Audio Effects

Whether you’re using a synth or a sample, you can apply any of the following built-in audio effects. As you might suspect, the effects can be chained together, and they accept a pattern string as their argument.

Filters

Filters are an essential building block of subtractive synthesis. Strudel comes with 3 types of filters:

  • low-pass filter: low frequencies may pass, high frequencies are cut off
  • high-pass filter: high frequencies may pass, low frequencies are cut off
  • band-pass filters: only a frequency band may pass, low and high frequencies around are cut off

Each filter has 2 parameters:

  • cutoff: the frequency at which the filter starts to work. e.g. a low-pass filter with a cutoff of 1000Hz allows frequencies below 1000Hz to pass.
  • q-value: Controls the resonance of the filter. Higher values sound more aggressive. Also see Q-Factor

lpf

Synonyms: cutoff, ctf, lp

Applies the cutoff frequency of the low-pass filter.

When using mininotation, you can also optionally add the 'lpq' parameter, separated by ':'.

  • frequency (number|Pattern): audible between 0 and 20000
s("bd sd [~ bd] sd,hh*6").lpf("<4000 2000 1000 500 200 100>")
s("bd*16").lpf("1000:0 1000:10 1000:20 1000:30")

lpq

Synonyms: resonance

Controls the low-pass q-value.

  • q (number|Pattern): resonance factor between 0 and 50
s("bd sd [~ bd] sd,hh*8").lpf(2000).lpq("<0 10 20 30>")

hpf

Synonyms: hp, hcutoff

Applies the cutoff frequency of the high-pass filter.

When using mininotation, you can also optionally add the 'hpq' parameter, separated by ':'.

  • frequency (number|Pattern): audible between 0 and 20000
s("bd sd [~ bd] sd,hh*8").hpf("<4000 2000 1000 500 200 100>")
s("bd sd [~ bd] sd,hh*8").hpf("<2000 2000:25>")

hpq

Synonyms: hresonance

Controls the high-pass q-value.

  • q (number|Pattern): resonance factor between 0 and 50
s("bd sd [~ bd] sd,hh*8").hpf(2000).hpq("<0 10 20 30>")

bpf

Synonyms: bandf, bp

Sets the center frequency of the band-pass filter. When using mininotation, you can also optionally supply the 'bpq' parameter separated by ':'.

  • frequency (number|Pattern): center frequency
s("bd sd [~ bd] sd,hh*6").bpf("<1000 2000 4000 8000>")

bpq

Synonyms: bandq

Sets the band-pass q-factor (resonance).

  • q (number|Pattern): q factor
s("bd sd [~ bd] sd").bpf(500).bpq("<0 1 2 3>")

ftype

Sets the filter type. The ladder filter is more aggressive. More types might be added in the future.

  • type (number|Pattern): 12db (0), ladder (1), or 24db (2)
note("{f g g c d a a#}%8").s("sawtooth").lpenv(4).lpf(500).ftype("<0 1 2>").lpq(1)
note("c f g g a c d4").fast(2)
.sound('sawtooth')
.lpf(200).fanchor(0)
.lpenv(3).lpq(1)
.ftype("<ladder 12db 24db>")

vowel

Formant filter to make things sound like vowels.

  • vowel (string|Pattern): You can use a e i o u ae aa oe ue y uh un en an on, corresponding to [a] [e] [i] [o] [u] [æ] [ɑ] [ø] [y] [ɯ] [ʌ] [œ̃] [ɛ̃] [ɑ̃] [ɔ̃]. Aliases: aa = å = ɑ, oe = ø = ö, y = ı, ae = æ.
note("[c2 <eb2 <g2 g1>>]*2").s('sawtooth')
.vowel("<a e i <o u>>")
s("bd sd mt ht bd [~ cp] ht lt").vowel("[a|e|i|o|u]")

Amplitude Envelope

The amplitude envelope controls the dynamic contour of a sound. Strudel uses ADSR envelopes, which are probably the most common way to describe an envelope:

ADSR

image link

attack

Synonyms: att

Amplitude envelope attack time: Specifies how long it takes for the sound to reach its peak value, relative to the onset.

  • attack (number|Pattern): time in seconds.
note("c3 e3 f3 g3").attack("<0 .1 .5>")

decay

Amplitude envelope decay time: the time it takes after the attack time to reach the sustain level. Note that the decay is only audible if the sustain value is lower than 1.

  • time (number|Pattern): decay time in seconds
note("c3 e3 f3 g3").decay("<.1 .2 .3 .4>").sustain(0)

sustain

Synonyms: sus

Amplitude envelope sustain level: The level which is reached after attack / decay, being sustained until the offset.

