AAX Native 64-bit plug-ins

The rollout of AAX Native 64-bit plug-in support has begun. Aspect, the semi-modular synth; String, the lush Solina emulator; and Sequent, a step-sequenced beat mangler and multi-effect, are all now available as AAX Native 64-bit plug-ins.

All upgrades are free for registered users. Download the updates at loomer.co.uk

AAX Native 64-bit support for the remaining product line will follow shortly.

Aspect 1.7.10 now available

Aspect 1.7.10 is now available. Fixed in this release are the following issues:

• Fixed issue which made audio rate modulation of either oscillator's pitch by the noise modulation source slightly quantized. This caused previously created presets using this configuration to sound slightly different in Aspect 1.7.9. 
• Fixed bug which occasionally caused newly saved user presets to still be marked with the changed (*) flag in the preset name display.

Download Aspect 1.7.10 for Windows, Mac OS X, and Linux here.

Aspect 1.7.9 released

I'm pleased to announce another small update for Aspect, our semi-modular synth for Windows, Mac OS X, and Linux. This release adds the following improvements:

• (Windows) Fixed incredibly rare crash which may occur when first opening the plug-in on certain 32-bit VST Windows hosts. 
• Massively improved speed and responsiveness of all UI controls. 
• Improved CPU usage when tweaking parameters from a hardware controller. 
• (Windows) For the Windows VST plug-in, when using a relative path of "." for the presets folder, the path is now relative to the plug-in's DLL file and not the host's executable file. This makes it possible to easily create a portable or USB stick install of Aspect. 
• Standalone versions now support multiple simultaneous hardware controllers. 
• (Linux) User presets are now displayed in alphabetical order in the preset browser. 
• (Linux) Improved UI font selection means that a more appropriate font is often used in any Linux distributions which provide only a small selection of default fonts. 
• Fixed an issue where the OK button in the save preset browser would temporarily become disabled when switching from the Factory presets selection. 
• Various minor compatibility fixes for certain hosts.

Download Aspect 1.7.9 for Windows, Mac OS X, and Linux here.

Aspect 1.7.7 critical bug-fix update

It seems like a rogue bug managed to slip under the radar in Aspect 1.7.6. I'd recommend anyone who downloaded it to update to Aspect 1.7.7.

This release fixes a critical bug in Aspect 1.7.6's audio synthesis engine which caused certain presets to sometimes have a transient gliding pitch at the beginning of a note. Which did admittedly add a certain flair to presets, but is, none-the-less, a bug which needed to be fixed!

Download Aspect 1.7.7 here.

Aspect 1.7.6 update for Mac OS X, Windows, and Linux

Aspect 1.7.6 for Mac OS X, Windows, and Linux is now available. This minor release adds the following improvements:

• Native 64-bit VST plug-in for Mac OS X (64-bit VST support requires Mac OS X 10.6 or greater; 64-bit Audio Unit requires Mac OS X 10.5 or greater; all other formats require Mac OS X 10.4 or greater.) 
• Preset searches are now multi-threaded. Preset browser can now immediately respond to user interaction, even whilst searching a massive preset library, or when browsing a folder containing a large number of presets. 
• Preset meta data (ie, author name, notes, tags) is now correctly displayed after loading an .FXP based preset or restoring a saved project. 
• Vastly improved CPU usage when recalculating DSP graph as a result of realtime re-wiring of a modular preset. 
• Standalone application tempo can now be set to within two decimal places of accuracy. 
• Fix for GUI freeze that could occur in certain Mac OS X VST hosts. 
• Fix for LFOs being incorrectly reset every four bars when using the standalone application. 
• Fix for minor issue which caused a changed preset to temporarily be reverted to its original state when previewing presets via the browser.

Download Aspect 1.7.6 here.

Aspect 1.7.4 update for Mac OS X, Windows, and Linux

Aspect 1.7.4 for Mac OS X, Windows, and Linux is now available. This release add the following fixes and features:

• Fix for crash (on both Windows and Linux) that could occur when 'space' is pressed when confirming the overwrite preset dialog.
  
