envelopes

The peakamp~ object can be used to take the amplitude of one signal and have it control the amplitude of another. Peakamp~ takes a low-frequency sample of the peak amplitude of the signal, which is then smoothed by the line~ object. This gives an intuitively much more accurate representation of the audio signal one is envelope-following than does smoothing the audio signal itself, which tends to smooth out — and thus lose — all the more interesting characteristics of the signal. Here’s an example that lets you compare.

The function object assists you to make shapes composed of line segments. When you send a bang to the function, it sends out of its second outlet a list of destination value and ramp time pairs suitable for use as input to a line~ object. In that way, the shape shown in the function object serves as a function over time, the shape of which will be enacted by the signal coming out of the line~ object.