{"id":3485,"date":"2020-09-30T03:02:18","date_gmt":"2020-09-30T03:02:18","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/procedural-audio.com\/blog\/?p=3485"},"modified":"2022-01-06T09:58:34","modified_gmt":"2022-01-06T09:58:34","slug":"patch-anatomy-5-charged-shot","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/procedural-audio.com\/blog\/2020\/09\/30\/patch-anatomy-5-charged-shot\/","title":{"rendered":"Patch Anatomy #5 \u2013 Charged Shot"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n\"KevinDoran\"\n<\/div>\n

\nOne of the great strengths of following a procedural approach to sound design is the potential for creating interrelated control. Any individual signal can directly control several granular processes, leading to a singular significant change.\n<\/p>\n

\nIn this patch anatomy, we have created a web of control signals driven by one Meta Parameter<\/strong> and one lead Envelope <\/strong>to simulate the charging and blasting of a sci-fi weapon. The Envelope <\/strong>controls how long the patch should run for, and the Meta Parameter<\/strong> (named Threshold) determines the point at which the build-up should stop, and the release should begin. And as a consequence, the shorter the build-up lasts, the less powerful the release sounds.\n<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n


\n\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Build-Up<\/h2>\n

\nFor the build-up, a single Beam <\/strong>component works as the generator. Several Mappers <\/strong>then control the inputs of this Beam <\/strong>relative to the lead Envelope<\/strong>. This approach ensures that changes in timing are reflected across all parameters. Saturation <\/strong>is also applied through this method, resulting in an increasingly rich signal over longer durations.\n<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Release<\/h2>\n

\nThe release portion uses another Beam <\/strong>generator, and with similar settings. Using similar generators for different processes can help the final product sound more cohesive. The primary difference\n<\/p>\n

\nbetween the build-up and release phase is how the control signals are applied to each. In the case of the release, pitch modulation is applied via an LFO <\/strong>to create a flutter effect. Also, applying an inverse map of the Meta Parameter<\/strong> to the slope and width inputs creates a muted effect at lower values – scaling to match the intensity of the release. To further sell the effect of an explosive laser cannon, a Thunder <\/strong>source is layered on top of the Beam<\/strong>.\n<\/p>\n

\nFor both the Beam <\/strong>and Thunder <\/strong>source, enveloping is applied via a Gain <\/strong>module. In the first instance, two Envelopes <\/strong>with the same shape but different lengths are faded between using a Lerp. This process happens before the Saturator <\/strong>to create a more natural release effect. In the second instance, a single Envelope <\/strong>is used to control the Gain<\/strong>, with the Saturator <\/strong>applying the actual loudness. This process happens after the Saturator <\/strong>to rein in the noisiness of the explosion.\n<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Logic<\/h2>\n

\nA Comparator <\/strong>is the primary logical control for this patch. By checking when the Envelope <\/strong>has exceeded the Threshold value, the patch can automatically switch from the build-up to the release phase. Using a Retrigger <\/strong>module after the Comparator <\/strong>with Count set to 1 ensures that this comparison only triggers once.\n<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\nA Selector <\/strong>controlling a Gain <\/strong>module is then used to fade out the build-up. By having a Constant <\/strong>value of 1 applied to the first input, playback starts unobstructed. Then, when a trigger has been issued, the output is quickly faded using a short Envelope<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\nFinally, all release components are triggered by wiring the output of the Retrigger <\/strong>module to their respective trigger inputs. This setup ensures synchronicity regardless of playback length or threshold trigger interval.<\/p>\n

Final Processing<\/h2>\n

\nAs with traditional sound design, some final processing can help to improve the overall mix. EQ <\/strong>is applied to the release phase to increase the low-end, which helps to sell the explosion. Comb Filter<\/strong> and Tube <\/strong>modules then process the entire mix to add a slight bit of spatial depth. Raw synthesis output can often sound \u201cperfect,\u201d so any processes that impart a spatial effect can help the patch sound more natural. Other modules such as Delay<\/strong>, Reverb<\/strong>, or Cabinet <\/strong>are great candidates for this.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n
\n


\n\"download-patches\"
\n<\/a>\n<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n

\n\"GameSynth\"
\n<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

One of the great strengths of following a procedural approach to sound design is the potential for creating interrelated control. Any individual signal can<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3508,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[6,15,12],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/procedural-audio.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3485"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/procedural-audio.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/procedural-audio.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/procedural-audio.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/procedural-audio.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3485"}],"version-history":[{"count":18,"href":"http:\/\/procedural-audio.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3485\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4916,"href":"http:\/\/procedural-audio.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3485\/revisions\/4916"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/procedural-audio.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3508"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/procedural-audio.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3485"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/procedural-audio.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3485"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/procedural-audio.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3485"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}