As figure 1.3 shows, one way
to make smooth amplitude changes in a signal without clicks is to
multiply by an envelope generator; one is invoked in figure
1.4. This may be implemented in
Pd using the line~ class:
: envelope generator. The output is a signal which ramps
linearly from one value to another over time, as determined by the
messages received. The inlets take messages to specify target
values (left inlet) and time delays (right inlet). Because of a
general rule of Pd messages, a pair of numbers sent to the left
inlet suffices to specify a target value and a time together. The
time is in milliseconds (taking into account the sample rate), and
the target value is unitless, or rather, its units should conform
to whatever input it may be connected to.
Patch A03.line.pd demonstrates the use of a
line~ object to control the amplitude of a sinusoid.
The active part is shown in figure 1.8(b). The six message boxes are all
connected to the line~ object, and are activated by
clicking on them; the top one, for instance, specifies that the
line~ ramp (starting at wherever its output was before
receiving the message) to the value 0.1 over two seconds. After the
two seconds elapse, unless other messages have arrived in the
meantime, the output remains steady at 0.1. Messages may arrive
before the two seconds elapse, in which case the line~
object abandons its old trajectory and takes up a new one.
Two messages to line~ might arrive at the same time
or so close together in time that no DSP computation takes place
between the two; in this case, the earlier message has no effect,
since line~ won't have changed its output yet to
follow the first message, and its current output, unchanged, is
then used as a starting point for the second segment. An exception
to this rule is that, if line~ gets a time value of
zero, the output value is immediately set to the new value and
further segments will start from the new value; thus, by sending
two pairs, the first with a time value of zero and the second with
a nonzero time value, one can independently specify the beginning
and end values of a segment in line~'s output.
The treatment of line~'s right inlet is unusual
among Pd objects in that it forgets old values; thus, a message
with a single number such as "0.1" is always equivalent to the
pair, "0.1 0". Most Pd objects will keep the previous value for the
right inlet, instead of filling in zero.
Patch A04.line2.pd shows the line~ object's
output graphically, so that you can see the principles of Figure
1.4 in action.