Transient Designer built in Max?

AudioLemon's icon

Hello,

Does anybody know of a transient designer built in Max - I did a few searches but came up blank. I looked at the description of the SPL Transient Designer and tried to build one but it didn't seem to work.

"SPL Transient Designer works by using two envelope generators for the attack and two more for the release. On the attack side, one generator follows accurately the original signal amplitude while the second does the same thing but with a slower attack. Subtracting these envelopes produces a control signal that can be used either to increase or decrease the level of the audio depending on whether the Attack control is turned clockwise or anticlockwise from its centre position. A similar methodology is used to derive the release control envelope. The outcome is that any attack transients can be cut or boosted by up to 15dB and the sustain can be increased or decreased by up to 24dB."

Would somebody be able to point me to a post or patch?

AudioLemon's icon

Death by Forum - no takers?

AudioMatt's icon

probably not the answer you're looking for but [vst~] might be a good option.

Peter McCulloch's icon

Got the attack, but still working on the release. I smell a MaxForLive device in this.

I'm also a sucker for effects involving envelope following.

AudioLemon's icon

Thanks Peter - I was building a patch I build on the modular -http://messageboard.tapeop.com/viewtopic.php?t=49994&sid=c4b6dd4142a5775192cb0c1da7fd1f91 - it's a compressor patch but it gives you very good attack/decay controls very much like a transient designer. It works well with drum loops but I was trying to extend or lift the release portion of an 808 kick and it wasn't working so well. The 2 envelope generators in the SPL description is a bit confusing and they don't say much about the release other than it is the same as the attack - do you think they just arbitrarily decide on a delay time to start the second envelope??? - might try that :)

Peter McCulloch's icon

Well, if it's an 808 Kick that you're going for, may I suggest checking out my AnalogKick patch? Very easy to tweak the sustain of the kick, and it's modelled on the 808, so it sounds pretty decent in comparison.

AudioLemon's icon

I downloaded the kick starter and it really is pretty animal - the kicks are beefy and fairly insanely controllable :) I have an 808 and a Miami Clone here I use with various people and there is an effect or particular sound I am after. I could use a VST~ like AudioMatt said but I am having such fun lately using my own devices. I feel like M4L gave me back computer music. When I use VSTs i tend to just slap them on but I don't care about them if I use one of my own even if it is not as good I tend to treat it with more TLC and I am willing to play around with it to find the sweet spots. Stupid of course and purely an emotional thing but it excites me more so the music tends to be better... I'll tinker around some more and see if I can't get that second envelope gen to make some sense.

Thanks for the responses - death by forum can be depressing :)

roger.carruthers's icon

Peter- big fan of your stuff, so here's preempting the request for a .maxpat version of whatever you come up with We don't all own M4L, and as grizzle says, it's more fun when you can see what's under the hood.
Cheers
Roger

Peter McCulloch's icon

No worries, I'll post a plain Max version, too, for my free devices. I'm trying to work my way back through my Max4Live devices and post them as Max 6 Projects. (AnalogKick is available in that format...next up is CRONE)

Peter McCulloch's icon

@Grizzle: It's not a gen, per se, at least as I read it. I think it's just two envelope followers with different rates and then you're comparing the differential. I'm doing it in decibels, which seems to help, since it preserves relative scale.

Probably be a couple of days before I get back to it, but will post when done.

Peter McCulloch's icon

Took a bit, but it's ready: (video, too)
http://www.subtlesonic.com/envelopeshaper/

Max and MaxForLive versions are both available.

@Grizzle: I toyed around with the second envelope gen, but it just never worked as a separate entity. What did work, however, was to simply say that everything that's not an attack is a decay, and proceed accordingly from there. I added a couple of controls that aren't in the original (it's not a 2 knob affair anymore), but I think that much of the functionality is the same.

Anyways, feedback welcome...

AudioLemon's icon

Peter - that is so decent of you. I am downloading it now and I will check it out later on tonight and get back to you.

roger.carruthers's icon

Love it.
That transient detection method is beautifully simple but so effective. I've already incorporated it into a couple of patches - see here, for example: https://cycling74.com/forums/sharing-is-feeding-back-what-goes-around-and-around-and-around
Elegant, as ever,
cheers
Roger

AudioLemon's icon

Just playing with it now - it works well. Emphasises the attacks and sucks up the splash - only tried it on loops so far and it works well. I like having the few extra controls - more to poke around with :)

I have to head out in a minute but I'll try it with the 808 kick tomorrow. The decay on the 808 is exponential but sometimes you want it punchier so I am looking forward to trying the curve controls.