Source components are shown only in advanced view. Click the Advanced button to switch to advanced view, then click the Morph button to view and use the morph controls. See Morph controls.
It is important to choose the same analysis mode for all morphed sources. See Import browser.
Though you can morph with any synthesis type, the best morphing results are achieved with the spectral or additive engines. Spectral is the most suitable import method to use for the majority of audio material. Use Additive or Add + Spec import mode if dealing with pitched, monophonic sounds. Make sure the Formant button is turned on when importing sounds, as this generally results in a higher quality morph.
If you are not creating a pitched instrument that requires the root note to remain at the default pitch, irrespective of the morph position, turn off the Fixed Pitch button, because this will result in a higher quality morph.
The time-alignment of sounds is crucial to achieving a good morph. Selecting sounds with similar timing and loop characteristics tends to deliver the best results. You should aim to have a similar loop duration and loop location within the selected samples. If the sounds you are morphing are comprised of more than single note samples or the timing of your sources doesn’t align as you would like, you should adjust the warp marker positions. See the Time-aligning morphed sounds task in this section.
Morphs that move from 100% of all elements in a sound to 100% of another sound can often be suitable for sound effects, but may be more difficult to shape into new playable instruments. You may find it better to mix individual elements. Morphing is a complex process with many variables that can impact the results. As with any form of synthesis, the more you work with it and the more familiar you become with its strengths and weaknesses, the easier and faster it is to create the sounds that you have in mind.
When morphing is turned on for a source, warp markers are displayed in the Zone waveform editor. See Zone waveform editor.
When you morph from a sound with a fast attack to one with a slow attack, Alchemy smoothly adjusts the attack time according to the morph All position, or the envelope position, if in Elements mode. Warp markers define the attack phase boundaries of each sound. More generally, warp markers define the boundaries of a series of time-aligned segments when two or more sounds are morphed together.
Click the source select field for the active source, then choose Import Audio from the pop-up menu.
In the Import browser, click the Additive, Spectral, or Granular import mode button.
Select the files you want to use, then click the Import button.
When you import additive, spectral, or granular data, Alchemy automatically sets warp markers at the following positions:
The absolute start point of the sound.
The end of the attack portion.
The loop start point. If a sample does not have loop points, loop points are automatically chosen.
The loop end point. If a sample does not have loop points, loop points are automatically chosen.
The absolute end point of the sound.
If you need to edit warp markers, click the source Edit button to open the Main edit window, then do any of the following in the Zone waveform editor:
To move a warp marker, including loop start and end, drag the marker handle left or right.
Note: The loop start and loop end markers also double as warp markers. You cannot position the loop start later than the loop end. However, it is possible to drag both the loop start and loop end markers to the same position, creating a sustain point rather than an extended loop region.
To insert a new warp marker, double-click a position in the waveform editor.
The number associated with each existing warp marker, inclusive of the loop markers, is updated accordingly.
To delete an existing warp marker, double-click its handle.
If your sounds are single notes, the placement of the five default warp markers usually delivers good results when morphing. You may want to change the position of marker 2, placing it at the point where it sounds like the end of the attack for each sound. This can produce a more convincing morph between sounds with contrasting attack qualities.
If your sounds consist of multiple events such as musical phrases, drum loops, or a spoken sentence, you may find it useful to create additional warp markers. If you are morphing between two voices speaking the same sentence, placing a warp marker at the start of each word helps to preserve the integrity of each word during the morph. You must make sure the same numbered warp marker is at the start of the same word in each sentence.
If you are morphing between musical phrases or drum loops with different grooves or timing nuances, placing a warp marker on every beat, half beat, or quarter beat helps you to achieve a smoother morph.
This tutorial makes use of the Morph Example preset, which you should load from the Name bar. The preset contains acoustic guitar, kalimba, a sustained solo vocal, and synth brass samples. Additive + formant was used as the import method because the content contains more pitched info than noise, and this also allows access to the additive harmonic controls. This basic material provides enough scope to go in a number of directions.
Play the keyboard while changing parameters to get a feel for what each does.
Click the Advanced button to view all parameters, then click the A/B/C/D buttons, in turn, to look at parameter settings for all four sources. Note that PVar is set to zero for all sources. This isn’t always useful, but for this particular preset, no pitch variations are required. Solo each source and play a few notes, then unsolo before moving to the next source. This will give you a better understanding of the way the sound is constructed.
