Urs Interview about new Diva and Drum Machine
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Joe Leidigkeit Joe Leidigkeit https://www.kvraudio.com/forum/memberlist.php?mode=viewprofile&u=121913
- KVRist
- Topic Starter
- 74 posts since 29 Sep, 2006
Urs gave recording.de a very interesting and detailed interview. (german)
Hartstikke bedankt, Timfonie, voor de translatie!!!
Uitstekend!
Thanks for translation, Timfonie.
"I spend some hours to translate it for those who can't understand German. As I'm neither a native German nor a native English speaker the translation is not perfect though I hope I got the essences right. I stopped when I couldn't translate Muckenmachen so I omitted the last two minutes of this interview. For the rest .... enjoy!
Tim
__________________________________________________________________________________
Recording.de: How did you become a software developer?
I became a software developer when ... pfew, I believe when in the 1980's I programmed the Commodore64. In the 1990's when the internet appeared it was 'in' to programming for websites and so and that's how I started programming again. When vst plugins arrived I couldn't afford them so I programmed one myself and one thing led to another and that's why I make software these days.
Recording.de: How is your current occupation connected to your qualification as an industrial designer?
I feel what I'm doing now is rather clearly industrial design. In industry one designs form and structures of products which aren't available on the market yet. That's what we are also doing. We design products which are new in the market and both good-looking, useful and with a good workflow and user interface.
Our products aren't built as pieces of hardware. They're just software. Yet the basics of what we are doing is in fact pure product design with an added programming-component. What we end up with is not just a designed product but a real finished product which we can sell thru the internet. Perhaps it seems something different but to me it's pure traditional art-formal industrial design.
Recording.de: Have you had a musical training?
(laughs) Well, musically I'm an autodidact and an extremely bad keyboard player. I have practically no feel for rythm or melodies. In band projects I somehow played melodies which I shouldn't have played and I shouldn't have played them at those times of the day. The end result is more based on producing than on live playing. Later on I started using plugins which replaced my Ensoniq sampler and Wavestation. That's how it was.
Recording.de: and by which performers and genres have you been influenced?
There's of course the classical artists like Jean-Michel Jarre and Tangerine Dream to whom I used to listen a lot, though these days not so much anymore. Some artists I still like to hear are Frank Zappa, Gentle Giant and King Crimson even though these are not much related to synthesizers. Nevertheless I am fascinated by synthesizers, in particular what happened by Kraftwerk.
Recording.de: What is the motivation behind your plugins?
That's a complex thing. Of course when one runs a company one needs to earn money. That's a clear thing. We can't afford to just develop plugins for fun. That's not possible. We are lucky though we enjoy the things we do here, otherwise it would turn out bad. I think it has much to do with enjoying the technical challenge to 'crack' a certain subject and to be able to actually crack it. For instance with Zebra the challenge was to create modular synths without cables. With ACE it was about the opposite because thanks to the cables it resulted in a completely flexible modular synth. The goal with Bazille was to make a modular FM-synthesizer with an analog sound from software. That has always been the challenge and one can more or less manage to master it. I think we've mostly done a good job at that.
Recording.de: Your plugins sound excellent! In your opinion what's the difference with competing developers?
I can't comment much on colleagues. I don't try out products from other companies so much. Soundwise I can say we're trying to avoid any compromises. That means every single module must perform outstanding on its own. With Zebra for instance the oscillators are reasonably free of aliasing without being oversampled. It took a long time to make them very flexible nevertheless. This makes a great difference.
A classical example is DIVA's filter which is being calculated in a fundamental way which is usually not done in software. It is unusual to model all the components of these filters at this level which results in these filters consuming a lot of CPU power. But that's why they sound so good. I know from some other developers they don't believe they can sell their products if they consume so much CPU power. We were about the first who has done it like this and it sold well nevertheless. To our standards quite good actually. So for me there's no reason to change it.
Recording.de: Can you image any cooperation with other enterprises?
