The information on this page is related to the old version of Microsound. I'm currently working on a new version (which is being entirely reprogrammed from scratch, but follows the same principles).
What is Microsound ?
Microsound is a non real-time composition program. It generates complete pieces based on sonic grains and (a lot of)
evolution curves. I used to call that granular composition, because it's an
interesting mix of granular synthesis and algorithmic composition.
Don't be affraid ! The screenshot you see above corresponds to a piece randomly created, with very chaotic curves, all visible at the same time !
The window above lets you define complex curves in a graphic and highly intuitive way, without any formulas.
The shape of the curve depends on the three combo boxes located below the graphic. The first one determines a basic waveform. The other 2 combo boxes lets you select waveshaping functions, which will modify the basic waveform. The functions available for the waveforms / waveshapers include sine, cosine, bessel, parabola, exponential etc...
Above, you can see yet another way to create complex curves for your parameters in Microsound: by typing in a formula. The following operators and functions are available: - + * / ^ tan sin cos atan asin acos tanh sinh cosh ln log exp sqr sqrt abs sgn.
The instrument associated with a track is defined in the "Track Settings" window. You can concatenate up to 32 sample files to create the instrument's waveform.
The sample at the top of the list corresponds to the start of the waveform, and the sample at the bottom of the list corresponds to the end of the waveform.
Of course, there are many other windows and parameters in Microsound, but this was just a short tour...
What do we see here ? The main window of Microsound displays several tracks. On the left
part of each track are the name, mute and solo buttons, information about the
instrument used, and a serie of little colored boxes. Each box correponds to a parameter:
By clicking on these boxes, you can select, hide, or edit the corresponding
curve. Once a curve is selected, the articulation points of the curve become visible.
You can click on a point and drag it to modify the
curve. You can also rotate the curve, mirror it, shift it, smooth it etc...
A curve is by default a multi-segment envelope, but you can also define a curve by typing a mathematical formula, or by combining
waveforms:
You can modify the resulting curve even more with the 4 sliders. The right slider controls the amplitude of the curve, while the left slider adds or subtracts an offset to the curve. The top slider lets you to choose the phase of the curve. Finally, the bottom slider controls the period of the curve.
Enough for the curves: they are controlling the parameters of the instruments, but how are the track's instruments defined ?
A grain played by this instrument can use any part of the waveform (it depends on the value of the waveform curve (the grey one)). But you can force the grain waveform to always start right on a sample, and you can also set a probability for the waveform in the gain to be reversed.
The Pitch section of the Track Settings window controls the pitch of the notes which will be generated. You first have to select the root note of the waveform. Then, you can choose the key and the mode of the track, as well as the valid range (lowest and highest keys). The following modes are available: Chromatic, Dorian, Eolian, Ionian, Lydian, Major, Minor - harmonic, Minor - melodic, Minor - natural, Minor - tzigane, Mixolydian, Phrygian, and Whole tone.
The filter used by the instruments is a 24 dB/octave low-pass. The amplitude envelope of a grain - if any - can be a typical linear fading (to avoid clicks), a granular envelope, a hanning window, or a percussive envelope (exponential). The
shape of the granular and percussive envelopes can be adjusted with the help of the two sliders.
What could be in the new version ?
Starting with the more likely...