So, you’ve seen lots of interesting looking iPhone apps, but most of them strike you as gimmicky. Others have interesting workflows, but limit you to working on the mobile device, not switching back to a computer. And maybe you’re perfectly happy with a phone running Windows Mobile or Palm OS.

Enter SunVox. This is not a mobile music making app for the timid. It’s a powerful suite of soundmakers and sequencers, baked together into a modular environment that lets power users tweak to their heart’s delight. It’s small, it’s fast, and it looks – and sounds – a lot like early computer music programs. It’ll run on iPhone now, but also on Palm, Windows Mobile, Mac, Windows, and Linux. It’ll run on your netbook, your MacBook, and your ThinkPad.

Incredibly, all this goodness is yours on all those platforms for ten bucks and on iPhone for $5, easily making SunVox the biggest steal in music software I think I’ve ever seen:

• Flexible architecture that adapts to slow and fast CPUs
• Synths and generators: FM, virtual analog, FFT-based “SpectraVoice”, Kicker
• Effects: Delay, distortion, filters, LFOs, reverb
• Sampler with WAV support
• WAV export when you’re done

http://warmplace.ru/soft/sunvox/

And for fans of computer music in the 90s, it’s a chance to get back to some of the no-nonsense, powerful creation of that era, without some of the distractions you may find in modern apps.

To see SunVox in action (and start to make sense of how to use it), check out the YouTube videos from Alex Zolotov (among others). They’re not the best video quality (I wish we had iPhone screencasting software, darnit), but they will give you a sense of what the app is about:
http://www.youtube.com/user/NightRadio2007

The videos made their debut on the excellent PalmSounds Google Group:
http://groups.google.com/group/palmsounds?hl=en
CDM isn’t exclusively about mobile apps, so check out PalmSounds the blog, too, if you like your music making handheld – the site has been on fire lately with updates.
http://the-palm-sound.blogspot.com/

Here’s an example of how SunVox can be used for live playing:

Here it is being used to produce lovely FM synthesis noises:

If you’re new to trackers, especially, you’ll want to brush up on the tracker workflow in SunVox:

In some of the news I’ve missed in the last couple of days are some unusual announcements. Urs Heckmann can be fairly considered one of the great soft synth designers, with accomplishments like Zebra. His latest, Bazille, like many recent soft synths, is a hybrid: FM synthesis plus phase distortion plus the obligatory subtractive synthesis. In an early teaser video (he apologizes for audio quality), he shows off its modular design. Now, modular routing is something we’ve seen in some form in other recent synths, from Maschine to Future Audio’s Circle. But for Bazille, the layout of the whole synth is clearly set up with rack-style modular routing and free-form patching in mind. There’s definitely some promise here. Oliver Chesler of the utterly brilliant wire to the ear found this first and has some other good thoughts.

The surprise news, though, is that Fairlight may be re-releasing the Fairlight CMI, their original digital sampler. The Fairlight Instruments site teases a “CMI Series 30A (Thirtieth Anniversary) Limited Edition.” Peter Vogel’s CMI, ubiquitous sound of the 80s, established many things we take for granted in computer music. Heck, it even had a light pen. So, too, will the 30A re-release. They’ll make 100 of them, you’ll get WAV import and improved sound quality, and… no, you won’t be able to afford it, though Vogel says it’ll be cheaper than the original. (In other words, it’ll be cheaper to get a new Fairlight than a new Buchla.)

Sonic State scoops the details from the man himself:
More Anniversary Fairlight Details: A little more information from Mr Vogel

Of course, I dream of a successor to the Fairlight CVI, their ground-breaking video instrument.

Alternatively… Synclavier: The Next Generation, anyone?

You probably think of social networking and messaging as being about text, about saying things like “Wow, this tuna salad sandwich I’m having for lunch is delicious!” But the next Tweet you get on Twitter could be a synthesis preset.

Say what?

Working in Max/MSP, Andrew Spitz has developed a tool called Tweet a Sound. It uses Twitter as a communications platform for “social sound design.” Instead of just saying, “Wow, I be makin’ phat basslines,” you can actually share the sound. Whip up a sound using typical FM synth parameters and Max/MSP’s sound engine, then click “send.” You’ll send a string of numbers to your Twitter account, confusing those friends not in the know. But other users will be able to grab and play with your sound.

