Michael A.D.

Anyone remember a program called X-OR that was written by Bob Melvin in the late 80's?  It was a cross-platform (IBM, Mac, Atari) program that was a generic editor for synths, so you could have all your patches for all your synths in one program. 

In 1991, when Roland released the SC-55  it was the first synth to use the General Midi spec.   I already owned several MIDI synths but purchased the SC-55 as soon as it was available.   Then using the X-OR program I wrote the first GM editor and put it up on Compuserve so others could download it and use it.   I recall that it was very cumbersome to use - if I recall correctly you had to download 3 modules to use it.  But folks downloaded it and liked it.  And I recall Bob Melvin writing to me and complimenting me on it and making suggestions for further enhancements.

You can get a taste of what X-OR was like via this article:  

http://www.muzines.co.uk/articles/dr-ts-x-or/170

Very nice!  Thanks Soundiron. 

(I had to do a Kontakt batch resave to make the new presets see the original samples... took about 5 minutes...  just pointing it out in case someone gets the new presets and they do not automatically see the samples.)

Me:

Composition --> Production -->  Composition is refined --> Production is refined --> repeat till finished.

I think it is Profanity.   Even the screen shot of the Kontakt instrument says Profanity Organ.

And OH YEAH - it's the best organ that $6 can buy.  

I don't know how the guy programmed it with just one sine wave, but it sounds amazing!

I'm glad (in a way) that APD offered 2 of these plugins as freebies.  I felt it would be a good way to check out this deal. But after going through some of the most convoluted, time-consuming (and totally unnecessary) installations I have ever encountered for freebies, I finally got to try them out.    5 minutes later I erased all traces of these plug-ins from my system.  Very disappointing to say the least.   I suggest everyone try the freebies before making this purchase. 

(I know I know...  never speak badly about a sub-$20 deal... but in this case I just wanted to tell everyone to try 'em before you buy 'em.)  

14 hours ago, projectm said:

Yes, I agree. I’m forever done with Waves. The plugs are good but not worth the hassle

I've been done with them for more than a year.    Will never purchase from them again!

I listened to the one demo that they have posted on their site.  It contained samples of the various MIDI styles they are offering.  I found them to be quite sterile, and well, boring.   There wasn't much melodic content - it was a lot of arpeggio stuff, all rather simple without much inspiration.  Perhaps it's just a matter of stylistic preference.

I do like the MIDI files from Smash Up the Studio.  There's a much wider range of styles, though most are in the funk, soul, and jazz area.  They are reasonably priced, but they are a really great deal when they go on sale.

http://www.smashupthestudio.com/

Thanks Matt - I just d/l and ran FIN-MICRO_win_128 and it now works as expected.  (Officially called Fin-Micro 1.01)

I had been using FIN-MICRO_win_123 and I suspect that a programmer forgot to delete their testing method.

Matt, curious how you identified that loop?  I am familiar with Google Images and how you can search for matching images, but have never

encountered a similar method for audio.

I've written to UJAM support and will let everyone know what they say.  I have to suspect it's designed to let you audition the various modes in the program, but for some odd reason it's not hearing the Silk guitar.

I just did another test in which I just wrote some random midi notes (no midi instrument) and then processed it with Finisher Micro... and yep, I got the vocal again.

6 hours ago, antler said:

would you be able to upload a recording of the vocal? I don't have SILK so I can't try it out, but I'd be interested in hearing the phantom vocal.

Here it is - with Silk in the background. 

FinisherMicroVocal.wav

On 12/28/2019 at 6:43 AM, msmcleod said:

Haha - I see what you mean. I get a similar female choir effect using Fin-Micro's "Infinity" patch and SILK. 

The effect seems to be adding high harmonics and soaking them in reverb & delay. There must be something in the existing harmonics of the nylon guitar that causes this.

Actually, this technique is exactly how I used to get a choir-type patch using one of my old casio synths... turn down the the cut-off frequency, wack up the resonance, and put it through a reverb & delay with a touch of chorus.

This is not a choir effect that I am hearing.  This is an explicitly worded female vocal, and I cannot tell you the exact words as I am at work, but it's something about a road.  And the vocal is tied exactly to the clip as I was testing it as a loop.   I guess I need to contact UJAM and get to the bottom of this.

This is BIZARRE.  To try it out (and based on Reid Rosefelts's post) I loaded up UJAM's Silk guitar, selected a folk style and created a 4 bar pattern.  Listened to it to make sure it was working right, then loaded up Finisher Micro to process the track.   Started to play it and a FEMALE VOCAL began... WTF?  I immediately stopped it... nope - nothing else loaded... hit play again and she was singing again... and I could hear the Silk guitar part behind her.  Then I played with the modes and they affected only the vocal.  I bypassed Finisher Micro, and was left with the guitar.

