unwanted clicks in a synth-patch

n871's icon

Hello,

I have created a very simple synth-patch. Is there a way to avoid the unwanted "clicks" when playing notes? I guess they are caused by the sudden volume change when a key is pressed down. When I connect a line object to have a volume envelope with a very slow fade in/out I don't have the problem, but I want an immediate attack, any solutions?

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thank you!

brendan mccloskey's icon
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Hi
instead of scaling the output by velocity instantaneously, you can insert a ramp of 1 or 2ms, which will mask a DSP click of this nature and I defy your ears to notice a difference. Psycho-acousticians may disagree . . .

Brendan

n871's icon

Hello Brendan, thank you for your patch!! works really good. It did eliminate the clicks when I press down a key,
but there is still a click when I release the key. Would it be possible to solve this problem as well? Most notes are
preceded with a release of a previous key, so there are still clicks on almost every note.

brendan mccloskey's icon

Hmmm, if only there was an object that would select a velocity value of zero

. . . . and that's all you're getting!!

:)

Roman Thilenius's icon

"immediate attack" and "no sudden volume change" is a 1st order contradiction.

you must try to find a compromise here when applying volume envelopes to an oscillator.

one thing you can do - which can also be found in expensive analog circuits - is to apply a lowpassfilter at the beginning of the envelope, which kind of rounds the attack when it is too short.

it is tempting now to ask why you want to suppress clicks and pops anyway? they are what makes synth sounds sexy. best is when the clicks are not static, which is what happens hen you apply envelopes to a free running oscillator, so that notes start at different phases.

it is not a bug, it is a feature. :)

-110

Roman Thilenius's icon

oh btw, you could also try to use a highpassfilter. this is how you can get the best bells in an FM synth ... allow short attacks only on the high frequency operators.

n871's icon

Thank you for the ideas Roman,

to clear a few things up :)

the sudden volume change is what I want, but the clicks are just too much, I can't remember having these sounds on my moog..if I play typical virtuosic "low-note priority"-passages, the clicks become really annoying.

I guess I have to implement a "release-ramp" of few milliseconds, just like the attack-ramp brendan
made for me, I was kind of hoping he would do this for me haha :D I will do some more research and make it happen.

n871's icon

ok, so I managed to make a new patch, the clicks are gone, but...
when I press a key while holding another one, the clicks are back..

the first bang object (when velocity > 0) shouldn't be retriggered before
the second bang object (velocity = 0) has been activated.

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Maybe I should add memory somehow so that the first bang works "if $i1 = 0
and previous value = 0"..

n871's icon

et voila ;)

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check out this patch..