KVR :: Homegrown Sounds » Beta Testers Required Soon - Now Closed [View Original Topic]
There are 75 posts in this topic.

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Astralp - Wed Dec 03, 2008 5:56 am

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I am developing a Windows only VST plugin currently which is a Sample Based Drum Machine with many features. It has 10 parts and tons of randomization option like the other HGS stuff. It can be played in the usual way via midi as a standard drum kit, but also has a sequencer for building up grooves, and the grooves can also be played via the midi keyboard. There is one key that triggers the entire loop, and subsequent keys trigger each part sequence, which allows for a breakbeat kind of improvisation.

There is also an overall mixer which allows access to many parameters from a single screen and makes stuff like dubbing very easy. You can also randomize from here, so for example you can randomize all Pitches or resonance etc...

Also includes a Modulation Sequencer and a few random value generators which can be assigned to each part.

The FX section has Reverb, Delay, Flanger/Filter, Gate, Compressor & Limiter.

Also has Pitch Shift and a Time stretch type effect.

The greatest feature is that it has the ability to record Loop Perfect Samples and automatically name them and put them in a Folder by BPM. You can easily produce hundreds of loops with little effort that are ready to import into any sampler/sequencer.

Finally it comes with a lot of great drum samples and has the ability to create you own banks by simply placing a folder of samples in the installed samples folder (the same as the way Orgone works).

Pricing isn't set in stone yet, but there will be 2 licenses, a personal license and a commercial license. The commercial license will allow using it to create products that you can sell, ie; loop CDs/Packs. The personal license will allow creating loops for yourself and for using in your own productions. I decided this because it is so stupidly easy to make a great sample CD in a few hours with very little effort

Anyhow, I'm looking for some beta testers to run it through the mill, a first beta should be ready possibly by next week. I thought I would try and get some people interested in advance. You must be willing to test out the software as fully as possible with each release and provide feedback via this forum, and in return you will get a free personal license when it is officially released. You must also agree to not share the software and that's about it

Anyhow anyone interested, please reply to this thread and I'll keep everyone informed from here. You could also create an account on hgsounds.com in readyness and state your username in this post, which will make life easier for me when setting the site permissions.

I'm not sure how many testers I am after as yet but it will be 1st come first serve!

take care
Andy

[edit] - Thought I'd also add this info which is later in the thread:

The GUI is still under development unfortunately, once the main GUI is ready I will release the beta, but I'll give you some ideas on what it will be like:

This is the first VST I've done as a collaboration and the Synth itself is being designed by a colleague (Andreas) so it looks nothing like my previous designs. It is a hardware emulation with many knobs and also an LCD screen which has some features tucked away on panels. We are trying to make it look as hardware as possible, to keep the front clean and simple.

The top 2 rows of knobs will have the settings for each drum part which are Vol, Pan, Cutoff, Reso, sample start, attack, release, Pitch, Drive, Velocity, Vel-Filter, and 3 effect sends to Reverb, Delay and Flanger. This is per drum part so you select from one to 10 to edit the specific part.

The LCD Screen is still being worked out, I have some programming to do to make this happen, but essentially (subject to change) along the top is the 1-10 edit boxes, and another set of panels that will expose extra settings for the FX, Master or Section Modulation. These settings appear in the bottom part of the LCD. Also near the top is the Bank and Sample selection for the current part. There is also randomize buttons and a few master setting in here too.

Below this is 2 rows of knobs for the FX which are Reverb, Delay, Flanger and Compressor.

On the right side there is 4 sets of buttons * 10 which represent a strip for each part. Top line are Drum Triggers, Second is Sequence triggers, Third is Solo, and the Fourth is OFF/ON.

Below that are the Master controls which is Volume, FX Mix, Humanize, Swing, Cutoff, Resonance, Release and Pitch. The last 3 affect all the parts so that the relationship between these settings on each part is maintained. Also the Pitch has normal mode, delay based shift, or timestretch which can create some crazy sounds

Finally below that is the Record Controls, Noise Gate and Limiter, although I may not keep the Limiter controls, I still want to asses how useful they are. The output is always limited anyway.