Yes, there actually is some cooperation with befriended developers. We share a lot of information like how you do certain things. With Native Instruments I can't imagine any cooperation. They are too large, they have too many employees. What would they want from us? On the other hand I can image cooperation with Camel Audio. They are about the same size as we are. They are specialized in sampling and sample manipulation. We are specialized in filters so we can image some cooperation here.
However we have so much to do it somehow seems it can't be realized. The idea pops up frequently but we have years of work ahead of us laying around.
Recording.de: Are there plugins you are missing and like to deliver?
No, everything is there but there are people who aren't totally satisfied. When one creates something even hotter or with certain extras, they want to have it and use it. It depends. There are polyphonic synths allready so why should I make another one? Well, that's obviously not a good approach. There are certainly things that might be improved and one can create something completely different at a conceptual level. There have been many tape-emulations this year but we introduced Satin nevertheless and Satin has penetrated the market quite well. Whether we've something really different or better? I don't know.
Recording.de: Which software projects have you planned for the future?
There's the idea of creating a drum machine. There's the intention to create Zebra3, a complete overhaul of Zebra2 which is nearly ten years old, so something needs to be done with it. There's the idea to make some more dynamic processors. There are some compressors on their way. There's also the idea to make a synth which focuses on something else than the synths we have created so far. One which appeals more to 'producers' instead of nerds or geeks. What else .. ? There's the idea to make something based on physical modeling and there's the idea to make a sample editor or even a sampler, but at the moment we can't see when or even if that will happen.
Recording.de: To DIVA in particular: which additions or improvements do you have in the back of your head?
Conncerning DIVA I can say, down there (Urs points) is a Polyvoks which is quite something and somewhere around there's a TB-303. For the ladder-filter we want to build an extra aggressive variant of it. There are many other options but when one makes something it must distinguish itself enough from the modules which are already implemented. It's somehow difficult because when we try and put an SH-101 inside it doesn't differ so much from what's already inside.
There are enough different things, in particular quite a few diode filters, Steiner-Parker filter - very hot.
Recording.de: Have you ever thought about a plugin controller?
We have once started to build a hardware controller. We have built a prototype which more or less did what it had to do. However we had to assemble it in the kitchen which was quite dirty. So we decided not to do it ourselves, at least not where we are located now. When we change location, probably around (??), we have more space and we can try and setup a line for hardware and we'll see what it results to. Alternatively we might find a partner who can do it for us. However at present we are too small to outsource it. Let's say we let 1000 devices being built and have them stored with us in the hope we will sell those 1000 devices. That's not so simple. Fundamentally we have ideas for controllers though.
I'm at odds with the iPad. I don't think touch controller are the way to do. When one wants to control synthesizers one needs real knobs. With an iPad one can in live situations control effects like a chaos pad etc. and that's fine, it functions very well.
But a synthesizer with 20 or 50 parameter can't be controlled on an iPad. At least not in live situations. It's too fidgety. One needs knobs for that.
Recording.de: And how do you relate to a hardware synthesizer?
I totally have an eye on hardware synthesizer but it's the same issue as with controllers. It's probably easier to build an analogue hardware synthesizer than a controller. Yet we don't have the means for it. The space, we particularly don't have the space for it. We do have the people who can and like to build them! Unfortunately it's not possible to build hardware at the moment.
Recording.de: When do you change?
(laughs) ... well, perhaps in a year, we'll see."
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=061AFej_cHs
Hartstikke bedankt, Timfonie, voor de translatie!!!
Uitstekend!
Thanks for translation, Timfonie.
"I spend some hours to translate it for those who can't understand German. As I'm neither a native German nor a native English speaker the translation is not perfect though I hope I got the essences right. I stopped when I couldn't translate Muckenmachen so I omitted the last two minutes of this interview. For the rest .... enjoy!
Tim
__________________________________________________________________________________
Recording.de: How did you become a software developer?
I became a software developer when ... pfew, I believe when in the 1980's I programmed the Commodore64. In the 1990's when the internet appeared it was 'in' to programming for websites and so and that's how I started programming again. When vst plugins arrived I couldn't afford them so I programmed one myself and one thing led to another and that's why I make software these days.
