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TheTechnobear's SSP/XMX development

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#283

Yeah I’ve just been sat with the “sampler” module in the SSP since writing that last comment. So maybe I’ll find a way to get it into my workflow.
You’re not wrong about the small screen on the Assimil8or but again I’ve had a Emu sampler from the 90’s as my main workhorse sampler that thing only displays numbers as start and end points for editing so I’m more than happy to work like that. I was so excited about the Sampler in the SSP before it arrived, the high quality screen and all the other possibilities, but like I say it just hasn’t done it for me, for some reason it just seems hard work…I’ll keep chipping away at it though and it still gets used for some basic tasks so not too bad I guess.

Having the option to turn off scrubbing could be helpful :+1:t3:

#284

really, Id question what is hard work about it? select sample , add trig … done :slight_smile:

then again, Im not a great fan of samples … I get too bored of sample management.
and honestly, for audio mangling, I’d just use my Octatrack
(the OT excels just because its solely focused on the task, and mangling audio with hardware interface)

yeah, this is something that grinds me…
I spoke to Bert about it, and it was added due to a user request a long time back.
whilst I can see its a cool ‘effect’, it hinders what you can do with SAM
e.g. Ive got patches that can use a sample as separate slices, but they are not viable, since as you switch slices, you get this tape scrub effect.

again, thats the thing about modules, imho… they shouldn’t be all powerful do everything modules, but rather things that can be combined with other modules to form something bigger.
you get the creativity in modular by combining modules, not some ‘all powerful module’ :slight_smile:
(that kind of leads to the ‘clouds sound’ syndrome… albeit I love clouds)

#285

Haaha yeah kinda back to my point of it being a sample playback module rather than a sampler. I still find it quite painful scrolling through any large numbers on the SSP and although large samples can easily be handled by the SSP I struggle with that and just generally with the UI, scrolling start and end points for samples is still a pain and I still feel like the screen isn’t much help for getting in close. Again maybe I need to dig into it a bit more but it doesn’t fill me with much joy at present using it…just always seems like a battle.

Yep absolute no go for chopping breakbeats too as it scrubs from drum hit to drum hit!

#286

the Assimil8or is by no means comparable with the SAM module
not in the same ballpark of sound quality
not in the feature set
and certainly not in the sample handling area (microseconds vs milliseconds)

the UI is totally different too, albeit the SSP’s generous screen estate, the immediacy and logic is way out - you can tell the Rossum people are into creating samplers for more than 40y

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#287

God no! I wasn’t comparing them, but imagine if Rossum made a dedicated (eurorack) sampler with a high def screen the size of what’s on the SSP!
Is there a way to stop the waveform jumping and jittering about on the SSP when slowly adjusting the start and end points while zoomed in? I find it really difficult to edit?

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#288

(as I understand it) the code for displaying waveforms was completely re-written for the latest firmware, and is now, I believe, shared between oscilloscope, sampler, granular etc.
I think this has introduced some quirks within SAM and GRA, so needs a bit of love :slight_smile:

as for SAM vs Assimil8or,
well given Assimil8or is nearly $1000, (more than half the price of an SSP), Id very much hope it would excel at its ONE function.

as I said, I don’t really do much with samples, so no way I could justify something like a Assimil8or - and SAM does all I need / want. (*)

(*) excluding this tape effect, which causes me issues with start manipulation , which is important for me.

all that said, I do have some ideas for my own module in this area…
actually a bit more than ideas, as I’ve got already got the basic design and feature set on paper.
that’s the beauty of the SSP for me, we can create things that are a lot more focused, and frankly a bit more modular than some of these ‘mega modules’

so like CART, I’ve no intention of creating a clone of another module, but definitely I’m inspired by other modules (and hardware ;))… and whilst it may (or may not) slightly overlap with SAM, it’ll also be very different.

