The future of synthesis!?

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OMG, this is complete visual insanity. I can almost guarantee that Paul Oakenfold and John Digweed will be taking a couple of these home for Christmas each. That and I'd give it probably a year or so before the ravers among us start seeing these on the main trance stages at parties.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0h-Rhyop ... ed&search=

Yeah, they just need to figure out how to make them not sound annoying.

That looks amazing - thanks for the link! I think that sort of thing is a possible future for electronic music / sound production. It looks like something from a sci-fi movie. I hope someone develops it into something accessible and affordable someday - I'd love to play with something like that.

That's what any raw waveform on a synthesizer sounds like though. If anything, if they used that live, they'd be running that thing through a lot more in the ways of compression, EQ, reverbs, delays, or whatever else - completely different end product in that sense when you have that factored in.

My biggest thing is I'm a very visual person so that kind of thing would just be ridiculously intuitive. My problem, lol, I'd probably have so much on the table (if they have effects modules) I'd have stuff misconnecting - you could call me a control freak like that.

I didn't understand how that thing worked, but it looked and sounded awesome!

you've gotta read the wording. It looks like the table itself is the synthesizer but the things they were dropping on it were control objects. like the first thing they put down was for a square wave, twisting it to the right upped the pitch, left lowered it, and the ring on the table itself on the outside was the volume control. The next thing they dropped was a bandpass filter (like a reverse-notch) and the way they twist it again, left twists it to just capturing the lower frequencies, right moves it higher and line on the outside adjusted what they'd call the frequency or intensity of the bandpass itself. Then with the other object that made it wobble - that was a sine LFO (low-frequency oscillator) which modulates either volume or amp (which is what they were doing) or it can make the bandpass filter wobble if the line is connected to that. They had 2 other stems of the tutorial and in the second they had a drum sample which, much like with the wave, the tempo or note value was adjusted down or up by twisting it. Its one of those things where if you've been playing with synthesizers for years it'll take a second but you'll be right there - anyone else you'd probably want to play with a freeware or something like Maelstrom or Subtractor on a demo of Reason 3.0 to really grasp it all.

lol, another thing about that table - its probably a nice thing for if a musician's just too stoned or drunk to remember what they're doing anymore - see what sounds good and then try to write down on pen and paper what you had set up if you can't keep track of the lines and your intentions anymore as your going.

If anyone hasn't found it yet they have a website about it here: http://www.iua.upf.es/mtg/reacTable/

They explain all about how it works and even have the software available which is open-source. I guess if you're really ambitious you can even make your own table like that since they describe the specifications. Here's an image from the site which diagrams how the table works:

Yeah I'm the same way - very visual-oriented so that thing would really be great to use. And I'd probably overload it with effects modules too or try to connect things in a way they weren't meant to be hehe. I love tinkering with synthesis and really sculpting the sound.

I must get one!

Lol, I'm already overloading off of the realization that for really good sickbass in my tracks I need to literally weave multichord melody and cut away and resample in about 50 steps over about 5 or 6 resamples. I think I might just need to buy a few xtra harddrives or some more RAM before I wake up one morning and find a 'Dear John' note where my computer used to be. As for that thing...heh...don't even get me started...

Can you record your own sounds or is it all just the same stock bleeps and bloops, al bit ones that you can retool and warp?

Well, they were kinda just showing the basics of how it works. As for synthesis in general that's what the basics of synthesis are - bleeps and bloops, its the effects, filtering, and EQing that make something better of it. My only guess is you'd have to run something through that, they may have some objects for EQing and reverb, I'd imagine they could have devices with that many control parameters but they'd probably need to have buttons all over the surface of the object which specified which band of the EQ you were using, you'd probably have the left and right turn for dB control and such. It takes a lot of effects for something to really sound good though so I'd think it would probably be better to have that after the table rather than on it.

Hehe that "Dear John" bit made me chuckle. Yes give your computer some extra ram they always like that.



Also I imagine there should be an option to start out with an audio sample of your choice for the source waveform instead of a basic square, sine, or saw wave. I seem to remember some software synths which allow that - though I've been out of touch from the synth world for a few years.

wauw ! this is great ! i truly hope i've got someone among my friends able to experiment with this kind of constructions, and interested in trying. i'm going to ask right away ! ! only the thought of touching such a thing makes me wild ...

Yeah I know... in the first video they were using a square wave, if my memory is correct.

But you answered my complaint... running it through more effects as you mentioned would then be the way to make it sound not-annoying.