Riccardo Bianchini, Alessandro Cipriani
Virtual Sound
Sound Synthesis and Signal Processing
Theory and Practice with Csound
English version
Foreword by James Dashow
- ISBN-13: 978-88-900261-4-0
- Paperback: 362 pages
- Publication Date: 12/12/2008
- Language: English
Virtual Sound is an in-depth tutorial in computer music, complete with user-friendly exercises in Csound that illustrate the theory and practice of each type of sound synthesis and processing.
The subjects covered include additive synthesis, subtractive synthesis, flow-charts, control signals, vibrato and tremolo, 3-D sound, sampling, analysis and resynthesis, MIDI files and MIDI controls, amplitude and ring modulation, frequency modulation (FM), echo, reverberation, chorus, flanger, phaser, convolution, waveshaping and vector synthesis, granular synthesis, formant synthesis, and physical modeling.
Virtual Sound is also the first complete tutorial in Csound as a programming language.
The book contains a wealth of diagrams, illustrations, flow charts, and other graphics and images that will help you understand exactly how to do what you want to do with Csound.
If you have a basic understanding of computers and the fundamentals of acoustics, you’ll have no trouble reading this book. After having read it, you should be able to use other commercial orresearch-oriented software with a greater understanding of how it functions.
You’ll also be able to dig deeper into the issues of sound design and use Csound to experiment with different approaches to computer music, including music for the web and interactive performance.
CONTENTS
CSOUND: HOW IT WORKS
1.1 Orchestras, Scores, Sound Files
1.2 How to Use WCShell for Windows
1.3 How to Use Csound with a Mac
1.4 How to Write an Orchestra
1.5 How to Write a Score
1.6 The GEN10 Routine
1.7 How to Change Amplitude and Frequency for each Note
1.8 How to Create another Instrument
1.9 Control Variables: Glissandos
1.10 Control Variables: Amplitude Envelopes
1.11 Control Variables with Multiple Line Segments
1.12 Control Variables with Multiple Exponential Segments
1.13 Envelopes with Linen
1.14 Frequency Encoding by Octaves and Semitones. Amplitude Encoding by Db
1.15 More on the Score
1.16 Reading the Opcode Syntax
EXTENSIONS
1.A.1 How Csound really Functions
1.A.2 Constants and Variables
1.A.3 The Csound Syntax
1.A.4 The Csound Building Blocks
1.A.5 Using the Csound Command
1.B.1 A Single File Including Orchestra, Score and Flags: the Csd Format
1.C.1 Attack and Release Transients
1.D.1 Brief History of Sound Synthesis Languages
ADDITIVE SYNTHESIS
2.1 Constant Spectrum Additive Synthesis
2.2 Variable Spectrum Additive Synthesis
2.3 Phase and Dc Offset: GEN09 and GEN19
2.4 Complex Oscillators: Buzz and Gbuzz
EXTENSIONS
2.A.1 Wave Summation
2.A.2 Timbre
2.B.1 Additive Synthesis: Historical Sketches and Theory
2.C.1 The Digital Oscillator: how it Works
SUBTRACTIVE SYNTHESIS
3.1 White Noise and Filters
3.2 1st-Order Low-Pass Filters
3.3 1st-Order High-Pass Filters
3.4 Higher Order Filters
3.5 Band-Pass Filters
3.6 Gain Units: Rms, Gain, Balance
3.7 Multi-Poles Filters and Resonant Filters
EXTENSIONS
3.A.1 Subtractive Synthesis: Historical Sketches
3.B.1 Subtractive Synthesis: Theory
FLOW-CHARTS
4.1 Graphical Representation of Procedures
