Kudo's Craig...

Week 149: Morphable LFO Auto-Panner
 
I think the Z3TA+ is underrated as a signal processor. It can expose its synth elements (filters, VCA, effects, etc.) to process incoming audio, with or without the Z3TA+’s oscillators.
 
Perhaps one reason why the Z3TA+ doesn’t get used much as a signal processor is because if you want an effect that’s always “on,” the Z3TA+ has a VCA and envelope generator—so you need a MIDI note (either played or programmed) to keep its gate turned on. Then again, you’ll probably want a MIDI track anyway, so you can record controllers that tweak parameters in real time. (For more information on how to use Z3TA+ as a processor, refer to this article from Sound on Sound magazine, or the info starting on page 134 of The Big Book of SONAR Tips.)
 
GETTING STARTED
 
The screenshot shows the Z3TA+; sections that aren’t needed for the auto-pan functions are grayed out.
 

 
You can download a .FXP Auto-Pan preset, then either drag it anywhere into the Z3TA+, or load it by clicking on the Z3TA+ Program button and navigating to the .FXP file. The envelope is already set up for always-on operation as along as a key is pressed or a note sounds, so MIDI–wise, all you need to do is:
 
1. In the Z3TA+ header’s VST2 drop-down menu, select Enable MIDI In.
2. Create a MIDI track; assign its output to the Z3TA+, and the input to your controller of choice.
 
Now whenever you want to enable audio, press a keyboard key or enter a long note in the MIDI track. The MIDI track is also useful because this patch uses the mod wheel to control panning depth (in fact you’ll need to turn up the mod wheel if you want to hear the panning this preset does).
 
MORPHABLE LFOS
 
What makes this auto-panner really interesting is how the Z3TA+ handles LFOs. Each LFO has two waveforms, and in addition to the expected Sync and Phase switches, a Mode option determines how they interact. Here are the options for the LFO output. Note that you’ll need to retrigger the LFO to hear the results of any changes you make.
 
Morph: Morphs between Waveform1 and Waveform2 over the time set by Time slider.
ADD: Mixes Waveform1 and Waveform2, with the balance controlled by the Time slider (note: the output won't change over time).
IADD: Same as ADD, but inverts Waveform1.
SUB: Same as ADD, but inverts Waveform2.
ISUB: Same as ADD, but inverts both Waveforms.
MUL: Represents the sample-per-sample product of Waveform1 and Waveform2.
MIN: The minimum value between Waveform1 and 2
MAX: The maximum value between Waveform1 and 2
HALF1: The first half-cycle of Waveform1 and second half-cycle of Waveform2
HALF2: The first half-cycle of Waveform2, and second half-cycle of Waveform1
ONE-SHOT: The LFO produces one cycle, then stops.
 
OTHER COOLNESS
 
There are 48 waveforms, as well as DC and the option for 10 user waveforms. When triggered (e.g., by playing a note from the keyboard), the Delay and Fade controls come into play; however these are of limited use when using the Z3TA+ as an audio effect because triggering is also what allows the audio through.
 
Offset “weights” the panning more toward one side than the other. This control, as well as the Time and Speed controls, can respond to MIDI controllers via MIDI learn.
 
Next, consider the Modulation Matrix. There are of course a lot of possibilities, but this one is fairly simple—being able to control the panning depth (i.e., a crossfade between the centered/unpanned signal and the panned signals). For this application, the control curve is B-LIN+, which converts the bipolar LFO output to unipolar so it can drive the Main Pan destination. The Mod Wheel determines the actual depth (with the maximum depth set by the Range parameter).
 
BUT WAIT—THERE’S MORE!
 
The Z3TA+ has two filters, and each can pan independently. So if you want something like a non-filtered signal (i.e., set the filter Type to off) to pan back and forth slowly while a resonant, bandpass-filtered version of the signal pans rapidly, you can do this independently of the Main Pan parameter.
 
[AN OFF-TOPIC SIDE NOTE]
 
My new album project, “Simplicity,” is now available for streaming from my web site and YouTube channel. Except for the last cut and the acoustic drum parts, the recording and mixing was done exclusively in SONAR (including processors and virtual instruments). The basses were all from the Gibson Expansion Pack; many of the Rapture Pro sounds were stock, with the rest coming from an as-yet-unreleased expansion pack. The guitars are Gibson, and the mics are the Neat Worker Bee and King Bee. Mastering and mixing was done over Les Paul monitors, and tracking and editing used the KRK KNS-8400 headphones. Overall I think it’s a pretty good example of what you can do with SONAR and a relatively modest recording setup.
 
 

I'm quoting a few instances where I noticed a typo.
 
Thanks for the tip, Craig, and congrats on the new album.