That's the front panel, but there is also some screens for The Modulation/LFO Page, the main mixer and the sequencer. The GUI for this still needs much work which will come after we have the front finalized. The idea at the moment is to keep in with the virtual hardware theme by having it as a virtual Monitor that would plug into the back of the unit.

Hopefully that will give you some idea of what to expect, any of this may change as it is still work in progress and as it is an international project it takes a bit longer to get through the dev cycle but will be worth the wait I think.

There are still lots of problems to address but I would say that it is 80-90% functional currently. The humanize and Swing need some work as the existing solution freaks out in FL and probably some other hosts, so some programming is needed there.

as soon as I have more solid info/ screen grabs I'll put them up in this thread, so keep watching.

[edit] A bit about the sequencer I added further in thread added here as well:

Well the sequencer is currently just for creating a single loop from 32 steps, and has a Gate Sequencer style layout (like the Astralis Synths). Each line can have its own tempo and loop length so you can do thing like have hits come in over a long period, or have a 3 beat part overlaid. This can make long evolving loops when the whole loop is played, but the main intended way of utilizing this is to use the midi keyboard to trigger each part and jam the rhythm track out live. It is similar to using sampler loops, except you have a midi key assigned to each of the drum parts, and of course because it is midi, tempo changes aren't a problem.

Also for each track there is a random pattern, or a random one selected from a database of preset patterns. It also has shift left/right and a few other features. This bit is still being worked on, so may change.

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maxdis - Wed Dec 03, 2008 6:02 am

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count me in!
I'm "maxdis" on hgsounds.com

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Astralp - Wed Dec 03, 2008 5:01 pm

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Hi Maxdis

I've added the role to your account but the first beta won't be available until next week at least.

Thanks for taking part What Host/s do you use and what is your CPU?

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ZombyWoof - Wed Dec 03, 2008 8:56 pm

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I'm in. I'm ZombyWoof also at HGsounds.com.

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Cordelia - Wed Dec 03, 2008 9:05 pm

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I'd love to participate.
ljefe at hgsounds.

I'm using Reaper on:

Intel Core2 quad Q6600 2.4GHz
Intel P35
2GB Kingston RAM
Radeon HD 2400 Pro 256MB graphics card
Win XP Pro
Frontier Design WaveCenter PCI sound card

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elxsound - Wed Dec 03, 2008 9:06 pm

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Hello Astralp,

I'm interested in beta testing

I'm registered as elxicano at hgsounds.com


I'm a windows xp user 2gig of ram on a Intel dual core processor.

edit:

I'm a Ableton Live user (7.0.12)

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Evan - Wed Dec 03, 2008 9:45 pm

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interested too

My setup:

- Intel P45, Intel E5200, 4GB RAM
- onboard Realtek audio
- OS: Vista 64bit, Main Host: testdriving Reaper
- Controllers: edirol pcr-300 keyboard controller, korg padkontrol, wacom stylus tablet

I play guitar, keys (both barely

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stanlea - Thu Dec 04, 2008 1:52 am

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count me in also, I'm stanlea everywhere, except on porn sites.

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Zmies - Thu Dec 04, 2008 4:27 am

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+1
zmies at hgsounds also.

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Optomadic - Thu Dec 04, 2008 4:49 am

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This sounds very promising. I'm game!

Same user name at your site too.

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maxdis - Thu Dec 04, 2008 4:49 am

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Reaper / Usine

Intel Core2 Duo E2160
2Gb RAM
Windows Xp


Intel Core2 Duo T9400
4 Gb RAM
Windows Vista

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Astralp - Thu Dec 04, 2008 7:05 am

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Ok, I've added all of you except Evan, what is your hgsounds user name?

Thanks to you all for helping out!

