Musical Parameters     Sound Basics

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Introduction
Musical Parameters provide the basic control of generic sounds, such as sound samples or sound generators. The control is optimized when applying psycho-acoustic metrics.

Musical Parameters can be divided into primary and secondary parameters, modified by dynamic attributes.
Primary Parameters
Primary parameters are mandatory for the definition of a sound event.
  • Entry Delay: Time interval that spans from the entry point of the last sound event to the entry point of the current event.

  • Duration: Time interval that spans from the entry point of a sound event till its release point.

  • Pitch: Frequency control value, usually expressed in cent.

  • Dynamics: Amplitude control value, usually expressed in decibel.

  • Sample Index or Wave Index: This index defines the resource of the generic sound. The sample index defines the wavetable of the sound sample and the starting point within this sample, from where a sound event is read. The wave index defines the oscillator or its wavetable and the phase value within the periodic wave form.
The definition of these parameters may vary according to the used cybertrack generator.
Secondary Parameters
Secondary parameters are used to modify the sound event after it has been controlled by the primary parameters.
  • Filter Bandwidth: This parameter can be defined by a frequency interval, or by a derived scale value.

  • Filter Pitch: This parameter defines the central frequency value of the filter.

  • Modulator Index: This parameter defines the type of modulation applied, for example, frequency modulation, amplitude modulation, index modulation (HF oscillator controls a wavetable index).

  • Modulator Resource: This parameter defines the oscillator or wavetable that modulates the sound target.

  • Modulator Pitch: This parameter defines the frequency value of the modulator's oscillator or wavetable.

  • Modulator Amplitude: This parameter defines the amplitude value of the modulator's oscillator or wavetable.

  • Panorama Position: This parameter defines the position of the phantom source in a multichannel listening environment.

  • Room Size: This parameter defines the virtual size of a simulated room (reverberation).

  • Room Filter: This parameter defines the virtual characteristics of a simulated room.

  • Source Distance: This parameter defines the virtual distance of the sound source in a simulated room.
Other secondary parameters of specific sound control may apply, depending on the used sound creation environment. Secondary parameters are of special importance for the production phase of a cybermusic piece creation process.
Dynamic Attributes
Dynamic changes of primary or secondary parameter values are contributing to the morphology of the given sound events. 
  • Envelopes: Parametric vectors gliding between a number of fixed parameter values. During the attack phase of a sound, these vectors are of a very short duration.

  • LFOs: Low frequency oscillators and any similar control structure of periodic-continuous sound parameter modulation change more or less the character of a sound.

  • Grains: Granular sound synthesis, various methods of sound resampling or resynthesis, time stretching or compression algorithms, time delay effects, and similar sound effect procedures provide important manipulations on generic sounds.

Any of those methods could transform a generic sound also into a relatively new entity. In this case, it should be considered as a generic method of sound production (below the level of musical parameter control), or as a more complex algorithmic procedure (above the level of musical parameter control).

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