• VU meters now automatically reset their overload status after a few seconds.
  
• Preset Browser is now maximized to fill the entire plug-in window.
  
• For Windows VST (32-bit and 64-bit), the preferences file can be placed alongside the DLL file to facilitate USB or portable installs.
  
• Clearer font in PDF documentation.

Download Aspect 1.7.4 here.

Aspect 1.7.1 update now available

Aspect 1.7.1 for Mac OS X, Windows, and Linux is now available. This release adds the following improvements:

• Fix for hung note that could occasionally occur when using legato triggering for Envelope 1.
  
• Fix for certain non-ASCII characters being either missing, or displayed incorrectly in the interface.
  
• Integrated preset browser is now re-sizeable.

Grab the update here.

Aspect 1.7: Linux 64-bit; Mono legato; Envelope triggers

Aspect 1.7 is now out. Download the update here: go shake some speakers.

Click for full-size screenshot

Improvements in this release (apparently the 19th update for Aspect!) include:

• Native 64-bit VST and Standalone application versions for Linux.
  
• Integrated undo and redo, with unlimited history size.
  
• Mono legato modes, with selectable low, high, and last note priority.
  
• Mono unison: stack up to five unison voices in mono legato mode.
  
• Independent trigger mode for each envelope: retrigger, reset, or legato.
  
• Category support in preset browser.
  
• Increased filter cutoff modulation range.
  
• CPU usage is now consistent when using the Mac OS X RTAS plug-ins.
  
• Windows VST 32-bit plug-ins and standalone applications no longer depend on additional runtime libraries. However, these libraries are still required - and installed - for the RTAS format plug-ins.
  
• libjack is now weak-linked for standalone Linux. This means JACK is not required (but still recommended) for Linux users.
  
• Windows RTAS plug-in is now installed to the correct location on 64-bit Windows operating systems.
  
• MIDI Program Changes are now multi-threaded, and so will no longer potentially stall the audio synthesis.
  
• Fix for rare issue that stopped presets from loading in Linux Renoise when LADSPA plug-in support is enabled.
  
• Factory presets now load significantly faster.
  
• Additional presets.
  
• Various host compatibility fixes.

Zen and the art of preset sharing

Big Tick Audio Software have just released 1.0 of Zen, an online preset browsing wrapper. Zen, currently available on Windows, is a lightweight VSTi plugin which wraps existing plugin instruments, adding the ability to share and browse Zen's repository of online presets. Aspect support has recently been included, so feel free to grab Zen, and upload any presets you've created. (And once you've created an account, be sure to take a look at Big Tick's impressive range of previously-commercial-but-now-free older plugins.)

Aspect 1.6.1 released

We are pleased to announce the release of Aspect 1.6.1 for Mac OS X, Windows, and Linux. This release adds the following fixes and features:

• Native 64-bit versions for Mac OS X Audio Unit, and Windows VST.
• New built-in Preset Browser with support for xml, fxp, and fxb preset files.
• Presets can now have meta-data, such as author name, notes, and tags. Use meta-data to search your preset library.
• Hot-swap preset browsing: quickly step through and preview presets in context.
• Various host compatibility fixes.
• Audio-rate pitch modulation of Oscillator 1 from Oscillator 2 now works.
• Sample & Hold module's latched value is now correctly reset when the the input source is removed.
• Much faster GUI response.
• Slight reduction in CPU usage on particularily complex presets.
• Vastly reduced start-up time.
• Clearer font rendering: a larger font is now used for menu items.
• Additional and improved factory presets.

And here is the new Preset Browser (click for full-size):

Aspect 1.6.1 is available for immediate download from http://www.loomer.co.uk

MIDI Step Sequencer in Pure Data

Presented here is a very basic MIDI Step Sequencer for Pure Data. It's locked to playing 16th notes, but the tempo and number of steps can be changed. The pattern can also be transposed. Finally, it comes with a decent random pattern creation system, ideal for that 'dead batteries in a 303' style sequence.

