wevans@elec.gla.ac.uk

For those who enjoy useful, hard problems with only a few simple variables -- this one might interest you.

I am trying to create a (relatively) simple (mostly) monophonic sample playback patch that responds as quickly as Kontakt or Sampletank, especially on Windows. It will run as a stand-alone application. (I know you're thinking there's a million possible variables here; when you see it, though, it just comes down to the patch.)

The patch is designed to replicate bagpipes. After this message, I will paste my two latest attempts to create this patch. What clever/dumb thing am I missing?

Sound #1: There is a 1-minute sample (the drone) that plays continuously in the background. It is not possible to loop this sound, so I cross-fade two instances the buffer to each other. Works great. (Thank you, tap.tools.)

Sound #2: A monophonic sample playback engine matches a specific sample for each of 11 incoming MIDI notes. No loops - the sound just ends (which it's supposed to).

Challenge: No clicks on the monophonic playback engine.

Solution: We can't fade into each note - that takes too long. So, I do it on the other end: When a new note comes in, the old one fade out very quickly. For a brief time, both are playing - but the listener doesn't perceive it, and there is no click. Works great (but not quickly).

Below are the two patches I've tried to implement the above-described patch. When compiled as an application, it runs remarkably fast. Of the two, Patch A is the fastest; it's only 1-2 ms short on Windows (XP). Mac is OK (barely!).

Challenge: No clicks on the monophonic playback engine. 

in-search-of-realtime-performance

Just to say, I implemented something like this a few months back using a midi keyboard, running into a poly~ with an sfplay~ inside. It was pretty responsive as I recall.

Sorry to say I'm not near a copy of Max at the moment so can't look through your patches. If you're doing something like this already then I'm sorry for the noise.

In Search of Realtime Performance