4.2 Let’s Go to the Seaside
4.3 Symbols
4.4 Complex Diagrams
STEREO, CONTROL SIGNALS, VIBRATO, TREMOLO, 3-D SOUND
5.1 Stereophonic Orchestras
5.2 Stereo Control Signals
5.3 Vibrato Control Signals
5.4 Tremolo Control Signals
5.5 Filter Control Signals
5.6 Envelope Control Signals
5.7 Randi, Randh, Port
5.8 3-D Sound
DIGITAL AUDIO
6.1 Digital Sound
6.2 Analog-To-Digital and Digital-To-Analog Conversion
6.3 Sound Cards and Audio File Formats
6.4 Some Annotations On Digital Audio for Multimedia Applications
EXTENSIONS
6.A.1 Digital-To-Analog and Analog-To-Digital Conversion
6.B.1 Foldover
SAMPLING AND PROCESSING
7.1 The Soundin and Diskin Opcodes
7.2 Copying Sound Files to Function Tables (GEN01)
7.3 Reading a Sound File Table with Loscil
7.4 Release Loop with Linenr
7.5 The Follow Opcode
7.6 Limit and Ilimit
SOUND ANALYSIS AND RESYNTHESIS
8.1 Introduction
8.3 Phase Vocoder Re-Synthesis
8.4 Heterodyne Analysis (Hetro)
8.5 Adsyn Resynthesis
8.6 Modeling the Vocal Tract with Lpanal
8.7 Modeling the Vocal Tract: Lpread/Lpreason Resynthesis
EXTENSIONS
8.A.1 Fast Fourier Transform (Fft)
USING MIDI FILES
9.1 Standard Midi Files
9.2 Using Standard Midi Files in Csound
9.3 Instrument Assignment
9.4 Midi Value Converters
9.5 Converting Score Files to Smf Files and Vice-Versa
EXTENSIONS
9.A.1 The Midi Standard
9.A.2 Features of Midi Devices
9.A.3 Midi Numbers
9.A.4 The Midi Protocol
REAL TIME MIDI CONTROLS
10.1 Using Csound in Real Time
10.2 Real Time Orchestras and Scores
10.3 Some Cautions
AMPLITUDE MODULATION AND RING MODULATION
11.1 Introduction
11.2 Amplitude Modulation (AM)
11.3 Ring Modulation (RM)
EXTENSIONS
11.A.1 The AM and RM Formulas
11.B.1 Historical Sketches on Ring Modulation
FREQUENCY MODULATION (FM)
12.1 Basic FM Theory
12.2 Simple FM Orchestras
12.3 Sound Spectra Families
12.4 Multiple-Carrier FM
12.5 Multiple-Modulator FM
EXTENSIONS
12.A.1 FM Formulas
12.A.2 Simulation of Instrumental Sounds
GLOBAL VARIABLES, ECHO, REVERB, CHORUS, FLANGER, PHASER, CONVOLUTION
13.1 Echo and Reverb
13.2 The Delay Opcode
13.3 Reverb
13.4 Local and Global Variables
13.5 More Effects Using Delay: Flanging, Phasing and Chorus.
13.6 Convolution
EXTENSIONS
13.A.1 How to Build Up a Reverb Unit
THE TABLE OPCODE. WAVESHAPING SYNTHESIS, VECTOR SYNTHESIS
14.1 GEN02 and Some Observations on Functions
14.2 The Table Opcode – Line-Segments, Exponentials, Cubic Splines: GEN05, GEN07 and GEN08 266
14.4 Waveshaping Synthesis (Nonlinear Distortion)
14.5 Using Chebychev Polynomials (GEN13)
14.6 Using Table for Dynamic Range Processing (Compressors and Expanders)
14.7 GEN03
14.8 Table Crossfade: Vector Synthesis
GRANULAR SYNTHESIS AND FORMANT SYNTHESIS
15.1 What Is Granular Synthesis
15.2 The Grain Opcode
15.3 The Granule Opcode
15.4 Formant Wave Synthesis (FOF)
15.5 Sndwarp
PHYSICAL MODELING SYNTHESIS
16.1 Introduction
16.2 The Karplus-Strong Algorithm
16.3 Plucked Strings
16.4 Struck Plates
16.5 Tube with Single Reed
CSOUND AS A PROGRAMMING LANGUAGE
17.1 Csound Is a Programming Language
17.2 Program Flow Modifications. Variable Type Converters
17.3 Re-Initialization
17.4 Prolonging the Note Duration
17.5 Debugging
17.6 Mathematical and Trigonometric Functions
17.7 Conditional Values
EXTENSIONS
17.A.1 Designing Complex Events
APPENDIX 1 – WCSHELL
A1.1 What Is WCShell?