The top right window displays the pitches for the steps, selectable between -12 and +12 semitones. The center right window the velocity (where 0 means no note is played). The bottom window shows the currently playing step. Obviously, as a MIDI Sequencer, it doesn't actually produce audio on it's own: you'll need to route the MIDI to the instrument of your choice.

The patch itself is fairly simple; there's nothing in there a novice Pure Data-er familiar with basic messaging and lists couldn't grasp. Adding multiple pattern support would be a simple, yet interesting addition for the eager coder.

Here's a short audio demo of it at work: here, MIDI is output from Pure Data using the Mac IAC MIDI Driver (use MIDI Yoke on Windows) into Aspect, which is playing a nice analogue mono synth bass sound.




Download the patch for Pure Data here.

UPDATE: New version posted here.

Linux Format praise Aspect

"Aspect has a wonderful GUI, a beautiful sound and is immensely flexible. If you love synths, this one is well worth the money."

And so concludes Linux Format magazine's devastatingly accurate review of very own semi-modular software synth plugin Aspect. Pick up the latest issue to read the full review (which also contains a short - and equally positive - write-up about String). Thanks Linux Format!

Aspect 1.5.0 and audio samples; String 1.0.3 for Windows

A trifecta of news updates:

Aspect has now been updated to 1.5.0, which aside from all the bug fixes and improvements, also includes the vastly better oscillators that were previewed a few weeks back. Download it here.

Secondly, some audio demoes of various Aspect sample sounds have been posted on the Aspect page.

And finally, String for Windows has been updated to 1.0.3. This fixes a bug that seemingly only occurs under Sonar where notes are left hanging when the Transport is stopped. There is no reason to upgrade from 1.0.2 if you aren't using Sonar or witnessing this bug. Download here.

Sonar handles Transport stops slightly differently from other hosts. It's certainly not wrong according to the MIDI spec, but it's definitely unconventional. Instead of keeping a list of all playing notes and sending each a corresponding MIDI Note-Off when the Transport is stopped, Sonar just sends a single MIDI All Notes Off message. Any plugins that only respond to MIDI Note-Off messages and ignore MIDI All Notes Off message will manifest this hung notes problem. Aspect and String both handle this correctly since their most recent updates.

New oscillators preview

A sneak preview of some new oscillators. These have several advantages over the current Aspect oscillators:

• Reduced CPU usage: They use, on average, about 30% less CPU resources. When taking the rest of Aspect's synthesis path into account, this translates into approximately a 10% reduction in CPU resources for a patch.
  
  
• Reduced memory usage: Overall memory usage for oscillators is reduced by an impressive 80%, although this doesn't have much of an impact to the user.
  
  
• Reduced aliasing and foldover noise: Aliasing and foldover noise at the ultra high end of the frequency range is reduced to practically negligible amounts. Here are two examples. Note that these are unfiltered raw oscillator sweeps, so ensure that your volume is at an acceptable level.
  The first example is a sawtooth sweeping from the low to the high frequency range, and then back again:
  
  The second example is a pulse wave with a duty cycle of 50% sweeping as in the previous example:
  
  
  
• Removed DC Offset: There is no DC offset when sweeping the pulse-width of the Pulse waveform.
  
  
• Reduced Sync Folderover Noise: Aliasing that could occur during an oscillator sync is significantly reduced.
  
  
• Awesome sound: We can't quantify this one, so let your ears be the judge. Here are two raw sawtooth oscillator, with no filtering, tuned octaves apart. The pitch of one oscillator is slowly detuned relative to the other to introduce beating:
  
  

Rekkerd.org reviews Aspect

"I am finding myself firing it up in just about every new project I start" says Rekkerd.org in their review of Aspect. Read the full text here.

Aspect 1.4.2 released

Available as of now at the Loomer website, Aspect 1.4.2 is a minor update that contains a few fixes and enhancements:

• An uninstallation script is now available for the Mac OS X version. This script, when ran, will completely remove any installed Aspect components.
• Fixed an issue when the Aspect VST plugin is hosted by Reaper which could cause audio glitches when either changing programs, or editing Aspect parameters.
• Any notes playing when the host transport is restarted are now stopped.

