randy's Recent Posts
is the canDo(MPE) now in place?
In the VST, yes, it should be.
"+/-" pitch, has this changed?
The resolution is finer. Now 0.01, previously 0.1. Samples will also be cut off when the pitch drops so that they are playing backwards, if wrap mode is not on. If wrap is off in your patch, try enabling it.
@7lakes please keep me posted, here is a good place...
@anatolyj, this is a complete mystery for me too, for the moment I have no real suggestions except maybe trying a different host in case the issue lies there. Let's see if any pattern comes to light as more people try it this week.
Hi Fedor, listening now—very deep sounds, thank you for sharing.
With a 32-bit VST on Windows 7 64-bit in Ableton Live I see as follows:
8 voices of complex patch:
with Kaivo 1.1: 60%
with Kaivo 1.2: 50%
Your patch works OK here.
try without the plugin window—maybe it's a graphics issue?
Note that the preset format changed from 1.1 to 1.2 so when you copy from 1.2 you cannot paste into 1.1. You can copy / paste from 1.1 to 1.2.
Randy, is your plan to give the touch tracker some 'quality' time after Virta's release?
Definitely.
this is no 'criticism', I completely understand the competing time pressures, more just a plea to give the soundplane software some priority, over perhaps the more 'lucrative' plugin development...
It's not a matter of choosing what might be more lucrative. Plugins are what keep the business afloat. If I don't release a new plugin or two each year there is no more Madrona Labs, simple as that.
Mark, I am sorry the pace of my development is too slow for you—please know that I have not forgotten about your desire for better responsiveness over MIDI. And please be reminded that I'm just one person.
Yes, LFO sync is a totally reasonable idea. It just hasn't made it up to the top of the list yet.
The 1.2 update, coming within a week, will have some CPU improvements in the various modules as well as graphics optimizations. I'll be looking at the multicore work after my next plugin Virta is released.
Nearly no VST I know can do so much with so little knobs.
Thanks, I think a lot on that topic so it's nice to hear.
OK.
Hmm. I tried your patch, which seems to be nice and have no surprises. What host are you using? I think this may have more to do with the host.
Oh, thanks for reminding me!
I'm just going to attach this sketch. If you know your way around a modular synthesizer, you can probably guess some of the cool things you can do with Virta. The main purpose is to make new voice-controlled instruments. But you could also make, for example, a de-esser! Or a four-voice pitch shifter.
Price will be $89 unless the price of beer in Seattle changes significantly in the next month.
Hi Andrew,
The issue with the top and bottom edges is one I have experienced too. I tend to compensate by attacking the notes harder at top and bottom and saving those slow onsets for the middle rows. A higher threshold will help, but of course that's not always what we want.
To a large extent it's really down to the way the instrument is put together. The way the frame is tensioned causes the actual force of the touch to be spread out more near the top and bottom.
There is also an effect where a very nearby hand or finger causes what, for brevity, i'll call a negative pressure. You can see this by looking at the calibrated data without any touches active. XY mode may be the best way. If you press with a pencil or something, you can experiment with what happens when you keep your hand away. By approaching more perpendicular to the surface and not keeping your hand resting near the edge, the effect can be mostly avoided.
This is definitely on my list of things I'm trying to improve in the new software.
I will try to reproduce this with your patch.
What host are you using?
Hmm, I haven't heard of this before. I'll check before releasing the update to make sure this is fixed.
Thanks for the feedback. This should be fixed in the Kaivo update I'm finishing up right now.
I posted an article about Kaivo and CPU. It has some tips that may help you:
The sequencer / host ratio is implemented with a thing called a PLL, or phase locked loop. What this does is pull the sequencer back into sync with the host when they are close to matching. So at any low-number ratio like 2/3 they will stay in sync. At 5/6, I guess they will stay in sync just fine—please give it a try!
The ratios marked on the dial are at higher precision than other values, yes.
Thanks for the suggestion. I'm more focused on supporting editing using an interface like a tablet, phone or laptop.
Hi Yorke,
I'm sorry to say MPE doesn't work well with Ableton Live. There's nothing I can do about this—it's because Live strips off the channel information before sending it to the plugin. There's some more information about this at http://madronalabs.com/topics/4718-key-outputs-by-protocol where I document all the protocols by what comes out the KEY module in each one.
There is some weird workaround for Live that may work. You can see it in this screenshot:
I haven't tried it myself but this may be a solution for you. Or another host may be.
Yes, with MPE working properly you can record and edit a Soundplane performance.
Thanks for the feedback @atoav. I understand. This one has been on my to-do list for a while.
On every version of Windows I put the presets in the recommended place for application data: C:/AppData/Roaming.
It looks like these folders are now hidden by default in Windows 10. To see them, try this tip: http://www.pcworld.com/article/2690709/whats-in-the-hidden-windows-appdata-folder-and-how-to-find-it-if-you-need-it.html
It doesn't look like implementing it can possibly do any harm, so I've added it to the build for Aalto as well as the Kaivo update which will be coming out very soon.
Aalto 1.7 does not implement this. I'll put it on the list for the next update. Thanks for the feedback.
Really hard to say, without knowing more about where you are coming from and what tools you want to use and what you want to do.
The Soundplane app is available on github/madronalabs/soundplane. It's reasonably complex. If you can understand and compile it, you can make it do anything you want. For most people who want to do a little more without delving into the C++ code, Max / MSP is a very useful tool.
There was some bug related to multithreading that created the CPU hit you are describing, specifically on Xeon processors. I never did come to a complete understanding of it, not having a Xeon here for testing but I think I fixed it when I cleaned up some related Aalto code.
If Aalto works well on your machine, the Kaivo update coming up soon should work well, too. Please keep in touch with your experience.
the Soundplane app loads up zone files as JSON. You can edit the JSON file to make your own maps. Here's the file for the common "rows in fourths" setup:
{
"zone": {
"name": "B2",
"type": "note_row",
"rect": [0, 0, 30, 1],
"note": 47
},
"zone": {
"name": "E2",
"type": "note_row",
"rect": [0, 1, 30, 1],
"note": 52
},
"zone": {
"name": "A2",
"type": "note_row",
"rect": [0, 2, 30, 1],
"note": 57
},
"zone": {
"name": "D3",
"type": "note_row",
"rect": [0, 3, 30, 1],
"note": 62
},
"zone": {
"name": "G3",
"type": "note_row",
"rect": [0, 4, 30, 1],
"note": 67
}
}
You can also add various kinds of control areas that send out MIDI and/or OSC data. Examples of these are installed with the Soundplane app into the ZonePresets directory. There's one with 30 sliders for example, and one with one of every kind of control including xy areas, toggles, pressure-only control areas and so on.
For sure.
OK! I think we have sorted out the issues with distributing the older plugins. I added an Aalto 1.6.1 license for everyone above. Thanks for your patience.
Thanks for sharing! Kaivo will be coming soon.
Yes correct, unfortunately no OSC params just yet. I really need to get Virta out ASAP, then I can revisit that.