36. Editing Harmonics

Figure 36.1
Click on thumbnail for full size image.

Figure 36.1 shows a Harmonic record, composed of multiple harmonic factors, being edited. This is actually the Harmonic record piano2 we saw earlier, shown here in more detail.

While it is possible to manually enter harmonic factors corresponding to relative amplitudes in the table, this can be a tedious task, especially where there are a lot of harmonic factors (Kangas Sound Editor has a limit of 1024 on the number of harmonic factors). For this reason, a Fill group of user interface controls has been developed that allows a reasonable selection of ways to populate the factors in the table: the ubiquitous graphs can be used, a specific range of indices can be targeted, and it is possible to fill with just a constant value (if Fill mode is set to From fill value). An explanation of the various fill modes follows:

• From fill value This is the simplest fill mode. On clicking the Fill button, factors in the table from Target Start index to End index are filled with the constant value in the field Fill value.
• From source On clicking Fill, factors in the table from Target Start index to End index are filled with factors in the table between Source Start index and End index, multiplied by the value in the field Fill value. If values from the range Source Start index to End index become exhausted because the target range is wider, then the next source factor is taken from the table at Source Start index, the following one is taken from Source Start index + 1, so starting a repeating cycle.
• From graph On clicking Fill, factors in the table from Target Start index to End index are filled with y-values — from the graph entered or selected in the Fill field in the Graph section — multiplied by the value in the field Fill value. The checkbox field From start, which only has an effect when the Scale to fit x checkbox is not checked, will cause the graph to be evaluated from its start (leftmost point), rather than a mid-point that depends on Target Start index.
• Combination This effectively combines the From source and From graph modes: on clicking Fill, factors in the table from Target Start index to End index are filled with factors in the table between Source Start index and End index, adjusted by y-values from the graph entered or selected in the Fill field in the Graph section, and multiplied by the value in the field Fill value. The Continuous checkbox makes a difference to how graph values are applied: if checked, the graph is evaluated for every index in the target range; if unchecked, the graph is only evaluated when Source End index is reached, which causes the next factor to be taken from the table at Source Start index.

Notice there is also a facility for random generation of values. This can be combined with Multi-save, which has nothing to do with offers at your local supermarket! It means you can save a specified number of Harmonic records with different random numbers applied to each. The Harmonic paul_RND_3 we have been using was randomly generated; the suffix RND was used in constructing its name. Using this (Multi-save) mechanism you can generate new instruments at quite a speed, although they may not necessarily all sound very different from each other.