Koshdukai's Music(al) Reason(ing)

Teenage Engineering OP-1 Remote Codec & Map

2012-01-16T16:50:00.000-08:00

Hey! :)

You're a Reason 6 user and you just installed the recent Reason 6.0.2 update ?

(No? What are you waiting for!?!?)

Do you have a TE OP-1 ?

(Yeah? Congratz! ;)

...and if you still haven't upgraded your OP-1's firmware to at least OS #12234 (or newer), do it! Update your OP-1's OS ! DO IT NOW! GO, GO, GO!!! :)

Yeah, so now you can use your OP-1 as a Control Surface for Reason ! Neat uh ? :)

V.1.2 update

Before going into some quick basics about this new functionality, let me tell you that there's a newer version of this TE OP-1's Remote Map. It's basically a maintenance release to fix a couple of bugs I've noticed and fixed after the first release. This (or a higher) version will surely be included in future versions of Reason, but if you want it now, here's how:

Download the following zip archive, by clicking this Teenage Engineering OP-1 Remote Codec+Map (Official V.1.2).zip link.

This archive includes the following files:

Codecs\Lua Codecs\Teenage Engineering\OP-1.luacodec
Codecs\Lua Codecs\Teenage Engineering\OP-1.lua
Codecs\Lua Codecs\Teenage Engineering\OP-1.png
Maps\Teenage Engineering\OP-1.remotemap

Extract those 2 folders (Codecs and Maps) to the following path:

on Mac OSX:
Library:Application Support:Propellerhead Software:Remote

on Windows:

%ALLUSERSPROFILE%\Propellerhead Software\Remote

which usually translates to:

on Windows Vista or Windows 7:

C:\ProgramData\Propellerhead Software\Remote

on Windows XP or 2000:

C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\Propellerhead Software\Remote

Confirm, if asked about overwriting the existing files
(since you already have the older V.1.1 version ones installed)

Start Reason and if you already had TE OP-1 added as a control surface, all should be good. If not, just connect the OP-1 and do a quick auto-detect, just like you see in the video.

Quick Reference Guide

These are some of the general rules that apply to the TE OP-1 Remote Map:

Transport buttons Rec, Play, Stop, < and > work as expected.
+
To change the keyboard Octave, use Shift + < or Shift + >
Lift / Drop buttons work as Previous / Next Sequencer Track target.
Synth / Drum buttons work as Previous / Next patch, ID8 preset, Channel FX Insert or Base Channel, depending on what's the target or locked rack device being controlled.
There's a notion of control pages or "Modes" selected by the Mixer (default mode) and T-keys (the big 1, 2, 3 and 4 buttons below the display). So each of the 4 encoders (the Blue, Green, White and Red knobs) and the 8 buttons (smaller numbers, below the encoders) can do different things depending on the Mode selected.
As expected, Shift is also used to quickly access an alternate function of all these buttons and encoders. So, you can have 5 modes (default Mixer, T1, T2, T3 and T4) plus another 5 (Shift+Mixer, Shift+T1, etc...)
+
+
+
...so, when exploring what's possible to control with the OP-1, first try the encoders and the 1-8 buttons. Then try them again with Shift pressed. ...and you're still only using the default mode. Press T1 (the bigger 1 button) and try the encoders and buttons again... then try T2, etc... some devices, like Thor and Kong use almost all the 10 modes, so Shift+T4 will actually work and change the encoders function.
Tap Tempo button works as expected too... See also what happens with all the other buttons I didn't mentioned, like the ...
Tape button to toggle the transport Loop mode

Metronome Click On/Off

Quantize Record
etc...
One other important notion to learn is that the encoders can be pushed ("clicked") down to achieve higher value resolution, when needed.
The Mic button is usually used to trigger Reason 6's Sample feature when controlling a sampler device like NN19, NN-XT, Kong or ReDrum (well, on ReDrum, it engages an extra Sampling mode and then choose the channel to sample on with 1-8 buttons, including Shift+7 or Shift+8 for sampling on Channels 9 or 10 ...as always, press Mixer button to return to the default mode).

Other generic rules that are usually true when possible:

Blue encoder controls the Mod Wheel (when in default mode = Mixer button). Combinator is the exception to this rule. Press Shift+Blue Encoder to get to the Mod Wheel, or T1 to lock that. Mixer to unlock (i.e. return to the Default mode).
Green and White encoders are usually mapped to Filter Cutoff and Resonance or generic knobs like ID8 or Thor.
Red encoder is mostly mapped to Volume.
+
Shift+Play is always mapped to Run type devices, like Matrix, ReDrum, Thor, Dr. OctoRex, etc...
Button 8 is by default mapped to Bypass/On/Off status switch found on Effect and Combinator devices.

...and I guess this is quite enough for now. I'll let you figure out the rest by exploring yourself :)

Enjoy!

The Bernard Childcare Trust ReFill

2011-12-27T06:07:00.000-08:00

Last August, Rob (PhiSequence) asked me if I was willing to join this collaboration project that Ben (3rdFloorSound) started, where all proceeds would go towards the Bernard Childcare Trust.

It was going to be a tough call for me, but I just had to fit this one in, between all the other projects I was involved at the time, so I could only say yes, of course :)

As Kurt (Peff) explains on his blog post, this is one way that our community can show their support through the established trust account for James and Nicole’s four children.

So, to give back something to those that are willing to help and show their support to JB's family, a bunch of Sound Designers started working on this new ReFill project.

The Bernard Childcare Trust ReFill

It includes instrument and effect patches, REX loops and samples from 3rdFloorSound, DrDist/Odarminux, EditEd4TV, PhiSequence, RobbNeu and me. More were willing to help but due to their own time constraints weren't able to do so... this time.
Theo (NewAtlantisAudio) was able to find the time to help Ben at the last minute, setting the Kout.me account used to sell the ReFill with direct payment to the trust account.

Thanks to everyone involved in this, especially to Ben for coming up with the project and Rob, for telling me about it :)

What's on Koshdukai's folder ?

As some of you may know, one of the projects I was involved in had to do with the expansion of Reason 6 Factory Sound Bank (FSB6) which naturally left me with a bunch of spare patches and ideas I couldn't finish completely within the required time frame of that project. So, I had a few patch drafts already started that I could finish and add to this ReFill. Patches that fit this group are:

DIY 2x8+8 Rex Loops [Pad+Run] -KD.cmb - for Kong-like pad controller users, like some of my other FSB6 "DIY" patches
Happy Lead -KD.cmb - using one of my FSB6 chiptune and Pulveriser patches
Reel Tape Machine -KD.cmb - it should be one of the DIY series but the name was already long or should I say, self-explanatory, as in... "put your own reel tape in there" :)
PlasTinCan -KD.zyp - plastic/tin can sound, ModWheel dependent (as with all my patches) :)
Fizzlin Thobbler -KD.thor - a variation of some of my FSB6 wobblers
MS2011 Rezo Lead II -KD.thor - a cool variation of one of my FSB6 MS2011 series
Warmth Deluxe II -KD.thor - a variation on one of my FSB6 Thor patch sets

btw, here's a little demo of those first 2 patches in action:

Happy happy little silly tune by Koshdukai

I also had some sample based experiments I was doing at the time with voice, waveshapes, sequences and patterns while using the Teenage Engineering OP-1 (during the Remote Codec+Map project, included in Reason 6.0.2 update), Arturia Oberheim SEM V (from my own patch bank, while beta testing it), Arturia Spark and Novation X-Station, so I included some of them as an example of things one can do with the NN19 and NN-XT to fatten the sound of a single sample or what can be done with wave cycles or short sized samples or REX loop segments (slices) as sample sources. So these include:

OP1FM K002 -KD.wav - one of my OP-1 patches sampled as a waveshape source
Transista -KD.smp - transistor organ patch using the OP-1 FM samplewaveshape source
Cat Headral -KD.sxt - cathedral organ using the OP-1 FM sample as the waveshape source

OP1Digital K001 -KD.wav - anotherone of my OP-1 patches sampled
Reedoo Bass -KD.sxt - sound based on the OP-1 Digital sample as the waveshape source
Reedoo Lead -KD.sxt - a different take based on the above patch

Kosh Uh -KD.wav - yours truly attempting at doing a "silky white-noised male UH sound" -.-'
Human Uh Bass -KD.smp - simple waveshape loop of the "Uh" sample
Human Uh Bass II -KD.sxt - more elaborate version of the above
Bottle Spit Kit -KD.kong - Kong kit based on the "Uh" and OP1 samples

Laura Ola 201109 -KD.wav - my youngest daughter saying "Hello" in Portuguese
Laura Ah -KD.smp - simple short segment of the "Ola" sample
Laura Ah II -KD.sxt - hard looped but still playable texture based on the "Ola" sample
Nooh -KD.smp - simple waveshape loop use of the "Ola" sample

SeqIIObSEM_120 -KD.rx2 - source for some NN-XT and Kong patches in this ReFill
SeqIIObSEM_120 -KD.drex - set of possible variations one can have based on a single REX loop
Oh Be Weight -KD.sxt - short staccato-like vintage emulation based on the above REX slices

UltraBassSpark_090 -KD.rx2 - also a source for one Kong patch
UltraBassSpark_090 -KD.drex - again, variations on a single REX loop
UltraBass Kit -KD.kong - a Kong kit made of this REX segments

WhirlDistortSeq3Xstation_110 -KD.rx2 - a sequence of one of my Novation X-Station patches
WhirlDistortSeq3Xstation_110 -KD.drex - and some possible variations of it
WhirlDistortSeq3Xstation_110 -KD.mid - THE sequence :P
Distorted Sequences -KD.kong - above sequence chopped up into shorter ones

SmoothTR808_120 -KD.rx2 - a smooth little pattern I did
SmoothTR808_120 -KD.drex - some variations
Smooth Kit -KD.kong - and a playable Kong kit version of it

But, I couldn't just use things I already had, so I did some patches especially for this ReFill, like:

Depeche-Toi! -KD.cmb - a split keyb patch, half drum + arp/sequence, half playable pad/lead
Butang Sereno -KD.xwv - a slow attack bass clarinet'ish / oboe based sound
Metallic Vibra -KD.xwv - the name says it all, I guess :)
Staccato Bass -KD.xwv - again... get some echo out of the ModWheel :)
Velocator Bass -KD.xwv - velocity dependent bass sound
Izobell -KD.zyp - I love doing bell sounds with the SubTractor :)
Old Duo Lead -KD.zyp - emulation of a duophonic vintage synth
Mowhard Bass -KD.zyp - slightly vibrant type of bass sound
Vanilla Cameleon -KD.thor - an experiment that mixes a lead and a pad

To end this rather long post, I just have to add that at least my Combinator patches are Reason 6 only, so if you're on a previous Reason version, those won't be visible when browsing the ReFill.

Now... go buy it!

It's for a cause very close to our hearts as a Reason users community :)

How much is Reason 6 worth to me, R+R Duo user?

2011-09-21T06:11:00.000-07:00

http://www.propellerheads.se/paywhatyouwant/

uh?! w00t!??!? but, but, but... ?!?!

That was basically my first 3 seconds of reaction as soon as I bumped into that announcement today.

Being a Record Reason Duo user always made me look at Reason 6 upgrade with less enthusiasm than Record 1.0 or 1.5 only users or Reason 1 through Reason 5 only users, because most of the giant upgrading jump was going to happen to them and not to R+R users.