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Az're-ul - Thu Dec 04, 2008 12:19 pm

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If its not too late:

azreul @ hgsounds

Intel Q6600, 2Gb, XP - Mainly use eXT 1 & 2 and sometimes Orion & Renoise

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jdt - Thu Dec 04, 2008 3:14 pm

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I'd sure go for it. Just finished Beta testing the new Pianissimo VST from Acoustica. Might as well try another, lol.

I run Vista on a AMD 3800+, 1gb ram. My main DAW is FL Studio 8. I also use Sonar, Cubase, Mixcraft 4, Ton of other Audio apps... Hundreds of VSTs.

I'm always interested in new plugins under development. Glad to help, especially if it means a new VST in the arsenal! lol

Peace,
jdt-Shades of Gray Recording

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Astralp - Thu Dec 04, 2008 3:19 pm

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azreul you are added, glad to see you onboard

jdt did you join hgsounds, if so what's your username? (see top post)

thanks to you both!

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Chester Desmond - Fri Dec 05, 2008 11:13 am

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I'd also like to get involved with the testing if you're still looking.

I'm chesterdesmond on HG

My system is:
3.0 ghz Intel duocore
2 gbs RAM
M-Audio Delta 1010LT
Windows Media Centre 2005 (basically XP with a media extension)
Tracktion 3
Yamaha DTXpress 2 e-drumkit

Thanks

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botkiller - Fri Dec 05, 2008 11:34 am

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I would be interested. I have beta tested for Koblo, Keytosound, Cakewalk, Ableton and others.

I run winxp SP2, 2ghz AMD with 2gb RAM, sound card is M-audio Delta 2496, controller is m-audio Axiom 61, monitors are M-audio studiophile BX5s.

Let me know if you still need some help!

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RyanG - Fri Dec 05, 2008 11:35 am

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If you still need people, I'll put my name in as well.

My username is RyanGowen on HGS.

I have...

AMD Athlon 64 3500+ Processor
2GB RAM
140GB HD
RealTek AC97
nVidia GeForce 8800 GTS
Windows XP SP2
FL Studio 8

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Astralp - Fri Dec 05, 2008 12:45 pm

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Chester and Ryan you are added, many thanks

botkiller have you created an account on hgsounds? Let me know your user name so I can add you.

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jdt - Fri Dec 05, 2008 3:37 pm

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Sorry, about that, Astralp. My username at hgsounds is:

jdtshadesofgrayrecording

Forgot to put that in my reply.

Thanks,
jdt

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GJK - Fri Dec 05, 2008 3:41 pm

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ooohhhh my gosh astral p..... this sounds amazing!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
ive got my credit card ready for this!!!!

i have all of your sample cds and i cant wait for this..!!!

omg... any sneak peak at the gui??

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botkiller - Fri Dec 05, 2008 3:51 pm

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I will make an account now!

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Astralp - Fri Dec 05, 2008 5:09 pm

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lol thanks

The GUI is still under development unfortunately, once the main GUI is ready I will release the beta, but I'll give you some ideas on what it will be like:

This is the first VST I've done as a collaboration and the Synth itself is being designed by a colleague (Andreas) so it looks nothing like my previous designs. It is a hardware emulation with many knobs and also an LCD screen which has some features tucked away on panels. We are trying to make it look as hardware as possible, to keep the front clean and simple.

The top 2 rows of knobs will have the settings for each drum part which are Vol, Pan, Cutoff, Reso, sample start, attack, release, Pitch, Drive, Velocity, Vel-Filter, and 3 effect sends to Reverb, Delay and Flanger. This is per drum part so you select from one to 10 to edit the specific part.

The LCD Screen is still being worked out, I have some programming to do to make this happen, but essentially (subject to change) along the top is the 1-10 edit boxes, and another set of panels that will expose extra settings for the FX, Master or Section Modulation. These settings appear in the bottom part of the LCD. Also near the top is the Bank and Sample selection for the current part. There is also randomize buttons and a few master setting in here too.

Below this is 2 rows of knobs for the FX which are Reverb, Delay, Flanger and Compressor.