A1.2 The Main Page
A.1.3 Installation from CD
A.1.4 Installation from Internet
A.1.5 Wcshell Starter
A.1.6 The Orchestra Editor
A.1.7 Score Editor
A.1.8 Drawing Functions
A.1.9 Score Processing
APPENDIX 2 – MATHEMATICS AND TRIGONOMETRY
A.2.1 Frequency Values for the Equally-Tempered Chromatic Scale
A.2.2 Logarithms
A.2.3 Decibels
A.2.4 Trigonometry. Angle Measures
A.2.5 Trigonometric Functions
A.2.6 In Radians
A.2.7 Link to the Time Continuum
FOREWORD
by James Dashow
Digital sound synthesis has for some time been at a remarkably high level of sophistication, flexibility and subtlety. This happy situation is due in large part to the remarkable efforts of Barry Vercoe, the author of Csound and its predecessors, MUSIC360 and MUSIC11. Now thanks to the universality of the C programming language, which guarantees portability between computers running on different operating systems, Csound has become the standard synthesis language wherever there is computer music. The flexibility of the language is already evident in this book: it can be studied by both PC oriented musicians as well as by those using Macintosh.
Of even greater value, the composer who learns Csound on his home computer is fully prepared to accept invitations to work elsewhere, for example in a studio equipped with multi-track recording facilities and expensive external sound processors, all built around UNIX machines which run their version of Csound.
Here, then, is the importance of this book: to learn Csound, especially if you have to do it on your own, you need someone who can explain the hows and whys of this language which offers so many possibilities for digital sound synthesis. The student finds himself here in the capable hands of two superb teachers, Riccardo Bianchini and Alessandro Cipriani. The book is infused with their considerable teaching experience in helping musicians with little or no knowledge of informatics to overcome the initial problems and confusions in order to get started on the road towards a full understanding and mastery of computer music. All the basic techniques of Csound are explained using specific sound synthesis models – additive synthesis, modulation synthesis, the use of filters and delay line effects (reverberation, echo, chorus effects), dynamic control over timbral evolution, interfaces with external sound sources (sampling), etc. – all of which allow the student to build his own experiments and more refined variants using the examples as starting points. In short, the approach here is completely hands-on.
Furthermore, each chapter offers suggestions for more advanced use; that is to say, the book is not just for beginners, but is designed to accompany the musician during various learning phases, from the beginning all the way up to the state of the art. Bianchini and Cipriani have obviously absorbed and worked with a vast range of digital synthesis techniques developed by many specialists in the field, and they provide clear explanations and suggestions for their use and adaptations, always in terms of concise Csound programming examples. For example, we find here a clear description of the famous Karplus-Strong plucked string algorithm, with precise indications about how to modify it. These modifications suggest yet other possibilities for experimentation with yet other potentially fascinating alterations. After following the authors’ lessons, thestudent will be in a position to work with the newest developments in the field, published regularly in such magazines as “Computer Music Journal”, “Interface”, etc.
An original and valuable idea in this book is the insertion of a few pages called “Extensions” following many of the chapters. The musician who has arrived at a reasonably good level of understanding of the main ideas will find here the technical information that allows him to develop original synthesis ideas. An especially pertinent such “Extension” deals with the issue of “complex events” – the concept that one can construct a Csound instrument for the synthesis of several sound objects where the form, synchronization and the character of each single object are under the control of just a few score parameters. Once such an instrument has been constructed, the composer can conceive of his music in terms of complex large scale gestures rather than always composing at the “note for note” level.
And finally, the book concludes with a selection of writings by other experienced Csound users whose unique applications, fully described here, are extremely useful both for immediate execution and, more importantly, as suggestions to the composer for his own personal developments.
So if you are a beginner or even if you already have a good bit of experience with digital sound synthesis, Bianchini and Cipriani offer here a complete manual for understanding Csound at many levels. And since Csound is continually evolving thanks to the work of a small international group of musicians/programmers who are dedicated to upgrading the language with new methods and with specific adaptations of the latest technical discoveries, the Csound user will find himself on the leading edge of computer music.
Welcome to the Csound universe.
James Dashow
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