Darwin Grosse

Welcome to the third part of our tutorial on creating an automatic sampling system! This time out, we're going to clean up the process we've created to do our recording.

ROBO-3.zip

In the last outing from our holiday tutorial series we were able to create automated sample runs and get some nice recordings. But, alas, the results aren’t too spectacular: there is a gap at the front of the sound file, a long empty spot at the back of the sample, and no easy way to clean that up.

My first thoughts on the subject were to tighten up the recording process: to detect volume changes at note-on to clean up the front gap, and to add some detection logic on the back end of the file to decide when the note had faded into the noise floor. But along the way, I realized something important: this isn’t a real-time operation, so we don’t need to overwhelm ourselves with real-time processes. Instead, we can do some post-recording processing and come up with an easier-to-understand (and easier to develop) file ‘cleaner’!

If we are going to be doing processing of the sound, we don’t really want to record it to a file. Instead, we should be recording sound into an audio buffer that we can manipulate before we save it. This approach points us to the combo of the 

 objects. Here’s a basic replacement of the 

 functionality we added in last week’s tutorial (

ROBO-3a.png

Since the order of operations is important, we use 

 objects to make sure things fire as they should. You’ll notice that our operation changes a bit - we start by clearing the buffer, and then we temporarily ‘stash’ the filename into a 

 object. This is important because we have to do the recording before we attempt to save it. Thus, when the end hits, we send a 

If we try our recording now, everything should end up with the same (somewhat disappointing) results. Let’s make it better!

Since we’ve already started using Javascript to make our app more functional, let’s continue down that path. One of the interesting little corners of the “Javascript In Max” document is the section on the Buffer Object - a Javascript object that gives you direct access to any 

ROBO-3b.png

If we dive into it, there is only a little information - things like buffer length (in milliseconds), framecount (the number of samples per channel) and number of channels. But there are a few more tricky bits: the peek/poke combo, which allow us to get and update individual samples, and the send function, which lets us send 

 commands to the Buffer Object in our script. And we are going to use these to outright terrorize our recording buffer!

 object in the path of our processing. In this case, we are going to put it after the delay that finished up the recording; this will give a place to put a 

 object that will be the traffic cop for all of the operations to follow.

ROBO-3c.png

First, we stop the recording (by sending a 0 to the 

 object), then we tell the Javascript object to do its processing (by sending it a 

 message). All of the processing from here is managed by the Javascript object; this allows us to finish our processing before we start the next note-on request.

ROBO-3d.png

We have a few variables to hold the buffer reference, and to hold the sample rate (which could change in between calls). Next, we have a routine that is called, and checks the first 10 milliseconds for the highest value; that will be considered the noise floor for the recording.

ROBO-3e.png

Next, we then have two routines: one that starts at the beginning and looks for the first sample larger than the noise floor, and one that starts at the end and looks for the last sample that is larger than the noise floor.

ROBO-3f.png

 message…) that will verify the sample rate, get the threshold, and call the start and end points detectors. It then sends a ‘

’ message to the buffer to trim the front and the back of the sample. Following that, it sends out a 

 message - which allows our patch to continue.

If we run this code as-is, it all seems to working well - but the result is still a little unsatisfactory. The issue is that the end of the file cuts off unnaturally, and the chopped noise floor is not a great sound. So we can add one more routine to the file which does a linear fade-out at the end of the sample (and call it from within the 

 function). This will smooth out the endgame a little, and make a file that will be a lot nicer to use in a sampler.

ROBO-3g.png

Now we are cooking, and after recording we have a file that’s a lot more conducive to using in a musical way:

ROBO-3h.png

This time out, we’ve learned a little about buffer hacking with Javascript. We’ve also learned about how to sequence our processing functions correctly. If you are looking to extend the functionality of this project, you could change the fade-out to be more natural, centralize the note duration (which would include changing the recording time) or properly handle channel counts. But in any case, you should have the tools at hand to make some interesting sampling results.

