Smooth Node

Experimental as of 0.5.1 – this Node currently uses linear, sample-to-sample smoothing, however, this may change in future updates. The Patcher appearance is also a placeholder.

The Smooth Node adds smoothing to a control signal. That is, it replaces sudden changes with a slow, gradual transition instead. For example, when a signal jumps from 0 to 1 immediately, this Node can make it a gradual change instead. You can configure the duration (or period) of this transition.


Inputs

Control Input

A control signal to smooth, to replace sudden changes with transitions instead.

You can also give this an audio signal, and if the Max Delta setting is sufficiently high (100-150+ depending on the audio signal), the Smooth Node will yield results similar to low-pass filtering and distortion. However, the results are not quite the same, and it would be incorrect to call this low-pass filtering. It’s closer to the effects of the Bitcrusher Node instead.


Settings

Max Delta

The maximum allowed change of a signal in one direction, over a period of one second. For example, if this is set to 0.5, and a signal suddenly changes from 0 to 1, it will take 2 seconds for the output to match the input value of 1, because the maximum change over 1 second is 0.5. After 1 second, the output will be only be 0.5, halfway through the change.

Under the hood, this controls a maximum sample-to-sample change. The Max Delta value is divided by the current sample rate to determine the sample-to-sample change limit.


Outputs

Control Output

The smoothed control signal.

If you gave an audio signal as the input of the Smooth Node, it will be a distorted version of that signal, and almost as if a low-pass filter was also added (depending on the Max Delta setting).


Technical Details

For multi-channel inputs, the Smooth Node performs the transition on a per-channel basis, and independently for each channel. That is, it’s exactly the same as using a Smooth Node for each channel of a signal, separately (but with identical settings, of course).


Similar Nodes

  • The Lowpass Filter Node, when used on a control signal, also performs smoothing on it. This is because sudden changes in a signal translate to high frequencies in the spectrum, and those get filtered out with lowpass filtering. However, the practical effects are closer to declicking, than actual prolonged smoothing over time like with the Smooth Node. The results are also not exactly the same.
  • The Clamp Node is useful for constraining samples into a range (be it a control signal, or an audio signal)