MUTOOLS

Vortifex · Post by **Vortifex** » Thu Feb 20, 2020 6:05 pm

Edited

e-crooner · Post by **e-crooner** » Thu Feb 20, 2020 6:29 pm

I don't think user-friendliness is a strength of Mulab as soon as you have to mess around with the modular stuff.

mutools · Post by **mutools** » Thu Feb 20, 2020 6:44 pm

e-crooner wrote: ↑Thu Feb 20, 2020 6:29 pm I don't think user-friendliness is a strength of Mulab as soon as you have to mess around with the modular stuff.

Please be constructively specific.

e-crooner · Post by **e-crooner** » Thu Feb 20, 2020 7:12 pm

I find the modular level a bit freakish, not something I want to have to deal with as a musician.

pljones · Post by **pljones** » Thu Feb 20, 2020 7:30 pm

There's one or two rather well known musicians who made there name from using modular systems, of course.

e-crooner · Post by **e-crooner** » Thu Feb 20, 2020 9:10 pm

What do you mean by modular systems? You mean sequencers, tape machines etc. before there were DAW's?

pljones · Post by **pljones** » Fri Feb 21, 2020 7:17 am

Modules, wires, racks.

e-crooner · Post by **e-crooner** » Fri Feb 21, 2020 4:27 pm

OK, but often it was not the musician that had to deal with those technical things, but the audio engineer or whoever.

Most DAW users are responsible for everything, though

dakkra · Post by **dakkra** » Fri Feb 21, 2020 6:00 pm

e-crooner wrote: ↑Fri Feb 21, 2020 4:27 pm OK, but often it was not the musician that had to deal with those technical things, but the audio engineer or whoever.

I think many would disagree with you here. Most composers I look up to do most if not all the technical work themselves. Something about having full creative control

Mulab is a sound designers DAW, much like Bitwig. It's more of an instrument than it is a composition suite. It's actually quite a high level modular kit. Usually when I think technical, I think Reaktor or DSP. MUX does a really nice job of getting straight to the sound design (although I've been missing math modules, but that's okay).

One of the best ways to overcome the inability to make a sound with a tool, is to build the tool yourself. I always found myself thinking with a synth VST, "Man, if only I had seven LFOs and three oscillators on this four LFO and two oscillator synth. That would be cool!". Sometimes you just want that freedom of being allowed to put your own sound together. That's why MUX is great. And for those who aren't inclined to put a MUX patch together, there are thousands of presets included, not to mention some amazing work in the Mulib. Seriously, there's a Vocoder and Dynamic EQ in there. It's good stuff.

e-crooner · Post by **e-crooner** » Fri Feb 21, 2020 6:29 pm

7 LFO's?! Well, I think I am just not as demanding as you, I try to keep it simple.

Not sure what to think of that integrated concept where sound design and sequencing come together. I guess I am more old-school and like those things independent from each other. But each to their own...

dakkra · Post by **dakkra** » Fri Feb 21, 2020 8:04 pm

e-crooner wrote: ↑Fri Feb 21, 2020 6:29 pm 7 LFO's?! Well, I think I am just not as demanding as you, I try to keep it simple.

I like to make noises

Sometimes those noises are even musical

But each to their own...

Indeed this is the best way to be. Tool for the job, and everyone likes different tools. That's how we get variety, by being different

e-crooner · Post by **e-crooner** » Fri Feb 21, 2020 8:37 pm

Do you have a link to your music? I am curious regarding how musical your noises are

Are there any third-party developers making and maybe even selling Mux-based plugins?

dakkra · Post by **dakkra** » Fri Feb 21, 2020 8:57 pm

e-crooner wrote: ↑Fri Feb 21, 2020 8:37 pm Do you have a link to your music? I am curious regarding how musical your noises are

Nothing I make is worth your time, trust me

I delve mostly into electronic music but privately I have lots of weird sounds.

Are there any third-party developers making and maybe even selling Mux-based plugins?

I know Wagtunes has some of his patches for sale: http://www.wagsrfm.com/mux/

But most users share their patches publicly, free of charge. And MUX isn't a framework for developing. It's not Reaktor or SynthEdit. You won't be doing much DSP in MUX. Instead you'll be patching modules together, much more like an analog modular system. Like I mentioned earlier, MUX doesn't even have math modules (addition and subtraction are easy to do with some thought though) which makes it difficult to DSP with it.

The goal of MUX isn't to build plugins. The goal of MUX is to provide you with a modular system that you can patch/route how you'd like (or close to it). For example, I had an MSEG doing fast modulations on a filter envelope. This was causing pops and crackles as 0-100 in 0 time is a jump/pulse and created filter zipping. To overcome that, I used modulation-audio converters so that I could low pass (thus smooth out) the envelope so it doesn't pop. Creative things like this is where MUX shines. It's really designed for modular enthusiasts and sound designers.

I think where many users get stuck is the idea that MUX isn't a framework. It's a modular system, meaning you're supposed to get modular. It's not about building a device per-se. It's about exploring infinite combinations and permutations of modules. MUX is more akin to Falcon, Zebra, Bazille, MSF, or Bitwigs Grid than it is to Reaktor, Voltage Modular, M4L, etc... The whole point of it is to be modular without the need to make your own DSP.

e-crooner · Post by **e-crooner** » Fri Feb 21, 2020 9:27 pm

I don't see much of a difference to SynthEdit, frankly

As long as one doesn't program one's own SE modules, that is.

When I load a Mux preset and click on an individual module in the modular view, and again, and again, I also get to the level where I can add oscillators, filters or whatever. So, I could in theory build a new synth I think

BTW, just got this Mulab message, not sure what it means:

dakkra · Post by **dakkra** » Fri Feb 21, 2020 10:18 pm

e-crooner wrote: ↑Fri Feb 21, 2020 9:27 pm I don't see much of a difference to SynthEdit, frankly As long as one doesn't program one's own SE modules, that is.

When I load a Mux preset and click on an individual module in the modular view, and again, and again, I also get to the level where I can add oscillators, filters or whatever. So, I could in theory build a new synth I think

SE was designed as a visual programming language. The whole point was to build your own modules to make your own unique sound. It think the default filters are biquads or similar. Nothing special.(Nothing wrong with biquads btw, they sound fine. Just rather plain).

BTW, just got this Mulab message, not sure what it means:

It means you loaded a preset with a Multi-Form Oscillator that used the legacy Harmonic Filter function. It's since been upgraded/replaced with a new Harmonic Filter. Consolidate means keep the original wave table whereas Replace generates a new wave table with the new Harmonic Filter. CFR M8.0.70 http://mutools.com/mulab-mux-change-log.html

MUTOOLS

KVR Audio

MuLab 8.4.18 (APDC)