I then loaded up a new track with a male vocal... processed it... and it worked as expected - Finisher Micro just processed the male vocal and there was no female vocal heard.

So, if anyone has Silk, do me a favor and try it with Finisher Micro.  I don't think I am crazy, but this is nuts!  

I read the manual and there is nothing about a female vocal... perhaps it's meant to act as a demo when you don't have source material?     Yet Reid is showing a YouTube clip above with Amber and it's working as you'd expect. 

Oh yeah!!!  Can't wait to try out this new update.   Should be interesting to see how they integrate the piano.

12 hours ago, kitekrazy said:

Their stuff is high quality but I think after awhile phrase libraries tend to lose their challenge among users.

Yeah, they just offered Largo at 50% off, but I looked at all the Sonokinetic stuff I already have, and realized that though I love the sound quality of their stuff,  I don't use Sonokinetic phrase libraries anywhere near as much as regular libraries where I can write/play each note that I want.  So I decided I really didn't need Largo. 

I use a program called Ace Text to keep track of almost everything I do, from receipts to passwords to instructions for a particular VST to DAW hints&tips to... well you name it!

What's cool is that you never have to save anything - everything you write is saved automatically - just write (or paste from some other source).  And you create the categories/topics and you can search all the categories or a particular category.

Check it out:

https://www.acetext.com/

13 hours ago, kitekrazy said:

I'd like it if it were more discounted than 33%.   I suggested before no freebies but very heavy discounts for everyone. This recent library didn't seem impressive to where I'm PO'd I didn't get it.

I gotta agree with Kite.   I got the Modal Runs for free, but I would have been disappointed if I had to have paid for it at a 33% discount.    And I missed the Noir Ostinato freebie, but again at a 33% discount (and after listening to their YouTube demos), I don't know if I want it at that price... and I REALLY LOVE the original Noir.   But the Noir Ostinatos seems a bit overpriced, especially as Fleer pointed out, they seem to be rather smallish samples.

So, yeah, I appreciate Sonokinetic giving away freebies, but no freebies and a larger discount would be my preference, too.

Yes, somehow I survived the Black Friday sales.

I only spent $74 the last two weeks and $59 was for the introductory offer for the new Joshua Bell Essential violin, so that really shouldn't even count as a Black Friday sale.

Yes, I admit I drooled at lots of offers and though the GAS was strong, I resisted almost all the temptations and only purchased a $15 program called ReMidi.

But the battle isn't over and now I have to resist the XMAS/NEW YEAR deals... and I am very worried that Sonokinetic is going to do a sale on Largo and I won't be able to say no.

And who knows what other deals will appear out of nowhere and grab me?

Yes, it's a very dangerous time of year.  

Happy holidays everyone!

1 hour ago, TheSteven said:

Check the timer running on top of the item on sale page.

Da Capo sale ends at 8am PST today (Wed)

So much for my theory! 

I just checked and Da Capo is still on sale as we are about to enter day 3, so I would guess that all the sale prices will be in effect through the 12 days.

With my wife I don't get no respect. I made a toast on her birthday to 'the best woman a man ever had.' The waiter joined me.

--Rodney Dangerfield
 

It's a tough program to learn... I am still figuring out stuff... but it is certainly worth the effort to learn it.

I highly recommend it and this sale is a great opportunity to get ALL the Jamstix stuff (Jamstix Ultimate) for only $119. 

There's a WONDERFUL book called "Gödel, Escher, Bach: An Eternal Golden Braid" that discusses the concepts of logic, order, symmetry, inversions, etc in music, art and literature.    And it does so in a very entertaining way! 

It's the kind of book that you can pick it up, read just a few pages, then come back to it in a few days for more insights.   Great stuff to ponder!

Check it out:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gödel,_Escher,_Bach

I listened to the demo last night.  It sounded pleasant, and might have some uses, but nothing that I could get too excited about.

I used to grab these kind of deals, but I am trying to be more discerning with my purchases, so I am passing on this.

Chord Potion is my favorite plug-in of 2019.  

I am a crappy keyboard player, but I know how to play chords and I know how to voice lead from one chord to another.  If you can do that, then Chord Potion will make your crappy keyboard playing come alive.     Check out the demo and you might be shocked at what it can do.

And of course  you are not restricted to keyboard sounds - I can make elaborate symphonic stuff using Chord Potion to trigger programs like Amadeus, The Orchestra, Elysion, etc.

I highly recommend this collection, and at $35 this is a fantastic deal.  Read some of the reviews and then buy it!