Make Noise Phonogene - Manual (Page 11)

Microsound
Microsound includes sounds shorter than musical notes, and yet longer than single samples. The sound is
essentially a cluster of samples contained in an amplitude envelope. The Phonogene offers two methods
“Micromontage” and “Granulation.” Micromontage is done manually using the SPLICE function to cut the
sound into pieces, and the ORGANIZE parameter asynchronously plays through those pieces. It is possible
to splice sounds down to 10ms. It is an interesting process that allows for a great deal of variation, but it
requires patience since the sound is cut up manually to achieve such variation. Granulation is an automatic
splicing of the sound. It is done without regard to source material, and is a linear, machine like process,
dividing the audio buffer into progressively smaller pieces. If the individual Samples that comprise a digitally
recorded sound recording make up the DNA of the sound, then we would refer to these small clusters of
samples as Genes. The Phonogene is a Single Gene device, meaning that one cluster of samples is heard
at a time. The Phonogene uses Dynamic Enveloping to achieve smoothing of the audible glitches that result
from performing these particle physics studies upon audio signals. At a certain point, the size of the Gene is
so small that it will be heard as a click. This is still useful because there are many ways to vary the timbre of
that click, and when hundreds of clicks are heard one after the other, the ear will perceive them as a tone
with varied timbre. The same is true of the Micromontage method, but Granulation is an automatic, real-time
process, and therefore may be modulated by control signals within the modular system. Additionally, the
GENE-SHIFT Clock IN allows for strict Synchronous playback of the resulting pieces, which is useful for
Time-Stretch/ Compress and other effects. It is recommended that LP or BP filter follow the Phonogene
when performing granulation, to allow for further control of the resulting sound.
Setting Size of Genes
The GENE-SIZE control parameter sets the divisor value. The smallest possible Geneis 1/12th of the splice
length. If there are no splices, the smallest possible Gene is 1/12th of the total loop length. Therefore, the
SPLICE and ORGANIZE functions will prove useful for building sets of Microsounds. For example, if you
have 4 Splices, and each is a different length, then each splice will offer a different range of Gene sizes.
Heard un-modulated the single Gene sounds almost as if it were oscillating, and modulating the
VARI-SPEED control will change the perceived pitch of this oscillation, just as you would modulate the pitch
of a VCO. Modulating the GENE-SIZE will effectively change the perceived pitch as well as the timbre, and
could be likened to varying the level of magnification while inspecting a microscope slide. Slow continuous
signals, such as MATHS, triggered or cycling, will prove very good modulators for GENE-SIZE.
Traversing Sound on a Genetic Level in a Nonlinear Way
As interesting as the single Gene may sound while modulated, you will find that exploring all the different
Genes in a given Splice via modulation of the SLIDE parameter will be even more thrilling. The sonic
contrast of the different Genes and the order in which they are heard will generate a wealth of new sounds
from your source material. SLIDE (23) will always move immediately to the next Gene, so modulating with
stepped voltages will often result in fast hard timbral changes as you move from one cluster of samples to
another. Continuous signals, such as MATHS, triggered or cycling, will prove very good modulators for
SLIDE. The SLIDE Panel control (22) sets the center point for the modulation and the SLIDE CV
Attenuvertor (24) could be seen as setting the “window” of the modulation, since it will control the range of
Genes played.