CRYSTAL 2.1 IS THERE!!! Look at http://www.greenoak.com/crystal
Thanks Glenn for your great free VST! Together with Todas Synth 1 it is IMHO the best freebie! HAPPY NEW YEAR!

ew

Woa !!! it's already Xmas !!! what a fast 2003 !!

I was sure I would be waiting longer than this


now thats what I call a happy new year

Gawd! I'm downloading right now!!!!!

I haven't even managed to get v2.0 off a CM magazine yet.

I sometimes wonder what kind of VSTi Glenn would write, for which he would charge,say,$100? Does he wear a red suit and a white false beard all year long??
Thanks glenn!

Happy New Year to all

Is anybody else here getting a wild graphics display (lots of jumping/flashing, envelopes going crazy) when saving a song using Crystal version 2.1? I'm using Fruityloops as the host. Wondering if it's just me...
Windows ME, PIII

Cordelia wrote:

Is anybody else here getting a wild graphics display (lots of jumping/flashing, envelopes going crazy) when saving a song using Crystal version 2.1? I'm using Fruityloops as the host. Wondering if it's just me... Windows ME, PIII

Hi Cordelia,
I get it as well, I'm pretty sure I read somewhere on FL forum (Gol?) that it's "normal" behaviour with some vsti's. Everything's ok

Woohoo!!!

all I want now is the ability to change the background bitmap to something a little less ...vomity

awesome , I love crystal!!!! Whoooohooo!!!

Glenn, happy new year to you there and here is another BIG thank you or such a fantastic synth. It's a cool strategy and spirit that you've undertaken with the development of Crystal, a fabulous display of talent and goodwill. All the best for 2003 and beyond.

I love this thing and feel cheeky ending this post with a "would it be possible" but I have to, sorry. One addition on the waveform side of what you have added to Crystal would make this the absolute king in my virtual arsenal. Ummm, "would it be possible" to have audio input as a Wave Sequencing source and possibly as Mod Matrix source?? Okay, that's two but feel excused somehow as it's new years day.

Crystal v2 is fabulous, fabulous software Glenn. You've upped the ante on what needs to be offered from now on in with VSTi's and how much can realistically be asked for them. It's fun watching Crystal develop and I look forward to seeing where you turn your attention next.

A cool new year present and all the best to you. Thank you.

I have to post again after playing with this for a while ... but awesome awesome awesome!

I'm not usually a big fac of multi-page synths, but I love the logic on the pages on crystal with the filter and amp for each oscillator page and then a modulation and effect page. Very logical for me.

I love the soundfont import although I don't like having to copy soundfonts into my VST folder. My C Drive was never set up to allow big amounts of samples.

However, as a workaround, I'm copying Crystal to the same drive as my samples and creating a special folder there for samples. At least that drive has a bigger capacity.

I think it would probably be better to have an import soundfont function than automatic detection. It gives the user more control and it limits the need to copy big sample sets into multiple areas which isn't a very efficient use of storage resources.

That criticism aside however, this is absolutely fantastic! I know this is going to sound particularly greedy - but I wouldn't mind a 4th voice as well. Ooops - greedy, greedy, greedy.

This is fast becoming the synth I want to do most of my sound design on. I have a default project file that automatically contains Crystal alongside my Tau Pro, Sonic Synth and SR202.

OK - enough already.


Thankyou very much Glenn and a Happy New Year to you.

Crystal 2.1 crashes in Orion Plat. 3.7 when loading the new user banks. Anyone else experience this? Works in the Mac version, but crashes in the PC version. Sounds good though!

dhrose : same here, Crystal2.1 crashes in Orionpro 3.7 when trying to load the .fxb banks available on Crystal site.
problems appear also in Psycle, where you can't load .fxb banks too.
what is more, when loading a song saved with previous version of Crystal, the used patch number is loaded but it produces no sound. you have to reselect the patch to hear something...

Happy New Year!

I uploaded it yesterday, but wanted to wait until January to announce it, but you beat me to it .

A warning to Orion users: there is a bug in Orion that prevents VST instruments from reading previous versions of patches. So, for example, the user banks on the crystal web site won't load properly into 2.1. I'll put 2.1 versions of the user banks on the web site for Orion users. Alternatively you can use any VST host which doesn't have this problem to upgrade any patch banks yourself. For example:
1) use the free Muzys that comes with Computer Music to read in the patch bank file you want to upgrade to 2.1
2) step through the bank, selecting each patch (this upgrades it to 2.1)
3) save the bank file. You can now read this new bank file into Crystal 2.1 in Orion

Dingo has reported that he downloaded the demo version of Chainer to perform this upgrade instead of Muzys and it worked fine. Any VST host except Orion will work. Here's the URL for Chainer (which is really cool by the way) http://www.xlutop.com/


- Glenn

hello Glenn

there's also this problem :

when loading a song saved with previous version of Crystal, the used patch number is loaded but it produces no sound. you have to reselect the patch to hear something... (both in Orionpro 3.7 and Psycle 1.7 with the default internal banks)

Gee, I'm beginning to feel like I'm in to self abuse with Orion! Thanks for the consideration though! Crystal is All That!

For Orion users -

I've upgraded the user banks at the crystal web site (http://www.greenoak.com/crystal) to 2.1, so you can download those and use them directly with Crystal 2.1 in Orion. For upgrading your own patch banks to use with Orion, follow the procedure I described above.

ksn - yes, in Orion (and Psycle, by the sounds of it) you'll need to reselect the patch when you open an Orion song which was saved with a previous version of Crystal to force the upgrade of the patch to happen. I'll add a note to the download page about that.