Next week, when we will make what we've created into a sharable standalone application. In the meantime, here’s the full Javascript source as text. Enjoy!

autowatch = 1;
outlets = 1;

var buf = new Buffer("filebuff");
var sr = 44100;

// find the noise floor threshold
// ------------------------------
function getThreshold() {
    var ext = Math.floor(sr * .01);    // work with the first 10 ms...
    var tops = top2 = 0;
    var temp = [];
 
     // now, scan channel one
    temp = buf.peek(1, 0, ext);
    tops = temp.reduce(function(a, b) {
        return Math.max(a, Math.abs(b));
    });
 
     tmp = buf.peek(2, 0, ext);
    top2 = tmp.reduce(function(a, b) {
        return Math.max(a, Math.abs(b));
    });
 
     return Math.max(tops, top2);
}

// find the first place in the file that breaches the threshold.
// -------------------------------------------------------------
function getStart(threshold) {
    var i = 0;
    var start = 0;
 
     while (i < buf.framecount()) {
        if (Math.abs(buf.peek(1, i, 1)) > threshold) {
            start = i;
            break;
        }
        if (Math.abs(buf.peek(2, i, 1)) > threshold) {
            start = i;
            break;
        }
        i++;
    }
    return start;
}

// find the last place in the file that breaches the threshold.
// ------------------------------------------------------------
function getEnd(threshold) {
    var i = buf.framecount();
    var end = i;
    
    while (i > 0) {
        if (Math.abs(buf.peek(1, i, 1)) > threshold) {
            end = i;
            break;
        }
        if (Math.abs(buf.peek(2, i, 1)) > threshold) {
            end = i;
            break;
        }
        i--;
    }
    return end;
}

// fade out the last 20 ms
// -----------------------
function fadeEnd() {
    var samps = sr * .02;
    var val = pos = pct = 0;
 
     if (buf.framecount() < samps) {
        return;
    };
 
     for (var i=0; i<samps; i++) {
        pos = buf.framecount() - i;
        pct = i / samps;
 
         val = buf.peek(1, pos, 1) * pct;
        buf.poke(1, pos, val);
        val = buf.peek(2, pos, 1) * pct;
        buf.poke(2, pos, val);
    }
    return;
}
  
// respond to a bang message by cropping the buffer
// ------------------------------------------------
function bang() {
    var i, tmp;
    var st = 0;
    var en = buf.framecount();

    // get some baseline information
    sr = (buf.framecount() / buf.length()) * 1000;
    var thresh = getThreshold();
 
     // get the start point
    st = getStart(thresh);

    // get the end point
    en = getEnd(thresh);
 
     // crop the file at start and end, then move along    
    if ((st != 0) || (en != buf.framecount())) {
        post("st: " + st + " en: " + en + " fc: " + buf.framecount() + '\n');
        buf.send("crop", (st/sr) * 1000, (en/sr) * 1000);
    }
 
     // do an end fade, then exit
    fadeEnd();
    outlet(0, "bang");
}

Welcome to the third part of our tutorial on creating an automatic sampling system!  This time out, we're going to clean up the process we've created to do our recording.

All the tutorials in this series: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3.

If we are going to be doing processing of the sound, we don’t really want to record it to a file. Instead, we should be recording sound into an audio buffer that we can manipulate before we save it. This approach points us to the combo of the record~ and buffer~ objects. Here’s a basic replacement of the sfrecord~ functionality we added in last week’s tutorial (part 2):

Since the order of operations is important, we use trigger objects to make sure things fire as they should. You’ll notice that our operation changes a bit - we start by clearing the buffer, and then we temporarily ‘stash’ the filename into a value object. This is important because we have to do the recording before we attempt to save it. Thus, when the end hits, we send a bang message to the value object to retrieve the filename.

Since we’ve already started using Javascript to make our app more functional, let’s continue down that path. One of the interesting little corners of the “Javascript In Max” document is the section on the Buffer Object - a Javascript object that gives you direct access to any buffer~ object in your patch!

If we dive into it, there is only a little information - things like buffer length (in milliseconds), framecount (the number of samples per channel) and number of channels. But there are a few more tricky bits: the peek/poke combo, which allow us to get and update individual samples, and the send function, which lets us send buffer~ commands to the Buffer Object in our script. And we are going to use these to outright terrorize our recording buffer!

Let’s start by putting a new js object in the path of our processing. In this case, we are going to put it after the delay that finished up the recording; this will give a place to put a trigger object that will be the traffic cop for all of the operations to follow.

First, we stop the recording (by sending a 0 to the record~ object), then we tell the Javascript object to do its processing (by sending it a bang message). All of the processing from here is managed by the Javascript object; this allows us to finish our processing before we start the next note-on request.

Looking at the fileproc.js source code inside the js object shows a few things:

Finally, we set up a bang() function (one that will respond to a bang message…) that will verify the sample rate, get the threshold, and call the start and end points detectors. It then sends a ‘crop’ message to the buffer to trim the front and the back of the sample. Following that, it sends out a bang message - which allows our patch to continue.

