The New York Industrial Front presents:
Industrial Challenge #1: White Noise song generation.

Using the white noise sample available at the bottom of this page, your challenge is to show your mastery over sampler/synthesis techniques and create a song solely with this sample.

Why?
"use only a few simple tools and master them"
To challenge you to discover what you can do applying not just subtractive synth techniques but principles of sampling as a synthesis method as well.

Rules:
In order to ensure that the challenge is just that, you are limited to the functions of older sampling gear and effects processors.

You cannot:
1. Use a Vocoder
2. Use convolution or cross modulation with a source other than the white noise sample. (NO FM)
3. Use bandpass filters narrower than 1000 khz, nor can you use high and low pass filters together to create a bandpass filter narrower than 1000 khz
4. Use noise reduction on the sample (you can use a noise gate)
5. Add additional waveforms or oscillators.
6. Use advanced digital modulators such as waveshapers, or wrappers, or pulse width modulation.
7. You may not cut up and rearrange the sample, you may only truncate it.

You can:
1. Use low pass, all pass, notch or high pass filters.
2. Add resonance but not resonators.
3. Add chorus, reverb, delay, flange, phase, compression, distortion or any other reasonable effect. You cannot use feedback generated by looping back into your effects processor. (Why would you even need the sample then? Hence: that’s another challenge waiting to happen)
4. loop the sample however you like (obviously)
5. You may resample once, but then cannot modify the resampled waveform in anyway. (This is only allowed to free up your effects processor, so that you may route different sounds through different effects, even if you have only one effects processor)

Why are there rules?
Well because without rules it would be too easy. It would be easy to write songs if I just gave you a single waveform like a saw, sine or square, because these are the very basic sounds of all analog synths. Fact is, you've probably already written songs that were based around just a saw, sine or just squares. White noise was a classic element of old analog synths as well, but it was more difficult to create palatable sounds with it alone on a analog synth. But on a sampler with filters (thus allowing subtractive synthesis techniques as well ) I have found that you can create sounds with just a white noise sample as the base that you couldn't with just an analog synth. If I didn't have rules, you could transform the sound too easily into a basic wave form.
For example, if I allowed you to use a bandpass filter narrowed to 50 khz and allowed you to resample that sound, you now have a sine wave, to base your further modulations on, and now you could easily make sounds like Kraftwerks. I'm allowing enough to make this easy, but it wouldn't be fair or interesting if it was too easy.

How?
Be creative.
I have created bases, drums, odd leads and many other sounds, including something that sounds a little bit like a piano using just this white noise sample in my SoundBlaster 32. (It's a cheap pc sampler soundcard with a low pass filter.) I haven't even started adding my effects processors yet.

Who:
This challenge is open to anyone, anywhere.

At it's close, I will post my soundbanks to show how my sounds were created. Other challengers may do so as well, or you can keep your secrets. However, if I believe you have cheated, you will have to prove that you did not.

You can download these rules, additional info and the white noise sample from the NYIF website.
(HTTP://listen.to/NYIF)

Contestants should announce entrance to daskreestof@juno.com so that they may receive deadline/rule updates.
To submit your work, you must email daskreestof@juno.com for submission instructions. Do not send files to this address. Your email will simply come back undeliverable.

Current deadline: October 9th.

Selected works will appear on the NYIF website, including info about the challenger, on which they may discuss their methods, the gear they used and what they learned from this challenge.

Submissions may be chosen to appear on the next Black Mechanical Heart release, if the challenger approves inclusion.

Questions may be directed to daskreestof@juno.com

Good Luck to all challengers, this is a great opportunity to showcase your skills.

---DasKreestof

Click here to download the sample and rules in a single file
Click here to download just the .wav file

If you need this in a format other than .wav email me and I'll post it.