I'm sorry about this, if there was any way I could work around it I would. I emailed Synapse about this several months ago, but I'm sure they're busy with other things.

- Glenn

Now this is a treat. Just logged on and what do I see

Glenn, you rock

By the way, if you can get your hands on issue 54 of Computer Music, I would highly recommend you do so, even if you only wanted it for Crystal 2. There is a Crystal tutorial in that issue that I believe you'll find very valuable.

Also, I forgot to mention about Chainer - you can use it to produce multisampled soundfonts from any VSTi. You choose a VSTi, pick some notes across the keyboard, and export it as a sound font. You can then drop that sound font into your CrystalSoundFonts folder. It isn't looped (you'll need a proper sample editor for that), but it's a quick and easy way to create sound fonts.

I'm still waiting for CM, but they finally shipped it.

Crystal 2.1 rocks. I've been programming on it and didn't bother checking previous version compatibility. I'm looking forward to the tutorial as I'm not getting my head around Crystal as quickly as I'd like.

But I will! Great synth, thanks Glenn

Crystal 2.1 is great! But Crystal won't load in Cubase when I put the CrystalSoundFonts folder in my plugin folder.

thanks for your answers Glenn

Crystal is GREAT!!!!
.....but i have a big problem on logic audio platinum 5.5 on windows....
it can't save correctly the patches......can anyone help me???
thanx
lalo

[silent] wrote:

Crystal 2.1 is great! But Crystal won't load in Cubase when I put the CrystalSoundFonts folder in my plugin folder.

No problem in 5.1 here. None yet at least!!!

Yeehaaaa!!!!

No problems in Magix Midi Studio 2003....

And a very happy and prosperous new year to you.

Fake

I'm using Cubase SX.

It is not fair for people who bought CM.

Fuck crystal !! Look: MUON is not that unfair !!

You will go under in 2003, I swear !!


bryllyant !

bryllyant wrote:

It is not fair for people who bought CM. Fuck crystal !! Look: MUON is not that unfair !! You will go under in 2003, I swear !! bryllyant !

You can't be serious

iDavid wrote:

bryllyant wrote: It is not fair for people who bought CM. Fuck crystal !! Look: MUON is not that unfair !! You will go under in 2003, I swear !! bryllyant ! You can't be serious

look at Muon he has a contract !

I DONT HAVE THAT MONEY LEFT !!!

bryllyant

P.S. nobody will ever fool me in 2003!!!!

[quote="bryllyant"][quote="iDavid"]

bryllyant wrote:

It is not fair for people who bought CM. .... P.S. nobody will ever fool me in 2003!!!!

except yourself

I Bought CM right now because of Crystal !!!!!!! FUCK !!!

Now its FREE !!!

It is nów what a fucking...... ?


Look at MUON he doesn´t do that !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!



bryllyant

I think I figured out my problem with the Soundfont folder crashing Cubase. I have Soundblaster Live! installed in my computer, and Crystal loads whatever Soundfonts are loaded into Soundblaster instead of the ones in the folder

bryllyant,

I am attempting not to get into debate, but oh well

Look, Crystal could easily be a couple of hundred dollars, so quit crying.

If you had read this forum, Glenn posted that the next version would be "free" again. I guess you where to busy being angery to see that post.

Perhaps you would prefer a different forum?

bryllyant wrote:

I Bought CM right now because of Crystal !!!!!!! FUCK !!! Now its FREE !!!

Hey brilliant, you should get your information straight before you start screeming.

Crystal was ALREADY free before it was featured on CM. They only licensed ONE version and even before the CM version became available it was made public that the NEXT version would again be available for free.

With the Muon stuff it's different because the CM101, SR202 and DS404 where made by Muon EXCLUSIVELY FOR CM.

The way you are going about it is a bit stupid.

crimsonwarlock wrote:

bryllyant wrote: I Bought CM right now because of Crystal !!!!!!! FUCK !!! Now its FREE !!! Hey brilliant, you should get your information straight before you start screeming. Crystal was ALREADY free before it was featured on CM. They only licensed ONE version and even before the CM version became available it was made public that the NEXT version would again be available for free. With the Muon stuff it's different because the CM101, SR202 and DS404 where made by Muon EXCLUSIVELY FOR CM. The way you are going about it is a bit stupid.

You two are drunk right now !! Am I right !! ?? Please say yes !!

I will not agree because everyone knows that this stupid kingdom country GB (or whatever) has no good electronic instruments VSTi magazine.

WHY don´t you understand ??? WE WE WE WE WE WEWE WE W E WE

WEWE didn´t know that with crystal !!!


ts tsts tststs+

bryllyant

bryllyant wrote:

I Bought CM right now because of Crystal !!!!!!! FUCK !!! Now its FREE !!! It is nów what a fucking...... ? Look at MUON he doesn´t do that !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  !!!!!!!!!!!!!!! bryllyant

Feel better after that little tantrum do we? Thanks to Glen, Crystal was "free" long before CM jumped on the bandwagon and it's still free, so what's your problem?

Ian B wrote:

bryllyant wrote: I Bought CM right now because of Crystal !!!!!!! FUCK !!! Now its FREE !!! It is nów what a fucking...... ? Look at MUON he doesn´t do that !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  !!!!!!!!!!!!!!! bryllyant Feel better after that little tantrum do we? Thanks to Glen, Crystal was "free" long before CM jumped on the bandwagon and it's still free, so what's your problem?

YES BUT THAT WAS NOT FAIR !!

LOOK MUON ( WHO WAS MUCH BETTER THEN ALL OTHERS) DIDNT DO THAT FUCK !!!!

