SynthMakerwhyterabbyt ·
Seeing as how the SM engine is effectively dynamic, will it be able to support multiple instancing of modules whilst running.
Im thinking about situations like a sequencer, EQ, vocoder, mixer, or even additive synth where you could have a switchable number of filters/oscillators/steps/strips/whatever.
In a traditional modular-type system (eg Reaktor) you'd have to set a maximum number of 'whatevers', and switch some of them off. If SM were able to support some sort of instancing you could dynamically create the right number on the fly drastically reducing the complexity....
I guess it would have to be implemented as a svariant module with a 'number of instances' control input.
The issue, I guess would be input/output handling. I reckon there are two ways of approaching this; dynamic or static. Static is obviously simpler; normally I'd expect multiple instances of a single component to occur either serially or in parallel. In parallel mode, the instance container module would just present a single sets of inputs and outputs, with summing occurring automatically at the output. In serial mode, instance N passes its output to instance N+1, or the output if its the final instance.
A dynamic system would be harder to implement, but still might be possible, I think. I guess it could be handled with an instance 'index', and something like a smart mux/demux inside and outside the instanced module. If the instance 'knows' how many instances there are, and which instance it is itself, then it should be able to input or output from a specific other instance, or the 'main' input or output outside the instanced block.
I know it sounds complex, but if the SM engine is dynamically optimising itself when code sections are enabled/disabled, then this isnt necessarily much more than that with some more book-keeping. I think 😉