Finally: Venom VB-303 v1.00

[mztk]

wot, has antto got a site already?

where is it?(duh found)

re: keyboard, i'm gonna have a go with Bomer's
MouseKeyboard, since i often/usually just sit in
front of the laptop.

antto: you could have a parallel input interface,
offering the same functions in a different form?
it maybe need not cost much more cpu.

re: your nonx0x, are you just doing that for the
larger x0x cpu? generating patterns in the plugin
for xfer to a x0x would be cool. you're probably
one of...two? people with the larger cpu.

[theodore_whitmore]

if roland *did* release it a few years later with a midi mode like you say - i strongly, strongly believe things would have turned much differently....

I hear what you're saying antto and you're right. The 303 was afterall designed with guitarists in mind hence the internal sequencer. I seem to recall a picture of a guitar plugged into the unit in the manual.

But I assume had MIDI been around in 1981 it, like all of Roland's MIDI gear, would have been trigger-able over MIDI, but as you say, things would have been quite different if that had been the case.

Yes the sequencer does add to the sound and it does take skill and understanding of the 303's personality to convincingly pull it off using a piano roll. And generating random patterns on a piano roll is hard. But I have a trick for that

I'm just glad you made the 'mistake' of adding MIDI play.

The fact that you modeled the sound of the VB on the xoxbox probably explains why I like it so much as I like the sound of the xoxbox slightly better than a 303. My friend has a xoxbox and I've spent many hours playing with it.

You know, the question is often asked why don't Roland re-release the 303, and I think it's partly out of a kind of embarrassment. The 303 when it was designed and launched was meant to be an accompaniment playing along in the background behind some drums, guitar or organ as pictured below.

Goodness knows what Roland must have thought back in 1987/88 long after the thing had flopped commercially when it suddenly resurfaced as the centerpiece of a new 'cult'!

And now with so many decent clones around they've well and truly missed out now I guess.

" Look around,

Nowhere to be found

Where's your child?

Do you know?"


" Uh, Fats, I'm not sure your audience are quite ready for an album of acid house covers."


http://m.youtube.com/index?&desktop_uri ... YhixCDMNPA


EVIL acid

[mztk]

no way back

[antto]

wot, has antto got a site already?

where is it?(duh found)

re: keyboard, i'm gonna have a go with Bomer's
MouseKeyboard, since i often/usually just sit in
front of the laptop.

antto: you could have a parallel input interface,
offering the same functions in a different form?
it maybe need not cost much more cpu.

re: your nonx0x, are you just doing that for the
larger x0x cpu? generating patterns in the plugin
for xfer to a x0x would be cool. you're probably
one of...two? people with the larger cpu.

yes, currently working on n0nx0x v2.00 which is going to be only on the cpumod
so far i think i managed to fix the internal/midi/dinsync stuff and added manual run/stop via the button even when slaved
i copy/pasted huge chunks of code directly from Venom's sequencer
i got pattern write mode complete now
the pattern format is slightly different in n0nx0x2 but i've already added it to c0nb0x
so there will be a new version of c0nb0x with support for n0nx0x2 patterns and some other little tweaks
thus you can (of course) exchange patterns between VB-303 and the x0x

currently i think there are 5 people in the whole universe with the cpumod

[rv0]

currently i think there are 5 people in the whole universe with the cpumod

including me who has 3 cpumods

i should have disabled midiplay mode completely

Just what I was thinking.

And ... near zero interest?
Try moving your Donate button to the download page where people can see it (instead of hiding it under the cat).
Might give you an idea just how much real interest there is.

There's a donate button ?

SRSLY... move it where people can see it. *goes to find donate button*

EDIT : Done. That button should be exactly next to the download link

I suggest we keep bumping the fact that there is a donate button on his site untill he moves the darn button next to the download link

[Syntilla]

I suggest we keep bumping the fact that there is a donate button on his site untill he moves the darn button next to the download link

... mmm ... I dunno if we should ... what does anyone else think ... ?