On the right side there is 4 sets of buttons * 10 which represent a strip for each part. Top line are Drum Triggers, Second is Sequence triggers, Third is Solo, and the Fourth is OFF/ON.

Below that are the Master controls which is Volume, FX Mix, Humanize, Swing, Cutoff, Resonance, Release and Pitch. The last 3 affect all the parts so that the relationship between these settings on each part is maintained. Also the Pitch has normal mode, delay based shift, or timestretch which can create some crazy sounds

Finally below that is the Record Controls, Noise Gate and Limiter, although I may not keep the Limiter controls, I still want to asses how useful they are. The output is always limited anyway.

That's the front panel, but there is also some screens for The Modulation/LFO Page, the main mixer and the sequencer. The GUI for this still needs much work which will come after we have the front finalized. The idea at the moment is to keep in with the virtual hardware theme by having it as a virtual Monitor that would plug into the back of the unit.

Hopefully that will give you some idea of what to expect, any of this may change as it is still work in progress and as it is an international project it takes a bit longer to get through the dev cycle but will be worth the wait I think

There are still lots of problems to address but I would say that it is 80-90% functional currently. The humanize and Swing need some work as the existing solution freaks out in FL and probably some other hosts, so some programming is needed there.

as soon as I have more solid info/ screen grabs I'll put them up in this thread, so keep watching

GJK are you wanting to beta test?

Andy

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Astralp - Fri Dec 05, 2008 5:16 pm

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JDT, you are added

Oh also to mention, that initially it was Andreas who suggested this project as a simple drum machine, but I generally find it hard to stick to simple so it became a monster It has been under development on/off since around May (I think). Would be nice to get finished for a January Release.

He provided most of the drum hits from his personal collection and I have added some more, I think there is about 1400 at the moment, though you can easily add your own folders of wavs to the sample store.

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tattiemannie - Fri Dec 05, 2008 5:22 pm

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Very interested in trying this out .... I was hoping to test it in FLS though, err .. I suppose I can handle it freaking out, but I have other hosts as well ... reaper, mulab, n-track, madtracker, dreamstation and others.

If its not too late, count me in. drum tracks are my weak area, so anything that can inspire or improve my efforts would be raved about!!!

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Astralp - Fri Dec 05, 2008 5:27 pm

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Yep fine, make an account on hgsounds and let me know your user name and I'll add you to the beta testers. It is only swing + humanize which freaks out in FL, everything else is fine as far as I know.

Well the point of beta testing is to fix the bugs so if you can test in FL that will be very helpful as well as any others

It is very complex software and I am sure there will be plenty of bugs to squash. It is too huge to attempt that on my own...

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GJK - Fri Dec 05, 2008 6:34 pm

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i would love to beta test...


my user name is gabriel

looking forward to this

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Astralp - Fri Dec 05, 2008 6:37 pm

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You're added, thanks a lot!

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ynot - Fri Dec 05, 2008 9:03 pm

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im in

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robotwars - Fri Dec 05, 2008 9:29 pm

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extremely interested!

username is robotwars on hgsounds.com

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stanlea - Sat Dec 06, 2008 12:42 am

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Any hints on the sequencer part ? GUI ? Controls ? Parameters ? Resolution ?

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Astralp - Sat Dec 06, 2008 6:51 am

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Hi stanlea!

Well the sequencer is currently just for creating a single loop from 32 steps, and has a Gate Sequencer style layout (like the Astralis Synths). Each line can have its own tempo and loop length so you can do thing like have hits come in over a long period, or have a 3 beat part overlaid. This can make long evolving loops when the whole loop is played, but the main intended way of utilizing this is to use the midi keyboard to trigger each part and jam the rhythm track out live. It is similar to using sampler loops, except you have a midi key assigned to each of the drum parts, and of course because it is midi, tempo changes aren't a problem.

Also for each track there is a random pattern, or a random one selected from a database of preset patterns. It also has shift left/right and a few other features. This bit is still being worked on, so may change.

