AMBIENT - Standalone Module (PC & MAC)

[room]

Hi everyone

Chris has penned his thoughts on many of the ideas/suggestions you have raised.... please see below & many thanks for your continued interest and support.

"The feature request I would make would be to have a volume control for the signal prior to those effects, so that one could use breath or tablet pressure to control the amplitude envelope, allowing the sound to fade out. Then Ambient could be played more like a breathing instrument."


Good Idea. I will implement this in the next version.


"when loading files into it (.aif), I have noticed that I get an occasional crackling sound. the audio itself sounds great, but the crackling comes in and I can't figure out why. no peaks in the original audio file, and I haven't tweaked the controls (was meaning to layer a few instances of ambient in my DAW and edit from there). "



I've not noticed this but will look into it. Is the crackling sound happening while playing the audio or recording? Does it appear on the recorded file?


"- what about an initialize button to set all parameters to 0 (except the pitch knob which should be 1 and the sample length knob which should be set to max). "


This should already exist as the 'default' preset? If it is not working like this please let me know and I'll fix it.

"- snapshot buttons (maybe 4 of them) would be very nice, so that you can quickly store, compare and tweak the sound "


What would the difference be between the snapshot buttons and the presets?

"- save settings with (a reference to) the loaded sample (would be very nice as well!)"


Do you mean saving a preset so that a particular audio file is loaded when that preset is selected or just saving the audio files name along with the preset?


"Future Feature Request: Live "real-time" input? It's easy enough now to use it for laying down "beds" based on prior work, but a lot of what I've been doing of late is creating those beds in real time and layering over them."


This may be possible, I'll certainly look into it for the next version.


Thanks,
Chris

[opus_diaboli]

"- snapshot buttons (maybe 4 of them) would be very nice, so that you can quickly store, compare and tweak the sound "


What would the difference be between the snapshot buttons and the presets?

Well, actually it's just a bit more convenient for lazy people like me. But it makes sound design easier when you can compare the results very quickly because you could jump between different versions. Then, when you're satisfied with the result you can save it as a new preset. I made the experience that I tried to improve a sound and in fact it got worse. With those preset knobs you could just jump back without struggling with save, load, find the right folder etc. Anyway, it's not a must have, of course.

"- save settings with (a reference to) the loaded sample (would be very nice as well!)"

Do you mean saving a preset so that a particular audio file is loaded when that preset is selected or just saving the audio files name along with the preset?

Yes, it would be nice to load a particular audio file AND the corresponding knob settings.

However, thanks for this nice peace of software.

[t41]

Is there a VST version of Ambient? Can this be run out of a DAW like Reaper? Or is there ONLY a standalone version for Windows? Thanks for a reply.

[MWSOS]

Only a Windows standalone version is available at the moment as far as I know.


Martin

[aldusmanutius]

Only a Windows standalone version is available at the moment as far as I know.


Martin

Well, that and a standalone Mac version!



~~Dennis

[t41]

Thanks MWSOS.

Does anyone know if there are any plans to release a VST version anytime soon?

Thanks.

[Luftrum]

I made a few presets for the Ambient module. Included the download is the sample to be used together with the presets - both of which is free to download. Below is an audio demo, how the presets sounds like with the sample loaded.

[Luftrum 16 Preset Demo - Audiobulb Ambient]

Enjoy!

[tcsoka]

I made a few presets for the Ambient module. Included the download is the sample to be used together with the presets - both of which is free to download. Below is an audio demo, how the presets sounds like with the sample loaded.

[Luftrum 16 Preset Demo - Audiobulb Ambient]

Enjoy!

Nice sounds there Luftrum, thanks for sharing this.

[tomoe97]

Thanks, Luftrum! Where does the presets file go on a Mac?

[synthtweaker]

I made a few presets for the Ambient module.

Really nice smooth drone sounds there Luftrum - thanks for the free presets!

[t41]

But why not make a VST version of Ambient?

[Yasha]

But why not make a VST version of Ambient?

Ambient was totally developed with Max/MSP. Since Cycling '74 has discontinued Pluggo, there's no way to convert it to a VST or AU using Max.

[bmot]

this is embarrassing, i need help getting this working as i can't get any sound out of it. i have an X station and Delta 1010 as audio devices, have tried both. so for example i selected the X Station's USB driver and X Station as audio in/output device. Channels are set up, audio is on. No sound when playing X Station synth, loading WAV files, playing audio via WMP, i'm not sure what i'm doing wrong. I did get it to make a sound, once, when WMP was playing a file, but i'll be f*ckd if i remember how! That was with the Delta.

Also, if I change audio drivers between X Station and Delta the input/output channels don't update (ie from single stereo pair 1/2 to Delta's multiple ins/outs). Sometimes if I change driver I can't select any input/output device. Audio keeps defaulting to "off", so when I make a change, exit settings and go back into settings it has switched from "on" to "off" on many but not all occasions.

Please, advice on the correct settings would be very welcome so I can start making some nice soundscapes. I also have Live, but not Max for Live, and if there's any way i can use it this way i'd like to know.

thanks

[synthtweaker]

It should be working OK with the M-Audio Delta via the ASIO driver. I'm using an M Audio ASIO driver too via my Fast Track Ultra and this is how it is set up in the Settings window http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v94/m ... mbient.jpg

Ambient is a standalone module so you can only run it from the desktop, not via Live as a VST. Playing keys on the X Station will not have any effect either although you could use the X Station knobs and sliders via Midi Learn in Ambient to control the Ambient modules parameters - if you have midi options set up correctly on the X Station.

If you can get the Delta 1010 recognised in the settings just click on Open and load a wav file from your pc then press Start. Sometimes there won't be an immediate sound so randomise the controls until you hear something then tweak from there. I'm not sure why you are trying to listen to the sounds via WMP ? - do you have headphones or monitors hooked up to the Delta 1010 ? - if so use those.

[bmot]

thanks for the reply. I managed to get it working with the 1010 but not with the X Station. I think there's a bug somewhere, would appreciate clarification from the developer or someone who knows the reason.

If I try to select the X Station audio driver this is what happens:



Notice that I can't change "channels" from "off" - there are no options in the drop down menu. I also can't select any of the other fields, a click on the field does nothing.

If I have had the Delta1010 selected and try to change audio driver to X Station, the rest of the settings don't update (for example notice the number of inputs on drop down menu, they are still from the Delta)



Any help on this would be really appreciated.