randy's Recent Posts
OK, I will add this unfortunate info to my bug list and see what I can do. Thanks for the info, I appreciate it.
Here’s a video preview of Kaivo. Not all of the functions are final, but it’s getting very near its finished shape, and as you can hear, makes some very nice sounds!
Kaivo is designed to do physical modeling, which is to say it solves physics equations in real time. But unlike other physical modeling plugins so far, Kaivo is geared towards quick and easy experimentation that can get wild. Sounds rooted in physical reality, but headed for outer space. As with Aalto, my #1 goal is to help you get sounds that were difficult or impossible to make with your computer before. To surprise and delight seekers of the new and weird.
Kaivo will be released later this fall, and it will be reasonably priced. Stay tuned!
Please note that the 64-bit version of the service pack is here:
http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=14632
You need to install this version to use Aalto 1.4 in 64-bit hosts on Windows 7.
An Aalto instance won't load a preset that is made in a newer version of the plugin. Unfortunately, since I put out a minor Mac update this can cause problems with moving presets from Mac to Windows now.
I'll look at ways to avoid this issue with the next update.
super sounds! good names too, which is almost as important :-)
Hi Aaron,
Your directory needs to be in ~/Library, which is in your home directory. There are two Library directories: one in your home directory and one on the root of the hard drive. To get to your home one, select the "Go" menu from the Finder then hold down the option key. The little LIbrary icon should appear and from here you can go into "Application Support" and make the Madrona Labs/Soundplane directories if those are not there.
The Madrona Labs / Soundplane directories should have been there from a previous version of the Soundplane app so I'm thinking maybe you were in the wrong Library.
Sorry this is a little difficult right now. I'll have a proper installer for the Soundplane app soon.
Aalto is a VST and Audio Units plugin. You can use it in any VST / AU host. It does not come in RTAS or AAX formats for Pro Tools.
Here's an article from the Pro Tools Expert blog that covers some options for using VST plugins in Pro Tools: http://www.pro-tools-expert.com/home-page/2013/7/10/7-ways-to-host-vst-or-au-plug-ins-in-pro-tools-11-and-earlie.html
DDMF Metaplugin may be another option for you.
Thanks for the outpouring of understanding! Big smiles here. I really appreciate it.
Early February. For more info please see the news...
Oh OK, I see what you mean now. Yes, that would be possible.
inputs to modulate the carrier & modulator levels?
I think this would be confusing, because the ratio of those levels (c/m ratio) is controlled by the mod index dial. This is the usual parameter on an FM pair. If there were separate c/m levels, there would be no way the ratio dial could work anymore.
No bribes needed, I'm already on board with this idea and plan to include it in Aalto 2. I also plan to do a Kaivo 2 release at the same time to get the new features into both instruments.
Greetings! I'm writing to announce the Madrona Labs five-day winter sale, starting now. From now until December 10, I am selling Aalto for $49, which is 50% off the usual price. Now is a great time to get everyone’s favorite patchable software synth for yourself or a friend. Visit the Aalto page to buy.
If you would like to give someone an Aalto license as a gift, it’s easy.
Just buy the software in the usual way, but enter your friend's first and last name instead of yours when you make the Madrona Labs account. Then you can gift your friend the account name and password. Your friend can log in, download the software and change the account email to his or her very own.
I'll be posting again this month with sound previews and finally, with the release of our next software synthesizer, Kaivo. If you haven't heard about Kaivo, please check out the short preview video below. I'm very excited to get this new instrument into your hands... and so I'm going to get back to work on it now. More soon!
You put samples in a special directory and they will be loaded up. Or select "Import" to send them to this directory.
Soundplane application v.1.0a1 is now available at the usual spot in the hardware forums.
This is a preview release, meant to give you a chance to use the new zone mapping features before version 1.0 is feature complete. You can edit zone maps using the JSON files directly, but not through the GUI.
Changes:
- new Zone features allow mapping notes and controllers to key grid
- changes to t3d format for wider OSC compatibility
- OpenGL accelerated graphics
- fixed graphics for Retina display
- fixed a bug where SoundplaneController was initialized twice
- fixed OpenGL errors on quit
- fixed a possible crash in adjustPeak()
- fixed note release when quantized
- new raw matrix output
NOTE: the t3d format has changed slightly for better compatibility with TouchOSC and other apps going forward. So this version will not work with the current version of Aalto. If you are currently on a big US tour or something, don't install it! An Aalto update for compatibility will be coming soon.