Andrew even encourages synthesis n00bs to play without fear – grab those envelopes and mysterious-looking settings and see what comes out. So, I hope you synth geeks do share this with some friends new to synthesis, as I think they’ll have a great time.

Right now, Tweet a Sound is Mac-only; we just need someone to save a Windows standalone version. Someone has asked about a Pd port, but let’s put it this way: this is the tip of a very, very big iceberg of sharing. It’s something worth considering in anything you’re doing, not just with Twitter, but whether you can provide networked capabilities in whatever you’re happening to build.

Ableton, of course, recently added the Share functionality to Live. But with open APIs and basic networking protocols, there’s no reason you can’t explore other features. Why not build a drum machine that lets you collaborate with one of your friends on your IM list, or a sequencer that automatically posts ideas as you revise them? Just doing these things for the sake of it could be a waste of time, but on the other hand, these social features could turn Web 2.0 sites into places that actually inspire you to make and share music rather than distract you with mundane activities.

I love the idea; let us know if you have some fun with it.

Tweet A Sound { sound + software } [Andrew Spitz Blog]

I need voice recognition, because I’ve just covered my keyboard with drool.

The Teenage Engineering OP-1 (Operator 1) is a “pocket-sized” controller and synth. For once, it eschews the cliches of modern hardware design for a look that is truly 2009, influenced by the layout of classic Roland drum machines but made minimal and elegant. It’s a controller. It’s a synth. It has … an FM radio in it? (Yes, that’s FM radio, though it also has the FM synthesis you might expect.)

Features:

• Controller functions: transport controls, 4 rotary encoders, 16 dedicated “quick keys”
• Motion sensor so you can shake the thing
• Stand-alone synthesis (no computer needed), with 8 synth models, 8 samplers
• Synth models: FM synthesis, virtual analog, more (can’t tell what other synth models they intend)
• Effects: Delay, Flutter, Filters, EQ
• Sequencer — described as “at present time, secret.” A secret sequencer? Isn’t it already somewhat secret, seeing as the device isn’t shipping?
• Arpeggiator
• FM radio (so you can record Akufen-style radio samples?)
• Built-in mic, speaker
• Record to MP3
• 12 mm thin
• USB 2.0, minijacks for audio in / out+heaphones
• Battery-powered using the power connector, which is “the same as used in robotic automation applications”
• Holes for a carry strap

All of this has an unbelievably beautiful interface.

Teenage Engineering Operator-1

The only real question is, is all of this too good to be true? Teenage promises an initial run of 100 to the “beta” list, with the project completion slated for 10-12 months and price TBA. Now, we’ve heard that before, and painfully, we tend to see a rough correlation looking something like this:

But note, this is only correlation, not causation. That is, the awesomeness of something does not prevent it from shipping. So I’m holding out hope that the OP-1 will indeed see the light of day, and we’ll be sampling FM radio and programming FM synth sequences on a bus. I can’t wait.

(I’ll amend the illustration, and we’ll put the OP-1 alone in the upper right-hand corner of this graph.)

As noted in comments, LSDJ creator Johan Kotlinski is on the team, too. That makes the “secret” sequencer all the more tantalizing. (It still makes sense that it’d be some sort of step sequencer, given the hardware interface, but what kind?)

Teenage Engineering are not new to truly brilliant designs. They created an installation of toy-like robotic singers for Absolut – the vodka company – called Absolut Choir. Heck, I want these, too. Brilliant work.

Found via the wonderful True Chip Till Death.

More information

Operator-1 Details: The Casio VL-Tone of the 21st Century, Plus the Synth Alarm Clock!
High-Density Screens Due; OP-1’s Gorgeous Display

You’ve seen the splashy “sound just like –” headlines in various music magazines. But imitation is, after all, an essential form of musical development. Something magical happens as you try to imitate something – you begin to hear it differently. Sometimes you wind up nailing something exactly, and in the process discover how you might make your own, unique sounds. And sometimes, the process of translation falls apart, and instead of an imitation you go somewhere else altogether. But I do think you learn something by imitating, however successful you may be. You also often gain new appreciation for the track.