You said yourself Muon was under contract to develop EXCLUSIVELY for CM. I'm sure you knew Crystal was around before CM, you shoulda realized or bothered to check that it would be around after the CM version.

bryllyant, if you are that upset over the purchase of a magazine, I suggest you find a good therapist.

[silent] wrote:

bryllyant, if you are that upset over the purchase of a magazine, I suggest you find a good therapist.

I have the worst

bloody hell ... how upset is he gonna be when he finds out the MUON plans for the commercial instruments built around their CM cover stuff ...

... slainte rob

I have been spending way too much time going through the presets and replacing the waveforms with Soundfonts. Oh my god. Thanks Glenno!

I love when people get pissed, i'm makes time go by quicker!
Isn't CM Magazine only a few dollars ???? Ok so crystal is free, you still got the other CM VST's.

Drop the crack pipe and pick up a bong, you'll mellow out instead of being so pissed at the world!

But what the hell do I know?!?! lol

eXpeRIMentFOUR wrote:

bloody hell ... how upset is he gonna be when he finds out the MUON plans for the commercial instruments built around their CM cover stuff ... ... slainte rob

fuck, I don´t know really but I think he will do his german traditionals:
Eating Schweinebraten, listen to some-sound and stand up from his sofa to spell some news around...

YES.

[silent] wrote:

Crystal 2.1 is great! But Crystal won't load in Cubase when I put the CrystalSoundFonts folder in my plugin folder.

If I had to guess, maybe you have a corrupted sound font file? I've tried to make Crystal as bullet-proof as possible so that it will gracefully skip over bad sound font files, but perhaps it is still possible to break it. You might try removing the sound fonts from that folder, then add them back one at a time and see if one is causing the trouble. If you find a bad
soundfont, email me the details (glenn@greenoak.com) so I can add some more protection.

- Glenn

i've got gigs of soundfonts but i don't want to re-copy all of them to a separate folder and i have to have them in my exsp24 folder. in new versions will we be able to set the soundfont folder on our own? thanx for this wonderful vsti.

Question: in CM does Crystal 2 come with soundfonts?

bryllyant, I paid $14 USD to get CM. I did it to get Crystal 2 and have no problems with 2.1 being available. Maybe you are a fantastic individual that needs no help with complex synths, especially when they have changed in a big way, but I am glad to be getting the tutorial which will be useful, especially in print.

Also, I get to try out a uncrippled but cut down Muzys. That's well worth it too and knowing that the Muon stuff is on the CD is good too. Maybe you had to pay a lot more but it doesn't seem a hardship and Crimson is right, Muon contracted to make synths exclusive to CM, Glenn just said he'd let 2.0 be available exclusively through them. Oh, btw, you're asking people if they're high. What about you? Have you spent money on Crystal? Have you asked Glenn why he's doing this and what he gets out of it? If you did you'd probably feel foolish.

Back to something constructive...
Most of my soundfonts are huge. I don't want to go through the hassle of resampling and trying to encode soundfonts, also I need small wav or aiff files for CronX 2. Any sugestions welcomed.

I'm sure we can all use good modest sized soundfonts.

facingdoubt wrote:

I love when people get pissed, i'm makes time go by quicker! Isn't CM Magazine only a few dollars ???? Ok so crystal is free, you still got the other CM VST's. Drop the crack pipe and pick up a bong, you'll mellow out instead of being so pissed at the world! But what the hell do I know?!?! lol

Unfortunatly it is not only a few bucks here in germany. This mag costs Euro 18,40 (more than the double of what this mag costs in uk) + it is VERY hard to get. I have to travel to berlin to EVENTUALLY get an old copy. But that's no excuse for bryllyant to start bitching like that...

Skygge...hmmm. That's actually the danish word for shadow. Any chance i'm not the only dane on this forum anymore???
Peace&Love Kim

mercury wrote:

i've got gigs of soundfonts but i don't want to re-copy all of them to a separate folder and i have to have them in my exsp24 folder. in new versions will we be able to set the soundfont folder on our own? thanx for this wonderful vsti.

Yeah, I'm open to suggestions on this. Caleb had some good ideas on this a while back. The one thing I do like is that once the folder is in place, I can count on the soundfonts to be always be available whenever I start Crystal. Also, there are a few comments in the release notes on the download page about sound fonts and Crystal.

- Glenn

mercury wrote:

i've got gigs of soundfonts but i don't want to re-copy all of them to a separate folder and i have to have them in my exsp24 folder. in new versions will we be able to set the soundfont folder on our own? thanx for this wonderful vsti.

Mercury - just for your information you don't actually have to have the soundfonts in your exsp24 folder once they have been converted to exs format. You will find that exsp24 has created its own audio file samples and exs preset files - you can delete or move around the original soundfonts as you please - you can also (I've been experimenting with this) move around or even rename the exs presets files - I have placed mine in subfolders to make life simpler. Just leave the exs sample files alone (the audio files in your soundfont samples folder) and do what you like with the original soundfonts.

whatever, crystal is cool...I will never understand Cm.....

hua hua hahehehehe
jjjjjhhh

By the way, I'd be interested in hearing people's reactions to the wave sequencing presets.

GlennO wrote:

By the way, I'd be interested in hearing people's reactions to the wave sequencing presets.

And ??

wohoo, a bigger modulation matrix

well, i've bought CM just because of crystal 2 as well, and i'm german as well.
but who cares?

Glenn, as a veteran Wavestation user, I have to say that was most pleased not only with the inclusion of the wavesequencing functions, but of the quality of the presets using them. Nice work. I am glad o see this sort of thing resurfacing after too many years of absence.

