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The Malström Graintable Synthesizer in the Reason rack is also very much fun to play with. I use a Evolution uc-33 midi controller with its knobs, sliders, and buttons, to control any of the devices in Reason in real time. It comes with some presets already mapped for the major instruments in the Reason rack, including the Malström. The other have to be mapped manually. After hearing Michael's wonderful Miles piece, I was inspired to experiment with it. I routed Reason's drum machine through it, playing and changing some randomly generated patterns. I also connected their matrix pattern sequencer with the Malström, again just playing and changing some randomly generated patterns. I then added 2 dr rex loop players to play some back ground rhythms while I played with the Malström. It was a lotta fun. Thanks Michael for the inspiration. You can also play the Reason instruments with a midi keyboard, which I didn't use last night. I'm not sure if Reason can handle external audio signals? Anyone work with this? Here's a bit from Reason's Help: Introduction The Malström is a polyphonic synthesizer with a great number of different routing possibilities. It is based on the concept of what we call "Graintable Synthesis", and is ideally suited for producing swirling, sharp, distorted, abstract special effect types of synthesizer sounds. In fact, you could go so far as to say that the Malström can produce sounds quite unlike anything you've ever heard from a synthesizer. The following are the basic features of the Malström: Two Oscillators, based on Graintable Synthesis. Two Modulators, featuring tempo sync and one-shot options. Two Filters and one Shaper. A number of different filter modes in combination with several routing options and a Waveshaper makes it possible to create truly astounding filter effects. Three Envelope generators. There is one amplitude envelope for each oscillator and a common envelope for both filters. Polyphony of up to 16 voices. Velocity and Modulation control. A number of CV/Gate Modulation possibilities. A variety of Audio Input/Output options. You can for instance connect external audio sources for input to the Malström, and you can also control its output. Theory of operation To give you a clear understanding of the inner workings of the Malström, it might be in order with a brief explanation of what we call Graintable Synthesis. What we refer to as Graintable Synthesis is actually a combination of two synthesis methods; Granular Synthesis and Wavetable Synthesis. In granular synthesis, sound is generated by a number of short, contiguous segments (grains) of sound, each typically between 5 to 100 milliseconds long. The sound is varied by changing the properties of each grain and/or the order in which they are spliced together. Grains can be produced either by a mathematical formula or by a sampled sound. This is a very dynamic synthesis method with a lot of variation possibilities, although somewhat hard to master and control. Wavetable synthesis on the other hand, is basically the playback of a sampled waveform. An oscillator in a wavetable synth plays back a single period of a waveform, and some wavetable synths also allow the possibility of sweeping through a set of periodic waveforms. This is a very straightforward synthesis method that is easily controlled, but somewhat limited in variation possibilities. The Malström combines these two into a synthesis method that provides a very flexible way of synthesizing sounds with incredible flux and mutability. It works like this: The oscillators in the Malström play back sampled sounds that are subject to some very complex processing and cut up into a number of grains. From here on, these sounds will be referred to as Graintables This results in a set of periodic waveforms (a graintable) that, when spliced together, play back the original sampled sound. This can then be treated just like a wavetable. I.e. It is possible to sweep through it. Move through it at any speed without affecting pitch. Play any section of it repeatedly. Use it to pick static waveforms. Jump between positions. Etc. etc. It is also possible to perform a number of other tricks, all of which are described further on in this chapter. -----Original Message----- From: Miko Biffle [mailto:biffoz@arczip.com] Sent: Tuesday, June 29, 2004 11:59 PM To: Loopers-Delight@loopers-delight.com Subject: Re: Miels Davis loop > I used Granulab which does the chopping into slices and rearranging > them - I > don't want to explain granular synthesis here - the piece was > basically created by feeding the original recording into Granulab, and > finding the best placements for three or four sliders, the rest > happened on its own without any intervention from my side. I've found Granulab to be an amazing way to spend entire evenings just feeding it stuff and being amazed by the results! It's a very simple interface to explore, but has amazing depth once you start to learn how the various modules interact.