Slicer (in development)

[laputa_sync]

<blog mode>
I've kept at it with the browser portion of the slicer, and it's come quite a way since the initial post. Here's a peek at what we've got so far...



Hmmm.. now we've a few icons for directories and files (yay!), drag n' drop is now working (yee!), and it lists all folders/files properly (had some issues before). The "stars" at the top are for favorite directories which you can dragndrop to... and the "arrow" takes you back to the previous directory. This will probably get adjusted a bit look wise, but you get the gist... I have no interest in a more traditional look, kinda want to it to be fun and inspiring (what that has to do with the file browser, I dunno ) Double clicking an item will take you one level deeper (ohhh!), or you can alternatively hit the [+] to unfold the directories (ahhh!). Once I get a few more elements implemented, I'll convert it over to a VST... then we'll see if this browser portion is crach prone in a host. Once it's solid (no problems here so far which is a good sign.. sorta...), I'll move on to the next part.

Anyways, this has been a good starting point as it's kinda gotten me back into the flow of coding. (fingers crossed)
</blog mode>

@Ultimo... you've touched on a lot of good ideas. If you are a former tracker, then you are probably a fan of sample manipulation which I am as well... so that's a high priority for me. Anyway, I've really been giving a lot of thought on how to attach tracker'esque elements in to a totally new interface. Once I get my thoughts a bit more sorted, I'll attempt to explain it... beyond that I'm all ears to any ideas.

@everyone... Kinda in brainstorm mode, so anything is fair game. So share your thoughts...

im lovin it so far!! keep on it!

[Hitch]

Best of luck with your endeavour. It's looking very good. If I may suggest one or two things:

1. Workflow: please try to make your program intuitive and easy to use; easier said than done, I know.

2. GUI: make it "Fisher-Price" so that anyone, from rank beginner (me) to Beat God, can clearly see what each control does. More sophisticated skins can always come later, especially if your program is a hit with music geeks.

3. Plain english/easy-to-understand symbols for controls.

4. Sorry about this last one: supply a step-by-step "this-is-what-a-slicer-does-and-here-is-how-to-do-it" manual. This is essential; there's no point in you working hard and solving tricky technical problems if your users can't work out how to take advantage of your beatslicer's advanced features. Assume your users are monkeys.

Yep, I'm a newbie, and I can't program my alarm clock, never mind write computer code. Best of luck - and have fun.

[shamann]

Here's something I'd like to see with a slicer/sampler:

The master concept is organized into multiple cells, where each cell is where you take slices and go nuts with them.

Each cell can have multiple layers of slices, where layers could optionally be mapped to velocity, and can operate in one of several modes - one-shot (with optional note off behaviour, and loopable), mapped to keyboard (like one-shot, but where any cell's samples can be played pitched across a keyboard), and sequenced (where each cell is a sequence of slices, and can be triggered by note on, with maybe the ability to play one-shot cells as slices in the sequence).

The sequencer mode is probably a lot like Liveslice, although since I have/use/love Liveslice, it wouldn't need to perform in the same manner. The mapped mode would have to be treated differently for MIDI, where when it's in view/selected, it overrides MIDI input (like on my old Akai s-20) or possibly it would need to receive on separate MIDI channels (which would limit total mapped cells to 16). Possibly a way to map multiple mapped cells to separate zones of the keyboard, so that they could share a MIDI channel. Or something.

Here's a quick diagram of roughly what I had in mind (where the 1-9 are where cells can be selected, it should of course be more than 9, I just ran out of room when drawing with the mouse):



It's sort of taking the concept of Liveslice, which to my mind is a live sequencing/arranging tool, and turning it into something closer to a normal sampler, with the ability to trigger sequences in the same manner that you can trigger samples.

In the effects/parameters section per cell, I'd love to see lots of options for assigning modulation to every parameter of each cell (LFO/env/stepseq/velocity to start/end/loop/pitch/filter cutoff/etc). Time/pitchshift and multimode filter per cell, bitcrush, sample rate adjuster, etc per cell, with the ability to copy/resample effects and loop/edit points destructively from any given cell into any given other cell at the press of a button. That way you could also mixdown sequencer cells into mapped/one shots, etc.

One thing like Liveslice I'd love to see carried over is to have the browser split, where the bottom is the browser and the top is the source samples loaded into memory. In the list of slices in use per cell, it could just dynamically assign slice names based on the file name in hex like File01-00, File01-0A, File02-AF, etc. I'd also like the ability to have a lot of slices, at least 256 per sample, ideally more, like 1024.

And a master effects section would be handy. Wouldn't have to be elaborate, but there probably won't be a lot of room for FX in the sequence mode, so that would get around that. Also that way you could have stuff like a granulator in the master section.

[brok landers]

@modular:
ok, some general input:
first off, if you count all the availlable slicers together, it's all there (or at least a lot), but it has to be one plugin ...
sofar to me bitshifts phatmatik pro is closest, still it has so much left what could be added which others got, so here's my list:

• 01. drag'n drop one/multiple slice/s straight to the drive.
  02. drag'n drop a slice directly to the audio track of your host sequencer.
  03. drag'n drop a loop.wav directly into the slicer plugin from the drive (desktop f.e.).
  04. drag'n drop a loop.wav directly into the slicer plugin from an audiotrack of your host sequencer.
  05. seperate slice endpoint adjusting (without affecting the nexts slices starpoint).
  06. drag'n drop midi information not only to a miditrack, but straight to the drive as a conventional midifile (i.e. desktop).
  07. rendering indifidual slices with envelopes (amp, filter?)and fx (if it has any), selectable.
  08. mute slices.
  09. reordering slices.
  10. rendering the whole sliced and fully edited loop (drag'n drop/to disk, i.e. desktop?).
  11. rex support (load+save).
  12. acidloop support (load+save).
  13. apple loop support (load+save).
  14. timestretch/shrink and pitch of individual slices (stretch synced to host?).
  15. multilane slicing, so that one can build his loop from different loops.
  16. multi out's (adjustable).
  17. low cpu usage

if that all would be in one vsti, i'd buy it right away.
btw, this is a crosspost from this thread, might be interresting for you, if you did not read it yet:
http://www.kvraudio.com/forum/viewtopic ... 04#2280104

[djsubject]

looking interesting Mod

good luck & i hope you make a a class seller,

ilock?

