Re: "I am smoking in a room"

[Alex Stahl <alex@pixar.com>]

At 10:09 AM -0500 7/17/01, Dennis Leas wrote:
>So the EDP's output is split.  It goes to the SPX-90's input and to the
>EDP's input.  The EDP's input is a mix of the EDP's output and the 
>SPX-90's
>output (and the initial signal, of course).
>[...] You've got to kind of "fly" the controls to
>prevent the feedback from growing out of control.
>


One of my favorite sounds ever came from a very similar setup, but 
using two SPX-90's instead of one EDP and one SPX. I'd put both of 
them into stereo pitch mode, with long but uncorrelated delay times, 
then "play" the aux sends which cross-connected the SPX's to each 
other, while stepping the pitch ratios up and down.

Although harmonizer feedback can be a DSP cliche, there was something 
about the crummy SPX algorithms which made this variation unusually 
musical. I was never able to get quite the same quality out of an 
H3000 or anything else. The violinist in my old Janus Ensemble would 
always say "ohhhh, the elves are back...." This sound was featured on 
a Janus track called Texture Maps, although if anyone has ever heard 
that I will be so amazed that I'd offer a prize.

-Alex Stahl