VST Notepad

[Helios.G]

Hey guys, just wanted to share a quick experience I had in case anyone else uses this plugin.  I've used (and recommended on here), vst notepad for years.  I pretty much can't do projects without it, as sometimes my projects can get big.  So this weekend I was working on a song with 86 tracks, which on my system isn't too bad, and it kept hanging and bogging down on me.  I was pushing through it, when I went to write a note down and the track hung for like a minute.  For whatever reason, I thought to disable just my notepad plugs, and my track was back to being speedy.   Vst notepad is vst2, and normally that wouldn't be an issue for me, cause cakewalk has a built in wrapper for those, but because it was acting up, I used jbridge on them, and still, they'd hang.  So I went and found a vst3 notepad app from major decibel simply called notes.  I'm not affiliated with them at all, but the app is free up to 200 characters, but it's only 1.99, so it's not too bad an investment.  It immediately improved the feel and speed of my sessions when I swapped out the old note plug for this one.  So all that said, for anyone who ever took me up on recommending vst notepad and has felt like their projects have slowed down for some reason, it might just be the note app.  

[timboalogo]

Interesting, Helios.

I use Windows 11's notepad for my lyrics and notes and am happy with it.

I wonder where Major Decibel's product stores the data - there isn't much info on their website.

Timbo

[mettelus]

Melda's MNotepad has also been around for years and is part of their MFreeFXBundle.

[Helios.G]

2 minutes ago, mettelus said:

Melda's MNotepad has also been around for years and is part of their MFreeFXBundle.

I've seen that one, but I didn't want to get their bundle, but if you're into the melda products, that's a great option.

[Helios.G]

16 minutes ago, timboalogo said:

Interesting, Helios.

I use Windows 11's notepad for my lyrics and notes and am happy with it.

I wonder where Major Decibel's product stores the data - there isn't much info on their website.

Timbo

I'm not sure.  I work off-line, and it seems to be functioning like my other note plugin.  I used to use windows note pad too, but once my projects started getting more complicated, I needed a way to write notes on individual tracks in order to keep myself organized.  

[Bristol_Jonesey]

7 hours ago, Helios.G said:

Hey guys, just wanted to share a quick experience I had in case anyone else uses this plugin.  I've used (and recommended on here), vst notepad for years.  I pretty much can't do projects without it, as sometimes my projects can get big.  So this weekend I was working on a song with 86 tracks, which on my system isn't too bad, and it kept hanging and bogging down on me.  I was pushing through it, when I went to write a note down and the track hung for like a minute.  For whatever reason, I thought to disable just my notepad plugs, and my track was back to being speedy.   Vst notepad is vst2, and normally that wouldn't be an issue for me, cause cakewalk has a built in wrapper for those, but because it was acting up, I used jbridge on them, and still, they'd hang.  So I went and found a vst3 notepad app from major decibel simply called notes.  I'm not affiliated with them at all, but the app is free up to 200 characters, but it's only 1.99, so it's not too bad an investment.  It immediately improved the feel and speed of my sessions when I swapped out the old note plug for this one.  So all that said, for anyone who ever took me up on recommending vst notepad and has felt like their projects have slowed down for some reason, it might just be the note app.  

You do know you can add notes to every track in your project yes?

[Helios.G]

8 minutes ago, Bristol_Jonesey said:

You do know you can add notes to every track in your project yes?

Hey Jonesy, yes, but I always find the space for notes on the tracks limiting.  Where as with a note plugin I can resize it however I like, and copy paste the plug to similar groupings that might share settings.  I know it's not how everyone works, it's just how I do it.  I only posted this cause I remembered recommending the older app to a few people a couple of times on here, and maybe they were having similar issues without knowing why.  

Edited Monday at 09:29 PM by Helios.G

[Bristol_Jonesey]

8 minutes ago, Helios.G said:

Hey Jonesy, yes, but I always find the space for notes on the tracks limiting.  Where as with a note plugin I can resize it however I like, and copy paste the plug to similar groupings that might share settings.  I know it's not how everyone works, it's just how I do it.  I only posted this cause I remembered recommending the older app to a few people a couple of times on here, and maybe they were having similar issues without knowing why.  

Yeah, fair enough. Just wondering if you were aware of it, that's all. Surprising how many users don't 

[ot ouss]

I've been using a FREE plugin called VSTNotepad here for a while now.

https://www.codefn42.com

I haven't used it for large-scale projects, but I think it's stable. Just for your reference.