Subz

[stale bread]

damn been a bit busy since we last spoke but yes yes yes it looks good to me so far and it looks like the most important features imho have already been requested, i'd like to add though that when it comes to slicers the alpha and omega of features is the slicers interface, reason i'm making this point is because of something Ultimo said and i quote "Try not to introduce different working modes like sampler/slicer etc… I see them all as one, If things cannot be done in the same mode, it wasn't meant to be in the tool (kontakt/intakt)."
when I read that I was like WOW!! somebody really gets it, things like that will make the slicer a pleasure to use.. actualy i just feel like reposting his post cause it really hits the important things, like being able to sync to host by choice and what not.
also i agree that the individual slice parameters and multiple loop points are features that would just keep on multiplying the worth of the slicer over and over.

my special request would be that there is a step sequencer and also that for each sequence to have its own swing (not global swing) and for the swing to have very flexible choices.

so to recap
------------
1.everything ultimo said

2. as many individual slice feature perameters as you can think of, when it comes to a slicer you don't have to worry about going overboard with features, you can put way to much in and there will still be room for more as long as the slicer interface is on the front it won't be overwhelming and it will be easy to control, folks can use what they want and not what they don't want.

3. many modulatable loop points, like say 6 ... and a way to tell the slicer how many times to play each loop before moving on, with the ability to skip loops and randomize
them.

4. step sequencer-individual swing (not global), this will make it so useful to just load up drum hits or one shot samples of whatever.

5. RECORD IN... a sampling slicer....'watch the f**k out!!!"

6. pretty please make the triggering not just note on, but note on and off after you release your midi controller, this way you can stop the sound when you want to and not have to just play the sample that's loaded all the way till it stops.

7.I think you should call it the ModuSlicer or Meteor... i'm so fuckin glad you're doing this it's about time somebody with your headset/sample manipulation ethics does something like this, usualy its the people who hate sampling making slicers wtf! I know it's gonna be great.

will post some more stuff later, thanks so much for taking this on Mod, you're gonna make some kvr history.

[pHz]

dont care what you do mod

as long as it can f**k about with the slices and ends up working on linux

slainte rob

[brok landers]

stalebread, regarding your point 6:
the per-slice-amp env should cover this, don't it?

@modular ...
i have another one:
- midi note selection of the slice.
and another one:
- multiple selections for slices to be edited together, relative or absolute ...

[stale bread]

stalebread, regarding your point 6:
the per-slice-amp env should cover this, don't it?...

not really brok, not if you want to keep the workflow simple and on the move without getting bogged down. this is one of the things i'm waiting for in Guru, on my mpc i do lots of samples with atmosheres and backdrops and its essential that i can quickly just stop the sample by releasing the pad, it also makes the sampler a more playable as instrument type of thing.

@modular ...
i have another one:
- midi note selection of the slice.
and another one:
- multiple selections for slices to be edited together, relative or absolute ...

great request btw

[Nogi]

<blog mode>
I've kept at it with the browser portion of the slicer, and it's come quite a way since the initial post. Here's a peek at what we've got so far...

...snip...

@everyone... Kinda in brainstorm mode, so anything is fair game. So share your thoughts...

My $0.02: I would very much like to see the close directory icon (the '[-]') become instead a close directory vertical bar graphic that is accessible from anywhere in the subdirectory. I hate scrolling to the top of a sub-branch that can contain hundreds of files just to close it.

Alternative 1: Provide a shortcut key to fold the branch with the current focus.
Alternative 2: Show only a set number of sub files at a time and provide a separate scrollbar for the subdirectory (beneath the [-] on the left hand side) so the close branch icon is always in view while working.

When you open a directory, it is with the anticipation of a new idea. When you close it, you are just trying to get on with your life and it feels like housekeeping.

Thanks and good luck!

[thisdude]

something i've always wanted:

adding a serial or parallel option for how the midi triggers each slice. let me explain...

most slicers will generate midi notes in 1/2 step increments for each slice (parallel). how about using that midi timing info and allowing the user to jam on a single note, each time triggering the next slice in the phrase (serial)? in serial mode, each 1/2 step up the piano roll offsets the series by 1 slice. this gives you instant access to all the slices, but allows you to jam on one note stealing the order of slices from the original loop.

as far as i know, there's nothing like this out there and it would be sh#thot.

[Lunch Money]

Good luck with this, Mod! Just saw the thread linked to from another thread.

[bduffy]

I just caught wind of this too! Go, ModuLR, go!

I would just like to put in a request for something straight-forward and easy to use, and with a big, clear interface. I could never understand why all slicers are so small and finnicky, like Intakt: that huge interface, and only, like, 20% of it is the slicer. Ridiculous.

Anyways, best of luck!

[Sickle]

Good lord, Steve-0, wtf is this..?

[meeks]

Finally, a GUI I can understand!