Gemdays 2010

I'll be talking at the "MaxMSP Powerusers Symposium" ;-) at the Gemdays 2010 festival in Huddersfield on the 30th Jan. It's free and runs from 1pm till 5. More info here:

http://www.gemdays.co.uk/

autotalent msp port

I ported Tom Baran's open source LADSPA auto-tuner to an msp object. It works pretty well, but the pitch shifting is a bit grungy at the moment.

http://www.olilarkin.co.uk/blog/files/ol_autotalent~v0-2.zip [EDIT - new version]

ol.vstpattr vst~ wrapper

A wrapper for vst~ exposing the parameters to pattr

http://www.olilarkin.co.uk/blog/files/ol.vstpattr_v0-1.zip

ol.dinsync~ max external

I've uploaded a beta version of a new max external that i made in order to sync drum machines and sequencers that use dinsync, such as the 808, 303, 606 etc to Max.

It works with a suitable audio interface that passes DC, such as most MOTU interfaces. An added bonus is that you can slew the dinsync signal in order to make the drum machine swing.

To do this i had to solder together a cable to go from two 1/4" jack outputs on my MOTU 828 MkII to a dinsync 5 pin din connector. You can find info here about what pins to connect to what: http://www.doepfer.de/faq/gen_faq.htm#Sync



Download it here: (windows and mac, source included)
http://www.olilarkin.co.uk/blog/files/ol_dinsync-v0-1.zip

Maxbuild v0-1

When i make an external, i usually duplicate an existing one. I got really tired of going through and doing find and replace in multiple files for Xcode and Visual Studio, so i decided to make a bash script and folder layout (with template projects) to automate the process.

To duplicate a project you simply have to open a terminal window, cd to your max external projects folder and type:

sh duplicate.sh [inputprojectname] [outputprojectname]

e.g.

oliver-larkins-macbook-pro-15:maxbuild oli$ sh duplicate.sh mb.msp~ ol.mynewmspexternal~

The script copies your project and then goes through all the files and substitutes the old project name for the new one you specify, both in the file name and inside the files. When making changes inside the c or cpp files, the class/function/struct names etc. are substituted but tildes and dots are removed where they would cause problems for the compiler. It includes the following template externals, which have VS2008 express and Xcode 3.1 projects:

• mb.max - a basic vanila max external
• mb.maxobex - a basic max object with obex for pattr/attribute functionality
• mb.maxcpp - a basic c++ max external (with obex)
• mb.msp~ a basic vanilla msp external
• mb.mspobex~ a basic msp object with obex for pattr/attribute functionality
• mb.mspcpp~ a basic c++ msp external (with obex)

Thanks to Graham Wakefield for the C++ templates.

I develop Max externals first on OSX, so it made sense to do the script in bash. I expect you could do a similar thing in Windows too, maybe using cygwin or something similar.

there's a readme with instructions. At the moment this is set up for the MaxUB sdk (4.6). I will add support for the 5.x sdk in the next version.

http://www.olilarkin.co.uk/blog/files/MaxBuild-v0-1.zip

Synth Secrets Links

I searched for a list of direct links to the Sound on Sound Synth Secrets series. This site had a lot but was missing some intros. Here's an HTML file with all the intros to the articles, and here is the list on its own:

1. What's In A Sound?
   
2. The Physics Of Percussion
   
3. Modifiers & Controllers
   
4. Of Filters & Phase Relationships
   
5. Further With Filters
   
6. Of Responses And Resonance
   
7. Envelopes, Gates & Triggers
   
8. More About Envelopes
   
9. An Introduction To VCAs
   
10. Modulation
    
11. Amplitude Modulation
    
12. An Introduction To Frequency Modulation
    
13. More On Frequency Modulation
    
14. An Introduction To Additive Synthesis
    
15. An Introduction To ESPS And Vocoders
    
16. From Sample And Hold To Sample-rate Converters (1)
    
17. From Sample And Hold To Sample-rate Converters (2)
    
18. Priorities And Triggers
    
19. Duophony
    
20. Introducing Polyphony
    
21. From Polyphony To Digital Synths
    
22. From Springs, Plates & Buckets to Physical Modelling
    
23. Formant Synthesis
    
24. Synthesizing Wind Instruments
    
25. Synthesizing Brass Instruments
    
26. Brass Synthesis On A Minimoog
    
27. Roland SH101/ARP Axxe Brass Synthesis
    
28. Synthesizing Plucked Strings
    
29. The Theoretical Acoustic Guitar Patch
    
30. A Final Attempt To Synthesize Guitars
    
31. Synthesizing Percussion
    
32. Practical Percussion Synthesis
    
33. Synthesizing Drums: The Bass Drum
    
34. Practical Bass Drum Synthesis
    
35. Synthesizing Drums: The Snare Drum
    
36. Practical Snare Drum Synthesis
    
37. Analysing Metallic Percussion
    
38. Synthesizing Realistic Cymbals
    
39. Practical Cymbal Synthesis
    
40. Synthesizing Bells
    
41. Synthesizing Cowbells & Claves
    
42. Synthesizing Pianos
    
43. Synthesizing Acoustic Pianos On The Roland JX10
    
44. Synthesizing Acoustic Pianos On The Roland JX10
    
45. Synthesizing Acoustic Pianos On The Roland JX10
    
46. Synthesizing Strings: String Machines
    
47. Synthesizing Strings, PWM & String Sounds
    
48. Synthesizing Bowed Strings: the Violin family
    
49. Practical Bowed-string Synthesis
    
50. Practical Bowed-string Synthesis (continued
    
51. Articulation & Bowed-string Synthesis
    
52. Synthesizing Pan Pipes
    
53. Synthesizing Simple Flutes
    
54. Practical Flute Synthesis
    
    
    

EMS Sequencer 32

EMS Sequencer 32 1, originally uploaded by olilarkin.

I uploaded some photos of one of the earliest digital sequencers made by EMS, found in a cupboard at work. Not the most exciting thing to look at but historically interesting imo. Check out those shiny switches. It works too!