Amplitude modulation synthesis is a counterintuitive method of creating harmonic content. How can changing amplitude (a.k.a. volume) create sound? Continue reading to learn about amplitude modulation in the modular domain.
Monthly Archives: June 2015
Matt’s Mixtape, Vol. 1
I love electronic music and I’ve been told my taste is often “left of center”. I also love to obsessively search for records. I tried to dig up 4 tunes you may or may not have heard, and write a quick description about what I like about them.
KMI Project: Mutable Instruments Shruthi Control QuNeo Preset
Shruthi Control is a QuNeo preset built to control the Mutable Instruments Shruthi. It is also compatible with the TubeOhm Phoenix Synthesizer and the Laurentide SynthWorks Monosynth Formerly Known As Shruthi – both Shruthi clones.
Interview with Vernon Reid (Living Colour, Spectrum Road)
Vernon Reid is the founding member, guitarist and primary songwriter of the metal-funk-rock-jazz outfit Living Colour. We caught up with Vernon to talk about his inspirations, integrating the hardware and software elements of his rig, and a bit about what he’s been listening to lately.
Controller Scripting in Bitwig Studio, Part 4
In the last installment we successfully implemented some transport control in our script to play, stop and record from our controller, as well as input notes. This article will focus on creating and using observers to get information from Bitwig sent to our controllers. This is useful if your controller has any type of LED feedback. You… Read more »
Simple Synthesis: Part 8, Wavefolding
Wavefolding is a type of distortion synthesis where when the input amplitude exceeds the threshold, the peaks get cut off, similar to digital clipping. The difference is that in wavefolding, the curved amplitude peaks get inverted into a series of folds.
Interview with DeWayne Blackbyrd McKnight (George Clinton and Parliament Funkadelic, Herbie Hancock and the Headhunters)
DeWayne Blackbyrd McKnight is an electric guitarist and funk practitioner who has shared the stage and studio with legends the likes of Herbie Hancock and the Headhunters, George Clinton’s Parliament Funkadelic, Miles Davis and The Red Hot Chili Peppers. I caught up with Blackbyrd after a stint on the road with the P-Funk Allstars to… Read more »
Interview with Timo Preece (Certified Ableton Trainer, ProTools Expert- Berlin, Germany)
Timo Preece is a Berlin-based electronic musician and educator, Certified Ableton Trainer, and ProTools Expert. We caught up with him to talk about gear, technology, balancing old and new, and the attraction of living and making music in Berlin.
Controller Scripting in Bitwig Studio, Part 3
In the last article we succeeded in creating a user input section that allows us to MIDI map CCs from our controller to any parameter in Bitwig, just as we are used to doing in other DAWs. In this article we will dive a bit deeper into the API to get control of, and get… Read more »
Analog Rytm: Programming With Polymeter
The Analog Rytm is still Elektron’s new kid on the block. With eight analog voices, each with an oscillator section, multimode filter, and overdrive circuit, it’s a club music powerhouse that’s quickly become adopted by big named artists such as Aphex Twin, Plaid and John Tejada. One of the useful features of the Rytm is… Read more »
Interview with Nick Reinhart (Tera Melos, Bygones, Big Walnuts Yonder)
Nick Reinhart is a guitarist and effects wizard who plays in the genre-defying band Tera Melos, the equally frenetic duo Bygones with Zach Hill, the super-group Big Walnuts Yonder with Mike Watt, Nels Cline and Greg Saunier, and contributed to the Jenny Death half of Death Grips’ album The Powers That B. I caught up… Read more »
Making Music in the Browser – Web MIDI API
MIDI has officially hit the web browser! Well, at least in Google Chrome. With the latest version of Google Chrome, MIDI is enabled by default, whereas previously it needed to be enabled by setting a special flag in your browser. This opens up a huge variety of possibilities for not only art and music in… Read more »
Simple Synthesis: Part 7, Oscillator Sync
Subtractive synthesis is heavily reliant on different wave types to increase the variety of possible sounds. Decades ago, when synth makers were trying to find novel ways to get more milage out of their oscillators they decided upon an interesting solution: Oscillator Sync.