By popular demand, our friend and Live performance guru Gustavo Bravetti has unveiled the secrets behind a sound in his own performances, reminiscent of a tune that’s well-loved in certain circles:

How to program a “M.A.N.D.Y vs Booka Shade – Body Language” like sound, on Ableton Live’s Operator.

Note that I’m using Live8’s Operator. Fortunately all used parameters are backward compatible, so you can perform it on Live7’s Operator, and it will sound the same.

As Gustavo points out in comments, this is all about using a simple example as a window into learning Operator. And just as you might learn to solo on the piano from listening to Horace Silver over and over again, this can be a great way to sharpen your ear and learn more about synthesis.

I really happen to love the sounds from these artists and the Gustavian twist in this variation. I’m also struck, as I was when it came out, by the extent to which Ableton’s Operator is economical in its layout and synth parameters. I have other go-to soft synths, but I think Operator is remarkably fast to program – a testament to Robert Henke and the early Operator prototypes in Max/MSP.

Hope this is useful to your synth programming. Gustavo, keep them coming.

Gustavo Bravetti Blog [in Spanish]

The simple interface of Ableton’s Operator belies some truly lovely soundmaking capabilities. Our friend Francis Preve, a principle Ableton sound designer who has contributed hundreds of presets since 2004, has a new single out that makes use of some of those sonic possibilities, combining Operator with juicy spectral and granular effects in Live 7. As a gift to Ableton users on CDM, he’s giving us both the rack he used and some tips on squeezing noise out of the Ableton instrument. (By the way, I’m open to tips for other platforms, not just Ableton — ask for what you want!)

First, the EP: “Hasown / Less Cowbell” is out as a Beatport exclusive on Josh Gabriel’s new label, Different Pieces.
Hasown / Less Cowbell EP

Lots of the sound of “Less Cowbell” comes from some creative recreations Fran made of the 808 Cowbell, using Operator and Live effects (hello, grains). This is the actual patch he used. If you think this is some generic cowbell preset, think again: give the knobs a twist, and some wild sounds come out. I asked Fran to walk us through the patch:

“The essence of the original 808 Cowbell consisted of four simultaneous sawtooth waves at the following frequencies: 1.94 kHz, 1.37 kHz, 835 Hz, 555 Hz. By using the all-carrier Operator algorithm, fixed tuning, and a lot of tinkering with the envelopes, I was able to pretty much nail the original sound. From there, it was just a matter of creating a a bunch of Macros to manipulate as the groove developed.”

Here are the assignments for each Macro:

• LFO Rate: This controls the rate for the tempo-synced sawtooth LFO, which is assigned to all four operators’ pitch. The range is 1/48th note to 4 measures.
• LFO Amount: Overall amount of the LFO effect. Note that these parameters work best in conjunction with longer release times.
• Spectral Volume: Controls the volume of the 1.94 kHz, 1.37 kHz, and 835 Hz sawtooth waves. A value of 0 reduces the sound to just the 555 Hz sawtooth, whereas 127 is the full-on 808 Cowbell.
• Spectral Spread: Introduces positive detuning, spreading the frequencies from the root 555 Hz sawtooth all the way up to the 808 array. Great for rises and builds.
• LPF: Lowpass cutoff frequency.
• Falling Grain: This affects four different Grain Delay parameters simultaneously. The result is a dotted eighth-note delay that descends in pitch. Note that since the Grain Delay comes after the Reverb, some really unusual ambient effects can be created by adjusting both Macros simultaneously.
• Release: Overall release for the four operators. Range is 174 ms to 60 seconds.
• Reverb: Controls the decay time and amount of autopanning for a tempo-synced bouncing reverb effect. Used during the breakdowns for Less Cowbell.

You do need a copy of Operator to try this out, but even a demo copy of Operator will do. Live 7 only is needed, though of course Live 8 beta will work, too. (And I do expect we’ll have a load of new things to talk about once folks wrap their heads around the new release.)

Download it exclusively from CDM, right here (please do not directly link to this file; just link to the story):
Less_Cowbell_Operator_Patch.zip

As for the EP, you can grab this week’s release from Beatport, and next week Toolroom will feature the tracks “Yin” and “Yang”, collaborations between Francis and electro “it-boy” Wolfgang Gartner. Check out Francis’ MySpace page.

