To modular hosts users...

[Klemperer]

As I make this FAQ, I found Whyterabbit's reply to some similar question very nice. See HERE, question 14 at "basics - other". He simply speaks of some possibilities modular routing give you, nice...

Or if you don't want to leave this thread, why not quote him here :

Possibilities:
With EnergyXT, you can take a single track of MIDI, and arpeggiate that feeding it to another arpeggiator which drives a synth while your first arpeggiator gets turned into chords which control a different synth and your original MIDI sequence controls a third synth whilst simultaneously controlling a set of parameters in an effects chain that all the synths are being sent thru...? and it takes about 30 seconds to set that up, and the structure can be saved for re-use within any other project?

[shamann]

A big benefit for me is never having to worry about restrictions imposed by a fixed signal flow.

For example, the concept of sends and inserts makes no sense in a modular environment, because it's all just a bunch of interconnected modules with unlimited path choices. Whatever sound you want to go in to your reverb is whatever sound you connect to it. As a result, complex FX chains become a lot easier to come by, because everything can become interconnected and layered in a way that is either difficult or impossible in non-modular environments.

I've been trying out Live this week, and there are things I like a lot about it, but I find its presentation of signal flow frustrating (not its fault, but the fault of linear sequencer design in general). If, for instance, I've set up a cool chain of FX on one track that I want to route other tracks into, or take the output of only one effect in a chain a route over to one effect in another chain on another track, with modulars its just a matter of connecting lines without even thinking, with Live its matter of checking the manual to see how I can do it, which will more than likely contain several workaround steps. Modulars also let you mix and record sounds at any step in the chain easily.

For the kind of control I'm talking about, Audiomulch is the best of the bunch, as it has features in its modular workspace that others don't (insert before, insert after, swap, etc).

Modulars don't make the distinction between instrument, effects, and host in the same way something like Cubase does, because there is just one space for making, arranging and altering sounds. For some, that is counter-productive, because it gets in the way of writing music. You could write a pop song in a modular, but I don't know why you'd want to. I'm excluding energyXT's sequencer from this, as there is little that is modular about the sequencer comp.

Similarly, fixed signal paths in synths like Vanguard, which work well in a sequencer host because they fit nicely in a system of limited slots (send midi to instrument, send audio to effect, mix with other tracks), can be disappointing in a host like Audiomulch because you can feasibly have access to lots of other sound bits and any stage of audio processing.

[shamann]

Audio isn't everything, you know.

That's a good point, Bidule and eXT make for great MIDI tools, where you can change and redirect MIDI signals in fairly complex ways, and do it easily on the fly.

I like building sequences out of MIDI parts in eXT, with parts triggered by other parts, similar in fashion to pattern arrangements, because you can bypass any part at any time or redirect the output, double voices on the same part, or alter your master sequence quickly without having to change each pattern, etc.

[shamann]

Also, plugins with multiple ins and outs are very easy to work with in modulars.

[cron]

Also, plugins with multiple ins and outs are very easy to work with in modulars.

I'd really love to see more plugs with multiple ins and outs, as opposed to opening seperate instances of the same plug.

In a plug like, say Supatrigga, where precisely replicating the settings on multiple instances will produce totally different effects, it'd be great if you could have kicks going in/out of 1 + 2, the hi-hats going in/out of 3 + 4 etc, so all sounds recieve the same treatment but you're still able to process them seperately post Supatrigga.

[allofdrab]

Some quick (?) thoughts:

Modular hosts can often be used to build custom made, kickass live performance tools.

With a modular host that has flexable MIDI and/or OSC routing, you can control your own army of real-life robots!

Many modular hosts can be bridged with other programs and/or hardware.
For example, I recently saw Semiconductor use Macromedia Director to control CPS (another modular/host worth mentioning), or wait,... was it the other way around? Perhaps they were controlling each other in a semi-automated way. I guess I'm not sure. Any way, the two programs were bridged.

So, there are bridges for that. Here's one:
http://www.audiomulch.com/midiio/


I feel lazy, so I'll quote another interesting feature of CPS from their site: "With the CPS Browser add-on you are able to do anything that is also possible with CPS - including generating and processing realtime audio, sending and receiving MIDI, and much more - inside a browser and with your own graphical interface, build with Macromedia Director (Shockwave)."

So, needless (?) to say, many of these hosts allow integration with other devices and/or mediums. If they don't offer bridging, or integration capabilities directly, there is a chance someone, somewhere has made one you can download. Something that has really charged me up creatively.

Have you tried the Bidule bridge?
http://www.plogue.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=915

Also, if you get nerdy, you can utilize PureData's modular expressiveness as a VST via the PdVst bridge.
http://crca.ucsd.edu/~jsarlo/pdvst/

Anyway, that's my blab. Funny, writing this post, I remembered how interesting CPS can be to use. I think I'll start exploring their Browser add-on stuff again.

Anyway, have fun. Go crazy, experiment. And, save as you go (in case you crash the app.).

If you look here, you can find shared patches, for various modular systems and/or hosts.
http://www.em411.com/list/patch

[Bunnyboy]

what allofdrab said , 'cept i could never get PdVST to work

[shamann]

http://www.em411.com/list/patch

Hey cool, I don't think I've ever looked there before (maybe once in a search for Bidule groups long ago, but said memory is deeply buried).

And true, CPS does often seem overlooked.

[soma]

A big benefit for me is never having to worry about restrictions imposed by a fixed signal flow.

For example, the concept of sends and inserts makes no sense in a modular environment, because it's all just a bunch of interconnected modules with unlimited path choices. Whatever sound you want to go in to your reverb is whatever sound you connect to it. As a result, complex FX chains become a lot easier to come by, because everything can become interconnected and layered in a way that is either difficult or impossible in non-modular environments.

Well said. My thoughts exactly.

[Z3R0T0N1N]

hi disturb
here is some stuff that will make your modular experimentation all the more fruitful:
http://asseca-pt.net/nicfit/index.html
these are among the best.
also check out NDC plugs midi package.

[disturb]

thanks spoonboiler for the link, i already had most of them, and they are indeed sooooooo useful

[ericj23]

so is there a modular host - which works as a vst (like xt) that will do proper feedback ?

[shamann]

so is there a modular host - which works as a vst (like xt) that will do proper feedback ?

Good question. I don't know.

VAZ Modular does, but its hosting features are really only there in service of the synthesizer. Bidule does feedback proper, and has a VST bridge, but the bridge isn't a perfect solution (useful and in most case you won't notice the difference).

Does anyone know if Console has sample accurate feedback?