Larry Shelby Posted November 16, 2020 Share Posted November 16, 2020 After 12 months of development, the biggest update of RapidComposer is here. A redesigned user interface with docked browsers, improved workflow, revamped rhythm and phrase generators, new Melody Editor, rewritten VST/VST3/AU plug-ins, and folder tracks are just a few of the new features. Intro Offer: Get 25% discount if you purchase RapidComposer v4.0 before November 29 (full edition for $149, light edition for $59). Highlights: Redesigned user interface. Browsers are docked on the right side, file browser added. Melody Editor tab added for motive development, melody generation and editing. All rhythm and phrase generators were revamped. New rewritten VST2, VST3 and AU plugins. The plug-ins are self contained, so they do not use the main application. You can use soundfonts in the plug-in. The installer is improved, including installing plug-ins. The Windows installer includes 32-bit and 64-bit versions. Folder tracks. Peak meters and Audio Gain slider displayed for SF2, VSTi and audio tracks. Settings / VSTi page reworked and simplified. New structure inspector with extended functionality. Diatonic and chromatic mediant chords are in the Chords Suggestions. The initial 'enter license key' screen redesigned with the possibility to start the demo version. New variation: 'Apply Shape'. It is similar to Apply Melody but uses the new rhythm mapping. Add selected chords to a progression rule (from the master track, the progression editor, and the browser). Additional bigger font sizes offered, suitable for 4K resolution. At the first usage font size is automatically set based on the screen resolution. Supporting special characters in directory names (Cyrillic, Kanji, etc.). Color themes updated and cleaned up. New color themes: 'Dark With Orange', 'Katalin Dark'. Dozens of other improvements and bug fixes. Upgrade info for RapidComposer owners: Orders after April 1, 2019 receive a free upgrade. Expect an e-mail with your v4 license key and download links in the next few days. Please contact us if you don't receive your new license key until November 20th. Orders before April 1, 2019 can upgrade to v4.0 for $60 (full edition) or $30 (light edition). When ordering, please use your license key as the coupon code to get the upgrade price. We'll notify these customers about upgrading by e-mail. http://www.musicdevelopments.com/ 1 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ZincT Posted November 16, 2020 Share Posted November 16, 2020 Thanks Larry! Been waiting for this and I'm eligible for a free upgrade. I'm hoping the new version will be a bit more user friendly than the old! 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matthew Sorrels Posted November 16, 2020 Share Posted November 16, 2020 I first bought mine in in Dec 2014. Was pretty happy to pay the upgrade fee for V4 (till now upgrades have been free!). Would have bought it again at full price even. It's still pretty cryptic but nothing else in all these years has help me actually work with music theory and understand some small bit of how it's supposed to work as this. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pbognar Posted November 17, 2020 Share Posted November 17, 2020 So you recommend it for that price? Any decent videos showing its capabilities? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matthew Sorrels Posted November 17, 2020 Share Posted November 17, 2020 8 hours ago, pbognar said: So you recommend it for that price? Any decent videos showing its capabilities? Rapid Composer isn't for everyone, I do recommend you try the demo version. If you want to see some videos I'd recommend looking at the posts at KvR in the Tips & Tricks sub group https://www.kvraudio.com/forum/viewforum.php?f=285 If you are more of a EDM/Pop/Rock composer I think the Captain Chords plugins are a bit easier to use and get started with. Rapid Composer is really more of a whole new DAW. 1 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
simon Posted November 17, 2020 Share Posted November 17, 2020 16 hours ago, ZincT said: Thanks Larry! Been waiting for this and I'm eligible for a free upgrade. I'm hoping the new version will be a bit more user friendly than the old! that grace period (april 2019) is pretty generous .....upgrade is $60 for me I'm on the fence about upgrading - as you point out, not hugely user friendly.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ZincT Posted November 17, 2020 Share Posted November 17, 2020 (edited) 58 minutes ago, simon said: that grace period (april 2019) is pretty generous .....upgrade is $60 for me I'm on the fence about upgrading - as you point out, not hugely user friendly.... Yes pretty generous. It remains to be seen whether the update brings user friendliness with it! Part of the appeal is that it is so deep but with that complexity comes the need to spend time absorbing how it works and understanding all of the options. A lot of the tutorial videos in the past seem to have been made by enthusiastic users like these for v3 --> http://www.musicdevelopments.com/videos.html It's ironic that for "rapid" music creation I tend to turn to Captain Plugins or Orb Production Suite but I will remain hopeful. I notice that there seems to be some more user videos now under the Support -> Rapidcomposer website menu (Yildirin and HiEnergy) which I hadn't noticed before and might be worth checking out. I also hadn't see the video posted above by Matthew. Will be interested to see whether v4 has anything new in the way of tutorials in the coming months. What they need is someone like Eli Krantzberg to make an in-depth video on Groove 3. I can dream can't I? Edited November 17, 2020 by ZincT 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matthew Sorrels Posted November 17, 2020 Share Posted November 17, 2020 V4 has a slightly better UI (though the icons are now kind of plain I guess). It has a much better plugin approach. Before it launched the stand alone version and now it actually runs as a plugin, no separate exe window. That seems much better. Though I'll admit I rarely used the VST interface. This change might push me more that way. To be honest I've pretty much ignored V4, I installed the beta but haven't really given it much time at all. Haven't been making much music at all lately. For me the real appeal is all the crazy generators and the massive options and ways you can control them. But to get them you do need to get the full version. In fact I'd recommend you not get the lite version at all. Rapid Composer is a hard sell for new users though. I wish I could tell people it's great and they should get it, but getting something out of it requires a fair bit of heavy learning. And it doesn't make it very easy either. V4 doesn't seem to have changed that all that much really. One thing I do think that makes Rapid Composer slightly more interesting than some of it's competitors (which I also have) is that while it does generate things, you are really completely in control. It's not just a random note generator. It is all about composing and tools to do that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spice3d Posted December 21, 2020 Share Posted December 21, 2020 (edited) I tried RC, and ponied up and purchased. Yeah, the UI is pretty terrible and not intuitive at all. It’s good example of why companies need UI designers and should leave the programmers to the under-the-hood stuff. Like anything, if you already know how it works, you may not see what the problem is. However, as someone coming in cold, it is pretty much a mess. Sadly, the online tutorials are slow, unfocused and torture to watch. That all said, I love these type of plug-ins and have delved in to learn it. It is dang powerful and does some really cool stuff. I use Unity to get around Ableton’s limited VST MIDI routing capabilities and it works pretty well. (I have to do the same thing with Phrasebox.) I can already see me using some of the phrases in my EDM projects. IMHO what keeps RC from becoming a monster hit is the poor UI and lack of quality tutorials. I suspect the former will never happen, but the latter might. I’d do some tutorials myself if I didn’t think I would just add to the pile of crap LOL Edited December 22, 2020 by Spice3d Wrong app name 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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