randy's Recent Posts
I'm wondering if there is still a Logic 9 update that you could get.
You seem technically proficient, so if you wanted to test your theory about Gatekeeper by turning off SIP temporarily, that would be interesting.
As far as installing the binaries separately, that should be no problem if you just save the AU versions manually. I'll make a note to add check boxes for the various formats in the installer.
Ah OK—if there was something broken that stopped you getting started for Windows, you can let me know. Glad you have a workaround.
In version 1.9.2 I removed 32-bit support. There's nothing similar that happened in version 1.9.0, that I can tell, as far as a change that would stop older systems from working.
Are you able to just keep using 1.8.5 on Logic 9? I would like to solve this mystery but since it's not affecting a lot of people as far as I know, I would just like to find you some solution that gets you playing.
I guess if three recent installers are failing, something did change with 1.9.1 and we don't need to look for a corrupted download.
It could be a clue. Do those other three plugins run in Logic?
I have no idea what those errors might mean or why iTunes would be involved. I can research more on Monday.
Meanwhile I would try deleting those plugin files manually, making sure they are gone and there are no other copies anywhere (~/Library maybe?), downloading the 1.9.4 installers again and installing, and rebooting. Fun!
I appreciate what you say as a compliment, but I don't even think my plugins are that weird! I mean, they're just synths with knobs and sliders and cables. Sometimes I wonder why we are still using these metaphors on a general-purpose computer. There's lots of room to explore.
If they are working in other hosts I guess we can focus on Logic. Are you definitely running the 64-bit version? Is there a way to just "use anyway" in the AU Manager after a failed plugin scan? Can you nuke the Logic preferences?
You could also try in the Terminal: auval -a to see all your plugins and then auval -v aumu Aalt MLbs for a full scan of Aalto. Maybe this will turn something up.
Try rebooting after deleting your ~/Library/Caches/com.apple.audiounits.cache file and then scanning again in Logic. I know it sounds dumb but I have had to do this sometimes to get Logic to see the plugins.
The latest versions are 64-bit only FYI.
I would like to do one later. I have a lot of ideas. But for now I'm working on Sumu. Thanks for your interest and please stay tuned!
Wow Andre, thanks for sharing! Like you say on your Bandcamp page, it is at once accessible and unusual. I'm very happy Aalto inspired you. This in turn inspires me :-)
I haven't yet. I plan to give that a try this week.
Yes! I'll be supporting the M1 Macs immediately: first using Apple's emulation, which I've already tested here and found to perform very well. Then in the first quarter of 2021 with a native port to Apple Silicon.
Apple's Rosetta 2 is an impressive technology! Even in emulation, I expect audio software running on Apple Silicon to perform at least as well as on similar Intel machines.
And when apps and plugins are native, Apple Silicon should provide a greater than 2x performance boost over similar Intel machines. I'm excited to make that happen!
Native ARM support is one piece of the puzzle for getting to iOS, so it does bring me closer.
LOL! Our new theme song. Love it!
Thanks for the info! I have heard reports of this issue before. Maybe running Kaivo in Max will help me track it down. So far I have been unable to reproduce.
That it only seems to affect Kaivo is super weird because Aalto and Kaivo share the exact same license code. But this is a consistent pattern now. Some CPU overload + disk access interaction on some systems? That doesn't seem likely... but here we are.
Sorry this issue has existed for a while. The problem is, I just can't reproduce it. Will try in Max/MSP and report back.
Hi Bob,
Welcome aboard! Virta's pitch shifter is in the DELAY module. You'll just be using the pitch aspect of the module and not the delay. The source signal to "undo" the pitch of the audio input will come from the pitch output of the AUDIO module.
Looking at the manual, hopefully you can see how to track the pitch of an input signal, and send it through a patch cord to the audio module. Setting the amount of offset in the input attenuation dial is the only tricky part. You'll want a negative setting that is the inverse of the positive setting that tracks the pitch correctly. This may be easier to hear with an oscillator as the input to the delay than the input signal. For that matter, you could use an oscillator from outside Virta as the input to the AUDIO module, just to start with something very easy to track.
Virta's pitch tracker is designed for use with voice, so hopefully it will work well for you in this application. I think Virta is unique in being able to do something like this without being a much more complex and open-ended tool like Supercollider or Max/MSP.
Thank you. I'll put out another call via the newsletter.
I'm not really getting it still, because Kaivo can only load one sample at once. By "Load" I mean, put the sample in the granulator and start playing it.
There are up to four channels in a sample. I thought you meant to combine channels from multiple samples. But if there are hundreds that doesn't make sense.
When you put a bunch of samples in the Madrona Labs/Kaivo/Samples folder they all show up in the menu. You can add new folders inside there and the folders will become submenus.
