Effects

Fading volume

Volume is the most obvious thing you might want to adjust. To make it simple there is a fade parameter that takes in a range, for example:

zplay "q 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7", fade: 1..0
zplay "q 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7", fade: 0.5..2

To fade in a loop over longer period of time use fade_in or fade_out to define how many loop rounds the fading takes. fade can be optionally used to define starting and ending point.

z1 "q 0 2 1 3 5 4 6", fade_in: 2 # Loop fading in 2 rounds
z2 "q 6 4 3 2 1 0 -1", fade_out: 2, fade: 2.0..0.25 # Loop fading out in 2 rounds. Starting from 2.0 to 0.25

You can also use fader parameter to define type of fader (linear, cubic etc.). For different types of faders look at tweak method below. See tweak for different faders.

z1 "q 0 2 1 3 5 4 6", fade: 0..1, fade_in: 3, fader: :expo # Loop fading in 2 rounds

Tweak

tweak creates array that can be used in fading etc.

Available easing / fading functions:

:linear, :sine, :quad, :cubic, :quart, :quint, :expo, :circ, :back, :bounce

Some also include in and out function like :in_sine, :out_sine. For visual aid see easings.net.

Examples:

quad = (tweak :quad,-1,1,10).ring.mirror
expo = (tweak :expo,0,10,30).ring.mirror
sine = (tweak :cubic,0,30,100).ring.mirror
quint = (tweak :quint,0,20,40).ring.mirror

live_loop :beat do
  with_fx :pan, pan: quad.tick do
    play 60+expo.look
    play 30+sine.look
    play 70+quint.look, amp: 0.1
    sleep 0.25
  end
end

Adjusting Parameters

Parameters can be adjusted by defining range manually or using tweak. Rings can be used to continuously adjust some parameter like pan.

Examples:

# Adjusting
z1 "q 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7", pan: tweak(:quint,-1,1,7).ring.mirror
z1 "q 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7", release: tweak(:quint,0.1,0.5,7).ring.mirror, synth: :piano

Adjust can be used to adjust any parameter:

z1 "q 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7", pan: tweak(:cubic,-1,1,10).ring
z2 "q 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7", amp: tweak(:expo,0,2,10).ring.mirror

Adjusting with lambdas

Alternatively use labdas to change any parameter.

Examples:

z1 "q 0 1 3 2 4 5 6 7 8 9", release: ->(){rrand_i(0,1)}
z2 "q 0 1 3 2 4 5 6 7 8 9", pan: ->(i){i%2==0 ? 0 : 1}
z3 "q 0 1 3 2 4 5 6 7 8 9", retrograde: ->(i){ i%3==0} #

Adjusting samples

Sample options can also be adjusted separately:

m = {
  K: { sample: :drum_heavy_kick, amp: tweak(:linear,0,1,20), pan: [0,1,-1].ring},
  S: { sample: :drum_snare_soft, amp: [0.25,0.5,1.0,1.5,1.0,0.5].ring },
  H: { sample: :drum_cymbal_closed, amp: tweak(:sine,0,1,20), pan: tweak(:sine,-1,1,20).ring.mirror },
  O: { sample: :drum_cymbal_open, amp: ->(){rrand 0.5, 2.0}}
}

z1 "[:h [KH H] [SH H] [KH KH] <[SH H] [SH K]>:]", use: m

Note that use of adjust will override any sample spesific options.

Running with effects

Ziffers methods like zplay, zloop, z1 etc. can be run with Sonic Pi FX effects (and some other blocks) by defining run array. Benefit of using run compared to normal block is that effects with run can be changed during the the loop.

Run works with fx effects and following blocks. See parameters from Sonic Pi:s documentation:

• with_fx
• with_bpm
• density
• with_swing
• with_cent_tuning
• with_octave

Example:

zplay "|h 1 2 3 4 | 4 3 2 1|", run: [
  {with_bpm: 120},
  {with_fx: :echo},
  {with_fx: :bitcrusher, bits: 5 }
]

Effects can also be applied to samples using run:

z1 "B K (B B) K",
  run: [{with_bpm: 120}],
  use: {
    B: :bd_fat,
    K: { sample: :drum_snare_soft, run: [{with_fx: :echo}] }
  }

Or all of the samples:

z1 "B K (B B) K",
  run: [{with_bpm: 120}],
use: {
  B: :bd_fat,
  K: { sample: :drum_snare_soft },
  run: [{with_fx: :echo}]
}

Adjusting Effects

Effects can also be adjusted on the fly using ring or array. Rings can be used to create continuous change and arrays as fade in or fade out. Normally using run the adjusting happens at the start of the loop, alternatively run_each (or apply&run) will adjust the parameters for each degree or sample.

# Phase parameter is adjusted at the start of the loop
z1 "q 1 3 2 4", run: [
  {with_fx: :ixi_techno, phase: tweak(:sine, 0.01,1.0,10).ring.mirror}
]

# Phase parameter is adjusted for each degree in the melody
z2 "e 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 0", run_each: [
  {with_fx: :flanger, phase: tweak(:sine, 0.05,1.0,10).ring.mirror}
]

Cycle options and transformations

Options and transformations can be applied only for certain runs of the loop. Use cycle, on and range to define which cycles the given options or transformations are applied:

# This will do the retrograde for every other cycle of the loop
z1 "q 0 2 1 3", cycle: { at: 2, retrograde: true }

# This set the loop length to 6 and do the inverse from 4 to 6.
z2 "q 0 2 1 3", cycle: { at: 6, range: (4..6), invert: true }

Parameters support lambdas which allows randomized values etc. for example:

z1 "q 0 1 2 3 4", cycle: { at: 2, pan:->(){ rrand_i(-1,1) } }

Multiple transformations can also be applied in an array:

z1 "q 0 1 2", cycle: [
  { at: 3, invert: true },
  { at: 4, retrograde: true }
]

Pitch detuning

Detuning can be used to alter the tuning of the synths with hz offset. This can be used to produce dissonance or for example binaural frequencies (really annoying squeals):

z1 "P1 q1234", pitch_detune: 10
z2 "P-1 q1234"