cutie-dead-synth

Play it on your computer or laptop keyboard

A PyQt5 synthesizeresque. A version of another synth I previously coded with tkinter as the GUI, (quarter-dead-synth).

This may not work properly on some distros. Seems to work OK on Debian and Ubuntu Studio, so I think it needs a fast or low latency kernel.

Toggle between the key of E4 and C4. Swing between sine and triangle waves. Switch sine to an octave lower or some octaves higher.

Set Output Device, Blocksize and samplerate from the dialog accessed from the drop down menu. Maybe for a USB audio interface for example. Stuff > Set Output Device, Blocksize and Samplerate Click on the required device from the list then click Set / Close The blocksize can be adjusted with the slider. The blocksize is how many samples is passed to the sound buffer at a time. If the blocksize is too small you will hear skips or crackles because the buffer has not had enough time to be filled up before the next callback. If the blocksize is too big, there will be a lag between hitting the key and hearing the sound. Note: If you close the dialogue using the X in the top right corner, the stream will fail to restart. Reopen the dialogue, repeat your selection or whatever and click Set / Close to restart the stream.

Configure the keys to match any keyboard

The keyboard configuration is for a qwerty keyboard but you can change that in the Stuff menu. To change the key bindings click on custom keybinder in the stuff drop down menu then Select Key if needed, then just type in the keys in order of the ascending scale. The dialog will automatically close when all the 18 notes has been assigned keys. Next click the Change Key button to update the configuration. From the drop down menu the new custom configuration can be saved as a preset so it can used again next time.

Save and Recall Settings

Save current settings Stuff > Save As Presets. A dialogue will open. A snapshot of the sliders and key (C or E) is made the moment the dialogue was opened. Give the presets a name and click Save. Close dialogue. The file will be saved to the presets directory found in the cutie-dead-synth project directory.

Recall presets Stuff > Recall Presets. Click on the required preset.pickle file from the list. the dialogue will close. Click Apply Settings in the main window.

>= python3.6

pip3 install numpy
pip3 install sounddevice
pip3 install mido

Get PyQt5

sudo apt-get install python3-pyqt5

Midi Input

python3.6 python3.7

pip3 install python-rtmidi

Open Midi Input Port from the drop down menu. select the input device name and the window will close. Now click Apply Settings in the main window, wait a few seconds, and its ready.

Run cutie-dead-synth

python3 cutie_dead_synth.py

Keyboard Shortcuts

Key	Function
Ctrl-q	Quit
Ctrl-k	Change key
Ctrl-a	Apply

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extra_thing_for_fun.py This is my favourite one. Its not exactly conventional but I think it sounds far far better. It uses simpleaudio. It uses your computer keyboard or plug in a midi keyboard and click the Open Midi Input button and select the input device name, wait a few seconds and its ready.

Supported samplerates

• 44100
• 48000
• 88200
• 96000
• 192000

Linux prerequisites for simpleaudio

sudo pip3 install --upgrade pip setuptools
sudo apt-get install -y python3-dev libasound2-dev

simpleaudio and mido

pip3 install simpleaudio
pip3 install mido
pip3 install python-rtmidi

Keyboard Shortcuts

Key	Function
Ctrl-q	Quit
Ctrl-k	Change key
Ctrl-a	Apply sliders
Ctrl-m	Monophonic / polyphonic toggle

run

python3 extra_thing_for_fun.py

Or with a samplerate of 44100 for example, instead of 48000 (default)

python3 extra_thing_for_fun.py 44100

Save Notes as .wav Files

Click this button and it will create a directory named with a time stamp and sample rate then fill it full of wav files each containing the individual notes.