Kim Olesen wrote:

Skygge...hmmm. That's actually the danish word for shadow. Any chance i'm not the only dane on this forum anymore??? Peace&Love Kim

Nope du er ikke alene

Cheers
travisdk

x_bruce wrote:

Question: in CM does Crystal 2 come with soundfonts? ... I'm sure we can all use good modest sized soundfonts.

No, it doesn't. I've been meaning to put something on the web site that shows how to make sound fonts, and to post a few samples.

The features in Crystal have gotten ahead of the patches which demonstrate them, so I'll probably not have an update this month, but instead I'll work on tutorials and a new patch bank which shows off the new features.

- Glenn

Wow! What a way to start the new year. Wave sequencing and sound font import are great!

Thanks Glenn, I'm not sure it works on Windows XP but there's a utility program called Vienna that's available freely. It's a soundfont encoder.

If you need original sample material I have some processed guitars and looped synth beds available.

Someone said that Vienna is useless without an SB or Emu card. I am not sure but that sounds right. That Chainer facility looks good. You aren't necessarily using the EG/filter info anyway.
Has anyone mentioned the SOUNDSITE http://www.thesoundsite.net/ a fantasic no. of sf2s!!!
IMPORTANT NOTE Best to get a downloader for this one- it will knock you back often and it's only supposed to allow 1 dl at a time, so make a list (I use Flashget) and let the software take the strain!!
Oh and Crystal is FANTASTIC!
Chi

Thanks patchworkcat,

I'm sure there are 3rd party encoders available.

It's time to go soundfont hunting. Between this and several other VSTis that use soundfonts it will be a worthwhile hunt.

Get hold of a copy of junction.exe (I think you can d/l it from MS, it's part of the Res Kits, or from www.sysinternals.com)

Open a command prompt
Go to the crystal install folder
junction CrystalSOundFonts D:\soundfonts

(where d:\soundfonts is the location of your soundfonts.

Note that the install drive and d: must both be using NTFS

GlennO wrote:

Yeah, I'm open to suggestions on this. Caleb had some good ideas on this a while back. The one thing I do like is that once the folder is in place, I can count on the soundfonts to be always be available whenever I start Crystal. Also, there are a few comments in the release notes on the download page about sound fonts and Crystal. - Glenn

Yeah, I kinda liked my idea as a workaround but the problem is that I have to copy soundfonts into the new folder I made anyway. I have way too many soundfonts to put them all in one folder - it wouldn't be practical. I have all sorts of subfolders which attempts to categorise my content.

I don't mind Crystal looking for one top-level folder but I wish I could suggest what that top level folder is. If I could select the "Root" directory that would be a good start. Then that info could be saved in a tiny config file which is read every time you start up Crystal.

Additionally, I would like it to read subfolders.

What I'm basically talking about is a similar mapping system that SampleTank employs although only present when you select a Soundfont import option.

In this way, you can categorise your samples in some logical fashion and improve your workflow immediately. Even if you have to go through a navigation window to select the soundfonts you want to import using a default root directory it would be better than having Gigs of soundfonts all trying to squeeze into one drop down list. How would you find anything?

At the moment it probably doesn't matter as much because people will start building slowly I think. However, the longer this is out on the market the more problematic soundfont import is going to become - so it's probably a wise idea to start planning for some additional features in this area. It's a pity because I actually like what you've tried to do to make it simpler - it's just that I don't think it will pan out that way in the end.

Does not stop this from being a corker of a synth though.

I'm with caleb on this one
I already have a ton of soundfonts and have
them categorized in one place to keep track

On the Mac, if it is "do-able", it would be great if the CrystalSoundFonts folder in the Preferences folder could be an alias, pointing even to a different disk if necessary.
For my 2 cents, the new features brought by version 2 (.1) are enormous!
What used to ge a great synth is now seriously one of the best virtual instruments available.(the addition of SoundFont importing, in particular, gives it a whole new dimension).
Glenn, if you are still wearing your Father Christmas outfit , I have 2 requests. It seems to me that polyphony is "limited" to 10 voices (?). How about the possibility of setting maximum polyphony on the interface? I may be imagining things, but I get the impression that this new version is much more computer-efficient than v 1.x, and I think my Mac could handle some greater polyphony,if you were offering it:-)
Second request, and I may be the only person who ever asks you for this(!), but could you add polyphonic aftertouch to the list of modulation sources,please. The realtime soundscaping possibilities of this are just huge!

I like the soundfont feature in Crystal - it has huge possibilities, but at the mo I have only put in a few very small fonts because of this limitation.

Why not just have an "import soundfont" button or menu item that opens up a simple browser window instead of having to load them all into a folder - personally I prefer to keep my harddrive uncluttered and I keep my soundfonts on a CDR and just load one up into whatever programme I need to use it in at the time. (eg this is the way I would work with Kontakte or even something basic like simple soundfont player)

I just want to say THANKS for this awesome machine. Free, and you keep making it better. The SF2 idea was great, and the wave sequencing (though I haven't figured that out yet)

thanks heaps Glenn

vic_france wrote:

Glenn, if you are still wearing your Father Christmas outfit , I have 2 requests. It seems to me that polyphony is "limited" to 10 voices (?). How about the possibility of setting maximum polyphony on the interface? I may be imagining things, but I get the impression that this new version is much more computer-efficient than v 1.x, and I think my Mac could handle some greater polyphony,if you were offering it:-) Second request, and I may be the only person who ever asks you for this(!), but could you add polyphonic aftertouch to the list of modulation sources,please. The realtime soundscaping possibilities of this are just huge!

I turned up the polyphony to 12 voices in 2.1, but you're right, it would be better to put this under user control.

I didn't know there were any keyboards that supported polyphonic aftertouch . Seriously, what do you use?

- Glenn

I didn't know there were any keyboards that supported polyphonic aftertouch . Seriously, what do you use?

