Once you have a number of variations on the original bass loop, you can use them in your audio sequencer or sampler, or you can use MetaTrack to create composite loops (see the sidebar “Audio Sequencing with MetaSynth and MetaTrack”). You can also quite easily build composite loops directly in the Image Synth.

Taking note. The simplest way to gain access to all the loop variations as rendering-input sources is to first build an Instrument from them. (See the end of the section “Add ’em up” for an Instrument-building shortcut.) Because you probably don’t want to play the loops at different pitches and speeds, they should be mapped to consecutive notes. This will restrict you to working in a vertical region of the Image Synth, which has a height determined by the number of loop variations. Use the blue channel’s Line tool to mark this region’s upper and lower boundaries.

FIG. 7: MetaSynth’s Note brush creates piano roll–style note sequences like the one shown here. The blue gridlines do not contribute to the sound. The color variation of the red/green lines represents panning, and the intensity variation represents volume.

Fig. 7 shows a note sequence for combining six bass-loop variations from the previous section. To create this sequence, the picture width was set to 128 and the duration was fit to the original bass loop, then multiplied by 8. As a result, a line 16 pixels wide will play the loop once. The Note brush was set to a width of 16/1 so that one click enters a 16-pixel line one row high. The Snap Grid (the green grid on the left) was turned on and set to 16 so that entered notes will be quantized to a 16-pixel grid. The horizontal blue gridlines indicate the outside boundaries of the Instrument’s note map.

The long notes were painted in first with a yellow Note brush. They were then colored by applying a colorizing filter and faded in and out using a black Filter brush. Rendering the file using the Instrument as the input source at this point would cause each loop variation to fade in, pan across the stereo field, and fade out. The short notes at the top (four pixels wide) were entered later to double the beginning of each loop with a different variation. Each one plays the loop’s first quarter at the opposite side of the stereo field from the longer line at the identical horizontal position. Of course, you can do a great deal more with the Image Synth’s brushes. This example indicates the complete control you have over volume and pan envelopes and shows how quickly you can enter note sequences.

Just for Effect

FIG. 8: MetaSynth’s Effects Palette applies DSP effects to sound files in the Sample Editor. The Inertia effect shown here simulates sympathetic vibrations.

In addition to the effects on the DSP and Transform menus, there are 14 effects accessible from MetaSynth’s Effects Palette (see Fig. 8). A pair of these—Harmonics and Inertia—use the waveform’s harmonic spectrum in the Wave Table Palette to color the sound file. Four others—Stretch, Grain, Shuffler, and Harmonize—use granular-synthesis techniques. Here’s an example using a couple of the more unique effects to process the composite bass loop from the previous section.

The Inertia effect simulates sympathetic vibrations based on the waveform’s harmonics in the Wave Table Palette. Used sparingly, this can add subtle and effective resonances to any sound. Applying it to a sound file’s different segments using different waveforms in the Wave Table Palette adds variation to an otherwise repetitive loop. In the context of the bass-loop composite, try applying different Inertia to each quarter (for example, four bars) of the sound file. Save the sound file for reuse later.

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Reprinted with permission from Magazine, February, 2001
© 2001, Intertec Publishing, A Primedia Company All Rights Reserved