Black Magic Drum Machine Beta testing finished

[Astralp]

Thanks all

Glad your having fun with it, I'm thinking of moving all the randomizers to the top instead of on the Panel, that way they will always be accessible from the sequencer and mixer as well.

Haven't settled on the final prices yet, so thanks for you opinion samplescience, I haven't tried any VST drum machines, beyond BFD. So I am interested in how it compares to available stuff. I hoped that way it would be a much more unique product.

A couple of things to note is that you can easily add your own samples of 16/24/32/32F bitrate, just make a folder in the samples folder and put your samples in there, that will then become a bank. A restart is required at the moment but I will put a refresh button in before the final version.

JDT: Do you have FL7 installed? I know that v8 introduced some issues with one of my other plugs, so I'd be curious to know if v7 runs ok.

[jdt]

Yes I do as a matter of fact, if not on my Vista Studio Machine, I do for sure on my laptop. I'll check them both out and let you know if it is a FL 8 specific hang-up.

As I said earlier FL can be pretty finicky with plugins. LOL

Side note:

Black Magic automates nicely in a Live Mode recording, all knobs, channel triggering etc. record their movements and reproduce the action faithfully in playback... that's a BIG plus.

I'm going to try linking a few different parameters and see if they can be controlled with FL's automation clips.

[Astralp]

JDT - That's great thanks I'm surprised Automation is working as I haven't implemented it yet lol, FL must use its own system I guess.

I managed to do some work today, so there is a new beta uploaded. Main changes:

- Default samples now works.
- Gapper Default has been finetuned to be more useful.
- All Randomizers are now along the top.
- GUI has been updated, this should be the final actual placement of everything on the main screen.
- A few other minor fixes.

[RyanG]

Oops!

I'm sorry, I forgot I registered to beta test this... I'll download it and a have a go.

[Cordelia]

This is a lot of fun. I can't stop making beats.

Intel Core2 quad Q6600 2.4GHz
Intel P35
2GB Kingston RAM
Radeon HD 2400 Pro 256MB graphics card
Win XP Pro
Frontier Design WaveCenter PCI sound card
Reaper 2.54

issues so far:

in the section knobs area:
Sometimes it takes two clicks to engage/disengage reverb, delay, flange, or drive.
Sometimes the effect is active, but the red light is not lit.

master panel:
Lo-fi switch sounds good tonally, but the crackling is irritating.

general:
High latency when triggering sequences from MIDI keyboard (regardless of my sound card buffer settings).
When triggering individual drums from my MIDI keyboard, the Soundscaper causes a high pitched delayed noise on note off.

when using Black Magic with host sequencer:
Sometimes all drums trigger on first note.
rendering (offline):
When triggering samples, latency is 517 samples (11ms) at 512 or at 256 samples sound card buffer.
When triggering sequences, latency is 13,744 samples (311ms).

So, right now Black Magic isn't working for me for live triggering of sequences, host triggering of sequences, or as a drum sound module (individual hits triggered by host). I understand its more of a "stand-alone" concept, which brings me to my first feature request-
metering for the record level.

It would be nice if there were some indication (center marker) for knobs that are "off" in 12:00 position.

In the sequencer section- Is there an easy way to clear an entire row?

[Az're-ul]

STABILITY/CPU USAGE

Fairly stable, but had a couple of hangs rather than crashes in EXT2. Hang = didn't take out host

Does EXT2 produce a log file do you know?

Not that I can see. Ext2 is not hanging today when changing the tempo Flaky ASIO drivers maybe.

Bugs?

Master Volume knob doesn't appear to do anything.

Master Volume is before the compressor, if you turn the compressor off you should find it works as you expect. I could change this, but at the moment it acts as a nice Gain for the Compressor for produce extreme effects.

Can't believe I missed the big Master Knob yesterday

Couple of new things as I didn't get that much free time today. I'll print out your starter guide over the weekend in case I'm missing anything simple.

FR Clear sequencer or individual lanes switches
FR Follow LED on sequencer

BR I'm getting different 'throws' on the knobs, sometimes a full screens worth, sometimes half a screen.
BR Leaving a loop running for a while can sometimes cause the sound quality to decay

I may not be disciplined enough to beta test Black Magic as I keep getting caught up in creating a loop and find half an hours gone

[elxsound]

Hello,

I'm downloading today and will give this a go... sorry for the delay, but have been visiting with family for the holidays (and will still be visiting through the new year).

Hope all is well and look forward to gettin busy with some black magic!

[jdt]

Astralp,

Had a go with FL 7. Same response as in FL 8. When starting or stopping playback of FL Studio transport there is a momentary freeze and stuttering audio. Buffer size seems to have no effect on this behavior.

Really figuring out how to record a drumloop directly from Black Magic...WOW... very cool. And the fact that any tweak made during the record length ends up in the loop... That's just downright amazing!

Automation clips seem to perform without a glitch, so adjusting all parameters is possible with FL Studio automation clips. Very, very cool. That opens up a HUGE range of control options.

[elxsound]

Astralp,

What's the difference between the two beta versions in the download section? The 002 one crashes immediately upon opening so I used the other one which does open just fine.

I'm using Live 7 and am running on PC Intel Centrino Duo.

My first impression is a very good one... can't wait to dig deeper later tonight!

[Astralp]

hmmm not sure why that would happen except possibly you need to delete the folder called Black magic, if you delete it it will automatically be recreated next time you open your Host. It could possibly be using an old module.

Also always insert in a new project whilst it is in beta, compatibility will definaitely be broken a few times until the patches are added and it is feature locked.