- Glenn[/quote]

I've never been without at least one polypressure keyboard in my rig since my Yamaha CS80 in the early eighties (no MIDI of course)...rented a DX1 for a couple of projects,and also the Prophet 8T. My current setup is centered around a wonderful Italian 88 note weighted mother keyboard with poly and channel aftertouch, the Elka MK 88 mk II,unfortunately long since discontinued (I keep a spare one for that dreaded day when it goes up to keyboard heaven!), and I also have 2 Ensoniqs..a SD1-32 and a VFX-SD. It is (to me, anyways) a musical tragedy that polyphonic pressure no longer exists on any currently made keyboard (I know they were expensive to produce, and quite a few that *were* made were terribly unreliable).. but once you've tasted there's no going back...it's almost as if keyboard manufacturers noticed that nobody played on the black notes so decided to merely paint them on!!...ok,slight exaggeration:-)

That sounds very cool. I'll definitely look into it, but you're right, you're the only person to ever ask for that, so I hope you'll forgive me if it isn't at the top of the list .

- Glenn

Add me to the list of poly-aftertouch fans. I, too, have never been without a poly-aftertouch board. I've owned a long string of Ensoniqs for this purpose, and have a K5000W as my master controller. A very useful thing, polyphonic aftertouch. It's one of those things that seems hard to live without once you have used it.

wtf is polyphonic aftertouch?

TristezaOrange wrote:

wtf is polyphonic aftertouch?

Forget it Triz,

it's something for the rich dentists. You know, the ones with the expensive hardware with the big and shiny knobs. Hehe...

bajongo wrote:

TristezaOrange wrote: wtf is polyphonic aftertouch? Forget it Triz, it's something for the rich dentists. You know, the ones with the expensive hardware with the big and shiny knobs. Hehe...

Then this polyphonic-aftertouch thingy is one more reason for me to get through dentistry school man!!

bajongo,
How would you know if my knob were big and shiny?? LOL, sorry,couldn't resist.

Aftertouch is pressure applied to the key after the key has been pressed. This pressure can be varied over time and the pressure data can be used to change other parameters such as volume, filter, etc.

Polyphonic is many voices. One key can have 1 or more voices.

Actually, polyphonic in the case of aftertouch means that it is independent for each key,as opposed to channel aftertouch which is global to the whole MIDI channel. For example, if applied to pitch (obviously,provided that the receiving module recognizes it..,hint hint,Glenn!), that would mean that you could play a chord and then bend just one note within that chord,much like on a guitar,whereas applying that same pressure but with channel aftertouch would bend the whole chord,just like if you'd used the pitchbend wheel. It is also great for doing vibrato when doing string quartet stuff, and for soundscaping and padsounds,when applied to volume and/or filter,if you lay down a chord and hear one of the notes in it doing something nice, then, just like using a fader when mixing,you can make the effect on that note "stand out more".
Enough about polyphonics already...CRYSTAL ROCKS! )

Way to go, Glenn. Nice update.

The program morph feature is interesting. Can it also be used to morph from one voice to another within a single preset? (I couldn't see a way, but I'm not too smart.)

aMUSEd wrote:

all I want now is the ability to change the background bitmap to something a little less ...vomity

Well if you feel like rolling your sleeves up and getting your hands dirty, you can using an app like Resource Hacker to extract the bitmaps in Crystal (and many other VSTis) and then replace them with bitmaps of your own design.

Wow that looks useful - downloading it now

Just 2 questions:

1) Is this legal to do?

2) Is it likely to "break" the original file ie make it more unstable etc?

(I will of couse make a backup just in case)

Thanks

Ooh I've just given it a try - you know it opens up every damn bitmap to tweaking - buttons, dialogues, backgrounds everything. I wonder if this could be used to skin VSTi's that don't have skinning capability.

Right I'm getting back to playing

Glenn - do you have any objections to this please let me know if you don't want people fiddling with your bitmaps.

As I said earlier, I think the Soundfont loading is very cool, but wouldn't it be very simple to be able to load wav.'s? The user would have to establish loop points previously.
wouldn't this be pretty simple, and would greatly expand the list of alternative wave forms, and the wave sequencing?

Barnadine wrote:

Way to go, Glenn. Nice update. The program morph feature is interesting. Can it also be used to morph from one voice to another within a single preset? (I couldn't see a way, but I'm not too smart.)

Basically, you can look at morphing as the ability to control all 90 Crystal modulation targets at once. So, anything that is listed on the target menu in the modulation matrix can be morphed. See the MorphMW preset as an example. Play a note, then wiggle your modulation wheel to simultaneously change many parameters to change the sound.

- Glenn

aMUSEd wrote:

Ooh I've just given it a try - you know it opens up every damn bitmap to tweaking - buttons, dialogues, backgrounds everything. I wonder if this could be used to skin VSTi's that don't have skinning capability. Right I'm getting back to playing Glenn - do you have any objections to this please let me know if you don't want people fiddling with your bitmaps.

No, I don't object to Crystal users fiddling with the bitmaps. You do need to be careful to maintain the correct sizes, and you'll need to repeat the effort of creating the bitmaps from release to release as the controls move around. All I ask is that you not share modified versions of Crystal...I'd prefer that people get Crystal from the Crystal web site.

I've made some changes to respond to requests: the version 2 background has more of a bluer hue and the section dividers are more pronounced to make the boundaries more distinct, but if you'd like to play around with it, that's fine with me.

- Glenn

Actually its harder than thought it would be Glenn - I've never done this sort of thing before and had the naive idea it would just be a case of exchanging one texture file for another - instead the big background bitmaps have text on and some 3d modelled indentations and things...

