Finally: Venom VB-303 v1.00

[Ch00rD]

yes, trackmode is also there, you can extend tracks, and use the "Sign" marker to jump to a specific Bar on demand
i've only changed the way you input number (like on a calculator) and also how Bars are displayed (on the LCD instead of the LEDs)
other than that, it's the same

you have twice the number of patterns and 16 tracks

you can chain patterns without the small restriction like on the 303 (so a chain between [3,4,5,6] is possible)

Excellent! Good call on those minor tweaks, as they only relax the limitations of the original a bit, enhancing it in a very useful manner, but without detracting from its characteristic quirkiness.

[Kiiika]

I was just a little disappointed and/or frustrated that i was not able to unlock the MIDI mode as i was not able to enter the unlock code beyond the first digit.
Having an option to use the plugin without the sequencer would be a great addition IMO.


Ingo

Ingo, I had the same problem.
In the new tutorial video antto linked a few posts above he shows how to enter the digits.

They stay in place and "overwrite" the prior one. Just enter them one after the other in the same place.

[Ingonator]

I was just a little disappointed and/or frustrated that i was not able to unlock the MIDI mode as i was not able to enter the unlock code beyond the first digit.
Having an option to use the plugin without the sequencer would be a great addition IMO.


Ingo

Ingo, I had the same problem.
In the new tutorial video antto linked a few posts above he shows how to enter the digits.

They stay in place and "overwrite" the prior one. Just enter them one after the other in the same place.

Got it, many thanks to you and of course to antto for the video!!

Now when using the trigger channel i could play the plugin like a "normal" synth. Cool. I am really happy now that this finally works too (besides the internal + host sync mode).

BTW the rest of the video is very helpful too of course .


UPDATE:
I found that when reloading an Ableton Live 9 project with Venom (no matter which mode was used) the knobs for Cutoff etc. seem to be missing most'of the time now. This could be only repaired by removing and reloading the plugin from a MIDI track (restarting Live doesn't help).

Anyway the knobs still seem to work while they are invisible. The plugin also creates sliders for most controls in the "Configure" menu of Live (that where you could select parameters for automation). Those sliders work all the time.


Ingo

[Ch00rD]

[...]

But the sequencer is fantastic for jamming and experimenting, coming up with crazy sequences that would be almost impossible to make with standard midi sometimes even through plain trial and error.

EXACTLY. You'd be surprised at the number of famous tracks made by famous artists that didn't really get how the TB-303 sequencer worked.

Here's just one illustrative example - a classic 303 pattern in my book: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fXeqZowuePQ
And here's an excerpt from an interview with Mike Dunn, who collaborated with Armando on that track (emphasis added):

MIKE DUNN: A lot of our stuff, all of Armando's stuff, Terry Hunter's stuff - I was the one recording. We used to do that at Bam Bam's house. I had an 808, someone else would have a 707... That's how the "Land of Confusion" track came about. The name of that track was originally "Slave for Love". When I did that track, Armando was in Miami. He had brought some records over and was like, "Mike, can you put this together for me?"

I'm giving you the real history here, and it's not a dis in any way, because Armando was one of my best friends, and I remember getting that call the day that he passed - we'll get to that point when it comes... But "Land of Confusion" was a mistake! It was one of the biggest records, but it was a mistake! See, "Land of Confusion" is based on the 303. If you take the batteries out for a minute and put them back in, that's the first bassline that will come up. I want people to understand, because a lot of people weren't there but talk like they were, and the story gets so fabricated and so colorized and they think it's so beautiful. It's no dis, but that's how it came about. It wasn't like Armando programmed it. "Land of Confusion" was a pre-set bassline. Take the batteries out for a second, and it's going to clear all of the memory out. Put 'em back in and all of the pre-sets come back up. That was the first bassline.

The fact is, however, that there are no presets in the sequencer at all. Leaving out the batteries for a while certainly may leads to some very interesting randomisation results, though. So Mike is certainly right there in pointing out that this particular bass line wasn't *exactly* the result of deliberate programming by Armando or anyone else. But it isn't purely random nor a preset either.