Personally, I love the idea. It’s all the rage to release special online toys to play with samples or iPhone apps or remix tools or whatever, but the full-blown preset means you can really make something quite different. (It’s something Ableton co-founders and members of Monolake once did with Max/MSP.)

Let us know how you like the patch, and if it inspires other ideas.

Previously:
Free Tutorials, Techno iPhone Ringtone from Francis Preve, Celebrating Single “Caboose”
Exclusive: Free Ableton Live Slicing Pack by Covert Operators

The iPhone and iPod Touch are getting their share of metronomes, guitar tuners, sonic toys, and even one fairly full-featured sample-based drum machine / arrangement tool (BeatMaker). But what about live synthesis? Noise.io (short for Noise for iPhone) claims to be the “first” synth. (I believe, technically, that honor goes to Einar Andersson’s iPhone synth, but that isn’t yet an official iTunes app, and it’s relatively basic by comparison.)

We’re waiting for a video demo and audio samples, and the developer warns that even the image above is an “ugly beta,” not the real thing. But we do know that the synth will incorporate:

ESFM technology – Enhanced Subspace Frequency Modulation. It’s an improved version of FM which has been developed especially for iPhone, the architecture has been redesigned to allow maximum user-friendly approach to creating new sounds.

(The developer explains what that means below.)

There’s also preset storage, tap BPM sync, and gestures for real-time sonic modification. There’s a curious-looking grid (shown at bottom) for modulation.

Noise for iPhone [Official Site. Warning: disturbing, nightclub-style black and pink color scheme]

Price: US$6.99

Availability: Real soon now

Many readers, particularly some loyalists to earlier, less-hyped PDAs and mobile devices, have dismissed some of the recent iPhone creations as “toys” – and in many cases, I agree. But, while I’ll believe it when I see it, I’m encouraged that this instrument is doing something unique with its interface and synthesis method – that is, making the touch interface something interesting and essential to the sound. That’s the kind of territory I hoped would be explored that’s been mostly untapped so far.

And if you don’t have an iPhone, don’t feel left out: the developers promise a plug-in version soon, for computers – with lots of natural advantages, like the ability to drop right into Ableton Live or route through effects. (Hey, I knew there was some reason we were carrying around those 6-pound laptops, eh?)

Mini-Interview with Developer

Amidio’s Ilya Tretiakov tells CDM about what the heck ESFM is (okay, doesn’t involve a flux capacitor or hyperdrive, as I theorized), how the synth performs, and what the plug-in will be like:

Noise.io will be available in the form of VST plugin at the end of this year. It is not supposed to interact in any way with the iPhone version – users will have to use mouse or MIDI controllers for tweaking the parameters and playing sounds live. We’re also planning to make the AU version as well.

Regarding Enhanced Subspace Frequency Modulation (ESFM): Ordinary approach to Frequency Modulation (that’s having operators and FM matrix) is too complicated for a non-expert, making it very difficult to create new sounds (because often the user doesn’t feel what causes changes in the sound when he’s tweaking the parameters).

ESFM is the new approach to Frequency Modulation method (which is best suited for making noise-based sounds and sound effects) which allows editing presets in a very evident manner. Currently there are four
operators that comprise the sound: Brother, Sister (waveform oscillators), Noizer (multiband noise oscillator), Filter (active multifilter module). All the operators can modulate (modify the nature of) themselves or another operator in a static or dynamic (via LFO or user’s gestures / accelerometer) ratio, this allows to create an immerse range of sounds.

At this stage, Noise.io is not intended to be polyphonic. The workchain looks like this: you fire up the Control Surface, and start sliding your fingers across the iPhone screen (just like in Korg’s Kaosspad or Kaossilator). Sounds are generally huge and massive, contain post-FX (especially my favorite "space  swooshes") and introducing polyphony seriously affects perfomance which is not acceptable for us.

I really like that it’s shipping not just as an iPhone app, but as a computer plug-in, as well. That’s not such an easy thing to do, and certainly wouldn’t be appropriate for everything, but I think this could become a trend in the long run for some synths. It’ll help, of course, if they’re synths that work well with making “swoosh” sounds with your finger gestures. (And incidentally, that may not only impact the Apple platforms, but future, smarter mobile platforms, as well. Mobile Linux soft synths, anyone?)