Ok, so... there's The Echo, Alligator and Pulveriser which it may be just a nice or a huge upgrade, depending on how much you're an effect devices geek and how much you depend on effects in your music style.

On top of that, there's the monster expansion done to Reason's Factory Sound Bank, which is also a huge upgrade to those that rely or know how to take advantage of the preset patches either as-is or as starting points to customize, tweak and make them their own patches. The FSB is also a natural ground to learn some sound design and CV based tricks, btw ;)

hmmm... and then there's also the new (and much needed) audio pitch transpose feature to be used in the audio clips, besides the well known existing time stretching feature.

and... the 64bit availability, which is a must now with the common use of 64bit OS. Being able to take advantage of my 8Gb RAM (well, most of it... at least more than 3Gb) is always a good thing.

This new and time limited offer made me rethink a bit how I felt about the upgrade from Record 1.5 + Reason 5 to Reason 6.

So...

How much is Reason 6 worth to you ?

Quick Tip: Windows 64bit MIDI virtualization solution

2011-08-27T06:57:00.000-07:00

Eh, long time no post :D

...ok, so, Reason 6 is almost around the corner (erm... still 33 days to go...) right?

With it, we'll be able to finally go beyond the 3Gb RAM limit of 32bit apps by running the 64bit version of it!

What will happen to those that were able to install the 32bit Midi Yoke + MIDI-OX version on Windows 7 64bit OS ?

Well, those relying on such solution will get an unpleasant (though expected) surprise: the ports made available by the 32bit MIDI virtualization (aka loopback) driver won't be visible to the 64bit version of Reason.

Solution? Install a proper 64bit version of such MIDI virtualization driver... problem is, there's no 64bit version of Midi Yoke :P

So... maybe now's the perfect time to change this, so when Reason 6 comes into your 64bit Windows, you can start using it right away, because this issue is already correctly dealt with :)

I've been following the work of Tobias Erichson, namely because of the MIDI over LAN solution he made. Recently (ok, July of this year... and thanks to Sterievo for warning me about it) he made available a tool based on something he was already using on the other available products.

loopMIDI is the perfect 64bit substitute for Midi Yoke, IMHO. It's dynamic in creation/destruction of virtual ports, so you can create a new needed one on-the-fly, unlike Yoke, and also unlike Yoke, it let's you do custom naming of the port being added, something very useful when you deal with a lot of'em (like I do).

I still use MIDI-OX as my virtual cabling management and MIDI filtering solution but now over loopMIDI created ports instead of Yoke.

After installing loopMIDI you can start creating the ports you'll need through its configuration option:

Here are all the ones I need in my current setup:

Then, as I said, I still need MIDI-OX to connect these with the real ports or between them:

(click to zoom)

uh... kinda complex and looks a bit confusing, doesn't it?

Thanks to loopMIDI custom naming, I can add extra "proper" names to existing (also named) virtual ports to quickly find the controller I want.

So, for instance, I have my iPad receiving MIDI from my Axiom OUT port. I can either send MIDI to "Axiom OUT" but it's quicker to send to "OUT to iPad" if I'm not sure to what port I have it connected. Same thing with QuickShot and Trust controllers. Both are not USB controllers so they need a MIDI In to be used on one of the other USB MIDI interfaces (controllers in this case).

Sometimes I change my setup and and the physical connections, so currently I have QuickShot MIDI Out connected to Spark's MIDI In. Spark's real input is cloned into 2 virtual MIDI ports: "Spark IN" and "IN from QuickShot" so I use whatever I need at the moment.
Using "IN from QuickShot" will always make sure that I'll have the correct controller I want, as long I as update the virtual map configuration whenever I change the setup, which I normally do.

This setup isn't using the multiple Axiom sections I used to have, like a Axiom Pads, Axiom Faders etc... all done with port cloning and MIDI-OX filtering, as referenced on some of my older posts.

Ok, enough g33kyness. If you have any questions about using loopMIDI + MIDI-OX on Windows 7 64bit, post a comment and I'll try to to help if it's within my reach :)

UPDATE: I've noticed that there's some issues with SysEx when using loopMIDI so I checked Tobias site and sure enough, he already knew about some SysEx related bug. Let's hope he can find the time to release the fixed version so we can start using it and donate to help further development :)

UPDATE2: As of Feb 6th, 2012, there's a new version (1.0.2.11) available for download at Tobias Erichsen's site. I'm just downloading it and installing it (after removing the previous 1.0.1.7) and see if the SysEx issue is fixed. Hopefully, the 15~16 port limit was also lifted (?)!!! :)

UPDATE2a: Still limited to 16 ports but the scroll bug that made it hard to access the 16th port is fixed.

Quick Tip: Easy non-destructive Stereo-to-Mono

2011-01-15T05:22:00.000-08:00

Sometimes, you're working with a stereo audio track and you may need some quick access to one of the L/R channels of an audio track or clip...

...turning it into a true mono source, even showing up in Record's Main Mixer as a mono track.

The slower (and destructive) way is to bounce it to disk, turn it into mono with a wave editor, save and re-import the now mono track or clip back into an audio track.

There's plenty of ways to do this without any of that trouble, so I'll show one of the simplest, cleanest and quickest way I usually use quickly choose one of the channels within the Audio Track Device without the need for any extra Track Devices.

Simply open the device and at the back and in the Insert FX section, connect the channel you want into the Left channel of the "From Device" inputs and that's it.

The audio clip's still a stereo one, but the audio signal path up to the Main Mixer is now a true mono track.

To get both Left and Right channels as a mono source, you should use the Stereo Width knob, turning it down to 0 (zero) on the Main Mixer or you can play with this same concept and make it show up as a Mono track through a Spider L+R sum...

...or a mixer

If you need that segment of the right (or left) channel to further work with or turn it into a playable sample, you can simply sample it internally, connecting the left output of the device's Direct Out into the Sampling Input on the Audio I/O section's back, at the top of the rack.

Speaking of sampling, this is also one way of doing mono sampling, you simply disconnect the Right channel of the Sampling Input to achieve mono sampling from whichever source you need.

Quick Tip: CV Scope & CV Sampling/Recording

2010-09-20T03:00:00.000-07:00

Record users may already know this trick for quite some time :)

You can record CV data to an audio track through the use of a CV to Audio converter (like the CV2Audio2CV) to then examine the CV waveform. This is useful when we need to debug or check the CV values being generated by a device.

The only problem with this, is that if we're on a long tweaking session, the CV recording (i.e. CV "log") may get pretty big unnecessarily. One solution is to go on a sequence of short recordings, while deleting the resulting Audio Track clips in between those sessions.

But now there's Reason 5 and it's new Sampling capabilities that we can use also for CV monitoring.

So, now, instead of recording to a track, we can just Sample the CV, again through the use of a CV to Audio conversion (wiring the audio output of Thor to the Sampling input at the back of the rack, making it the sampling source).

This allows us to keep an eye on the thumbnail Sampling scope window, while doing our CV tweaking and testing.

If closer inspection is needed, we can always edit that sampled waveform and check it more closely through the sample editor.

To get that Sampling scope running, you simply add any of the existing samplers, initialize it, press the Sampling button and let it run by itself while you work on the CV generation devices.

Don't worry about running out of memory because the continuous sampling session will only keep the last 30sec of sample data.

Speaking of CV recording and sampling, remember that you can, when useful, take advantage of that and keep that data to be played by a sampler (or an audio track in Record's case) and convert it back to CV, while playing with the sampler's OSC pitch (or Filter settings) will "mess" with the original CV data rate or quality of the values, this may indeed be a wanted effect, you only have to keep this in mind when unexpected CV data occur :)

I'm a Reason 5 & Record 1.5 user!

2010-09-03T05:30:00.000-07:00

It's official!

(picture taken by yours truly, just minutes ago, at an undisclosed location)

I'm now a proud owner of a recently installed copy of

Reason 5 & Record 1.5.

Life is good :)

EDIT:

Why the picture? Well, it's just to show you how official this day is...

we're talking about flags'n'all kind'of official here ;)

EDIT2:

OH! I almost forgot ...and I'm now also a ReCycle 2.1 owner! :)

I've never been a loop-centric type of user. I still struggle with the notion of using "construction-kits" I see being sold in Loop/Sample/Sound Library/ReFill shops.

Coming from a composer-type background and not a DJing audio cut'n'paste type of producing music, I like to compose, program and play everything myself, so I usually use REX patterns (i.e. loops) just as test sources, draft vanilla starting points or as subtle added complement layers to my rhythm patterns.

I also like the instant rewarding live usage of pre-programmed dynamic playable step-sequencers and arpeggiators, but I cringe at the fact that I can't easily customize the "Insert" patterns of Reason's RPG-8 due to the reasons already stated.

So I'm very curious to see how am I going to fit ReCycle into my way of doing things while exploring its possibilities.

First planned use: Fix some badly sliced eastern voice based REX files I bought a while ago. Let's see how that goes... I would hope that those become usable for some ideas I have for a while now, since I'm hoping to use those in Dr.OctoRex for easy note/pitch changing, instead of going through fixed-pitch Record's Audio import route (that would solve just the tempo problem).

Neptune will also play an important role on some of the simpler dry voice "loops" as well, btw...

Quick Tip: RAA

2010-08-02T01:25:00.000-07:00

Imagine you're doing this incredible stereo multi-tap echo combinator patch, where you really need to allow the user to select a list of Left/Right ratio combinations. As an example, let's assume we need a list of ratios like this one here:

Left/Right

1/1

4/3

3/4

3/2

2/3

2/1

1/2

3/1

1/3

4/1

1/4

1/OFF

OFF/1

hmmm... so, to be able to go through such a list with a combinator rotary, you really need a "device" that enables you to Randomly Access an Array of CV values or states, don't you?

Well, thanks to Thor and the way the Step Sequencer has been implemented, we can have such a thing.

So... let's build it!

Just add to your combinator (the one needing that list of CV values selectable through a rotary) a Thor device and initialize it (this is where my set of "null" patches usually comes in handy, where there's a "null" patch for each device, to quickly start with "everything off" kind'of patch, not quite achievable with the "initialize" option. Something I'll include on my CV tools microReFill, btw).

Now, for this example, we need 2x13 values, so let's use Thor's Step Sequencer Curve 1 for the Left values and Curve 2 for the Right values, and set those up with those tiny little knobs :)

I usually light up the buttons with the wanted values, just to have a visual notion of the array range.

Ok, now for the real "magic" to happen, we need to set these on Thor's Step Sequencer:

Run Mode: Step
Direction: Reverse
Step Count: 1

Then, on the Combinator's Modulation Routing, add a Rotary as the source and target Thor's Step Sequencer Step Count. Set Min to 1 and (for this example) Max to 13 (because we only want to access 13 CV values).

Twist that Rotary and see how the yellow LED lights up the selected (step) values.

Now, try connecting some wires out of Thor's Curve 1 and Curve 2 CV outputs at the back to the CV input of the rest of the devices or if you need to control something without a CV input, you can always plug those wires into a couple of spare Combinator own Rotary CV inputs and use those to control any other value through Modulation Routing :)

The same is true if you need to access this list with a CV value. Just use the existing CV input of the ModRouted Rotary to control Thor's Step Count through CV.