I can probably change the colour easily enough in photoshop but changing the rest is going to be fiddly

any help from more experienced skinners please?

tinman wrote:

As I said earlier, I think the Soundfont loading is very cool, but wouldn't it be very simple to be able to load wav.'s? The user would have to establish loop points previously. wouldn't this be pretty simple, and would greatly expand the list of alternative wave forms, and the wave sequencing?

To keep things simple, I chose one format and Soundfont has a lot of advantages over .wav or .aiff. Most importantly, it can be multisampled, which means you can import not just waveforms, but great sounding instruments.

Realistically, if you're starting with sampled audio, you'll need to use a sample editor like Vienna or VSampler (or Polyphontics on the Mac) to put in the loop points. Once you're in the sample editor, there is very little extra effort to simply save it as a soundfont.

I can personally attest that using Polyphontics to make sound fonts is a snap. Does anyone have experiences with Vienna or VSampler or any other soundfont editors?

- Glenn

Sorry, aMUSEd,

But skinning is just a bitch in general...

It's not so much the design (I did it for an earlier version of Crystal) as the mechanics: the repetitive, exacting reproduction of dozens of images with a single tiny detail being the only difference, and lotsa lining-up issues which means one mistake can torpedo the whole project. Not to mention having to update everything when newer versions change the location of some sliders/knobs...

The ultimate solution would be a skinnable approach, but that'd be a heckuva work for Glenn, and I doubt we'd see more skins. After all, Pentagon has been skinnable for at least six months, and I still haven't seen any user-produced GUI with 2 exceptions, neither of which caught my fancy.

I have to admit, Crystal's speed of development is frightening. It's seen more updates in 2002, and had more features and radical expansions added than any other commercial VSTi in the whole world. If you really start thinking about it, it offers several features that z3ta+/Pentagon/Albino/VirsynTera/Absynth lack completely, it has a combination of functions and capabilities that NO other synth offers - and yet it's FREE! For me, it's everything that I dreamt ULTRAN would be, and a whole lot more. I mean, c'me on: TWELVE mod matrix slots? TWELVE drawable envelopes? Assignable MIDI?

I have been thinking about asking for envelope amount knobs, noise LFO's, and a fourth oscillator - and then I realized: we're actually pushing this synth's development towards becoming a completely self-contained music-making machine. If you look at it from an objective point of view, and disregard the 'digital synth' framework of reference, it's reaching the complexity of a true host (without being able to host other VSTi's, of course). At the moment it's closer to VirsynTera and VSampler3 than to a 'traditional' VSTi, and they go for... what? minimum U$200 or so?

For the last year I've been telling myself that I cannot do this or that sound 'cause my gear is not powerful enough; now I've just ran out of freakin' excuses... Damn you, DAMN YOU ALL!!!!!

Yeah, it works both ways. I haven't made much music in the past few months since I always have the excuse that there's something I want to do with Crystal. However, please keep those ideas for new features coming!

And, if anyone has patches to share, send them along, I'm working on the next user bank. Send them to glenn@greenoak.com

With the start of a new year it seems like a good time to thank everyone here at kvr for their encouragement and support. Crystal has been rewarding for me and I hope for all of you too. Happy new year.

- Glenn

GlennO wrote:

Does anyone have experiences with Vienna or VSampler or any other soundfont editors?

No idea about VSampler, but Vienna IMO is one of the most horrible apps I've ever used. Also, back when I checked it out it was only working with an SB card present in your system (ugh... who wants that?).
Guess the easiest way to do things so far would be to create either EXS or HALion patches and then convert them to SF2 using CDextract...

And while we're talking about SF2: It would be great if Crystal could offer some sort of backup scheme.
Yes, I know I am EXTREMELY anal about such things, but once you ever lost important song data (as it happened once to me) you'll know what I'm talking about.
Let's assume I'm gonna take some song using Crystal with a loaded SF2 with me to some friends machine (or even only back it up for later usage).
I'd have to copy the SF2 manually before - which is pretty much tedious and something you may easily forget.
Wouldn't it be great if Crystal had some internal file saving format (containing the appropriate samples, compare to, say, DR-008)? You could then just save your patch in the proper song folder and whenever you'd load that song on another machine Crystal could just ask whether you'd like to locate the patch file manually or not.
Also great for exchanging patches.

Oh, before I forget - thanks for this awsome synth!

Regards,
Sascha

Glenn, drop me an e-mail in reference to your soundfont editing queries. I have most of the editors (not Vienna. I never touch the stuff), and have actually been working on a lot of sf2-related things lately. Maybe I can help you out?

Scot Solida wrote:

Glenn, drop me an e-mail in reference to your soundfont editing queries. I have most of the editors (not Vienna. I never touch the stuff), and have actually been working on a lot of sf2-related things lately. Maybe I can help you out?

Scott, could you recommend a "generic" SF2 editor? Preferably with some rudimentary prelistening option?

Cheers,
Sascha

GlennO wrote:

Basically, you can look at morphing as the ability to control all 90 Crystal modulation targets at once. So, anything that is listed on the target menu in the modulation matrix can be morphed. See the MorphMW preset as an example. Play a note, then wiggle your modulation wheel to simultaneously change many parameters to change the sound. - Glenn

Thanks Glenn. I've spent a bit more time fiddling with morphing and things have started falling into place. I suppose what I was asking was whether it would be possible to morph between voices (say, from voice 1 to voice 2 within a preset) rather than between the preceding and following preset, but on second though there's not a lot you can achieve that way that you can't do with the current preset-to-preset morph.

Could I pester you with a couple more questions?

