Composers Desktop Project Forum

Hi,
These are CDP error messages. The "shift/respace with formants" (CDP: specfnu modes 13,14 and 19) clearly have some pitch-extraction built in (I didn't know this), so as to be able to shift formants, and CDP is saying it can't find a valid pitch with your particular sound. I tried previews with a speech sound and a violin sound and these 'errors' didn't appear; the processing worked fine.

No need to do an explicit PVOC conversion in Soundshaper - it does it for you behind the scenes. The only exception I would recommend is: if saving a patch that has a spectral file at the end of the process chain, then follow this with a PVOC SYNTH before saving.
   

Hello,

Thank you for reply, I've managed to found the process of "Shift" now, and thanks for mentioning that it has additional functions.

At first I've tried just the "shift frequences" process and it was easy to use, however when I switched to "shift/respace with formants" and tried to do a preview after small adjustments, I've got this error:

INFO: Extracting pitch contour.
ERROR: CANNOT ACHIEVE TASK:
ERROR: No valid pitch found.
ERROR: INVALID DATA
ERROR: Can't open file ~X_0.ana to read data.

I need to say that I've replaced the executable file for SoundShaper, so it's version 6.3 again. Did I miss some steps perhaps? Of course, I've did "analyse" conversion before doing "Shift" process.

Hi
What am I doing wrong?
I get this error when I click preview:

Soundshaper CDP Error. Preview Not possible .Ok
ERROR: INVALID DATA
ERROR: Can't open file ~X_-1.wav to read data.
ERROR: INVALID DATA
ERROR: Can't open file ~X_-1.ana to read data.

https://ibb.co/Nds7n75N

Hi Robert!
A lot of thanks for your help and for creating this awesome and creative software.
I don't know what the structure of the text file should look like?

C1 32.70 Hz
C#/Db1 34.65 Hz
D1 36.71 Hz

I think you're referring to CDP's FILTER BANK 6, which tunes filters in equal intervals of so-many semitones. I would expect these to be in equal temperament (though the CDP documentation doesn't clarify this). If they were in just intervals, you could soon end up with some pretty "unjust" tunings: for example 3 equal-tempered thirds coincide with the octave, whereas 3 just 3rds piled up give slightly less (125/64 = 1.953125 instead of 2.0).

If you want to set your own frequencies, check out FILTER VARIBANK, which uses a text table of frequencies (or MIDI notes) and amps. You can easily load a text file of frequencies tuned to whatever you want. This is one of CDP's most powerful tools (in my opinion), and it's time-varying.

Hi,
Yes, the search function in SoundThread (typing in name) is very clever - I haven't a clue how this is done, so I'm afraid it's not in Soundshaper.
* * * * *
Frequency Shift is called Strange Shift in CDP, documented under Spectral. (https://www.composersdesktop.com/docs/html/cstrange.htm#SHIFT)

It's in the Soundshaper Menu: Spectral > Pitch/Frequency > Shift > Shift Frequencies, grouped with the related functions from Specfnu (so Spectral > Pitch/Frequency > Shift > Shift / replace with formants) i.e. specfnu modes 13, 14 and 19. (https://www.composersdesktop.com/docs/html/cspecfnu.htm#FREQSHIFT etc., see mode list on left)

All these functions can unfortunately produce unwanted artefacts (depending on the source and settings). This seems especially true of Specfnu (which was probably geared towards speech). I understand that the wavelet transform is cleaner than PVOC in this respect, but that is not available in CDP.

* * * * *
Process Table:
Thanks for reporting the missing Process Table for 'Data' - I'll fix the link in the next version. I personally never use these tables and wonder if they're used at all. Any thoughts on this from users would be welcome.

Robert     

Hello,
That's correct. You will lose the 6.4 added functionality for a time (until I re-construct it) but hopefully you will not have these patch-loading problems now. But I will be checking all these aspects very carefully, which is why I felt a temporary downgrade was better than attempting a quick fix. The missing functionality is 1) no balance option in Previews 2) some changes to Loading patches, especially when the saved source is not included / or no source has been saved.

Hi
In soundfile-Filter- Equal intervals 2 (Low Freq-High Freq) bands defined by interval size, the interval semitones created are tuned in equal-temperament or in just intonation?

Sorry to "bump" this, but is there anything I could try?

Also that alternative .exe for an old version that was mention on Mr. Wishart's website isn't available anymore (gave me 404 response).

While I'm feeling comfortable with SoundShaper and SoundThread, I hope to try SoundLoom, too, at some point in the future.

Thanks, and best wishes!

Hi,

I don't know if there was already a thread about it, but I wanted to ask... Is "SPECFNU" presented only as CMD command, or it's also in SoundShaper as well (I looked in Formants submenu, but didn't find such)? Same question for "STRANGE" functions.

Why I am asking about those, it's that I was trying to see which functions in CDP can do frequency shifting effects, and I've seen those mentioned above in documentation.

One thing I liked in the recently released SoundThread GUI, you can open up a "search" and start inputting names of programs. Is it also possible in other GUIs? Just curious.

By the way, "process table" button in SoundShaper works for me in all menus except "data" (just mentioning in case you've missed this).

Thanks, and have a nice day!