BlueARP VST Arpeggiator development - let's discuss! (Apple M1 ready, 4K)

[e-musician]

The main GUI change that can be counter-intuitive: now all value boxes have just left and right arrows, no drop-down arrows to open the menu. But you can still call those menus via right-click. And as someone asked before - now you can right-click on program or chain to copy\paste programs and chains, to shorten menu diving time.

Yeah, I must admit that I find it less intuitive now. For example, when I right-click on the skins menu, only 7 skins are shown (out of, probably, 20), so I have to navigate to the others using the arrow buttons (without knowing which direction I must go to find a certain skin). This can be quite tedious.

Another example is the selection of drum notes (n1 .. n5).
It took me some time to figure out how to deselect a drum note, i. e., to turn it off, so the display shows "-".
The drop-down menu doesn't give you this option. The solution, that the user needs to find himself/herself, is to click on the lowest value the drop-down menu offers and then click on the left arrow until "-" shows up. Or am I mistaken? Is there an easier way to accomplish this?
Maybe, in the case of these drum notes, it might help to have "-" as a pinned value at the top of the drop-down menu.

Something else I would like to ask: Is there a reason why, in BlueARP, the notes that are connected with the black keys on the keyboard are named somehow inconsistently?
While it is C#, F#, and G# on the one hand, it is Eb and Bb on the other hand.
Shouldn't it rather be D# and A# ?

Once again, Oleg, thank you for this amazing plug-in!

[graywolf2004]

Another example is the selection of drum notes (n1 .. n5).
It took me some time to figure out how to deselect a drum note, i. e., to turn it off, so the display shows "-".
The drop-down menu doesn't give you this option. The solution, that the user needs to find himself/herself, is to click on the lowest value the drop-down menu offers and then click on the left arrow until "-" shows up. Or am I mistaken? Is there an easier way to accomplish this?
Maybe, in the case of these drum notes, it might help to have "-" as a pinned value at the top of the drop-down menu.

Something else I would like to ask: Is there a reason why, in BlueARP, the notes that are connected with the black keys on the keyboard are named somehow inconsistently?
While it is C#, F#, and G# on the one hand, it is Eb and Bb on the other hand.
Shouldn't it rather be D# and A# ?

Once again, Oleg, thank you for this amazing plug-in!

I already fixed both in v2.5.1 which I will upload soon, likely next weekend, I'm preparing my next performance, testing stuff and making some fixes along the way.
Now first item in the popup menu is 'Reset' (almost everywhere) - which sets it to default value, '-' in this case.
Notes are called this way cause I took it somewhere years ago. I did some research and although A# and Bb is the same, Bb is more often used by musicians, it is related to scales and nonation. But I agree that for 90% people who are not professionals it is easier when blacks are marked as the white note to the left + sharp sign, so I will change that. Also checked FL Studio - it shows A# as A#, not Bb

[graywolf2004]

Thanks so much much, Oleg, for this amazing update! The Drum Sequencer is a very welcome addition indeed!

The main GUI change that can be counter-intuitive: now all value boxes have just left and right arrows, no drop-down arrows to open the menu. But you can still call those menus via right-click. And as someone asked before - now you can right-click on program or chain to copy\paste programs and chains, to shorten menu diving time.

Yeah, I must admit that I find it less intuitive now. For example, when I right-click on the skins menu, only 7 skins are shown (out of, probably, 20), so I have to navigate to the others using the arrow buttons (without knowing which direction I must go to find a certain skin). This can be quite tedious.

Question/suggestion: Workflow-wise (for live situations), wouldn't it be more convenient to have a drum lane solo button placed in the lane itself (see picture attached)?

BlueARP.png

Again, thanks so much! What a wonderful plug-in BlueARP is!