If we run this code as-is, it all seems to working well - but the result is still a little unsatisfactory. The issue is that the end of the file cuts off unnaturally, and the chopped noise floor is not a great sound. So we can add one more routine to the file which does a linear fade-out at the end of the sample (and call it from within the bang() function). This will smooth out the endgame a little, and make a file that will be a lot nicer to use in a sampler.

autowatch = 1;
outlets = 1;

var buf = new Buffer("filebuff");
var sr = 44100;

// find the noise floor threshold
// ------------------------------
function getThreshold() {
	var ext = Math.floor(sr * .01);	// work with the first 10 ms...
	var tops = top2 = 0;
	var temp = [];
 
 	// now, scan channel one
	temp = buf.peek(1, 0, ext);
	tops = temp.reduce(function(a, b) {
		return Math.max(a, Math.abs(b));
	});
 
 	tmp = buf.peek(2, 0, ext);
	top2 = tmp.reduce(function(a, b) {
		return Math.max(a, Math.abs(b));
	});
 
 	return Math.max(tops, top2);
}

// find the first place in the file that breaches the threshold.
// -------------------------------------------------------------
function getStart(threshold) {
	var i = 0;
	var start = 0;
 
 	while (i < buf.framecount()) {
		if (Math.abs(buf.peek(1, i, 1)) > threshold) {
			start = i;
			break;
		}
		if (Math.abs(buf.peek(2, i, 1)) > threshold) {
			start = i;
			break;
		}
		i++;
	}
	return start;
}

// find the last place in the file that breaches the threshold.
// ------------------------------------------------------------
function getEnd(threshold) {
	var i = buf.framecount();
	var end = i;
	
	while (i > 0) {
		if (Math.abs(buf.peek(1, i, 1)) > threshold) {
			end = i;
			break;
		}
		if (Math.abs(buf.peek(2, i, 1)) > threshold) {
			end = i;
			break;
		}
		i--;
	}
	return end;
}

// fade out the last 20 ms
// -----------------------
function fadeEnd() {
	var samps = sr * .02;
	var val = pos = pct = 0;
 
 	if (buf.framecount() < samps) {
		return;
	};
 
 	for (var i=0; i<samps; i++) {
		pos = buf.framecount() - i;
		pct = i / samps;
 
 		val = buf.peek(1, pos, 1) * pct;
		buf.poke(1, pos, val);
		val = buf.peek(2, pos, 1) * pct;
		buf.poke(2, pos, val);
	}
	return;
}
  
// respond to a bang message by cropping the buffer
// ------------------------------------------------
function bang() {
	var i, tmp;
	var st = 0;
	var en = buf.framecount();

	// get some baseline information
	sr = (buf.framecount() / buf.length()) * 1000;
	var thresh = getThreshold();
 
 	// get the start point
	st = getStart(thresh);

	// get the end point
	en = getEnd(thresh);
 
 	// crop the file at start and end, then move along	
	if ((st != 0) || (en != buf.framecount())) {
		post("st: " + st + " en: " + en + " fc: " + buf.framecount() + '\n');
		buf.send("crop", (st/sr) * 1000, (en/sr) * 1000);
	}
 
 	// do an end fade, then exit
	fadeEnd();
	outlet(0, "bang");
}

ROBO-3h-feature.png

Welcome to the third part of our holiday tutorial series on creating an automatic sampling system. Now that we have automated sample runs and recording working, let’s spend some time cleaning up the recording process to get rid of the gaps at the start and end of our samples....

the-compleat-robo-part-3-recording-cleanup

Brilliant! Is the next step auto-dumping the samples into Simpler or Sampler? :)

Ha! The next step might be to take a nap!!!

Hello, I was looking at your most recent tutorial and that led me to check out this one. 

Javascript is something completely new to me, and although I can follow pretty decently what each javascript file is doing, if I wanted to write something myself I wouldn't be able to do it. 

Do you know of any tutorials where I can learn javascript for max from scratch? 

Hello, I was looking at your most recent tutorial and that led me to check out this one. 
Javascript is something completely new to me, and although I can follow pretty decently what each javascript file is doing,  if I wanted to write something myself I wouldn't be able to do it.  
Do you know of any tutorials where I can learn javascript for max from scratch? 
Thanks 

The Compleat ROBO, Part 3: Recording Cleanup