New Features, Devices, and Ideas for Pulsar

subhuman · Post by **subhuman** » Wed Jun 13, 2001 4:45 pm

As if we don't have enough already to play with...

What sort of new features or devices would you like to see implemented inside Pulsar, either as extensions to the CreamwareOS or as a device?

A few I'd be most interested in:

Alive Oscillator atoms, with a less precise sound, perhaps actual models of analog circuitry simliar to how Waldorf did the Q's oscillators. By having variations in the wave cycle and shape (NOT just detuning the waves, although frequency "Drift" plays some part in the aliveness of the type of oscillator I'm speaking of, sure), more life could be breathed into synths based on these atoms.

Living Filters. Although the filters in Pulsar are great (but very clinical), it would be nice to have a filter such as the BombFactory MoogerFooger TDM filter. Filter with a bit more character, less precise, maybe even adds harmonics, but definitely change phase in a pleasing way like a real analog.

Analog Saturation. Instead of digital clipping in the "VCA" section of synths, actually model analog saturation such that overdriving the amp section actually produces pleasant tones.

Just to be clear, I find the sound of Pulsar stuff to be great, clean, clinical, and useful -- more so than virtually any other "software" synths, Pulsar synths tend to be edgey which is great! Just that more "plug-in" variety for developers would lead to a wider sound range of products.

These are "low level" requests (or perhaps they could easily be coded by a 3rd party wizard as devices!), perhaps you guys will have other ideas for devices you'd like to see.

Peezahj · Post by **Peezahj** » Wed Jun 13, 2001 6:19 pm

I doubt that analog saturation is at all a simple request, discussions on the music-dsp list lead me to believe that this is quite deep. Being a tube amplifier fan from way back, I can tell you positively that no one has ever been successful at emulating such a thing, digitally or otherwise. The Pod's not even close, in fact few actual tube gear is even close to pulling off the magic sound that is defined to be "that tube sound". Now, if all you're looking for is an emulation of the ART Tube MP, OTOH, that may be do-able.

My new Oasys sounds way more clean, clinical, & precise than Pulsar & I love it.

subhuman · Post by **subhuman** » Wed Jun 13, 2001 7:10 pm

Well the Access VirusB has a pretty decent "analog saturation" routine happening, and one a SINGLE dsp chip for 24 voices. It's not "tube nonlinearities" like you're speaking about, nor tube distortion... Basically instead of digital clipping like on a digital mixer, you get analog saturation like when you overdrive an (analog) Mackie.

Although the Obsidian Tubulator may not be a "precise" emulation of "tube nonlinearities," I rather like the tones I get out of it...

[ This Message was edited by: subhuman on 2001-06-13 20:14 ]

Spirit · Post by **Spirit** » Thu Jun 14, 2001 6:27 am

This is my old hobby-horse, and I'm still riding it....

What I'd like are user-creatable "skins" for ModV2 devices so you can send them off into the world as a hard-wired creation.

That way they'd become real, named, and recognisable devices, not just a collection of anonymous modules that might have been made (or modified) by anybody.

Spirit · Post by **Spirit** » Sat Jun 16, 2001 7:49 am

OK, the "new skin" idea is never going to get up. So I've got an alternative: since I've just uploaded a device how about a special little symbol or something next to the name of each Planet Z member who has uploaded a patch ?

That's sort of like on EZ Board where people who pay a few dollars a year get a special icon against their name to show they actively support the Boards.

What do you think John? It would just be a nice little bit recognition for the effort.

subhuman · Post by **subhuman** » Sat Jun 16, 2001 12:03 pm

Well that's sort of getting into PlanetZ suggestions and ideas, but I think it's a great idea. All uploads would have a username link associated with them and everything on the site would be integrated with your Forum account. You could even add more credentials to your username by uploading patches and presets, and it might stimulate the community by "rewarding" them.