  • gain (number|Pattern): sustain level between 0 and 1
note("c3 e3 f3 g3").decay(.2).sustain("<0 .1 .4 .6 1>")

release

Synonyms: rel

Amplitude envelope release time: The time it takes after the offset to go from sustain level to zero.

  • time (number|Pattern): release time in seconds
note("c3 e3 g3 c4").release("<0 .1 .4 .6 1>/2")

adsr

ADSR envelope: Combination of Attack, Decay, Sustain, and Release.

  • time (number|Pattern): attack time in seconds
  • time (number|Pattern): decay time in seconds
  • gain (number|Pattern): sustain level (0 to 1)
  • time (number|Pattern): release time in seconds
note("[c3 bb2 f3 eb3]*2").sound("sawtooth").lpf(600).adsr(".1:.1:.5:.2")

Filter Envelope

Each filter can receive an additional filter envelope controlling the cutoff value dynamically. It uses an ADSR envelope similar to the one used for amplitude. There is an additional parameter to control the depth of the filter modulation: lpenv|hpenv|bpenv. This allows you to play subtle or huge filter modulations just the same by only increasing or decreasing the depth.

note("[c eb g <f bb>](3,8,<0 1>)".sub(12))
.s("<sawtooth>/64")
.lpf(sine.range(300,2000).slow(16))
.lpa(0.005)
.lpd(perlin.range(.02,.2))
.lps(perlin.range(0,.5).slow(3))
.lpq(sine.range(2,10).slow(32))
.release(.5)
.lpenv(perlin.range(1,8).slow(2))
.ftype('24db')
.room(1)
.juxBy(.5,rev)
.sometimes(add(note(12)))
.stack(s("bd*2").bank('RolandTR909'))
.gain(.5).fast(2)

There is one filter envelope for each filter type and thus one set of envelope filter parameters preceded either by lp, hp or bp:

  • lpattack, lpdecay, lpsustain, lprelease, lpenv: filter envelope for the lowpass filter.
    • alternatively: lpa, lpd, lps, lpr and lpe.
  • hpattack, hpdecay, hpsustain, hprelease, hpenv: filter envelope for the highpass filter.
    • alternatively: hpa, hpd, hps, hpr and hpe.
  • bpattack, bpdecay, bpsustain, bprelease, bpenv: filter envelope for the bandpass filter.
    • alternatively: bpa, bpd, bps, bpr and bpe.

lpattack

Synonyms: lpa

Sets the attack duration for the lowpass filter envelope.

  • attack (number|Pattern): time of the filter envelope
note("c2 e2 f2 g2")
.sound('sawtooth')
.lpf(300)
.lpa("<.5 .25 .1 .01>/4")
.lpenv(4)

lpdecay

Synonyms: lpd

Sets the decay duration for the lowpass filter envelope.

  • decay (number|Pattern): time of the filter envelope
note("c2 e2 f2 g2")
.sound('sawtooth')
.lpf(300)
.lpd("<.5 .25 .1 0>/4")
.lpenv(4)

lpsustain

Synonyms: lps

Sets the sustain amplitude for the lowpass filter envelope.

  • sustain (number|Pattern): amplitude of the lowpass filter envelope
note("c2 e2 f2 g2")
.sound('sawtooth')
.lpf(300)
.lpd(.5)
.lps("<0 .25 .5 1>/4")
.lpenv(4)

lprelease

Synonyms: lpr

Sets the release time for the lowpass filter envelope.

  • release (number|Pattern): time of the filter envelope
note("c2 e2 f2 g2")
.sound('sawtooth')
.clip(.5)
.lpf(300)
.lpenv(4)
.lpr("<.5 .25 .1 0>/4")
.release(.5)

lpenv

Synonyms: lpe

Sets the lowpass filter envelope modulation depth.

  • modulation (number|Pattern): depth of the lowpass filter envelope between 0 and n
note("c2 e2 f2 g2")
.sound('sawtooth')
.lpf(300)
.lpa(.5)
.lpenv("<4 2 1 0 -1 -2 -4>/4")

Pitch Envelope

You can also control the pitch with envelopes! Pitch envelopes can breathe life into static sounds:

n("<-4,0 5 2 1>*<2!3 4>")
.scale("<C F>/8:pentatonic")
.s("gm_electric_guitar_jazz")
.penv("<.5 0 7 -2>*2").vib("4:.1")
.phaser(2).delay(.25).room(.3)
.size(4).fast(1.5)

You also create some lovely chiptune-style sounds:

n(run("<4 8>/16")).jux(rev)
.chord("<C^7 <Db^7 Fm7>>")
.dict('ireal')
.voicing().add(note("<0 1>/8"))
.dec(.1).room(.2)
.segment("<4 [2 8]>")
.penv("<0 <2 -2>>").patt(.02).fast(2)

Let’s break down all pitch envelope controls:

pattack

Synonyms: patt

Attack time of pitch envelope.