Yes, these are just momentary buttons that control the sequencer itself and don't have parameters attached. I'll see about automating them in a future update.
I got your email—for reference I'm copying my reply here:
re: the crash, your 2012 machine should be fine to use with the Soundplane. I would try:
- unplug the Soundplane
- remove your entire ~/Library/Application Support/Madrona Labs directory
- launch the Soundplane app
- plug in the Soundplane to make a brand new calibration
There’s an “Expert” page if you click right in the app to switch pages—on that page there’s a console. It may have some additional info.
ha! thanks for the thought. a drum machine, in the sense of something that was rhythmically-oriented, at least... that i could go for.
Thanks for the feedback!
I may make the beta group bigger before the release—please stay tuned!
This is fixed and I replaced Aalto and Kaivo with version 1.9.4. (Virta has no sequencer)
It does look like seq glide got broken somehow! I'll put out a fix ASAP.
If the graphics issues persist after a restart, please send me all your system info and a video if possible.
If you need the previous installer you can still find it at http://madronalabs.com/media/aalto/Aalto1.9.2.pkg
hmm. beta testers have reported a big improvement. can you please look in the upper right and make sure 1.9.3 really got installed? (no offense meant, but this happens)
and if 1.9.3 is running, please send me more details about your system via email. Thanks for your help.
Hi and welcome.
I haven't seen any spring models in open tools like the STK. One reason might be that it's a lot more art than science at this point. Making spring sounds from a physical model based on the actual geometry and material properties of a metal spring is possible, but requires a lot of computation, too much to do in real time. Very roughly, it's in "devote a whole GPU to it" territory.
Any software spring models running in real time now are black-box models, in the sense that they make a springy sounding signal but are not based on an actual spring's geometry. Rather, a phenomenological approach is taken, where DSP blocks that we can run in real time are combined to produce a system that sounds spring-like. To mimic the way the sound scatters, allpass filters are used. These have the effect of making high frequencies travel faster than low ones (or vice versa) and when lots of them are combined in a feedback loop, the characteristic "dewp" of a spring results. Kind of.
If you look for the sounds people have generated from this kind of model in open research (search "Parametric Spring Reverberation Effect" for one starting point) generally they are not very convincing. Yet some of the spring reverb products, from Universal Audio for example, do sound very good. With this stuff that's more art than science, makers are understandably less motivated to share their work.
To make Kaivo's springs I used a bunch of very short allpass filters in a feedback loop—essentially modifying the string model to make it more like a spring. If you were to take a tunable Karplus-Strong spring, add 20–50 allpass filters in the feedback loop, and tune the parameters for maximum dispersion, you would have a good starting point.
Sorry for the delay—I've been wrestling with issues on the Windows side. Meanwhile you can download the Mac installer at http://madronalabs.com/media/kaivo/Kaivo1.9.3.pkg
I've got an update planned soon. I'll see if I can make this happen.
If you don't remove the instance, just close the window and open it again, it does remember its size, yes? This doesn't change the default size though.
Say you have made two instances of Aalto you are using at different sizes. For me it would be annoying—or at least confusing—for the last size I messed with to automatically become the default.
You're not alone though: have heard from other people who want it to work the same way you do. I plan to add a default size setting somewhere in a future update.
Oh my mistake, ~/Library/Application Support/Madrona Labs/Soundplane. Glad to hear it!
Five years ago, I did a small run of Aalto T-shirts. It was fun making them but with all the printing and shipping and paperwork it took up roughly a couple of weeks of my time so I've never done it again... until now!
The key was finding a US-based fulfillment company called Printful that prints shirts to order. I made a test shirt using their process and I've been wearing it a lot. The charcoal tri-blend fabric is very soft and has a nicely textured look. This detail photo shows it after being machine washed four times, and the colors haven't faded at all. I like that the digital print is not crackly like plastic process shirt inks are and so far, it seems more durable. These are very nice shirts.
Another big benefit of using Printful is that they print to order in Europe! This means that my European customers can actually get a shirt for an affordable price. Wherever you are located, I hope it will be a pleasure to purchase through them because I'm very protective of your experience when you do anything Madrona Labs-related. So please keep me posted.
tl;dr: simply click the following button to...
A form will pop up to enter your size, then a second page lets you select your shipping and payment options. I've set up shipping for North America and Europe. Shipping rates should be as follows: USA: $5 (first shirt) / $1 (each addl.) Canada: $8 / $1. Mexico: $10 / $1. Europe: $9 / $5. If you can't find your country on the form, give me a shout and I'll see if I can add it. Enjoy!
NOTE: The European shipping rates include the VAT of $4 per shirt.