SuperVP Trax Documentation

SuperVP Trax© 1.3

Copyright IRCAM 2008-2009

Documentation 1. About SuperVP Trax©

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1.1 About SuperVP Trax 2.2 What’s new?

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2. Getting Started

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2.1 The interface 2.2 Loading and saving settings 2.3 Creating a transformation 2.3.1 Input settings 2.3.2 Controlling playback 2.3.3 Voiceprocessing/transpose 2.3.4 Remix and transients 2.3.5 Filtering 2.3.6 Delays 2.3.7 Jitter 2.4 Exporting a commandline 2.5 Recording a transformation

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3. Cross Synthesis

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3.1 Input 3.2 Simple/Full Cross Synthesis 3.3 Settings

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4. Source Filter

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4.1 Input and filtering

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5. Trouble Shooting/Settings 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 5.5 5.6

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I can’t hear any sound? My sound is glitchy? My preset won’t save? I can’t open a saved file? My file plays back too fast/slow? I can’t see the application window?

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5.7 I use Max/MSP and now my files are opening with SuperVP Trax ? 5.8 Audio and interface settings

6. Credits and Acknowledgments

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About SuperVP Trax© 1.1 About SuperVP Trax

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SuperVP Trax© is a graphical interface to the command-line application, SuperVP©. It allows the user to work in an intuitive and creative way, inviting the user to experiment and try new things that wouldn’t be practical in a command-line application. In addition, SuperVP Trax© has included many options for processing of voice which offers some of the best possible sounding transformations of vocals. 1.2 What’s new? SuperVP Trax© 1.3 is the latest version of the Trax software. It includes numerous new improvements such as: • A new linear, dynamic and easier to read interface working from the top to the bottom which changes depending on the user’s selected options. • An improved command-line output which includes up to date support for the new functions in SuperVP©. • Quickload functionality allows the user to quickly switch between presets and to save presets in files for use outside of SuperVP Trax©. • Time stretch and compression now available when using a file from disk. • Logical changes for the vocal transformation presets and meaningful controls such as age and gender allows for a faster and simpler workflow. • Loading of files got easier as files can now be dragged from the desktop onto the new, larger waveform and the will immediately be loaded into SuperVP Trax©. This will be saved with the settings so can be loaded quickly each time. • The application will now process stereo files if the user so desires. • The application now offers quick key shortcuts for changing options such as input selection, showing and updating the command-line, loading and saving files, switching the audio on and off and showing the preferences. • Improved CPU usage. The new version of Trax uses improved methods for CPU efficiency, allowing much better transformations. Users can setup the transposition mode as time, FFT-1 or auto mode. And many more additions and improvements which will speed up workflow and increase creativity.

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Getting Started 2.1 The Interface

SuperVP Trax© has a fully redesigned interface which makes workflow quicker and more creative. The layout is logical and changes dynamically to represent the different modes of operation.

The entire transformation can be made using only the one window which can be colour customized to your preference.

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2.2 Loading and saving settings With the new version of SuperVP Trax©, loading and saving settings is easy from the quickload menu. Now files can be shared and backed up or used wherever you need.

The files are saved in a small, XML file so, even if you haven’t got Trax with you, you can still check the settings or you can email your current settings. Quickload allows you to read the presets stored in your XML file from the main interface.

With Quickload it’s simple to save and load settings. To save your current settings just click “Click here to save...” in the quickload list. You will be presented with a name dialog, after typing your name and hitting ok, your settings will be added to the list. To bring those settings back at anytime, just select its name from the list. The most recently loaded setting is ticked. You can rename, replace or delete your settings from the Quickload menu in the title bar. Replace will update the selected preset with the current settings.

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2.3 Creating a transformation 2.3.1 Input Settings

The supervp settings box is the top most box on the SuperVP Trax© application. Here you can choose your input, either live or from a file. This box also has the voice processing and transients options. Voice processing improves the quality of transformation when processing a single voice. Turn this off for processing musical sounds. When the transients option is turned on it enables the detection and preservation of transients. The frequency oversampling option changes the display resolution in the spectral domain. Higher values offer a small improvement in sinusoidal and transient remixing. Overlap controls analysis step size. The larger the overlap the smaller the step size. Provides a small improvement in quality but a slight increase in latency. Set the window size of the transformation process. If the default is switched on, the optimum window size is calculated from the mean F0. Larger window sizes increase latency.

