PERCOLATOR 0.7 UPDATE

0.7

DEVLOG

Over the past months I've been further developing the percolator video performance system. With this version I've made large improvements to optimization and audio integration. I also created a system to sync the playback of video and audio tracks.

The control interface has been rearranged for easier readability.

 

IMPROVEMENTS 

• The effects chain has been simplified from 6 effects to 4 for performance purposes. I removed the Brightness/Contrast/Saturation effect and the Interpolator effect in order to simplify the interface and make more room for audio effects.
  
• You can now save and load deck presets with the read+write function. 
• I've mapped a MIDI controller and integrated it with the software to reliably affect audio and video. The controller also includes on/off toggles for video effects.
• The controller has buttons capable of triggering video and audio playback simultaneously, which means i can make much more footage that is synced with the paired audio.
  
• I connected controls to the minimum scale variable in the audio processor on effects that are influenced by audio, which means I can control how much a parameter is able to be effected by audio.
  
• 4 "one-knob" audio effects have been added. A record scratch, Heavy reverb, High pass filter, and glitch effect. These effects are long, complicated signal chains that are controlled in nuanced ways from just one master knob. I got these signal chains from DJ Tarekith, who provided them online for free. I tweaked them to be less intense, and made small changes, but these audio effects were possible because of DJ Tarekith's hard work.
  
• Internals of the patch cleaned up
• Ease function removed from audio analyzer for optimization.
  
• Avg. frame-rate has increased to around 30fps, which is very very solid.

HARDWARE CONTROLLER

I chose the Novation LaunchControl XL mk2 as the main hardware controller for the percolator. The 24 knobs, 8 track faders, and 16 buttons on the bottom give me a really good control surface to develop for.

The first 12 knobs control effect modules. Knobs 13-24 are dedicated to the audio effects and audio sends. The faders control volume within Ableton, allowing for stem isolation and finer control. The top row of buttons launches a song and it's visual at the same time, allowing the cuts and editing to be much more in time with the audio.

In order to make the audio and video feel synced , as well as give control to audio and effects, I had to create a system to allow Ableton and max to interact. The solution for now was mapping the same midi output to both play the song in Ableton, and play the video in Max. As far as I can tell, this syncs things pretty well. I don't see any latency, but since they are running on separate programs, there isn't anything preventing lag or de-sync as the video progresses. While it would be beneficial to put a system in place to prevent this, I haven't had any huge problems with de-sync and it would mostly be for peace of mind.

ABLETON INTEGRATED PROJECT

In 0.6, the Ableton project that was running all audio was messy. There were no effects and I didn't have control over the audio, so I struggled with juggling the audio and video. In this version, the live rack is much more streamlined. I've thought up a consistent way to split songs into stems, which will make all of the songs I plan on performing clearly organized. This is a 6-stem system - 6 stems so that 2 track faders are left to conveniently control audio sending.

1. TONAL_1 - Main melody
2. TONAL_2 - Secondary melody, harmony
3. TONAL_BASS - Bass line, Low end melody
4. TONAL_VOX - Full vocal group
5. DRUM_HIGH - Snare, clap, hi-hat, high end effects
   
6. DRUM_LOW - Kick, toms, low end effects