Creating an oscillator in patcher from scratch.

[Dave 201]

Disclaimer: Don't use fruity voltage controller if you don't know what you're doing! It my damage your speaker system!
Read official help documentaion for more information.

I created the patch below to generate a sound within patcher without the use of a synthesiser.

Patch.PNG

Surface.PNG

It works by utilising the sin and songtime function from fruity formula controller.

formula_controller_sine_commented.png

The output is then routed to the offsets in the voltage controller, creating a sine shaped signal.

Voltage_controller_oscillator.png

To be save, this is followed by fruity centre, a low-cut filter at 20 Hz and a limiter.

The sound’s envelope is controlled by the envelope controller, which is linked to the range parameter in the voltage controller.

Voltage_controller_envelope.png

I know that the voltage controller isn’t necessarily meant to be used like that, but the potential to create a synthesiser from scratch within patcher made it worth a try. However, I have encountered the following problems:

Sample rate:
As the waveshape is solely generated using control data, the standard 44100 Hz used for audio do not apply. Rather, the programs internal time resolution (Timebase (PPQ) as found in the project settings) seems to be applied. This results in a bit-crushing-like effect, which, depending on the project’s settings, can make the resulting sound unusable. The attached example was created using the highest possible timebase of 960.

simple_Oscillator (consolidated).wav

Waveform generation:
Using the songtime function, the song needs to be playing in order to retrive a frequency (and therefore generate a sound). I am aware of the "normal" time function. The reason for not using it is that its temporal resolution is limited to milliseconds.

Tuning:
The note's pitch increases witch project tempo.

simple_Oscillator (consolidated) 2.wav

The patch currently isn't tuned by default, as the maximum achievable frequency is limited (to something somwhere between notes) due to the maximum timebase being 960.

Voices:
So far, I am not aware of a way of implementing multiple voices using keyboard controller. Keyboard controller only seems to react to whatever note has been played last.


Again, the reason for this post is that I think patcher would have a lot of potential as a synth-building tool. There is a difference between just loading some preexisting synth or if I get to generate a custom waveform using my own maths / ideas. The plugin itself would gain a lot of power with such an abillity, maybe even to a degree where one can advertise it as a major selling point of fl-studio.

Finally, I am going to include this patch and another one with more waveforms in the following.
A word of caution however, befor anyone tries this: Experimenting with the voltage controller could damage your speaker setup if you don't know what you're doing. Don't experiment with these using an expensive speaker system! I did everything I could think of to remove any DC-offsets and to remove the risk of high output levels to occure.

simple_Oscillator.fst

Oscillator.fst

PS: I don't know if this is the right place to post about this. If not, please let me know where else to go.

[jzero]

Mad scientist mode, for sure! Nice.

[Vepium]

you are a genius

[Dave 201]

Who is this? It seems like you're somebody whos...

[levendis]

For a very slim sliver of time, there was a bui...

[TheDichotomist]

levendis wrote: ↑Sun Sep 13, 2020 1:09 pm For a...

[levendis]

TheDichotomist wrote: ↑Sun Sep 13, 2020 1:33 pm...

[TheDichotomist]

levendis wrote: ↑Sun Sep 13, 2020 2:03 pm TheDi...

[Dave 201]

TheDichotomist wrote: ↑Sun Sep 13, 2020 3:38 pm...

[HeathW]

Dave 201 wrote: ↑Mon Sep 14, 2020 8:29 am TheDi...

[Dave 201]

Dave 201 wrote: ↑Sat Sep 12, 2020 6:30 pm Discl...

[TranceCrafter]

very awesome! This must have taken an engineer...

[levendis]

Using math functions for oscillators is surely ...

[werz]

Awesome stuff! A bit beyond me, but I enjoy thi...