Recording.de: How is your current occupation connected to your qualification as an industrial designer?
I feel what I'm doing now is rather clearly industrial design. In industry one designs form and structures of products which aren't available on the market yet. That's what we are also doing. We design products which are new in the market and both good-looking, useful and with a good workflow and user interface.
Our products aren't built as pieces of hardware. They're just software. Yet the basics of what we are doing is in fact pure product design with an added programming-component. What we end up with is not just a designed product but a real finished product which we can sell thru the internet. Perhaps it seems something different but to me it's pure traditional art-formal industrial design.
Recording.de: Have you had a musical training?
(laughs) Well, musically I'm an autodidact and an extremely bad keyboard player. I have practically no feel for rythm or melodies. In band projects I somehow played melodies which I shouldn't have played and I shouldn't have played them at those times of the day. The end result is more based on producing than on live playing. Later on I started using plugins which replaced my Ensoniq sampler and Wavestation. That's how it was.
Recording.de: and by which performers and genres have you been influenced?
There's of course the classical artists like Jean-Michel Jarre and Tangerine Dream to whom I used to listen a lot, though these days not so much anymore. Some artists I still like to hear are Frank Zappa, Gentle Giant and King Crimson even though these are not much related to synthesizers. Nevertheless I am fascinated by synthesizers, in particular what happened by Kraftwerk.
Recording.de: What is the motivation behind your plugins?
That's a complex thing. Of course when one runs a company one needs to earn money. That's a clear thing. We can't afford to just develop plugins for fun. That's not possible. We are lucky though we enjoy the things we do here, otherwise it would turn out bad. I think it has much to do with enjoying the technical challenge to 'crack' a certain subject and to be able to actually crack it. For instance with Zebra the challenge was to create modular synths without cables. With ACE it was about the opposite because thanks to the cables it resulted in a completely flexible modular synth. The goal with Bazille was to make a modular FM-synthesizer with an analog sound from software. That has always been the challenge and one can more or less manage to master it. I think we've mostly done a good job at that.
Recording.de: Your plugins sound excellent! In your opinion what's the difference with competing developers?
I can't comment much on colleagues. I don't try out products from other companies so much. Soundwise I can say we're trying to avoid any compromises. That means every single module must perform outstanding on its own. With Zebra for instance the oscillators are reasonably free of aliasing without being oversampled. It took a long time to make them very flexible nevertheless. This makes a great difference.
A classical example is DIVA's filter which is being calculated in a fundamental way which is usually not done in software. It is unusual to model all the components of these filters at this level which results in these filters consuming a lot of CPU power. But that's why they sound so good. I know from some other developers they don't believe they can sell their products if they consume so much CPU power. We were about the first who has done it like this and it sold well nevertheless. To our standards quite good actually. So for me there's no reason to change it.
Recording.de: Can you image any cooperation with other enterprises?
Yes, there actually is some cooperation with befriended developers. We share a lot of information like how you do certain things. With Native Instruments I can't imagine any cooperation. They are too large, they have too many employees. What would they want from us? On the other hand I can image cooperation with Camel Audio. They are about the same size as we are. They are specialized in sampling and sample manipulation. We are specialized in filters so we can image some cooperation here.
However we have so much to do it somehow seems it can't be realized. The idea pops up frequently but we have years of work ahead of us laying around.
Recording.de: Are there plugins you are missing and like to deliver?
No, everything is there but there are people who aren't totally satisfied. When one creates something even hotter or with certain extras, they want to have it and use it. It depends. There are polyphonic synths allready so why should I make another one? Well, that's obviously not a good approach. There are certainly things that might be improved and one can create something completely different at a conceptual level. There have been many tape-emulations this year but we introduced Satin nevertheless and Satin has penetrated the market quite well. Whether we've something really different or better? I don't know.
Recording.de: Which software projects have you planned for the future?
