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Seismic: Wave Hello and Say Goodbye..
Seismic: Wave Hello and Say Goodbye..
Seismic: Wave Hello and Say Goodbye..
K.J. Donaldson
©2017-2018 All Rights Reserved
Seismic
...Goodbye to all those other boring wave-based synths!
W elcome to the world of Seismic where everything is a wave. Even the LFOs
and envelopes are created using the same waves that are used as oscillators
to build sounds. Seismic is a fully modular synthesizer built from nodes. Each
node can use two waves, or a node and a wave, or two nodes with a mixer to
combine them to create a new wave. In this way, nodes are strung together to
create a patch.
O ne of the unusual features is that playing a repeated note does not cut off
the previous note. You can have any number of the same note playing at
the same time. In fact, there is no polyphony limit, except what your computer can
handle. (See: Settings, Note Off Mode.)
Mac OS X: It should run on OS 10.6 or newer on any Mac with Intel inside. It is
32-bit and 64-bit. Seismic is currently VST-only, but is compatible with Logic
using a VST -> AU wrapper, such as Image-Lines’ free MiniHost Modular.
Windows: It should run on Windows XP or newer. There are separate 32-bit and
64-bit versions, labeled as such in the main folder. They use the same assets.
This End-User License Agreement (EULA) is a legal agreement between you (either an individual or a single entity)
and the mentioned Author (syntonica.net) of this Software for the software product identified above, including
documentation. (“SOFTWARE PRODUCT”).
By installing, copying, or otherwise using the SOFTWARE PRODUCT, you agree to be bounded by the terms of
this EULA. If you do not agree to the terms of this EULA, do not install or use the SOFTWARE PRODUCT.
2. COPYRIGHT
All title and copyrights in and to the SOFTWARE PRODUCT (including the Manual), and any copies of the
SOFTWARE PRODUCT are owned by the Author of this Software, except as noted below. The SOFTWARE
PRODUCT is protected by copyright laws and international treaty provisions. Presets and their names may be
copyrighted by their respective owners.3. LIMITED WARRANTY
3a. NO WARRANTIES.
The Author of this Software expressly disclaims any warranty for the SOFTWARE PRODUCT. The SOFTWARE
PRODUCT and any related documentation is provided “as is” without warranty of any kind, either express or
implied, including, without limitation, the implied warranties or merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, or
non-infringement. The entire risk arising out of use or performance of the SOFTWARE PRODUCT remains with
you.
4. TERMINATION
Without prejudice to any other rights, the Author of this Software may terminate this EULA if you fail to comply
with the terms and conditions of this EULA. In such event, you must destroy all copies of the SOFTWARE
PRODUCT and all of its component parts.
/Library/Audio/Plug-ins/VST
or
~/Library/Audio/Plug-ins/VST
Windows XP or Newer:
Unzip the Seismic folder and move it in next to your other VSTs. (There goes the
neighborhood!) There is a Seismic.dll which must be in the same folder next to the
other Seismic folder, which holds all the support files, including this manual,
samples, and patches. Follow your DAW's instructions on how to recognize new
plug-ins.
Upgrading: If you have no patches to save, just replace the old plugin with the
new. Otherwise, if you have patches stored in your DAW, but have not saved them
out, now is the time to do so! Otherwise, your DAW will probably default to a
generic patch if opening the new version.
If you have saved presets, right-click the old Seismic plug-in icon and select "Show
Package Contents", then open “Contents”, “Resources” then “Patches”. On
Windows, open the “Seismic.Win” folder, then “Seismic” and as above. Patch files
are now named the same as the patch name, so for patches you wish to save,
change the number in the filename to the patch name. Then, move them into the
new plugin.
Uninstall: Seismic is all self-contained, stuffed with the plug-in, this manual,
presets and samples. To delete Seismic (why? 😿 ), just drag it off to the trash.
The main node will be in the center of the plug-in window somewhere. From top
to bottom:
◦ Settings: Click on the Seismic logo to open the Settings window.
◦ Zots: Zot1 and Zot2 are all for show and not for go, however.
◦ Tool Tips: They will show below the Seismic logo in cyan on mousing over
any Wave or Knob, as well as any of the buttons. If a knob is being
controlled, the Tool Tip will tell you which node is doing it. Otherwise, the
boring copyright notice will show.
◦ Patch Name: Click on the Patch Name to clear it out and type in a new
name. The change will not be saved until you save it. Press Esc to discard
your changes. Special characters will probably be ignored or turned into
normal ones.
◦ Master Filter: The two big knobs control the new Master 24dB Low Pass
Filter. Turn the LP24 Freq knob all the way up to disable it. The LP24 Q
knob controls resonance and it may ring a bit when turned all the way up.
This is the same LP24 filter as found in the mixers, but it is applied to the
final mix rather than a single waveform.