PS: I guess this particular sort of pattern randomisation is the single biggest challenge left to model / emulate properly.

What I am trying to say is that each mode has its uses and making easier to use the midi play would not devalue the internal sequencer.

But I think antto was right in suspecting many people would then simply not use it. I fully support him in trying to *make* people use it against their will.

[antto]

yes "punishment" is a good word to describe it i guess ;]

about the batteries-out effect - this is actually the default state of the sequencer, there is a randomizer which uses the probabilities of random data in 303 pattern format ;P~

this can be replaced by empty patterns (clean memory) by going to the CFG dir, there is a "empty.nsm" file - rename it to "default.nsm" and then each instance of VB-303 will load that (thus all pattern will be clean)

[Davias]

Ok I managed to make it work I guess last night I was not in my normal state. So this is now the best 303 emu for me ever many thanks Antto ! (PS : I've never heard a real one )

For those who still can't enter the four digits, there's only one digit appearing each time u enter one, so just keep entering the 4 digits one after each other until you unlock midi or fail (nothing happens then), if u fail just roll the mode button to another position and then back to Midiplay for another try. Be careful at which midi channel u use in the upper panel, for me to make it work in renoise i had to switch to channel 1 (Trigger 1 on the gui).

For those (as myself !) who have hard to change parameters on the upper panel, click on the text, not the little orange arrows

Also it was too messy to unlock using my keyboard or a virtual keyboard, much easier when I understood I could click directly on the 303 notes and there is small numbers labeled under them (didn't saw them at first).

So thanks again for the great work, I will dig into acidic madness now

[sleek]

yes "punishment" is a good word to describe it i guess ;]

about the batteries-out effect - this is actually the default state of the sequencer, there is a randomizer which uses the probabilities of random data in 303 pattern format ;P~

this can be replaced by empty patterns (clean memory) by going to the CFG dir, there is a "empty.nsm" file - rename it to "default.nsm" and then each instance of VB-303 will load that (thus all pattern will be clean)

so everytime an instance of vb303 is loaded it randomizes in a similar fashion as the real 303 does?

[antto]

yes, as described in the manual, when an instance loads for the very first time (this doesn't happen when you reopen an existing DAW project) - it attempts to load default.nsm, if that fails - it fills the sequencer memory with random data

in the past we got our hands on raw memory dumps from a 303, and we know how the patterns are stored exactly, so i made a randomizer which emulates the probabilities based on that information
the only difference is that Down+Up in VB-303 actually becomes 2-octaves up (which is not available in the 303)

[Ichad.c]

yes, as described in the manual, when an instance loads for the very first time (this doesn't happen when you reopen an existing DAW project) - it attempts to load default.nsm, if that fails - it fills the sequencer memory with random data

in the past we got our hands on raw memory dumps from a 303, and we know how the patterns are stored exactly, so i made a randomizer which emulates the probabilities based on that information
the only difference is that Down+Up in VB-303 actually becomes 2-octaves up (which is not available in the 303)

That's insane

[toitoi]

I suggest one more rear page with some similar, user friendly "internal sequencer".

[antto]

no, i don't wanna put a piano-roll-like sequencer

i guess, so far maybe about 3 or 4 people actually attempt to use the sequencer
oh well..

[emef]

you've got 7 pages of people attempting to use the sequencer

[Jbravo]

I'm sure the people who really know about 303s will insist on using the internal sequencer. It just wouldn't be right otherwise :O

[chk071]

I'm sure the people who really know about 303s will insist on using the internal sequencer. It just wouldn't be right otherwise :O

+1

[Ch00rD]

yes, as described in the manual, when an instance loads for the very first time (this doesn't happen when you reopen an existing DAW project) - it attempts to load default.nsm, if that fails - it fills the sequencer memory with random data

in the past we got our hands on raw memory dumps from a 303, and we know how the patterns are stored exactly, so i made a randomizer which emulates the probabilities based on that information
the only difference is that Down+Up in VB-303 actually becomes 2-octaves up (which is not available in the 303)

You're obviously a diehard 303 freak, antto. I'll give you one more tiny little nitpick challenge, just for fun: make the batteries leak acid when the plug-in is not used for a few months.