There's the idea of creating a drum machine. There's the intention to create Zebra3, a complete overhaul of Zebra2 which is nearly ten years old, so something needs to be done with it. There's the idea to make some more dynamic processors. There are some compressors on their way. There's also the idea to make a synth which focuses on something else than the synths we have created so far. One which appeals more to 'producers' instead of nerds or geeks. What else .. ? There's the idea to make something based on physical modeling and there's the idea to make a sample editor or even a sampler, but at the moment we can't see when or even if that will happen.
Recording.de: To DIVA in particular: which additions or improvements do you have in the back of your head?
Conncerning DIVA I can say, down there (Urs points) is a Polyvoks which is quite something and somewhere around there's a TB-303. For the ladder-filter we want to build an extra aggressive variant of it. There are many other options but when one makes something it must distinguish itself enough from the modules which are already implemented. It's somehow difficult because when we try and put an SH-101 inside it doesn't differ so much from what's already inside.
There are enough different things, in particular quite a few diode filters, Steiner-Parker filter - very hot.
Recording.de: Have you ever thought about a plugin controller?
We have once started to build a hardware controller. We have built a prototype which more or less did what it had to do. However we had to assemble it in the kitchen which was quite dirty. So we decided not to do it ourselves, at least not where we are located now. When we change location, probably around (??), we have more space and we can try and setup a line for hardware and we'll see what it results to. Alternatively we might find a partner who can do it for us. However at present we are too small to outsource it. Let's say we let 1000 devices being built and have them stored with us in the hope we will sell those 1000 devices. That's not so simple. Fundamentally we have ideas for controllers though.
I'm at odds with the iPad. I don't think touch controller are the way to do. When one wants to control synthesizers one needs real knobs. With an iPad one can in live situations control effects like a chaos pad etc. and that's fine, it functions very well.
But a synthesizer with 20 or 50 parameter can't be controlled on an iPad. At least not in live situations. It's too fidgety. One needs knobs for that.
Recording.de: And how do you relate to a hardware synthesizer?
I totally have an eye on hardware synthesizer but it's the same issue as with controllers. It's probably easier to build an analogue hardware synthesizer than a controller. Yet we don't have the means for it. The space, we particularly don't have the space for it. We do have the people who can and like to build them! Unfortunately it's not possible to build hardware at the moment.
Recording.de: When do you change?
(laughs) ... well, perhaps in a year, we'll see."
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=061AFej_cHs
Last edited by Joe Leidigkeit on Thu Oct 30, 2014 10:16 am, edited 4 times in total.
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- Banned
- 511 posts since 5 Jul, 2014
Cool! Anything else he talks about? I'd check myself but I unfortunately don't speak German .Joe Leidigkeit wrote: e.g.
- more dynamic processors
- new Diva Modules ( 'perhaps' 303, Polivoks, Steiner-Parker Filter and a more agressive Ladder Filter)
- in distant Future 'perhaps' a u-he Drum Machine.
-
Joe Leidigkeit Joe Leidigkeit https://www.kvraudio.com/forum/memberlist.php?mode=viewprofile&u=121913
- KVRist
- Topic Starter
- 74 posts since 29 Sep, 2006
my english is not the best.
so perhaps somebody else could make subtitles oder say more specific things, because, I think this interview gives a very good look insight u-he.
so perhaps somebody else could make subtitles oder say more specific things, because, I think this interview gives a very good look insight u-he.
-
Joe Leidigkeit Joe Leidigkeit https://www.kvraudio.com/forum/memberlist.php?mode=viewprofile&u=121913
- KVRist
- Topic Starter
- 74 posts since 29 Sep, 2006
too much.
-they gonna change their headquarter location
-he now has 8 employees, but Urs is more working than before.
-sometimes he would like to make a hardwarecontroller.
-a little bit about Zebra 3
-...
-they gonna change their headquarter location
-he now has 8 employees, but Urs is more working than before.
-sometimes he would like to make a hardwarecontroller.
-a little bit about Zebra 3
-...
- KVRAF
- 4784 posts since 2 Sep, 2005 from city of lights (nl)
The Boss!
