blog | analogindustries.com

Nov.2
2009

DroneStation In Brief...

Here's a video of DroneStation in action. While I have a fairly good picture camera, my video camera is not so much, akshully. As a result, it's kind of hard to see what's on the screen. Can you trust me when I say it looks really nice?

Here's a screenshot of the main control screen. On the left is the four "keys." You can set the note each key will play. The X axis of the keys is volume, and the Y axis (after the initial hit) is pitch. So when you first touch the key, the pitch is selected by the note number, but dragging it up or down will change the pitch accordingly, as you can clearly see in the video.

Here's a second screenshot. As you can also make out in the video, the abstract shape in the center gets larger or smaller based upon the volume. The color changes from blueish (at an LFO depth of 0) to sea green (at an LFO depth of Full.) The shapes move based upon the speed of the LFO. In this way, not only do you have a fairly slick display, but you have good visual reference as to where you're at with the settings, should you need it.

Here's a shot of the settings screen. It's a 2-osc synth with a resonant 4PLP filter, basically, and does all the things that such a synth should do. It remembers the state you left it in when you start it again; I haven't quite hacked the preset portion of things yet, and I think the state memory is a fairly good substitute in the interim.

I'm going to submit this for approval this week at some point; it'll be $1.99.

Comments:

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Uh, I'm left handed. I made it that way on purpose. The righties are the ones that are gonna have a hard time. ;-)

-CR

posted November 2, 2009 by Chris Randall

Well, to each their own. I'm left handed, as well, and I'd rather have more precision on the X/Y for the oscillation since it looks like there are fairly big targets for the initial pitch.

I'll be buying it anyway and I'm sure I'll be surprised at how well I end up trusting your judgment.

posted November 2, 2009 by spittingangels

The targets for initial pitch are 70 pixels wide, which translates to just about 3/4th inch on the 96dpi iPhone/Touch screen. In short, they're nearly as wide as a normal piano key. As long as you don't move your thumb, or pick it up immediately, it'll only play the initial pitch, so there are only four starting points.

For reference, on my 15" MacBook, at the native screen resolution this site loads in to, those pictures above are almost exactly the same size as the iPhone screen. You can lay your thumb over the image and see how big the target is. You just have to get in the ballpark of the "keys," as they're not indicative of the actual targets.

Of course, there's nothing wrong with flipping it over and playing it upside down. Each key can be set to whatever note you want, from A0 to A7.

Now, all that said, I'll consider making a screen flip switch in a future version, but like the presets, it would require a major re-working of the underlying logic. I actually think that right-handers will complain more about having to hit the notes with their left hands; I'm actually a bit curious about how that turns out, because I'm using all the information I gain from releasing this to inform future product design.

-CR

posted November 2, 2009 by Chris Randall

NICE.
dronestation into a filter/wah pedal = dubstep wobble happiness.

posted November 2, 2009 by tremorcore

I was about to make some quip about right-handed guitarists hitting notes with their left fingers on a pretty regular basis, but then I realized that they don't use their thumbs for that.

I submit that the success of various game console controllers and handheld games of the last several decades suggest that we're all pretty good with both thumbs. But then I am somewhat ambidextrous so maybe I underestimate this issue.

--Adam

posted November 2, 2009 by studio nebula

@Adam: guitarists that ignore "proper" training use their left thumbs to hit notes all the time. Hendrix had a lot of chords where the thumb was used to fret the root, which allowed lots of hammer-ons of the upper notes that would be impossible with standard barre chords. Classical guitar posture demands that the thumb is at a very precise angle in the back of the neck, but most modern guitarists ignore this rule as they see fit.

posted November 2, 2009 by seancostello

Ah, true enough. I'm even less of a guitar player than I am a keyboard player.

--Adam

posted November 2, 2009 by studio nebula

Yeah. Shudder to think about it, but if you want to play the descending bass off the Am in "I Am The Walrus" then the thumb is gonna come in to the picture. Hendrix had huge hands, though, for what it's worth.

-CR

posted November 2, 2009 by Chris Randall

I gotta say: I really like the sound of this. Like A LOT a lot. I know it's nothing exotic, but I am finding that I am gravitating more and more to really strong and simple tones. I mean, it's remarkable how satisfying a nice, well-placed square wave or simple oscillation can be in the right musical context.

I'm excited about this.

Release soon, please.

- c

posted November 2, 2009 by beauty pill

If Apple doesn't "approve" will you still release Plink and DroneStation elsewhere?

Also, as far as the left-handed or right-handedness, it seems to me given the lovely minimalist interface that you could simply turn your iphone upside down to solve that problem.

posted November 2, 2009 by BirdFLU

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