blatoo / pysynth

Several simple music synthesizers in Python 3. Input from ABC or MIDI files is also supported.

Overview

PySynth is a simple music synthesizer written in Python 3. The goal is not to produce many different sounds, but to have scripts that can turn ABC notation or MIDI files into a WAV file without too much tinkering.

The current release of the synthesizer can only play one note at a time. (Although successive notes can overlap in PySynth B and S, but not A.) However, two output files can be mixed together to get stereo sound.

The latest git version of PySynth also works in Python 2.

Synthesizer scripts

Synth	Synthesis method	Approximate timbre	Note decay	Needs NumPy?
A	additive (3 sine waves)	flute, organ, piano	variable (depends on note length)	no
B	additive (5 sine waves)	acoustic piano	medium	yes
C	subtractive (sawtooth wave)	bowed string, analog synth pad	none	no
D	subtractive (square wave)	woodwind, analog synth lead	none	no
E	FM/phase modulation (6 sine waves)	DX7 Rhodes piano	medium	yes
P	subtractive (white noise)	untuned percussion hit	very fast	no
S	Karplus-Strong (physical modeling)	plucked string, guitar, koto	fast	yes
beeper	additive	Nokia phone ringtone	none	no
samp	sampler	Salamander Grand Piano	medium	yes

Installation

Linux

Clone the repository:

git clone [email protected]:mdoege/PySynth.git

or

git clone https://github.com/mdoege/PySynth.git

Enter the directory (cd PySynth) and run

python3 setup.py install

Sample usage

Basic usage:

import pysynth as ps
test = (('c', 4), ('e', 4), ('g', 4),
		('c5', -2), ('e6', 8), ('d#6', 2))
ps.make_wav(test, fn = "test.wav")

More advanced usage:

import pysynth_b as psb # a, b, e, and s variants available

''' (note, duration)
Note name (a to g), then optionally a '#' for sharp or
'b' for flat, then optionally the octave (defaults to 4).
An asterisk at the end means to play the note a little 
louder.  Duration: 4 is a quarter note, -4 is a dotted 
quarter note, etc.'''
song = (
  ('c', 4), ('c*', 4), ('eb', 4), 
  ('g#', 4),  ('g*', 2), ('g5', 4),
  ('g5*', 4), ('r', 4), ('e5', 16),
  ('f5', 16),  ('e5', 16),  ('d5', 16),
  ('e5*', 4) 
)

# Beats per minute (bpm) is really quarters per minute here
psb.make_wav(song, fn = "danube.wav", leg_stac = .7, bpm = 180)

Read ABC file and output WAV:

python3 read_abc.py straw.abc

Documentation

More documentation and examples at the PySynth homepage.