...Now, back on topic, are there any devices for Pulsar/Luna that you WANT or NEED but don't see anyone making?

marcuspocus · Post by **marcuspocus** » Sat Jun 16, 2001 12:42 pm

I would like a REAL guitar effects patch, something like a BOSS ME-6 :

Compressor + overdrive/distortion + Equalizer + noise suppressor + delay + chorus/flanger + reverb(?)

The overdrive/distortion should be very different!

Overdrive for a good fat rythm (Marshall?)
Distortion for good lead (Peavey 5150)

Evidently with lots of presets...

That would be coOl

[ This Message was edited by: marcuspocus on 2001-06-16 13:43 ]

Air_PoLLo · Post by **Air_PoLLo** » Sat Jun 16, 2001 5:56 pm

hmm, maybe a TC|intonator or auto-tune or even something as cool as RBC voice tweeker

John Cooper · Post by **John Cooper** » Sat Jun 16, 2001 7:39 pm

On 2001-06-16 08:49, Spirit wrote:

how about a special little symbol or something next to the name of each Planet Z member who has uploaded a patch ?

yeah, cool idea. fear not, i'm in the midst of database redesign, and you're gonna see a pretty massive site overhaul soon. everything is going to be integrated, database driven, searchable, etc, etc, it's gonna rock.

but please be patient!

-john

algorhythm · Post by **algorhythm** » Sat Jun 16, 2001 7:47 pm

overall, i think the pulsar stuff is awfully "mainstream." there are quite a few exceptions, but most of the devices are mere emulations of old hardware. virtual has advantages over hardware synths, and i am glad i have stuff like the 007, but the rule still holds. we have quite a bit (more than enough?) of virtual analog synths. Defex is making some neat and innovative synths over at neutron. also some of the Zarg stuff (dark star, rotor, ambient) and Wavelength (gemini) stuff are different.
more stuff like this would be nice.

some original FX would be great - stuff like the spectral delay by NI and the GRM tools are way cool, and really different, especially the interface of GRM - blows away pulsar FX interfaces. also, the ohm-boyz delay is super phat and has a great interface. Few such original or innovative stuff is available on pulsar. Pulsar could definitely use some cool FX like this. we have great reverbs, delays, blah blah blah - but why not more atypical FX devices?

this may be contradictory to say after all of that, but -

a SID emulation would be swell.

Peezahj · Post by **Peezahj** » Sat Jun 16, 2001 10:10 pm

Try the PlanetZ Zorba, very original, intuitive, & inspiring, & it has a beautiful interface design.

John Cooper · Post by **John Cooper** » Sat Jun 16, 2001 10:17 pm

thanks for the shout, eric!

see zorba <a href = "http://www.planetz.com/Products.html">here.</a>

-john

Peezahj · Post by **Peezahj** » Sat Jun 16, 2001 10:22 pm

marcuspocus wrote:
I would like a REAL guitar effects patch, something like a BOSS ME-6 :
...
Evidently with lots of presets...

OK, this is something I could actually see as do-able. A Marshall or 5150 never, but to emulate a Boss ME-6 should be a piece of cake!

Here it is, I've done some presets but try to contribute some of your own so that it may eventually be worth putting into the Planet Z files area.

http://www.jrrshop.com/Eric/Boss_ME-6.mdl

-Eric Dahlberg

algorhythm · Post by **algorhythm** » Sun Jun 17, 2001 6:18 am

thanks, peezahj. and yes john, props on that. i have seen the zorba, and while it is cool in that it can be synced and is an all in one package, it still uses 'standard' fx - distortion, flanger, tremelo, and delay are all cool and all, but hardly unique. the zorba is good in that it is a combined approach.
for something similar to this, check out a patch I made (Mod2) with a delay, reverb, filter, flanger, and phaser - it is on the pages here (called FX machine). subtle to weird to crazy and "all in one" like the zorba.
maybe i'll muck around in the modular (never a bad idea

)and see what other concoctions i can come up with.

my suggestion still holds though - i would like some less typical FX. while we can get new affected sounds from combinations of old fx units, it is good to have new basic fx too. sorta like what subhuman said about oscillators above - we can do lotsa cool stuff after the oscillators, but it is nice to have some new basic sound units too. (darned philosophers and their analogies. . .)

