technomonkey's Recent Posts

Hello, just want to make one more request for the sequencer to be fixed. Probably bad timing, what with the new instrument in the works, but I want to get this in there before it's too late or whatever.

I've been sticking with Aalto 1.2.6, which was the last version where the sequencer stops/resets/starts like I'm used to.

Sometimes I've been using 1.3.0, so that I can use the cool host-sync-ratio feature, and paste patches from the forum, etc.; 1.3.0 being the last version that resets the seq when the host transport restarts, and resets to the correct step.

I've tried the newest Aalto, but now there's a thing where the seq will start/restart on some step other than "1" - sometimes it will start on step 4, sometimes 5 or 9, etc.

Here's a simple patch made in 1.4.1 if anyone wants to confirm; for me the seq is starting on like step 4, resetting to step 1 on host transport stop, and then restarting on step 4 with a glitchy jump:

The behavior is happening for me with the AU and the VST, in any host. The behavior started in Aalto 1.3.1 - according to the Aalto version change log, there were at least two sequencer things that happened: "new software PLL for tighter host sync", and "fixed sequencer offset when stopped".

There is indeed a "jump" that happens in Aalto 1.3.0 when the host transport is stopped. But if you're lucky/good you can get the seq to stop on the step you want, and 1.3.0 does reset to the correct step, with the correct offset.

I'm happy with Aalto either way - but man if this were fixed I would be in heaven. I'm sending coffee, just in case.

EDIT: damn, it would take a cup of coffee just to read this post, shortened it a little

technomonkey

Thu, Aug 22, 2013, 19:39

Man, I really appreciate it Randy. Thanks for putting up with my complaining - I tried a couple ways around this but my solutions were clunky and not very playable.

technomonkey

Thu, Apr 18, 2013, 08:59

Don't know why I didn't notice this until last night:
In Aalto 1.3.2, when the sequencer is locked to the host tempo, the sequencer resets to Step One when the host transport is stopped - rather than stopping on the current step and hanging out until resetting when the transport is started again (like in older Aalto versions - maybe this changed in 1.3?). Behavior is the same with AU/VST, within any host I've tried.
While we're at it, it would be cool if the sequencer would reset to whatever step is chosen in the "Offset" control - I feel like the older Aaltos did this (can't find my old ones to check right now).
I don't know if a 1.3.3 is planned - but if it is I would do almost anything to get the old functionality back. Just name it - need a lawn mowed or anything?

technomonkey

Thu, Aug 22, 2013, 10:04

Just to say: these Sketchbook patches paste just fine into any Aalto version here, between 1.3.0 and 1.4.1 - both the AU and VST; "here" meaning a MBP on 10.6.8. They even paste into 1.2.6 but in that case there is of course jumbled/missing information. I am assuming Shiro did these with 1.4.x. For.what.it's.worth.

technomonkey

Wed, Aug 14, 2013, 13:17

The Gate outs are also super for when you want to instantly modulate a parameter between two values without the "ramping" of an envelope or whatever. You can get nice variations on a melody this way for example.

Also if you have all your gates on the sequencer active, you basically have a pulse wave with PWM coming out of those outputs. If the pulse width is set to 100% you've got a constant offset going on. Etc etc

technomonkey

Wed, Aug 14, 2013, 13:02

Wow man! That's a great collection and a sweeeet way to present those patches! I might try my hand at mangling some of 'em too.

No matter what instrument gets into your hands, it will always sound unique to you.

High compliments and respect!

technomonkey

Tue, Jul 16, 2013, 10:32

FWIW the Audio Unit works much better in ReNoise (for me) (MBP 10.6.8).
Also, for whatever reason I get better performance overall with ReNoise 2.7.x, that goes for pretty much all plugins.

technomonkey

Wed, Jan 18, 2012, 09:15

Good gravy! Reading the news this morning and looking at pictures of Seattle under the beautiful snow.

Gorgeous but scary! Hope you guys are warm, hanging indoors, and that driving a car is not something you have to do anytime soon.

technomonkey

Thu, Apr 18, 2013, 11:16

I love the Aalto group on Soundcloud.

I made the mistake today, though, of letting the group page play at a decent volume while doing some chores around the house. Imagine my surprise when "Under Cover Freak" by Velous got its turn - WOW I didn't know something like that was even possible. Check it out!

