---------- Forwarded message ----------
From:
Stefan Tiedje <Stefan-Tiedje@gmx.de>
Date: Wed, Dec 8, 2010 at 10:51 AM
Subject: Re: max/msp vs. eventide
To: james fowler <
twostroke@gmail.com>
Hi James,
Am 08.12.10 15:04, schrieb james fowler:
> i'm currently using an eventide eclipse and i'm finding that its
> pitch shifters cannot keep up with the audio i'm feeding it. have
> you found that you can build reliable and accurate shifters in
> max/msp? i love the fidelity of eventide products but i have to get
> rid of this eclipse and i'll move to either a bigger eventide or go
> with something like max/msp. fwiw, i also use native instruments and
> i should really look and see what reaktor can do in regards to
> this...
There is no such thing as an ideal pitch shifter for all purposes. In my
own music, I am much more interested in structures (time and pitch) than
in a specific "accuracy" of the shifts. There are basically 3 to 5
different approaches technically which you could use in Max/MSP. The
most common one is granular pitch shifting, which is playing short
grains of the original sound in varying speeds. This is the typical
sound of "cheap" shifters. I actually use that sort of shifting mostly,
for two reasons. First I do like the artifacts and it can be set in a
way to be rhythmically more or less precise. In Max you always have
access to the small details of such a process (grain size and envelopes
come to mind).
Then there is a fft based method coming with Max with less control of
the detail, as it is within an external, but with very good results for
sustained sounds (ideal for cello or sustained guitar...).
And there are two different commercial externals, one is the same
pitchshifting/timestretching method used in Ableton Live and most of the
other sequencers and tools. That external will cost the enormous amount
of 20$ I think. The same programmers also made their own algorithm,
which might be a better sounding granular approach, but that is
speculation and solely out of my listening imagination.
And last but not least, I always wanted to create a sort of very long
grain looper, which instead of using grains in the range of 50 ms, use
complete phrases, and break them up at silent parts. This would of
course scramble the time structure significantly, but would be as clean
as the good old varispeed...
This last idea is still on my to do list though...
But maybe you get an idea why Max/MSP is so intriguing as a tool for me,
there is no technical limitation for your imagination. If you don't like
the way it sounds, you analyze why and whats missing, and then start to
invent those missing parts. You are completely free to define your user
interface yourself and fit it to your personal needs and ways of playing...
Cooking yourself is always better and more fun than heating up
pre-cooked dishes, even better than going to a gourmet restaurant (like
your eclipse). Though from time to time its also nice to know that
terrible expensive cook, he will widen your perspective as well...;-)
This is a long reply now, maybe you want to share it to the list as
well?...;-)
All the best,
Stefan
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