Stan Olejarz wrote:
> 
> Just curious as to what creative procedure is best  used to create an
> instrument? Would one (a)- create the timbre of the instrument first,
> and if so how would one go about this? Would your instrument be focused
> around fuunction statements or sound generators such as foscil, buzz,
> etc.?

Well, since I'm currently struggling with an instrument that's
stubbornly not quite doing what I want, I've been thinking about this
today.

I find it hard to keep track of what I've already tried, what didn't
work, etc. The method I'm evolving at the moment is something like:

1) Take notes (pencil & paper) on what I'm trying to get the instrument
to do

2) Imagine some possible ways to do that (this is the creative part). 
For me, at this stage I am not thinking about opcodes at all; I'm
thinking conceptually about how this sound or effect might be done
(either in analog, which I understand reasonably well, or
mathematically, which I don't understand well at all, or just in some
vague conceptual notion of what the sound is "doing").

3) Pick a method that looks promising; break it down into more specific
steps.

4) Browse around the csound manual looking for opcodes to handle key
steps of this instr. Familiarity helps a lot here.

5) Write a new .orc file. instr 1 is your first attempt at the
instrument. Leave out all the fancy features: just try to get something
really basic that works and demonstrates the essential core concept of
the instrument. Edit instr 1 until it does something. At this point you
may find the basic idea is a total dud. If so,write a comment to that
effect, abandon instr 1, and start instr 2 based on an alternative
method from your notes. Keep trying until you have an instrument that
does something promising. Write a comment in the instrument saying that
it basically works.

6) DON'T add features to, or modify, the basic working instrument.
Instead, copy it to a new instrument, re-number it, add the feature, and
test the new instrument. This way you always have a record of something
that worked. This is important when you change something that screws
everything up... but you're not sure how many changes you made or how
you screwed it up.

7) Repeat above steps as necessary. 

Don't worry if you end up with a huge orc that contains 5 totally silent
instruments, 10 that make horrible noises nothing like you want, 10 that
sound very uninteresting, 10 that lack nice features you want, and only
one that does the job properly.  You can always skip right to the end of
the file and copy the good instrument into a separate orc for your
composition (where you should put a comment about what file you copied
the instr. from, and what number it was in that file... in case you
change stuff later...)

My instrument is almost doing what I want now. :)


----------------    paul winkler    ------------------
slinkP arts:  music, sound, illustration, design, etc.

zarmzarm@hotmail.com   --or-- slinkp AT ulster DOT net
http://www.ulster.net/~abigoo/