KVR Audio

valhallasound · Post by **valhallasound** » Sat Oct 18, 2014 12:41 am

clintmartin wrote:I like them all. The 80's color made me think of Lexicon. Having grown up in the 80's I suggest we skip some of the fashion choices made then and stick with the current gui! I would love to see your take on a Futura styled Valhallaroom...that would be cool.

ValhallaRoom uses Futura. All of the plugins (with the exception of the original FreqEcho, which used Arial) make use of Futura Demibold, except for Shimmer, which uses some other Futura variant. I think that the VALHALLAROOM in all caps looks less "Futura" than ValhallaRoom would, as the small a's are really what scream out "Futura" to me.

clintmartin · Post by **clintmartin** » Sat Oct 18, 2014 12:48 am

Hmmm...I didn't notice my error in the font, but the style of VVV and Ubermod with the name upper left with the license info upper right is more of what I was thinking of. I prefer the look, which has nothing to do with sound. I like the whole 2D look of all of them, but VVV and Ubermod are my favs. Valhallaroom has kind of a legend or legacy of it's own though...so having it's own look makes since too.

Novalis · Post by **Novalis** » Sat Oct 18, 2014 2:07 pm

My main point is, that the NOW GUI has a very large contrast to the 1970s and 1980s GUIs.

It's like opening a completely different plug-in, when switching to the NOW skin.
It is not consistent with the other two skins.

I don't care so much about how the NOW skin looks exactly, it just would be great if there were not such a big contrast to the other two skins.

valhallasound wrote: I wanted it to look like it was printed out on a laser printer.

My would you want a reverb plug-in to look like printed on paper?

Krakatau · Post by **Krakatau** » Sat Oct 18, 2014 4:34 pm

my personal feeling with the NOW gui is similar to an embittered awakening after sweet dreams, compared to the colorful two others,

That has something relevant if the purpose was to enhance nostalgia for vintage reverbs though, and it is likely for me that Sean did it intentionally, being intelligent enough to premeditate such a crime...

valhallasound · Post by **valhallasound** » Sat Oct 18, 2014 7:09 pm

Novalis wrote:My main point is, that the NOW GUI has a very large contrast to the 1970s and 1980s GUIs.

It's like opening a completely different plug-in, when switching to the NOW skin.
It is not consistent with the other two skins.

IT'S LIKE 2 PLUGINS FOR THE PRICE OF 1!!!!

valhallasound wrote: I wanted it to look like it was printed out on a laser printer.
My would you want a reverb plug-in to look like printed on paper?

It amuses me.

Seriously. I thought it was funny.

To put things in context, VintageVerb was being developed during the time that "skeumorphism" was starting to run rampant in the software world (versus the audio software world, where photorealism has always been a dominant trend). Apple was making calendars that had stitched leather around the outside. Justin Maxwell posted his amazing blog at this time (http://skeu.it) with the worst examples of this.

My response to the "skeuomorphic" trend was to create a GUI that looked like it was printed with a black and white laser printer. Completely 2D, no photorealism whatsoever. Justin Maxwell actually talked me off of the ledge of the pure colors I was using, and convinced me that some subtle gradients would be easier on the eyes, as well as making things look more like the printed world. The first version of the VVV NOW GUI was blinding white.

valhallasound · Post by **valhallasound** » Sat Oct 18, 2014 7:24 pm

Krakatau wrote:my personal feeling with the NOW gui is similar to an embittered awakening after sweet dreams, compared to the colorful two others,

I can see that....

That has something relevant if the purpose was to enhance nostalgia for vintage reverbs though, and it is likely for me that Sean did it intentionally, being intelligent enough to premeditate such a crime...

It was intentional.

The NOW mode is the brightest of the reverb modes in VintageVerb. Some of this is due to filter choices and downsampling, but a lot of this is due to the types of delay interpolation used. The 70s and 80s modes use linear interpolation in certain nodes, which creates a "darker" sound than higher order Lagrange interpolation or allpass interpolation.

In some circles, linear interpolation has a bad rap. It is associated with a gentle rolloff of frequencies above 1/4 the sampling rate, and this is seen as a "flaw." However, the vintage algorithms that inspired VintageVerb were designed around linear interpolation, and used the darkness to their advantage. Putting linear interpolation in certain nodes of a reverb creates a more natural high frequency rolloff. The vintage algorithms tended to put the linear interpolation in the "proper" nodes, and not use too much of it.*

The 70s and 80s modes have linear interpolation in the "proper" locations, to add the correct amount of darkness. Many of the VVV algorithms have more modulation than their vintage counterparts, and I have chosen to use brighter interpolation in the 70s and 80s modes in those places where I have added extra modulation, in order to keep the correct frequency balance.

The NOW mode takes these algorithms that were designed around linear interpolation, and substitutes interpolation with no high frequency attenuation. All of a sudden, things sound really bright. REALLY, really bright, at least to my ears. The white background color of the NOW GUI is deliberately evocative of this "lack" of coloration, which (at least in my opinion) actually comes across as a VERY strong color.