  • time (number|Pattern): time in seconds
note("c eb g bb").pattack("0 .1 .25 .5").slow(2)

pdecay

Synonyms: pdec

Decay time of pitch envelope.

  • time (number|Pattern): time in seconds
note("<c eb g bb>").pdecay("<0 .1 .25 .5>")

prelease

Synonyms: prel

Release time of pitch envelope

  • time (number|Pattern): time in seconds
note("<c eb g bb> ~")
.release(.5) // to hear the pitch release
.prelease("<0 .1 .25 .5>")

penv

Amount of pitch envelope. Negative values will flip the envelope. If you don't set other pitch envelope controls, pattack:.2 will be the default.

  • semitones (number|Pattern): change in semitones
note("c")
.penv("<12 7 1 .5 0 -1 -7 -12>")

pcurve

Curve of envelope. Defaults to linear. exponential is good for kicks

  • type (number|Pattern): 0 = linear, 1 = exponential
note("g1*4")
.s("sine").pdec(.5)
.penv(32)
.pcurve("<0 1>")

panchor

Sets the range anchor of the envelope:

  • anchor 0: range = [note, note + penv]
  • anchor 1: range = [note - penv, note] If you don't set an anchor, the value will default to the psustain value.
  • anchor (number|Pattern): anchor offset
note("c c4").penv(12).panchor("<0 .5 1 .5>")

Dynamics

gain

Controls the gain by an exponential amount.

  • amount (number|Pattern): gain.
s("hh*8").gain(".4!2 1 .4!2 1 .4 1").fast(2)

velocity

Sets the velocity from 0 to 1. Is multiplied together with gain.

    s("hh*8")
.gain(".4!2 1 .4!2 1 .4 1")
.velocity(".4 1")

    compressor

    Dynamics Compressor. The params are compressor("threshold:ratio:knee:attack:release") More info here

      s("bd sd [~ bd] sd,hh*8")
.compressor("-20:20:10:.002:.02")

      postgain

      Gain applied after all effects have been processed.

        s("bd sd [~ bd] sd,hh*8")
.compressor("-20:20:10:.002:.02").postgain(1.5)

        xfade

        Cross-fades between left and right from 0 to 1:

        • 0 = (full left, no right)
        • .5 = (both equal)
        • 1 = (no left, full right)
          xfade(s("bd*2"), "<0 .25 .5 .75 1>", s("hh*8"))

          Panning

          jux

          The jux function creates strange stereo effects, by applying a function to a pattern, but only in the right-hand channel.

            s("bd lt [~ ht] mt cp ~ bd hh").jux(rev)
            s("bd lt [~ ht] mt cp ~ bd hh").jux(press)
            s("bd lt [~ ht] mt cp ~ bd hh").jux(iter(4))

            juxBy

            Synonyms: juxby

            Jux with adjustable stereo width. 0 = mono, 1 = full stereo.

              s("bd lt [~ ht] mt cp ~ bd hh").juxBy("<0 .5 1>/2", rev)

              pan

              Sets position in stereo.

              • pan (number|Pattern): between 0 and 1, from left to right (assuming stereo), once round a circle (assuming multichannel)
              s("[bd hh]*2").pan("<.5 1 .5 0>")
              s("bd rim sd rim bd ~ cp rim").pan(sine.slow(2))

              Waveshaping

              coarse

              fake-resampling for lowering the sample rate. Caution: This effect seems to only work in chromium based browsers

              • factor (number|Pattern): 1 for original 2 for half, 3 for a third and so on.
              s("bd sd [~ bd] sd,hh*8").coarse("<1 4 8 16 32>")

              crush

              bit crusher effect.

              • depth (number|Pattern): between 1 (for drastic reduction in bit-depth) to 16 (for barely no reduction).
              s("<bd sd>,hh*3").fast(2).crush("<16 8 7 6 5 4 3 2>")

              distort

              Synonyms: dist

              Wave shaping distortion. CAUTION: it can get loud. Second option in optional array syntax (ex: ".9:.5") applies a postgain to the output. Most useful values are usually between 0 and 10 (depending on source gain). If you are feeling adventurous, you can turn it up to 11 and beyond ;)

              • distortion (number|Pattern): 
              s("bd sd [~ bd] sd,hh*8").distort("<0 2 3 10:.5>")
              note("d1!8").s("sine").penv(36).pdecay(.12).decay(.23).distort("8:.4")

              Global Effects

              Local vs Global Effects

              While the above listed “local” effects will always create a separate effects chain for each event, global effects use the same chain for all events of the same orbit:

              orbit

              An orbit is a global parameter context for patterns. Patterns with the same orbit will share the same global effects.