Download the update here.

Aspect 1.4.0 released

Aspect has been updated to 1.4.0. This release adds a few minor fixes and features:

• Support for the sustain MIDI controller.
• Lag Generator component now only filters audio rate modulation sources when the Lag is set to above 0%.
• Lag Generator output can now be used as an audio source, as well as a modulation source.
  

Sustain MIDI controller support
The sustain MIDI controller acts in a similar fashion to a sustain pedal on a piano, allowing notes to be sustained indefinitely whilst the sustain is on and releasing when sustain is switched off.

Lag Generator
The Lag Generator can now be used as an audio source. To route the Lag Generator audio into the main Aspect audio stream, choose Lag Generator as the audio input for either Filter1 or Filter2. When used on an audio source, the Lag Generator acts as a very simple lowpass filter with the cutoff frequency dropping as the Lag parameter increases.

Aspect is available as a download for Mac OS X, Windows, and Linux, in Audio Unit, RTAS, VST Plugin, and Standalone application format.

Modular Synth Patching in Aspect, part 2

We continue from where we left off at the end Part 1; exploring the Patch and Modulation capabilities of the Aspect semi-modular synth. This article will cover the last three components in the Patch section; the Lag Generator, the Adders, and the Sample and Hold unit. Download Aspect for Windows, Mac OS X, and Linux, in Audio Unit, VST, and RTAS Plugins formats.

The Lag Generator Component
The Lag Generator slews the input Modulation Source, reducing the speed of changes. Similar to how Glissando causes note pitches to slide into one another, the Lag Generator can be used to make any Modulation Source slide. As the Lag Parameter increases, more time is taken for the Modulation Source to slide between changes.

Slewed Filter Cutoff
This example uses the Lag Generator to slew a Square waveform LFO which is modulating the Cutoff Frequency of a Lowpass Filter.

• Set LFO1 to Square shape, and Sync it to a rate of 1/2.
• Connect LFO1 to the Lag Generator.
• Change Filter1's Cutoff to about 50% and Resonance to about 30%.
• Connect the Lag Generator Modulation Source to the Cutoff Modulation, with a Depth of about 90%.
  

Hold down a note whilst slowly increasing the Lag Parameter. At low values of Lag, the Modulation Source still resembles a Square waveform. As Lag increases, the Square wave is softened and audible slides between the high and low values of the waveform can be heard. At higher values of Lag, the waveform starts to resemble a Sine, and eventually reaches a constant when the Lag is so much that any changes are too small to be heard.



Download the Slewed Filter Cutoff Patch here.

Emulating a Magnetic Tape Player
This example uses the Lag Generator to filter the White Noise Modulation Source. This creates a signal that slowly moves between random values (this type of movement is called Brownian Motion.) When used to modulate Pitch, this generates a meandering, detuned effect similar to the wow and flutter of an old tape recorder.

• Connect the Noise Modulation Source to the Lag Generator.
• Set the Lag to about 70%.
• Oscillator1 should be a Sine shape, with a Pitch of 1 Octave up.
• Connect the Lag Generator Modulation Source to Oscillator1's Second Pitch Modulation Source with a Depth of about 40 semitones.

Download the patch here.

The Adder Components
The Adder components, Adder1 and Adder2, each take two Modulation Sources and produce a signal that is equal to the sum of the inputs. Because Parameters are already able to sum Modulation Sources (due to the fact that they all have three independent Modulation Slots), the Adder components may seem of little use. However, there are occasions when combining Modulation Sources outside of Parameter Modulation Slots is useful:

You may wish to connect several Modulation Sources to a component that only has one input connector (such as the Lag Generator, Sample & Hold, or Inverter components). Use an Adder to combine the Modulation Sources, and then connect this single Modulation Source to the chosen component.

If all of a Parameter's Modulation Slots have been assigned, and you need to add another Modulation Source, you can combine multiple Modulation Sources into a single one with an Adder. This single Modulation Source will allow two Modulation Sources to use up only one Modulation Slot in a Parameter.