2 Likes
#289

Just to clarify I was never comparing the SAM module in the SSP to the Assimil8or or any other dedicated sampler soft or hardware I was really just mentioning how disappointed I was when one of the main reasons I bought it was it had a sampler module the fact it doesn’t sample directly isnt really a big issue as can easily record into the SSP from the recorder module which is essentially as many button presses as going into a sampling setup page in a traditional sampler, although not being able to name your recordings (samples) seems like a big basic feature that’s been overlooked here. The biggest reason it doesn’t gel with me though is still the waveform and encoder combination. I’m not sure if its just my SSP that does this as what but if I zoom in to edit a start or end point which I do often with samplers the smallest encoder movement jumps the waveform on in a strange stepping motion which makes it really hard to see where you were and its almost impossible to move the curser to the zero crossing point on a waveform! I’ll include a short video. It doesn’t have to be a Mega module but the basic functions of things like naming recordings and a smooth scrolling editor do seem important to me on a basic level…and tape scrubbing being an option rather than default :innocent:

A Technobear Sampleplayer module that might or might not overlap the existing one sounds like something I’d like to see. I really enjoy working with audio files and sampling/re-sampling as I go so the more the merrier I say :+1:t3:

Waveform Stepping

3 Likes
#290

ok, my EAP release with the final superbooth modules, so we have OMOD, LDRF and DLYD.

see this post for some details, including details of how to join the EAP.

It’s a fun time… and great to put out the final modules.

Which is my favourite? I don’t know… they really are all part of a jigsaw puzzle.

now, we can see all the modules for Superbooth, we can see that alot of these modules were created to compliment one another.

CLKD is really the heart of my patches now… it feeds the sequencing provided by CART.
but it also feeds OMOD, so that I can have sync’d modulation.
LOGI is then used, not only trig things like DRUM, but also to create ‘wonky clocks’… which is really useful for CART.
similarly, you can have some fun, but using gates from CART into OMOD to get wonky modulation.

and of course, all this feeds into my previous modules CLDS just gobbles up modulation, and OMOD provides just that.

then finally, Ive added a few things that were mentioned on the forums.
many wanted a compressor, or wanted a moog like filter.

but of course, the importance of all of these new modules is a simple modular fact.
the creative possibilites increases exponentially for each new module.
simply because we can combine things in new ways.

even something as humble as a matrix mixer, is made more powerful by adding something seemingly unreleased e.g. CLKD.
I cannot envisage every combination… so its up to YOU to find, explore and share them :slight_smile:

so lots of new possibilities to explore !

as mentioned before… I plan to make these available to everyone for free, including open sourcing all the code. my intention is to do the public release (outside of EAP) at the beginning of October.
this gives my supporters some exclusive time to play with them, and give their thoughts/feedback and highlight any issues.

aside from this, as mentioned previously, Ive ideas (some more developed that others) for modules for the SSP… which I’ll start to think/plan for (alongside other projects) around October, after the summer (and visitors leave) !
so gives everyone some time to play with all these new toys…

anyway, lots to explore and create with
happy patching
Mark aka TheTechnobear

oh, ps… don’t forget the wiki !

Ive spent quite a bit of time on this, including making sure the new modules are all documented.
remember, you can also contribute to this wiki… and make it more valuable.
I’ll also be adding to the tips n’ tricks section other things I discover, and want share.
(recently, I detailed how to add wifi to your SSP!)

4 Likes
#291

wow all 3 of these are going to get a lot of use from me I think. :star_struck:

Thank you

1 Like
#292

Thank you! If I route a signal into “1:LDRF: in 4” then that means a signal input at SSP channel one should be controlled by cutoff 4, correct?

#293

In4 → cutoff/res 4 → out4
All 4 filters of ldrf independent.

I did consider allowing them to be cascaded, but that could potentially lead to extra cpu load when not needed… I may add later, as it can be useful for getting more poles.

2 Likes
#294

Can’t wait to check out these new modules!! Thank you!! Also, I’d love to join in a convo regarding sampling and granular on SSP… new thread?

&e

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#295

sounds like a good idea…

what Id really like to hear is more about what people are trying to achieve? what they have tried? how they use whats is there? really, focus on the musical side… rather than focusing too much on features of GRA/SAM or some other ‘future’ module. ( * )

so, it’d be great to have a more general discussion on sampling and granular on the SSP would be really cool, I’d love to hear musically what others are trying to achieve… and also how you go about it.
what are your ‘favourite’ techniques. ( ** )
perhaps even discussing how you use other granulars/samplers.

also Id love to see videos of this all in action…

( * ) I find technical discussions on ‘features’ of modules problematic, for reasons, Ive discussed before.
esp. for my future modules, which Ive quite particular ideas for, but Im not ready to discuss yet ( to avoid issues with expectations, or provide commitment too) - its all too early, and besides Ive various projects on my plate to consider and prioritise.

