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Vol3_Wondersound.WTR
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1993-05-07
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======================================================================
* *
* *
* =========================================== *
* * * *
* * W O N D E R S O U N D V 1 . 4 * *
* * * *
* =========================================== *
* *
* PROGRAMED *
* *
* BY *
* *
* JEFFREY HARRINGTON *
* *
======================================================================
ARTICLE WRITTEN
BY
GRANT MEARNS
THE WONDERSOUND PROGRAM WAS OBTAINED FROM ISSUE 11 OF THE AMIGA
MUSICIANS FREEWARE MAGAZINE. IT IS PUBLIC DOMAIN AND MAY BE FREELY
REDISTRIBUTED BY ALL CONCEIVABLE MEANS.
ABOUT THIS ARTICLE
The following article is a totally rewritten and greatly simplified
version of the "Doc-File" that comes with the Wondersound program.
Throughout this piece of writing, technical terminology is quite
frequently used and although I'm no expert on the subject of sound
synthesis, I have explained the horrible words as simply as I could.
What's the purpose of rewriting a "Doc-file" I hear you say? Well,
apart from the fact that the original one is not very good, I have
tried to integrate a tutorial and an explanation of the technical
mumbo-jumbo along the way.
As with most creative software, a tutorial can only guide you in
the right direction and without experimentation good results will
not be achieved. Wondersound is a very simple program to use and
with a little bit of time you will produce excellent results.
ABOUT WONDERSOUND
Wondersound is an additive harmonic instrument design program,
which basically means it can create complex sounds by combining
various soundwaves. It works by creating a fundamental frequency,
which is the lowest and generally the strongest component in an
audio signal and produces multiples of this frequency to make a
harmonic sound. Harmonics help to give a sound it's distinctive
timbre, which is the quality of the sound that distinguishes it
from another sound of similar pitch and volume e.g. a guitar may
produce a note of equal pitch and volume to a note produced by a
clarinet, but it will sound very different.
Upon loading the program, you are requested to wait so that
necessary tables can be calculated. You are then presented with
the envelope design window, which provides a way of creating or
altering the actual "shape" of how a sound is heard.
There are eight gadgets in this window and going from left to
right the first one controls the "attack level", which is the
amplitude (the height between the highest and lowest point of a
waveform for one cycle) of the start of the sound. The second
gadget controls the "attack time", which is the length of time
it takes to reach the chosen attack level. The third gadget
controls the sustained amplitude of the attack and the fourth
gadget controls how long this will last. The fifth and sixth
gadgets control a second sustain which works in the same manner
as the previous one but starts from where it ends. The seventh
gadget controls the "release level", which is the amplitude of
the end of the sound and the eighth gadget controls the "release
time", which is how long it takes to reach the release level.
PHEW!!
G G G G G G G G
A A A A A A A A
D D D D D D D D
G G G G G G G G
E E E E E E E E
T T T T T T T T
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
Attack Attack Sustain Sustain Sustain Sustain Release Release
Level Time Level 1 Time 1 Level 2 Time 2 Level Time
The above may seem very complicated and technical to some of you,
but the envelope window is really very easy to use. A few
minutes of fiddling with the gadgets and you will soon realise
what all the technical talk is about. Move some of the gadgets
to create an envelope before reading any further!
Once you have finished creating an envelope, click on the top
left gadget to close the window. You will then be presented with
the harmonic and phase control window, which consists of two rows
of 16 small gadgets and three larger gadgets at the right hand
side.
The top row of sixteen small gadgets provides control over
over the harmonic strength of the sound and the bottom row of 16
gadgets provides control over the phase angles. Phase is when
two repeating waveforms of identical wavelength and frequency
start at the same points in there cycles (much like starting the
same sample in two channels at the same time in MED). The phase
angle is a measure of any difference between the start points of
two identical waveforms and can be used to produce a pleasant
filter-like effect.
The two large gadgets that are next to the banks of small gadgets
are for controlling the frequency modulation (FM) process. FM is
the synthesis technique that Wondersound uses to create an audio
signal and works on the basis of the fundamental frequency (the main
signal) being controlled by the amplitude of another signal (the
modulator). The large gadget nearest the banks of small gadgets
controls the frequency of the modulator signal and has values of
1 - 16. The other gadget beside this one controls the degree to
which the modulator signal will affect the fundamental frequency.
The third large gadget in this window has a very simple purpose and
is purely for altering the pitch at which your sample is played at.
The further up the higher the pitch, the further down the lower the
pitch. Easy!!
PRAISE THE LORD!!!!
Once again, if the above sounds hellish just have a fiddle with all
of the gadgets and you will notice that this window does not produce
an image which relates to their values. An image will only appear
after a waveform has been calculated. To calculate a waveform you
must first finish positioning the gadgets then select 'WAVIT' from
the project menu. You will then be presented with the word 'WAVING'
and a waveform will be drawn in the window within a couple of
minutes.
You should now select 'PLAY' from the project menu and brace
yourself for what is about to happen?
At long last you will actually be able to hear a noise coming from
your Amiga and don't be disappointed if it doesn't sound too
impressive, it won't! To produce an impressive sound you have to
make a more complex waveform and to do this you simply repeat the
whole process again without clearing your original sound. You don't
have to alter the envelope of your sound to do this, but you may if
wish by selecting 'ENVL' from the project menu and changing the
position of the gadgets.
By simply altering the positions of some of the gadgets in the
harmonic and phase control window you can then select 'WAVIT' from
the project menu and a new waveform will be calculated and mixed
with the existing waveform producing a more complex sound. This
process may be repeated as many times as the user wishes.
Once you're satisfied with your creation, you'll probably want to
save it. To do this just click on the 'IO.inst' text in the top
left of the window, delete it and type in a name of no more than
nine characters for your sound. By selecting 'SAVE' from the
project menu, your sound will then be saved as a 5 octave IFF 8SVX
sample in the same directory as the Wondersound program itself.
The beauty of Wondersound is the way it accumulates simple waveforms
to produce complex more naturally sounding waveforms with absolutely
no audible background noise. Even so, I feel that most of the
samples produced with this program sound a little thin and require a
bit of attention from some sampling software. Personally I like to
add flange and reverb to the middle octave of the five then re-save
it as a 3 octave IFF.
This is only my personal preference and your own experimentation is
what it will take for you to produce sounds that you are happy with.
Remember, there is no right or wrong when creating a sound, only
yourself can be the judge of whether or not it appeals to your ears.
Experiment, have fun and send your creations in to TI.
If for any reason you want to contact myself, please write to:-
GRANT MEARNS
32 MAIN STREET
KILLEARN
BY GLASGOW
G63 9RQ
(I'm afraid I don't understand a word of this article - Ed.)