Richard Graham, Chief Executive Officer of Delta Sound Labs, was at CES 2020 with the company's latest offering, Stream, a granular sampler audio effects plug-in that helps musicians and audio techs create big textures from very small sound samples.
Delta Sound Labs is a U.S. based audio technology company focused on bridging analog and digital domains to create new instruments for the music, film, and gaming industries. Stream does that in a powerful, but user-friendly way, employing the concept of live looping - capturing audio on the fly, then repeating it to create larger, grander textures.
Stream is a plug-and-play virtual mixer employing time-domain processing that provides an immediacy of results not found in spectral or frequency granulators. It can manage very small samples of sound, down to 20 milliseconds, and layer it up to 16 voices. While most looping systems allow for a short burst to be repeated on end (think KT Tunstall's Black Horse and the Cherry Tree), Stream is designed for integrating very small sections of audio as well as longer loops.
The system also boasts a very low latency, making it ideal for live performance. The software is designed for people who like to perform solo with conventional instruments like the guitar, voice, or even brass, and want to record themselves as they play and use that as a pedal point to launch from, to solo or play melodies. From a live performance standpoint, there is something very special about a single performer acting as their own full band. The sounds can also be paired to a MIDI controller, allowing you to play the recordings back almost like notes on a piano.
Stream also works within Unity as an audio mixer plugin, providing a tool for environmental audio for video games. This kind of granular audio processing could make for smaller audio installations for games, while also widening the capabilities of the game. Opening a door in a horror game could have a screeching sound that is customized to the length of the action.
The software retails for $49. Visit the company's website to learn more about Stream and see other Delta Sound Labs products.
Interview by Scott Ertz of F5 Live: Refreshing Technology and Christopher Jordan of The Talking Sound.
Scott is a developer who has worked on projects of varying sizes, including all of the PLUGHITZ Corporation properties. He is also known in the gaming world for his time supporting the rhythm game community, through DDRLover and hosting tournaments throughout the Tampa Bay Area. Currently, when he is not working on software projects or hosting F5 Live: Refreshing Technology, Scott can often be found returning to his high school days working with the Foundation for Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology (FIRST), mentoring teams and helping with ROBOTICON Tampa Bay. He has also helped found a student software learning group, the ASCII Warriors, currently housed at AMRoC Fab Lab.