You wanting to beta test?

take care
Andy

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dacaumodo - Sat Dec 06, 2008 7:00 am

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It sounds very promising! I don't think I really have the time for extensive beta testing but I'll keep an eye on this!
d

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stanlea - Sat Dec 06, 2008 7:48 am

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I though I was already on board ?

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Astralp - Sat Dec 06, 2008 8:14 am

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Ahhh yes of course.

note to self: Don't respond to questions until you've woken up....

sorry!

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Evan - Sat Dec 06, 2008 8:26 am

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Forgot to add my user name: mmentis (my info is on the 1st page of this thread)

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Astralp - Sat Dec 06, 2008 8:29 am

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Ok thanks Evan, you are added

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Astralp - Sat Dec 06, 2008 8:30 am

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thanks, I'm hoping for a January release but that might be a little optimistic

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alexfalcao - Sat Dec 06, 2008 8:49 am

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Hi Astralp,

If you still need, I would like to participate. I already have an Homegrown Sounds account, my id is my email.

Alex.

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Astralp - Sat Dec 06, 2008 8:54 am

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Hi Alex

You're added, many thanks. Nice to see you've put your picture up in your profile. I suppose a bit pointless now the forum has moved to KVR but nice to see anyhow

Andy

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alexfalcao - Sat Dec 06, 2008 8:59 am

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Hi Andy,

I hope my picture didn't scare your customers .

Alex.

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Astralp - Sat Dec 06, 2008 9:01 am

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lol

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GermanFafian - Sat Dec 06, 2008 9:20 am

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If it is not toolate. I'd be interested in this too.
My User at HG is the same as here.
I use mainly FL and Reaper.
I have an AMD64 at 3.2
running winxp
2G RAM
I'm always on the look out for drum and perc sounds to spark my creativity

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Astralp - Sat Dec 06, 2008 9:23 am

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GF, you are added, thanks a lot!

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jdt - Sat Dec 06, 2008 9:37 am

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Thanks Astralp. I've been reading back a bit on the GUI. Sounds like a sweet layout. Can't wait to see it.

"The humanize and Swing need some work as the existing solution freaks out in FL and probably some other hosts"

Big suprise there ,eh? FL has always been a bit finicky, even with IL Betas. I wonder if that's caused in part by some sort of internal conflict with the Swing slider in FL's Step Sequencer.

Peace,
jdt

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GermanFafian - Sat Dec 06, 2008 10:03 am

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Thanks to you!

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Death Row Tull - Sat Dec 06, 2008 11:01 am

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Hi: I like to try this device as well (got an email message). I'd be triggering it with a HandSonic 15, i use Traktion 2. Thanks- Jim Spiri www.myspace.com/thetoggle

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Astralp - Sat Dec 06, 2008 11:03 am

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What's your hgsounds user name?

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Musical Gym - Sat Dec 06, 2008 11:14 am

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I definitely would like to test.
I just saw the opportunity.
I registered as Musical Gym.

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Astralp - Sat Dec 06, 2008 1:13 pm

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MG you are added thanks!

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Musical Gym - Sat Dec 06, 2008 1:29 pm

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There is a Heaven.

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Evan - Sun Dec 07, 2008 2:14 am

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Thank you very much!

Logged in and saw the file ready for download. A couple of suggestions.

Since this is so big (232MB), could you split it in 2 parts? One for the plugin and one for the samples? (will save on bandwidth)

Also, could you add version numbers in the file name to keep everyone in-sync with the latest beta?

Thanks!

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Az're-ul - Sun Dec 07, 2008 3:11 am

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I think you'll find the 232mb file is the Homegrown Sounds sample CD sampler. I'm sure Andy said the beta should be ready sometime towards the end of this week.

Edit: Just checked and yes its the CD sampler. Also Andy is pretty good about putting the version numbers in the filenames so there shouldn't be any worries there either.

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stanlea - Sun Dec 07, 2008 3:13 am

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I didn't see the file ????

