Tone2 Rayblaster: OUT NOW! (demo version available)

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Just was reading the beta forum. It's possible that there will be a delay of emails from Bastiaan for a short time due to personal reasons.


Ingo
Ingo Weidner
Win 10 Home 64-bit / mobile i7-7700HQ 2.8 GHz / 16GB RAM //
Live 10 Suite / Cubase Pro 9.5 / Pro Tools Ultimate 2021 // NI Komplete Kontrol S61 Mk1

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pdxindy wrote:
loucub wrote:Why the hell can't I install Rayblaster Demo on my OSX 10.6.8. Everytime I try to install it, the installer tells me that an unknown error made the installation fail. WTF !?

I also have 10.6.8 and it fails the same way for me. My guess is the installer does not work for 10.6.8
I'm probably late with this reply (my Internet went Inter-njet for almost five days), but the 1.0.1 demo installed without a hitch on my 10.6.8 MB Pro Early 2011.

/Joachim
If it were easy, anybody could do it!

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TheoM wrote: wow why would they remove it? just yesterday it was available for purchase... weird.. :?

http://www.pro-tools-expert.com/home...from-sale.html

"Sugar Bytes are outstanding developers who are bringing great-sounding plug-ins to market including AAX plug-ins. The Avid plug-in developer agreement that developers sign is for plug-ins that can be used with Pro Tools and other Avid products. Other types of products, like the wrapper, require our specific permission, as we granted in the case of FXpansion. We maintain this permission step in our efforts to ensure a quality experience on our audio platform and to carefully consider the effects of these exceptions on customers and developers. We appreciate Sugar Bytes"


It's amusing Avid talk of quality control when the FXpansion VST-RTAS forum has, for years, been full of people unable to make it work while FXpansion sit on there doing nout.
"What embecile composed this list :/"

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I can see that the only way to get an objective idea what RB is capable of is to get my hands dirty and dig in from scratch. I'll do that with Ingo's generously provided waveforms, and my own, when time permits. So, I'll keep the demo installed and work with it now and then. I assume Bastiaan's discount offer isn't time limited?

That said, in many (most?) presets, I hear a high frequency, plasticy or 'buzzy' sound character that reminds me of running my finger along a thick, high gloss varnish which hasn't quite hardened. :roll: Sorry, only metaphor that came into my head…

The thing is, I don't really care very much for that plastic treble character. Perhaps it's the 'microsound' character I hear?

Anyway, I'll try it out more in depth later.

Regarding the GUI, which looks nice enough, I'm really disappointed by a) no simple MIDI learn attached to the controls (the modulation matrix is much too convoluted for a quick CC11 tweak of, say, Osc 1 Formant) and b) no animation of controls when affected by the modulation matrix (and, hopefully in an update MIDI).

Besides being a workflow issue, I think that a) and b) would also help pedagogically, to get a better idea of what affects what and how.

/Joachim
If it were easy, anybody could do it!

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So i might get some time this weekend to try it out. Whats the deal with filter impulses...can anyone make em and load em in demo version?

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Kriminal wrote:So i might get some time this weekend to try it out. Whats the deal with filter impulses...can anyone make em and load em in demo version?
Download and hints how to use (more free ones will maybe follow):

http://www.tone2.org/forum/index.php?topic=1336.0
Ingonator wrote:Hi,

like promised yesterday i created a first package of free waveforms for Rayblaster, this time filter responses of following synths:

FXpansion Strobe, Tone2 Saurus, Korg Polysix (plugin), TAL BassLine, Arturia SEM V, FXpansion Cypher

link: https://dl.dropbox.com/u/53230726/IW_Fr ... ms%201.zip

The format of the WAV files is: Mono, 16-bit, 44.1 kHz.

Those are single cycle waveforms with the purpose to recreate the filter responses from different synths and different filter types. Some of the Saurus waveforms are included with the factory content.

This includes non-Resonant and Resonant ("Reso" in the name) waveforms, in some cases different versions.
For the Lowpass filters usually a version with full Cutoff and one with lower Cutoff amount is provided (e.g. "25% Cutoff"). For harsh sounds the full Cutoff versions should be OK but for a broader frequency range those with lower Cutoff amounts should be used.
For Saurus there are also waveforms that used the "Soft Reso" knob in it's filter section.

The behavior of the Resonant waveforms depends on several parameters, also found in real analog synths:
- Cutoff (= Formant knob)
- filter key track (left "Key" knob)
- envelope amount and values ("ENV1" knob, envelope 1)
- "harmonic" value which zooms in and out of the waveform
- start phase
- osc window


additional hints:

- you could use e.g. the presets "SaurusRezMorph IW" from the LEad category for testing. This uses a non-Resonant waveform for Wave1 and a resonant one for Wave2 which could be morphed with the Modwheel.

- Another preset that could be used for testing is e.g. "Mini Saw Lead IW" (which is based on a Minimoog waveform from Diva...)

- the "normal" range for the Formant knob should be between -200 and 0 (= middle position". Of course you could use higher values but there the filter response starts to slowly morph into a Bandpass filter.