[antto]

i added a button, i don't expect piles of money, nor can i guarantee any support for the things i've done so far, that's why they are freeware
a $5 donation is enough to keep the site online for another month
thanks to the guys who already donated

anyway, i made a section about n0nx0x2 for those who want to follow the progress: http://antonsavov.net/cms/projects/n0nx0x2.html

[DuX]

Love your "junk", Antto. d=

Thank you so much for your work!

VB-303 is IMHO a great fun masterpiece. You should probably make a 606 emu, too.

[Tux]

Check your PM's antto . . .

[abique]

Hi, I did not understand what changes the sequencer.

Would exactly the same pattern sent through midi, or played through sequencer sound the same? If not, then why?

Thanks.

[antto]

well, it would
the internal sequencer is limited in a specific way, there are some rules on what it can and can't do
if you use a piano-roll - it's very likely to break these rules and end up with a "pattern" which is not possible on the TB-303 sequencer (thus it will sound weird)

see, you can load a given synth in any DAW
all DAWs have their own sequencing interface, some are similar, others might be more different, but at the end, they all send MIDI notes to the synth you loaded
however, the sequencer interface and workflow between each DAW is different

the TB-303 itself has it's own sequencer interface which is very different than a piano-roll
i don't think i can explain it any better than that

if you want to sound like the TB-303 sounded in all those acid tracks, or even like how roland intended the TB-303 to be used - you should use the on-board sequencer

if you think you can achieve the same thing using a piano-roll - fine, but it's a constant effort (putting those notes according to those rules and limitations) and IMO is not worth it at all, where's the fun in that

[abique]

Can I find these rules somewhere?
I understood that the octave is C2-C6, and that the VB-303 is monophonic.

I tried renoise + ABL2 and I felt the sound really good and I used MIDI notes.

By the way would you consider sharing the source code of VB-303 or the synth equations?

Thanks

[abique]

Also would you consider building a Linux version?

[antto]

it's built with SynthEdit and it's divided into individual modules, so it's not a "single" source code project, nor can it be build for linux
the code itself is very messy and ugly, so i don't want to share it
however, i wanted to know how the TB-303 works, and i won't keep what i've found to myself, so feel free to ask any specific questions
most of the stuff (about the synthesis side) can be found in a few KVR threads here and at the x0xb0x forums

as for the rules..:
everything is divided into steps
the step duration can be 1/4 of a beat (normally) or 1/3 (triplet)
the step is further divided into 2 distinctive moments:
1. beginning of step - "NoteON"
2. middle of step - "NoteOFF"
now the rules:
1. a note can only start at the "NoteON" moment
2. a note can only end at a "NoteOFF" moment
from here you should notice that normal notes always start in the beginning of a step, and end in the middle of a step (leaving half a step of silence gap)
3. an extended note (tied or slid) sustains towards the following step(s) and eventually ends at a "NoteOFF" moment
4. a slide is never active during the beginning of a new note
5. a slide can only happen on extended notes, the sliding itself begins on the "NoteON" moment where the pitch changes as well
6. a slide followed by a Rest is invalid and is treated as a normal note
7. the pitch of a note never changes "instantly" during a sustaining note (except for when the metronome is used)
8. accent is raised/lowered only on the "NoteON" moment

roughly this

so.. you see, it's very limited
i can sequence via a piano-roll without breaking these rules, i know them like my fingers.. but i don't bother, it's just not fun
for a normal guy - it's very likely to break these rules when using piano-roll or any other external sequencing method, since they are way too flexible

so instead of wasting time learning these silly rules - use the on-board sequencer, it won't let you break the rules no matter what you do

[abique]

Thanks!

I played a bit with your synth. I'm on Linux, and it works well with vst-bridge: https://github.com/abique/vst-bridge. It sounds really good!

I think that it could be interesting to see it benchmarked at http://www.acidvoice.com/tb_303_vst_plugin_software.htm

Once I'll understand the internal I'll start implementing mine as dssi/lv2.