(**) an example of what I mean…
Ive a certain technique I use to use GRA as a kind of looping delay… basically by modulating start at certain rates… this technique can achieve all sorts of musical effects, by extending the basic premise.

now… I’ll admit, it takes a bit of experience to do this with GRA, its not a mode, where you can just press a button :wink: … you have to be quite particular about modulation, and how to do things on the SSP…
but its quite a good (and not complex) example of knowing your tools and whats possible with what they provide.

#296

Having a ton of fun with all the new modules and find myself building big automation :slight_smile: I have several times ran out of “something” maybe ram? resulting in a quick reset of the SSP. it happens when when using fore example 4 CART 16 MSW8, 8 VOST. and 16 BUS, in a patch, plus a bit effects, and mixing, however this reset seems to be related to something else but CPU, and happens when i add an Module…

#297

it seems unlikely you have run out of RAM,
(unless you are doing a lot in the ‘plus a bit of effects’)

card/msw8/vost do not consume that much memory…
(but something like DLYD could use a lot if you have the size quite high, and multiple instances)

also, a reset, as in synthor restart is just a crash, could be anything really.
really no point in jumping to conclusions without some more info, as it just gets us chasing red-herrings.

really, Id need to see a patch, and the exact steps you are following… so I can reproduce it…

also you will need to strip the patch down to the most basic it can be to crash, removing things until it stops crashing… then add back one at a time.
so save each time, before you add a module… then

  • if it doesn’t crash, save.
  • if it does crash reload your save… try exact same thing again…
    if it continues to crash each time, then you have found a reliable crash state ,
    (BUT you still need to make sure you can’t remove anything else… to further simplify the patch)
    if it doesn’t then you need to go back … since obviously there is some other ‘factor’ in play.

yes, I know this is tedious… but frankly, its what I would have to do too…
(unfortunately, theres not a lot of debugging/dev tools on the ssp, so I cannot just run it up in a debugger to figure out whats going on)

anyway, start by simplifying the the patch… then you can send it to me via DM.
( I don’t have time, to go thru a humongous patch, with lots of things that are not part of the underlying issue)

#298

Super… thanks for quick reply… I was also not looking for de bugging… I don’t think there is anything wrong just wondering about the ram limit and how easy it is to bust… since we have no indications of ram usage…

I’m so so in love with OMOD and DLYD… so thank you so much for the last batch… btw LYD is “sound” in danish… spot on with the name…

1 Like
#299

I did have a quick look, and created 4 carts, 16 msw8 and 8 vost… and appeared to be using very little memory. much less than, say a patch that loaded samples (which obviously use memory!)

however… the thing here is… it also depends on what synthor is allocating…

when synthor loads any module its creating audio buffers for connections (since all cv = audio) and this can add up pretty quickly… as they are 128 x 4 bytes each.
(BUS can similarly add a lot of audio buffers)

then as I say things like GRA,SAM, DLY, DLYD all allocate buffers for samples/delays etc.

al that said, Bert did improve the allocation of audio buffers, so it does use less now… esp with 3rd party modules… and since then Ive not seen issue with large patches (though im careful with sample sizes)

but yeah, without more details, Id say its not that likely to be RAM… but some other oddity, as yet undefined :slight_smile:

yeah I do love OMOD and DLYD… useful in lots of scenarios :slight_smile:

#300

Thank you @thetechnobear for developing MTTR!!
It’s very useful for my setup.

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#301

MIDI clk out?

Is there a way we can get a MIDI clock out via MTOT? or maybe CLKD?

Im using MTOT alot and midi out in general especially after CART, VOST, OMOD which i use to drive/control hardware midi instruments and Guitar pedels

Love the latest VST lineup… Like all of them… thanks a million… And i have a workaround for the above so not pressing but thought i would ask… or maybe i missed something and it is already possible…

#302

not currently… I don’t often use the SSP as a master clock… I tend to slave it.
… if I did, honestly, Id use a cv clock. so CLKD (clk, reset, run) → OUT
then from there, Id use Hapax or Hermod to push out midi wherever it may be needed.
(at least thats what Ive done to date)

however, I can see it would be useful to have MTOT support Midi Clock.
also, for completeness, I guess MTIN should handle clock in (though this is covered by MIDI module)

1 Like