...btw, on Reason 5 & Record 1.5, you'll be able to use the new extra CV inputs for this Modulation Routing, without giving up on any of the spare Rotaries! Checking the new features list, you'll see this:

«Additional CV inputs on Combinator
The Combinator in Reason 5 is expanded with new CV inputs on the back. The four new CV inputs can be used to control any parameter on the contained devices, providing even more options and possibilities for sound designers.»

Neat uh? ;)

Quick Tip: CV Toggle Switch

2010-07-21T03:28:00.000-07:00

It would be really cool if we could change Thor Buttons state through CV triggering, wouldn't it ?

Ya know, if you need to toggle the on/off state of some CV out to be used on, let's say, a bank of 16 devices that react differently to the state of that CV ?

We can already toggle the state momentarily through a specified Note or through automation of those 2 buttons in Thor, or the 4 buttons in the Combinator, but a simple scalable solution for CV triggering a CV state would nice.

Well, since there's no way in Thor to send "CV in1 -> Button1" so a gate signal in CV 1 input would flip the state of Button 1, we have to come up with the next elegant solution available, using Thor's Step Sequencer :)

Fortunately, there's a "Gate In (Trig)" CV input at the back of Thor's Step Sequencer, so here's our CV input that will trigger the CV state toggle.

To achieve the toggle action, we need to set the Run mode to Step, so for each CV trigger, we get the next Step value(s), and since this is a toggler and not a step sequenced list of values or states (more on this below), we need to restrict the number of Steps to 2, to get the On/Off state values.

Then, we just have to select, for instance, the Curve 1 values and set Step 1 knob value to 0 (the Off state) and Step 2 knob value to whatever you need, usually 127 or any other useful value needed for the specific situation this would be used.

Simple uh? :)

So now, each time there's a CV trigger going through Thor's "Gate In (Trig)" CV input, the state or value available at Curve 1 output flips to either of the 2 available states.

Since there's also Curve 2, Note and Gate/Velocity outputs, 1 trigger can give us access to 4 simultaneous values.

As mentioned earlier, this is also true for the number of states or values for each trigger. I'm sure you already imagined that, besides a simple 2 state flip toggler, increasing the number of Steps will get us a CV triggered sequence of states and values.

At this stage, the direction of step increase is also an important setting in a CV Stepper, where, besides the simple Forward/Reverse direction, there's the Pendulum that could be useful, for instance, in a triple-state toggler, going through the middle state on each interaction.

The usefulness of something like these 2 solutions, the CV Toggle Switch and the CV Stepper might become more apparent on some future posts... ;)

Next: Since you already know how to do a tempo-dependent random CV access to a 3x32 cell array, my next quick CV tip will show you how to use Thor's Step Sequencer to get a tempo-independent CV RandomAccessArray of values, where a CV value can be used as an index to access any of the 4x16 cell array.

Down memory lane: Trackers, Trax/Demo Scenes and my first MIDI Controller Keyboard

2010-07-18T10:50:00.000-07:00

Note: This was going to be a post about the new M-Audio Axiom 2nd Gen controller keyboards... and, after some sentences, I realized it wasn't going to happen as soon as I first envisioned... oh well, better change the post title and move on... :P

...

As you may already know, I've been accidentally collecting more MIDI Keyboard controllers than I ever wished for. Buying new, not selling the old because there's always an excuse use for it.

It all started when I bought my (really mine) first "real" (as opposed to my Sinclair ZX Spectrum) Personal Computer (I had used PCs for a while at this point: 8086, i286, i386sx, i386 based, but none were mine), a brand new D-I-Y i486DX2@66MHz based PC with (at the time) 4Mb (a few years after, upgraded to 32Mb) of RAM.

It had a Creative Labs Sound Blaster 16 because I've always hoped to use a PC to generate sound through synthesis using math (i.e. DSP algoritms), besides taking advantage of the digital sampling/playing capabilities that PCs started to have at the time, through these new, more capable, audio card interfaces.

I was all excited also because it included a true FM synthesis chip, the Yamaha OPL-3. This turned out to be a little disappointing, when soon realizing that it was too weak for any interesting, more elaborate and complex synthesis that I was hoping to do with it.

My plan was to buy a cheap, 2nd hand MIDI controller, and also take advantage of the MIDI-Game port cable adapter, and use that card as my FM synth, while learning more about how to program that card's sound DA chips to generate non-sampled based sound and build a CPU+RAM based synth instead of using hardware based synth chips for that.

Long story short, it was with that i486 that I discovered Trackers and the TraxScene underground culture, usually considered as a support scene for the more flashy and important DemoScene.

Can't thank enough to the Walnut Creek CDROM based Hornet Archive, because that was my "home" community for some years, much like I consider now the PropellerheadSW Forums :)

Well... because of Trackers, I basically stopped "wasting" my spare time, learning how to deal with audio card (DSP) programming and started using what was available to be as creative as I could with what was already available.

Through Hornet's DemoNews I also learned about the "wars" between SoundBlaster compatible cards and Gravis UltraSound type of hardware assisted sample playing cards.

GUS had better performance with low CPU usage because of the built-in sample memory vs the SB cards that had no sample memory restrictions but taxed the CPU a lot because of sample data being transfered from the main memory. This was also why it was possible to send DSP generated audio instead of just sampled one... and to me, this was what kept the SoundBlaster way a lot more interesting than the GUS way.

I considered the SoundBlaster way (i.e. the notion of dynamically streaming the wave data to the card instead of statically pre-loading it) future-proof, knowing that the newer'n'faster CPU's were just around the corner... (thanks to Moore's Law)

Not having to pre-load the samples into the card's built-in memory was what made possible the soon to be known as soft-synthesis (exactly what I wanted to do with my SB16 from the start but didn't realize that it wasn't as easy as I thought... at least with pre-Pentium CPUs).

I remember my first tracker was the smallest I could download from Ants'Nest BBS, a local BBS related to a nearby Demoscene group, Radioactive Design.

I forgot the name of that tracker... I think it saved MODs as .M8M or .M88 can't remember correctly, unfortunatly :( ...oh wait! I think it was .669 but still can't remember the name of that DOS tracker app *sigh*...

...anywayx0rz...

The Internet was still miles away from happening to me, although I already knew about FTP servers and Telnet gateways into IRC channels, when reading some of the articles and even IRC logs (!?) that where published on DemoNews, Hornet's DemoScene-related text based (eZine like) newsletter I started reading at this time. I think it was also responsible for my sudden interest on Trackers and all the Scene. TraxWeekly became my main newsletter/eZine, since it was solely TraxScene oriented.

After understanding how a Tracker worked and how to use it, I searched for the best, most advanced one I could find that could run with my PC's SB16 audio card. Found Psi's Scream Tracker after downloading Future Crew's Unreal demo and becoming interested in that Demo group. Quickly changed to ST3 and started making .S3M mods, inspired by what Skaven, Purple Motion, and others were releasing at the time. I also tried Triton's Fast Tracker a bit later, but I was already hooked on the Scream's UI and shortcut commands, so... I kept using Scream Tracker until I tried its historic successor, Pulse's Impulse Tracker.

EDIT: Just did a google search on my old TraxScene nickname and found an odd survivor .S3M of mine, released in 1995 xD ...some things just refuse to die, uh? ...oh, wait, there's more available... omg -.-'

It was around this time that I finally saw this weird, very cheap, 4 octave mini-keyboard that had a true MIDI output plug at the back. It was perfect to use with IT's MIDI support. So I bought it and this allowed me to record more natural sounding (i.e. playing) sequences, recorded in real-time instead of step-sequenced.

...and this was how I got my first MIDI Controller Keyboard: Trust mini MIDI Keyboard. The same I still use with Record+Reason, through the Remote Codecs I released a while back, mainly for Dr.REX control, since it's not velocity-sensitive, it's still perfect for that.

The End ... of Chapter 1 ;)

...and something interesting for the interested:

Future Crew's Unreal (video)

Future Crew's Second Reality (video)

The Full History of the Demoscene (video)

The "Propumentary" !

2010-06-17T13:06:00.000-07:00

I just love these behind the scenes video documentaries =)

Oh... and I use one those headphones too!!! How funny is that ? :D

uh... erm, it surprised me ok ?

Just had one of those moments, pointing at the screen "OH!!!" :P

oh well... moving on... -.-'

...and K001FX is finally Released!

2010-05-28T19:08:00.000-07:00

...in a "as is" edition.

Yup, more than a year was enough for me to figure that I had to release this as it is and don't bother to make a proper song demoing every little feature with the detail I wanted, nor making a .pdf document explaining the use and custom changes anyone could make to every device I had.

So... here it is "as is" and I hope those that kept requesting this either through mail, comments or YouTube messages can now enjoy this... finally! :)

K001FX - Koshdukai's FX Machines 001 microReFill "as is" Edition

So, what's in the "package" uh ?

Besides the Effect devices you see in the picture, you can also find in there 3 very small .rns songs that try to do some simple demoing of 3 of the devices. Nothing fancy, just some REX files with the device as an insert FX.

You'll find that ReGRAINZeR V.0.9 now allows you to engage a Fake Pitch-shift-like playable mode, by turning Rotary 3 full clockwise and using MIDI Keyboard notes C2 upward to "play" the audio source or any of the triggered live-grain loops. Don't forget that this Effects device needs a Sequencer track created for Keyboard control.

Also remember to try the Pitch and Mod wheels on all devices, especially on ReGRAINZeR's various modes.

FiltaPowa uses either an auto-trigger mode that uses the envelope of the audio source to control the envelope of the filter or a sequenced filter effect. There are plenty of sequenced patterns to try, although those are just examples, so you should make your own, of course.

GatorBox allows you to accomplish slow to fast tempo synced or unsynced gate (stutter) effects, giving you control of the Attack, Sustain and Release of the gate.

LoopBox is just that, a 4 slot audio sample'n'loop kinda effect, also usually known as a repeater.

Last but not least, to satisfy the curiosity of some that asked me about it too, I included the old ReGRAINZeR 0.2beta prototype featured in my first video demos, and also the 0.6.2beta included in the demo .rps file.

If you have any questions about these devices, please leave a comment here. I'll try to reply and do my best to explain or help to the best of my knowledge and spare time.

I hope you enjoy this little refill :)

Sunday, May 30, 2010

Update 1: I really have to mention this, after looking at Google Analytics today.

I have to thank all the readers that usually come here directly, through rss or Blogger subscription, even though the rate of posts isn't that frequent (one does what one can :).

I also have to mention and thank to PropellerheadSW forums (and its users), Robbneu's Patch-A-Day, Google (some are doing "Koshdukai" searches out there :P), Lewis's Resonant Filter, PhiSequence aka Robert Anselmi's Reason 101 and even M-Audio's forums :D for the traffic around here.

Thank you! :)

Tuesday, June 01, 2010

Update 2: Just uploaded K001FX V.1.0.1. Made some tiny improvements on the included .rns songs to show off some of the possibilities of GatoRboX when triggered externally. Also did some tiny fixes to the "song" showing off the ReGRAINZeR (nothing special) and... ah, added some automation to the FiltaPowa! song, to show also the pattern based filter triggering.

None of the devices were changed, just the demo songs :)

Reason 5, Record 1.5, and...

2010-05-27T07:59:00.000-07:00

So, Reason 5 & Record 1.5 new features are almost known to the world.