- for analog lead sounds usually an "Osc window" (drop-down menu below "Wave1") like e.g. "Soft Saw", "Exponential 1" or "Soft Expo" should be the proper choices. For sounds with more high freqquencies "Cosine" should be a good choice.

- Of course you could also try the other osc windows for shaping the waveform further. e.g. "Sinc BP3" could emulate a resonant waveform in some cases and "Comb 4X" could emulate a Comb filter.

- in some case you could get a better low end with changing the "start phase" parameter. With some of the "osc windows" this parameter will be important

- If you should observe clicks or any other strange side effect you could use the "Low Cut" and/or "Damp" knobs to reduce or remove this.

- The "Low Cut" knob is also good if you observe a too big low end.

- those waveforms are usually based on a Sawtooth waveform but you could get different shapes with the "PW sequences":

- "Saw<PW>DbSaw" = Sawtooth to double Saw
- "Square<PW>Peek" = Square to Narrow Pulse
(= "typical" PWM when LFO or envelope used for modulation)
- "Tri<PW>Steps" = Triangle
- "Sino<PW>Square" = sine to Square

I have also added this here:
http://www.tone2.org/forum/index.php?to ... 13#msg6113


Have fun,
Ingo
MaxSynths wrote:More waveforms for Rayblaster here

The archive include two folders:

1. ElextraX filters (almost all, only the EQ filters has been excluded). The impulses has been sampled using a Saw waveform in Analog mode with the Amp Simulation on with different cutoff levels (see file names).

2. Waves sampled from hardware synths:

- Some analog waveforms from a DIY prototype
- Arp Avatar
- Some Blofeld waves
- CS1-X
- Gakken SX-150
- Korg Z1
- Roland SH-201
- Siel Mono
- Some custom Virus waves

This archive includes also some filter types from Crisalys


Enjoy ;)
Ingo Weidner
Win 10 Home 64-bit / mobile i7-7700HQ 2.8 GHz / 16GB RAM //
Live 10 Suite / Cubase Pro 9.5 / Pro Tools Ultimate 2021 // NI Komplete Kontrol S61 Mk1

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I have created some "virtual" filter impulses/responses with the formula editor in DNR Wave Designer:

link:
https://dl.dropbox.com/u/53230726/IW_Wa ... es%201.zip



A sceenshot from Wave Designer with a formula:

Image



Ingo
Ingo Weidner
Win 10 Home 64-bit / mobile i7-7700HQ 2.8 GHz / 16GB RAM //
Live 10 Suite / Cubase Pro 9.5 / Pro Tools Ultimate 2021 // NI Komplete Kontrol S61 Mk1

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Ok...so what exactly is a filter impulse and how do you extract one from a synth?

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Kriminal wrote:Ok...so what exactly is a filter impulse and how do you extract one from a synth?
It's nothing different than a single cycle waveform based on a sample from a synth of your choice.
That single cycle should contain a zero-crossing at the beginning and the end.
With some filter like e.g. a LPF using the maximum Cutoff limits the frequency range in Rayblaster so usually for a bigger frequency range something like 25-40% of the Cutoff (based on the knob, not the frequency which means 50% = middle position) should be the proper choice.
For resonant waveforms you could try to create waveforms with different Resonant behavior. In most cases something like e.g. 75% Resonance and 40% Cutoff should be OK.
There is usually no need to sample different waveforms as those could be emulated with different "PW sequences" but of course you could do sample/filter responses with different waveforms.

Rayblaster will then extract the filter response from that waveform but please don't ask me how that is exactly working. I have no idea at the moment.

You could check the waveforms provided here in a WAV/waveform editor if you like.
Those and several from the factory content should contain different filter types.

If you use a "fantasy waveform" like that from e.g. Wave Designer above aor any other complex waveform Rayblaster will extract a "fantasy filter" even when no filter was used for creating the waveform.


Ingo
Ingo Weidner
Win 10 Home 64-bit / mobile i7-7700HQ 2.8 GHz / 16GB RAM //
Live 10 Suite / Cubase Pro 9.5 / Pro Tools Ultimate 2021 // NI Komplete Kontrol S61 Mk1

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Thanks, but nevermind, just looked at GUI. Its basically loading them as osc samples...not replicating filters at all.

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Kriminal wrote:Thanks, but nevermind, just looked at GUI. Its basically loading them as osc samples...not replicating filters at all.
It loads waveforms AND creates a filter response.
You could shape the waveforms further with e.g. the "harmonic" value, the "start phase", the "osc windows" and the "PW sequences" (this could e.g. turn a Sawtooth into a Square wave...)

The behavior of the "Formant" knob (= Cutoff) is different for each waveform you use, except if based on the same filter response. In some cases (e.g. complex waveforms) small changes lead to different timbes.

Here is a PDF i created about a resonant Saurus waveform which shows screenshots of a Signal analyzer with different settings of the Formant knob:
https://dl.dropbox.com/u/53230726/Raybl ... es%201.pdf
At values above 0 (= middle position) the filter response of most waveforms slowly morphs into a Bandpass filter. The "usual" range is from -200 to 0.