We’ll stay with this one as it develops.

Updated: The noise.io devs have posted a rough demo video:

Gustavo Bravetti has put together a free, exclusive FM8 drum kit in Ableton Live for CDM readers. More on the kit, FM8, and how to make the most of it, plus our download, at the Kore@CDM NI minisite:

Free Exclusive Download: FM8 Drum Kit for Ableton Live from Gustavo Bravetti

Here’s what the kit sounds like, using the demo clips included with the package (naturally, you’ll want to make your own patterns):

fm8kit.mp3

I love that it’s a synth kit rather than a sampled kit, as you can do things like this — just a quick demo I whipped up, same clips, modified only using synth and effects parameters in FM8, to "mess up" Gustavo’s pristine kit:

fm8kit_2.mp3

A quick survey revealed quite a few Live users I know who use both Operator and FM7 or FM8 from Native Instruments, proof positive that you can never have too much synthesis or too much FM. I know I regularly swap between the two, plus Image-Line’s Sytrus.

The kit is calling out for a Koresound and a full Live Drum Rack, so I’ll see what I can do. But I really do enjoy fabricating drum kits with synths. Whether I do it terribly well or not, I always feel closer to the resulting sounds. (Previously, Gustavo made bass drums and snares with Operator in video tutorials, though I prefer the FM8 sounds he’s done, personally!)

Tired of all those DIY electronics projects making an awful racket? This one is whisper-quiet. You may have to turn up your volume to hear it at all.

Project creator Andrew Benson (maker of many wonderful things for Cycling ‘74) writes:

I just finished sewing together an FM synthesizer that lives on a wristband and is controlled by a little brown button that serves as a knob and a pair of small pressure sensors made from conductive fabrics. The whole thing runs off of an attiny45 chip, which is a really cheap AVR microcontroller chip that I’ve programmed with some FM synthesis routines.

It is a quiet little noise-maker, and is super fun to play with. All of the electronic connections (except for the little hand-routed PCB) are made using conductive thread. I’m still working on some finishing touches like strengthening the weak points with embroidery and providing slightly better protection for the circuit, but the functionality is all there. Let me know what you think!

Project blog post
Flickr set
More YouTube videos (this and other crazy projects)

As it happens, one of my favorite projects from the spring ITP show at New York University was the Square Band by Rory Nugent:

A wearable, portable square-wave synthesizer designed to be worn around the wrist so that he or she can be musically expressive whenever the moment strikes them.

Rows of buttons run along the underside of the wearer’s wrist for triggering of musical tones and a light sensor is available for shifting the pitch of the tones being played. This design allows for a form of musical expression that integrates itself very intimately with the human body. Tapping with the fingers plays tones and movement of the wrist and arm shifts these tones in pitch up and down.

Square Band @ ITP NYU Show Page
Rory Nugent Blog
As seen by our inestimable friend Collin Cunningham at the MAKE: blog

Solar panels? Fun, simple beat making? I’m sold.

Whether this appeals to you or not, you can bet that the growing availability, cheapness, and ease-of-use of small microprocessors will mean synths everywhere. Could be even cooler than that Dick Tracy wrist phone, after all.

Some time ago, we ran a story on a boutique German synth called the Rozzbox. Laden with knobby goodness, the Rozzbox was available only in limited quantities, and only to those fortunate enough to be in Germany (or somehow miraculously got in touch with the creator and pried one from his hands).

Tweakers rejoice! The Rozzbox has finally made it to the US, with distribution being handled by Big City Music. Still only available in limited quantities, we suspect that the Rozzbox will go fast – even at nearly $1950USD. Its unique architecture sets its tone somewhere between a broken-DX7-run-through-a-Sherman-Filterbank and an old-school gaming system turned synth. Full specs available on the Big City Music site, and demos available on the Rozzbox site (in German).

Ed.: Looks like this one has tweaked the interest of Chris @ Audio Damage, too.

And here’s a video in action from the folks at Big City Music that gives you a sense of its range of timbre. (Sure you can make it more musical when you take it home and off the chaos of the show floor!)