Buzz contains many instruments that are note-based - I have termed these pitched generators. They use notes from a standard set of octaves as the means of determining the pitch of the sound, and can be thought of as conventional keyboard-based instruments.
Notes are entered using the keyboard - the letter keys become the equivalent of piano keyboard keys: [Z-X-CV-B-N-M] are the bass octave naturals, [-S-D--G-H-J-] are the bass octave sharps and flats (for us non-musical types, these notes are the inbetween notes).
The octave above is [Q-W-ER-T-Y-U] for the naturals and [-2-3--5-6-7-] are the sharps and flats. With a little imagination, you can play the keyboard like a poor approximation of a real music keyboard, although it tends to feel a little weird.
Notes appear in a Buzz pattern as the note+octave (eg. C-4, D#5) - the lower the octave number, the deeper the resultant note. The actual sound the instrument will make is determined by the generator and the connected effects, but generally a pitched generator can be used to make a tune which is a sequence of notes.
Tunes can be thought of as single notes, played in sequence (monophonic) or many notes played in unison - a chord (polyphonic). Many buzz instruments are polyphonic, others can be used in this way by building multiple tracks within a pattern and playing notes side-by-side with other notes in that pattern.
Many of Buzz's pitched generators emulate old keyboard-based synthesisers (like the 303, 808 and so on), and as such contain parameters that allow you to specify not only the note, but also control the shape of the envelope the note generates.
An envelope can be thought of as containing an attack, sustain and decay (or release). The attack is the way we approach the note/sound, sustain is how long we linger on it, and release is how the sound dies away. By altering the envelope of a sound, we change it's structure and therefore the way it plays and ultimately how it interacts with other sounds playing at the same time.
Go on to learn about Triggered Generators...
pwhitehouse@optushome.com.au
Buzz © Jeskola
