i think you might get some good results with your triggers and smack. You can also try
pluggin the audio out of your triggers and the excitation signal for the physical modeling
drums in smack. This would allow you to get a level of control that is very difficult with
midi/osc in that it directly uses the attack/release/velocity etc of your triggers in the
sound.
Give me a yell if you want a hand with using them like that, as i'd love the testing.