Sound Mangling Tools : Part 3

The next sound mangling tool I am going to have a look at is AudioMulch. This is the blurb from the site, as they can explain it much better than me :-)

AudioMulch is an interactive musician’s environment for computers running Microsoft Windows. Bringing together the popular with what has up to now been considered experimental, AudioMulch merges the worlds of mainstream electronica and electroacoustic sound composition to create a fluid sonic environment only limited by the artist’s imagination.

While many of the processes featured within AudioMulch are not new to computer music programs, it is the software’s ability to carry out these traditionally "studio" or "non-real-time" signal processing techniques in real-time that emerges as its major asset. With AudioMulch, music that has for so long been limited to the pre & post-production practices of a studio can emerge in a new LIVE and interactive context.

Through the essentially unlimited (only by the power of the computer) combination of a network of synthesis and processing contraptions, AudioMulch allows the user to extend their current audio processing capabilities or create new music within their computer without additional expensive software or hardware systems.

The lure of this tool was just far too tempting. Unlike Audio Paint, this tool is not free. You can use it on a 3 month evaluation. The first 2 months, the program is fully functioning. The final month, save and sound export is disabled. The cost of the program is very cheap though. It costs US$89. So around £45 of our English pounds.


The screen shot above is a simple mulch device I put together myself. As you can see it is a modular system. The graph on the left shows the connection between different in built devices. The right hand side shows the parameters for each of these devices. The bottom section of the screen allows you to automate parameters over time. My first device was only a quick test, but it yielded some interesting results. You can listen to them by downloading this mp3. The first 2 sound bytes are directly from Audio Mulch. The remaining sound bytes is me re-processing the sounds in Ableton Live.



The screen shot above shows one of the example patch files with AudioMulch. This is a self synthesis module, that will literally go on forever. I like the idea of self synthesis, and this is something I plan to utilise to some degree on the next Creature album. I have rendered out 2 minutes of this example for you too have a listen too. You can download the file from here.

AudioMulch also supports the use of VST effects. So you can build your vst collection into your modular patches. Again, like AudioPaint, this tool is for Windows XP only. There are other similar systems you can use on both PC and MAC, like PD, MAX, Plogue Bidule etc, but none of these are as intuitive as AudioMulch.