The Kyma Language for Sound Design, Version 4.5

Samples
A sample file is a digital recording of a signal; it stores the instantaneous amplitude versus time of the recorded
signal. A sample file usually contains a header in a specific format; the header contains information
about the way the sample was recorded (for example, the sample rate of the recording, the number of
channels recorded, and the resolution of the recording). Kyma can work with sample files in the AIFF,
SD-I, SD-II, SF/IRCAM/MTU or WAV formats.
The sample memory (also called sample RAM) on the signal processor is like the RAM on your computer; it
is volatile memory that provides only temporary storage, but offers faster access times and more flexibility
than the computer’s hard disk. Kyma uses sample memory for delay lines, samples, and wavetables
(single cycles of standard waveforms, such as sine waves or envelope functions). Sample memory can
either be automatically loaded from a sample file stored on the host computer’s hard disk, or it can be
written in real time by a Sound.
The sample editor provides basic cutting and splicing tools for manipulating sample files.
What is a Wavetable?
There are two uses for the word “wavetable” in Kyma. One use refers to the size of a block of memory in
the Capybara sample RAM and the other use refers to how a sample file is intended to be used.
When Kyma uses the Capybara sample memory, it allocates the memory in chunks of 4096 samples.
These 4096 sample long chunks are called wavetables. Standard configurations have either 255 or 1023
wavetables. Sometimes you will see messages referring to the amount of sample RAM in terms of these
wavetables.
The parameter names of the Sound modules have been chosen to assist you in understanding how Kyma
will use the recording stored in the sample file. Typically, a Wavetable field is used to specify a monophonic
sample file that contains exactly one cycle of a waveform of exactly 4096 sample points (one
wavetable long). Other fields (for example, Sample) in which you specify sample files generally assume
that the file contains an arbitrary digital recording of arbitrary length. To be sure of the kind of digital
recording a specific Sound requires, see the on-line help for that parameter by clicking on the name of the
parameter in the Sound editor.
Using Sample Files
Kyma Sounds are not digital recordings. The typical Kyma Sound is a set of instructions telling the Capybara
how to generate an audio signal in real time. There are two fundamental advantages to this
approach: an instruction list takes up much less memory than the equivalent digital recording, and instructions
can be more flexibly modified than digital recordings.
There are times, however, when you will want to create, store and play digital recordings stored in sample
files. In Kyma, recording to the hard disk allows you to
♦ sample live input from the A/D converter or other sources
♦ record any Kyma Sound as a sample
♦ export samples to other programs
♦ build up complex textures through multi-tracking, or
♦ pre-compute subsections of a Sound that is too complex to compute in real time
Kyma also has the complementary ability to play digital recordings stored on the hard disk, so you can
listen to Sounds you have recorded in previous sessions. Because Kyma can recognize sample files in a
variety of formats, the program’s ability to play disk recordings also allows you to import samples from
other sources (CD-ROM sample collections and hard disk recording software, for example).