A digital synthesizer
Vespula is a digital synthesizer for Linux. It is capable of looping a sequence of notes and transposing notes while preserving key (by adjusting intervals). It has vibrato, frequency modulation and low pass filter effects. It has an LFO (Low Frequency Oscillator) for modulating FM depth and filter cutoff, and two standard ASDR envelopes: one for controlling the level of the main output signal, and another for controlling filter cutoff and FM depth.
Installation:
- Install the libasound2-dev package (Debian : sudo apt-get install libasound2-dev)
- Install Qt 4 (Debian : sudo apt-get install qt4-dev-tools)
- Generate the Makefile with the qmake command.
- Use the make command to build the 'vespula' executable file.
Instructions:
You can use your QWERTY keyboard to play the Vespula synthesizer. The keys are laid out like a piano. Think of the home row as the white keys, and the row above it as the black keys. (Except the white keys are, by default, the A major scale, instead of C major)
Press the 1..9 keys to change octave.
Use the transpose setting (in the GUI) to transpose all notes by some number of semitones (i.e., change key). Example: A transpose of +3 puts you in C major (A major shifted up by 3).
Press ctrl-[1-9] to transpose in key. Ctrl-1 is unshifted, 2-9 are shifted up by a number of whole tones. In the 'looper' mode, a series of these transitions can sound like a chord progression. In regular mode, shifting the 'white' notes while preserving key has the effect of shifting to different 'modes' (Ionian, Dorian, etc.).