The Kyma Language for Sound Design, Version 4.5

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4. Now, “monotonize” all of the octave harmonics. Click on the track filter button (the third one from
the right). These operate on whatever harmonics are currently selected. Choose Replace Frequency
with average. This will replace the time-varying frequency of each track with a single frequency: the
average frequency the track had over the entire length of the analysis.
5. Compare the sound of all harmonics against the octave harmonics alone using the leftmost play button
and the one right next to it, the play-selection button.
6. Now save the monotonized octave harmonics in another analysis file. The octave harmonics should
still be selected. “Copy” these harmonics using Ctrl+C. Kyma will ask you to name the new analysis
file and save it somewhere (name it something like “oct harm only”).
Click in your Sound file window to bring it to the front and use Ctrl+V to paste a new SumOfSines
based on the octave harmonics file into the window. Then you can close the spectrum editor without
saving the changes.
7. Our next task is to try to create an endless glissando effect based on the Shepard’s tones audio illusion.
The idea is that we want to change the Frequency of the SumOfSines so that it repeatedly does a
smooth glissando from a very low to a very high frequency. Double-click the SumOfSines. Set its Duration
to on, and check the Loop box. Paste an Oscillator from the prototype strip into the
Frequency field and scale and offset it as follows:
Oscillator L * (300 - 30) hz + 30 hz
This will scale the Oscillator to the range of 30 to 300 hz.
Now we have to change the Oscillator so that it repeats once every 15 seconds and so that it uses
Ramp rather than Sine as its wavetable. That will give us the repeating glissando function. Doubleclick
in a white space of the signal flow diagram. Edit the Oscillator parameters, changing the Wavetable
to Ramp and the Frequency to 15 s inverse (because the period of repetition in seconds is
the inverse of frequency in hertz).
Listen to the SumOfSines so far. In order to avoid the discontinuity when the ramp goes back to zero
every 15 seconds, let’s put a repeating amplitude envelope on the whole thing, so it fades in and
fades out on each repetition.
8. To make the envelope, paste another Oscillator from the prototypes into the Envelope field. Edit
the Oscillator, changing its Wavetable to LinearEnvelope and its Frequency to 15 s inverse.
Now play the SumOfSines again. This time, it should fade in and fade out on each repetition.
9. The next step is to add another SumOfSines. This one should have the same kind of glissando but it
should start halfway through the first SumOfSine’s glissando. The idea is to gradually fade in a new
glissando, just as the first glissando is reaching its top and it is fading out.
To add another Sound, we have to use a Mixer. Drag one from the prototypes and place it on the line
between the SumOfSines and the speaker. Replace its default inputs with the SumOfSines. Then drag
the SumOfSines from the signal flow area into the Mixer’s Inputs field. You should end up with a
Mixer of two SumsOfSines. Change the Mixer Left and Right attenuators to 1, rather than the default
0.5.
So far we have two identical SumOfSines. But we need to delay both the glissando and the envelope
Oscillators that control the frequency and amplitude of the second SumOfSines. Click on the tab on
the left edge of the second SumOfSines while holding down the Command or Control key so it
shows all of its inputs.
Insert a TimeOffset between the envelope oscillator and the SumOfSines. Then insert another
TimeOffset between the glissando oscillator and the SumOfSines. We want to set the delay to half the
duration of the glissando. So set the SilentTime in each of the TimeOffsets to 7.5 s.
10. Try listening to the Mixer. It should give at least something of the illusion of an endlessly rising pitch,
because as the higher octaves fade out, some lower octaves are fading in below them.
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