Rekkerd.org the latest news on audio plugins, sample libraries & virtual instruments, synth presets & more.
Don't click here if you can't control yourself!
Don't click here if you can't control yourself!
-
- KVRAF
- 1906 posts since 15 Oct, 2008 from Germany
Urs is so humble
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- KVRAF
- 3817 posts since 8 Mar, 2006
Enjoyed the interview, thanks for sharing!
I like how Urs is having fun with his coffee and the chair ...it almost feels like workout
Do I see a hint of foam near the left corner?
btw, I bet that (hmm how does one call that? metal-skelet-support) could be useful for hanging panels and such which help with acoustic treatment. Every room that requires (critical) listening should have that sorted out. Once done right, I promise you won't go back!
Polyvox? bring it on!
I like how Urs is having fun with his coffee and the chair ...it almost feels like workout
Do I see a hint of foam near the left corner?
btw, I bet that (hmm how does one call that? metal-skelet-support) could be useful for hanging panels and such which help with acoustic treatment. Every room that requires (critical) listening should have that sorted out. Once done right, I promise you won't go back!
Polyvox? bring it on!
-
- KVRer
- 17 posts since 10 Mar, 2004
very nice, Urs very likeable and nerdy, thank you!
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- KVRist
- 269 posts since 12 Nov, 2011
Well that's not at all non-commitalJoe Leidigkeit wrote: - in distant Future 'perhaps' a u-he Drum Machine.
But who could blame him really? I think the only big exciting challenges in designing drum synths is firstly, trying to come up with a bass drum that genuinely challenges the 808/909 sound; and secondly improving on general snappiness and phatness, two things hardware drum machine fans would claim software lacks. Otherwise a U-He drum plug could just be a drum machine shaped GUI slapped over ACE code, or something along those lines. That just seems like going through the motions, just to fill a gap in your plugin lineup.
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aaron aardvark aaron aardvark https://www.kvraudio.com/forum/memberlist.php?mode=viewprofile&u=248508
- KVRAF
- 2667 posts since 22 Jan, 2011 from near Los Angeles
2 1/2 years of German in school and I only understand 10% of what he is saying......
You can hear my original music at this link: https://www.soundclick.com/artist/defau ... dID=224436
- KVRAF
- 2121 posts since 10 Apr, 2002 from Saint Germain en Laye, France
- KVRian
- 694 posts since 8 Apr, 2012 from planet Earth
- KVRian
- 1474 posts since 7 Jan, 2004
I spend some hours to translate it for those who can't understand German. As I'm neither a native German nor a native English speaker the translation is not perfect though I hope I got the essences right. I stopped when I couldn't translate Muckenmachen so I omitted the last two minutes of this interview. For the rest .... enjoy!
Tim
__________________________________________________________________________________
Recording.de: How did you become a software developer?
I became a software developer when ... pfew, I believe when in the 1980's I programmed the Commodore64. In the 1990's when the internet appeared it was 'in' to programming for websites and so and that's how I started programming again. When vst plugins arrived I couldn't afford them so I programmed one myself and one thing led to another and that's why I make software these days.
Recording.de: How is your current occupation connected to your qualification as an industrial designer?
I feel what I'm doing now is rather clearly industrial design. In industry one designs form and structures of products which aren't available on the market yet. That's what we are also doing. We design products which are new in the market and both good-looking, useful and with a good workflow and user interface.
Our products aren't built as pieces of hardware. They're just software. Yet the basics of what we are doing is in fact pure product design with an added programming-component. What we end up with is not just a designed product but a real finished product which we can sell thru the internet. Perhaps it seems something different but to me it's pure traditional art-formal industrial design.
Recording.de: Have you had a musical training?
(laughs) Well, musically I'm an autodidact and an extremely bad keyboard player. I have practically no feel for rythm or melodies. In band projects I somehow played melodies which I shouldn't have played and I shouldn't have played them at those times of the day. The end result is more based on producing than on live playing. Later on I started using plugins which replaced my Ensoniq sampler and Wavestation. That's how it was.
