Sample offset modulation for Obsidian
I know audio tracks are coming, and I know it's not easy. I've developed iOS apps before, not as complex as NS but complex enough to know it's really hard. So I'm not in any rush or pressurising at all. That said, I think there's potentially a quicker way to get a workaround to audio tracks, if it is development burden that is holding things up. Using Obsidian with the oscillator set to sample allows loading audio and then playing a long sustained note can play the whole thing. How about if Obsidian could be set so it would trigger the sample even if playback starts before the onset of the note, and uses the start position to calculate the sample offset for the oscillator? That way audio samples could be included in Obsidian and even played back from mid-way.
Comments
you can do this trick just a little bit different way ;-) I'm using it all the time, it works perfectly for wav files up to 16-18 bars long - for longer files it isn't good
instead of one long note put serie of short (16th or 32th) notes and then automate sample start
i made small example of this concept.. it then even works like simple timestretching - you can increase track tempo and wacs are playing still in sync
https://blipinteractive.co.uk/community/index.php?p=/discussion/355/little-trick-for-timestretched-drumloop
@dendy
Hey thanks man. I'll check that out, though I need whole full-length backing tracks so it might not work if it doesn't work for longer files! Hmm, how about if I split the track up into shorter chunks and then play them in sequence? Shouldn't be difficult to programme if I set NS to the same tempo as the original. It's slightly academic though as I performed with NS tonight and it worked absolutely fine with just one long note for the backing!
glad to hear that !
Yeah, for many people single-note approach is good compromise. This sample offset trick is handy mostly because of you can rewind and it starts play (almost) instantly from rewinded place.. But it also opens door for experimenting by transposing individual notes up/down and creating new melodies from loop .. or rearrange loop by altering automation curve .. lot of creative stuff
yes this definitely work.. thanks to "Save Selection" (in "actions" menu) in audio editor, in combination with grid locked to whole bars you can very quickly split wave to more, let's say 16 bars long chunks .. then you load them into Obsidian notes (all set to same root note C3)
In sequencer you then draw this (those notes even don't need to be too short, in most cases it works fine even with 1/4, 1/2 or whole bar notes - it depends on how instant playback you want to have on rewind
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And in automation this:
Probably fastest way how to do this is to save chunks with names "chunk c3.wav", "chunk d3.wav", "chunk e3.wav" - then you can use "automap samples" feature in obsidian which automatically loads all samples - you just need to go quickly through zones and change "root note" of all zones back to "c3", because by default during autoloading obsidian sets root note based on file name ..
Got it, thanks! Realistically I can’t think why I would ever need to start a song mid-way. I’m a songwriter so my stuff gets performed pretty much as it was recorded. If something went wrong during a performance, I wouldn’t pick up where I left off, I’d just start from the top. But it would be reassuring to know I could start from a mid point if I needed it, and these look like good workaround until audio tracks are implemented. Thanks again dude!