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Random Wish: Wavetable Oscillator as AUv3
Would be fun to have a simplistic single-oscillator wavetable synth as AUv3. Key features would be: load any wavetable, modulate the index with any kind of incoming MIDI (or apeMatrix modulator), “wavetable index spread”, and cross-platform support.
Might also like legato mode, but that’s not really a requirement. In fact, it could make sense for that oscillator to have a continuous frequency knob as well as note input.
No need for on-board filters and other effects, custom scales, internal arpeggiator or sequencer, modulation matrix, audio input, LFO… Even ADSR doesn’t matter much, to me (though it’s probably expected).
Comments
Sorry to ask - what's the benefit in a musical context?
That sounds a bit like a research project
This sounds like a good thing. People would focus on what kind of things they can load in, but it’d be a highly useful module.
Maybe overkill based on your description, but aren’t the PPG apps all AUv3?
Just looked, they’re actually very feature light versions of the main app.
I like the app you described. I’d probably buy that.
Got PPG Infinite and MiniMapper (IAA-only). As you guessed, they’re still overkill. Was thinking about something which really simplifies the workflow at that level. Just an oscillator, but one you can fully control from the outside (in the AU Host, like AUM, apeMatrix, AB3…). A bit like Troublemaker for wavetable synthesis.
To me, the killer feature in SynthMaster One is the “wavetable index spread” (not finding the equivalent in PPG Infinite, for instance). But the interface is too cluttered, for me. Would like something really minimal and easy to control.
Gives you new, evolving waveforms so you’re not stuck with the usual ones (sawtooth, pulse/square, sine, triangle). Much easier to control than a traditional wavetable synth.
That 'Wavetable oscillator AUv3' could equally well be a REX-Player
I mean a 'REX-File' is a 'wave-table' with different index/trigger-points and loop options per index.
Kick it up a notch and it could be something like Transwaves on Ensoniq synths and give the user an option to edit/sequence the 'Index Table Order' with volume & pitch and we'd be in Wavestation territory.
As for PPQ apps the 'wavetable index speed' is handled with the envelopes that scan the wave-table...
Did not know this. Thanks!
Yeah, thought about vector synthesis. In fact, iWavestation is what kicked up my involvement in iOS musicking. At the time, wasn’t too fond of the “classic analog synth” sounds but some of those VS sounds had a visceral impact on me, reminding me of parts of the 1990s which connected with me.
But that could become a bit complicated.
Yeah, scanning speed is also a key feature of those synths (it’s pretty big in Waves Codex, for instance). Found it neat in SynthMaster 2.9 as you can modulate in different ways. But, in my mind, it doesn’t necessarily have to be inside the module. If you can modulate wavetable index from the outside, you can use whichever modulator you want in terms of speed and shape and depth.
Was thinking more of what SynthMaster 2.9 calls “index spread”. In SynthMaster One, it’s hidden, but you can modulate it. Similar to unison spread, it means that you can have different indices for all the voices producing a single note. Really creates a rich sound.
I know it’s not quite the same thing, but in the pic below, I’m altering the waveforms and other things in these iVCS OSCs. I’m sending Rozeta Collider and using the inbuilt LFOs.
Would I like a stand alone wavetable? Yes, of course I would! Lol
very good points @Samu
@Enkerli those supposedly 'new waveforms' are more or less imaginary.
(my bottomline after messing with a wide variety of this synth methods for years)
You'll always get the same (basic) sound color, no matter if it's an Ensoniq SQ, Wavestation, PPG hard/software, or an exotic VST like Krishna.
https://www.kvraudio.com/product/krishna_synth_by_devine_machine_software
The individual character of the devices is driven by envelope and filter design in the first place, not by the sample(set) traversing process.
This traversal path is (of course) crucial for the audible impression... and somewhat hard to predict to say at least.
But it changes the oscillator character less than the respective 'playback' engine.
(Wavemapper 'sounds' very different from a PPG wave even with the exact same WT)
Not to discourage your idea, but you may find what you're looking for in existing apps.
It's mostly about getting familiar with the basic handling (which is a learning curve), but it's not rocket-science. No need to tweak all 3 Oscillators in (say) Wave Generator if you're after a simple thing. Just mute and ignore the ones not needed.
The PPG apps are quite efficient (CPU) and versatile - and almost every parameter has a CC assigned (the list is contained in the midi section of the manual).
As you're using a wind controller that might come handy.
I like this idea very much.
my $00.02
After spending some time with VCV rack, I can't help but hope there might be a more modular aproach to thinking about Auv3 development. Recent midi AU have got me hopeful that this is the case. Envolver, Steppolyarp trancegate, rosetta, Haven't tried apematrix yet, but that seems like a step in that direction as well.
I suspect that the developers that understand the market for this modular environment is growing will do well. Look at the hardware modular world - modular gear has never been more popular than it is in this moment) - and things such as VCV rack, maxforlive, pure data, etc.. show a lot of promise for the integration of hardware and software environments.
