alpha forever...upcoming modular synth

[ralfrobert]

Any news or anything to expect in the near future? How is Hungary, how are you?

[9b0]

Any news or anything to expect in the near future? How is Hungary, how are you?

Thanks for the questions! I can't tell too much about Hungary, since I'm not leaving home since September (I took some walks in the neighbourhood, but that's all). I know, the world outside exists, but everything feels so far away... anyways, I'm doing fine, and try to work on Alpha as much as possible. Hope, you're fine 2!

New things: a new release will come in the upcoming days with some really nice new features (I'm working on the release video currently). As usual, we do not have a release date yet... when I get ready with marketing material, we will set the new version released.

[Torben77]

How can i copy and paste modules in Alpha. CRTL C / CRTL V didnt work. Im using the Demo Version of Alpha modular x64 within Bitwig 3.3.1.

The demo version does not allow to copy/paste (patches could be pasted to notepad and saved that way - saving is disabled in the demo version). Copy / paste works flawlessly in the full version (even within Bitwig).

Okay. Thank you for your fast reply.
Kind regards.

[bmanic]

Any news on getting Alpha Forever as a native Mac M1 ARM plugin?

[9b0]

Any news on getting Alpha Forever as a native Mac M1 ARM plugin?

A Mac port is not a priority currently. We are working on making Alpha better and more complex by implementing new features and adding new nodes. Did you switch to M1?

[bmanic]

I still have my old Windows laptop but yes, I did also get a M1 Mac Mini and so far everything that's native to it runs ridiculously well! It's so weird having a tiny little Mac that is by far the best bang for the buck in terms of pure performance. I'd have to spend a lot more to get an equivalently powerful PC.

.. but I do miss having Alpha Forever around and some other software, thus I do still run my windows system.

[9b0]

I'm glad you're happy with the switch, but also sad to see you go. Porting Alpha to other platforms is a very complex task, and although we made the switch to OpenGL in late 2019 (the GUI got rewritten from the ground up: in June 2019 we were only able to draw an orange rectangle), Apple decided to say goodbye to this platform... rewriting the UI made sense in the end (because it's a lot faster and flexible this way), but the main purpose was to make a step towards Apple. Later, when the M1 was announced we decided not to work on the Apple port for a while.

Now we know what the performance is like (although most of the stuff is currently Rosetta), but the view is still foggy (for us), and we are not even looking in the right direction. We do not want to be in the same boat again as we were in the mid-2000s during the PPC->Intel shift.

[bmanic]

I totally understand! Take your time and do it right. I'm pretty sure Apple will stick with the ARM thing for the next decade and I'm also quite certain that personal computers in general will slowly but surely transition to this architecture.

I just hope my old laptop doesn't fail on me.

[9b0]

!!! The first Alpha Forever release of 2021 is going to be available on the 19th of February with new nodes and workflow enhancements.

[swindus]

Excellent, thanks!

[Whywhy]

Greattttt! Thanks.

[9b0]

The new update just got released, you can check the new features.

Check the devlog entry for full details: https://www.afmodular.com/devlog/update-202101

Promo video (music was produced using Alpha Forever instances only): https://youtu.be/QjM0d7ZRCb8

New nodes:
// Filter 4p Modulated - a 4-pole multimode ladder filter
// Filter 4p NL Modulated - a 4-pole non-linear multimode ladder filter
// Filter SVF Modulated - a state-variable multimode filter with controllable steepness
// Filter 1p Modulated - a 1-pole filter with 5 different outputs
// Plate Reverb - a nice-sounding plate reverb effect
// Pseudo Random - generates seeded noise

New features, workflow enhancements:
// Parallel patching - connect up to 9 parallel wires at once by pressing a number key on the keyboard while patching
// 2 inputs + 2 outputs mode - solves compatibility issues with some VST Hosts that handle multichannel VSTs as 7.1 systems (Adobe Premiere, Steinberg Nuendo), or mute multichannel instruments (Studio One)
// Double right-click on knobs and sliders reset them to default value instead of center
// Spectrum analyzer - the spectrum analyzer displays the frequency and measured gain below the cursor
// Spectrum analyzer - the spectrum analyzer outputs the block size
// Spectrum analyzer - horizontal lines indicate the levels on the analyzer

Fixes:
// Stabiliy improvements regarding the scope and preset switching in certain DAWs

[SeeingInMidi]

Just found out about this, looks really great. Was just wondering, is vst3 and also some type of ui builder in the pipeline? Also, does this ever go on sale?

[9b0]

Just found out about this, looks really great. Was just wondering, is vst3 and also some type of ui builder in the pipeline? Also, does this ever go on sale?

Hi!

VST3 is in the pipeline, we have a fully working version already, but there are several issues regarding parameter automation and the lack of MIDI CC's that need to be solved. Since the 2.4 version is fully functional and has all the features needed - finishing the VST3 version was no priority.

UI builder: a UI builder is planned. The foundations are already implemented, and it's possible to build custom UI nodes through JSON code for a while now, but it's not documented yet (I'm using it to design new nodes), and not listed in the features anywhere.

Going on sale: AFModular did never go on sale, and we do not plan to do it. We hope, our pricing is reasonable enough.

If you have any further questions or suggestions, or just feel stuck using AFModular, just reach out to us, we always try to solve everything.

[9b0]

I've recorded a video where I go through all the new nodes (except the reverb, coz i recorded my voice on the same track as the computer audio, and I had to cut that part), and i tell stuff about them in detail.

https://youtu.be/6lVoa7RNxMc