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Dec.10
2009

Thursday, Thursday...

Various things going on here. The AU port of Tattoo is going relatively painlessly. It's only time-consuming because of all the sequencer functions in this plug-in, each one of which has to be written for the AU expressly, rather than copied from the VST. (Thirty-something in all.) I imagine Adam will have a working AU to show off tonight or tomorrow, then it's on to final beta-testing and clean-up.

The DroneStation update is "In Review" in the app store. If the last go-round is anything to judge by, it should be available this afternoon or tomorrow morning. (Or rejected in a similar time frame.) This is, of course, a free update to people who already bought it.

Those out of the way, I was working on a Tattoo demo in a complete song last night (which I'll put up today or tomorrow), and it occurred to me that I hadn't recorded a single sound, or used a single sample, in the creation of this song. It is 100% math, using FM8, Massive, and Tattoo, along with the usual selection of AD plug-ins. No particular reason to note this, except to say that it is interesting from an academic standpoint that CPU power has progressed so far so fast, and it can be readily seen in situations like this. 10 years ago, there's no fucking way I could run five softsynths the size of Massive or FM8, a sophisticated drum synth like Tattoo, and three or four plug-ins on each of 20 channels, and only be cracking like 30% of my computer's available horsepower.

And this computer isn't anything special, either. State of the art for 2-3 years ago, but nothing like an 8- or 16-core i7 that would be state-of-the-art right now. Maybe the future isn't so bad after all.

Comments:

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It seems incredible how far electronic music has progressed. Just saw this ye olde emulation this morning:

link [www.gleetchplug.com]

posted December 10, 2009 by bassling

While you're putting together your 100% math song (which I find strangely cool in itself), the opportunity occurs for me to ask a question I've been looking for an excuse to ask:

When you record synth parts, do you record a stereo track where the synth does whatever little panning tricks its programmed for, or do you record in mono and do your panning tricks at the mix stage? Which I suppose is a variation on: Do you program panning at the synth level or the mixing level?

posted December 10, 2009 by Mad Al

I think the rapid advancement of technology is as frustrating as it is amazing. I currently have an 8 core system, which will tackle anything I throw at it with ease. However, 5 years from now I'll be thinking, damn, how did I manage to get anything done with that measly 8 core POS?

For the time being though, I'm loving it. Being able to run track after track with plugin after plugin and not have my system grind to a halt is something I have not experienced in a long time.

posted December 10, 2009 by ZombieStomper

@Mad Al: I don't actually have any stereo hardware synths. I have three that have two outputs (the MKS80 and the TX802 and 81Z) but they aren't actually stereo. So all my hardware synths are recorded to mono tracks. I apply EQ and compression (and distortion if I'm using it) at this point, then buss them to stereo tracks where I do the stereo effects. This is an old habit to save CPU cycles, as most all plug-ins have separate processes for mono and stereo, and the mono process uses half the resources. (That statement is a gross over-simplification, but you get the idea.)

As for the panning, it depends on what effects will be used, etc. as to whether I'll do that at the mono channel, or within the stereo channel with a plug-in or whatever.

Also it depends on the sound. Lately, I'm in to using a lot of reverb and decay on bass sounds, which is a tricky procedure to do right, but normally the bass would remain mono throughout for a dance track.

Soft-synths, however, are almost uniformly stereo, so it's kind of a moot point, and I'll do LFO panning or whatever within the plug. Massive is good at this, and it is, and has been for some time, my preferred soft-synth. Although I now have Twin 2, and am growing to like it.

-CR

posted December 10, 2009 by Chris Randall

Massive is great! As is Komplexor and the Waldorf's Largo, but that is kind of a CPU hog. Or it's just my crappy 4 year old computer =o] I can't believe i never thought of busing to a stereo track. I'll have to try that.

posted December 10, 2009 by Computer Controlled

Speaking of softsynths, I wonder what folk think of the musical usefulness of Synplant now that some time has passed? Everyone was all "innovative interface" when it came out last year, but has that translated into frequent use in their music?

posted December 10, 2009 by shamann

Personally, and this is in no way reflective of the dev, but I think now what I thought then, and that's "well, it's a keen idea, but I've got work to do and I can't just sit around all day whacking a button until something useful pops up."

Regarding Largo, I'd like to like it, but the demo fucked up my Synchrosoft install so bad (which had, to that point, been flawless) that I don't even want to bother with the real thing. It looks like it is right up my ally, though.

-CR

posted December 10, 2009 by Chris Randall

I find it amazing how you can get a new computer and have a massive amount of CPU power free, then, as little as a month later your projects have already expanded to fill the space.

posted December 10, 2009 by involver

That calculation is the same exact one that can be used to describe adding lanes to highways that go to the suburbs. Needs increase to match available resources, on a fairly constant basis.

My own needs are currently not filling my available resources, but that's just because I'm not doing that much production.

-CR

posted December 10, 2009 by Chris Randall

NI synths always leave a metallic aftertaste for me. I just plunked down the cash for U-he Zebra and am loving it so far. Seriously deep synth that sounds big and full. Not quite as big as my analogs but closer than anything I've heard except perhaps the SCOPE platform. I think it cures any digilog lust I had (PPG, Waldorf, VS, etc.) I got the $50 discount by taking a picture of their "retired by Zebra" sign in front of my MPG-80 and Eventide.

posted December 10, 2009 by synthetic

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