Brian Lawler

Rapid Composer is a breed apart. Much more complex, but more versatile as far phrasing, meter, and "styles". IMHO much more useful for orchestral than the others, for example. Certainly it can do straight forward "song writing" stuff too, but the other two get you there more easily. Orb Producer 3 and Captain Plugins are pretty similar. They are geared more for building more "typical" modern songs with verse, chorus, bridge sections, etc. I know when I bought Captain suite, I got a bundle which included the drums module, and it is very good. You can drop in samples and do simple editing, and/or send or drop MIDI. I find the MIDI editing in it quite useful too. (no drum module in Orb). I give Orb the edge in chords and overall song structure. It is easier to do measure splits, odd length phrases, and general phrase construction and editing (and odd meters). Bass generation is pretty similar. Melody generation is just blah on both of them. You might get an idea that you can run with though. Aside- Rapid Composer can come up with some terrific "motifs", but any toe-tappers need human intervention as well. Don't forget to consider Scaler2 from Plugin Boutique. IMHO give the most BANG for the least $ of any of the above. You can drop multiple instances on tracks and they will talk to each other, allowing you to have one make Chords, other tracks generate bass lines, arps, stabs, etc based on the "mother" chord instance. No percussion here, and no melody generator, but you CAN make it lock your MIDI keyboard to chord notes, scale notes, etc, so you can entice your cat to walk back and forth on your keyboard and get about as useful melodies as the others generate.

The only way you can see this as a deal, is if your FOMO pushes you into buying Reason 12 upgrade now, before the price goes to $199 on October 1. https://www.reasonstudios.com/blog/reason-new-pricing Marketing genius or insanity? I made my decision to stick with Suite 11 (low-res and all) after a three month free trial of Reason + and then 12. It looks like the end of the road for sure now, but then I am only using the Rack in other DAWs. <edit> I felt the Suite 11 deal was a great value BTW. Massive, great musical content. I feel sorry for the "Reason as a DAW" faithful though.

I understand that. Most of the Sampletank sounds and capabilities are just AWESOME IMHO. I now have "everything" for it, and the only resounding dud is Miroslav (and I do have version 2 full). ST has a great ARP, phrase builder, envelope editor, unparalleled FX (all of Mixbox is in there), CPU efficiency... BUT The UI just doesn't look and feel "right". I have been using ST a ton lately, in no small part because of all the new add-ons I acquired, and yet I still stumble around the UI trying to get where I want to be, and often find myself inadvertently changing an instrument on a different channel than I intended to. I know nothing about UI design, but I know I don't like THIS one. I don't find the icons intuitive and they are scattered around the window. The browser is a problem too. Send a drone over to peek in the windows at Arturia and lift some code from Analog Lab V. 🧐

Once we hit 16 I will have everything that IK is offering (that I didn't already own). Now I really am glad I didn't pull the trigger on TS3 MAX a couple months ago, because I will get there for about $200. 👍 (I am also very pleased that my pessimistic "final tally" prediction of 15 will be crushed by the onslaught). Now- How many upgrades or new products will IK have on offer in November? Amplitube 6, T-Racks-6, SampleTank 5, MODO Kazoo .... 😏

So- After making that long post, I see I didn't really answer your questions 🙃 I make music for the joy of it, so "time management" just is not an issue to me. I use RC in my DAW (currently primarily Studio One), but I am NOT really making use of the "full composition" capability, rather coming up with phrases or sections that I record to the DAW tracks. RC supports drag and drop MIDI and VST hosting, so it is quite usable stand alone. I just find it faster to bring up a DAW template where I already have RC directing the parts to tracks that are pre-loaded with (usually) multi-timbrel VSTs like Kontakt or Falcon.