Hee hee. There's a bunch (3 weeks' worth) of spam tracks on the Group page right now. As well as three+ years of nice Aalto sounds - here's to many more.

technomonkey

Fri, Jun 24, 2011, 13:00

Here's a simple but huge four-voice kick drum. It seems to be nice and tunable with the pitch Carrier.

technomonkey

Fri, Jun 24, 2011, 13:08

Here's a four-voice metallic snare. On the three beat, so when played with that last kick patch you've got yourself some instant techno :).

technomonkey

Sat, Jun 25, 2011, 00:40

OK, one more for percussion: a simple 3-voice shaker with occasional extra swishing and a little feedback. Works best 120-140 bpm - try it at 128 first. I really like this one. There's a sound example track at http://soundcloud.com/jazz-typewriter/road-trip-bonus-1-three-beats

technomonkey

Mon, Jun 27, 2011, 00:05

Nasty four-voice drone demonstrating several parameters modulated past their "normal" range.
Example: Filter Type is pegged all the way to LP but is also being negatively modded by Voice, making it "more" low-pass(?). I'm not sure exactly what is going on when you do this, but it works for several other parameters too: osc noise, waveshape, etc.

technomonkey

Wed, Dec 19, 2012, 11:56

Ok Randy -

technomonkey

Wed, Dec 19, 2012, 11:58

Fully warmed up, this worked at 113bpm for me (host synced):

EDIT, half hour later: :) I'm really having fun with this. Soundcloud embedding would would be pretty cool right now - I just don't know how to do it.

technomonkey

Mon, Nov 07, 2011, 10:20

@bnek and garf: I love your last two patches, I was playing them at the same time and thought it sounded cool, then flipped the sequencer range to -48 on "edensisland":

then a little song came out, which i put up at the Aalto Soundcloud group last night: http://soundcloud.com/groups/aalto-users-group-madrona-labs. It's called "Salisbury Steak", I don't really know why. Enjoy, or not; all sounds made with Aalto.

I liked the swinginess of bnek's patch imposed on the machine rhythm of garf's.

Cool, guys!

technomonkey

Fri, Apr 26, 2013, 11:46

Hey, don't laugh - it could happen to anyone :).

Ear worms are an unfortunate fact of life. Until last week for me it was "Graceland" by Paul Simon; that one lasted several weeks. Before that it was "Say You Love Me" by Fleetwood Mac. Somebody help me.

technomonkey

Mon, Jun 25, 2012, 16:20

Now that it's over, I feel like I can talk about this.

Over Memorial Weekend, which for the non-Americans here fell on 26-28 May, I found myself at a rodeo.

Not intentionally. I had gone out to the hills to see my brother, who lives in a dinky little town surrounded by wine fields up North. This little town happens to hold a big parade and rodeo every year. The rodeo is held on a property that sits adjacent to my brother's place. The rodeo was in full swing by the time I arrived.

So we are chilling in his backyard, getting to enjoy, for free, all manner of rodeo business: dancing horses, monster trucks and dirt bikes, people racing these souped-up riding lawnmowers, and some other country-type activities that I couldn't even identify. A tall, pretty cowgirl made the horse she was riding stand up on its hind legs, and she made her hand into a pistol and pretended to shoot me, while winking and smiling; I have to say I felt pretty cool right then.

After the main rodeo events , the local cover band took the stage and… performed a bunch of cover tunes. They had a solid if predictable repertoire of songs, including c/w stuff: "She's Gone Country (looka them boots)", lots of that kind of thing, and plenty of Classic Rock: .38 Special, Allman Brothers, and a bunch of others that I recognized but don't know the names of.

Their set was starting to wind down, when they go into "Rocket Man" by Elton John. I felt like this was a good choice because they were able to feature their pedal-steel slide guitar guy in the part before the chorus where they go "cause I'm a rocket ma-a-a-an" and there is that slide guitar shooting up the fretboard and off into space. You know what I mean. By this time I admit to having drank over a half-bottle of some pretty decent Junmai Gingo sake to myself and feeling happy but vulnerable and disoriented. I don't really drink much, or very often.

I don't know the words to "Rocket Man", but I've always thought it was generally about drugs. My brother insists that it is about someone coming to terms with their homosexuality and the implications of that within a "traditional" family. That's fine with me though it seemed incongruent with the prevailing country-type lifestyle thing. And with the rodeo etc.

Anyway I don't know what happened, but all of a sudden I became very tired and kind of sad, and confused. I knew that I shouldn't be driving a car, at least. The band stopped playing, "Rocket Man" having been their final number. I laid down in the grass and closed my eyes. Everything was sort of spinning. The band had stopped but I could still hear "Rocket Man" playing on. And on. And then over. And over.

I got up, all dizzy, and went inside to lay on the couch. "Rocket Man" continued to rewind and replay in my head. After the first few repetitions I began to hear it as performed by Elton John, rather than the cover band (even though they hit it pretty damn close - a cover band where the singer can emulate almost anyone). This went on for a while, then I passed out.

Woke up a bit later. "Rocket Man" was still playing. We put some techno on the home stereo. It sounded strange and polyrhythmic on top of "Rocket Man", not in a good way. I took a little drink of sake.

This went on for days and days. Since I don't know what the hell he's saying, the only parts that kept playing through my head were the parts about "raise the keeds" and the pre-chorus, and most of the chorus. I still haven't looked up the lyrics.

