“ontextC” – Technical Diary 7

What happened so far?

While I managed to get a (very imperfect, but at least audible) signal through my phase vocoder pfft patch, changing the FFT size manually and incrementally while playing the audio was not possible within its framework. I researched options for this, and found that something similar to the block~ object in pure data might help fix this problem, but unfortunately all the equivalents or similar objects I found during my search did not work for this purpose, so I had to look into other options. I briefly considered writing an external, but quickly realized that this would require a whole new toolbox and set of skills, which would not work within the timeframe I had set for myself. But during the time I studied max patches from others I stumbled across a promising option: Volker Böhm’s vb.stretch~, an external which is based on the Paulstretch algorithm and provides the parameters I had wanted to include in my compiled plug-in anyways. I was not entirely sure why I had not stumbled across it earlier during my research, because I had already looked for externals once, but decided to try it out in the context of my patch and came up with sounds results that were so far the most similar to what I was looking (or in this case listening) for.

Exploring the parameter options of the external

Ongoing

With a working patch, now the plan is to fine tune parameters, iron out inconsistencies and get a more refined prototype with a simple GUI working.

Results and Reflection

Honestly, while I was glad to have found a solution with sound results I liked, I initially felt a bit disappointed and discouraged that my intended solution did not work out the way I had wanted it to, since I had already put so many hours into exploring and setting it up. But that is part of an iterative process, and it is a process I have learned a lot from – much more than had I immediately found the external. The current setup allows me to more freely explore and improve other aspects of the patch, and gives me more time to work on usability and actually using and testing the patch in my own productions.

Objectives for Next Time

  • fix EQ inconsistencies and pitch shift units
  • look into and start setting up a (simplified) GUI for testing in the form of a max4live device
  • plan which parameters might be best to explore for the exhibit

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