- Let's say presets 1, 2 & 3 all have LFO 1 set at different rates and ranges. When I allocate LFO 1 to ProgramMorph in preset 2, how is Crystal dealing with this? What gets priority?

- I have been trying to use Crystal to create a delay effect similar to the pattern of, e.g., a marble dropped on glass. Long delay, then progressively shorter: x x x x x xxxx x x x etc. My first thought was to set an LFO to modulate the delay time, but this creates a chorusing effect with pitch variation. Any idea how I would go about achieving this effect without pitch variation? Or would that be toying with the laws of physics?

- Is it possible to invert the output of the LFOs? [edit - Yep. I just reread the manual. ]

Sorry to bombard you like this, but Crystal is really the first synth that's inspired me to delve deeper into synth programming. Up till now I've mostly relied on vague random fiddling. The goal is semi-vague semi-random fiddling.

Sascha...
So far, the best options if you don't have a SoundBlaster (I don't), are probably Alive from http://www.soundfaction.com/downloads.htm
However, the only way to preview the file is with something like LiveSynth Pro. I believe that is DXi only. The other option is VSampler. This actually works pretty well, though I have noticed that not every sf2 player will read the results (Orion Platinum's Ultran, for example). However, the best results I have obtained are from AWave Studio from www.fmjsoft.com. This allows you to audtion your work via any soundcard, and from any controller, including a built-in virtual keyboard. It also comes with a batch converter that can convert virtually ANY format to any other. I've never even heard of most of the formats they support!

Barnadine wrote:

- Let's say presets 1, 2 & 3 all have LFO 1 set at different rates and ranges. When I allocate LFO 1 to ProgramMorph in preset 2, how is Crystal dealing with this? What gets priority?

The rate for LFO 1 will morph between the values in preset 1 and preset 3. That means you can morph the morphing! Note that if presets 1 and 3 have LFO 1 assigned to something other than morphing, Crystal is smart enough to keep it assigned to morphing.

Quote:

- I have been trying to use Crystal to create a delay effect similar to the pattern of, e.g., a marble dropped on glass. Long delay, then progressively shorter: x x x x x xxxx x x x etc. My first thought was to set an LFO to modulate the delay time, but this creates a chorusing effect with pitch variation. Any idea how I would go about achieving this effect without pitch variation? Or would that be toying with the laws of physics?

The trick is that the original sound should have a quick decay, just like a real dropped marble. Otherwise, the original sound will chorus with the echoes. I've uploaded an example to http://www.tfb.com/~glenn/bouncingMarble.zip

Quote:

Sorry to bombard you like this

My Pleasure .

- Glenn

GlennO wrote:

The rate for LFO 1 will morph between the values in preset 1 and preset 3. That means you can morph the morphing! Note that if presets 1 and 3 have LFO 1 assigned to something other than morphing, Crystal is smart enough to keep it assigned to morphing.

Aha!

Quote:

The trick is that the original sound should have a quick decay, just like a real dropped marble. Otherwise, the original sound will chorus with the echoes. I've uploaded an example to http://www.tfb.com/~glenn/bouncingMarble.zip

And aha! Yes, that's what I was after. Many thanks, Glenn.

Well, I've just spent a few happy hours getting to know Crystal 2.1 better. So many possibilities. And I haven't even started importing sound fonts yet. This is a deep synth.

A few little things I should pass on before I forget:

- Often, when dragging multiple envelope points with the ctrl/cmd key, the parameter display shows the x value as you move, but the y value is frozen at 0.0 (in Cubase 5.1).

- For Crystal on the PC, would it be possible to right mouse-click on a control to show its value in the parameter display (in place of, or as well as, the slightly more labour intensive alt + left mouse-click )?

Cheers. Back to the music.

Ifyou drag all the points, the parameter display shows the values for the last (right-most) one. The right-click idea sounds good to me, thanks!

I'm a bit worried that if GlennO takes all our suggestions we'll end up with an animal with a lot of arms and legs that has trouble walking.
This synth became what it is under Glenn's design, so I want him to stick to his ideas.
So Glenn, listen, but don't necessarily deliver.

Hi GlennO,

In the envelope editor would it be possible to adapt the selected presets to whatever scale is currently selected ?. What I would like is a way to "stretch" the length of the points position. Currently all the presets jumps back to scale factor = 1.
More often than not the envelope lengths are longer than 1 (for me at least). It would be nice to have this option (or something similar) in Crystal to make the workflow even more superb.

Cheers
travisdk

You mean spread the preset points across the time that is spanned by the current set of points? That's an interesting idea, I'll see what I can do. Don't worry tinman, I'm trying to be careful to keep enhancements consistent with the existing scope of Crystal.

GlennO wrote:

You mean spread the preset points across the time that is spanned by the current set of points? That's an interesting idea, I'll see what I can do. Don't worry tinman, I'm trying to be careful to keep enhancements consistent with the existing scope of Crystal.

Yep exactly .. it's kind of intuitive to expect it happening somehow.
I realise this is a minor thing but it would be nice to have ... but maybe one could also ... hmmm ... nahh... enough said

Cheers
travisdk

GlennO wrote:

You mean spread the preset points across the time that is spanned by the current set of points? That's an interesting idea, I'll see what I can do. Don't worry tinman, I'm trying to be careful to keep enhancements consistent with the existing scope of Crystal.

Wow! You mean there's a scope??!!??!!

With the last round of features I was beginning to think the sky was the limit or something....

I was waiting for you to add 32 additive oscillators, spectral synthesis, multiple sample format support and a toaster - and then call it a minor update.

