New Synthesis and Processing Algorithms Added to KymaAggregate Synthesis Modules for Live Effects and Sound Design
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February 6, 2002
Symbolic Sound Corporation has added a new family of
sound synthesis techniques known collectively as "Aggregate Synthesis" to the large collection
of sound synthesis and processing modules already available in their Kyma sound design
workstation.
In Aggregate Synthesis, complex timbres are constructed using banks of simpler elements. Most
people are already familiar with one form of Aggregate Synthesis: the classic "additive
synthesis" in which hundreds of sine wave oscillators are combined to create complex, evolving
timbres. Symbolic Sound has extended that technique to include banks of other sound
generating elements such as filters, grain clouds, and synthesized impulse responses.
Aggregate Synthesis algorithms can be used to resynthesize a live or recorded spectrum or to
generate purely synthetic spectra.
Implemented as new modules for the award-winning Kyma sound design workstation, the new
algorithms include:
CloudBank - A bank of grain clouds, each cloud assigned its own amplitude and frequency
envelope in addition to the usual granular synthesis controls like density, grain duration,
frequency jitter, etc.
FilterBank - A bank of bandpass filters, each controlled by a center frequency and amplitude
envelope with the additional parameter of bandwidth.
FormantBank - A bank of synthesized impulse responses, each with its own amplitude and
frequency envelope plus an additional control on the frequency of the formants, independent of
the fundamental frequency control.
Aggregate Synthesis modules are controlled by the same SpectrumSource modules that control
the Additive Synthesis modules in Kyma. This means that Aggregate Synthesis can be used to
resynthesize a live audio input or pre-analyzed spectra stored on disk. By supplying an array of
amplitude and frequency values, you can also generate purely synthetic Aggregate Synthesis
spectra.
Other New Sounds
In addition to the aggregate synthesis modules, other new modules and expressions in Kyma
5.2 include:
New kinds of noise for adding jitter to parameters - By adding a little jitter to parameters,
you can make your sounds more lively and less static. But uniform random white noise can,
itself, start to sound a little static and boring. The new "HotPink Noise" module has more
structure to its randomness: small changes happen often, medium changes happen less often,
and large changes happen even less often. For example, if you use HotPink Noise to control a
parameter such as pitch, you will hear lots of small changes (like vibrato), some medium-sized
changes (like pitch sequences), and every once in a while you hear a large change (like a
transposition to a new tonal center).
There is another structured source of jitter that you can use in Kyma 5.2: an expression that
gives you a new chaotic number each time you trigger it. This expression uses the famous
"interval of the map" in which the "orbits" of individual values exhibit behavior ranging from
simple repeating cycles, to almost-but-not-quite repeating cycles, to chaos.
New modules for extracting individual partials from a spectrum - Kyma users will
appreciate a new set of modules that make it easy to extract specific amplitude or frequency
tracks out of a spectrum and also let you track the fundamental or the voiced/unvoiced
envelopes of a harmonic spectrum for use as control signals.
New waveshaper whose shaping function can be altered while it is processing the
input - The InputOutputCharacteristic lets you specify audio-rate input values and their
corresponding output values. This module can be used in a wide range of applications including
dynamic compression, waveform modulation, timbre waveshaping, distortion, sieves to restrict
the allowable random values, and other forms of input to output warping.
Applications
Aggregate Synthesis defines a whole new category of rich and lively timbres that can range
from the highly realistic to the completely bizarre. Because Aggregate Synthesis is based on
real world samples, it shares the liveliness and infinite variety of sampling. But because it uses
alternate generators to independently resynthesize each partial of the spectrum, it gives you
additional parameters that you can't get from sampling: the FilterBank gives you a bandwidth
(like a "fuzziness" control in graphics); the FormantBank gives you independent control over
the fundamental and formant frequencies (like size-warping in the graphics world); and the
CloudBank gives you control over density, grain size, the rate of triggering and the jitter -
analogous to being able to "pixelate" an image.
Sound designers, composers, and remixers can use these algorithms for realistic resynthesis
that degenerates into special effects or to resynthesize tracks as grain clouds or bandpass filters
in order to warp them in multiple dimensions. Thanks to Kyma's dedicated sound computation
engine, performers can also use Aggregate Synthesis live on stage to process their instruments
and voices.
Price and Availability
These new modules (and more) are part of the Kyma 5.2 release scheduled for January 2002,
which will be free to registered Kyma.5 users.
For more information, visit their web site at www.symbolicsound.com. | 