The Adder can be used to combine signals to produce custom waveforms. This waveform can be fed directly into either Filter by choosing Adder1 or Adder2 from the Filter's input selector. The following example creates a waveform by subtracting one slightly detuned oscillator from the other:

• Detune Oscillator2 by -1 cent.
• Connect Oscillator2 to Inverter1.
• Link Oscillator1 and Inverter1 into Adder1's inputs.
• Choose Adder1 as the input to Filter1.
  

By summing an out-of-phase Sawtooth Oscillator with an inverted Sawtooth, we get a Pulse waveform. To add a bit of time-varying interest to the sound, an LFO will be used to add movement to one of the raw Oscillator sources:

• Set LFO1 to Square, and Sync it to a rate of 1/4.
• Link LFO1 to a one of Oscillator2's spare Pitch Modulation Slots, and give it a Modulation Depth of 12.00 semitones (remember: holding Shift will allow finely grained changes to be made to controls.)

Download the patch here.

The Sample and Hold Component
The purpose of the Sample and Hold (S&H) component is to keep a Modulation Source's value steady for a short time. The component takes two inputs, a Source and Clock; whenever the S&H Clock input source changes from a negative to a positive value (known as a zero-crossing), the current value of the S&H Input source will be taken and held steady until the next zero-crossing.

Here a Noise source is periodically sampled by the Sample and Hold component, with the sampling period controlled by a Sawtooth LFO connected to the Clock input. This creates a Modulation Source that changes to a different random value at the same rate as the LFO. To configure this in Aspect:

• Connect the Noise Modulation Source to S&H Input.
• Connect LFO1 to S&H Clock.
• Set LFO1 to a rate of about 7Hz.
• Connect S&H to Filter1's first Modulation Slot with a Depth to 100%.
• Set Filter1's Cutoff to about 30% and Resonance to 100%.
  

This S&H Noise to Filter creates a classic synth sound you've no doubt heard before:



Download the S&H Filter Patch here.

Sample Rate Reduction with the Sample and Hold Component
With Aspect, because there is no difference between Audio and Modulation signals the Sample and Hold component could also be used to sample an audio source at a specified clock rate. This distortion is known as Sample Rate Reduction, and produces a lo-fi, crunchy timbre.

• Connect Oscillator1 to the S&H Input, and Oscillator2 to the S&H Clock.
• Select S&H as the Input for Filter1.
• Tune Oscillator2 up by 2 Octaves, and Tranpose is to 8.
• Reduce the digital harshness slightly by setting Filter1 Cutoff to 50% and add a little bite by turning the Resonance to 50%.

The pitch of Oscillator2, which is used to clock the Sample and Hold component, sets the Sample Rate of Oscillator1. Changing the Pitch of Oscillator2 changes the Sample Rate. At 2 Octaves and 8 Semitones, the Sample Rate is just over two and a half times the pitch of Oscillator1. This produces a particularly aggressive lo-fi metallic-sounding digital synth texture, which sounds like:



Download the Low Sample Rate Distortion patch here.

Featured Artists: Protonica on Aspect

Our Featured Artists page is now up, together with praise for the Aspect semi-modular synth courtesy of our first featured artist, Piet Kaempfer from acclaimed Progressive Trance duo Protonica.

Piet says, "Aspect got my attention with its stylish, clear design. It's a genuine synth with its own character." Read what else Piet had to say about Aspect here.

Modular Synth Patching in Aspect, part 1

What is Modulation?
Aspect's flexible patching and modulation system can be a source of confusion to users more used to synthesizers with a fixed architecture. In synthesis, to modulate a parameter means to change the parameter's value whilst the sound is playing. This adds interest to what would otherwise be dull, static sounds. Most synth users are familiar with the basic modulation sources - envelopes and LFOs (low frequency oscillators). One common arrangement is the modulation of an oscillator's pitch by an LFO, producing vibrato. Another is the modulation of a filter's cutoff frequency by an envelope, resulting in a sound that has varying degrees of brightness as the higher frequencies are dynamically removed.

