Questions about the "Snap to guides" option

Software simulator of the unique Russian synthesizer
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signality
Posts: 38
Joined: Tue Jul 12, 2016 5:12 pm

Questions about the "Snap to guides" option

Post by signality »

Hi,

I just discovered this wonderful piece of software a week or so ago and am still learning how to drive it.

I have been wondering if there is a way to quantise the pitch into steps that match (as near as the FFT/filter bank will allow) the keys on the left hand keyboard so that tones can be entered like on a piano roll. To that end I have been trying out the "Snap to guides" option but I'm not sure I have understood exactly how to use this function.

I've had a look around the forum but haven't seen anything posted about it so I wondered if anyone might know the answers to a couple of questions I have about the "Snap to guides" option.

If I click on the pitch panel on the left hand side (the keyboard) I get a horizontal line at the pitch that stays there after I release the left mouse button and move the cursor.

If I turn on "Snap to guides" then I can get the drawing tool to snap to that line. That means I can define a start or an end pitch of a line or for a horizontal line along the guide, the entire duration of the pitch. What I have not found a way to do is to define a guide for more than one pitch or for points along the X (time) axis

My questions are:

1) is there a way to define more than one guide simultaneously?

2) is it possible to define horizontal (time) as well as vertical (pitch) guides?

Thanks.
Koekepan
Posts: 262
Joined: Thu Dec 05, 2013 4:56 am

Re: Questions about the "Snap to guides" option

Post by Koekepan »

If you're on a PC, or have a MIDI keyboard attached, you can hit three keys at once and you get multiple guides.

For example, if I hit QET, I get C major. I can do the same from my KORG nanoKEY2 (not fancy, but highly functional) and get three guides and the system will show all three, and snap to all three if I configure that.

I'm not sure about time guides. Sorry.

Honestly, I mostly do ambient stuff, so time guides are less of an issue for me(mostly), otherwise I just zoom in and get granular when timing is important.
signality
Posts: 38
Joined: Tue Jul 12, 2016 5:12 pm

Re: Questions about the "Snap to guides" option

Post by signality »

Ah!

So simple.

I'm using it on a Linux box so I can used the keys.

Many thanks for that.

So far I've just played about with the (not very original) idea of taking some of a local artist's images and importing them into Virtual ANS but am thinking of various ways to enter music and create sounds.

One idea that struck me was that the conversion of images into soundscapes could be useful for blind people. Again it is not a very original idea and there are already free(!) tools out there that are tailored to this as a realtime applicaton:

http://www.sciencemag.org/news/2014/03/ ... -see-sound

https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/eyemusi ... 61054?mt=8)

but I thought it would be fun to play with anyway.

Such a versatile tool. So little time!
Koekepan
Posts: 262
Joined: Thu Dec 05, 2013 4:56 am

Re: Questions about the "Snap to guides" option

Post by Koekepan »

It would be nice if there were a way to have non-12TET scales in VirtualANS. Also, it's not automatically tuned to 440, so you may have to do some fiddling in your song specs to make it happen that way.

Having said that, you can use it as an interesting tool for importing .wav files and modifying them. The sonogram approach to musical management makes it a surprisingly powerful DAW.

You can also use the layers to really combine different layers of sound effectively, and the brushes can allow you to use it as, effectively, an additive synth.

So much power!
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