Reach me at

elena @ elenadesign . eu

Elena here. Yep, the only one, the original !
*Where science meets art, behind numbers there is a pulsing heart*

I am a musician, coder, graphics artist, scientist. Despite my versatility and multi-skilled nature, I am *primarily* a composer of music across various genres. I've been composing music since I was 11. I only compose good, melodic music, with original melodies and harmony. Not noises. I compose Pop/Rock music, melodic dance music, instrumental, piano or electronic music. Not Ambient, not Hardcore, not Techno, not Trance, no Rap/Trap. It looks like there isn't good music anymore nowadays, and as a side effect people's tastes are now ruined. There is still plenty of room for good music, and I will do whatever possible to throw it out of me so that the whole world one day may enjoy it.

At present, I am chiefly dedicated to music and DSP programming under Windows.

QUICK LINKS

Official Repository
KVR page
Spectral Domain framework for Synth Edit (ESD)
ED Module Pack for Synth Edit
Synlay synthesizer



My most notable work in recent years is an advanced modular STFT spectral processing framework for SynthEdit: Elena Spectral Domain [ESD] Modules for SynthEdit. This framework allows realtime spectral "STFT" processing and creation of VST plugins for realtime spectral manipulation and synthesis. I started this project with the aim of providing myself with a very advanced toolkit for vocal timbre manipulation for my music arrangements.
My most notable achievements so far include an innovative spectral envelope extraction algorithm (codename WHISPER), an original comb-based pitch-detection algorithm, a brand new peak estimation algorithm and a special STFT filtering process for Hann-windowed frames (these will be object of future Papers).
I have also developed a natively real FFT implementation that works directly on real sequences and on half-complex spectra, which is about 30/40% faster than the standard approach of feeding a complex FFT with two real sequences and post-processing the result. All these algorithms are implemented in ESD 3.0.


I've also been experimenting with new sound synthesis techniques, like delay-based synthesis. I've always been intrigued since infancy by how certain noises (like the background noise of the far city, or the noise of a jet plane flying over) could acquire a "pitchness" when naturally mixing with delayed reflections of themselves. I started experimenting in this direction since 2019, and the product of my efforts is Synlay, which now reached Version 2. Synlay is a professional sound synthesizer plugin capable of very diverse timbres and of high quality. I am genuinely astonished by how versatile this synthesis technique turned out (as long as implemented properly): Synlay is capable of incredible violins, brasses, orchestral and original synthetic sounds !


Currently in the works is also MIKTAR, a very innovative VST plugin which allows you to simulate an acoustic guitar (or other plucked string instruments) with unprecedented realism. Thanks to accurately engineered Feedback Delay Networks acting as virtual strings, entirely developed by me, you will be able to "play" a microphone with your right fingers as you would do with guitar strings while playing the notes on your MIDI keyboard with your left hand. MIKTAR will be available as a commercial product. An audio demo, a demo video and a first public beta version will hopefully be available in 2024 (despite the program is pretty finished, publishing suffered a big delay because of technical problems related to its commercial distribution and licensing. If you are interested to test it, please contact me privately. An official page should be ready in a short time though).


Many people will surely remember me as a former Amiga developer (late 90s/early 2000s) and fractal artist. For many years I was passionate about creating fractals - which in simple and less technical terms translate mathematics to art, revealing that the two are not mutually exclusive and can be bridged together in fascinating visuals. For those who are interested, my old program ZoneXplorer (ZX 2.0 BETA, for MorphOS) can be downloaded here. Nevertheless, this is a discontinued project which I have no time or intention of resuming. I do, however, have some images made with the latest True Recursive formulas in 2017 here. You can also access my old fractal gallery here. Keep in mind that since 2017 I closed the Amiga chapter forever. I would like to port ZoneXplorer to Windows some day, but hardly I'll have the time needed for that !


Somebody else may also remember me for my past research about the Testatika machine, in the years from about 2009 to 2015. This has been the darkest chapter of my life. As a scientist (not a pseudo-one !!!) I was almost compulsively captured by this legend, to the point it became a psychosis, or an obsession. Unlike most similar "free energy" inventions, nobody to date could really demonstrate it was a "hoax". I really started my passionate research, in an almost forensic fashion, to the unique purpose of studying the whole story SCIENTIFICALLY, and to prove to myself it was indeed yet another scam. I failed my goal, therefore this mystery (which not without a reason I defined "the greatest mystery of the 20th century") will keep disturbing my nights perhaps up to the last of my days...
My current opinion is that it was actually a genuine invention able to harvest thermal air ions, but it ended up in the oblivion for having being managed VERY POORLY, from beginning to end, both by their inventors and by third party researchers.
However, to put the word END on this unhappy (and embarassing) chapter of my life, in 2015 I decided to write a book, Tutta la verita sul caso Testatika. I have been the first person in the world dedicating a book to this case. The book is currently published in Italian only, but I hope to find a new publisher soon ready to invest money for an English translation.

NOTE: the old Testatika work group on Yahoogroups does not exist anymore. I created a new one with the sole purpose of collecting all important hystoric material and however as an official reference for future discussions.