4 down, 1 to go, eh? :D

Today's announcement about the new ability to do live Sampling in Reason 5, was one of the most inspiring to me, besides Neptune's Pitch-Adjusting, Live Audio Transposing, Formant and Voice Synth capabilities.

Finally, Reason Samplers deserve their name. They are now truly what their names have been implying for years... they are now real Samplers that can Sample :P

And being able to do live sampling during song play is even more awesome!

Imagine doing live beat-boxing with a running ReDrum, live sampling each channel while the patterns are running, adding up stacks of on-the-fly sampled noise/voice ? Nice eh? ;)

Add to that, live usage of Neptune's Voice Synth... pure bliss =)

(and now, Reason-only users can live-Vocode to boredom as well !!! ;)

The first time I saw Dr.Octo Rex I thought "meh... it's just a 8xDr.Rex... I already have that in a Combinator" but after knowing more about it (watch the video and read the specs!) I gained a new respect for this new device :)

Although I'm not a serious loop user, I must admit that the new Slice Reverse, Alternate Slice groups and that pretty cool Slice Edit Mode are very serious upgrades to Dr.Rex, besides the ability to easily alternate between 8 loaded REX loops.

Now, the thing that got me intrigued and excited at the same time was Blocks.

I used to compose a lot with a music tracker application, so I'm very used (forced to, at the time) to pattern composing a song. Reason's sequencer liberated me of that, where now I could finally compose and live record my MIDI performances without any rigid length constraints.

This new way of looking at Reason and Record sequencer, through Blocks, makes me go back in time, more or less... although, in truth, it'll make me go forward ;) because now we can mix both worlds, pattern composing with Blocks mixed with the existing Song tracks.

Some might say that Blocks is almost like track audio/midi clips, and that's true, but taken to the whole Song level, well above tracks. It'll allow the same vertical editing at song level that we have now at track level. Very cool and unexpected feature indeed! :)

Oh, and I almost forgot!!! TAP TEMPO!!! Did you see it ? There's Tap Tempo now, on the new Transport section. It's easily seen on some of the videos that glance over the Tempo section.

It's almost unbelievable how many requests and suggestions are being implemented in this release.

Ok, so... tomorrow the world will know about the 5th and last known hidden feature. Can't wait! :D

...and...

...maybe something will happen here too, 24 hours after we all know what's that 5th feature about ;)

Record 1.0.1 is out!

2010-04-27T03:28:00.000-07:00

Record 1.0.1 was just announced ! =D

What's all the hassle about such a "minor" fix/update ?

Well, for starters, Master Section got the missing "In" I was complaining about in my previous post :D

• Advanced MIDI Device: Master Section: In was not available as target

That's the good news, the bad news is that I forgot that using Advanced MIDI Device ports redirection to devices, bypasses the Remote layer (where all the conversion/mapping occurs), so... just setting Axiom faders to Channel 16 and redirecting it to the Master Section wasn't enough.

Anyway... all to say that, the workaround explained in my previous post, is still valid for the purpose I described.

But, it's good news that the missing "In" is now there where it should!

Now, the BIG news. IMHO, is:

• Import multiple audio files feature added

This, to me, was the most important "fix" (i.e. new feature) brought by Record 1.0.1

Record now can really shine as a mastering application, now that's so easy to import a bunch of audio tracks and put the SSL-like main mixer to good use :)

Other little things that I was waiting for:

• Record + Reason: changing step count in Thor sequencer should work with LED buttons

Reason users got surprised when trying to set Thor's step count just by clicking the respective LED and nothing happened in Record+Record :P

• Recording Latency Compensation made to work with manual monitoring OFF

This was also something that was needed, since it seamed logical to assume it already worked like this. ...and now it does :)

• Added correct Tooltip for RPG8 Pattern

eh, this funny little bug got fixed. No more binary pattern labels.

and last but not least, something that was annoyingly missing:

• Send performance controllers to Audio Tracks and Mix Channel Tracks.

Well, that's about it for now! ...back to Record 1.0.1 + Reason 4 playing ^^

What's missing from Record 1.0 ?

2010-03-11T02:48:00.000-08:00

All the new exciting and cool features one gets with Record 1.0 over Record 4.0 quickly became second nature as I made it my default music production application from the start.

I rarely use Reason 4 standalone now, and when I do, I'm quickly reminded of why using Record 1.0 is way better and more along the lines of what I've always wished for Reason in a long time.

I only go to Reason 4 now when I need to save something as a Reason file (as opposed to a .record file, impossible to share with Reason-only users) or quickly check something on a device, patch or browse a ReFill without having the hassle of going through the online authorization process of Record (or when I'm on an offline location) if I forgot to bring the Ignition Key (aka dongle) with me.

So it's only natural to say (and unfortunate to hear from the developer perspective, I'm sure) that it's easier for me (or any other user, I guess) to remember what's not implemented in Record simply because, the more I use it, the more I keep stumbling on the same missing features.

These are the ones I really miss when using Record 1.0:

file drag'n'drop from the OS file system.
multi Audio import (this became more important recently, for me).
easier clip-based audio editing either through built-in ReCycle capabilities or through "Edit with..." any external application.
clip-based time-shifting.
clip-based pitch-shifting (and why not, global song pitch shift automation, like tempo).
tap tempo, because finding/setting the correct tempo to record breaks the flow.
comp recording/editing for MIDI clips/tracks, like what's available for audio.
multi MIDI recording, just like what's available for audio.
option to easily convert a selected 14:2 reMIX or 6:2 microMIX device into main mixer strips, including all the compatible settings (fader, pan, eq values) and aux effect routings.
Remote graphical cue/feedback of what's being controlled by what.

I recognize that there are a few more missing features that would improve a lot of Record's image and practical usefulness in the Music Production Software arena, like:

MIDI output (this would at least help with the VSTi issues through virtual MIDI cabling).
ReWire-host (again, this might help a lot with the VST issues through a ReWire-client/VST-host bridge-app).

There's some other missing features (like .sfz support, etc...) that truly belong with Reason and not Record, so I'll leave those for a future post... maybe after Reason 5.0 release ;)

Record 1.0 bug workaround

2010-01-01T05:14:00.000-08:00

One of the bugs I reported during Record Beta testing, relates to a Master Section missing "In" target, when trying to redirect MIDI channel data to a specific device.

Why would I care about this tiny little forgotten thing?

Well, since I'm using an M-Audio Axiom 61, and don't find the fader section useful for Synth parameter tweaking (non motorized faders cause weird and sudden parameter value jumps and I find that distracting) I made my custom M-Audio Axiom Remote codec SysEx block (the bunch of data that gets sent to the recognized controller to set it up properly each time we start Record or Reason) have that fader section send its MIDI data to MIDI Channel 16.

This would allow me to "Channel Lock" the faders to the Master Section in Record, so I could easily control the Record's Main Mixer with those faders.

Well... this little bug spoiled my initial plans, unfortunately (so I had to devise a more complex solution... erm... keep reading, please :P)

So, let me show you what I'm talking about with some nice fancy pics ^^

See how we can redirect MIDI Channel 1 data to a Mix Channel ?

This allows us to control its respective Main Mixer strip. The volume fader, and all those cool strip knobs :)

...or to a Combinator, besides being able to select one of the enclosed devices, of course.

Well, the Record 1.0 bug I'm talking about makes it impossible to use a specific MIDI Channel to control the Master Section:

See ? No "In" target for the Master Section :(

This would allow us to use a specific MIDI Channel to control all the existing Mixer strips at once. The default usually works in groups of 8 strips, because there's a Remote function to jump the control target to the next/previous 8 mixer strips. A very nice touch of the product specs designer(s).

As I said, I just had to find a workaround to this, and I did.

Since Record and Reason allows us to lock controllers to devices, I just had to make those Axiom faders look like a separate (virtual) controller. That's to say that, I had to make my Axiom look like 2 controllers instead of 1.

So "Axiom Standard" would present itself to Record like an Axiom minus the Faders type of controller and "Axiom Faders" would present itself like a 9xFaders controller, and this would finally allow me to lock that virtual "Axiom Faders" controller to the Main Section device :)

(btw, I did the same with the pads, creating an "Axiom Pads" virtual device, but... that's another long story, unfortunately, since there's no multi MIDI recording in either Record nor Reason, I wasn't able to record with those as an extra locked keyboard device).

How did I split my physical Axiom controller into 2 (or 3 with the pads) virtual controllers?

Using MIDI-OX filtered routing :]

This may look a bit confusing but it's very easy to explain.

As you can see, "USB Audio Device" (that's the Axiom) is sending a copy of the MIDI stream to "MIDI Yoke: 3" filtering out any Channel 16 data (becoming the virtual "Axiom Standard" without the Faders). See the filtering settings here:

(Double-clicking those grey squares get you this filtering pop-up.

The blue-dotted ones have filters set.)

Another copy of the same "USB Audio Device" MIDI stream is sent to "MIDI Yoke: 6" with all Channels but 16 filtered, becoming the virtual "Axiom Faders" controller:

With all this set, I just had to simply go to Record's Edit, Preferences, Keyboards and Control Surfaces and add an extra "faders" control surface receiving data from "MIDI Yoke: 6", not forgetting to set my usual Axiom codec to now receive data from "MIDI Yoke: 3"

...and that's it :)

Now, I can lock that "Axiom Faders" device to the Master Section (save that empty .record file as a Template) and take advantage of something I added to my custom codec: being able to use standard Bank MSB to make those next/previous base track jumps :)

(click to zoom)

I delayed this post as much as I could, waiting for a Record update that still hasn't come, unfortunately. One can only hope that Record 1.x comes soon and fixes this and other still existing bugs. Hopefully it'll also take care of some tiny annoying missing features, because Record and Record users deserve it!

Random access to a CV values list

2009-12-17T16:11:00.000-08:00

Just added this little CV tool in the free download section (on the right): "K's Basics - Random access to a CV values list"

It's basically a way to access through CV indexing, a list of 3x32 "cells" of CV values (well, one of the list is within the Note range of CV values, but this example is enough to demo the concept).

So, if you're ever in need of generating a specific sequence of CV values controlled by another CV source, this is one way to do it :)

It's like having random or sequential access (in whatever direction you want) to a specific custom list of CV or note values, by using a CV controlled "cursor" (just connect the CV "cursor" source to the Rotary 1 CV input and tweak the Combinator modulation programmer Min/Max values to your needs).

This device was enough for something I was testing, but I'm sure it can be optimized with some thought and more time.

It won't work well in a real-time fast switching situation, since the CV output of the Matrix is delayed each time a switch (CV index selection) occurs. For that, another method must be used.

BTW, I also added K's Basics - ReDrum 'Vel to Level' test. It's just a little concept demo of something chainstyle was discussing in the forum.

Quick Tip: 7x OSCs Thor

2009-11-29T15:48:00.001-08:00

As I previously mentioned, Thor can have more than the standard known 3 simultaneous OSCs.

Here's an example of a 7xOSC Thor: 6 polyphonic OSCs + 1 monophonic OSC

(For demonstration purposes, I enclosed this example in a Combinator, allowing easy access to some of the available parameters to tweak. This is completely usable as a standalone Thor patch, and basically that's the advantage of extending the available OSCs)

(click to zoom)

Low Frequency Oscillator

One of Thor's components that can be used as an OSC is the LFO. If you look closely at the available LFO rates, you'll see that the rate can be pushed to audible frequencies (so it's not as "Low Frequency" as one would expect, uh? ;).