You should maybe have a look at the manual which could be found either in the "Hellp" ,menu of the GUI or as a PDF in the install directory.

There are also some hints in my long post which i just quoted (or at the link at the Tone2 forum) and also in many many posts in this thread.

most info and also files available here:
http://www.tone2.org/forum/index.php?topic=1336.0


quote from the manual:

"Where's my filter?
IMS works in a way that does not need a separate filter section, its oscillators can authentically mimic the filter sound of other synthesizers, using one of the factory impulse presets or by simply importing one of your own impulses.
Not only is RayBlaster capable of modeling the sound of existing filters - it's also possible to create completely new artificial 'fantasy' filters exclusive to Rayblaster, making its filter capabilities virtually unlimited. Your own custom Rayblaster filter impulse responses can be created very easily, you'll find a step-by-step description in "Chapter 7 - Create your own custom Rayblaster filter impulse response' of this manual."

"7. Creating your own custom Rayblaster filter impulse response
1) Open any synth
2) Play a low pitch sawtooth (around 50 Hz) with any filter (cutoff around 1kHz, you can add some resonance if you want)
3) Record and save this static sound to a wav.
4) Cut edit this wav into a single-cycle waveform.
5) Load it into one of Rayblaster's oscillator.
When you edit the sample it is important to have a zero-crossing at the beginning and end of the wave. You can also adjust this in Rayblaster with Osc. Start Offset, but it is more easy if you do it in the source file before importing it into Rayblaster.
Lowpass type is with formant lower than 0 and bandpass type with values above 0. There are some example Impulse responses included in the Wave library (OSC>Load Wave menu) like the LpSaurusReso. As window function use OFF, Soft Saw or Exponential.
An example patch can be found in the Tutorial category > FakeAnalogFilter."

"8. How to extract & use waveforms in Rayblaster
A lot of instruments can be emulated by extracting a waveform from the original source, e.g., brass, woodwind and string instruments. Rayblaster is very good in modeling these instruments especially if the original waveform is used as its building block.
The following step-by-step describes how to do this:
1. Play a very low note on the instrument you want to extract a sample of
2. Sample the instruments
3. Extract/edit a single-cycle waveform from your sample, note that there should be a zero-crossing at the start & end of the single-cycle.
The maximum amount of energy (largest amplitude) should be as far to the start of as possible.
4. Save your single-cycle wav and import it into one of Rayblaster's oscillators.
Note that the File menu in Rayblaster offers two Quick import options, these will guide you through importing your sample/drumloop and configure Rayblaster to use the imported file."




Ingo
Last edited by Ingonator on Wed Dec 05, 2012 8:11 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Ingo Weidner
Win 10 Home 64-bit / mobile i7-7700HQ 2.8 GHz / 16GB RAM //
Live 10 Suite / Cubase Pro 9.5 / Pro Tools Ultimate 2021 // NI Komplete Kontrol S61 Mk1

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Ingonator wrote:I have created some "virtual" filter impulses/responses with the formula editor in DNR Wave Designer
Just a note about that - I've talked to Markus from Tone2 and agreed upon a crossgrade for Wave Designer. Those who have purchased Ray Blaster or ElectraX can now get Wave Designer for $39 instead of $79. You should see something from Markus in the next newsletter, forum post and Facebook post. For those who have already purchased either of those two synths and want the crossgrade discount, just shoot me a PM or e-mail.

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Ingonator wrote:First one was about the "Buy sounds" in the GUI (over several pages here!!) which first was unnecessary IMO and second should be fixed somehow in the future.


Ingo

Unnecessary for you... but not for someone else... How about you stop trying to tell people what is important to them. You frequently make these sorts of blanket statements which amount to 'you would be smarter if you thought like me'. You end up creating the thing you want less of.

okay, back to the topic at hand...

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Spitfire31 wrote:
pdxindy wrote:
loucub wrote:Why the hell can't I install Rayblaster Demo on my OSX 10.6.8. Everytime I try to install it, the installer tells me that an unknown error made the installation fail. WTF !?

I also have 10.6.8 and it fails the same way for me. My guess is the installer does not work for 10.6.8
I'm probably late with this reply (my Internet went Inter-njet for almost five days), but the 1.0.1 demo installed without a hitch on my 10.6.8 MB Pro Early 2011.

/Joachim
Yup, a couple people had the installer fail and you and another (on 10.6.8 ) said it worked... so my guess was incorrect on why it failed... the 1.0.1 demo failed for me... If there is a new version I will give it a try again at that point. Thx for posting

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I just DLd this and ElectraX to give em' a whirl... Hmmm do these both sound sort of low-fi scratchy, old-radio thing sort of. Not that thats a totally bad thing but they seem sort of warm and fuzzy... could be because I'm demoing Padshop and Retrologue but that was my perception. Doing the Xmas demo run through to see if I need any of these. Liking that Padshop though. :)

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