It became maddening. I couldn't even have a conversation with anyone, because I was staring at the floor thinking about the song. Making music was out of the question.

I tried different tricks, including trying to force "Tiny Dancer", also by Elton John, into the brain. This worked for a while, but eventually became some sort of sick hybrid song of both "Rocket Man" and "Tiny Dancer".

What is that damn song on the radio the last few months, everywhere you go, it's called like "need to know" or "used to know" or something. I really really hate that song. I tried even to think of that one as a substitute, but it didn't work either.

I forget how or what stopped the madness but on the 15th or so of June, I realized my head was basically clear and I no longer heard endless reps of "Rocket Man". So altogether, it had been going on about 2.5 weeks, or almost 20 days before it stopped.

So what's the point? There really isn't one, other than that I'm extremely thankful to have my space back. It's nice to be able to make music again, even if it's not as marketable as someone's like Elton John, or get stuck in your head for several days. Wish I could pinpoint what it was that broke the spell. Maybe when I stopped struggling and just accepted that I would live out my life sharing a room with the Rocket Man. For a while I considered sending Elton John a letter requesting he help me out, with a small percentage of monthly rent. I decided against that - I can't find his address anyway, and I would rather stow the favor for a later time.

technomonkey

Fri, Apr 19, 2013, 08:13

I think the answer is "coffee", but yes, thanks Randy!

technomonkey

Mon, Feb 11, 2013, 15:54

The last time I was "coshed" into submission, it felt really really good. Not at all like you would think it would feel.

Alex Smoke rules!

EDIT: listening to the new album now.... DAMN! This is fantastic! The vocals are other-worldly! Probably will have to buy this.

technomonkey

Fri, Dec 21, 2012, 12:04

Wednesday, that sounds like a good deal, especially with the breakout box, I paid more than that for mine which only had the breakout cables, and was happy. I would wait on the Duet2 until you saw one second-hand for cheap. If you're wanting to do multichannel outs I would try something like a Motu 828 first (going for under $100 on CL) and see if you (and your mac) get along with it. I do think the Duet1 sounds really good, even just for monitoring, compared to the headphone outs for sure.

This past Summer I got a Metric Halo 2882 when they were having that sale. It's way nicer than what I need but I'm really in heaven with it, and don't have to worry about a good interface anymore (famous last words). Now if I could just make some good music on it... that's a whole 'nother story :).

Going wildly off-topic is easy, and fun

EDIT: there's a Duet 2 on muffwiggler b/s/t for 375 right now. I still think the Duet 1 for 250 is a better value.

technomonkey

Thu, Dec 27, 2012, 12:11

Thanks for posting that!! Inspiring!

The tree is a Western Red Cedar? Or some kind of Fir?

Man, lucky you!

EDIT: looked it up; it is a Thuja plicata, or Western Red Cedar (not a true "Cedar", it's in the Cypress family). Really fantastic Randy.

technomonkey

Thu, Dec 20, 2012, 17:46

^^ Answer: "A lot better". :) Wishing you an upgrade soon!

(The Duet is what I started with actually, I think it's a super value if you can find the Duet 1 on craigslist or somewhere.)

technomonkey

Thu, Dec 20, 2012, 17:35

:) :) :) Now we're getting freaky. I love this country!

technomonkey

Sat, Nov 17, 2012, 13:36

Just some UI stuff in a couple hosts with OS 10.6.8, late '09 mpb:

In Audiomulch 2.2 the Aalto VST window goes blank white when you try to re-size; closing and re-opening restores the UI. The Aalto AU does not respond to re-sizing at all.
But in Audiomulch 2.1.2 (before the new Cocoa UI) the VST re-sizes as expected. The AU re-size does not work, however - it does this glitchy cascade effect.
In Bidule 0.9726 the VST re-sizes as expected; the AU does not.
In any host I've tried (the hosts listed above, as well as Renoise 2.8 and Logic 9.1.8), if you close an Aalto window and then re-open it, and then click on the right patch-change arrow, the patch will always revert to the first patch in the folder. If you click the left patch change arrow, it reverts to the "preset" folder which in my case is buried one directory level down.
Once the Aalto window is re-opened, you can go to the patch browser and click on the desired patch, and the sequential patch switching works again.

technomonkey

Tue, Dec 11, 2012, 12:24

Hey I realize it's probably unnecessary, but I want to apologize for making a joke in reaction to your post/performance, Randy. According to Google Translate, I actually meant: "beautiful meditative performance, great choice for a piece and impressed with the fretless action! This really makes me wish I had a Soundplane in front of me" or something close to that.

I know you probably didn't take it the wrong way, but for whatever it's worth I feel rude having said that a week ago, and I'm working on saying fewer dumb things on the internet. :)

I do really wish I had a Soundplane in front of me. This and the "Resonations" demo are getting a lot of replay until then.