Berlin Modular (ancient thread)

[mateo]

Seriously though. At the moment the concept is like it is. I've been wanting to do this for years, and in all those years I havn't found a way to make it much more flexible.

Don't mind me, I think reality simply hasn't caught up with my dreams yet. Thanks for the alpha!

[Nielzie]

This seems to be a nice and very interesting synth for learning some basics (and beyond) in real modular synthesis (with wires and stuff). And it sounds great

Deffinately gonna buy me this when it will be final. But in the meantime I'm gonna be pretty busy exploring the striped one

[kingtubby]

Sounds very nice - my dream software modular is like this but with an empty rack that you can add modules to - essentially VazMod (which I love) with wires.

[xx JPRacer xx]

Please don't hate me for saying this but I just hope you still put time with Zebra 2.5 and Uhbik-G and X. Also, what about Filterscape and MFM2? I've heard about small updates comming for those too.

And thank you for releasing the alpha version of Bazille!

[poster.poster]

great instrument!.. thanks for the generous preview..

one thing I immediately tried, but couldn't, is to 'extend' a cable routing..
this is how it works on Nord Modular, very convenient..

say you drag a cable from the LFO to the filter cut-off mod In,
it would be very usefull if you could drag a cable from that position (the filter cut-off mod In) to an other mod input..
less cable spaghetti..

Yeah, hmmm... at least you can shift-drag a copy of the cable to the next thing.

Might be a good idea though... just a bit more effort to save that with the preset.

aah yes.. the shift-drag.. didn't notice..


another cable/spaghetti related thing;
it would be very usefull if you click on a patch socket,
then hold down the mouse,
the patch cord would lit up..

Nord Modular and Reaktor both do this and its incredibly usefull when your screen is completely filled with patch cords..
its sometimes very hard to visually follow which cord is connected to what..

[Urs]

my dream software modular is like this but with an empty rack that you can add modules to

Well, the "expansion" tab at the bottom will let you choose an additional module. But that would be it.

It's really tedious to change modules in a real modular system. I'm very happy to model this aspect quite accurately, because it allows me to make this thing work with an extraordinary sound quality for the few modules you have. My hope is that it "clicks" with people who are into Eurorack synths but who sometimes need their stuff polyphonic, or save patches (e.g. for a live performance).

If you need an unlimited number of modules per system then Berlin Modular simply doesn't deliver.

[poster.poster]

I'm running out of multiplier busses pretty fast..

it would be usefull when you would have a separate output for 3/4..
this will double it to eight outputs..

[kingtubby]

...If you need an unlimited number of modules per system then Berlin Modular simply doesn't deliver.

Fair enough. I can't argue with your approach Urs - the results speak for themselves and I'll probably buy it anyway, just 'cos I love anything modular and it sounds great

Mart.

[fmr]

...If you need an unlimited number of modules per system then Berlin Modular simply doesn't deliver.

Fair enough. I can't argue with your approach Urs - the results speak for themselves and I'll probably buy it anyway, just 'cos I love anything modular and it sounds great

Mart.

Will there be some place where to exchange patches? I can contribute with some of my own, and would love to exchange with other people. I just worked with this for a couple of hours and I am still getting my way through the modules, but this have been a complete feast, and the synth sounds fantastic.

[Urs]

I'm not quite sure yet if patches will even sound the same in the final version. I was contemplating a few tweaks, but nothing really serious though. For instance there might be a knob on the Trimpots page that lets one limit the strength of the Res waveforms so tehy can be levelled in combination with any other waveform. Also, the filter resonance is still a bit tricky because self oscillation starts at 50.00 in the bass up to 54.00 in higher timbres, and values over 50.00 detune the self oscillation frequency. This is because of an inconsistent phase shift at the cutoff frequency. I'll compensate for that if possible - unless it's another percent of cpu.

[slowriot]

I'm intrigued as to why the cpu is so high. is it just from calculating everything at audio rate?

obviously it's totally worth it imo. really promising instrument from some initial testings.

it has a real personality of it's own. unashamedly digital, which I really like.

it has just the right amount of self containedness I think. natural and organic to interface with, kind of invites you to tweak it further. quite a nice break from more optionally modular things like reaktor and stuff.

[porfiry]

I have essentially zero complaints about this screeching monster, and to restate what others have said, it is truly amazing to me that this is an alpha...I had one little bug last night where it stopped making sound and I had to switch to another patch and then back to get it making noise again, but overall both the interface and sound are polished enough to make me perfectly happy using it.

I wouldn't even step into this thread if you hadn't mentioned the filters, Urs...please don't change them much. All your stuff I've messed with indicates that you're a perfectionist, but sometimes perfection lies in imperfections...those filters are what seals the deal for me. I love the wacky shit the oscillators do, and the multipliers and the stuff I've hardly explored in the upper right corner are all nice touches, but those filters are deadly.

I've never understood why there are no softsynths that have That Growl, and finally you've provided one. I noticed all the weird things that happen upon turning the gain and resonance knobs, but none of that makes it unusable by any stretch. All the great old equipment, whether it's a Telecaster or a Marshall Plexi or an OSCar, has at least one feature that's weird. Don't fear leaving your own bit of quirk in this genius little thing.

[Urs]

I'm intrigued as to why the cpu is so high. is it just from calculating everything at audio rate?

I think it's

- 40% oscillators: That Phase Distortion shit is a mess, especially the second waveform. I might offer a switch to discard the second waveform, this would about half the cpu hunger.

- 40% filters: It uses a terrifying amount of floating point divisions

- 15% wires & multiples: Each female plug means one or more memory scattered movements. I think a system of the size of Bazille is just so in the sweet spot before it gets ugly. Bigger systems would be better off by doing the fully modular thing where only active modules are rendered, at the expense of overhead in the algorithm.

It's also worth mentioning that this thing is quite a bit oversampled. Everything happens at least at 4 times audio rate.

There are some little chances that simple patches could sue less cpu. However, as soon as 1 oscillator and 1 filter are on, all oscillators and all filters have to be calculated. Then you can only do what's in the Trimpot section: Use the two buttons to save cpu by lowering the update rate of oscillators and filters - unless you have audio rate modulations going on (FM, PD, FilterFM).

@porfiry: This filter *is* the most perfect filter I have written so far.

Urs

[shogger]

... I noticed all the weird things that happen upon turning the gain and resonance knobs, ...

This is the most fun for me. This interaction with some feedback loops! Tremendous.

Shogger

[hakey]

[quote="Urs"]This filter *is* the most perfect filter I have written so far.[quote]
I think you mentioned that it was based on Zebra's LPVintage2, so, will any of it be finding its way back into Zebra?