LFO1 is easy to sync to the keyboard input, making it possible to control its frequency in the usual musical scale. To do the same with LFO2, you'll need to make some modulation routing.

The Pitch-Wheel can also be added to the mix, to control both LFO's like a normal OSC.

This will allow you to use the available LFO waveforms, musically, and with careful planning, an LFO can be a quick way to add a sub-OSC without sacrificing a regular OSC or resorting to a multi-synth Combinator.

So, 3 OSC + 2 LFO's that's 5 "OSCs" right ? We're missing 2 more, uh?

Filters

Self-Oscillating Filters (and the Comb Filter too, because of its special characteristics) can also be used as rudimentary OSCs :) ...do some experimenting and you'll see how easy it is to do so, locking the filter frequency to the keyboard tracking, so it can also be played musically, like any other OSC.

Polyphony

One thing to keep in mind is that, any component in the "dark/black" slots of Thor, is polyphonic, i.e. it'll have as many simultaneous instances triggered as there are notes played, the limit being what's set as the maximum polyphony. This makes the 3 OSC's, Filter's 1 & 2, the LFO1 and the Mod, Filter and Amp Envelope Generators, "polyphonic".

The same doesn't apply to Filter 3, Global Envelope and LFO2, making it "monophonic".

(Maybe now you understand why these show up in a different section on the available Modulation Matrix Source/Target possibilities)

This is why this patch mentions "6 poly OSCs + 1 mono OSC", where the mono OSC is LFO2.

So, with all these hints, can you achieve a phat 8xOSC monophonic Thor patch ? ;)

Quick Tip: NN-XT controllable Sample Start

2009-11-23T08:06:00.000-08:00

Usually, whenever we need to do some real-time messing with the Sample Start, we usually discard the NN-XT (because there's no way to automate it's sample-based Start/End, and Loop Start/End settings) ...

...and think immediately of the NN-19 because it has, right there, on the upper right corner, a little knob to easily tweak the Sample Start, controllable through Combinator's modulation routing matrix...

...but, there's a way to do the same thing with the NN-XT, indirectly :P

There's a NN-XT setting that can be used to do exactly the same thing and be as controllable but through CV and affect all the loaded samples at the same time. :)

Turning the NN-XT's Velocity S.Start all the way to the right will mimic the NN-19 Sample Start behavior, controllable by the CV values sent to the Gate CV input at the back of the NN-XT.

Now, imagine using Thor's Sequencer Note and Gate/Velocity CV outputs to control the NN-XT (or a NN-19 inside a combinator) taking advantage of the high rate resolution... can you see what's possible to do ? ;)

BTW, NN-19 reminds me of

Paul Hardcastle's "Na-Na Na-Na Nineteen"

Quick Challenge: Thor has 6 polyphonic OSC's (and more...)

2009-11-18T18:07:00.000-08:00

You know that Thor can have up to 8 independent built-in OSC's, 6 of them being polyphonic, don't you?

A future Quick Tip will show you how to turn LFO1, Filter1 and Filter2 into perfectly playable sound producing polyphonic oscillators, and LFO2 and Filter3 as monophonic oscillators :P

It's even possible to a certain degree to use Thor's Sequencer as a "user-definable" wave-shape monophonic OSC, but... I haven't sorted out some quirks with it, so... forget I mentioned this one ;) (at least for now!)

Quick Demo: CV Graph, CV Display, CV Scope, ...

2009-11-03T16:39:00.000-08:00

Sorry, but I only have time to show what's possible to do with some of the available rack devices, to show the CV values, like I mentioned in my previous post.

It also shows one possible version of the CV Scope, using the CV Delay and CV2Audio2CV :)

As soon as I have the time, I'll explain in detail how to achieve each of those unusual device uses.

It's quite simple, as many will quickly figure out. Some of you may already use something similar to do your CV debugging, like I do.

Quick Tip: CV Delay

2009-10-06T05:52:00.000-07:00

A "CV Delay" is quite easy to do once you have a way to convert CV to Audio and Audio to CV (you can use the CV2Audio2CV for that).

A simple way to achieve this with up to 4 independent CV signals, is to use Thor's Audio outputs connected to 4 DDL-1's and back again through Thor's Audio inputs:

(click to zoom)

So, to test all 4 CV delayed signals, I'll use BV512's CV inputs to graphically show what's going on:

(click to zoom)

Now, let's check the front and see if the CV Delay is working...

(click to zoom)

...and there you have it, a working 4x CV Delay:)

Next post I'll talk about some of the devices and the way I usually use them for CV display (more like CV debugging, really). I'll talk about the use of the DDL-1, MClass Equalizer, RV7000, BV512, Thor and PEQ-2 as possible CV debugging tools.

After that, the obvious way to do a rudimentary CV Scope using a stack of 4 CV Delay units :) ...as you can guess from the above pictures, it's something quite simple to achieve, once you understand what you want and what's going on ;)

Quick Tip: CV2Audio2CV

2009-09-30T08:52:00.000-07:00

I guess it's common knowledge that Thor is much more than a very powerful synth :)

Besides being a very powerful versatile multi-filter+effects device, it's also a very capable CV machine, capable of very cool and useful CV processing and generation.

I have many basic patches at hand that I use as basic building blocks to build more complex combinators. Some I've already mentioned here, but many others I keep to myself because there are already equivalent devices made by others before me, or some are so basic (although useful) that I think it would be kind of weird to mention them here.

Recent events lead me to change this idea a bit. I'm beginning to realize that what some may consider as basic knowledge, it may be news to others, so why not make some quick posts about it ?

So, this post will quickly show a very useful use of Thor's modulation matrix and input'n'outputs at the back.

This little patch deals with CV to Audio and Audio to CV:

(click to zoom)

So, what's the use for such a basic and simple patch ?

Well... watch this video done by Ed "EditEd4TV" Bauman and maybe you'll get an idea of how complex such a simple patch can get.

Future posts will show you how "CV2Audio2CV" is the basic building block to build a "CV Delay", itself a building block of "CV Scope", inspired by Ed's very cool VisualCVOscilloscope demo :)

ReGRAINZeR V.0.8

2009-09-22T17:19:00.000-07:00

Been working on ReGRAINZeR this week :)

After playing a lot with V.0.6.2 to see if there were no concept bugs, and that there wasn't anything else worth of adding without needlessly bloating it, I took some time to take it to V.0.7, the one that implements external CV control of other KFX Machines, acting as "slaves", to substitute the included internal slim effects.

ReGRAINZeR V.0.8 was born as soon as I decided it was time to build everything from scratch. This was also the time to tighten the implementation, leaving all the extra devices used in the beta phase to ease any new feature I decided to add.

So now, V.0.8 has 7 less reMix devices and 1 less Spider CV device :)
I could get rid of 6 more Spider CV's, if only the Splitter section had 1 extra inverted CV out in each pair :( ...oh well.

The two internal (with Button 3's "External Control" turned off) effects: Mute (with C#) and Gate (with D#), have now some little new features.

C# has now a Rattle effect capability, so one can use Rotary 3 to go from Mute to a fast Rattling effect, still applied only to the Source Audio.

D# still uses the Mod.Wheel to change the microGatoR speed, but now, Aftertouch (if active through Button 4's "Aftertouch Gate") will now slow down the speed a bit.

Oh, and one more thing...

I decided to release the
microReFill KFX001
as a
FREE REFILL
:)

If all goes as planned, it'll include:

ReGRAINZeR (most surely V.0.9 Stereo and maybe the lighter Mono version too)
FiltaPowa
GatoRboX
LoopBox4Live
LoopBox4Glitch
and maybe some oldies... :)

Why this change of plans ? Well, I was going to use this ReFill to earn just enough cash to buy either Record 1.0 or Reason 5.0 upgrade.

I ended up getting Record 1.0 basically for free, so I guess it's my turn now to give something for free too , uh? :)

A free "as is" release will also spare me of having to provide proper documentation and support too ;)

M-Audio Axiom's problem (kinda) solved! =)

2009-09-10T16:35:00.000-07:00

I found a workaround to my M-Audio Axiom 61's problem! :D
This problem came to light only while beta testing Record 1.0. I realized that my Axiom was randomly firing an Expression MIDI message (CC 11), during a Channel Aftertouch MIDI stream. This was causing some weird behaviors on some of Record's ID8 presets.

So, if I played ID8's Electric Piano Mark II (an Expression-aware preset), after pressing the keys a few times (sending the Channel Aftertouch data), the preset volume spiked up unexpectedly! And this happened every time with some other Expression-aware presets.
After checking with other fellow beta testers that this wasn't an ID8 preset bug, I had to (unexpectedly) turn my attention to my controller, the Axiom.
Using MIDI-OX's MIDI dump, there it was, that darned unwanted, uninvited Expression hiccup :(

Well, now I finally had some time to try something: Set Axiom's Zone 1 (only, so I could still use the other Zones if needed) Expression CC to OFF... and... IT WORKS! :D
So now, while using Zone 1, I see no CC11 unwanted triggering while generating Aftertouch :)
This also shows that's really an hardware issue and not a firmware bug (as I thought at first).
I checked the Expression's connection at the back, and from the outside it looks ok, so there must be some kind of weird short-circuit inside, somewhere on circuit path, triggered by the Aftertouch pressure sensor or something... :/
oh well... at least now its kinda fixed, since I don't use an Expression pedal anyway :)

WANTED: Spare Time!

2009-09-07T16:53:00.000-07:00

My (quite small) spare time, these past weeks, have been "wasted" playing with Record 1.0 =)

Every little chance I got, I spent it playing with Record, while giving a good test run on my custom Remote codec for the M-Audio Axiom 61.

I've implemented the "Shift" function I've talked about earlier, and added a triple way to use Program Change, Bank LSB and Bank MSB.

Each of these, trigger 3 types of events simultaneously: an Absolute value, a Delta simulation value and an Increment/Decrement button pair simulation.

So, this is a snippet of the added features I'm using now:

Select Patch for Target Device (Delta) = Program Change (Delta)
Target Track (Delta) = Bank LSB (Delta)
Remote Base Channel = Bank MSB
ID8's Select Previous Preset = Program Change Down
ID8's Select Next Preset = Program Change Up
LOOP On/Off = Shift+PLAY
Click On/Off = Shift+STOP
Precount On/Off = Shift+RECORD
Tempo BPM = Knob 8
Click Level = Shift+Knob 8
Select Previous Keyboard Shortcut Variation = Shift+REWIND
Select Next Keyboard Shortcut Variation = Shift+FORWARD

As you can see, the Delta or the Up/Down version of the supported Program Change, LSB and MSB Bank change, all have its usefulness, depending on the control one needs to assign :)

I'll release this custom Axiom codec as soon as I have time to clean it up a bit on the other device mappings and package it in a proper way.

...oh, and btw, I had to make a little change to settings sent to Axiom because of the Loop button (the one I'm calling "Shift" now) so it would work like a "shift" key... only active while pressed.

The default settings sent to Preset 10 won't support this behavior, so I decided to make my own, but to not break compatibility with the standard Axiom codec, my custom overwrites Preset 09, instead of Preset 10.

Record Open Beta!

