One Synth Challenge #84: Crisalys by MaxSynths (J.Ruegg Wins!)

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Crisalys

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Been playing with this today, to disable the sequencer I clicked the disable button next to SEQS so it's dimed out and then click the master midi through On so it's on yellow. Which allows midi to trigger the oscillators when the sequencer isn't playing, which was sending me crazy why I couldn't play midi.

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chilledpanda wrote:Been playing with this today, to disable the sequencer I clicked the disable button next to SEQS so it's dimed out and then click the master midi through On so it's on yellow. Which allows midi to trigger the oscillators when the sequencer isn't playing, which was sending me crazy why I couldn't play midi.
I also find that it only seems to work for me on MIDI Channel 1. That's OK, but it was also driving me nuts.

An interesting synth for sure. Again, quite unique sounds can be had. Probably won't use the internal FX except the flanger/phaser if I need it (just coz we are forbidden to use an external one :cry: )

dB

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doctorbob wrote:
chilledpanda wrote: An interesting synth for sure. Again, quite unique sounds can be had. Probably won't use the internal FX except the flanger/phaser if I need it (just coz we are forbidden to use an external one :cry: )
That's not a good reason! Definitely abuse any internal synth FX freely :D

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bjporter wrote: That's not a good reason! Definitely abuse any internal synth FX freely :D
ahhhh ... but I did say I would bash the flanger, but I think the external delay, comp and reverb are better handled with probably better FX (sorry Crisalys!). :hihi:

dB

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@doctorbob and anyone else using Reaper. Have you had any success in getting Crisalys to read any velocity information in Reaper? In Reaper4 I can't get it to use any MIDI velocity info at the clip or note level other than on or off. If I put a note at 0 in the piano roll it doesn't sound, but anything over 0 is at full volume. This really limits the possibilities! I will have to render some tracks and manipulate the audio to do what I need.

I also couldn't get it to use the pitch wheel on my controller, but I can program pitch changes using the piano roll. Also , have this weird issue with massive project file sizes. A single instance of Crisalys alone makes a file size over 3mb, so when you have 20 or so it gets quite large. Had a similar issue with BR808 and got around that by removing all preset bank information, as Reaper must be saving all presets along with project file. That trick doesn't seem to work with Crisalys. No big deal, but I do prefer the usual file sizes for an all MIDI project which are usually in the 200-300kb range :)

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7angram wrote:@doctorbob and anyone else using Reaper. Have you had any success in getting Crisalys to read any velocity information in Reaper?
Me neither. Seems like Crisalys isn't velocity sensistive ... :?
btw, it's not a reaper thing, same thing happens when I run it in another host.
7angram wrote: I also couldn't get it to use the pitch wheel on my controller)
No problem here.
Stating the obvious: You have to set the PB range in the oscillator section (defaults to -2 / 2 it seems).
Also possible to use PB in the modulation matrix which acts a bit funny 'cause now I hear 2 bitch bends at the same time ...

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I made a 'snare-ish' patch by using 3 square waves detuned several semitones.
A bit of pitch envelope via AUX1
Set the synth to Poly (the p switch top right)
Play several notes at once to get a broad spectrum of harmonics.
EQ of the low end, boost the high end and notch some annoying overtones.

Will try later to get a sorta cymbal with this.

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Managed to get a shaker sound by using a short percussive sound like snare or clap i posted earlier and applying the reverb fully wet, with about 50% dampening and reverb time about halfway. This kills the transient leaving a short white noise burst.
This could be useful for snare layering etc, will try again tomorrow and post here if anyone interested. :)

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rghvdberg wrote:
7angram wrote:@doctorbob and anyone else using Reaper. Have you had any success in getting Crisalys to read any velocity information in Reaper?
Me neither. Seems like Crisalys isn't velocity sensistive ... :?
btw, it's not a reaper thing, same thing happens when I run it in another host.
Thanks for the confirmation. I got around this by using volume envelopes. Not very elegant but works. I lowered my expectations on the drum side, as I usually use per note velocity for rolls etc. Using envelopes for that sort of stuff would be a nightmare, so it has forced me to keep things simple...which is not necessarily a bad thing :D

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Anyone Struggling with the Snare thing -

I was monkeying around with the XM Slider (once i realized it was a slider from searching XM in the manual, seeing the word "Slider" below and going back to the synth). Ended up making one that sounds decent and punchy. Ran BACK to the manual to figure out why what I had done had worked, then did a little Those interested in my guesses at why can read below- or skip to the bottom for the fxp.