Also fixed in v2.5.1, not exactly the way you say, but right-clicking the box on the lane gixes the option 'Solo' which is pretty fast as well. And when you select another lane, the 'Solo' goes with it, until you Unsolo it.
The thing I can't yet decide is whether to keep 'active' checkbox (drum lane mute\unmute) program-related or bank-related. Now it is program-related and whenm you switch program ot recalls the value from that program. I think will make more sense to make it bank-related, so you mute the lane and it stays muted even when you switch programs\chains, just like the way solo works now

[sdp6000]

EDIT: Sorry, posted this before realising that the update was already out! Guess I can just check myself now

Thanks again for the release and the updates, in particular the right click menus and slower sync options are very much appreciated!

I'm working to a project deadline at the moment so won't be able to try it out until I have more time to sort out any unforeseen issues/changes but I'll send feedback if any problems then.

ORIGINAL POST:
Very much looking forward to the next update and great to see you're still working on this superb plugin!

Do you know if this update will change any of the VST parameter assignments (the number IDs on the full list of VST parameters)?

I use plugins to access these directly to control it with MIDI controllers/modulators/etc. (Realearn for Reaper). The IDs changed during the last update so all of this had to be reconfigured.

I'm guessing it might be something that you can't easily avoid sometimes, but it'd be useful to know in advance so I don't get too excited by any improvements before I can set aside time to configure things (I have a LOT of instances and configuration using BlueArp in my template).

[graywolf2004]

EDIT: Sorry, posted this before realising that the update was already out! Guess I can just check myself now

Thanks again for the release and the updates, in particular the right click menus and slower sync options are very much appreciated!

I'm working to a project deadline at the moment so won't be able to try it out until I have more time to sort out any unforeseen issues/changes but I'll send feedback if any problems then.

ORIGINAL POST:
Very much looking forward to the next update and great to see you're still working on this superb plugin!

Do you know if this update will change any of the VST parameter assignments (the number IDs on the full list of VST parameters)?

I use plugins to access these directly to control it with MIDI controllers/modulators/etc. (Realearn for Reaper). The IDs changed during the last update so all of this had to be reconfigured.

I'm guessing it might be something that you can't easily avoid sometimes, but it'd be useful to know in advance so I don't get too excited by any improvements before I can set aside time to configure things (I have a LOT of instances and configuration using BlueArp in my template).

All the parameter ID's stay the same and I have bank conversion routines, each time bank format changes. BlueARP should load banks from version 1.15b3 from 2014, this is the earliest supported version. So your projects shouldn't be spoiled after upgrade, but it is worth checking anyway and if you have some critical stuff to finish it is better to postpone the update.

[graywolf2004]

BlueARP v2.5.1 update
https://omg-instruments.com/wp/?page_id=46

Mostly for Mac users, I did a lot of testing / creating demo performance in MainStage (tested in Logic as well) and I fixed an issue with BlueARP not recalling its state. Also few GUI and workflow imprevements. As a next step I'm going to make a longer video explaining all the new features and changes.

Excerpt from Changelog:
1. For right-click value selection, currently selected value is marked with a check mark
2. BugFix: BlueARP freezes when switching to dummy thru program with 0 steps
3. Added right-click value selection to all GUI controls, not only to dragBoxes
4. When switching operation mode (arpeggiator /drum sequencer) there is a confirmation
dialog saying that it will erase all the current programs
5. BugFix: when chain has 1 step and it is playing, changing program for that step didn’t
actually change it
6. When curChain is automated and it receives the same value, chain re-triggers
(shown as ‘1 -> 1’, like switching to the same chain).
There’s a safety interval of 1 beat to avoid glitches
7. In the right-click menu on ‘current chain’, there is an option to select chain from the list.
On playback, the chain selected this way will trigger immediately (without quantization)
8. Improved long chains editing. When you click on a chain sequence and the playback is stopped,
it will switch to that program. When ‘page lock’ is on and the arp is running, clicking on a
chain step will switch to that step and it will keep locked until you uncheck ‘page lock’
9. Added 175% GUI scale option
10. BugFix: BlueARP v2.5.0 VST not recognized in FL Studio on Mac (v2.3.8 didn’t have this problem)
11. Minor GUI improvements for OSX (fonts, margins) – now in HiRes it looks exactly the same as on Windows,
at the expense of slightly worse look in standard resolutions. This is because there’s no ClearType
on Mac and I had to bolden the fonts to make GUI look better, but now most of the people have HiRes displays
12. BugFix: BlueARP midiFX not saving state in Logic Pro X and MainStage
13. Improved parameter Get/Set methods on Mac, fixed some warning in auval
14. BugFix: in arpState=Thru and sustainMsg=arp.latch it passed only up to 5 notes, now up to 16