2009-07-22T05:25:00.000-07:00

Record Open Beta is officially on, since yesterday at RecordYou.com :)

Starting today, previous beta testers are no longer under the NDA, so expect most, if not all, future videos to feature Record instead of Reason, while demo'ing some of the devices that will be part of my microRefill KFX project(s).

The Record Open Beta lets you try out a fully working version of Record, using Record's internet authorization. Use the software without limitations as long as you are connected to the internet.
This trial period will last until Record's official release on September 9, 2009.

So, if you want to try the fully working version of Record 1.0 (RC4) until its release, Sept.9th, this is your chance :) ...head on to the site and join Record open beta to download Record!

Koshdukai's KFX: FiltaPowa V0.4 demo

2009-07-19T05:50:00.000-07:00

While watching Jack Conte's "The Electro-Harmonix Riddle" demo video, I thought...

"uh.... I can do that with Reason"

...and KFX FiltaPowa was born =)

FiltaPowa works great with live input, either through the ASIO4ALL's ReWuschel trick or through Record 1.0 ;)

Some specs for KFX FiltaPowa:

Filter selection between LP 12, BP 12 and LP 24
Filter amount set by Attack/Decay envelope, Mod.Wheel or Sequencer Curve values
Sustain temporarily changed from middle setting by Pitch Wheel
Envelope triggering through audio with adjustable Sensitivity (incl. Soft Knee)
Optional Sequenced triggering of the Envelope (that's what the Matrix is there for)

Remote "Shift" function

2009-07-16T01:57:00.000-07:00

For some days now, and while looking at my Axiom's transport buttons, I've been playing with the idea of using the "LOOP" button as a "Shift" key, to extend the functions of the other transport buttons.

I thought of this because I keep turning on (and off, after recording) the little Click and Pre buttons, in Reason's (and now Record's) transport bar.

So, if I could implement this idea, the Axiom button currently used to turn on and off the Loop status would be more useful as a mode-extender for the remaining transport buttons, like:

LOOP+STOP would turn the Click On/Off
LOOP+RECORD would turn the Pre On/off
LOOP+PLAY would change the Loop status

...and I'm sure I would find some alternative function to the remaining buttons :)

I think I've seen something like this "Shift" mode in one of the factory codecs, so I'll have to check that out while having to look more carefully for this in the Remote SDK documentation.

My plan is to start simple, with single "Shift" modifier buttons, and if that works, try multi-modifiers (think of the equivalent computer keyboard modifier keys, like SHIFT, ALT, CTRL and all the combinations they provide, like SHIFT+ALT+key, SHIFT+CTRL+key, and so on...)

If this works, heck, I'll be extending a lot more controls of my Axiom!

I think this would be more natural to use than sequentially stepping to the various available "Keyboard Shortcut Variations" without any feedback, telling me in what Variation I'm in (since neither the Axiom nor Reason provide this information visually)

Well... I'll report about this later :)

Akai MPD24 (Special) Remote codecs - Part I

2009-07-15T15:43:00.000-07:00

I'm currently working on a special version of a Remote Codec for the Akai MPD24 (much like the one I did for my M-Audio MidAir 25).

The plan is, to take advantage of a mode where each of its 16 Pads sends a 'Program Change' message (from 1 to 16), to jump directly to (well, select) the respective sequencer track within those limits.

It's mainly a derivative of the algorithm I've used in the Trust and MidAir codecs, although with some limitations to work properly for the MPD24.

This was more or less a forum request (well, maybe more like a "oh, I can do that, really? How? Can you show me?" kinda thing). I've already sent my first test draft to the (fellow forum member) requester to see if it works or not (fingers crossed!), since I don't own an MPD24 (unfortunately!) so only he can test it and give some feedback.

As soon as we're happy with the result, I'll add this "Akai MPD24 (Special)" Remote Codec to the free download codecs list for anyone to try and use :)

Propellerhead Record's beta Invites

2009-07-10T01:59:00.001-07:00

I have some spare invites to give to my blog readers :)

So, to become a Record beta tester you simply have to:

be registered at Propellerhead forums
(its free, you don't need to be a customer)
send a private message to Koshdukai
(yours truly here)
with the title subject "I need a Beta test invite, please!!!" ;P
state why would you like to try Record at this stage
also state if you're already a Reason user or not
include the email address used to create the forum account
(so the invite can be sent to you)
and that's it!
First correctly written PM's will generate an invite email
(while invites last!)

If you're the happy recipient of that email, you just need to follow the instructions included there, to enter the beta testing team :)

Good luck! :D

Beta testing Record

2009-07-08T07:47:00.000-07:00

...and that's basically the "side project" that's been taking all my spare time, since my last post :D

ReGRAINZeR works great with it too, btw :)

More news... oh, I've been also working on GatoRbox V.0.3, an ASR (Attack, Sustain, Release) controlled gate effect box (Combinator) device that's working great.

V.0.2 only worked as standalone through internal variable Rate sequencing patterns, but V.0.3 will work also through external trigger of the sequence or event steps. Rate will also be controllable externally. All this to make it a compatible slave companion effect when controlled by ReGRAINZeR V.0.7 (ReGRAINZeR already includes a miniGatoR by default, not capable of ASR effects)

hmmm... ah, made some more GlitchLoopBox variants, 1X and 4X versions, with delta rate variation of the rate set by Rotary through Mod Wheel, with Stereo divergence controlled by the Pitch Wheel (so Left/Right get slight speed rate differences, making a cool stereo effect).

Current Beta versions of these also have some sort of interaction with the keyboard (notes C, D, E, F) to trigger a fading version of the loop being held in the buffer or (note G) to momentarily mute any held loop playing, but nothing as sofisticated as ReGRAINZeR... I still haven't decided if I'll keep this feature, since I don't know if this is of any real use, although it's kinda cool to know its there and that can be used if needed :P

I'm thinking of releasing LiveLoopBox 4X (the one on the last video demo) and maybe a pair of the simplest GlitchLoopBoxes soon, for free, since their so simple to make and almost using basic common knowledge technics so it wouldn't make any sense on including those in a non-free ReFill, I guess... :P

Last night I had a blast playing with some old pseudo-arpeggiators of mine (which the KPA-104 is an example). Felt like JMJarre (lasers not included, unfortunatly!) while testing Propellerhead Record ;P

Working on a side project...

2009-06-28T02:36:00.000-07:00

I've had the opportunity to work on a very interesting and exciting project for a couple of months, so my current ReFill project will suffer a bigger delay than I was expecting.

Nonetheless, I'll try to release some free stuff 'till the final release of it :)

Any comments and suggestions about the ReGRAINZeR demo file are welcome, even if I don't comment back, I read'em all! :)

KFXmachines - ReGRAINZeR V.0.6.2beta DEMO release

2009-06-25T18:47:00.000-07:00

I've decided to release a little demo .RPS file with the latest version of ReGRAINZeR and wait a while to see what happens :)

About this little demo:
It uses 2 demo units. One applied to a drum REX dual loop Combinator, and the other to a guitar REX also dual loop Combinator.
Both units are using the C1 to B1 MIDI keyboard octave keys.
Key mappings are shown on the help screen, on the right of the device.
On that screen, P stands for Pitch Wheel, M for Mod.Wheel and R1 for Rotary 1.
Gate effect (stutter) is activated by pressing D1# or through Aftertouch, if that option is turned on. Speed is controlled by the Mod.Wheel.
External Control CV Output is not implemented on V.0.6.x

After listening to the example performance made with both units, you can (should) mute or delete the performance clips and play a bit with each of the ReGRAINZeR demo units.

You could also copy any devices+tracks of a song of yours and paste it within this demo song, and after some rack rewiring at the back, you can check what ReGRAINZeR could do when applied it.

Remember that although it's an Effect, it needs a Track assigned to it so you can control it through the MIDI Keyboard.

ReGRAINZeR still retains a little Velocity sensitivity, useful to get some effects.

If you have any questions, you can place them as comments, and I'll do my best to answer them :)

Remote Codecs released...

2009-06-21T12:55:00.000-07:00

...and more on the way :)

I'm releasing some Remote Codec packs for the M-Audio MidAir MIDI Wireless Keyboard series and two other more obscure keyboards I own. So here are the links:

Trust (mini) MIDI Keyboard Remote Codec
(this one will support the infinite 'Program Change' Value-to-Delta algorithm, because this little keyboard does something quite useful: as soon as 'Program Change' reaches 128 it restarts at 1 again. It also does the reverse of course, when reaching 1, if 'PROG -' is pressed again, it jumps to 128. This allows me to make it truly endless to the "eyes" of Reason, no matter at what value the keyboard is, it will always return a +1 or -1 delta to Reason. This is why I made Patch selection the default control for this one)
QuickShot MIDI Composer Remote Codec
(just a simple generic codec, with correct name, thumbnail picture and 'Data Entry Fader' set to control every device 'Master Volume')
M-Audio MidAir 25 Remote Codec
(3 versions are included for this one)

MidAir 25
(supports the 8 Knobs, the 'Data Entry Fader', 'Sustain Switch' and some other less usable controls, like 'Reverb Depth', 'Aftertouch', 'Pan' and 'Program Change' as Value-type controls)
MidAir 25 (Special)
(supports everything described above but 'Program Change' uses the 1 to 128 finite Value-to-Delta conversion algorithm)
MidAir 25 (Experimental)
(as above with the added experimental Value-to-Delta conversion algorithm applied to 'Knob 8')

M-Audio MidAir 37 Remote Codec
(I only provide the standard behavior on this one, at least for now)

So, after you download the Codec pack file, you unzip it to a temporary folder and simply follow the instructions provided in the ReadMe.txt file:

To install this codec, please copy the included folders "Codec" and "Maps" to the following directory:

Mac OSX:
Library:Application Support:Propellerhead Software:Remote

Windows:
C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\Propellerhead Software\Remote

Say you have a M-Audio MidAir 25. Here are the next steps:

Start Reason, go to 'Edit', 'Preferences', select the 'Keyboards and Control Surfaces' page, press 'Add', select 'M-Audio' in the Manufacturer pull-down list, then choose Model 'MidAir 25 (Special)' if you want to use 'Program Change' to select the current Track. Provide the correct MIDI input (or press the 'Find' button and play some keys on your MidAir) , press the 'OK' button and you're done :)

I plan to release a Generic MIDI Keyboard with the 2 types of Value-to-Delta conversion algorithm (the one included with Trust keyb and the other used with MidAir), so people with small'n'simpler MIDI keyboards that have at least 'Program Change' can use it with Reason for something usefull :)

As soon as I revise my custom M-Audio Axiom 61 Remote Codec, I'll release it too.

...now to get some sleep -.-'

It works!!!

2009-06-18T02:10:00.000-07:00

Last night I had a go at trying to make a continuous Value-type control like Program Change be interpreted by Reason as a Delta-type control, so it could be used with Remote's Additional Overrides "Target Track (Delta)", "Select Patch for Target Device (Delta)" and "Select Keyboard Shortcut Variation (Delta)".

And it works great :D !!!

This is no "Absolute" substitute unfortunately but it gets the job done.

As an example, if you have your controller's Program Change set at 35 and go to Reason's menu "Options", "Additional Remote Overrides" and set the "Target Track (Delta)" to "Program Change" (don't forget that this only works with my custom Remote codecs right now), then each increment or decrement on Program Change will translate as a +1 or -1 delta to Reason.

