We’ve debated for years what to call this section. We’ve settled for Trem, short for Tremolo.
Trem is just jargon for “amplitude modulation.” Which itself is jargon for “moving the volume up and down.”
In Sine Machine’s case, you can change (modulate) the volume of individual harmonics within each note over time.
I like to think of it as “what happens to the timbre, within a note.” As you modify the harmonics, the sound can completely change from something sawtooth-y to something square-wave-y to something sparkles and seems absolutely magical.
But that’s just the tip of the iceberg. In fact, the name Trem hides the fact that there’s a TON of things you can do on this page, including:
- Filter sweeps
- Make “reverb” sounds
- Make “delay” sounds
- Arpeggiate harmonics
- Make very fun sparkle sounds.
Sound Designers Tip: Trem essentially gives you access to over 10,000 volume LFOs. That’s one for each of the 500 harmonics, for each and every voice. Although it doesn’t expose them individually (that would be awkward), you can gleefully imagine an army of LFOs running behind the scenes, waiting for you to command them in bulk.
Tremolo is the modulation of volume.
In Sine Machine, it’s the modulation of individual harmonic volumes.
That sounds simple. But remembering the promise of Fourier — that every sound can be decomposed into a collection of sine waves at different pitches and volumes — it’s clear that harmonic volumes have an enormous impact on what we hear.
So it’s called “Tremolo” because that’s exactly what’s you are controlling, but the myriad effects that can result might remind you of other sounds from your favorite synths.
Filter Modulation
Removing volume from the higher partials basically lowpasses the sound.
Modulating this volume with tremolo = filter modulation!
Timbre Morphing
Modulating only the odds or evens are a way to drastically morph between timbres in a rhythmic way.
Trem Types
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