Strudel sound design

Strudel sound design

Picking drum sounds

Default drum names: bd (kick), sd (snare), cp (clap), rim, hh (closed hat), oh (open hat), cr (crash), rd (ride), lt/mt/ht (toms), cb (cowbell), sh (shaker), tb (tambourine), perc.

.bank() switches the whole kit (exact CamelCase names):

s("bd*4, ~ cp, hh*8").bank("RolandTR909")          // house/techno staple
s("bd*2, ~ sd, hh*8").bank("RolandTR808")          // hip-hop/electro
s("bd sd, hh*16").bank("<RolandTR808 RolandTR909>") // alternate kits per cycle

Other attested banks: RolandTR707, AkaiLinn, RhythmAce, ViscoSpaceDrum, CasioRZ1. Each name is a folder of samples — pick variants with :n or .n() (indexes wrap):

s("hh*8").n("<0 1 2 3>")     // cycle through hat samples
s("bd:3*2 sd:1")

Pitched defaults include piano, casio, plus gm_-prefixed soundfonts (e.g. gm_acoustic_bass, gm_epiano1) — never invent GM names.

Waveform choice by role

Role	Source	Why
Sub bass	sine or triangle	Pure fundamental, no fizz to filter out
Acid / aggressive bass	sawtooth + lpf + high lpq	Harmonics for the filter to bite into
Pads	detuned sawtooth layers, slow attack	Width and motion
Leads / plucks	square or triangle, short decay	Cuts through without mud
Bells / metallic	sine + FM	Inharmonic sidebands
Noise percussion	white/pink/brown, no sustain	Instant hats/snares

note("c1*4").s("sine").decay(.3).sustain(.4)              // sub
note("g2 g2 bb2 c3").s("sawtooth").lpf(400).lpq(12)       // acid-ish
s("white*2").decay(.12).sustain(0).lpf(6000)              // noise snare

ADSR shaping

.attack/.decay/.sustain/.release, or all at once: .adsr("a:d:s:r").

note("c2*8").s("square").decay(.1).sustain(0)             // plucky stab
note("[d3,a3,e4]@4").s("sawtooth").attack(.6).release(1.2) // pad swell
note("e3 g3 b3 d4").s("sawtooth").adsr(".05:.2:.3:.4")

For sustained notes, event length matters — combine with .clip()/.legato().

Detuned "super-saw" pad (fractional notes = cents):

note("[c3,g3]@4").s("sawtooth")
  .superimpose(x => x.add(note(.1)), x => x.sub(note(.1)))
  .attack(.4).release(.8).lpf(1500).gain(.4)

FM for bells and metal

.fm(index) = brightness, .fmh(ratio) = harmonicity. Low integer ratios sound harmonic; non-integers clang. Shape with fmattack/fmdecay/fmsustain.

note("e5 ~ b4 ~").s("sine").fm(8).fmh(3.01).fmdecay(.3).fmsustain(0) // bell
note("c2 c2 g1 bb1").s("sine").fm(4).fmh(2)                          // metallic bass

Filter + envelope recipes

Filters: .lpf(hz)/.lpq(q), .hpf/.hpq, .bpf/.bpq, .ftype("ladder") for a steeper model, .vowel("a e i o") for formants. Each filter has its own envelope: lpenv (depth, negative = downward), lpattack/lpdecay/lpsustain/lprelease.

// acid pluck: closed filter, envelope kicks it open per note
note("a1 a1 c2 g1".fast(2)).s("sawtooth")
  .lpf(300).lpenv(5).lpdecay(.12).lpq(10).decay(.18).sustain(0)

// synth kick from a pitch envelope
note("c1*4").s("sine").penv(24).pdecay(.08).decay(.25).sustain(0)

// slow opening sweep over 8 cycles
note("<e2 c2>*4").s("sawtooth").lpf(sine.slow(8).rangex(200, 5000))

Sends: delay, reverb, orbits

delay/room are send levels; the bus settings (delaytime, delayfeedback, roomsize, roomfade, roomlp) are shared per orbit. Give voices with different reverb/delay needs their own .orbit(n). delaytime is in seconds — compute from tempo for synced echoes.

s("~ cp").delay(.5).delaytime(.125).delayfeedback(.55)
note("[f3,a3,c4]@4").s("sawtooth").room(.6).roomsize(7).orbit(2)
s("rim*4").room(.8).dry(.5)         // keep some dry signal

Dirt and texture: .distort("2:.6") (amount:postgain), .crush(4–16), .coarse(n), .shape(0–1).

Gain staging a mix

Rough targets that leave headroom (1 = unity; later gain calls override earlier ones; velocity multiplies into gain):

Element	Gain
Kick	.9–1
Snare/clap	.7–.9
Bass	.7–.9
Hats/percs	.3–.5
Pads/chords	.4–.5
Leads	.5–.7

$: s("bd*4").gain(.95)
$: s("hh*8").gain("[.3 .5]*4").hpf(5000)   // accents + de-mudded
$: note("<c2 eb2>*4").s("sawtooth").lpf(600).gain(.8)
$: chord("<Cm7 Ab^7>").voicing().s("sawtooth").gain(.45).orbit(2)

.hpf() non-bass elements (hats 4000+, pads 200–300) so only one voice owns the low end.

Sidechain-style ducking

The duck controls: the trigger pattern targets a victim orbit.

$: note("[c3,eb3,g3]@4").s("sawtooth").orbit(2).gain(.5)   // pad
$: s("bd*4").duckorbit(2).duckattack(.3).duckdepth(.8)     // kick ducks it

Manual fallback that always works — pump the pad's gain with an inverted ramp synced to the kick rate:

note("[c3,eb3,g3]@4").s("sawtooth").gain(isaw.fast(4).range(.2, .6))

Note: chain order does not change signal routing — each control just sets a parameter. Full control lists: knowledge/effects.md, knowledge/synths.md, knowledge/sounds-and-samples.md.