If you can try it again and let me know

Astralp,

What's the difference between the two beta versions in the download section? The 002 one crashes immediately upon opening so I used the other one which does open just fine.

I'm using Live 7 and am running on PC Intel Centrino Duo.

My first impression is a very good one... can't wait to dig deeper later tonight!

[Astralp]

Ok thanks

I'll grab the FL8 demo and see how it reacts for me. Sorry if you mentioned already but what asio driver are you using?

Astralp,

Had a go with FL 7. Same response as in FL 8. When starting or stopping playback of FL Studio transport there is a momentary freeze and stuttering audio. Buffer size seems to have no effect on this behavior.

Really figuring out how to record a drumloop directly from Black Magic...WOW... very cool. And the fact that any tweak made during the record length ends up in the loop... That's just downright amazing!

Yes, instant sample CD creation You can also use any sounds, you don't have to stick to drums. I'll be sorting out some stab type stuff before release, but I'm also planning a more musical based version in the next few months if Black Magic sells.

[Astralp]

FR Clear sequencer or individual lanes switches

hmm yes, default used to do that, it seems to have changed at some point, I think I'll add it to the double clicking the bottom of the sequence strip maybe.

FR Follow LED on sequencer

I have thought about that, but it would need one per sequence which may be quite confusing visually as each sequence can start at a separate time or be a different length, so the end result would look very chaotic

I'd hoped that the note on lights at the top right would achieve the same thing without zillions of flashing lights. How about a first note light per sequence?

BR I'm getting different 'throws' on the knobs, sometimes a full screens worth, sometimes half a screen.

What do you mean by throws?

BR Leaving a loop running for a while can sometimes cause the sound quality to decay

I may not be disciplined enough to beta test Black Magic as I keep getting caught up in creating a loop and find half an hours gone

lol I know! I've had that trouble whilst building the thing

[elxsound]

hmmm not sure why that would happen except possibly you need to delete the folder called Black magic, if you delete it it will automatically be recreated next time you open your Host. It could possibly be using an old module.

Also always insert in a new project whilst it is in beta, compatibility will definaitely be broken a few times until the patches are added and it is feature locked.

If you can try it again and let me know

Astralp,

What's the difference between the two beta versions in the download section? The 002 one crashes immediately upon opening so I used the other one which does open just fine.

I'm using Live 7 and am running on PC Intel Centrino Duo.

My first impression is a very good one... can't wait to dig deeper later tonight!

Actually, I tried the 002 version first, so there was nothing to delete yet. I had just figured it was the newest version (and I guess it is?).

I was loading the 002 version into a brand new project, but once the GUI popped up, it simultaneously popped another message that a serious error had occurred and Live needed to shut down. I'm on 7.0.12. When I get home from visiting with family, I'll download the latest Live release and give 002 version another try.

For now I'll continue the first version until another release... don't worry, I understand that each release will bring a whole new set of possibilities, but I've also got plenty of patience, so no worries.

Thanks you Astralp!

[Astralp]

in the section knobs area:
Sometimes it takes two clicks to engage/disengage reverb, delay, flange, or drive.
Sometimes the effect is active, but the red light is not lit.

Just to make sure you understand, these are sends per channel, not the actual effects, the effects stuff is at the bottom right below the panel. So these knobs display the amount of signal sent to the effects of the currently edited section, which is selected by the bottom row of 1-10 buttons at the top right. Does that explain the problem?

You can also see an overview of the FX sends and levels on the mixer screen

master panel:
Lo-fi switch sounds good tonally, but the crackling is irritating.

hmmm shouldn't be any crackling, was it at all settings or particular ones? If you can email me a recorded version so I can hear it that would be good, you can just reply to the mail I sent out the other day.

general:
High latency when triggering sequences from MIDI keyboard (regardless of my sound card buffer settings).
When triggering individual drums from my MIDI keyboard, the Soundscaper causes a high pitched delayed noise on note off.

There shouldn't be a latency on the midi, we'll have to look into that.

Yes the Soundscaper problem I know about, it is when it is gated, just leave that off for now, I'm actually thinking of dropping it anyhow, the Gapper does a much more useful gated type effect.

when using Black Magic with host sequencer:
Sometimes all drums trigger on first note.

The B4 key is supposed to do that, can you confirm that no other keys do it? thanks!

rendering (offline):
When triggering samples, latency is 517 samples (11ms) at 512 or at 256 samples sound card buffer.
When triggering sequences, latency is 13,744 samples (311ms).

What ASIO driver are you using or is it MME? It could possibly be an issue with the SSE optimization code. I'll have a look. Can you try using asio4all to see if the problems go away?

So, right now Black Magic isn't working for me for live triggering of sequences, host triggering of sequences, or as a drum sound module (individual hits triggered by host). I understand its more of a "stand-alone" concept, which brings me to my first feature request-
metering for the record level.

Yes I can add that.

It should also be fully usable as a midi live VST, the problems you are having shouldn't be happening. Is anyone else experiencing problems like this?

It would be nice if there were some indication (center marker) for knobs that are "off" in 12:00 position.

In the sequencer section- Is there an easy way to clear an entire row?

[/quote]

Well basically it is only the 2 bottom rows that are off in the centre except Noise Gate. You can double click them at anytime to reset them.

The sequencer clear used to be there, but has accidentally been dropped, it will be added back in the next version.

[Astralp]

hehe well I've got lots of probs to look into so far, thanks for all your input, much more than I expected over the xmas days

thanks!
Andy