Simple Arpeggio constructed in Ableton Live.
- Master control goes from 0 at beginning, to 127 at 1 minute mark, back to 0 by the end
- Master control alters 3 qualities of an arpeggiator: sync rate (tempo), distance (tonal range of arpeggiator), and step (amount of notes to hit to get to said tone)
- original tone is sin wave played at middle c, repeating
Positive elements of this sound:
- swelling energy that could be good for conveying photosynthesis.
- having one master signal control multiple elements leads to exponential change in sound.
Negative elements:
- sounds a bit robotic, electronic and cold.
- Dynamics and expression are lacking.
- choosing a C note for starting tone comes with its own ideological constructs.
This experiment comes from some ideas, Chris Graves (aka the recording artist- Colongib) shared:
For kind of relatable sounds that might impact the listener, it might be interesting if there is a sound going on when the plant is photosynthesizing and a different one when the plant is respiring. In photosynthesis the plant is storing energy, in respiration it is releasing it, so really they are kind of opposites that change with the sunlight intensity. One could think of it like a battery that is charging and discharging. People will listen mostly during the day, which will be mostly charging/photosynth. Discharging/respir could then be a kind of more bassy sound. Personally I would try to avoid all drones (very long sustained notes) in this, because that seems to be really common. Then perhaps it is repeating arpeggios, and the photosynth vs respir completely changes the notes range involved (respir at a lower octave and with a different feeling to the notes used). So that would be controlled by whether the photosynth rate or respir rate is greater. The actual rates, those could control either the ranges of the arpeggios, or the tempo (or both). Regarding the ranges, that could also be implemented a bit different, like turning up the volume of a new arpeggio in a similar range which gives it a slightly different feeling. It could also be nice to add harmonics above and below so it is a big full sound when photosynthesis is really going strong. As for the transition between photosynth and respir, maybe some kind of detuning happens during the switch of melodies so you can kind of feel it about to happen.
This could probably be most simply implemented by having an audio filter after the melodies, e.g. the whole melody plays all the time during photosynth, and the filter widens with greater photosynth rate to “reveal” the higher+lower frequencies and makes a fuller sound. Probably easier (and maybe similar or even better effect) than triggering new notes in the arpeggio - the rates simply control the filter width.
As for the wind, I’m not sure exactly what that effects, but it is a bit more drastic. It might deserve it’s own sound, which could be triggering something that sounds a bit more drastic. Not violent, and could still be notes (or could be noise-type sounds that rise and fall quickly with filters).