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Astralp - Sun Dec 07, 2008 5:43 am

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It isn't available yet, I'll let you all know via this thread it is available. The drum machine won't be as large as that and the drum samples will be in a separate rar.

At the moment I' just building a team and the alpha.

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ir99 - Sun Dec 07, 2008 3:53 pm

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...sounds really good to me so count me in as well. My username is the same as for KVR ie ir99.

Thanks!

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tattiemannie - Sun Dec 07, 2008 4:32 pm

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OK, signed up to HG ... username ... tattiemannie

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Astralp - Sun Dec 07, 2008 5:41 pm

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Ok thanks, you are both added

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blortblort - Sun Dec 07, 2008 8:07 pm

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I am in sort of the same boat. Would love to beta, but not sure if I have the time to be fair to this project. I just wanna be able to fool with it once its done. Sounds awesome, Andy

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Astralp - Sun Dec 07, 2008 8:12 pm

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No problem, totally understand!

thanks for your support

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damstraversaz - Mon Dec 08, 2008 12:50 am

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very interested too !
my account name is damstraversaz

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Astralp - Mon Dec 08, 2008 9:07 am

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Hi Damien

Glad to see you onboard, many thanks!

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Astralp - Thu Dec 11, 2008 6:35 am

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Still looking for a few more, first version should be ready over the weekend.

Andy

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GJK - Fri Dec 12, 2008 7:11 pm

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awesome!!!!!!!!!!!!

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Musical Gym - Fri Dec 19, 2008 8:21 am

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How's this coming along?

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Astralp - Fri Dec 19, 2008 6:18 pm

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Almost there, had to recode some of the stuff to fit with the new interface, plus some optimizations. Still a couple of things to do, plus waiting for some graphics. The initial version will be an alpha meaning that some features may yet be added, so would be good to get some feedback. I've fixed most of the bugs I know about now, which will save all of you some effort, and point out bugs that I don't know about, I'm sure there will be a few

I will release it as soon as I can.

Andy

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SampleScience - Fri Dec 19, 2008 7:44 pm

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Count me in if you want, you know my username .

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GJK - Fri Dec 19, 2008 7:57 pm

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holy crap... i cant wait.... any option to pre order for beta testers??????!!!!!

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Astralp - Fri Dec 19, 2008 8:27 pm

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SampleScience, you are in

GJK, you will get a free personal license in return for beta testing.

I'm thinking of launching with a Group Buy through January for everyone else. I hope that people like it, it is insanely good fun to play with in the loop making department, I keep getting distracted I will try hard to get something up over the weekend, the trouble with programming is that sometimes you get stuck solving a problem for endless hours....

Andy

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Astralp - Wed Dec 24, 2008 11:39 am

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OK Black Magic is here, still an alpha though but seems pretty bug free to me. Full details and responses on this thread:

http://www.kvraudio.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=3380381#3380381

have fun and Happy Christmas!

Andy

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audington - Wed Dec 24, 2008 11:47 am

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I've just read the description on that other thread, count me in for a group buy!

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Az're-ul - Wed Dec 24, 2008 11:51 am

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Downloading now, will have a play on Boxing Day.

Have a great Christmas Andy

Steve

p.s. hope dressing like a ninja, jumping off cliffs and swimming through shark infested water isn't part of the beta test programme

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Astralp - Wed Dec 24, 2008 4:01 pm

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Hi Audington, great, should be in January if all goes to plan. Best way to stay informed is to join hgsounds as I'll announce it once it begins

Steve, cliffs no, swimming no, but I did mention the human cannonball thing right??

have a good one!

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tedzzzz - Thu Dec 25, 2008 12:06 am

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I'm interested if you're still looking for testers...my hgsounds username is "tedyoung".

;ted

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Astralp - Sat Dec 27, 2008 10:46 am

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Hi Ted

Just added you, sorry I forgot about this thread, see the other thread for beta testing status and info etc... thanks

that will do now for beta testers, thanks evryone who's taking part.

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There are 75 posts in this topic.