Hi,
I did some experiments with FM-synth percussion (to be continued). This minimal techno track is a one of the the results:
Unfortunately I did not save the code of the main percussion loop. I only did record that and used it as a sample. I think that is a way to resolve issues with performance in case of an increasing amount of live loops.
Martin
I like the sound of this. FM synth is very versatile, if you look into the parameters available with it. I remember playing with it a long time ago on version 1 of Sonic PI in October 2013 with a program called GoingBananasWithFMSynth. I revised this in 2015 to bring the syntax up to date to run on version 2 and later.
#GoingBananasWithFMSynth by Robin Newman 19th October 2013
#(syntax revised for later versions of Sonic Pi)
#This program explores the use of the FM Synth in Sonic-Pi (with three chords from saw_beep)
#The basic syntax to play a note is play n,divisor: d,release: r
#followed by a sleep command for the note to sound, where n, d and r are numbers
#The program uses n.times do....end loops and variables to cycle through different notes and divisor settings
#in each case an in_thread do.....end is used to play a second sequence of notes at the same time
#NB in order to compute values for the divisor the calculation has to be enclosed in brackets. Thus (n / 4)
#Description of the piece
#The piece is symmetrical with six parts
#an intro of a soft warble and a buzzing note that rise then falls in intensity
#section 1: a pattern of a rising semitone scale over two octaves, play ed with a similar pattern
#offset by half a beat and falling for two octaves. The divisor settings for the two patterns are different.
#section two a pattern when a note is play ed with 5 different values for the divisor setting, then raised
#by three tones before being play ed again. Repeated 24 times
#This is play ed against the same pattern with the divisors in reverse order, and the notes falling by three tones
#between repetitions
#the symmetrical axis of the piece is a constant saw chord which grows and fades over 8 seconds
#section 3 is a repeat of section 2, but with the order of the five notes for each divisor setting reversed
#section 4 is a repeat of section 1 with the divisor settings for the two patterns swapped over
#a final end sections repeats the two initial notes in reverse order.
#the divisor multipliers used are n/4 n/2 n n*2 and n*4 where n is the pitch of the note
#this will produce some numbers out of range, but the note will still play
#you can experiment with other settings eg n/1.5,n/1.2,n,n*1.2,n*1.5 (NB leave spaces as shown in the program)
#the timing settings can be altered with variables t and s, but as supplied the piece lasts 187.2 seconds
#the whole piece has a mathematical symmetry, although the resulting sounds seem more random
#===========Program starts below =================================
#set timings for first (t) and middle (s) sections
t = 0.8
s = 0.4
#=====intro section===============================================
use_synth :fm
play 36,divisor: (12 ),release: 3 #quiet warble
sleep 3
with_synth :saw do
#a buzzing note that rises then falls in intensity
play [24,24.2],attack:4,release: 4
end
sleep 8 #sleep time equals sum of attack and release times
#======section 1==================================================
p = 60 #starting pitch
#timings set by t
in_thread do
pt = 84 #starting pitch for thread
sleep (t / 2) #the notes are offset by half a "beat"
24.times do
play pt,divisor: (pt * 2 ),release: t
sleep t
pt = pt - 1 #notes fall in pitch by a semitone
end
end #end of thread
24.times do
play p,divisor: (p / 4 ),release: t
sleep t
p = p + 1 #notes rise in pitch by a semitone
end
sleep (t / 2) # allows for completion of the offset thread notes
#end of section 1=================================================
in_thread do #thread for section 2
nt = 48 #starting pitch for thread
#timings set by s
12.times do
#play the same note 5 times with different related divisor times
play nt,divisor: (nt / 4),release: s
sleep s
play nt,divisor: (nt / 2),release: s
sleep s
play nt,divisor: nt ,release: s
sleep s
play nt,divisor: (nt * 2),release: s
sleep s
play nt,divisor: (nt * 4),release: s
sleep s
nt = nt + 6 #increase pitch by 3 tones
end
end #of thread for section 2
n = 120 #starting pitch
#timings set by s
12.times do
#play the same note 5 times with different related divisor times
#order of notes is reversed from that in the thread
play n,divisor: (4 * n),release: s
sleep s
play n,divisor: (2 * n),release: s
sleep s
play n,divisor: n ,release: s
sleep s
play n,divisor: (n / 2),release: s
sleep s
play n,divisor: (n / 4),release: s
sleep s
n = n - 6 #decrease pitch of the note by 3 tones
end
#end of section 2===============================================
#symmetric axis for the piece...a saw_beep chord
#marks the half way point of the piece
with_synth :saw do
play [72,72.2],attack: 6
end
sleep 6
#end of symmetric axis note=====================================
#section 3 repeats section 2 but with the order of the 5 notes reversed for each pitch play ed
in_thread do #section 3 thread start
nt = 120 #starting pitch
#timings set by s
12.times do
#play note five times
play nt,divisor: (nt / 4),release: s
sleep s
play nt,divisor: (nt / 2),release: s
sleep s
play nt,divisor: nt ,release: s
sleep s
play nt,divisor: (nt * 2),release: s
sleep s
play nt,divisor: (nt * 4),release: s
sleep s
nt = nt - 6 #pitch changes down three tones
end
end #of thread section 3
n = 48
#timings set by s
12.times do
play n,divisor: (n * 4),release: s
sleep s
play n,divisor: (n * 2),release: s
sleep s
play n,divisor: n ,release: s
sleep s
play n,divisor: (n / 2),release: s
sleep s
play n,divisor: (n / 4),release: s
sleep s
n = n + 6 #pitch changes up by 3 tones
end
#end of section 3==============================================
#section 4
p = 60 #starting pitch
#timings set by t
in_thread do
sleep (t / 2) #offset by half a "beat"
pt = 84 #thread starting pitch
24.times do
#divisor setting swapped from section 1 with the concurrent loop
play pt,divisor: (pt / 4 ),release: t
sleep t
pt = pt - 1 #pitch lowers a semitone
end
end #end of thread for last section
24.times do
play p,divisor: (p * 2 ),release: t
sleep t
p = p + 1 #pitch rises a semitone
end
sleep (t / 2)
#end of last section============================================
#finish section
with_synth :saw do
play [24,24.2],attack: 4,release: 4
sleep 8
end
play 48,divisor: (12 ),release: 3
sleep 3
#end of piece===================================================
Hi Robin,
together with your detailed description this bears some ressemblance with what Stockhausen did at WDR/Cologne during the 50th (with much more limited resources) 
You are right, it is versatile. On the other hand there are a lot of sounds which I do not find particularly apt for (at least my) music. I did something similar to your piece but not as creative though. I was interested in a more or less systematic approach to find out which sounds I could use for making music:
Some nice examples. I like the flute ex 20.
That flute could have easily come out of an early Disney… such as
’Steamboat Willy’…
Eli.