ZGameEditor | ComponentRef / Sound

Sound

Define a sound using the real-time synthesizer. Sounds are designed in the editor using the custom sound editor that is displayed when a sound-component is selected.

The real-time synthesizer is a simple form of audio generator similar to the analogue synthesizers from the early 1980:s. It is useful for producing synthetic sounding sound effects. It can also playback sampled audio.

External links on Wikipedia: "Modular_synthesizer", "ADSR Envelope", "LFO", "Audio filter"

Properties

Length

The length of the sound, in seconds.

Volume

Volume: 0 silent, 1 max. The final volume depends on the volume of the channel that the sound is played in, see AudioMixer.

BaseNoteNr

The notenr of the sound. Middle C is 60. Add or remove 12 to change octave.

Osc1Waveform

Waveform of the first oscillator. Square, Saw, Noise or Sine.

Osc1NoteModifier

A value for detuning the oscillator from the BaseNoteNr.

UseOsc2

Set this property if the second oscillator should be used.

Osc2Waveform

Waveform of the second oscillator. Square, Saw, Noise.

Osc2NoteModifier

A value for detuning the oscillator from the BaseNoteNr.

Osc2Volume

A value between 0 and 1 that controls the volume of the second oscillator.

HardSync

If this property is set, then osc2 will be restarted when osc1 restarts.

UseFilter

Set to use filter.

FilterCutoff

Cut-off value of the filter, 0 to 1 range.

FilterQ

Filter "Q", or resonance. 0 to 1 range.

Pan

Sound stereo panning. 0 full left, 1 full right, 0.5 centered (default).

Modulator properties

Each sound can have a number of modulations for varying the sound over time.

For every modulator the following values can be set:

Active - Set if this modulator is active.

Source - The source value of this modulation. An LFO, GlobalLFO or an envelope.

Destination - The value to modulate (change).

Amount - How much the destination value will be changed from the source value.

Pattern

Copy to Music - copy the current pattern into a Music component.

Envelopes properties

Each sound can have a number of envelopes.

For every envelope the following values can be set:

Active - Set if this envelope is active.

AttackTime - The duration of time that this envelope goes from zero to one.

ReleaseTime - The duration of time that this envelope returns from one to zero, after the AttackTime is finished.

LFO properties

Each sound can have a number of LFOs (low-frequency oscillator). An LFO is a function which slowly changes its value over time. This is used for modulating the sound.

For every LFO the following values can be set:

Active - Set if this LFO is active.

IsBipolar - Set if this LFO has the range -1 to 1, instead of 0 to 1.

Style - The function this LFO use. Sine, Random or ZeroOne.

Speed - Speed of this LFO.

Sample playback properties

A sound can contain a prerecorded sampled waveform imported from a file. In this case the first oscillator is not used, but the second oscillator and the filter can be used together with the sample.

SampleData - This property holds the imported waveform. Waveforms can be imported in RAW (uncompressed) format. Use a free tool such as Audacity for converting WAV files to RAW-format.

SampleRepeatPosition - The sample position where the audio will be repeated if the sound is played for longer than the sample length. Set to -1 for no repetition.