Coming Soon from Camel Audio - Alchemy!

[vurt]

[cb8rwh]

Everytime one of the camel guys writes or uploads a demo Alchemy gets better and better!

[pdxindy]

Everytime one of the camel guys writes or uploads a demo Alchemy gets better and better!

and with open straightforward answers that make you want to support them!

[dougsyo]

Will Alchemy be able to read or import C5000 c5v or c5i files?

(Not that this would stop me from buying, I've already budgeted for it)

Doug

[biomechanoid]

Will Alchemy be able to read or import C5000 c5v or c5i files?

(Not that this would stop me from buying, I've already budgeted for it)

that may well be possible one way or another in the future, but certainly won't be in v1.0

[Chuck E. Jesus]

sounds very cool....

[Jake Jackson]

This looks really great. Looking forward to the release. Two questions, though:


1. My one worry is with polyphonic instruments such as a piano. Will playing several six note chords one after the other, or playing fast solos so that the system has to calculate fast, cause a big strain on the CPU? (The usual answer would be yes, but I can imagine an arrangement in which once a preset is created, the number and tuning of partials and their ratio to velocity become constant, so the instrument would be playing back constants instead of having to calculate on the fly.) Could still cause strain, however?

2. I imagine that the file size for presets, compared to the size of sample libraries, will be small. But is it possible to guess the file size if we tried to create an 88 note stereo piano, with detuned unison "strings," and around 150 partials per "string"? (Many of these would be near-partials, of course, instead of actual multiples of the fundamental.)

[egbert]

(Many of these would be near-partials, of course, instead of actual multiples of the fundamental.)

These would still be partials - the term you are looking for is inharmonics as they are partials which are not, strictly speaking, harmonics (ie integer multiples) of the fundamental.

[Bassballjg]

This looks really great. Looking forward to the release. Two questions, though:


1. My one worry is with polyphonic instruments such as a piano. Will playing several six note chords one after the other, or playing fast solos so that the system has to calculate fast, cause a big strain on the CPU? (The usual answer would be yes, but I can imagine an arrangement in which once a preset is created, the number and tuning of partials and their ratio to velocity become constant, so the instrument would be playing back constants instead of having to calculate on the fly.) Could still cause strain, however?

2. I imagine that the file size for presets, compared to the size of sample libraries, will be small. But is it possible to guess the file size if we tried to create an 88 note stereo piano, with detuned unison "strings," and around 150 partials per "string"? (Many of these would be near-partials, of course, instead of actual multiples of the fundamental.)

I think some cool stuff could be done messing around with a piano via additive resynthesis, but if you want a piano qua piano, I'd just load an appropriate sfz file and play the samples. While the most exciting thing about Alchemy is, of course, the application of diverse methods of dsp to samples, it is a very competent straight-up sample player. Sometimes in the excitement of looking at all the different sound-creating technologies Alchemy puts in our hands, this fact can get lost. Not that this is a direct answer to your question, but I'm just pointing out another way to think about getting the most out of this very versatile instrument. I'm of the opinion that as far as realism, sampling is still your best bet for acoustic instruments, and Alchemy as an sfz player with great filters and effects can do a lot of that type of work quite well as you import the sample libraries of your choice.

[pdxindy]

This looks really great. Looking forward to the release. Two questions, though:


1. My one worry is with polyphonic instruments such as a piano. Will playing several six note chords one after the other, or playing fast solos so that the system has to calculate fast, cause a big strain on the CPU? (The usual answer would be yes, but I can imagine an arrangement in which once a preset is created, the number and tuning of partials and their ratio to velocity become constant, so the instrument would be playing back constants instead of having to calculate on the fly.) Could still cause strain, however?

2. I imagine that the file size for presets, compared to the size of sample libraries, will be small. But is it possible to guess the file size if we tried to create an 88 note stereo piano, with detuned unison "strings," and around 150 partials per "string"? (Many of these would be near-partials, of course, instead of actual multiples of the fundamental.)

I think some cool stuff could be done messing around with a piano via additive resynthesis, but if you want a piano qua piano, I'd just load an appropriate sfz file and play the samples. While the most exciting thing about Alchemy is, of course, the application of diverse methods of dsp to samples, it is a very competent straight-up sample player. Sometimes in the excitement of looking at all the different sound-creating technologies Alchemy puts in our hands, this fact can get lost. Not that this is a direct answer to your question, but I'm just pointing out another way to think about getting the most out of this very versatile instrument. I'm of the opinion that as far as realism, sampling is still your best bet for acoustic instruments, and Alchemy as an sfz player with great filters and effects can do a lot of that type of work quite well as you import the sample libraries of your choice.