There are currently four types of Zones available: note rows, x sliders, y sliders, and xy sliders. All of these are shown in the zoneExample1.JSON map. More control types and many refinements are on the way, to be documented and rolled into version 1.0. So if you have ideas for controls you want, now is the prefect time to give feedback. The new Max/MSP example shows how to receive
I am calling this release 1.0a1 because it has a 1.0 feature set that is not complete. However, in my experience it is at least as stable as the previous version. If you don't need Aalto compatibility it should provide a solid platform for your MIDI or OSC-based work. Please send me any bug reports or feature requests by posting to the Hardware forum, or by email.
Hmm, thanks for the info.
The beta is full now. I am working hard to finish this wonderful thing by mid-December.
MIDI key zones should transmit pressure for each touch if the "pressure" toggle is on. Looking at the code, I see this is mapped to cc11 now. It also sends on channel pressure for each touch.
Since ccs and channel pressure have only one value per channel, the "multi chan" toggle has to be on, to send one note per channel, if you want separate z values per touch.
I know this may be a bit confusing explained piecemeal like this! Thanks for bearing with me while I make the time to write proper documentation. Meanwhile if you have any questions, please ask.
No, you don't need to write any programs! It's just a support pack install.
There is currently no pressure-based zone type. I plan to add a z option to both the 1D and xy controllers. I'm collecting ideas for other zone types too, so let me know if you have any requests!
There is a problem with the 1.4 Windows release that is affecting some users. On some systems a required Windows support DLL cannot be found. Usually the user sees an error such as "msvcp100.dll was not found." Depending on the host, you may not get a message.
If that is the problem, you may be able to fix it by downloading this Windows developer support pack:
http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=5555
This problem will also be fixed in the next Aalto update.
I have to release a 1.5 update first with some fixes. Then Aalto 2.0 will definitely have more voices. Thanks for the feedback.
The presets should be in /LIbrary/Audio/Presets/Madrona Labs/Aalto, and in the same path starting from your home directory for user presets. I'm a bit confused as to what is going on because there should be no need to convert presets when you first get Aalto. All the presets are installed in both .aupreset and .mlpreset versions for AU and VST respectively.
There is a problem with the 1.4 Windows release that is affecting some users. On some systems a required Windows support DLL cannot be found. Usually the user sees an error such as "msvcp100.dll was not found." Depending on the host, you may not get a message.
If that is the problem, you may be able to fix it by downloading this Windows developer support pack:
http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=5555
This msvcp100 thing is my issue and I intend to fix it in an update coming soon.
I see your point about the touch messages. This should not be too hard. The first point of mapping is definitely to make splits and the like easy, so if that's not working well, I'll change it!
OK, see what you mean about Controllers and touch messages also.
The only major question I have is: How controlable is it in real time? Can it react to all the major MIDI controllers?
Yes, like Aalto you can map MIDI controllers into the patch matrix. For specifics, you can download the Aalto manual and investigate. Kaivo should be very similar here.
So although this proabbaly will not be a big seller because most people wil have trouble fully fathoming the whole concept
I guess I have to rely on enlightened buyers then...
When will it be avialble? – What will it cost? –
Later this fall, reasonably priced.
Since the rest of my studio still is hardware based: Can it run standalone or is there a simple VST plugin host on which it will run?
A standalone version is a good idea but this is not possible yet. The development effort is not too hard and I will look at standalone versions in the coming year. In the meantime I or the community here can point to to good free or almost free hosts for Mac or Windows.
Thanks for the report. I have not run into situations where the sequencer loses sync. However, I have not done much testing on Windows / Reaper. I am going to do some work on the sequencer soon, and will make sure to test it on Reaper.
There is a problem with the 1.4 Windows release that is affecting some users. On some systems a required Windows support DLL cannot be found. Usually the user sees an error such as "msvcp100.dll was not found." Depending on the host, you may not get a message.
If that is the problem, you may be able to fix it by downloading this Windows developer support pack:
http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=5555
Good to hear, thanks for the info.
Hi Charlie,
Thanks for the feedback.
I could think about specifying a maximum number of touches in each zone. I never thought anyone would want this. Would a 'mono' switch take care of your needs? In other words, you could set the number of touches to either 1 or the maximum available.
The thing is, Zones don't detect touches. The touch tracker does that and then sends them to the Zones and Controllers.
I'm wondering what the typical way to do a "split" will be over OSC. My plan is to have a channel number on each zone, this would allow easily splitting different sounds out to different OSC channels just like with MIDI. The OSC channel would use a different port. This seems to make sense because you can set up a couple of synths that listen to different OSC ports, and don' t have to know about each other in order to function together.
I definitely have a scale map per row planned with different modes, pentatonic etc.