ComfortableInClouds

Hi - how would one go about ridding a monophonic synth of clicks? I have built a drum synthesizer that I am quite happy with, except that if it gets retriggered there is a click. I don't want to use poly~ because I want a retrigger to start the sound over from the beginning, rather than to have multiple voices playing at the same time. how is it that in a program like Live, when a monophonic sound gets retriggered there is no click?

any help will be much appreciated. thanks!

clickless-monosynth

If you send the patch, it will help, but chances are you just need

some kind of [line~] that takes 10 ms or whatever to get to wherever

your trigger start is. But just copy the patch and we can figure out

On Mon, Dec 29, 2008 at 2:37 PM, Kyle Kaplan wrote:

> Hi - how would one go about ridding a monophonic synth of clicks? I have built a drum synthesizer that I am quite happy with, except that if it gets retriggered there is a click. I don't want to use poly~ because I want a retrigger to start the sound over from the beginning, rather than to have multiple voices playing at the same time. how is it that in a program like Live, when a monophonic sound gets retriggered there is no click?

> any help will be much appreciated. thanks!

If you send the patch, it will help, but chances are you just need
some kind of [line~] that takes 10 ms or whatever to get to wherever
your trigger start is.  But just copy the patch and we can figure out
something specific.

On Mon, Dec 29, 2008 at 2:37 PM, Kyle Kaplan  wrote:
>
> Hi - how would one go about ridding a monophonic synth of clicks? I have built a drum synthesizer that I am quite happy with, except that if it gets retriggered there is a click. I don't want to use poly~ because I want a retrigger to start the sound over from the beginning, rather than to have multiple voices playing at the same time. how is it that in a program like Live, when a monophonic sound gets retriggered there is no click?
>
> any help will be much appreciated. thanks!
> --
> -k.
>


here's the patch. i tend to be sparse on my labeling in the GUI since it looks cleaner and makes one learn their patches better. i'm sure if you give it a few minutes and look at the unlocked patcher mode it'll be clear enough. There's a lot of cables, but everything is in patched in a logical, clear order.

Have a look to adsr~ object. It have a retrigger feature and if 

someday you want to reconsider using poly~ it will make things easier.

> Hi - how would one go about ridding a monophonic synth of clicks? I 

> have built a drum synthesizer that I am quite happy with, except 

> that if it gets retriggered there is a click. I don't want to use 

> poly~ because I want a retrigger to start the sound over from the 

> beginning, rather than to have multiple voices playing at the same 

> time. how is it that in a program like Live, when a monophonic sound 

Have a look to adsr~ object. It have a retrigger feature and if  
someday you want to reconsider using poly~ it will make things easier.

On 29 déc. 08, at 23:37, Kyle Kaplan   
wrote:

>
> Hi - how would one go about ridding a monophonic synth of clicks? I  
> have built a drum synthesizer that I am quite happy with, except  
> that if it gets retriggered there is a click. I don't want to use  
> poly~ because I want a retrigger to start the sound over from the  
> beginning, rather than to have multiple voices playing at the same  
> time. how is it that in a program like Live, when a monophonic sound  
> gets retriggered there is no click?
>
> any help will be much appreciated. thanks!
> --
> -k.


poly~ would be simpler, but it's not what I'm looking for. With a drum synth, I found that when I use poly~ there are weird interference problems that distort the drum.

i'll look into adsr. thanks for the advice.

I can try offering a thoughts. I think the problem could be, if the old note level has not yet reached zero before a new gate starts, there will be a discontinuity in the output wave that causes a click. If you don't want an ADSR, you'd have to fade the old note out before the new note starts manually, or if it's level is low enough, ensure the new wave starts at a zero transition. Typically if you want a sharp attack, this results in a little latency before the new gate starts. If you don't need a sharp attack then a short crossfade may be the best solution.

just implemented ADSR. WONDERFUL! Exactly what I was looking for.

probably a wise decision! Glad it works out for you. You could still get a click if the release is not close enough to zero when the new note starts. Decay and release fall logarithmically and never quite reaches zero in theory. In practical terms, with audio playback at 16- or 24-bit precision, the level sinks into the noise floor, thus producing no discernible click.

Quote: stefantiedje wrote on Tue, 06 January 2009 06:51

----------------------------------------------------

> 2. Use a poly~ with two voices, switch of the old voice if you switch on 

> the new, apply a short envelope for switching off.

Quote: stefantiedje wrote on Tue, 06 January 2009 06:51
----------------------------------------------------
> 2. Use a poly~ with two voices, switch of the old voice if you switch on 
> the new, apply a short envelope for switching off.

Quote: stefantiedje wrote on Tue, 06 January 2009 12:51

> I would rethink the decision about not using poly~...

> I bet Live is doing the same, but doesn't tell...

absolutely. it is not about not telling. to the average user it just doesn't play two or more voices at the same time. even if technically it really does (for 5 ms or so), that does not make it a polyphonic instrument all of a sudden. it is a monophonic instrument designed in such a way that it doesn't click.

Quote: stefantiedje wrote on Tue, 06 January 2009 12:51
----------------------------------------------------

> I would rethink the decision about not using poly~...
> I bet Live is doing the same, but doesn't tell...
>
> Stefan

absolutely. it is not about not telling. to the average user it just doesn't play two or more voices at the same time. even if technically it really does (for 5 ms or so), that does not make it a polyphonic instrument all of a sudden. it is a monophonic instrument designed in such a way that it doesn't click.


Another source of clicks can arise when changing switch positions. I built a number of synths which provide switchless change of most parameters, some supporting over 100 modulations. You can find them here but they are for Reaktor:

I am planning to transition some of the designs to max msp, Cycling 74, but it could take a long time, there are quite large designs. I'm open to suggestions as to which pieces to do first. I put a thread for the topic here:

http://heavensonearth.com/forums/General-Reaktor-Issues.html

as others besides current max/msp users may be interested in the topic.

http://heavensonearth.com/forums/General-Reaktor-Issues.html 

as others besides current max/msp users may be interested in the topic.


Clickless Monosynth?