randy's Recent Posts
I hear you. I'll do this in the next update unless I run into some problem.
OK, you mean when the pitch of the voice (or any parameter with a patcher input really) has a different value for each voice.
This doesn't strictly depend on the sequencer though that's really the only useful way to get a lot of control.
You can send the "voice" output of the KEY module right to any patcher input, then scale it for some control. So you can play chords for example, without using the sequencer, but the intervals will be the same.
I understand - will think about it.
hmmm.
Hi,
I don't quite understand. What about the voices do you want to offset?
Hi peeps, I'm happy Aalto attracts people of all skill levels with the MIDIs, let's keep it friendly please.
Hi Fraser,
Well I'm pretty sure it's possible but I don't know GB at all so I'd just be looking through the anual same as you. One thing I can point out is that GB will be loading the Audio Units version of the plugin. So if you Google "Audio Unit Instruments Garage Band tutorial" or something I bet you can find help.
In fact I just did that and here's a helpful link.
http://www.daveclews.com/dave/Portfolio_files/GB%20Plugins.pdf
Hi Fraser,
You want "Export song to Disk" in Garage Band to make an audio file. There are a lot of options in GarageBand. I've tested that the Aalto plugin works OK but I have to leave the details of making your track up to you. I don't really know GarageBand that well so I'm sure you'll know it better than I do after a couple of hours with the manual.
I've been working in the shop with Christopher this week making the blanks for the Soundplane surfaces. Here's Chris hard at work gluing a sheet of thick latex to a fiber underlayment. (thanx Ableton for the sweatband, it's coming in very handy)
Cutting the latex sheets with the utility knife was fine for making a single prototype, but for 30 surfaces was way too slow. A gigantic shears might be the best cutting tool for this project, but getting one would be overkill for now. Meanwhile we figured out how to use the scroll saw by making a jig to hold the latex in place. It's a good thing neither of us is allergic --- latex dust goes everywhere.
After the fiber and rubber are glued together, a somewhat messy process, we get to select the area of veneer that will form the playing surface. Of course, each one can be quite different in appearance. I try to select a fairly symmetrical pattern that still has some excitement in it. Here's the first one that rolled off the assembly line.
These blanks will go to Gurian Instruments for laser-cutting and inlay, and then come back to our Ballard shop for sanding and finishing.
I'm also at work on the Soundplane client software and the Aalto update. Since there is so much to do right now, it's good that I have the software work on the one hand and the wood shop work on the other, because I can usually convince myself that the wood shop is a nice break from writing software. I'll spare you the pictures of software development but it sounds like TAKATAKATAKATAKATAK.
OK, I'll see what I can do about this for the update.
Good news, we have found good homes for the first run of 30 Soundplanes. Thus, funding is all in place and production has begun. Look for finished Soundplanes in 8-10 weeks, and more updates now that there will be cool stuff to take pictures of.
It's been a long time getting here, and I appreciate the support from everyone who's along for the ride. Whether you preordered a Soundplane or bought a copy of Aalto, you've helped make this new instrument possible.
Here's a closeup of the final prototype case during finishing. I had tried rounding off all the edges previously, and it ended up looking too blobby. By rounding off the front edge horizontally after the vertical cutout is made, a compound curve is produced that I think is a very nice intrinsic detail. The sharp edges get hand-sanded just enough so that they don't chip easily or hurt your fingers.
The road to production has generated lots of prototypes and castoff parts. You can see some of them on the shop floor here.
Will you basically start again once these 30 are finished/shipped?
Yes! I'll make more ASAP.
Hi,
Yes, more vids would be great and will definitely be forthcoming. I liked Jordan's video though -- didn't think there was anything random about it. He was definitely improvising and getting the notes he wanted to get. It's true that he only saw the instrument 10 min before the video for the first time. It was a totally fresh improv.
The note pattern is anything you want it to be! But the standard setup is chromatic rows in fourths, kind of like a guitar, and that's what you see Jordan playing.
If you're ever in Seattle you can check out the instrument by getting in touch w/me. I might do another tour later, too... stay tuned.
What was the previous audio driver you were using? It would be great to know in case someone else has the problem.
thanks
Randy
good, just making sure things are working OK
It's a CPU thing. Aalto is a high-quality analog emulation and as such, CPU-intensive. By my rough estimation the iPad could run about 1 voice of Aalto. It's something I'll keep my eye on but not a super compelling thing to do right now.
Welcome!
But why did you have to change your username?
That's a good idea. I guess you don't want MIDI program change active all the time. It might be an option for the KEY module.
Thanks for being careful, but I don't mind you mentioning other products... I'm never coming out with a magnifier utility. Promise.
Teaser for a teaser maybe.
Welcome, and thanks for the good words!
I know Aalto is somewhat lacking in the LFO department -- I plan to address this in an update.
For more and different modules, look to a future product.
As a tangent to Auto-Saving above, pls may add I like AAS's Chromazone's history feature.
Thanks, I'll take a look at this.
Maybe a separate table could allow real-time MIDI control over a user defined subset of patches?
I think this is the way to do it. It's a little UI work, but seems the be the only simple way to not mess up your set when new patches are added.
I have a long list of things to do. I will do as many things as I can before my deadline, but some will probably remain undone. I would rather just say what got done after the update comes out so as not to disappoint.
It's been an intense and exciting month. Brian made a final Main Board revision and I worked on some details of antenna and case production. Alongside this hardware work, I've finally gotten the Soundplane's touch tracking software performing well enough for production. The Soundplane has been a really cool demo for a while, but now it's suddenly an instrument. I can't wait to make more time to play it.
You can see the speed and accuracy of the touch tracking from 12 bits of pressure information at about 1000 frames per second. I need to measure the latency better but it's down under 5ms, and can probably be improved a bit more.
The software is partially done-- there is another page to be completed where you can set up zones that function as notes and controllers.
I'm very excited to take this work to the production stage. Look for more news about the production schedule later this week.
OK, downloaded and will check out soon.
This is fun.
I have some gear that's been sadly neglected since I started Madrona Labs. I'll definitely use some of it alongside my new instruments when I can get back to making music. SH-101 and MS-20 will be in this category. The Maestro electric piano too.
Sold an Arp 2600 and Obie 4-voice to pay rent when I was starting the company! I don't regret it. Priorities ya know.
I ddid not mean "maybe you should get more CPU" but "maybe Aalto is failing under high CPU load." This would explain one working but two not working. I can't think of any other reason two Aaltos would fail where one worked. But I'll see if I can reproduce this.
Can you get this to happen by running up your CPU use in some other way? The Aalto instances should not be sharing any state, so maybe it's not that you have two of them but that the CPU load is high. Maybe install the DIVA demo or something to hog a comparable amount of CPU :-)
If you get a chance... thanks
Hi Zip,
I like Numerology and have tested quite a bit, so this is surprising. What OS are you running?