Composer.GEN Setup File

This setup demonstrates one way to use the Expnote.DAT file. It "composes" music that has a vaguely Oriental flavor, using the Pentatonic scale equivalent to the black keys on a piano keyboard. This is also the scale that is used in certain traditional folk styles of the British Isles, American Mountaineers, and Native Americans. You may thus be able to modify the setup to sound more like one of those, or you may experiment with other tunings.

Composer.GEN uses a White Noise source ( Stream 1) to supply random values that are then used to select random notes from the proper range of Expnote.DAT (Stream 2), which are in turn used to modulate the frequency of a Ramp Wave (Stream 3) to get the actual notes. Burst is used on the ramp, set to give a different duration than the interval between random note changes, to make things more interesting. To add still more dynamics, the ramp slope is modulated by a slow random souce (Stream 0).

Additional modulation could be used, such as by adding AM to the Stream 3 output at a 3-7 Hz "tremolo" rate, or adding a similar AM to the random note frequencies of Stream 2 to provide "vibrato". All of this uses only the Left channel; the Right is still free for a second instrument "voice".

The basic setup plays a very long "song"... it doesn't repeat for over 100 billion years! Here is a quick summary:

• Set Stream 0 to:
  • White
  • Timing Slow Factor = 2000x
  • Smooth TC = 50 msec

• Set Stream 1 to:
  • White
  • Timing Step Size = 450 msec
  • Smooth TC = 10 msec

• Set Stream 2 to:
  • Arb = Expnote.DAT, Round
  • Freq = 0
  • Phase = 75 degrees (middle of black key range)
  • Phase Mod Source Stream 1
  • Phase Mod Depth = 0.26%

• Set Stream 3 to:
  • Ramp
    • Rise = 50%
    • Stairs = 0
    • Modulation Type = Slope
  • Freq = 0
  • Burst - length different from Stream 1 Timing Step:
    • Lag = 0
    • Rise = 100 msec
    • High = 150 msec
    • Fall = 50 msec
    • Cycle = 300 msec (minimum, set 0)
  • FM Source Stream 2
  • FM Dev +/-3000 (or as desired)
  • Slope Mod Source Stream 0
  • Slope Mod Depth = 100%

All Stream Level settings are 100%. The Burst durations and Timing Factor assume a sample rate of 48000 hertz. You may wish to try various modifications. In particular, try toggling Stream 3 Burst off, or set different durations. Try different Stream 3 waves instead of Ramp, with different modulation (since only Ramp allows Slope modulation).

See also DaqMusic