Introducing a new VSTi for Mac: Seismic!

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Fresh out of the basement lab is 1.0:

http://syntonica.net/seismic

Compatibility
Currently, Seismic is Mac OS X-only. (A Windows version should appear once I learn how to Windows.) It should run on OS 10.6 or newer on any Mac with Intel inside. It is 32-bit and 64-bit, although the 32-bit GUI operation is not guaranteed. It should run with the Reaper, Tracktion 5 and newer, or any other 32-bit DAW that recognizes Reaper extensions. With other 32-bit DAWs, you may need to use the DAW GUI rather than the native GUI. Seismic has full names for its parameters, 5 per node plus 3 global, making 43 in all for the 3x3 version.

Installation
There is no automatic installer yet. To install, unzip Seismic by double-clicking on the zip file. Drag Seismic.vst off to one of these folders:
/Library/Audio/Plug-ins/VST
or
~/Library/Audio/Plug-ins/VST

To install the AU version, unzip Seismic by double-clicking on the zip file. Rename it to Seismic.component. It should magically get the white Lego icon. Drag it off to:
/Library/Audio/Plug-ins/Components
or
~/Library/Audio/Plug-ins/Components

Follow your DAW's instructions on how to recognize new plug-ins.
Seismic is currently all self-contained, stuffed with the plug-in, this manual, presets and samples. To delete Seismic, just drag it off to the trash. 

Once installed, open it up and click on the Seismic logo in the center to open the PDF manual.

 
Last edited by syntonica on Sat Jul 08, 2017 8:20 am, edited 7 times in total.
I started on Logic 5 with a PowerBook G4 550Mhz. I now have a MacBook Air M1 and it's ~165x faster! So, why is my music not proportionally better? :(

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Congratulations, this is a really fun little synth!! It is so easy to make very nice sounds, its flexible and quick to learn.
:clap:
(PS: This belongs in the Instruments forum)
d o n 't
w a n t
m o r e

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Thanks Michael! I'm glad you were able to get on with it. That's the problem with doing something different--I didn't know if my design was too esoteric.

There's an Instrument forum? :lol: I posted here first because a) it's an RC and b) I wanted all the people that gave me assistance along the way to get first crack at it. Also, as always happens, as I was in final testing, weird things started happening and I was seeing crashes where I had never seen any before. (Threading... First time I've ever dealt with it.) Making the AU version and testing it really made the bugs come out of the woodwork. Plus I've remembered a credit I forgot to include. :dog:
Last edited by syntonica on Fri Jun 23, 2017 3:00 pm, edited 1 time in total.
I started on Logic 5 with a PowerBook G4 550Mhz. I now have a MacBook Air M1 and it's ~165x faster! So, why is my music not proportionally better? :(

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Nice little quirky different synth. Always nice to see something not being the standard virtual analog or sampler.
copy, paste, clear buttons are not obvious, either more clear symbols or tooltips could help.
I really like to see all waveform animated like that but to me it's not quite clear what is going on all the time.
Example, when I load "lead" patch node 1 phase button is clearly modulated by an LFO somewhere, which one, how much etc?
Keep up good work.
David Guda gudaaudio.com

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Thanks David. I really hate fussy, cluttered GUIs, especially ones with tool tips constantly popping up. I've been trying to think of a color combo/look that properly conveys copy and paste, but I don't believe there's anything. I figure if the user only has to run to the manual to look up three buttons, that's not toooooo bad. :lol:

In regards to Who's moving my knob? unfortunately, the knob doesn't know and has to do the human thing and look around. This is the other point regarding the GUI that kind of bugs me too. (Good eye by the way. :))

I might consider rearranging the copy/paste buttons, slightly smaller, into a row with a mouse-over info field using the remaining space, but I'm not sure of my GUI code is "smart" enough. The other option is a tool tip window in the main mode, if I can find the room.

Actually, if I take vanity out of the equation, that's quite doable. Hmmm. Back to the lab...
I started on Logic 5 with a PowerBook G4 550Mhz. I now have a MacBook Air M1 and it's ~165x faster! So, why is my music not proportionally better? :(

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I've added ToolTips of a sort and uploaded the new version! They show on hover over waves and knobs, giving the name, the value, or the Node running the LFO on the knob.

