CAROLINA CRICKORWILL (2011): A "Naturescape" for Csound5 Art Hunkins abhunkin@uncg.edu www.arthunkins.com CAROLINA CRICKORWILL is a fun variation on FileMixAuto; it produces a soundscape of crickets and whippoorwills suitable as a sleep aid and for meditation, or simply to quiet the environment. The soundfiles are variants from the composer's DUSK AT ST. FRANCIS SPRINGS (see website - also, for FileMixAuto). Default settings give one representative random playing of the sound files. For a near-"original" rendition, set the Random Rate through Filter Shift controls to zero. There are 5 soundfiles: files 1-3 are crickets; files 4-5 are whippoorwill loops (#5 is a shortened version of #4). Note below that levels for soundfiles are adjustable individually (this includes turning them off). Whippoorwill loops should always be accompanied by at least one cricket file (preferably one of the first two). A number of controls, all of which are set prior to performance, allow for independent random variation of the (up to) 5 soundfiles. Whippoorwill Loop Controls 1) Minimum Spacing: a set minimum # of seconds between whippoorwill calls. 2) Additional Random Spacing: additional random seconds between calls (total spacing varies between #1, and #1 + #2). 3) Minimum Duration: a set minimum # of seconds duration of whippoorwill calls. 4) Additional Random Duration: additional random seconds duration of calls (total call duration varies between #3, and #3 + #4). General Controls 1) Maximum Volume, files 1-5: here is where you set basic mix levels. The files never get relatively louder than this. 2) Random Rate: the common random speed at which random changes occur. A rate of zero is no change in speed at all. The fastest rate is two changes per second. All changes are gradual and "rounded"; as a result, the periodic "points" of change are not noticeable. What is heard is a kind of "average random rate" of change. 3) Random Volume Change: changes of volume for the five soundfiles are independent. Particularly important: the AMOUNT of change (up to 100%) is DOWNWARD from (or below) maximum volume for each file. 4) Random Pitch Change: random pitch variation up to 10% above AND BELOW the original pitch. 5) Random Filter Peak (Resonance): variation in the center frequency strength of the filter. A higher peak concentrates the sound around the central filter frequency. Zero represents minimum filtering and a sound closest to the original. 6) Random Filter Frequency: variation AROUND the center point of the filter (both up and down). Works in conjunction with #8. 7) Filter (center point) Shift: this is NOT a random variation. The center point of the filter is moved up or down by a fixed amount. Works in conjunction with #7. 8) Fade In/Out Duration: duration of initial fadein and final fadeout. These durations are included in Total Duration (below). In the standalone Lettuce version, positive numbers are SECONDS, negative numbers are MINUTES (range: 0 seconds to 10 minutes). 9) Total Duration: self-explanatory. All files begin and end at the same time (though they start at different locations within; see below). Though the performance will conclude at the time specified, it can always be halted sooner by halting Csound (in which case, of course, there is no final fade). In the Lettuce version, positive numbers are MINUTES, negative numbers are HOURS (0 = 30 seconds; range: 30 seconds to 24 hours). Note: Every file begins from a different random position each time a performance is started.