The Kyma Language for Sound Design, Version 4.5

Remove Redundancy
The most common source of redundancy is in amplitude scaling. For example, if you have a Sample
feeding into an Attenuator, feeding into a Mixer, there are potentially three places where you could be
scaling the amplitude.
Often you can combine these amplitude scales to simplify your Sound. In this example, you could specify
the level in the Scale field of the Sample, and delete the Attenuator. Then you could take the scale factor
in the Mixer and multiply it by the value in the Scale field of the Sample, making it possible to change
the Mixer scale factors to 1.0.
Other Sounds that have potentially redundant scale factors include the MIDIVoice, MIDIMapper, and
Oscillator (which you can scale by putting a constant into its Envelope field or by setting the Scale
parameter in its AR or ADSR envelope).
Anything that you could simplify in an algebraic expression, you can probably also simplify in a Kyma
Sound. For example, if you have several inputs to a Mixer, and each of them is going through its own Attenuator,
and all Attenuators are set to the same value, you can eliminate the Attenuators and do all the
scaling in the Mixer. That is like saying
Downsample Control Sounds
a × x + a × y + a ×z = a × x + y + z
84
( )
If you have some Sounds pasted into parameter fields, you can experiment with updating them at a
slower rate to see if it has any negative impact on the sound. Recall that you can specify the number of
milliseconds between updates, as for example
Oscillator L: 5
would mean to read the value of the Oscillator every 5 milliseconds and use that to set the value of the
parameter. For many parameters, you can get by with update rates slower than once per millisecond and
this will reduce the amount of computation required by your Sound.
Use Equivalent Sounds that are Less Complex
There may be a module that will do exactly what you need but which is less complex than a module you
are using to do the same things. For example, you might be using an Oscillator to play once through a
function where a FunctionGenerator could be used to do that more efficiently. You might be using an exponential
envelope in a situation where a linear one would do as well. You may be using a
FunctionGenerator with a Ramp waveform where you could use the expression 1 ramp: 2 s to accomplish
the same results using less computing power. Use Get info to compare the relative complexity of
different Sounds that can be used to accomplish the same results.