Week 150: MIDI Velocity “Compression” with the Transform Tool
 
Sometimes variations in MIDI velocity can be excessive, resulting in audio with wild dynamic swings. Of course you could apply audio compression, but it can be better to apply compression to the data itself to reduce the dynamic range.
 
Although it’s always been possible to compress MIDI data by applying scaling (with either the Velocity MIDI FX or the Velocity Scaling feature added in 2015) and then adding the MIDI equivalent of makeup gain, the Transform Tool offers a simpler and more visual option. Note that the following technique also works with controllers.
 
Referring to the screen shot, there are three groups of data.
 

 
The one on the left is the original one. The Transform Tool has been placed over the middle group, with the upper line at the top of the highest values. Dragging the bottom node (Scale Up/Down) up about halfway scales the waveform from the bottom up, raising the level of low-level data values ratiometrically. Because the Transform Tool’s upper line is right at the top of the highest values, the highest values are not affected.
 
The group on the right shows the velocity values after this MIDI “data compression.”
 
So the Transform Tool provides velocity compression with a single drag—without the need to add makeup gain. But wait—there’s more!
 
Remember that only values within the Transform Tool “box” itself are modified. So If you move the Transform Tool’s lower line up somewhat from the bottom, then only velocities above that lower boundary will be compressed, and ones below that boundary will not be compressed. Pretty cool, eh?
 
(I'm at the Between the Waves event in Madison, Wisconsin - with workshops, bands, etc. - Saturday 6/17 and Sunday 6/18. Stop by if you're in the area and say "hi.")
 

Great tip Craig that I think many of us will use in the future.  Thank You !   

Week 152: Build a “Virtual Room Mics” FX Chain
 

 
Let’s improve the acoustic environment in which your instruments live, by faking—uh, I mean, “emulating”—a pair of room mics.
 
Going direct with an instrument can sometimes seem “lifeless,” because in the real world the instrument will exist in a room with delays and reflections. These reflections can be important enough that many engineers (myself included) add room mics with miked instruments to pick up the room’s “sound,” and blend that in with the main instrument mic(s). But what if you don’t have a room, let alone room mics? Well, let’s create both with the “Virtual Room Mics” FX Chain.
 
This FX Chain consists of two Sonitus stereo delays in series. The main delay times are prime numbers, which means they can be divided only by themselves. As a result, they don’t reinforce each other or give a periodic sound, thus providing a bigger sense of space from a limited number of delays.
 
The first delay’s dry sound passes through the second delay to create the 23ms and 17ms delays. However, the first delay’s delayed sound also passes through the second delay, which produces an additional delay of 11+23=34ms and 13+17=30ms; so there’s a total of six virtual reflections. Because the times are spaced close together, they’re not really perceived as individual echoes—but they’re also sparse enough so they don’t sound like reverb, either.
 

 
Set the initial control settings for both delays as shown above (if the parameters are hard to read, right-click and open in a new tab, or copy the image and paste into a paint program). Then, right-click in the FX Rack and choose “Convert FX Rack to FX Chain.” Next, right-click on the FX Chain and click “Add Knob” to add each of the four knobs. Here’s how to edit the parameters for the various knobs.
 

 
This effect is best when applied subtly, even though the ranges are wide enough so you can have less-than-subtle sounds if you want. To get a good sense of what this FX Chain can do, set the DiffTime, DiffAmount, and Reflections controls to 30% and the Mix control to 50%. Play a D.I.ed instrument like guitar through the chain, and it will sound like you’ve added a couple of room mics—which is the whole point of this FX Chain. Not bad, eh? Your studio just added a bigger room, and you have two new room mics, simply by creating an FX Chain. Have fun with your new acoustic space!

Followed the instructions to the letter and voila, a very subtle but completely convincing room environment ambience which lends any audio source an added sense of depth and spaciousness. Very impressive Craig. Kudos

Thank you Craig this is quite effective.

exitthelemming
Followed the instructions to the letter and voila, a very subtle but completely convincing room environment ambience which lends any audio source an added sense of depth and spaciousness. Very impressive Craig. Kudos

Thanks! I came up with this to apply to direct guitars, but it sounds surprisingly good with analog synths and beat boxes - they fit better into tracks that have electric or acoustic instruments.

All that effort to take the room out of the recording only to put it back. Can't help but think of the irony in what we do with audio in an effort to make it seem as realistic as possible.

Thanks Craig.

Thanks for the double double whammy, the FX itself and the lesson on creating FX chain controls.
cheers

Craig,
 
 
You keep outdoing yourself.
 
Soon you're going to have to fight yourself to see which one of you comes out on top,..    LOL       

KPerry
This is a good one - subtle, but just gives a "nice" effect.

Agree +1. Thanks Craig