Activity 4 - Add effects to your song
Effects in EarSketch
Effects allows the producer to alter the sound of the audio clip
into its own unique sound. Similar to how we used fitMedia()
to add
new audio clips, we must use the setEffect()
function to define
specific effects for each audio clip. It is important to note that
multiple effects can be placed on the same track. This allows for the
producer to combine multiple effects together. Earsketch has many
effects built-in. To reference all the effects, visit this
link and make sure Curriculum pane is selected in the navigation bar.
Before we start adding effects to our song, let’s breakdown the pieces
of the two setEffect
functions:
track
: The track number to which the effect is applied to. Note: To apply an effect to the Master track, use 0 as the value for track. The master track is where all the audio is collectively played together. This is an easy way to apply an effect to all the sounds being processed.effectType
: The specific effect being usedeffectParameter
: The setting for the effect being usedeffectValue
: The value applied to the effectParameter
Add setEffect function to your song
Since we are more familiar with using effects, let’s add an effect to our song.
- On the API browser on the left, scroll to
setEffect
API. - Insert a
setEffect
function call into your code, using the paste icon. - We need to replace the parameters with our own values. Put an
integer value for
trackNumber
. Let’s put 2. - For the rest of the effect parameters, click on the eye icon on the
setEffect
API and you will see a link to “Every Effect Explained in Detail”. Click on it to open this section on the right side of your window. - You may notice that Earsketch has many different variations of
effects. By default, you should see section 30.4 BANDPASS on the
right. For now, we will use the DELAY from section 30.4 as
effectType
in oursetEffect
function call. - Now that we have chosen our
effectType
, we need aneffectParameter
. Navigate to section 30.4 on the right to check out different parameters supported for DELAY. Here is a picture of that section. We recommend using the DELAY_FEEDBACK. - For the final parameter, input a valid value. Since we have chosen DELAY_FEEDBACK, we must specify a number between -120.0 and -1.0 (as shown in the picture above). Example: Use -6.0 as your effect value for DELAY_FEEDBACK.
Your code should now look something like this:
from earsketch import *
init()
setTempo(120)
fitMedia(HOUSE_DEEP_CRYSTALCHORD_001, 3, 1, 5)
fitMedia(HOUSE_DEEP_CRYSTALCHORD_002, 3, 5, 9)
# Section A
def sectionA(startMeasure, endMeasure):
fitMedia(RD_UK_HOUSE__AIRYPAD_1, 1, startMeasure, endMeasure)
fitMedia(HOUSE_MAIN_BEAT_002, 4, startMeasure, endMeasure)
fitMedia(HOUSE_ROADS_BASS_001, 5, startMeasure, endMeasure)
# Section B
def sectionB(startMeasure, endMeasure):
fitMedia(Y37_ORGAN_1, 2, startMeasure, endMeasure)
fitMedia(HOUSE_ROADS_BASS_001, 5, startMeasure, endMeasure)
fitMedia(RD_UK_HOUSE__ARPLEAD_1, 6, startMeasure, endMeasure)
sectionA(1, 9)
sectionB(9, 17)
sectionA(17, 25)
setEffect(2, DELAY, DELAY_FEEDBACK, -6.0)
setEffect(2, DELAY, DELAY_TIME, 1200.0)
finish()