PS. Forgot to mention one thing in ChangeLog - new setting 'midi thru mode' on the SETTINGS tab. It is yet experimental, makes BlueARP to pass thru MIDI messages from the other channels. I created this as a workaround for DAWs like MainStage, where you can't run 2 BlueARPs in parallel, so the trick is to pass thru input notes to the other MIDI channel, and later they are picked up by the 2nd BlueARP, while it also passes thru arpeggiated notes from the 1st one.

[graywolf2004]

Did anyone try to run BlueARP in Logic Pro X or MainStage in Apple Silicon macs?
I found some memory issues there which I'm fixing now (no problems in Rosetta mode)

PS. According to my website, only about 10% of users are on Mac's, I thought it woiuld be more. Wa playing with MainStage recently, with this new drum sequencer feature it is possible to do some cool stuff.

[e-musician]

First of all, thank you for the update.

Some things I have noticed (sorry ):

... fixed ... in v2.5.1
Now first item in the popup menu is 'Reset' (almost everywhere) - which sets it to default value, '-' in this case.

Unfortunately, this doesn't work for drum notes (n1 .. n5).
For example, in the HIHATS lane, the default values are F#1-A#1-G#1-F#2-G#2 - which is good and well thought out!
Now, if you press Reset, the values are set to these notes (as expected, and, again, which is good ).
In order to deactivate one of the notes, a "-" is needed in the dragdown menu (cf. the dragdown menu for roll on note1).

Shouldn't it rather be D# and A# ?

This still needs to be fixed. FWIW, it is not only FLStudio that follows this nomemclature, it is also the various drum plug-ins that are around and that you will probably use BLUE ARP for (e.g. TAL-DRUM, Battery, Sitala, ...).

Also fixed in v2.5.1, not exactly the way you say, but right-clicking the box on the lane gixes the option 'Solo' which is pretty fast as well. And when you select another lane, the 'Solo' goes with it, until you Unsolo it.

This is now definitely better than in 2.5.0.
Still, in my opinion, it feels a little awkward because it requires two clicks to solo a lane (first right-click on the bow, then clicking on the SOLO option), whereas my suggestion implies only one click (which I feel is more helpful and intuitive in a live performance).

BLUE ARP.png

Another thing I would like to add: The randomize function, together with the probability parameter, leads to musical and inspiring results - especially on the HIHATS lane. Well done!

... with this new drum sequencer feature it is possible to do some cool stuff.

I totally agree!

[dustractor]

Loving this new release! I just have a few minor suggestions:

First off, even though it seems others have already mentioned this I have to chime in that having a mixture of sharps and flats is a bit confusing. (I'm personally more of an all sharps kind of guy but it's not that big of a deal as long as it stays consistent.)

Next: The drum lane is marked with a B but the notes change per program. Is this a bug? It seems like it should be labeled with a P if this is the intended behaviour. My preference would be for it to be a per-bank thing.

What I ended up doing is set up program 1 with my desired drum notes and then duplicated that program 127 times (and then renamed each program) so now I'm happy with a blank bank ready to go, but it was incredibly tedious so I though maybe to suggest something like a function to bulk copy all program X settings to the rest, and maybe also an option to adjust the name of each pattern. Perhaps a function to auto-rename with numeric suffixes 01 thru 128. Perhaps just rename the pattern name (suffix) when it's pasted if it ends with a number?