Manual still to be updated... :/
I started on Logic 5 with a PowerBook G4 550Mhz. I now have a MacBook Air M1 and it's ~165x faster! So, why is my music not proportionally better? :(

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1. Now, when I open a wave and click on a new wave in the menu, it does not highlight that new wave but sends me right back to the main synth page, so wave changes are no longer possible.
2. Clicking on the KIRZ wave (in the Sample Kick preset) sends me to an empty menu (dead-end) so I must reload the plugin.
3. The ToolTip display concept is good but the small deep blue text over black and next to big, bold white text makes the Tip numbers difficult to read. (Perhaps SEISMIC can be blue and the ToolTip white?)
4. If you are developing for Macs with high resolution screens, you will need a larger GUI option. It will also add helpful detail to the Morph animations.
d o n 't
w a n t
m o r e

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Michael L wrote:1. Now, when I open a wave and click on a new wave in the menu, it does not highlight that new wave but sends me right back to the main synth page, so wave changes are no longer possible.
2. Clicking on the KIRZ wave (in the Sample Kick preset) sends me to an empty menu (dead-end) so I must reload the plugin.
3. The ToolTip display concept is good but the small deep blue text over black and next to big, bold white text makes the Tip numbers difficult to read. (Perhaps SEISMIC can be blue and the ToolTip white?)
4. If you are developing for Macs with high resolution screens, you will need a larger GUI option. It will also add helpful detail to the Morph animations.
Doh!

Sorry about that. The problem with menu switching should be corrected. I also made sure the samples were in there, too. Still learning how to automate all this in XCode (I'm more an Eclipse kinda guy.)

I changed the deep blue to a cyan. I forget some people have problems with that color of blue. The cyan should still be eye catching and readable.
I started on Logic 5 with a PowerBook G4 550Mhz. I now have a MacBook Air M1 and it's ~165x faster! So, why is my music not proportionally better? :(

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Oh, I didn't mention: resizing is on my To-Do list. The GUI is fully drawn as vectors in Cocoa, so I just need to add a lot of *scale everywhere. I just need to look into how to handle NSView resizes and have been putting it off as ... Objective-C and Cocoa... I like developing ON the Mac, just not really FOR the Mac. :lol:
I started on Logic 5 with a PowerBook G4 550Mhz. I now have a MacBook Air M1 and it's ~165x faster! So, why is my music not proportionally better? :(

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Cyan and menu switching are both better. So take your time, share OSX black humor, and don't disappear!! :party:
d o n 't
w a n t
m o r e

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First off, I am am musician, not a dev. I just came over here to snoop and was happy to find your synth. I am on macOS with Logic X. Your synth sounds really nice and I am looking forward to diving in! I think with a really slick GUI it could be quite a commercial contender!

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plexuss wrote:First off, I am am musician, not a dev. I just came over here to snoop and was happy to find your synth. I am on macOS with Logic X. Your synth sounds really nice and I am looking forward to diving in! I think with a really slick GUI it could be quite a commercial contender!
Let me know if you run into any issues at all. Adding the AU version made me look at a few issues that suddenly started happening. Logic is so strict! :cry:

The GUI is made that way as it is drawn and doesn't rely on any graphics files. It was built to be able to scale the size of it, although that feature isn't implemented quite yet.

Finally, if you make your first #1 hit, send me a copy of the CD. :)
I started on Logic 5 with a PowerBook G4 550Mhz. I now have a MacBook Air M1 and it's ~165x faster! So, why is my music not proportionally better? :(

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Michael L wrote:Cyan and menu switching are both better. So take your time, share OSX black humor, and don't disappear!! :party:
Thanks! I just picked up programming again after some time off and I can't seem to stop! I updated an old program to make it work betterer and I just ported my favorite utility (StarfishX which generates desktop patterns) to Java since the Mac version no longer worked.

Since Seismic seems to be behaving, I'll be posting it sometime next week in the Instruments forum.
I started on Logic 5 with a PowerBook G4 550Mhz. I now have a MacBook Air M1 and it's ~165x faster! So, why is my music not proportionally better? :(

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Okay, it seems editing text fields is now down. Please bear with while I redo the logic.

Fix one thing, break everything else...

EDIT: It should be all fixed. I promise not to touch that code again since ToolTips are working! I thought I could get fancy... :roll:
I started on Logic 5 with a PowerBook G4 550Mhz. I now have a MacBook Air M1 and it's ~165x faster! So, why is my music not proportionally better? :(

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I have the resizing code in place and it's working, even at weird percentages.

Question: I would prefer selecting a preset size from a menu as it allows me to add in a number of global preferences. Which sizes are best?

50% 75% 100% ... on up to 200% by 25s?
I started on Logic 5 with a PowerBook G4 550Mhz. I now have a MacBook Air M1 and it's ~165x faster! So, why is my music not proportionally better? :(

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