◦ Load Patch: Click the Load button to bring up a selector window to load a
new patch. Seismic currently has 128 slots. To delete a patch, hold down
There's just a few things you can do here to a single node. From top to bottom:
There is room for 128 waves to choose from. All of them are built mathematically
at run-time, every run-time. They are generally grouped together by type.
◦ Nodes 1 - 24: Feeds from the mixer of the aforementioned Node. Select
one of these to feed your signal path along into a new node, or even the
same node. Versions of Seismic in 3x3 (8 Nodes), 4x4 (15 Nodes) and 5x5
(24 Nodes) will be available.
◦ Env ADSR: Specially built wave to create the Decay stage of a standard
envelope, which splits the total attack time on the Attack Speed knob evenly
between Attack and Decay.
◦ Env Quick A/R: An attack and release envelope with a faster attack and
release curve. Both of these also make great oscillators.
◦ Env Slow A/R: An attack and release envelope with a slower attack and
release curve.
◦ Half Pulse 1 & 2: Two variations on half-pulse and half-silence.
◦ Impulse: Just a blip...
◦ Parabola - & Parabola +: Middle-school geometry parabolas, useful as
waves and as LFOs.
◦ Pulse 5 - 95: Different pulse widths when a steady pulse is desired. Pulse 50
is a standard Square wave.
◦ Sample: A randomly generated Sample & Hold style wave used as a
placeholder view for the sample players and as a steppy oscillator or LFO.
Never the same wave twice, though, just like the White Noise.
◦ Saw, Saw Reverse, Saw -, Saw +: All the same saw wave, just different
variations for use as LFOs.
◦ Saw2 - & Saw2 +: Two saws twisted slightly by squaring the values. Great
as oscillators, or for wave shaping.
Sometimes, Knob1 is a speed knob. The left-hand half is in real-time seconds, the
right-hand half makes the thing modulate to the beat, from over 16 bars down to
every 16th note.
◦ None: Nothing to see here, folks. Move along! Set unused nodes to None if
not in use and you will save CPU cycles.
◦ +/Flat: Adds Wave1 and Wave2 together, but introduces clipping by
limiting the result to max values.
◦ +/Flip: Like Fold, but drops the part that sticks out to the zero-line like an
audio sinkhole.
◦ +/Fold: Clips the wave, but folds the part of the wave that sticks out over so
that it is back in range.
◦ +/Norm: Adds Wave1 and Wave2 together and then normalizes the result.
◦ AM: Multiplies each sample in Wave1 by the the absolute value of the
sample in Wave2.
◦ And: Does some funky math to the floating point values to turn them to
integers and then does a bit-wise And operation before converting back to
floating point. Makes some very odd, steppy waves.
◦ Comb: A simple filter that creates phasing by generating extra copies shifted
by a few samples. Delay is the number of samples and Decay is how quickly
each copy fades down to silence.
◦ Compressor: A simple compressor to help louden quiet waves, or give
them some shape.
Q. Why do some of the presets use the same wave for Wave1 and Wave2 and then
add them. Doesn't this result in the exact same wave?
It does. However, when you see these, you are invited to try a different wave for
Wave2, or play with the Phase. Leaving a wave at Silence still takes the same
processing power compared to using any other waveform.
Q. I made a great patch and saved it. But now when I reopen it, it doesn't make
any sound!
You are probably feeding nodes back into each other. You usually need at least one
good sound-making node (or even just a single wave) at the start of your chain of
nodes to get the sound ball rolling. Remember, Seismic calculates waves starting
with Node 1, Wave 1 and moves down the line. If the waves in Node 1 are both set
to later nodes, you may never get a sound.
Q. I’m using the 32-bit version and the windowing is a bit wacky.
Yes. Development is purely 64-bit with 32-bit thrown in. Most issues with 32-bit
are compromises. Not all hosts behave the same, making it difficult to do just
generic support.
You can message me on the KVR forums. Include a screen shot of your patch
configuration, if possible, and a copy of the crash report that will pop up, if things
crash. You can just copy and paste from the window before dismissing it. There is
no need to send the report to Apple/Microsoft as I'm probably to blame. If
something is misbehaving, just describe how you can repeat the problem.
It depends. If it fits the Seismic paradigm, most likely. If not, most likely not.
Future updates will involve adding more better waves and more better mixers. To
help prevent breakage, what is there will stay where it is.
Q. I made this patch, but there's always a click when the note starts.
Unfortunately, not all waves start from a zero-crossing, and even if they do, they
often click, especially sine-like waves. Dial up the envelope attack time from 0 to
the lowest number you can find that eliminates the click. Remember to hold down
the Shift key for a finer grain of change while moving the dial. Usually, you can
remove the click with times less than a millisecond (.001).
Q. My files are not being seen, despite being in the correct folder.
Make sure that all of the extensions on your files are correct and in lower case-only.
That was temporary code while I was testing other things, but I liked how they
worked, so I kept them as is. Seismic is meant to be different.