So, if you have the 1st track selected and go from 35 to Program Change 34, it'll generate a -1 delta hence doing nothing in relation to the Track selection, because its already at the lowest track "number" possible to select.
But as soon as you go from 34 to 35 again, it'll generate a +1, which will make the Track selection jump to the 2nd track, the next increment to 36 will make it jump to the 3rd track and so on.

If you keep incrementing Program Change beyond the available number of tracks, it'll just keep the last track selected.

So, it may be less confusing if you start with Program Change reset at 1 so it stays in-sync with the track selected, and try not to go over the last track (but if you do, it still works).

If you keep them synced, you can (like someone requested in the forums) make direct jumps to a track. Imagine you have 20 tracks, and you never go "overboard" those limits (1 to 20) with the Program Change. You can jump to the 14th track, then to the 2nd, then to the 9th and so forth, either by using a (usually available in some MIDI controllers) numeric keypad or by pre-programming specific controller buttons to send these fixed Program Changes. If for some reason things get de-synced, simply reset Program Change to 1 and select track 1 with the mouse, for instance.

A different behavior happens with "Select Patch for Target Device (Delta)" where it'll go round-robin, which is another way to deal with delta values :)

In case of patch selection, if you're selecting the 1st patch, and Program Change is at 123 and you decrement it to 122, it'll generate a -1 delta and that translates in a "go to the last Patch available from the current list" jump behavior. The reverse happens, being at the last and trying to increment Program Change, will make it jump to the first Patch available.

I didn't have time to test the "Select Keyboard Shortcut Variation (Delta)", so I still don't know what type of behavior this one has. I can't remember right now if it goes round-robin or stays at the limits even while using proper Delta or Next/Previous controls. I'll test it later :)

Anyway, all this to uncover a little weakness of this solution (but one that I'm perfectly able to accept): Each time the value-type control (in this case, Program Change) gets to the minimum (0/1) or maximum (127/128) limits, your only option is to reverse the direction you where going. So this makes it somewhat important to keep the value as close as the position you're trying to control, be it the track number, the patch or the shortcut variation.

But, for these 3 types of use, 128 positions are usually more than enough, ok... Patch selection may need much more on some cases, but then you're pushing your luck ;) so... just use the mouse or the computer keyboard on those occasions :P

I also did the same tests with a Value-type Knob converted into a Delta-type control using the same codec algorithm and... kinda works :) ...the problem here is that the Knob can generate so many +/-1 MIDI events in such a short amount of time that may generate a "MIDI buffer overrun" warning message, and that's not nice :(
It's also too precise, so it's a pain, depending on your hardware, to get to that one track or patch by generating just a -/+1 delta event. ...but it works :P

So I guess I'll stay away from releasing a proper Remote Codec using the Data Entry slider or alternatively the Knob 8 for Delta-type emulation. I'll stick with the usually stepped Program Change, it has to be enough, 'cause 1 of these is better than nothing, which is the current situation with the standard Remote Codecs.

When I have the time, I'll release for free a M-Audio MidAir pack with both a standard codec that includes the Data Entry slider and also the Program Change but as Value-type controls and also an alternative version, where the Program Change uses the Value-to-Delta convertion algorithm so users have a choice :)
I'll also try to release my version of the M-Audio Axiom Remote Codecs with the added Program Change control as a Delta control.

...'nough talk, must work now -.-'

"we welcome you as a developer of our technologies"

2009-06-17T04:28:00.000-07:00

It's so cool to receive emails like these ^^

Anyway, the story behind this is really simple.

I own a M-Audio Axiom 61 and a MidAir 25 and two more generic (and much simpler) MIDI keyboards.

The default Remote settings of the Axiom has some awkward choices and even bugs (as an example, there's a collision between the reMIX and the Select Track buttons), so I had to make my own custom version of those settings.

I also made a version to support my M-Audio MidAir 25 (and the MidAir 37 too, since it looked fairly simple to support, even without owning one to test).

...and just because it's there, I also added the "Program Change" as another possible value-type control to be used. One never has too many controls :D

My intention was to make these available for free, to anyone in need of them, but then I thought it would be a good idea to check the Remote SDK first and see if I was missing any cool features unknown to me.

So, I applied to be a "Remote™ Codec Developer" yesterday and that got approved today!

...now to read all the docs and find out if I was missing something important.

After checking if everything is according to the license, I'll release the Remote mappings in the download section of the blog: My custom Axiom 25/49/61 and my MidAir 25/37 Remote codecs :)

Yet another example of live Loop performances

2009-06-16T14:48:00.000-07:00

While checking some LIMS'09 videos at SonicState I just bumped into another 3 examples of live loop use (like the LiveLoopBox combinator):

and

and another one

Live Audio IN with Reason & LiveLoopBox demo

2009-06-15T15:35:00.000-07:00

As promised, here's the video explaining how to get live audio input in Reason :D

(the unofficial way, of course, because the only official and proper way would be through Record!)

WARNING:
If you're a ReBirth user, and you still need to use it ReWired to Reason, do not install ReWuschel!

(better make this clear)

This is really old news, but I still keep bumping into Reason users that don't know this is possible or how easy it is to do.

This little trick is really only useful to those that don't own a DAW or those wanting to use Reason effects in a live situation, including the advantage of playing side-by-side with a saved song and an included track with the recorded automation of all the effects tweaking and mix levels automatically applied to the live feed in a live performance.

Then, I also take the opportunity in the video to show the LiveLoopBox I talked about in earlier posts :)

There are two versions:

GlitchLoopBox simply allows to change on the fly the loop length, making the well known DDL-1 glitch noises one gets when tweaking the Delay Time.
LiveLoopBox is exactly the same device, but with the Rotary knobs changed for the Volume Level of each loop slot.

(oops, while making the video I've noticed that I forgot to change the labels... oh well, the ReFill will have them correctly labeled)

These devices are basically small simpler versions of the ReGRAINZeR without keyboard control.

So, here's the video :)

(HD version available too)

Working on ReGRAINZeR V.0.6beta

2009-06-15T09:19:00.000-07:00

Ok, so, after finishing V.0.5beta, solving the little issue with Velocity, I'm now changing some simple things on the control front. Substituting the Rotary 3 & 4 functions "+AUDIO source Level" & "Volume" with a more standard "Gain" & "Dry / Wet" mix knobs.

I was also hoping to implement in V.0.6beta a Master/Slave chaining option by leaving a well marked CV output pair at the back (Note+Gate), so one could chain various ReGRAINeRs, spawning various instances through the keyboard map while controlling all the slaves through the Master one (the 1st, the only one in need of a controlling sequencer track for selected input) but there's a problem with RPG-8's MIDI-CV convertion... it's implementation is incomplete, so this makes this idea impossible to implement with Reason 4 at least :(

I've even tried using Thor's flexible routing to send captured Gate signals through a CV out, but its still MonoCV so... still no good.

Oh well... it would be cool to implement Slave chainning to ease the keyboard control of various through the same track, each on its own control octave.

Still, there will be a Slave chaining option, not for Note/Gate but there will be a triggering CV output to trigger future devices I'm working on. Just as an example, and I already mentioned it here, there's the GatoRbox device, perfect to work together with ReGRAINZeR.

So, GatoRbox will (as others) have an additional option of being triggered externally, by ReGRAINZeR ... but, more on this in a future post or demo video :)

Oh, and I can't forget to also make a little demo video of LiveLoopBox. It can be viewed as a 4 loop slots ReGRAINZeR Light without the keyboard controlling flexibility, because it's all done through Combinator buttons. Also, because of that, its way simpler at the back, CV-wise, because all its logic is done through the Combinator Programmer :)

Ok, enough talk, on with the work... -.-'

Related Propellerheads.se Forum post:
oh great... RPG-8's Gate CV out isn't PolyCV :(

FAQ: I've sent you my work-in-progress so we can colaborate!

2009-06-15T07:52:00.000-07:00

PLEASE DON'T!!!

Please, don't send me any patches or combinators you're working on and you're planning on selling or even releasing them for free in the future.

This puts me in an uncomfortable and awkward position of having no chance to refuse it (because you already sent it) and even if I simply delete the attachment without opening it (which I do), I'll never be sure if someone in the future will claim something like "oh, but that combinator you made was my idea! I sent you that combinator and you copied the idea" brrrr... I hate to think of such situation.

In this age where it's so easy to illegally copy someone's work and distribute it for free without the author's consent, to me, even worse is idea stealing and releasing something without proper credits to the ones involved.

At least, the illegal copies (usually) keep the credits of the rightful authors of the thing (which I hope will be the case with any of my soon-to-be-released ReFills, whenever I find one floating around on the net without my consent).

I'm all for exchanging tips'n'tricks and helping the best I can with what I know. This is why I like to hang out at Propellerhead's Forums (if you don't, you should! Go there right now and sign up! oh and register your Reason copy ASAP, you won't regret it :)

So, please, if you want to collaborate with me on any work you're doing, don't send anything upfront. Let's discuss first, through this blog comments, through the Prop's Forum or even through email, and only after that we'll see if it's something that will benefit both :)

Thank you ^^

Working on ReGRAINZeR V.0.5beta

2009-06-13T04:59:00.001-07:00

Still solving an issue I'm not comfortable with.

The current version is Velocity sensitive, so to work properly, the user must press the keyboard keys with enough velocity to make sure it sustains the loop properly and also cuts completely the audio source.

This will be optional in the final version, because I also found it cool to have it for further expressiveness, controlling the Wet/Dry mix through Velocity.
So, Button 4 will switch Keyboard Sensitiveness ("Keyb.Sense") ON, being OFF by default. This setting already disables Aftertouch gate control when OFF (the default), because sometimes that option gets in the way of the performance.

I already have a working solution, but it's bulky and will add some unexpected complexity to an already complex device, so I'm still trying to figure out a more elegant way to do it.

I woke up with 2 ideas to test. The 1st one looked great on a draft combinator, but failed miserably when applied to the real thing. This fail was what led me the more bulky but working solution (the one I mentioned above).

Going to test the 2nd "simple" idea now... let's hope it works :)

Koshdukai's KFX Machines: LiveLoopBox

2009-06-12T04:27:00.001-07:00

Just finished another device, useful for live performances, human-beatbox style or live one-man acoustic or acapella performances with on-the-fly minimalistic rhythm and bass lines.

(please check the videos below to get the idea)

LiveLoopBox has 4 live sampling audio loops of up to 2secs each (adjustable in steps synced to Reason tempo). You can stack a bunch of'em to get more loop slots for the same audio source by splitting it through some Audio Spiders and then control the group through Remote, as you always can with Reason :)

It works by constantly sampling the audio source and maintaining the loop as soon as its triggered.

"Wait ?!? Live audio input with Reason ???" :P

Well, you can use Reason with live input right now, through ASIO4ALL's ReWuschel (Windows only) or... you can wait for Record :D

Anyway, I may come up with other uses for it, in a more traditional sequenced Reason song, which I'm sure will be the main scenario where the device must prove its usefulness :)

Until I have time to make a little video demo of it (and while doing that, also show how to have live Audio IN with Reason), here's Imogen Heap's live acapella, Kid Beyond's beatbox and Yoed Nir's cello performances, that shows what can be done with such a device.