First off- ^^ What Steve said ^^ Get the demo and get into it. If you feel overwhelmed, watch some YouTubes and study the MusicDevelopments forum. Also- I can not overemphasize how responsive the developer is to user input. I think almost every feature request gets added. Sometimes in just a day or two. Same with bug report fixes. I have a lot of algorithmic composer tools. I really enjoy seeing what they can do. At a fundamental level, they are all random data generators, spitting out a stream of MIDI note start, end, and velocity data. Perhaps some controller data as well, depending on the tool. The program provides ways to filter, constrain, or otherwise direct that randomness that provides "musical" output. LOTS of subjectivity here, of course. The heart of Rapid Composers "rule sets" are called Generators. There are currently 21 different Generators. I am going to only show one of the simpler Generators- The "Generic". Other Generators will have added rule sets pertaining to their styles, like timing for the Strum Generator, etc. This is the Generic Generator phrase customization window. For brevity 😉I will skip Size - just setting for phrase length there. Next on the menu is Chord. Along with scale choice, lock to scale, and Magnet (basically voice leading with it's own sub-settings). We have the following voicing options: Next menu item is Variations. We have a long list. I will just bring up ONE Variation window "Slice Phrase" and paste it after the list. You can activate as many variations as you like. Next on the menu is Rhythm. There are drop downs for Rhythm type (probabilistic shown) and length. You can also completely customize your own fixed rhythm. RC also supports rhythmic analysis of any dropped in MIDI file. On to Generator- This will be especially different based on which of the 21 Generators you are editing- remember we are only in Generic here. There a lots of probability sliders all over RC BTW. Lastly we have Harmony. There are several setting along the left, but I chose to open and display the "Rule Set" selector for brevity. That's the core micro-functionality of RC in a very tiny nutshell. Keep in mind you can change every aspect of every Generator at will. Every measure. Every note! (absurd but possible). Of course you can save your Generator customization as a preset.

Not gonna use my $20 code. DM for it.

Don't shoot the messenger(s)!

I did a little digging- It looks like Arturia V collection was $250 last BF for "anyone". In 2019 it was $199 for owners of any Arturia product ($250 for newbies). Right now in my account (keep in mind I don't own any V series synth, Just Lab and Pigments). My upgrade off to V Collection 8 is $269. Interestingly of I click the the link in the top post, the offer is V Collection 8 PLUS SQ80 + soundpacks for the same $269.

Any idea what V collection usually goes for on BF? I don't currently have V at all, just Lab 5 and Pigments 3. Thanks.

Waves Update Plan (WUP) now 25% off (no ending date yet). https://everyplugin.com/waves-upgrades

Yeah- I always feel pressured to type these posts in fast lest Lars hit ENTER first and then drop the "dupe hammer" on me 😝

Version 5.4 Release Notes (September 14, 2021): New features and improvements: ● Native support for Apple Silicon (M1) processors ● Plug-in Nap – CPU-performance optimization ● Performance optimizations for Mix Engine FX ● Improved Autosave behavior ● Export Song to multiple audio file formats in one pass ● Realtime chord display in Editor ● New Chord Display floating window ● Improved chord detection ● Note Controller support for Audio Unit instruments ● Additional HD video frame rate support ● New “Set Time Offset to Cursor” option ● Updated Plug-in Manager with statistics ● Manual blocklisting of plug-ins ● User-definable diagnostics report and profiling options ● “Copy external files” option for Songs, Projects, and Shows ● New command “Insert Instrument Parts from Chord Track” ● “Remove all” option for sends ● Time Display and Remaining Record Time window now resizable ● FaderPort 8 + 16: On/Off for individual send slots ● FaderPort 8 + 16: Display send or cue mix slot numbers on display ● Switch Mono/Stereo for multiple selected tracks ● Mixdown settings also stored when dialog is canceled ● Improved file naming for mixdown between markers ● Long track names now abbreviated in plug-in window header 1 PreSonus Studio One 5 – Version History The following issues have been fixed: ● ROLI Equator (v1) VST3 plug-in no longer blocked ● [ATOM SQ] Control Link parameter drag and drop not working ● [ATOM SQ] Macro commands not displayed correctly ● [ATOM SQ] Text updates exceeding a certain length are ignored ● [FaderPort 8/16] Some tracks not shown after opening a song ● [FaderPort 8/16] Operating mode is not detected on launch under certain conditions ● [macOS] Delay in drag when moving a pinned editor ● [macOS] Playback may get stuck when using stock instruments ● [macOS] Security mechanism misses Waves 11 plug-in crashes ● [Note Editor] Editing might lag in certain cases, e. g. with many sound variations ● [PreSonus Sphere] Deleting multiple files in a workspace in Cloud tab is limited to two files ● [Sample One] Potential crash when playing reversed samples at 96 kHz ● [Score Editor] Certain transposed instrument tracks not playing back correctly ● [Score Editor] Duplicating musical directions causes overlaps in most situations ● [Score Editor] Jumps after entering score symbol ● [Score Editor] Sometimes incorrect rests are entered when editing events ● Alt + mouse wheel to select next layers stopped working ● Arpeggiator Note FX auditions without receiving events under certain conditions ● Arranger/Chord/Marker tracks cannot be opened in certain situations ● Automation tracks packed to a folder don't follow Solo/Mute state ● Broken automation lane for FabFilter Simplon ● Dragging audio clips from Pool to Impact/SampleOne not working ● Exported MIDI file contains scratch pad data ● Folder tracks do not follow "Disable Events under automation envelopes" option ● Horizontal scrolling with mouse wheel in Console only works properly above faders ● Impact XT pitch names out of sync when used in Multi Instrument ● Instrument automation keeps writing to undo history during playback ● Note Controller not reset when part removed ● Note Controllers don’t reset to default as expected for VST3 instruments ● Output Movement from Studio Magic Bundle does not appear in Studio One 5 Prime ● Parts and events should be selected exclusively when drawn with pencil tool ● “Play Overlaps” settings revert to default when tracks are transformed ● Potential crash when selecting Browser tabs ● Potential crash on deleting unused instruments while multiple songs are open ● Switching process precision changes event gain ● Track Notes width not stored properly 2 PreSonus Studio One 5 – Version History ● "Select Highest/Lowest Notes" macros select too many notes ● Very long audio files may loop unexpectedly