Recording.de: and by which performers and genres have you been influenced?
There's of course the classical artists like Jean-Michel Jarre and Tangerine Dream to whom I used to listen a lot, though these days not so much anymore. Some artists I still like to hear are Frank Zappa, Gentle Giant and King Crimson even though these are not much related to synthesizers. Nevertheless I am fascinated by synthesizers, in particular what happened by Kraftwerk.
Recording.de: What is the motivation behind your plugins?
That's a complex thing. Of course when one runs a company one needs to earn money. That's a clear thing. We can't afford to just develop plugins for fun. That's not possible. We are lucky though we enjoy the things we do here, otherwise it would turn out bad. I think it has much to do with enjoying the technical challenge to 'crack' a certain subject and to be able to actually crack it. For instance with Zebra the challenge was to create modular synths without cables. With ACE it was about the opposite because thanks to the cables it resulted in a completely flexible modular synth. The goal with Bazille was to make a modular FM-synthesizer with an analog sound from software. That has always been the challenge and one can more or less manage to master it. I think we've mostly done a good job at that.
Recording.de: Your plugins sound excellent! In your opinion what's the difference with competing developers?
I can't comment much on colleagues. I don't try out products from other companies so much. Soundwise I can say we're trying to avoid any compromises. That means every single module must perform outstanding on its own. With Zebra for instance the oscillators are reasonably free of aliasing without being oversampled. It took a long time to make them very flexible nevertheless. This makes a great difference.
A classical example is DIVA's filter which is being calculated in a fundamental way which is usually not done in software. It is unusual to model all the components of these filters at this level which results in these filters consuming a lot of CPU power. But that's why they sound so good. I know from some other developers they don't believe they can sell their products if they consume so much CPU power. We were about the first who has done it like this and it sold well nevertheless. To our standards quite good actually. So for me there's no reason to change it.
Recording.de: Can you image any cooperation with other enterprises?
Yes, there actually is some cooperation with befriended developers. We share a lot of information like how you do certain things. With Native Instruments I can't imagine any cooperation. They are too large, they have too many employees. What would they want from us? On the other hand I can image cooperation with Camel Audio. They are about the same size as we are. They are specialized in sampling and sample manipulation. We are specialized in filters so we can image some cooperation here.
However we have so much to do it somehow seems it can't be realized. The idea pops up frequently but we have years of work ahead of us laying around.
Recording.de: Are there plugins you are missing and like to deliver?
No, everything is there but there are people who aren't totally satisfied. When one creates something even hotter or with certain extras, they want to have it and use it. It depends. There are polyphonic synths allready so why should I make another one? Well, that's obviously not a good approach. There are certainly things that might be improved and one can create something completely different at a conceptual level. There have been many tape-emulations this year but we introduced Satin nevertheless and Satin has penetrated the market quite well. Whether we've something really different or better? I don't know.
Recording.de: Which software projects have you planned for the future?
There's the idea of creating a drum machine. There's the intention to create Zebra3, a complete overhaul of Zebra2 which is nearly ten years old, so something needs to be done with it. There's the idea to make some more dynamic processors. There are some compressors on their way. There's also the idea to make a synth which focuses on something else than the synths we have created so far. One which appeals more to 'producers' instead of nerds or geeks. What else .. ? There's the idea to make something based on physical modeling and there's the idea to make a sample editor or even a sampler, but at the moment we can't see when or even if that will happen.
Recording.de: To DIVA in particular: which additions or improvements do you have in the back of your head?
Conncerning DIVA I can say, down there (Urs points) is a Polyvoks which is quite something and somewhere around there's a TB-303. For the ladder-filter we want to build an extra aggressive variant of it. There are many other options but when one makes something it must distinguish itself enough from the modules which are already implemented. It's somehow difficult because when we try and put an SH-101 inside it doesn't differ so much from what's already inside.
There are enough different things, in particular quite a few diode filters, Steiner-Parker filter - very hot.
Recording.de: Have you ever thought about a plugin controller?
