Various Suggestions

malc · 16 Mar 2005

Hi there,

Phewph, we are busy tonight aren't we!

Thanks for your suggestions - always great to get feedback.

1- Having used both synthedit and Reaktor i found that the main thing Synthmaker needs is a spare input on its modules or a function where you hold down something like Ctrl down and drag inputs onto the empty module instantly. This would speed up the building process alot.

A good point. We already have something that might help you here. There are a small number of components that are used way more often than others. These have been linked to shortcut keys. The Module Input and Module Output components are linked to I and O respectively (the shortcuts are indicated in the toolbox btw).

If you go inside a module and press I you'll get an Input component where your mouse is. Press I again and you'll get another input directly below the selected one. I've found this really speeds things up for me.

Note that for obvious reasons if you have a MIDI In with PC Keyboard selected then the shortcuts won't work - the keyboard gets priority.

2- The next thing i did not like is that there is currently no play and stop feature which is important i think.

Not sure what you want to play or stop? Are you talking about stopping audio output? Any chance you could elaborate?

3- The dragable componants feature is great but you should allow the user to make sub directorys in folders for more organized setups.

I assume you mean the facility to drag modules to the toolbox? These are organised in folder where the program is installed. You can actually manage the folders from within windows explorer at the moment. These will affect the way the Filter Groups work. Are you asking for subgroups in filter groups?

- I know there is midi input and output and i can hear the sound output fine but you should add a audio midi drivers menu option for more advanced settings. Also a stereo audio in module.

In the pipeline 🙂

5- A sequence/clock module, List Entrys (Multi choice to 1) and (1 to multi choice).

What would the sequence/clock module do? Also not sure what you mean by List Entrys - is this a GUI thing?

6- The big one is to add a properties option on second click where you can set the values of inputs and controls ect.

We wouldn't do this for low-level components, but you could build your own modules to do this.

Sorry for the misunderstandings - if you can clear these up I'll get straight back to you.

Shifrin · 17 Mar 2005

malc wrote: Not sure what you want to play or stop? Are you talking about stopping audio output? Any chance you could elaborate?

I know in SynthEdit you have to click the 'play' button in order to play the synth you're working on - i.e. enable to audio engine. Personally I don't see the need for that, indeed I'm glad not to have to keep clicking play/stop. But then again there might be times when you could want to do so.

malc wrote: What would the sequence/clock module do? Also not sure what you mean by List Entrys - is this a GUI thing?

Perhaps the Sequence/Clock module would be to enable synching to host, which can already be done with SampleRate, BPM and SamplePos.

'List entries', like a drop-down menu. You know the type, there's loads of them on KvR 🙂 You can already make them using the new list component, I got it to work no problems.

Shif.

malc · 17 Mar 2005

Thanks Shif (having trouble sleeping? 😉 )

Agreed about the play/stop issue - seems like it just gets in the way.

Re. list entries - if that's the case then you are indeed correct, the Popup List Component will handle that.

Shifrin · 17 Mar 2005

malc wrote: Thanks Shif (having trouble sleeping? 😉 )

Nah, I like late nights - SynthMaker keeps me awake 😀

Oh yeah, we've lost the 'winky smiley' - just the word 'Wink' appears now!!!

Shif.

Tom7777 · 18 Mar 2005

If you go inside a module and press I you'll get an Input component where your mouse is. Press I again and you'll get another input directly below the selected one. I've found this really speeds things up for me.

Cool thanks i didn't know about that. But i still think it should be done holding the Ctrl key down and dragging onto the module.

Not sure what you want to play or stop? Are you talking about stopping audio output? Any chance you could elaborate?

Basically what Synthedit does allowing you to stop the audio. I use it in SE to preview what an OSC sounds like with a filter applied ect so if i dont like how it sounds i quickly make modifications. I find it a usefull feature as if im only listning to the final audio output i often discover i have made mistakes later on. It is also usefull if using sequencer modules so i can make a pattern and stop the audio then change things quickly ect if needed.

What would the sequence/clock module do? Also not sure what you mean by List Entrys - is this a GUI thing?

Well lets say for the clock module you should be able to have a tempo Input (BPM) maybe with a glide option so you can choose if its a full or gated beat. It should have a BPM output and maybe certain other convertions.

A sequence module should have a BPM input and maybe a reset input so the user can restart by pressing a button ect. Then it should have either multiple inputs 4,8,16,32 ect or a spare value where the user can drag as many connections they want onto the spare value each time creating a new input. Then it should have a L and R output. An example of how this would be usefull is say if you wanted a drum beat or a OSC sequence where it switches the different types - Sine 2 bars Saw 1, tri 1, Sine 4 ect.

List entrys are most often a GUI thing where the user can choose from the inputs it has connected to it like sine,saw,tri ect like a dropdown box does. One thing SE has though is a choice input and converters for it so you can turn it into a sequence when linked to a lfo ect or connect it to a switch ect. Its choice input is the only visible thing when connected to its contoller but because of the converter modules it can also be used without being seen. SE has 2 list entry modules, Multi input to one output and one input to muti output which i use alot in SE and as im hoping to become a SM user i really need this feature. If it is possible to do any of these please show me some examples.

I assume you mean the facility to drag modules to the toolbox? These are organised in folder where the program is installed. You can actually manage the folders from within windows explorer at the moment. These will affect the way the Filter Groups work. Are you asking for subgroups in filter groups?

Yeah all the folders on the left where you have osc, filter, maths ect should have the option to create multiple sub folders within each one and have sorting options like move folder up, move folder down, delete folder, copy folder, rename folder ect

Shifrin · 18 Mar 2005

Tom7777 wrote: SE has 2 list entry modules, Multi input to one output and one input to muti output which i use alot in SE and as im hoping to become a SM user i really need this feature. If it is possible to do any of these please show me some examples.

This is doable with the new List (forget it's correct name) GUI component and either a Selector or Multiplexer 🙂 Will try to post an example if I get the time!

Shif.

Tom7777 · 18 Mar 2005

This is doable with the new List (forget it's correct name) GUI component and either a Selector or Multiplexer Smile Will try to post an example if I get the time!

Thanks Shifrin that would be cool 🙂 I get the idea of what some of the modules do because i know about modular synthesis but this app has similar things named differently and require different connections to work right ect so i have been very confused. I learn most from example modules which there is very few of at the moment so examples always help alot. Thanks

Shifrin · 18 Mar 2005

OK, here is a simple List Entry with four inputs to one output, very easy to modify :-

And this is inside it :-

Here's the ListEntries.osm file 🙂

Shif.

malc · 18 Mar 2005

Hey Shif - nice!

You and Stefan are a really big help 😀

I notice from your screen cap. that you've discovered a small bugette. The Selector should have an Int type for it's four inputs, instead they are template connectors. It won't (and of course doesn't) affect the behaviour. If you disconnect and then reconnect the link to the first input the type gets picked up just fine.

Tom7777 · 18 Mar 2005

Cool thanks Shifrin 🙂