2.3.2 Controlling playback

The waveform of the currently open file is displayed here. A selection can be made by dragging over the waveform. This allows only the selected part of the sound to be played back or processed. The play stop and pause buttons control the transport with a loop button to set the playback to loop. The transport can be started and stopped using the spacebar.

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SuperVP Trax© can also take live input from a microphone or another input on your soundcard/interface. The audio processing check box can activate/mute the microphone input.

2.3.3 Voice processing/transpose

When voice processing is on this box is shown. The source selection should be the gender/age of the original loaded voice file. Selecting a target automatically computes the values needed for the transformation. The values altered are the mean and max f0, the target f0 and the gender/age. The window size is also adjusted. The 'xfade' Button in the top right corner opens a dialog allowing you to fade from one target to another over time or manually. The mean f0 and the max f0 are controls for the source. All transposition factors are determined from the mean f0, which is used as a reference frequency. For the max f0 around 50Hz above the mean is a good estimate, fine tuning of the max f0 is not necessary. If a very low frequency is given, roughness can be heard in some cases. The age, gender and targetf0 controls are altered by the presets. They can also be altered manually by using the sliders and fine tuned by dragging on their respective green boxes. You’ll notice a stretch slider too. This allows the sound to be sped up or slowed down realistically, a new feature in SuperVP Trax©.

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When voice processing is switched off only 3 sliders are shown, envelope transpose (in cents), transpose (pitch in cents) and stretch. For musical purposes it is useful to transpose the envelope and the f0 together but if one wishes to change separately, the sync can be switched off.

2.3.4 Remix and transients

Use these controls to fine tune the results of the transformation. When the transients option is selected, 2 further controls are shown. Allows you to change the balance between transients, sinusoids and noise. Noise error modifies the sinusoidal/noise classification threshold by means of increasing or reducing the bias with respect to noise.

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2.3.5 Filtering

Filter unit with lowpass, highpass, bandpass, bandstop, peaknotch, lowshelf, highshelf, resonant and allpass filter types. Clicking on the filter graph and dragging will change the settings. The Q or resonance can be altered by clicking and dragging either of the darker horizontal bars to the left or right. 2.3.6 Delays

In this instance the delays are copies of the signal after it has passed through the supervp.trans~ max object. The unit has ten delays. Controls are available for the amplitude and time of each delay. The minimum and maximum values can be set for both time and amplitude. The amplitude values are factors of the original signal. 1 being the same amplitude as the original, 0.5 half the amplitude and so on. The time values are in milliseconds.

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2.3.7 Jitter

Jitter for the spectral envelope and f0. The jitter originates from a sine wave oscillator. Values are taken from the sine wave and added to either the spectral envelope or the target f0. There are controls for the frequency of the oscillator and the amount of cents added to and subtracted from the original value. The toggle turns the effects on/off. There is also a random function which allows you to specify boundaries that the random values for frequency and amplitude will fall between. This can be selected using the ‘randomise’ toggles.

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2.4 Exporting a commandline From the options menu select commandline. You can also open this window by pressing +1.

This will bring up a small window displaying the current command line for your transformation.

This takes all the parameters of your transformation or cross synthesis and creates a command-line suitable for SuperVP©. It is also possible to export a text file with both your commandlines and to run the Terminal application directly from SuperVP Trax© (Mac OS X only).

2.5 Recording a transformation

Recording a transformation is easy. On first click of the record button in the bottom right hand corner, you will be prompted to select an output file. Once a file has been chosen recording will start and the red recording light will come on to indicate recording is in progress. All audio in the application is now recorded to this file. Recording will only stop when the red button is clicked again. If you want to record again or record to a new file, just click the button again and a new file prompt will open.

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Cross Synthesis

3.1 Input

The cross synthesis module of SuperVP Trax© can take 3 different inputs, a file from disk, a line input or the transformed sound in the transformations of SuperVP Trax©. Each input is selected from the drop down lists in the left and right sections of ‘inputs’. The different input’s gains can be adjusted using the gain sliders to the right of the drop down lists, just like the gain slider in the transformations. Obviously performing cross synthesis on the already transformed sound will be much more CPU intensive than from a file or the line input so adjust your settings appropriately.

