cut-off sweep not smooth enough...

eliam · Post by **eliam** » Sun Nov 10, 2002 2:23 pm

Hi all! Since me and 2 friends just received a grant to create an electro-ambiant-atmospheric-textured record, I might be around here a little more.

Here's my question: I did, (on a mod2 patch) a very slow cut-off sweep (value from 0 to 80 or so) spread over 4 minutes and I found that there was audible steps between cc values, especially around stronger harmonics' freq. I want it totally smooth, without any jumps in the sound. I know that on Reaktor, we can choose smaller than one cc steps or something like that, which permits totally smooth sweeps. Is something similar possible with mod2?

Thanks!

kensuguro · Post by **kensuguro** » Sun Nov 10, 2002 3:02 pm

you could try assigning the CC to a constant value, and put that through an env follower. I think that should smooth the signals a bit. Haven't tried personally though. Glad to hear you got a grant! I'm looking forward to your work!

eliam · Post by **eliam** » Sun Nov 10, 2002 4:06 pm

Yes, this is nice! We'll see how it turns out to be, but we plan to do some non-intrusive, peaceful, non-percussive, open-minded ambient-oriented stuff... That will change me from songwriting and arranging... BTW, I'm finishing a 60 minutes demo-record of my stuff (mostly songs) and I might be posting some of it here for feed-back.

As for your advice, could you tell me how to proceed step by step? Thanks!

Ben Walker · Post by **Ben Walker** » Mon Nov 11, 2002 5:50 am

Hi Eliam,
there's a bit more detail
<a href="http://www.planetz.com/forums/viewtopic ... 0">here</a>

Hope that helps,
Ben

eliam · Post by **eliam** » Mon Nov 11, 2002 2:31 pm

Thanks, Ben! It might be the answer I'm looking for...

But since I don't have much experience with the mod2, I'd still need some advice on how to proceed...

"The stepping is not caused by the filter but by the knob that controls the
frequency. So to get rid of it you can use this approach:

use the 'constant val' module instead of the filter knob and route it
through a 6db lowpass filter and into one of the 24 dB filters CFm inputs..
This will smoothen out the sweeps when you move the cutoff knob.. you'll
have to tweak the 6db filter to get the feel you want but the range you
probably should be testing is about 2 or 3 pixels from the minimum... "

Does this means that I have to add modules to the patch? Sorry for my lack of understanding but I feel like I have to be taken by the hand and lead through it...

Thanks for your help.

Ben Walker · Post by **Ben Walker** » Tue Nov 12, 2002 3:11 pm

use the 'constant val' module instead of the filter knob and route it through a 6db lowpass filter and into one of the 24 dB filters CFm inputs..
This will smoothen out the sweeps when you move the cutoff knob.. you'll have to tweak the 6db filter to get the feel you want but the range you probably should be testing is about 2 or 3 pixels from the minimum... "

I've never tried it myself, but this is what I'd do:
Bring a 6db filter and a Const Val module into your patch.
Connect the out of the Const Val module into the In of the 6db filter. Connect the out of the 6db filter to the CFm input of the Filter that you want to tweak.
Now, as modulating a filter's cut off frequency using the CFm is the same as tweaking it using the Cut Off Freq knob directly, you can adjust the Cut off of the Filter by tweaking the value of the Const Val module, which will get 'smoothed' by the 6db filter.
As it says, you'll have to experiment with different values of the 6db filter to get the right level of smoothing.

Hope that helps - let us know how you get on!

Ben

eliam · Post by **eliam** » Wed Nov 13, 2002 12:25 am

Thanks, Ben!! Your help is appreciated!

I'll try this out as soon as I finish painting my room...

eliam · Post by **eliam** » Fri Dec 27, 2002 2:17 am

Ben, it seems to work fine! With the proper tweaking, the cut-off is smoother, although the swwep range is reduced, which matters little in most instances...

Thanks for the hint!

at0m · Post by **at0m** » Tue Jan 07, 2003 10:43 pm

Tried it too, amazing how smooth it works compared to direct tweaking!!!