Click the Morph button, and note the active Morph XY and Elements buttons. Experiment with the X and Y parameters, using either the points in the display or the X and Y knobs for the Additive, Pitch, Formant, and Envelope parameters.
Click the XFade XY, XFade Lin, and Morph Lin buttons to hear the impact each type of crossfade or morph has on the sound. Experiment with the All, Elements, X and Y, A-B, C-D, and A-B-C-D parameters available in each morph or crossfade mode.
Drag the Transform pad framing box to the “Bold Pluck,” “Glassy,” and other snapshots, repeating step 3 and playing as you audition each variation. Note how movements in the Transform pad update the other performance section controls.
Click the Target button in the modulation section and hover the pointer on the Perform menu item. Take a look at the number of and the choice of parameters assigned to each performance control.
As you can see, the preset is far more complex than it appears on the surface. The morphing controls are not simply used to crossfade between sources, but between modulators, filter and effect parameters, mix settings, harmonic levels, and much more. Morphing is as much a part of the synthesis engine as any of the elements and can be viewed and used to blend not only the sounds of each element, but aspects of each synthesis type into a hybrid of synthesis methods.
Follow these steps to use the left X/Y pad in the performance controls section instead of the X/Y pad in the morph section. This allows you to control crossfades between sources in simple view and also allows you to include these modulations in Transform pad snapshots.
In the Name bar, click the File button and choose Clear from the pop-up menu to initialize Alchemy to default settings.
Switch to advanced view, and set up each of the four sources with a different, but complementary sound. Feel free to use any of the synthesis engines for each source or to blend multiple engines within one source.
Click the Morph button to view morphing parameters, then click the XFade XY button.
Make sure the X knob is set to zero, then right-click or Control-click the X knob and choose Add Modulation > Perform > XYPad1X from the shortcut menu.
Make sure the Y knob is set to zero, then right-click or Control-click the Y knob and choose Add Modulation > Perform > XYPad1Y from the shortcut menu.
Follow these steps to use the left X/Y pad in the performance controls section instead of the X/Y pad in the morph section. This allows you to control crossfades between sources in simple view and also allows you to include these modulations in Transform pad snapshots.
In the Name bar, click the File button and choose Clear from the pop-up menu to initialize Alchemy to default settings.
Switch to advanced view, then click the Morph button to show morphing parameters.
Click the source A select field, and choose Import Audio.
Select Spectral mode in the Import browser, choose a suitable sample, and import it. Turn on Formant mode.
Repeat the previous two steps for each of the other three sources. Make sure Spectral mode is chosen and the Formant button is on when importing to sources B, C, and D.
Click the Morph button to view morphing parameters, then click the Morph XY button.
You can now morph between the four sources using the X and Y knobs. Follow the steps below to assign the X and Y knobs to the left X/Y pad in the perform section.
Make sure the X knob is set to zero, then right-click or Control-click the X knob and choose Add Modulation > Perform > XYPad1X from the shortcut menu.
Make sure the Y knob is set to zero, then right-click or Control-click the Y knob and choose Add Modulation > Perform > XYPad1Y from the shortcut menu.
In the Name bar, click the File button and choose Clear from the pop-up menu to initialize Alchemy to default settings.
Switch to advanced view, then click the Morph button to show morphing parameters.
Click the source A select field, and choose Import Audio.
Locate the first of your speech samples and import it, using either the Additive, Spectral, or Add+Spec mode. Turn on Formant mode.
Repeat the previous two steps for source B and your second speech sample. Use the same import mode as for the first sample, and make sure Formant mode is active.
Click the Morph button to view morphing parameters, then click the Morph Lin button to view linear morphing parameters.
Click the A-B button to change the linear morphing mode.
You can now use the X knob to morph between the two speech samples. Each resynthesis method creates different sounding results even before morphing, and the results halfway through the morph will be dramatically different. Experiment with each sample import method to determine which delivers the best outcome.
Right-click or Control-click the X knob, and choose Add Modulation > Perform > Control 1 from the shortcut menu.
Click the Perform button to view performance controls, then click the Wheel pop-up menu under the Transform pad, and choose Control 1.
You can now use the mod wheel to move performance control 1.
As optional steps, click the source A button, then click the Edit button to view the Main edit window for this source.