My guess at why it works:
------------------------------
I read the manual (kindof.. not really- just the paragraph on XM) to find out what exactly I had just done and noticed that Crisalys has what MaxSynths calls Cross Modulation, which is really just phase modulation... but from the manual, the internal modulation OSC for the Crisalys "XM" is a Pulse.

As has been mentioned earlier in this thread, FM a square by a pulse, (or a saw by a pulse, or a pulse by a pulse, other harmonic rich waveforms by a pulse, etc.) you get what is close to noise.

Given that the FM we all use and love (or sometimes despise) is adapted from Yamaha's "FM," which is actually just phase modulation, I'm assuming this "XM" is just another "FM" option, but with a pulse as the modulator.

I fed the Xm'd Saw/Square/etc. through a HP and the base tone I'm using to emulate the physical membrane through a modulated LP, add a little pitch enveloping and it's good. You can create extra snare sound with slight XM of the Sine used for the base tone. I've turned that off in the iteration posted below, but you can monkey with it to see what works best for you.

Anyone else who can better explain why this works, please do- especially if my estimate is incorrect.
--------------------------------------------------------------

TL;DR: It's a bunch of synth stuff that ends up kinda making the noise sound we wanted.

The patch kinda reminds me of a saturated 606.... or a... one of those other early analog boxes. Admittedly, besides the 808 and 909, the sound of the others kinda gets confused in my memory.

Here's the patch - a snare in one layer. Sounds decent at C#3.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B4T-Os ... ef=2&pli=1

EDIT: since I've been lurking rather than posting on KVR, It says the link is hidden- try copy and pasting the following after drive.google.com - /file/d/0B4T-OsOQ-2nFRTdYaEQtcjlIU28/view?pref=2&pli=1

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7angram wrote:
rghvdberg wrote:
7angram wrote:@doctorbob and anyone else using Reaper. Have you had any success in getting Crisalys to read any velocity information in Reaper?
Me neither. Seems like Crisalys isn't velocity sensistive ... :?
btw, it's not a reaper thing, same thing happens when I run it in another host.
Thanks for the confirmation. I got around this by using volume envelopes. Not very elegant but works. I lowered my expectations on the drum side, as I usually use per note velocity for rolls etc. Using envelopes for that sort of stuff would be a nightmare, so it has forced me to keep things simple...which is not necessarily a bad thing :D
Regarding velocity - Its possible to use velocity control for the filters but theres no button or option on the interface for volume velocity control - and its fixed velocity :(

However (and i hesitate to suggest this) I did find a way:
Right click on Volume button, select 'Edit' and then select 'Poly velocity key on', set this to '0' and ok.
Bingo! you have velocity control.

The reason i hesitate is this has caused me numerous crashes. After doing this in mulab, any programmed parts will play and respond to velocity information (EDIT as long as only one key played), but touch any key on my controller, or any of the piano roll notes causes instant crash. When i tried in cubase (7.5) its playable and works, but occasional crashes on save or exit where otherwise it was stable. Maybe in another DAW will work fine?
I wondered if anyone else has experienced problems with assigning midi controllers this way?
Last edited by RichardSemper on Tue Feb 09, 2016 8:44 am, edited 1 time in total.

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RobotConquest wrote:Anyone Struggling with the Snare thing -

I was monkeying around with the XM Slider (once i realized it was a slider from searching XM in the manual, seeing the word "Slider" below and going back to the synth).
Great tip :tu: I had not realised this was a slider either :)

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more on velocity control - here's a mulab solution:-

In the modular area - Placing velocity sensitive envelope (zero attack, zero decay, max sustain and release) in parallel with an instance of the synth and sending both to an amplifier gets me total velocity control.
(Incidentally, this would work with any synth)
mulab velocity control.jpg
Thing is, I have no idea if this is possible with other DAWs, and would be interested to know if its strictly within the rules?

BTW I have become a HUGE fan of mulab. I feel like it was developed specially for me 8)
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I have now included shakers and couple more percussive patches in the download:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/t37gjspk0lzqb ... 1.zip?dl=0

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