Anyway, I've been using BlueArp for drums for a while now and I'm loving that that is now a first-class feature. Thanks for all you do!

[graywolf2004]

First of all, thank you for the update.

Some things I have noticed (sorry ):

Regarding reset on drum notes - now I see where's the bug. I forgot that reset sets it not to '-', but to default value (which makes sense), but I hid '-' option from the menu, so I will bring it back.

As for drum note naming - I thought I fixed it, but now I see I didn't. Anyway I will post another update soon (fine-tuning some logic on chain variations) and there all black notes should be sharps

[graywolf2004]

Loving this new release! I just have a few minor suggestions:

First off, even though it seems others have already mentioned this I have to chime in that having a mixture of sharps and flats is a bit confusing. (I'm personally more of an all sharps kind of guy but it's not that big of a deal as long as it stays consistent.)

Next: The drum lane is marked with a B but the notes change per program. Is this a bug? It seems like it should be labeled with a P if this is the intended behaviour. My preference would be for it to be a per-bank thing.

What I ended up doing is set up program 1 with my desired drum notes and then duplicated that program 127 times (and then renamed each program) so now I'm happy with a blank bank ready to go, but it was incredibly tedious so I though maybe to suggest something like a function to bulk copy all program X settings to the rest, and maybe also an option to adjust the name of each pattern. Perhaps a function to auto-rename with numeric suffixes 01 thru 128. Perhaps just rename the pattern name (suffix) when it's pasted if it ends with a number?

Anyway, I've been using BlueArp for drums for a while now and I'm loving that that is now a first-class feature. Thanks for all you do!

Drum lane notes are assigned per-program, I added 'P' mark to it (like program sequence for chains has already). I don't want to change this cause you may need defferents notes for different programs. But to avoid manually copying, I will add 'Clone till the last' option the the right-click menu on prorgram (Chains already have this), so it will be possible to copy current program to all the remaining slots. Re-numbering the end is also a good idea, I like it
PS. I'm not a native English speaker, if there's anyone here - 'Clone till the last' - is this phrase OK or how should I call it?

[graywolf2004]

BlueARP v2.5.2 released.
Get it on BlueARP's official download page:
https://omg-instruments.com/wp/?page_id=46

Mostly bugfixes for OSX along with a few small improvements. Hopefully I fixed all the stuff wanted and no more major problems left so I will switch to implementing the same for the BlueARP DM.

Changelog for v2.5.2:
1. BugFix: Apple M1 version in Logic had some memory (BAD_ACCESS) errors which were tolerated on some systems, now should work fine, tested in Logic 10.7.7 and MainStage 3.6.6
2. Note naming changed to sharps for all black notes (i.e. 'D#' instead of 'Eb')
3. Added 'P' mark to drum lane notes, cause it is stored per-program
4. Added 'Clone till the last' option to program right-click menu ('01 / 128' label on top right), so you can bulk-copy current program to all the remaining slots
5. Chain variations logic - now it will check all chain variations and if 2 or more fulfill the condition, the last one will actually trigger. This way it is possible to create rules with exceptions, like root key E is var1, except Esus2 chord which is var2
6. Added new options to chain variation conditions - 'lowest velocity', 'highest velocity' and 'aftertouch'
7. Adjusted GUI scale logic. For sub-4K screens (width < 3840px) added 250% and 300% scaling options, for 4K screens (width >= 3840px) scaling factor is automatically doubled (no changes here), so 200% is actually 400%

[graywolf2004]

This is a long video explaining all the new features of v2.5.0 .. v2.5.2 and some musical demo:
https://youtu.be/8quaD4LxQzA
Now I can wipe my forehead with relief and switch to some other stuff
(like I still have to implement the same for the BlueARP DM)

[Monsieur_FyP]

[phreaque]

Thanks for the update & for preparing the video