randy's Recent Posts
Did you get my email? I'll copy it here.
Hi Nick,
There is a keyboard event handling problem with Ableton Live that affects Aalto and a few other plugins. I have been working with Ableton to find a fix for this. Hopefully it will be fixed in my 1.3 update coming soon. In the meantime, if you use a MIDI keyboard, you won't have this problem.
-Randy
I have a new free project coming soon that will take the place of Aaltoverb...stay tuned.
After testing some 20 different elastomers, I am currently using a natural gum rubber foam that is even better. It's "Quick-Recovery Natural Gum Foam" in the McMaster catalog. I would try soft or extra-soft. I would also try 1/8" thick.
I'll see about revising the DIY info when I have time, please stay in touch and let me know about your project!
I'll also add what I tell everyone, I recommend you try a 1x1 or 2x2 version first, to make some mistakes and discover interesting things before wiring up a bigger device.
I no longer have Aalto crashes in Max/MSP since we both fixed some bugs. New Aalto (1.3.2) in Max 6 should be stable---if not, let me know and please send crash reports.
Yes, the future is bright, lots to do. A fully modular Aalto-like thing is on the drawing boards.
I'll check into this, thanks for the report.
Lemur Aalto Controller Template Free Download!
Thanks for the generous making and sharing! I have never used Lemur but I know a lot of people use it with Aalto, I look forward to trying this.
Will investigate.
OK, thanks for the further info.
The differences are very subtle. You would have to try hard to hear them.
All the Aalto Solos sound the same, because there is no personalization.
Thanks for the update. It's a case I should be handling better so I still have a note to do something about it.
Thanks for the feedback!
You can get some square wave PWM with the right settings-- look for a "PWM" patch.
I think MIDI out has to be a separate plugin because of the way VSTs work. But I'll look into it.
The +1 and +2 outputs add two more MIDI controllers. They send MIDI CC values m+1 and m+2 into the patcher, where m is the MIDI controller number selected via the "mod" dial.
:-)
I definitely have some plans, but it's a bit soon to talk about them. I would love to see more ideas from different people, of how this ought to work!
Do you have Aalto 1.3.2? This should be fixed in the latest version.
There's a lot going on here at the Labs. While finishing up production on the second run of Soundplanes, I've been able to rewrite the client code that does touch tracking. Here's the result in a very quick and rough demo video. I'm playing a string sound with Aalto over OSC, and simultaneously, a piano with Logic over MIDI.
The new code stores a snapshot of finger pressure at each point on the Soundplane surface. It uses this information to determine what is and what isn't a touch with much better confidence than before. It also normalizes the force over the surface for smoother playing.
Here is a ten minute video walkthrough of the new features, showing how to do the calibration. It picks up a little after I manage to throw away the preferences, but is still probably of interest only to Soundplane owners.
I just uploaded the new client software v0.99. Touch sensitivity over MIDI is finally, very good. I'm working on the additions to the manual to explain the new calibration. Before that I will post a quick walkthrough video. Before that I'll write this:
To get started with v0.99:
First, click "select carriers" on the Expert page to make sure you have the best, least noisy possible carrier set.
Then, click "calibrate tracker" on the expert page and follow the instructions in the status box to the right. Make sure your Soundplane is on a firm, level surface. The object of calibration is to capture the force response across the Soundplane, and capture the shape of a finger touch at each point.
When done calibrating, your Soundplane will return to normal operation. The calibration will be saved with the file "SoundplaneAppState.txt" in Application Support. You should not need to do this "deep" calibration more than one a month or so.
Your Soundplane is now much more sensitive, and also more tolerant to moving around while being played.
There are other new features, which may be self-explanatory. I'm working on the manual to explain them, but if you have any questions in the meantime, I'm here.
Hi, I need more information to help you! First, Mac or Windows?
On Mac, the plugins are always in the same place. On Windows, you have to make sure the install location is correct. You can search on your hard drive for "Aalto" after you install, then make sure the Ableton File / plugin prefs are pointed to that location.
A happy sight: new Soundplane surfaces hot off the laser cutter, ready for sanding and assembly.
These new inlays are mother-of-pearl—photos do not do them justice.
I have never run into this problem. I'll try to reproduce it with a Max patch sending really short MIDI notes.
I think that would work. As always, my advice would be to try a 1x1 junction with the hardware you are thinking of using, and work up from there.
There are many interfaces you could use with the project. It's really open-ended . So yes it's up to you to come up up with as many outputs as you need. You could make a 6x8 surface and use two outputs for sound if you wanted.
The RME I was using had 8x8 plus a headphone out, I think.
There is no filtering on the aftertouch signal. I guess it would be a good thing overall to add it. I'll look at the code and see if there's any reason I can't.
If you use the aftertouch signal with some of the other inputs that have vactrol emulations on them, you will get smoothing there. These are timbre, the gate level and the OSC mod index.
p.s. I'm a newcomer to Aalto. Based on a number of recommendations, audio samples, and fiddling with the demo, I was charmed into adding it to my virtual studio.
Thanks and welcome!
I love the flow of patching in Aalto as I'm jamming, but if I wanted to make adjustments after the fact, I think working with the the connections would be the same issue that faces a hardware modular, the spaghetti monster! :)
You may know this, but the patcher makes it easy to move a single patch cord even if there is a mess of spaghetti going on. If you click repeatedly at one point, you will cycle through selecting all of the patch cords that run through that point. When you see the handles of the one you want, you can drag them to move only that cord.
Sounds like a bug. Thanks for the report---I will look into this.
I would definitely look at Robert Henke’s Granulator patch. It's available for free on his website.
The mesh~ object does waveguide mesh synthesis, so you may not care about that? The process object is there to do scaling and calibration. It doesn't do anything too tricky, just some scaling and filtering. It is an external instead of a Max patch just because it's cleaner and easier to change that way.
What you're doing with the code sounds a bit frustrating with not much tangible results. Why not forget about the Max objects for now and just use patching within Max to make a 1x1 matrix. Then you'll have some experience and something fun to play with. When you get bored of that you can make a 1x8 matrix or something, which could be a really useful tool and also wouldn't need any custom objects.
Within a couple of weeks I'm publishing the source code for the current Soundplane software. This should be much more pleasant to work with. Maybe you could get more people interested in helping with a version of the new Soundplane software that works with your audio interface build.
How do you search this forum!
you can use Google like this: site:madronalabs.com mysearch
Can the default location for the presets be changed?
No.
The wire attachment method is not important, it just has to conduct electricity. Solder it or anything. You will want a multimeter to test the connections.
I am sorry I don't have many more details documented. It's a very open-ended project and there are a lot of decisions you can make yourself. To do this project some experience with circuit building is probably good, so if you can, maybe try to find a friend with that knowledge, or teach yourself from a kit from adafruit or similar.
I recommend to everyone to start with a simple one-point sensor and build up from there.