Automation in PT7 and Sampletank 2

[TragikRemix]

i'll start off by saying its a techno song.

i have a string part in sampletank that i've been playing with. i want this sound- its a LoFi option, and it has a bandwith control. i want to be able to record automation to have the bandwith change indefinitley, that is just go back and forth.

i don't know how to automate a control outside of pro tools.

anyone have any idea how to do this?

[ssscientist]

Two ways.

The first is to modulate the 'bandwidth control' - I assume of the filter - with an LFO. This is probably the easiest because once you get the hang of it you will have it in your programming bag of tricks for good.

LFO means 'Low Frequency Oscilator' and it generates an oscilation below the frequency of human hearing. It is used to introduce vibrato or tremolo or to modulate anything it can be connected to, in this case the resonance of a filter. Go into the edit screen on Sampletank and find the LFO. Then set it so that it's connected to the filter resonance, set on a very slow sweep and adjust the depth to taste.

The other way will work only if your version of Sampletank is set up to respond to midi continuous controllers. If it is it will say so in the manual. The continuous controller in question will be the one for the frequency resonance, which is typically cc # 71. With this method you'll need to draw the sweep in over the length of the song or cut and paste it where you want it.

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[TragikRemix]

thanks ssscientist.

i took some of what you said and ran with it. for anyone's future search reference;

in sampletank, i hit 'cntr' button in the main window, then i clicked on the paramater i wanted to control, that being the bandwith 'knob'. a display pops up, and you can assign that control to a channel, i set it to i think 14.

in the PT edit window, you look at your track, where you can select the display type (ie, region, notes, pan, volume etc.) and you select, i think, it's other, and then add/remove controller.

find the channel you set it to, this was 14 for me, and click 'add'. now it shows midi channel 14 as being changable. for me, since i just wanted to have it go up and down, a just dragged a line up, like i was doing a fade in, and then back down, like i was doing a fade out.

i was pleasantly shocked when i hit play and it worked!

thanks!

[ssscientist]

Originally Posted by TragikRemix

now it shows midi channel 14 as being changable.

It's not 'channel' 14 but 'continuous controller' 14 that you were changing.

There's a big difference, as each channel has 120 continuous controllers available.


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[TragikRemix]

thanks for the correction. its all mumble jumble to me still.

hey ssscientist, you are the main MIDI guy around here it seems...you're the only one who really answers the midi questions..

you should be the Midi forum moderator, but we dont work like that..

[ssscientist]

Hmmmm.

Surely you don't mean to slight altitude909, fraserhutch, Atterion, AlChuck and all the rest of the Midiots here.

Have you read the Sound on Sound guide to Midi Basics yet? It's well written and the most accurate I've found on the web.

Here are the links - part one, part two and part three.

Part three explains in more depth about continuous controllers and lays it all out without relying on cryptic jargon.

If you're going to be dealing on any level with synthesizers in the future now is a good time to get to know things like envelope shapes, modulation sources and low frequency oscillators. Also what happens to a sound when you, for example, close down a low-pass filter or crank up the resonance or increase or decrease the frequency of a regular old oscillator. You'll be amazed at what you already know from playing around inside Sampletank 2 and other software instruments.

There's not much to know about synthesizers once you break them down into their component parts --- pitch, volume, timbre and character being the four groups. And start small by tweaking a preset sound that's almost there for a song you're working on --- which is how this thread got started.



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[altitude909]

Midiots

Awsome

[TragikRemix]

whoa..

awesome resources..

no i dont mean to take away from other 'midiots'

i have very basic knowledge of synths (soft-synths.. same deal) and i've been trying to play with it to learn.

i stumbled upon that sound, i was looking for something different, and then i was playing with this one, and then i said, hmm, this would be even better if it sounded like it was recorded on a ghetto cassette player/recorder.

thus, the discovery of lofi.

thanks for your help guys.