We have once started to build a hardware controller. We have built a prototype which more or less did what it had to do. However we had to assemble it in the kitchen which was quite dirty. So we decided not to do it ourselves, at least not where we are located now. When we change location, probably around (??), we have more space and we can try and setup a line for hardware and we'll see what it results to. Alternatively we might find a partner who can do it for us. However at present we are too small to outsource it. Let's say we let 1000 devices being built and have them stored with us in the hope we will sell those 1000 devices. That's not so simple. Fundamentally we have ideas for controllers though.
I'm at odds with the iPad. I don't think touch controller are the way to do. When one wants to control synthesizers one needs real knobs. With an iPad one can in live situations control effects like a chaos pad etc. and that's fine, it functions very well.
But a synthesizer with 20 or 50 parameter can't be controlled on an iPad. At least not in live situations. It's too fidgety. One needs knobs for that.
Recording.de: And how do you relate to a hardware synthesizer?
I totally have an eye on hardware synthesizer but it's the same issue as with controllers. It's probably easier to build an analogue hardware synthesizer than a controller. Yet we don't have the means for it. The space, we particularly don't have the space for it. We do have the people who can and like to build them! Unfortunately it's not possible to build hardware at the moment.
Recording.de: When do you change?
(laughs) ... well, perhaps in a year, we'll see.
Tim
__________________________________________________________________________________
Recording.de: How did you become a software developer?
I became a software developer when ... pfew, I believe when in the 1980's I programmed the Commodore64. In the 1990's when the internet appeared it was 'in' to programming for websites and so and that's how I started programming again. When vst plugins arrived I couldn't afford them so I programmed one myself and one thing led to another and that's why I make software these days.
Recording.de: How is your current occupation connected to your qualification as an industrial designer?
I feel what I'm doing now is rather clearly industrial design. In industry one designs form and structures of products which aren't available on the market yet. That's what we are also doing. We design products which are new in the market and both good-looking, useful and with a good workflow and user interface.
Our products aren't built as pieces of hardware. They're just software. Yet the basics of what we are doing is in fact pure product design with an added programming-component. What we end up with is not just a designed product but a real finished product which we can sell thru the internet. Perhaps it seems something different but to me it's pure traditional art-formal industrial design.
Recording.de: Have you had a musical training?
(laughs) Well, musically I'm an autodidact and an extremely bad keyboard player. I have practically no feel for rythm or melodies. In band projects I somehow played melodies which I shouldn't have played and I shouldn't have played them at those times of the day. The end result is more based on producing than on live playing. Later on I started using plugins which replaced my Ensoniq sampler and Wavestation. That's how it was.
Recording.de: and by which performers and genres have you been influenced?
There's of course the classical artists like Jean-Michel Jarre and Tangerine Dream to whom I used to listen a lot, though these days not so much anymore. Some artists I still like to hear are Frank Zappa, Gentle Giant and King Crimson even though these are not much related to synthesizers. Nevertheless I am fascinated by synthesizers, in particular what happened by Kraftwerk.
Recording.de: What is the motivation behind your plugins?
That's a complex thing. Of course when one runs a company one needs to earn money. That's a clear thing. We can't afford to just develop plugins for fun. That's not possible. We are lucky though we enjoy the things we do here, otherwise it would turn out bad. I think it has much to do with enjoying the technical challenge to 'crack' a certain subject and to be able to actually crack it. For instance with Zebra the challenge was to create modular synths without cables. With ACE it was about the opposite because thanks to the cables it resulted in a completely flexible modular synth. The goal with Bazille was to make a modular FM-synthesizer with an analog sound from software. That has always been the challenge and one can more or less manage to master it. I think we've mostly done a good job at that.
Recording.de: Your plugins sound excellent! In your opinion what's the difference with competing developers?
I can't comment much on colleagues. I don't try out products from other companies so much. Soundwise I can say we're trying to avoid any compromises. That means every single module must perform outstanding on its own. With Zebra for instance the oscillators are reasonably free of aliasing without being oversampled. It took a long time to make them very flexible nevertheless. This makes a great difference.