Imogen Heap - Just For Now (live at Studio 11 103.1FM)

Kid Beyond - Wandering Star

Yoed Nir - improvisation through live looping No.1

FAQ: Will ReGRAINZeR be released as freeware ?

2009-06-10T07:52:00.000-07:00

Well, I have this guideline I try to more or less stick with:

If it's something I did mainly with, for or through freeware, its my duty (and I'm glad) to give it back to the community for free. I guess this is the best way to thank the ones before me that made something for free that I could use, and keep the thing rolling :)

If I had to buy or pay for something, then I try to jump in the bandwagon and give a run of my dedicated time and effort for the money, as the ones before me also did.

I try to make available for free, things that may help to make a point, prove a concept or help fellow Reason users / forum members to understand something, some concepts or some cool ideas that I have no time to develop, planting the seed for someone to take it and further develop it.

Things like these pre-Reason4 oldies:

So, to answer your question: I'm planning to release ReGRAINZeR (along with other devices I'm still trying to develop) in a future ReFill, sold (hopefully) through the Propellerhead - Shop - Third party ReFills page (if they approve the thing and accept to sell it, of course!)

I'll add enough cool devices to balance between the "Yes, I'm getting my money's worth with this ReFill" and the dreaded "As soon as possible!!!" :)

So why try to sell it instead of just give it away ? Well... I just spent 499€ on Reason 4 Premium Edition (a "bargain", btw!), and I'm planning to spend another 99€ with the "upgrade" to Record, so... since this is getting a very expensive hobby, I might as well give it a try at it paying for itself :)
...also, I'm going to spend a lot of hours making sure every device works as I expect it to (I hate soft-bugs), and I also have to make some kind of well-made documentation so people know how to use and really appreciate the potencial of it. These things take time and effort to do :)

Related Propellerheads.se Forum post:
Something I'm currently working on: ReGRAINZeR

REXTrigga

2009-06-09T18:13:00.000-07:00

While browsing the "Feature Suggestions" forum, I saw descathach's "ReLive" post and decided to explore what could be done about it.

So, I'm now playing with REXTrigga (formerly named, incorrectly, as LoopTrigga) a 14 Dr.REX Combinator device, each with it's loop triggering through C2 to C#3.

I stopped at 14 loops simply based on using up all 14 channels of a reMIX 14:2 and for what I was trying to do, 14 is more than enough, though its very easy to add more :)

Now, to find a place to put this thing for easy downloading...

Ah, I guess this one will work.

BTW, this is a perfect example of why I kept asking for a Transpose setting for the Combinator :)

Related Propellerheads.se Forum posts:
ReLive
Combinator needs Transpose for each Key Mapping range!!!

Planned ReGRAINZeR V.1.0 "models"

2009-06-09T01:09:00.000-07:00

As anyone would expect, a real-time grain/loop device relies heavily on the only available on-the-fly sample'n'loop devices Reason provides us (at least up to Reason 4): the echo devices :)

...in this case, the versatile DDL-1 Digital Delay Line device.

So, a full stereo ReGRAINZeR with multiple readily available key triggable loops of real-time audio source sampling, can be an overkill if many instances are needed in a song... at least in theory, because I still haven't done any heavy duty tests on complex songs with multiple instances of the device.

As you can see in the demo videos (try watching the 16:9 HD version of demo 2), the DSP meter at the bottom left corner shows what happens CPU wise in that song, with one instance of the device running on a Core 2 Duo laptop. I'm still not sure about memory consumption, so I need to run some test for that.

Anyway, even if the current full-featured model of ReGRAINZeR proves to be as light as a feather to CPU+RAM resources, I think it's a good idea to plan and make various versions of the thing, and these are what to expect in a future planned microReFill:

KFX-GRNZ1S - Full-featured Stereo ReGRAINZeR main model.
KFX-GRNZ1M - The same full-featured model but in a Mono output version, so half the resources needed.
KFX-GRNZ1D - Dual audio channel (Left and Right) with separate control octave per channel, so it's like having 2 mono ReGRAINZeRs with the lower octave controlling the 1st channel (Left), and the upper octave controlling the 2nd channel (Right).
KFX-GRNZ1LS - Light Stereo model. It retains most of the fixed stepped grain/looping features while loosing all the fancy tweakable things like the Aftertouch gate trigger or the glitch/pitch/speed tweaks of the Rotary 1, Pitch and Mod Wheels. Basically, it only retains the C1 to G1 white keys triggering.
KFX-GRNZ1LM - Same thing, in Mono. This will be the lightest model of all, basically, it'll be a 5x DDL-1 Combinator plus the expected internal CV wizardry.
KFX-GRNZ0V -As a bonus, I'll also include the original V.0.2beta version you see being used in the video demos :) ... V for Vintage or 0 Version :P

All 5 models will have enough patches to cover all possible octave transpose settings, to easily adjust to the various keyboard sizes and mappings.

I'm still deciding if I should release these in a standalone microReFill or wait a while and add more devices I'm also working on, based on the ReGRAINZeR interface, like a real-time LoopBox (cool to be used live... think Record or ASIO4ALL's ReWuschel :), a GatoRbox and the still sketchy and flaky RePITCHeR (not sure if this one will ever get out of the KFX Labs).

Related Propellerheads.se Forum post:
Something I'm currently working on: ReGRAINZeR

Koshdukai's KFX Machines: ReGRAINZeR demo videos released!

2009-06-08T09:46:00.000-07:00

2nd demo video: (best viewed in a larger version)

1st demo video:

Related Propellerheads.se Forum post:
Something I'm currently working on: ReGRAINZeR

Koshdukai's KFX Machines: ReGRAINZeR V.0.2beta

2009-06-07T23:59:00.000-07:00

Finished uploading the 2nd video showing ReGRAINZeR V.0.2beta (still named ReLOOPeR in the video).

Still no word from Turbotito :( ... it would help if I had his email contact instead of relying on PropSW Forum's and YouTube's PrvMsgs :/

I'm tempted to just release the videos and simply obey to any take down notice I might receive afterwards, although that's so not the way I like to do things -.-'

...but, it's a demo song included with every Reason 4 sold, so I guess it would be ok to use it as an example to demo a Reason device, wouldn't it ?

Anyway, while waiting, I made some changes to what the F1# to A1# black keys do. Now they have 2 modes as a group: 1/8T loop mode or free wild'n'weird glitch-like mode, since most of the action they did is now made with A1 and B1 white keys.

This also freed Combinator's Button 4, maybe I'll use it now to turn off the option of Aftertouch gate effect triggering.

So, now, the current version is ReGRAINZeR V.0.4beta

Related Propellerheads.se Forum post:
Question about using a Reason 4 demo song in a YouTube video

once ReLOOPeR, now ReGRAINZeR

2009-06-06T23:00:00.000-07:00

Shot some more videos, with another screen setup, now taking advantage of YouTube's 16:9 HD support, while now trying a firewire digital camera to shoot the actual MIDI keyboard controller being used as I did with the 1st video... but there's still some video latency :( ...guess it's because I had to turn the video graphics acceleration off so the desktop capture software can pick it up. Ah well... I'll choose one of the videos and upload it anyway :)

I found something already named Relooper through Google, so I'm renaming the device ReGRAINZeR (naming's getting better'n'better, uh? right... -.-')

I still tried using ReGRAINeR but Google found something like that too, some film effect thing.

So, after this, I made some changes to (the now named) ReGRAINZeR device.

Previously (up to V.0.2beta) I was using all the keys, from C1 to C2 (transposeable), but then I thought of ways to use several instances of the ReGRAINZeR, each mapped to its own octave, each affecting different sound sources. So, using the C2 key would collide with the start of the next instance of ReGRAINZeR.

So, ReGRAINZeR V.0.3beta only uses keys C1 to B1. This will allow to use a transposed instance of it in the C2-B2 range, and a 3rd in the C3-B3 and so fourth...

Originally, all white keys had fixed loop/tempo lengths and only the black keys had some kind of modifiers like the Combinator's Rotary 1 or the Pitch and Mod Wheels, but from V.0.3beta onward will have the A1 key vary with Pitch Wheel and B1 with the Mod. Wheel.

Also, Aftertouch will now trigger the gate effect. D1# still does that, with selectable gate rate through the Mod. Wheel :)

This is why, the 2nd video I'll upload, still uses the old key mapping, but any videos after that will have some tiny differences in the handling of the device, and the way to control and play with it.

Turbotito - Sydney Heat

2009-06-05T23:59:00.000-07:00

While uploading the 1st (crappy) video to YouTube it just dawned on me "wait a minute! I just realized I'm using a music that's not mine, to demo the device... oh damn..."

So, I had two options:

scrap the video, try to compose a really cool tune to demo the device, redo the video.
try to contact the song's author, asking if I can use it in my demo.

The 1st would be safer but slower (I thought, 'cause I had to come up with a cool enough tune). Also, it would defeat the purpose of demoing the device with a known song, so people watching would recognize what the device was doing to the song.

2nd option could be faster and simpler while accomplishing what I wanted, as I said above.

Well, I opted to set the uploaded video to private, and send a private message to the author and... wait :|

...and wait... :|

Custom GrainTables ?

2009-06-05T12:40:00.001-07:00

Just tried using a NN-19 loaded with a plain wave, with a Matrix controlling the note length, and the curve automating the Sample Start + Manual knob... eh, cool effect :D

I'm going to try the same with a REX loaded on a NN-XT to see what can be done.

More on this (much) later... :)

Related Propellerheads.se Forum post:
I would expect to see such an OSC available as an option

Making some ReLOOPeR videos...

2009-06-05T00:40:00.000-07:00

I've been searching the web for some free desktop video capturing software, so I can make some videos showing ReLOOPeR in action (and future devices, tutorials and stuff).

Found some, testing a couple, let's see if I can make it work :)

Related Propellerheads.se Forum post:
LOL! I know... I don't mind...

Koshdukai's KFX Machines: ReLOOPeR V.0.1beta

2009-06-02T23:00:00.000-07:00

Ok, so everything went well and now I'm the proud user of a Virus TI Atomizer (yeah right!) pseudo-emulator, done with and for Reason 4 :D

I'm going to play with it for a couple of days to see what more can I add to it, and after that, post a couple of demo videos, showing the thing working and what it can do :)

What it can't do (when compared to what I've seen in some Atomizer video demos) is:

It can't reverse playback the loops... still couldn't think of a way to do this in real-time with Reason 4, so for now, I'm considering it er... impossible :(
It won't be possible to perfectly note-pitch-shift the real-time loops :/

...although I'm still thinking of a way to simulate this effect with the shorter/higher rate loops, getting a note scaled pseudo-pitch-shifting effect. I already did some tests and it's kinda possible to do an almost note-scaled pitch, but still not perfect, and it's late and I'm tired -.-'

At this time, ReLOOPeR already allows free pitch-shifting effect with the Pitch and Mod Wheels, but its more like a glitch effect and not a scaled note pitch.

Reason 4 ARRIVED!!!

2009-06-02T15:00:00.000-07:00

My "Reason Premium Edition Bundle" arrived today, YAY!!! :D

Just in time to make something I've been experimenting with the R4 Demo for a while. A "Virus TI Atomizer" emulator!

If all goes well (and I can put my theories in practice), I'll post a demo video soon to see if anyone's interested in such a device :)

Can't wait to get home, install Reason 4 and start playing with it!

Related Propellerheads.se Forum post:
Status: Delivered!