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Guides
The things I had to learn to build the wavetables and the visuals, written down plainly.
- How to load a wavetable into a synth
Step by step: check a wavetable WAV, import it, set the frame size, scan through it, and fix the usual problems such as noise, clicks and harsh high notes.
- Chladni patterns and drum modes
What a Chladni pattern is, what a vibrational mode of a drum membrane is, how the modes are numbered, and why a real drum does not match the formulas exactly.
- How to make a live visual for a DJ set
How to build a live visual that reacts to music: audio input, analysis, drawing, the screen, flash safety and a plan B.
- What is a wavetable
A plain explanation of wavetables: single cycle waveforms, frames, position, how pitch is set, and why high notes can alias. Includes frame size and sample rate arithmetic.
- How to read a wavetable heatmap
A wavetable drawn as a grid of colour: what the rows, columns and colours mean, and how to spot a smooth morph, a jump, a loop seam or a silent frame.
- What a bar of electronic music looks like on a score
A plain guide to writing one bar of dance music as notation: the bar, the beat, the tempo, a kick and a hat on a staff, and what E Phrygian means.
- Why a kick can drive a visual
What a transient is, how an envelope follower turns a kick into a smooth number, and how that number can move a picture without any keyframes.
- How tempo sets the length of a bar
How to get from beats per minute to the length of a beat, a bar, a sixteenth note and a delay, with arithmetic you can check on a calculator.
- Ring, chord and sweep: how a wavetable is cut from a shape
How the Cymatic Wavetable Pack cuts a single cycle out of a drum or plate shape in three ways, called ring, chord and sweep, and why each one loops cleanly.
Want a guide on something else? Ask in the Discord.