A classical example is DIVA's filter which is being calculated in a fundamental way which is usually not done in software. It is unusual to model all the components of these filters at this level which results in these filters consuming a lot of CPU power. But that's why they sound so good. I know from some other developers they don't believe they can sell their products if they consume so much CPU power. We were about the first who has done it like this and it sold well nevertheless. To our standards quite good actually. So for me there's no reason to change it.
Recording.de: Can you image any cooperation with other enterprises?
Yes, there actually is some cooperation with befriended developers. We share a lot of information like how you do certain things. With Native Instruments I can't imagine any cooperation. They are too large, they have too many employees. What would they want from us? On the other hand I can image cooperation with Camel Audio. They are about the same size as we are. They are specialized in sampling and sample manipulation. We are specialized in filters so we can image some cooperation here.
However we have so much to do it somehow seems it can't be realized. The idea pops up frequently but we have years of work ahead of us laying around.
Recording.de: Are there plugins you are missing and like to deliver?
No, everything is there but there are people who aren't totally satisfied. When one creates something even hotter or with certain extras, they want to have it and use it. It depends. There are polyphonic synths allready so why should I make another one? Well, that's obviously not a good approach. There are certainly things that might be improved and one can create something completely different at a conceptual level. There have been many tape-emulations this year but we introduced Satin nevertheless and Satin has penetrated the market quite well. Whether we've something really different or better? I don't know.
Recording.de: Which software projects have you planned for the future?
There's the idea of creating a drum machine. There's the intention to create Zebra3, a complete overhaul of Zebra2 which is nearly ten years old, so something needs to be done with it. There's the idea to make some more dynamic processors. There are some compressors on their way. There's also the idea to make a synth which focuses on something else than the synths we have created so far. One which appeals more to 'producers' instead of nerds or geeks. What else .. ? There's the idea to make something based on physical modeling and there's the idea to make a sample editor or even a sampler, but at the moment we can't see when or even if that will happen.
Recording.de: To DIVA in particular: which additions or improvements do you have in the back of your head?
Conncerning DIVA I can say, down there (Urs points) is a Polyvoks which is quite something and somewhere around there's a TB-303. For the ladder-filter we want to build an extra aggressive variant of it. There are many other options but when one makes something it must distinguish itself enough from the modules which are already implemented. It's somehow difficult because when we try and put an SH-101 inside it doesn't differ so much from what's already inside.
There are enough different things, in particular quite a few diode filters, Steiner-Parker filter - very hot.
Recording.de: Have you ever thought about a plugin controller?
We have once started to build a hardware controller. We have built a prototype which more or less did what it had to do. However we had to assemble it in the kitchen which was quite dirty. So we decided not to do it ourselves, at least not where we are located now. When we change location, probably around (??), we have more space and we can try and setup a line for hardware and we'll see what it results to. Alternatively we might find a partner who can do it for us. However at present we are too small to outsource it. Let's say we let 1000 devices being built and have them stored with us in the hope we will sell those 1000 devices. That's not so simple. Fundamentally we have ideas for controllers though.
I'm at odds with the iPad. I don't think touch controller are the way to do. When one wants to control synthesizers one needs real knobs. With an iPad one can in live situations control effects like a chaos pad etc. and that's fine, it functions very well.
But a synthesizer with 20 or 50 parameter can't be controlled on an iPad. At least not in live situations. It's too fidgety. One needs knobs for that.
Recording.de: And how do you relate to a hardware synthesizer?
I totally have an eye on hardware synthesizer but it's the same issue as with controllers. It's probably easier to build an analogue hardware synthesizer than a controller. Yet we don't have the means for it. The space, we particularly don't have the space for it. We do have the people who can and like to build them! Unfortunately it's not possible to build hardware at the moment.
Recording.de: When do you change?
(laughs) ... well, perhaps in a year, we'll see.
Last edited by Timfonie on Wed Oct 29, 2014 4:41 pm, edited 2 times in total.
The more I hang around at KVR the less music I make.