If necessary, drag the “S” and “E” start and end points to trim the file.
Double-click above the waveform display to place additional warp markers at important syllables in your speech samples.
Click the B button in the Main edit window to view source B parameters.
Double-click to create warp markers that correspond with those created for source A. The syllable tagged with warp marker n in source B is time-aligned with the syllable tagged with warp marker n in source A at the halfway point of the morph.
In the Name bar, click the File button and choose Clear from the pop-up menu to initialize Alchemy to default settings.
Switch to advanced view, then click the Morph button to show morphing parameters.
Click the source A select field, and choose Import Audio.
Select Additive mode in the Import browser, choose a suitable sample, and import it. Turn on Formant mode.
Repeat the previous two steps for each of the other three sources. Make sure Spectral mode is chosen and the Formant button is on when importing to sources B, C, and D.
Click the Morph button to view morphing parameters, then click the Morph XY button.
You can now morph between the four sources using the X and Y knobs. Follow the steps below to assign the X and Y knobs to MSEG 1 and MSEG 2, respectively.
Make sure the X knob is set to zero, then right-click or Control-click the X knob and choose Add Modulation > MSEG > MSEG1 from the shortcut menu.
You can now define morphing on the X axis with the MSEG1 envelope in the modulation section.
Make sure the Y knob is set to zero, then right-click or Control-click the Y knob and choose Add Modulation > MSEG > MSEG2 from the shortcut menu.
You can now define morphing on the Y axis with the MSEG2 envelope in the modulation section.
In the Name bar, click the File button and choose Clear from the pop-up menu to initialize Alchemy to default settings.
Switch to advanced view, then click the source A select field and choose Import Audio.
Select Spectral mode in the Import browser, choose a drum loop sample, and import it. Make sure Formant mode is on.
Right-click or Control-click the Position knob for source A and choose Add Modulation > LFO > LFO1 from the shortcut menu.
In the modulation section, click the Shape pop-up menu for LFO1 and choose Basic > RampUp.
Switch off Bipolar mode for the LFO, and set Rate to the same number of beats as the loop. For example, set the Rate knob to 4 beats for a one bar loop, or to 8 beats for a two bar loop, and so on.
Right-click or Control-click the Position knob for source A, and choose Copy Modulation from the shortcut menu.
Click the source B button to view source B parameters, then choose Import Audio from the source B select field.
Select and import a different drum loop, again making sure both the Spectral mode and Formant buttons are on in the Import browser.
A drum loop with the same number of beats works best, but the tempo doesn’t need to be the same for both loops. If the loops have a very different groove, click the Edit button to open the Main edit window, where you can do any of the following:
Turn on Slice mode above the waveform display, and increase the number of slices to divide the loop into equal length segments. The number of slices required depends on the length and complexity of the loop. You should aim to have a slice for each significant beat in the loop.
Slide each slice marker forward or back as necessary to align it with the nearest drum hit transient. Hold a slice marker in the waveform display to zoom horizontally for more accurate adjustments.
Switch to the other drum loop source with the A/B/C/D buttons at the top left of the Main edit window.
Slide each slice marker forward or back as before to align each with the nearest drum transient.
Right-click or Control-click the Position knob for source B, and choose Paste Modulation from the shortcut menu.
The playback position of both loops is now controlled by LFO1, and they play back in sync with the project tempo.
Click the Morph button to view morphing parameters, then click the Morph Lin button.
Click the A-B button to use the X knob to morph between the two time-aligned drum loops.
As an optional step, you can click the Elements button to use or assign element controls.
Right-click or Control-click the Spect/Gran knob (orange dot), and choose Add Modulation > Perform > XYPad1X from the shortcut menu.
Right-click or Control-click the Pitch knob (green dot), and choose Add Modulation > Perform > XYPad1Y from the shortcut menu.
You can now use the left X/Y pad in the performance section to morph the spectral data by moving the pointer horizontally. You can morph pitch data by moving the pointer vertically.
Right-click or Control-click the Formant knob (purple dot), and choose Add Modulation > Perform > XYPad2X from the shortcut menu.
Right-click or Control-click the Envelope knob (yellow dot), and choose Add Modulation > Perform > XYPad2Y from the shortcut menu.
You can now use the right X/Y pad in the performance section to morph the formant filters by moving the pointer horizontally. You can morph the envelope shape by moving the pointer vertically.