Very simple little Step Sequenced Gate audio effect in PD

Just posting a small PD patch ‘stepper.pd’ that might be of use to someone.
It is a pattern / step driven audio gate. It works as an audio effect and simply adjusts the volume of incoming audio.

There are up to 16 individual steps which can each have a volume set.
The pattern length can be set 1 -16. (a step length of 1 is pretty meaningless - it is basically acts like a volume control)
The tempo can be set but is not synced to any internal or external clock. Because I wanted clock rates faster than 127 bpm I multiply the controller value by 5 internally, so the max rate that can be set is 635 bpm.
Slew provides a variable ramp between the volume at different steps - initially to avoid clicks but it can create some nice effects at longer time periods
There is also a master volume control which acts on the input audio.

The patch initialises with 8 steps and 120 bpm.
The steps are initially set with alternating volumes of 50% and 0.

I needed a gate effect, and it does what I wanted. If it is of any use - enjoy.
here it is:
stepper.zip (2.1 KB)

As a side note - I tried to create a similar trancegate effect using MOD plugs in MOD-UI, and got something that worked but it was more of a faff trying to link a step sequence to a volume control than it should have been. I have a suspicion that MOD-UI doesn’t fully work on non MOD hardware.

That’s it.
Here’s an audio example of a streichfett playing a chord passed through the zynthian running stepper.pd - with some random fiddling with the stepper settings, and recorded in live, no other processing.

To do:
If I can work out how and have the time I may try to add external sync (I’d like to see if it is possible to add in the ableton_sync PD extension). I could then possibly make an option to use steps related to note lengths.
I have no idea how to add swing or anything else fancy.
I am not that familiar with PD so if anyone spots anything I have done wrong do let me know.
If there is anyway to show a different value than the raw encoder (ie scaled value, not a label) on the UI I’d love to do that

1 Like

Hi @Hengy !!

Thanks for this patch. Congratulations! It’s really cool and i love the concept. After testing a little bit, i found that i would like to moderate the intensity of the “slew” and not only the “character” of it. Or perhaps i’m missing something.

As you say, it would be fantastic to have the possibility of syncing to some clock like the internal jackd clock or an external one.

Anyway, looking forward to add your contributed patch to the “official” collection, if you give me your permission 0;-)

All the best!

Thanks
i’ll have a play with the slew - it is a very simple control at the moment all it does is change the rate for the change, but has no relationship with the step length - i’ll have a play to see if i can make it a bit more intelligent and related to the BPM.
i did consider making each step an ADSR.
i’ll look into the syncing options

feel free to use it however you like
Rod