_awed
Github linktutorials and walkthroughs
Discussion
_awed is an instrument I designed for the Norns audio computer and a Grid input interface. Plain and simply, it is my own instrument. Made in a way that allows me to make the sounds that I enjoy making. In a way that I enjoy playing. I hope I can share that joy with others.
The nature of this instrument is a distillation of many of my interests. The atomic nature of timbre. Slowing down. The moments where rhythmic pulses fuse into sustained tones. The sounds of cicadas (?!?!?!). This explores all of that.
Timbre being built up from the presence of harmonics over time. Here we can choose which harmonics can be present and set them loose into the aether. Generating timbral shifts that will evolve over time as they drift in and out.
Slow play is encouraged. No matter how hard or fast that you jam the keys, the responses will build and decay slowly. By design.
While it isn’t a granular synth, it has similar sonic qualities, wherein it can generate masses of rapid pulses that fuse into tonal clouds. Scattering to the winds. Or it can lean into the sustained tones of a massive bank of oscillators, allowing for additive-esque sound design.
It all came about a few summers ago as I enjoyed the chorus of cicadas around my home. It is a new sound to my ears, as I grew up in another part of the world, devoid of such creatures. I have quickly become enamored by the sounds. @skeletons made an off the cuff remark to ‘cicada core’ during a BMT performance, and I immediately dove into bringing that thought to life. So thank you for that.
This script is the first step in a larger project that I am working on, adjacent to the aforementioned ‘cicada core’, but I will save that for another day. For now, I’m just pleased to be able to share a small bit of my work with the community. I hope some of you will find something useful here.