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3.2 Simple/Full Cross Synthesis

The cross synthesis module offers two levels of control over your sound. The simple settings allow you to perform an equal level crossfade of both frequency and amplitude, or to perform the cross fades of the frequency or amplitudes individually.

The full settings give the user greater control over the sound with independent gain control over each channels individual mix levels for amplitude and frequency and amplitude multiplication and power factors. 3.3 Settings

The settings in the cross synthesis module replicate those in the transformation settings but only apply to the cross synthesis. Please refer to page 5 for more information.

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Source Filter

4.1 Input and Filtering Like the cross synthesis module, the source filter module of SuperVP Trax© can take 3 different inputs, a file from disk, a line input or the transformed sound in the transformations of SuperVP Trax©. Each input is selected from the drop down lists in the left and right sections of ‘inputs’. The different input’s gains can be adjusted using the gain sliders to the right of the drop down lists, just like the gain slider in the transformations.

For each input there are the following options: Estimation mode: LPC or trueenv, selects which model to use for estimating the envelope. Timbre and mean: select how much to mix in the output signal. Max f0: applicable when in trueenv mode. LPC order: applicable when in LPC mode.

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Troubleshooting 5.1 I can’t hear any sound? If you can’t hear any sound there are a few steps you can check. • Is audio processing off? Either select Audio Processing from the options menu, press  +D or click the on/off switch at the top right. • Check your audio settings in the settings frame (+:) and make sure you have the right drivers selected. • Is the output volume down? The output volume slider is at the bottom left of the application window. • Have you pressed play on the transport? Try to re-trigger playback by either clicking the play button or hitting spacebar. • Have you selected nothing in the waveform? If you select nothing in the waveform, nothing will play. 5.2 My sound is glitchy? This is often caused by setting the oversampling and overlap factors too high for your machine. Try lowering these values for better performance. Also try adjusting the window size for better results. 5.3 My preset won’t save/load? If a preset wont load, try reloading the saved file from disk. Presets are not saved with the application and will be lost if not saved when you quit. 5.4 I can’t open my saved file? If you are encountering problems loading a saved file from disk you may have a corrupt file. This can happen when the file is opened with applications other than Trax. The suggested remedy for this is to open the file with a text editor and make sure that the file is clear and does not contain unusual characters. Always keep a backup. 5.5 My file plays back too fast/slow? SuperVP Trax currently only supports the sampling rate at 44100 Hz. Although you can load in files of different sampling rates they may not behave as expected. It is suggested that you convert all your files to 44100 Hz before using with SuperVP Trax©.

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5.6 I can’t see the application window? SuperVP Trax© uses a fixed window size which is not suitable for monitors with a resolution less than 1024x768.

5.7 I use Max/MSP and my files are now opening with SuperVP Trax©? SuperVP Trax© is built using Max/MSP and can cause conflicts. To stop this behaviour: • Right click on a max file that keeps opening with SuperVP Trax© (usually .maxpat or .pat). • Select “Get Info”. • Click on “Open With:” and then select Max/MSP from the list. Click “Change All” to stop Max/MSP files opening with SuperVP Trax©.

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5.8 Audio and interface settings

The settings frame can be brought up from the Options > Settings menu or by using the +: keyboard shortcut. If you are having problems with audio, this is the first place to look. This allows you to complete control over your audio settings for input and output, your recording quality settings and the colour settings of the application. You can also change whether to save a sound file with a preset or not. The transposition mode setting allows switching between the time-domain (“time” mode) and the frequency-domain (“FFT -1” mode) transposition algorithms. In general, time mode produces slightly better quality but is significantly more costly for transposing upwards. FFT-1 mode uses the additive signal model and is more efficient when transposing upwards. The “auto” mode switches automatically between time mode (downward transposition) and FFT-1 mode (upward transposition).

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Credits and Acknowledgments

SuperVP©

Axel Roebel

SuperVP Max Objects

Norbert Schnell

Age/gender transformations presets

Snorre Farner

SuperVP Trax©

Chunghsin Yeh Simon Mitchell Michael Sweeton

With contributions

Xavier Rodet Greg Beller Frederic Cornu Niels Bogaards

SuperVP Trax© is copyright IRCAM - Centre Georges Pompidou 2008-2009

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