The Aspect Semi-Modular Synthesizer
Aspect is a synthesizer in the tradition of semi-modular synthesizers like the Korg MS-10 and Korg MS-20. The appeal of these instruments is not only in their fantastic analogue sound, but in their versatility. Re-routing means that any nearly any component can be used as a modulation source. The Patch panel expands this concept by allowing modulation sources to be combined and transformed in various ways. Download Aspect for Windows, Mac OS X, and Linux, in Audio Unit, VST, and RTAS Plugin formats.

Modulating Parameters
Rather than a confusing web of patch cables strung between modulation sources and parameters, Aspect uses a wireless modulation system. Modulation sources for a Parameter are clearly displayed with both their name and Modulation Depth (the amount that a Modulation Source alters a Parameter). The Depth for a particular parameter is listed in relevant units. For example, Modulation Depth for an Oscillator is specified in semitones. In the following screenshot, we can see that Oscillator1 is modulated 12 semitones by LFO2:

The basic steps for routing Modulation Sources in Aspect are as follows:

To assign a Modulation Source to a Parameter:

• Left-click the Parameter's Modulation combo box.
• Select the required Modulation Source from the drop-down list.

To remove a Modulation Source from a Parameter:

• Left-click on the Parameter's Modulation combo box.
• Select 'Off' from the drop-down list.

To change the the Modulation Depth for a Parameter:

• Left-click and drag the Parameter's Modulation Depth rotary control upwards to increase the Modulation Depth, or downwards to decrease it. Holding Shift whilst dragging allows fine resolution changes to be made.

The Inverter Components
Aspect has 2 Inverter components, Inverter1 and Inverter2, both of which perform the same function. They take a Modulation Source and output a signal that equal to the input source flipped upside down. The following diagram illustrates this concept:


One typical use of an inverted Envelope shape is in the creation of pad sounds. Here we have a pad sound through a Lowpass Filter, with the Filter's Cutoff modulated by an inverted Envelope shape. This creates a sound with an unconventional flourish at the end: where a pad normally grows duller during the Release stage as the Filter is closed, here it gets brighter during Release as the Filter opens.



Download the Inverter Filter Pad Sound patch here.


Here is another example of an inverted Modulation Source. This tutorial on sequencing with a modular synthesizer uses an inverted Sawtooth LFO routed to the Output Amplifier to produce a quick Attack and slow Decay repeating envelope shape.

Because all signals within Aspect can be used for Modulation purposes, even MIDI control data such as Note Pitch and Velocity can be inverted. The following Program illustrates this:

• Start with an empty Program by clicking File / New Program.
• Assign Note Pitch to Inverter1.
• Replace Oscillator1's Note Pitch Modulation Source with Inverter1.

The Oscillator is now controlled by the inverted Note Pitch. As you move up the keyboard, the pitch of the oscillator decreases!

Download the Inverter Keyboard patch here.

The Multiplier Components
Aspect has 2 individual Multipliers units, Multiplier1 and Multiplier2. Both of these take two Modulation Sources and produce an output that is equal to the product (multiplication) of the inputs. This is particularly useful for producing scaled Modulation Sources. For example, assigning both LFO1 and the Mod Wheel Modulation Source to a Multiplier produces an LFO output with a Depth can be controlled with the Mod Wheel:

• Set LFO1 to a rate of 5Hz.
• Set the first input of Multiplier1 to LFO1, and set the second to Mod Wheel.
• Set Oscillator1's second Pitch Modulation Slot to Multiplier1, with a Depth of 2 semitones (Modulation Slot 1 is left assigned to Note Pitch so that the Oscillator will still track the keyboard.)
  

LFOs that gradually fade up to their maximum Depth is another often used synthesis technique. Multiplying an LFO by an Envelope will accomplish this. In this case, the Envelope shape should have maximum Sustain. The Envelope's Attack parameter will govern how long it takes to fade in:



Part 2 of this tutorial will cover the remaining Patch Components, which are the Lag Generator, the Sample & Hold unit, and the Adders.