The best pianos now are not samples only, but hybrid modeled instruments. Samples are static and can never capture things like the resonances between strings, etc.

So I look forward to something like Alchemy because it is also a kind of hybrid instrument. With its high quality resynthesis, it should be capable of some very expressive sounds.

[egbert]

The best pianos now are not samples only, but hybrid modeled instruments. Samples are static and can never capture things like the resonances between strings, etc.

Kontakt 2.x and later scripting allows for this sort of thing. There are 3rd party resonance scripts available for download for the large Post and Sampletek piano sample sets which are quite impressive and I would be surprised if the Artvista VGP 2.x which is based on the Kontakt 2.x Player didn't include some of this sort of thing also. In basic terms, these scripts can simulate sympathetic responses using the samples already there in the sample set.

[Bassballjg]

This looks really great. Looking forward to the release. Two questions, though:


1. My one worry is with polyphonic instruments such as a piano. Will playing several six note chords one after the other, or playing fast solos so that the system has to calculate fast, cause a big strain on the CPU? (The usual answer would be yes, but I can imagine an arrangement in which once a preset is created, the number and tuning of partials and their ratio to velocity become constant, so the instrument would be playing back constants instead of having to calculate on the fly.) Could still cause strain, however?

2. I imagine that the file size for presets, compared to the size of sample libraries, will be small. But is it possible to guess the file size if we tried to create an 88 note stereo piano, with detuned unison "strings," and around 150 partials per "string"? (Many of these would be near-partials, of course, instead of actual multiples of the fundamental.)

I think some cool stuff could be done messing around with a piano via additive resynthesis, but if you want a piano qua piano, I'd just load an appropriate sfz file and play the samples. While the most exciting thing about Alchemy is, of course, the application of diverse methods of dsp to samples, it is a very competent straight-up sample player. Sometimes in the excitement of looking at all the different sound-creating technologies Alchemy puts in our hands, this fact can get lost. Not that this is a direct answer to your question, but I'm just pointing out another way to think about getting the most out of this very versatile instrument. I'm of the opinion that as far as realism, sampling is still your best bet for acoustic instruments, and Alchemy as an sfz player with great filters and effects can do a lot of that type of work quite well as you import the sample libraries of your choice.

The best pianos now are not samples only, but hybrid modeled instruments. Samples are static and can never capture things like the resonances between strings, etc.

So I look forward to something like Alchemy because it is also a kind of hybrid instrument. With its high quality resynthesis, it should be capable of some very expressive sounds.

I certainly don't disagree about the potential of Alchemy. I loved working with it as(a small) part of the sound design team(I assume I'm not violating my NDA at this point as I was included in the published list of patch programmers). Hybrid is indeed the right word to use, it's the combination of the technologies that has captured my imagination. So I definitely see how using a combination of sample and resynth layers offers a very rich timbral palate indeed. And not just for acoustic emulation, but for making "impossible" sounds as deep and realistic as instruments made of wood and metal that vibrate. This instrument really is part of a very important new wave of the future of electronic instruments.

[pdxindy]

So I definitely see how using a combination of sample and resynth layers offers a very rich timbral palate indeed. And not just for acoustic emulation, but for making "impossible" sounds as deep and realistic as instruments made of wood and metal that vibrate. This instrument really is part of a very important new wave of the future of electronic instruments.

That is what mostly interests me. Are you free to talk more about your experience with it at this point?

[Bassballjg]

So I definitely see how using a combination of sample and resynth layers offers a very rich timbral palate indeed. And not just for acoustic emulation, but for making "impossible" sounds as deep and realistic as instruments made of wood and metal that vibrate. This instrument really is part of a very important new wave of the future of electronic instruments.

That is what mostly interests me. Are you free to talk more about your experience with it at this point?

I think I'll let the company speak for itself until the release. I will say that it sounds great, it's dead easy to use and if you care about a real fusion of synthesis with sampling, this is the machine to get.

[ckatrun411]

if you care about a real fusion of synthesis with sampling, this is the machine to get.

Thatz AwezomE...

Riddle me this.


Are the mseg and other envelopes better than Cameleons? Are they more ergonomic, more flexible, perhaps even free-draw like Raptures, etc?