Undersong

Undersong is a Max for Live device that plays along with whatever you send it. It's technically an audio effect, but it acts more like an instrument.

It's based on an idea I had for a live performance that ended up taking on a life of its own. The short version is that everything Undersong plays comes from the audio coming in. It listens to your track for "action", like a pluck, a drum hit or a swell, and each of those can spawn a particle. A particle is one small synthesized note, often a pluck but not always, and it's always in key. Soft playing gets soft and lower responses, and digging in gets you brighter ones.

I feel like Undersong is something that wishes to be the main focus of a composition, but how you use it is totally up to you. I really enjoy using it as the centerpiece of ambient jams with a bit of percussion or a slow moving bassline alongside. If you're not sure where to start, send in a drum loop (even just a series of blips or clicks will work...) and just experiment for a while. Twist some knobs and see what you find. You can't break it.

The particles can be one of 12 materials, mostly inspired by modular synthesis techniques. Each material can then be performed and shaped by one of 10 modes and 10 patterns. That makes for 1200 combinations before you turn a single dial. One of the modes, Aurora, stops making particles altogether and turns into a self-generating ambient pad that your playing strikes. It's one of my favorite things in the device.

I tried to build this like a playground for ambient performances. It's maybe a bit like sitting down at someone else's modular rig. I've set up an environment that I think is inspiring and I hope you can find your way around and enjoy it as well. There's various ideas and features hidden throughout (in plain sight) that work nicely together or on their own. Gravity, an idea I brought over from my Augur device, pulls the notes toward your root so the melodies sound like they're actually in your key. With Ear on, it listens for the pitch you're playing and answers in unison, with the very first transient of your audio coming through and being fused with the particle note partway through. Grain plays tiny pieces of your own audio back as notes, and Input also lets little glimpses of your audio through, so you hear the thwack of your pick or your snare, but ringing at the particle's note.

Step puts everything on a steady rhythm, one note per step, with Density deciding how busy it is. The notes still come from whatever you're playing. Step plus the Loop pattern is a fun little corner to jam in. There's a Drone dial that builds a bed under everything, and 35 scales plus your own custom ones. Space is a quick one-knob reverb, because I really like reverb and I think almost every one of my devices has received at least a little reverb, just in case you need it quick.

In Aurora, turn Voice and Timbre all the way up and the pad starts to fall apart. That's my favorite spot, with imperfections everywhere.

I think what I feel the most proud about with Undersong is that it feels, to me, like a proper instrument. It takes some getting to know it but also it starts working immediately. You can use it without diving deep and still get nice results, but the real rewards are earned by exploration.