https://www.orb-composer.com/ Midi generator (similar to Captain Plug-ins ) <edit> Originally I had Captain Beat here, but Orb Producer does NOT do percussion so far/ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HGGuxL4Ji84 99 Euros 49 Euros upgrade from 2 (2 was a free upgrade from 1) When I logged in to my Hexachords account I found a "Flash sale" upgrade for 39 Euros good until September 22

From the PB email: Coupon valid until 10th October at 23:59 PST

Autumn is here - and so are the FeelYourSound discounts! Hi everybody, the weather is still pretty mild and pleasant here in Dresden, but the days are definitely getting shorter now. Time to welcome the autumn time with some discount deals! If you missed the introductory sales for HouseEngine, this is a good time to get a second chance. You can get 15% off on single products - or grab one of the bundles to save up to 20% -> https://feelyoursound.com/bundles/ All products at a glance: Sundog Song Studio (stand-alone songwriting solution; create complete songs quickly). ChordPotion (VSTi and AU plug-in; transform simple chords into impressive new phrases instantly). MelodicFlow (scales and melodies plug-in (VSTi, AU); work within your DAW and always play "on the right notes"). XotoPad (turn your PC into a Windows touch controller + instrument). HouseEngine (specialized House songwriting and production tool).

I am checking and RE-checking my freebie choices because I already screwed up and got something I already had (Thank you Peter and IK support for bailing me out when it was all my fault). I already have Amplitube 5 cross-grade and among the packs I plan to get are SVX and SVX2. BUT, I am also seeing "SVX2 Upgrade" in my choices. Is there a difference?

I got a Peter-Poke 😶 in my email Wednesday evening that must have moved the mountain. Keep poking! Every level is three more in my piggy bank 👍

I was wondering about this to. It looks like MIDI drag and drop and export were added in an update. See pages 12-13 in the manual.

Same here! I took a $3 trial and already cancelled, but it runs a few more days. I already had RBass but tagged the others and actually installed the ERA 5 De-Esser to give it a spin. Thanks Lars!

Looks like my pessimistic prognostication of 15 on 9/30 will be shoved aside. I hope so! Kind of cool to pick up a hand full of freebies every week or so and see the trough fill back up again. I am going to end up spending $200 credits on $50 titles, but WTH... it's fun!

But a picture is worth a thousand samples 😗

Cableguys suite is a great playground. This might be a good entry to get an upgrade offer to the full pack. Even if not, this one is good for quick musical "re-rhythming" parts. Especially percussion loops for some variety. Lot's of pre-sets included.

This always looked like it might be fun. I like the Realitone stuff I have. "Hip-Hop" is not my genre, but samples plus FX equals... It was at the $100 US intro price for a long time. This one comes to about $82 USD currently. Hmmm.

You can have it ALL