              • number (number|Pattern): 
              stack(
  s("hh*6").delay(.5).delaytime(.25).orbit(1),
  s("~ sd ~ sd").delay(.5).delaytime(.125).orbit(2)
)

              Delay

              delay

              Sets the level of the delay signal.

              When using mininotation, you can also optionally add the 'delaytime' and 'delayfeedback' parameter, separated by ':'.

              • level (number|Pattern): between 0 and 1
              s("bd bd").delay("<0 .25 .5 1>")
              s("bd bd").delay("0.65:0.25:0.9 0.65:0.125:0.7")

              delaytime

              Synonyms: delayt, dt

              Sets the time of the delay effect.

              • seconds (number|Pattern): between 0 and Infinity
              s("bd bd").delay(.25).delaytime("<.125 .25 .5 1>")

              delayfeedback

              Synonyms: delayfb, dfb

              Sets the level of the signal that is fed back into the delay. Caution: Values >= 1 will result in a signal that gets louder and louder! Don't do it

              • feedback (number|Pattern): between 0 and 1
              s("bd").delay(.25).delayfeedback("<.25 .5 .75 1>")

              Reverb

              room

              Sets the level of reverb.

              When using mininotation, you can also optionally add the 'size' parameter, separated by ':'.

              • level (number|Pattern): between 0 and 1
              s("bd sd [~ bd] sd").room("<0 .2 .4 .6 .8 1>")
              s("bd sd [~ bd] sd").room("<0.9:1 0.9:4>")

              roomsize

              Synonyms: rsize, sz, size

              Sets the room size of the reverb, see room. When this property is changed, the reverb will be recaculated, so only change this sparsely..

              • size (number|Pattern): between 0 and 10
              s("bd sd [~ bd] sd").room(.8).rsize(1)
              s("bd sd [~ bd] sd").room(.8).rsize(4)

              roomfade

              Synonyms: rfade

              Reverb fade time (in seconds). When this property is changed, the reverb will be recaculated, so only change this sparsely..

              • seconds (number): for the reverb to fade
              s("bd sd [~ bd] sd").room(0.5).rlp(10000).rfade(0.5)
              s("bd sd [~ bd] sd").room(0.5).rlp(5000).rfade(4)

              roomlp

              Synonyms: rlp

              Reverb lowpass starting frequency (in hertz). When this property is changed, the reverb will be recaculated, so only change this sparsely..

              • frequency (number): between 0 and 20000hz
              s("bd sd [~ bd] sd").room(0.5).rlp(10000)
              s("bd sd [~ bd] sd").room(0.5).rlp(5000)

              roomdim

              Synonyms: rdim

              Reverb lowpass frequency at -60dB (in hertz). When this property is changed, the reverb will be recaculated, so only change this sparsely..

              • frequency (number): between 0 and 20000hz
              s("bd sd [~ bd] sd").room(0.5).rlp(10000).rdim(8000)
              s("bd sd [~ bd] sd").room(0.5).rlp(5000).rdim(400)

              iresponse

              Synonyms: ir

              Sets the sample to use as an impulse response for the reverb.

              • sample (string|Pattern): to use as an impulse response
              s("bd sd [~ bd] sd").room(.8).ir("<shaker_large:0 shaker_large:2>")

              Next, we’ll look at strudel’s support for Csound.

              Phaser

              phaser

              Synonyms: ph

              Phaser audio effect that approximates popular guitar pedals.

              • speed (number|Pattern): speed of modulation
              n(run(8)).scale("D:pentatonic").s("sawtooth").release(0.5)
.phaser("<1 2 4 8>")

              phaserdepth

              Synonyms: phd

              The amount the signal is affected by the phaser effect. Defaults to 0.75

              • depth (number|Pattern): number between 0 and 1
              n(run(8)).scale("D:pentatonic").s("sawtooth").release(0.5)
.phaser(2).phaserdepth("<0 .5 .75 1>")

              phasercenter

              Synonyms: phc

              The center frequency of the phaser in HZ. Defaults to 1000

              • centerfrequency (number|Pattern): in HZ
              n(run(8)).scale("D:pentatonic").s("sawtooth").release(0.5)
.phaser(2).phasercenter("<800 2000 4000>")

              phasersweep

              Synonyms: phs

              The frequency sweep range of the lfo for the phaser effect. Defaults to 2000

              • phasersweep (number|Pattern): most useful values are between 0 and 4000
              n(run(8)).scale("D:pentatonic").s("sawtooth").release(0.5)
.phaser(2).phasersweep("<800 2000 4000>")