The reality is that there's limited real estate of most iOS devices, so simpler is often better (and if complex, a great UI is needed).
I'm drawn to plugins (as I reckon most are) with efficient, engaging workflow. I'd rather have several relatively simple plugins talking to one another than one full screen mega instrument that hogs resources with stuff like tons of built in effects. There are plenty of great effects that I can throw on on an fx bus.
Maybe something like Scythe only AU?
Sector as AU with some additional wavetableesque tweaks would be the bomb.
Could you use Grind by Audio Damage any given synth as an input to do this?
I think it would be useful to have an AU app that loaded in wavetables that could be controlled via AU parameters, and then paired with whatever AU FX apps you wanted in an à la carte workflow.
PPG Infinite takes this approach in an integrated fashion within the app.
Can get where you’re coming from, but there’s something compelling in the WT technique. Maybe summarizing it by the waveforms themselves was too quick a shortcut, but my experience with WT and Vector Synth so far has been that they allow me to use my own approaches to modulating the spectrum itself. Same thing with granular synthesis. Been having fun with diverse controllers using those techniques, especially when they’re controlled “explicitly” by breath, 3D Touch, pedal, etc. (instead of modulated by LFOs, envelopes, sequencers, etc.). The same can be said about Animoog’s “anisotropic” engine. Sure, you could use other means to go from one waveform to the next. Typically, the “path” in Animoog interests me less than controlling things with MPE or breath or a pedal or AC Sabre…
There’s something really visceral about moving through very different spectral structures. Sure, the squar/saw distinction remains fundamental and some of those effects are similar to that of PWM or a lowpass filter. But they’re still different, in ways that please me.
And, again, index spread is a pretty cool trick.
Waveshapers are also fun.
Right. Which is part of the reason it’d be fun to decouple the “engine” from the wavetable.
Fair enough. To be clear, though, my idea isn’t about producing results which are impossible otherwise. Nor is it about emulating an existing synth. It’s about adopting a more modular approach to explore diverse affordances. This method already works well with Reaktor. Or the Macro Oscillator in Rack by VCV (equivalent to Braids by Mutable Instruments). Same with Automatonism in Pd. Or even some parts of Supercollider and ChucK. Sonic Pi has yet to adopt this, but it could be a lot of fun.
Though it sounds easy to “mute and ignore” some parts of existing synths, the idea here is about simplifying the experience so that, cognitively, you automatically pay attention to the right part of the interface.
In a way, you can think of it as the synth equivalent of “distraction-free” writing apps of a few years back. You might say that it was a fad, but something did happen in getting some people to focus on the features they need at the time they need it.
In fact, there’s great pedagogical value in only making available those parts of a synth that you really need at the time you need them. Haven’t played with the full version of Synthtorial but this part suited my needs from the very beginning. Some with Sonic Pi, in fact.
People use a lot of analogies to LEGO blocks. In this case, it’s also about keeping a subset of the blocks you have to accomplish a certain task, instead of always going back to the LFO block or the ADSR one or the reverb one or the filter one…
Sure, one could use a single oscillator in SM1, driving it through CC, completely ignore any envelope, LFO, effect, arpeggiator, or sequencer. Takes time to set it up this way and you end up fighting the interface the whole time. But it can be done. You could probably have many instances running at the same time and control them independently. In the end, the overall audible output might be very similar. But the experience would be quite frustrating. It’s like twisting a big brush in such a way that you can paint with a single bristle. Doable, but doesn’t feel so good.
You could also organize 256 waveforms in a sequencer and choose them with parameters, finding ways to interpolate properly as you go from one another. Could even be as efficient as a generic wavetable oscillator. But it wouldn’t be that much fun to setup on iOS (much easier to do in Reaktor, for instance).
Again, can hear what your own approach sounds like. We’re probably searching for different things.
It's time for a new synth that eliminates the separation of granular and wavetable synthesis.
The more I think about it, the less I could argue why a synth engine couldn't be designed in a way that a waveform can either be split and "scanned" in equal-sized slices (wavetable) or in slices of arbitrary size, with arbitrary windowing, random modulation of the position and adjustable "interpolation depth".
This, combined with nonsense-free live sampling, semi-automatic post-processing and easy sample import over WiFi and Files/AudioShare could invite us to experiment more with new sounds around us.
Just copied this as best I could without knowing exactly what LFOs you’re automating. Pretty cool.
@Enkerli we're actually after the same thing, but I interpreted what you meant with 'new sounds' differently. Of course the modulations you mention will result in huge differences of individual patch output - it just won't create a new 'color' (in analogy to the visual spectrum).
Confessing guilty myself here for not exploiting what was available when I still used that Casio digital horn. It was slightly inconvenient as most of it's expression is based on aftertouch, which had to be mapped to a bunch of CCs in a midi preprocessor), but the most annoying part was to assign (or midi teach) CCs to the synths.
The pre-assignment as Palm does it is a big relief in this context.
But I get your idea - happy exploring