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Ember faceplate in Studies
Studies

Ember

Microsound Collage Machine

Part of Studies

A subscription opens all of Studies, in two plugins (Studies Effects and Studies Instruments), with new devices as we release them.

Subscribe · $9/mo Download Studies free

10 devices are free.

Or own the plugin

Price: $20

The original plugin with its own interface, as a one-time purchase.

 See the standalone interface

Description

Ember is a microsound collage machine that uses granular resynthesis to build complex sound composites. Inspired by the musique concrète pioneers, it pairs modern digital algorithms with classic splicing techniques.

Point it at a folder of sounds and Ember pulls a random handful of them, takes a slice of each and grains them together into one composite. Every sound gets its own drifting filter, pan, echo and reverb. We rebuilt Ember for Studies to play live, so you hear each collage as it forms and record the takes you like in your host.

Ember in the Handbook

Signal path

Load it on a MIDI track. Ember doesn't play notes: press PLAY and it draws its sounds from the SAMPLES folder. Each sound is grained, then filtered, panned and sent to an echo and a reverb. Up to 24 sounds play at once.

  1. Orbit field

    LEFT SHAPE
    Drag the left sphere to shape the grains of every sound as it plays. Left to right sets the grain density, from one to five grains a second. Bottom to top sets the pitch, from a tenth of the original at the bottom to about three times the original at the top.
    RIGHT SHAPE
    Left to right sets the grain playback rate. The far left plays the grains forward at double speed, the center holds them still and the far right plays them in reverse. Top to bottom sets the grain size, from 0.1 seconds at the top to about 2 seconds at the bottom.
    SAMPLES
    Picks the folder Ember draws from. It reads WAV and AIFF files. The button shows the folder's name, PICK FOLDER until you choose one, or NO AUDIO if it finds no files it can read.
    PLAY
    Starts the collage, and the button reads STOP while it plays. Press it again to stop drawing new sounds; the sounds already playing finish on their own. Ember plays whether or not your transport is running.

  2. Composer

    COMPOSITE
    Sets how long Ember stays with one set of sounds before it draws a new set from the folder, from 5 seconds up to almost two hours. Short times keep the palette changing, and long times stay with one set. Pressing PLAY or picking a new folder always draws a new set.
    MIN DUR
    Sets the low end of the sound lengths, from 0.5 to 10 seconds. Each new set picks a length between MIN DUR and MAX DUR, and every sound in that set lasts a random time up to that length.
    MAX DUR
    Sets the high end, from 1 to 20 seconds. If you set it below MIN DUR, it pulls MIN DUR down with it.

  3. Pan

    BINAURAL
    Places each new sound on a drifting path around your head with a binaural (HRTF) mix, so listen on headphones. When it's off, the sounds drift across a regular stereo pan. It applies to sounds that start after you switch it. At sample rates other than 44.1, 48 or 96 kHz the button reads NO HRTF and the regular pan plays.

  4. Master

    OUTPUT
    Sets the output level, from silent up to double. The center is unity.

Try thisMake a folder of more than 20 kernels, very short impulses and sounds under a second each, and point SAMPLES at it. Drag the left sphere to the right for more density and you'll get dense clouds of rain- or sand-like texture.

Demo
This video shows the standalone plugin.
Good to know

In Studies

Ember is in Studies Instruments, under Generative, Granular and Synthesizer. Load it on a MIDI track. It ignores the notes you play.

Recording it

Every set of sounds is drawn at random, so a reopened session brings back your settings but never the same collage. When you hear something you like, record Ember's output to an audio track while it plays.

Sample files

Each set draws up to eight files from the folder. From a long file Ember loads about six seconds, starting at a random point, so a long field recording gives different material every time.

More to try

Point SAMPLES at a folder with two very short, simple samples and set MIN DUR and MAX DUR to 1 or 2 seconds. Record a pass, save the recording into the same folder and play again. Each round builds a more complex collage from the same small palette.

Use a folder of drum or rhythmic loops. Drag the left sphere to the left for sparser grains, and use the right sphere to change the grain rate and size.

Turn MIN DUR and MAX DUR up and feed Ember ambiences or field recordings for slow, complex textures.

Standalone

The standalone plugin, shown further down the page, renders each collage to an audio file in an output folder you choose, with a RENDER button and a progress bar. Its Composite Time sets the length of that file. In Studies, PLAY replaces RENDER, COMPOSITE sets how often a new set of sounds is drawn, and you record Ember in your host.

Open source

The original Ember code is open source, on GitHub under a CC BY-NC 4.0 license.

Bundle

The standalone plugin is also part of the Generative Devices bundle.

Formats
Studies: Audio Units, VST2 and VST3 on Mac, VST3 on Windows · Apple silicon native
Systems
Current macOS and Windows 10/11 x64
Ember | Microsound Collage Machine

Standalone version

The original plugin with its own interface, as a one-time purchase.

AU · VST2 · VST3 · macOS · Windows