Edited yesterday at 04:54 AM by ot ouss

[Helios.G]

8 hours ago, ot ouss said:

I've been using a FREE plugin called VSTNotepad here for a while now.

https://www.codefn42.com

I haven't used it for large-scale projects, but I think it's stable. Just for your reference.

Did you see the title of my post?

[ot ouss]

I'm sorry.  
I didn't realize it was from the same vendor.

[Helios.G]

46 minutes ago, ot ouss said:

I'm sorry.  
I didn't realize it was from the same vendor.

No worries

[Starship Krupa]

21 hours ago, Helios.G said:

I've seen that one, but I didn't want to get their bundle, but if you're into the melda products, that's a great option.

You don't want the other plug-ins cluttering up your menus, I presume?

I believe the current MPluginManager allows you to individually select which plug-ins from the bundle you wish to install.

While you may not be interested in the audio processors, there are other really useful utilities in there besides MNotepad. MOscillator, MNoiseGenerator, MStereoScope, MTuner, and MMetronome are my favorites. While I seldom if ever use MNotepad, I make regular use of the other ones.

At this very moment, I'm doing notch therapy for tinnitus using MNoiseGenerator. I used MOscillator to find my tinnitus frequency, then called up white noise with MNoiseGenerator and used its built-in EQ to create a notch at that frequency.

For those curious, I've been doing it daily for over a week. It seems to be having a positive effect. I don't know if it's reduced the tinnitus, but I seem to be noticing it less. It's still there if I focus on it, but the white noise seems to distract my brain from it. I'm not even sure that it wouldn't work the same way without the notch, but hey, hard to argue with positive results.

[timboalogo]

2 hours ago, Starship Krupa said:

At this very moment, I'm doing notch therapy for tinnitus using MNoiseGenerator. I used MOscillator to find my tinnitus frequency, then called up white noise with MNoiseGenerator and used its built-in EQ to create a notch at that frequency.

For those curious, I've been doing it daily for over a week. It seems to be having a positive effect. I don't know if it's reduced the tinnitus, but I seem to be noticing it less. It's still there if I focus on it, but the white noise seems to distract my brain from it. I'm not even sure that it wouldn't work the same way without the notch, but hey, hard to argue with positive results.

Thanks for this Starship Krupa,

I hadn't heard of such therapy, I'm going to have to find some tools to do what you've done.

Timbo

[Amberwolf]

9 hours ago, Starship Krupa said:

At this very moment, I'm doing notch therapy for tinnitus using MNoiseGenerator. I used MOscillator to find my tinnitus frequency, then called up white noise with MNoiseGenerator and used its built-in EQ to create a notch at that frequency.

For those curious, I've been doing it daily for over a week. It seems to be having a positive effect. I don't know if it's reduced the tinnitus, but I seem to be noticing it less. It's still there if I focus on it, but the white noise seems to distract my brain from it. I'm not even sure that it wouldn't work the same way without the notch, but hey, hard to argue with positive results.

That sounds potentially useful.  My tinnitus is very very LOUD and in multiple bands.  I have occasionally sat down to find the frequencies, but have never finished the process (not sure that new ones don't come up all the time, either).  But I have not tried "notch therapy"; I ran across a reference under a different term but is probably the same thing, but didn't dig into it.   

May i assume that the notch you're creating is there to only *allow* that frequency thru? Rather than to block it? 

 

FWIW, none of the broadband noises (pink, white, grey, etc) have helped me; if I am running my boxfan (or pink noise on a speaker when its too chilly for the fan) that helps me sleep by blocking out the noises of the world, my tinnitus is still just as loud and present as always (since it started a while back (couple years ago?  I don't remember anymore; it's so loud it makes it hard to think, remember, concentrate, or do anything) and keeps me from sleeping even as poorly as I used to before it started. 

 

If the Melda plugs are available as individual installers (not going to use any "managers", had my fill of problems with those over the years), I'd be willing to try if the ones you're using are the free ones.  If not, I probably already have things that will do the same jobs.  

[Bristol_Jonesey]

I feel your guys pain. I've had permanent tinnitus in my left ear for about 15 years and it never goes away.

The only time I don't notice it is when I'm in the shower.

That's a very interesting take on using an Oscillator and Notch Filter. Will have to look in my toolbox and see what I've got.