Sascha Franck wrote:

And while we're talking about SF2: It would be great if Crystal could offer some sort of backup scheme. Yes, I know I am EXTREMELY anal about such things, but once you ever lost important song data (as it happened once to me) you'll know what I'm talking about. Let's assume I'm gonna take some song using Crystal with a loaded SF2 with me to some friends machine (or even only back it up for later usage). I'd have to copy the SF2 manually before - which is pretty much tedious and something you may easily forget. Wouldn't it be great if Crystal had some internal file saving format (containing the appropriate samples, compare to, say, DR-008)? You could then just save your patch in the proper song folder and whenever you'd load that song on another machine Crystal could just ask whether you'd like to locate the patch file manually or not. Also great for exchanging patches.

I'm not sure I follow. Do you mean you want to save a copy of the samples in the song? Or, do you mean you want to copy the samples into the song folder? In your example, in addition to bringing the song files with you, don't you also have to remember to bring all your plugins and your samples?

- Glenn

Glenn, to clarify what Sascha means (I know what he's on about, as I'm also a DR-008 user), to backup/exchange patches Crystal could save a proprietry patch file separate from the song, which as well as all the patch settings it also includes all the sample data from the original SF2 file.

The FXpansion DR-008 does this and it makes backup and exchange of kits a breeze, as all settings and necessary sample data is included in the kit file.

GlennO wrote:

I'm not sure I follow. Do you mean you want to save a copy of the samples in the song? Or, do you mean you want to copy the samples into the song folder? In your example, in addition to bringing the song files with you, don't you also have to remember to bring all your plugins and your samples?

Hi Glenn,

In general, whenever I'm collaborating with people I try to keep an eye on the plugins used. This ideally means we'd be using an identical set of plugins (so you don't have to deal with bouncing down audio tracks).
With Crystal it's of course ideal because it's free and crossplatform (being x-platform compatible was the only reason I bought Battery in addition to the DR-008).

Sure, it won't be THAT much of a problem to copy the used soundfont/s into your backup folder manually and then move it into the appropriate Crystal subfolder on the "target" machine, but IMO any VSTi dealing with samples should just offer a file format allowing to save/copy the used samples as well because in case you'd be using quite a lot of sample based patches the process of manually sorting them could become quite time consuming, not to forget there's room for user errors because you'll have to fool around in explorer/finder to find the used patches.

Actually, the best example coming to my mind is the DR-008 which offers an option to save a) patch only, b) patch with samples in a subfolder, c) patch with embedded samples (for those that care about copyrights). That way you don't have to leave your sequencer at all to find any samples/patches manually.

But hey, I don't think Crystal's main purpose is being a sample player, so I doubt people will use more than the occasional SF2 (or maybe they will?) and in that case the manual method could eventually be sufficient.
Not to forget Crystal is free, so what am I complaining about here?

Just wanted to mention this sorta shortcoming in case there'd be a chance of easily fixing it.

Cheers,
Sascha

Collusion wrote:

Glenn, to clarify what Sascha means [...]

I've been beaten by a few minutes...

Sascha

GlennO wrote:

Ifyou drag all the points, the parameter display shows the values for the last (right-most) one. The right-click idea sounds good to me, thanks!

Yep, that makes sense. I can see the logic of showing the value of the rightmost point when shifting multiple points. No doubt I'm being a bit thick here, but since in nearly all situations the envelope ends on 0.0, doesn't this make the y value of the rightmost point a bit redundant, all multiples of zero being zero?

Say you want to double the height of an envelope that closes on zero, or want to stretch an envelope so that a certain peak in the middle aligns with a specific time. In both cases the value of the rightmost point isn't particularly helpful. Perhaps a toggle which switches between showing the value of the final point, and showing the value of the point you actually select?

Jeez, I'm really harping on this minor point, aren't I? Sorry to be a pain. Let me reiterate that Crystal is a phenomenal piece of work. And I'll shut up now.

That's a good idea. I've changed it so it shows the values of the point you're dragging. Look for it in the next update. Thanks.

- Glenn

Barnadine wrote:

I'll shut up now.

Um, let's ignore that.

Glenn, about the envelope editors. Very intuitive and easy to use. Only drawback is when you want to do detailed stuff late in an envelope (e.g. a slow 60 sec build then some complicated shifts in the space of a few seconds). Have you considered perhaps a second slider near the scale slider which lets you move along the length of the envelope if it's larger than the display?

Just a thought. Now I'll try to shut up again.

Aaaah woohoo! I've not had access to the net for approx 1 month and I get back to find Crystal 2.1 is already out - AND it's got another 6 matrix slots and 6 mod envelopes. Irrespective of all the other goodies this is the most important to me - now I can make some REALLY weird sounds hehehe.

I was still waiting for the CM issue - only had a beta version which apparently doesn't save patches to future versions, and didn't want to be a cheeky b*****d and ask Glenn for the full version (even though he'd offered after some beta testing). So NOW Crystal to my mind outdoes any other VSTi out there in terms of versatility. I've had some weird patches that were limited by only having six slots.

So not only does Glenn give a mean set of new features, he also picks out all of the best suggestions from users. The man should be sainted or something. I shall forthwith get to work on a new bank of patches. I think Crystal can probably now keep up with with my sonic imagination, which I can honestly say no other VSTi can do, and hardware samplers never could either. Maybe I'll need a quicker CPU though!

So why didn't any of you buggers tell me Crystal 2.1 was out? Just because I wasn't on the net and nobody knows where I live isn't a decent enough excuse either

Sonic improbability, here I come...... Cheers Glenn.

Barnadine - Yeah, I've run into that myself. I'll see what I can do for a future version, but it's probably too late for 2.2.

Kritikon - Welcome back! I'm looking forward to any patches you send my way for inclusion in the next user bank .

- Glenn