[ This Message was edited by: algorhythm on 2001-06-17 07:21 ]

Spirit · Post by **Spirit** » Sun Jun 17, 2001 6:29 am

Hi Algorythm, I'd like to check out the FX Machine too, but where is it ?

algorhythm · Post by **algorhythm** » Sun Jun 17, 2001 9:10 am

the mod patch is in the modular section of the files area on this site. it is the latest one. BTW, this is where you should have uploaded your drum machine - the devices area is reserved for "scope built" devices according to convention.

Spirit · Post by **Spirit** » Mon Jun 18, 2001 3:02 am

Well call me Blind Freddy but I keep on looking and just can't find any Modular download section.

And if I can venture: I think the download area should be reserved for any device or patch which is complete. Perhaps it's DEMO versions that should go elsewhere.

Can someone post a link to this undiscovered country of Modular?

algorhythm · Post by **algorhythm** » Mon Jun 18, 2001 4:53 am

here is the structure: planetz>pulsar>files>modular_patches

and the link:
http://www.planetz.com/Pulsar/Patches.html#Modular

[ john notes: the site structure has changed. the modular files are now at http://planetz.ghostwheel.com/forums/vi ... p?forum=15 ]

and yes, i do not think demo's should be mingled in with, and parading around as "real devices."

[ This Message was edited by: John Cooper on 2001-07-10 13:35 ]

John Cooper · Post by **John Cooper** » Mon Jun 18, 2001 8:39 am

On 2001-06-17 10:10, algorhythm wrote:
the mod patch is in the modular section of the files area on this site. it is the latest one. BTW, this is where you should have uploaded your drum machine - the devices area is reserved for "scope built" devices according to convention.

yeah, i was gonna notify and move this file to the modular section, but since i'm about to change the entire planetz structure anyway, i figured i'd let it slide,

-john

dblbass · Post by **dblbass** » Mon Jun 18, 2001 11:11 pm

my wishlist for CW -

1) would love to see a real oscilloscope and powerful FFT both with lots of user settable parameters. as far as I'm concerned, these could both be real DSP hogs if need be to enable real powerful operating characteristics and controls; this would be OK because they would seldom be permanent parts of big projects, just as testing devices for looking at how other modules and other wav's are doing. I'd still be better than porting signals out to OS for native processing analysis tools, of which there are several options. Scope touts some audio lab features - any Scope users who can tell us lowly pulsar users if we're missing anything cool in this area?

2) Slicker, cleaner install/uninstall routine with less room for screwups. Same for registering devices. Something like a big panel which gathers and reports and edits all system and file information on DLLs, EXEs, startup entries, etc, and all the vaious bits needed to make any CW install work. Ideally, one dialogue where user could see and modify all relevant install status, such as missing components, version conflicts, or possible bad files. I had a hell of a time adding Luna II to PulsarII. Judging from forum traffic, many users have trouble with software upgrades and multiple cards / environments setups. CW - please spend some time on this.

3)What about DRAM on the the pulsar board. Memory is so cheap these days. Undoubtedly, this is a big step. I don't know enough about scope architecture to know whether this could be done without jeopardising users' existing project and module/device library, but its certainly would be an interesting change. In this model, the only PCI traffic would be ASIO signals and GUI stuff. All the memory intensive processing such as reverbs could be handled locally, without constraints of motherboard system DRAM capacity or PCI bus bandwidth.

A general comment. I trust this thread will grow, bringing out a pretting interesting bunch of ideas. Some may be for the 3rd party developers and scope DIY community, but others really suggestions for CW. Don't know if anyone from CW reads Planet Z regularly these days - sure hope they do ! (Ingo?) But perhaps someone (John Cooper?) could wait until this thread grows, and then make sure it gets passed to CW for their consideration in product planning.