The frequency of my tinnitus never changes but it's extremely high. Given the drop off in the top end of my hearing, I'm surprised I can hear it 🤣🤣🤣

[Starship Krupa]

3 hours ago, Amberwolf said:

That sounds potentially useful.  My tinnitus is very very LOUD and in multiple bands.  I have occasionally sat down to find the frequencies, but have never finished the process (not sure that new ones don't come up all the time, either).  But I have not tried "notch therapy"; I ran across a reference under a different term but is probably the same thing, but didn't dig into it.   

May i assume that the notch you're creating is there to only *allow* that frequency thru? Rather than to block it? 

The inverse, actually. The method is white noise with a notch right at my tinnitus frequency.

You can get more of an idea on this website: https://tinnitusnotch.com/ and/or Google "tinnitus notch therapy." Of course the first few hits will be for sites trying to get your info and sign you up for whatever they're selling, but there is more than one that puts more information and even tools up front.

Once I got the gist of what it was about, I decided that I could roll my own using my favorite utilities. MOscillator, swept it until I found my tinnitus frequency, then MNoiseGenerator set to white noise and using its own internal EQ to create the notch. There's nothing magic about using the MeldaProduction versions of these basic utilities. They just happen to be my favorites and have been with me for many years.

All you need to duplicate what I'm doing is a source of white noise and an EQ. I put a spectrum analyzer downstream to help me visualize the notch I was creating.

3 hours ago, Amberwolf said:

it's so loud it makes it hard to think, remember, concentrate, or do anything) and keeps me from sleeping even as poorly as I used to before it started. 

That sounds awful. I hope that maybe you can get something out of it. I don't know if it's due to something else I'm doing, but I've felt more clearheaded and seem to have more energy. The only conscious effect of tinnitus I've noticed is that it seems to interfere with critical listening of music, which is bad enough. But my guess is that no noise is better than noise one must tune out. It must take brainpower to do that.

I have an odd history with tinnitus; I was bothered by it even more 25 years ago, then it actually subsided, then it's come back in the past couple of years for no reason that I can think of. So I have reason to hope that it is possible for it to subside; I've experienced it myself.

The human body responds to stimuli in so many ways that seem counterintuitive. Deep massage, for instance, it can be really painful it first, but a couple of days later the initial soreness goes away and I feel way better.

3 hours ago, Amberwolf said:

If the Melda plugs are available as individual installers (not going to use any "managers", had my fill of problems with those over the years), I'd be willing to try if the ones you're using are the free ones.  If not, I probably already have things that will do the same jobs.

As with most major manufacturers these days, MeldaProduction have an installer shell. It lets you choose which of their plug-ins you wish to install and then installs them. If that's outside your comfort zone, then you should look elsewhere. Melda's hasn't caused me any trouble so far in regard to installing FX and utilities.

[mettelus]

4 hours ago, Amberwolf said:

May i assume that the notch you're creating is there to only *allow* that frequency thru? Rather than to block it? 

Correct. I am not sure why they chose "notch" to describe it since notch has a specific meaning to anyone that uses EQs. Here is a brief article on it and success rates for a few studies that have been done.

Quick edit: Just realized there are various methods that employ this same term, and some are, in fact, "notched." There seems to be no definite answer to which works best for whom, so tailoring to what works for you specifically is always best.  

Edited 15 hours ago by mettelus

[Helios.G]

Hey fellas, Just saw your sidebar on tinnitus and I had remembered reading something about treatment that's been approved, hopefully some of you find it useful. 

 https://cse.umn.edu/bme/news/new-tinnitus-treatment-receives-fda-approval

 

[Starship Krupa]

10 hours ago, mettelus said:

there are various methods that employ this same term, and some are, in fact, "notched."

I haven't yet seen one that uses the term "notched" that doesn't use a frequency notch. I'd find it strange for a professional in any field of audio to use that term to describe anything other than....a notch.

There's not one in the link you put in your post.

2 hours ago, Helios.G said:

Hey fellas, Just saw your sidebar on tinnitus and I had remembered reading something about treatment that's been approved, hopefully some of you find it useful. 

 https://cse.umn.edu/bme/news/new-tinnitus-treatment-receives-fda-approval

Ah, that's the one that combines auditory stimulus with mild electrical pulses delivered to the surface of the tongue. I learned about that when I was poking around.

https://neuromod.com/lenire/

They claim pretty amazing rates of symptom remission or reduction in their trials.