Our Hypocrisy Knows No Limits...

Sorry for the lengthy pause, but we’ve been working long days since Thursday when we received the Propellerheads Rack Extension SDK. Since we’re under a fairly detailed NDA, I can’t really go in to all the trials and tribulations involved in making a Rack Extension; suffice to say that while the DSP part of things copies more or less straight across from our existing plugs, the GUI part is another matter entirely. It bears exactly zero resemblance to anything we’ve thus far experienced in The Land Of Plug-ins. If a plug-in dev doesn’t have someone on staff that has a fairly extensive knowledge of 3D modeling software and how assets from that software are utilized, that plug-in dev is gonna be pretty much out of luck when it comes to Rack Extensions.

With that caveat out of the way, we’re just about to send in our first Rack Extension, which is Rough Rider. Here’s a screenshot of Rough Rider in a Reason rack:

As you can see, instead of the “hidden” mix control (the bypass switch on the front panel of the Rough Rider VST and AU is actually a knob, as far as automation goes, if you weren’t aware) we’ve broken that out to a proper mix knob, as Reason doesn’t really have time for that sort of hidden tomfoolery. Here’s a screenshot of the back of the unit:

There is a CV output for gain reduction, just in case you want to use Rough Rider’s envelope to drive something else. To answer the obvious questions:

1. No, this will most assuredly not be free. We haven’t quite settled on a price yet, but it won’t be expensive.

2. We are going to wait and see if this does any numbers before making other products for Rack Extensions. We won’t be porting anything else directly, as the environment is simply too different. In the event, we will be making similar products that utilize the same basic DSP.

3. No you can’t beta-test. Don’t even think of asking me.

4. I don’t care if you don’t like the GUI. It was extremely difficult to make, and I just don’t want to hear it right now. Conversely, if you _do_ like it, now’s the time to tell me. Har har har.