Sean Costello

* I should note that modern algorithms are often designed around linear interpolation. The ValhallaRoom algorithms use linear interpolation where I felt it was appropriate, and brighter interpolation in other cases. ValhallaShimmer can switch between colorless interpolation and linear interpolation when using the color mode. Eventide's Ultraverb seems to be using linear interpolation for its delay modulation. If you turn the mod depth to 0, the reverb gets much brighter. Turn the mod depth back up, and the reverb darkens, in a way that sounds far more natural to my ears than the reverb with no modulation - even if the modulation depth is set very low.

valhallasound · Post by **valhallasound** » Sat Oct 18, 2014 7:25 pm

deleted - I quoted a post of mine where I meant to edit it.

Krakatau · Post by **Krakatau** » Sat Oct 18, 2014 7:48 pm

valhallasound wrote: It was intentional.

- so you plead guilty !?

Hermetech Mastering · Post by **Hermetech Mastering** » Sat Oct 18, 2014 8:00 pm

Sean, you're a true star, and just keep on doing what you're doing. Keep on keeping on...

I'll happily buy it all, whatever the GUI looks like.

valhallasound · Post by **valhallasound** » Sat Oct 18, 2014 8:07 pm

Hermetech Mastering wrote:Sean, you're a true star, and just keep on doing what you're doing. Keep on keeping on... I'll happily buy it all, whatever the GUI looks like.

I'm trying to figure out moving moiré patterns for the next GUI. It would be cool if, after focusing on the GUI for a while, you look at the real world, and see moving patterns EVERYWHERE.

My ideal GUI, in video form:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tPxgi-PiNFE

Sean Costello

P.S. Rest in peace, Mark Bell.

Fritze · Post by **Fritze** » Sat Oct 18, 2014 8:41 pm

Hey Sean,

sorry to bother you here about it but it's the weekend with a few free hours left before some more craziness next week ...
I requested the betas with chacka@... If you might have a moment on the way to the coffee machine... Could you please bang them my way? Would be very grateful!

Great fan of your plugins, Fritz

P.S. Will there be anything new coming from you (UberMod is on my want-list) that would qualify as a Xmas GAS item?

valhallasound · Post by **valhallasound** » Sat Oct 18, 2014 9:01 pm

Fritze wrote:Hey Sean,

sorry to bother you here about it but it's the weekend with a few free hours left before some more craziness next week ...
I requested the betas with chacka@... If you might have a moment on the way to the coffee machine... Could you please bang them my way? Would be very grateful!

Great fan of your plugins, Fritz

P.S. Will there be anything new coming from you (UberMod is on my want-list) that would qualify as a Xmas GAS item?

I haven't had any AAX requests today, and none from chacka@..., so could you please send the request again (so I can get the correct email address)?

At this rate, no new plugins for 2014. If I worked crazy hours, I could probably get something out right before Christmas. I did that for both ÜberMod and VintageVerb. After VintageVerb, I though I was having heart attacks all the time. I'm going to avoid the stress this year, and let the next plugins come out sometime in 2015.

I'll be releasing the betas as full versions in the next few weeks, and I hope to have a Shimmer cartridge out for Z-DSP before the end of the year (this is mostly done). As for the rest of today, I need to put some framing in for a medicine cabinet for our downstairs 1/2 bathroom, finish up with the plastering and sanding, and start painting. The live of a plugin developer is a SEXY life!

Sean Costello

Fritze · Post by **Fritze** » Sat Oct 18, 2014 9:40 pm

valhallasound wrote:I haven't had any AAX requests today, and none from chacka@..., so could you please send the request again (so I can get the correct email address)?

Got it, thanx!

valhallasound wrote:At this rate, no new plugins for 2014. If I worked crazy hours, I could probably get something out right before Christmas. I did that for both ÜberMod and VintageVerb. After VintageVerb, I though I was having heart attacks all the time. I'm going to avoid the stress this year, and let the next plugins come out sometime in 2015.

By all means stay healty, please! No plugin is worth it to risk your health or life.

valhallasound wrote:I'll be releasing the betas as full versions in the next few weeks, and I hope to have a Shimmer cartridge out for Z-DSP before the end of the year (this is mostly done). As for the rest of today, I need to put some framing in for a medicine cabinet for our downstairs 1/2 bathroom, finish up with the plastering and sanding, and start painting. The live of a plugin developer is a SEXY life!

Sean Costello

Hehehe, yes. The beauty of working at home.

"Darling, would you please..."

egbert · Post by **egbert** » Sun Oct 19, 2014 3:36 am

Take care of yourself, Sean. The next plugin needs a "low stress" GUI, I think ... dolphins maybe. If it is a "plate" verb then maybe a willow pattern would be too busy.

vic_france · Post by **vic_france** » Sun Oct 19, 2014 11:15 am

valhallasound wrote: I'm trying to figure out moving moiré patterns for the next GUI. It would be cool if, after focusing on the GUI for a while, you look at the real world, and see moving patterns EVERYWHERE.

My ideal GUI, in video form:....

If v2 of your plugins takes on that look, i think you will probably have to do the GUI of v3 in Braille!

ValhallaVintageVerb 1.7.1. Two new reverb modes (Chaotic Hall, Chaotic Chamber)