Musikmesse 2012: Propellerhead to share "exciting news"

[headquest]

...but they portray themselves as the only right way to do things.... never a good plan

So you have an opportunity to start a more altruistic music software company

What you mean like open standards and stuff?

[Anosou]

A quick note...

With the greatest respect Mattias - I think the big problem word that is thrown around by Ernst and in the marketing is the characterisation of VST plugs as:

...unstable plugins...

Seriously??

Do you think that the VST plugins created by Urs, Softube, KORG, etc are all unstable in their current format??

Isn't this genuinely an unfair and grossly over-simplified statement?

To those of us who use VST plugs every day - and in my case I also use Reason pretty much every day - this is a very wrong statement on your behalf, and one that many of us simply can't identify with.

Software in general - or the computer hardware we run it on - can basically freeze and crash. But I've never found VST particularly unstable, or the cause of any crash I ever had in Cubase, Ableton, etc. Sure, it happens. but it's not something I've experienced (and as you know, I have experienced Reason crash).

Absolutely fair! While they might not be unstable, there is no sandboxing so if a plug-in is unstable it could bring down software. I think that's the point we're alluding to, albeit not successfully it seems!

Appreciate that feedback. I just pointed out that many of the things you mentioned as being non-problems are in fact problems in some (but not all) cases. I think we're both kind of painting with broad strokes here, right?

Will pass your feedback on to marketing in any case!

[headquest]

Appreciate that feedback. I just pointed out that many of the things you mentioned as being non-problems are in fact problems in some (but not all) cases. I think we're both kind of painting with broad strokes here, right?

Will pass your feedback on to marketing in any case!

Thanks for that - and yes, broad strokes, knock-about debate, etc

[musikmachine]

Interview here with some guy called Ernst

that's one annoying interviewer....

goodness gracious.
rsp

Yes, why do they always pick socially awkward guys for this who look drunk, stoned or stuck in a 12 year old's mindset?

I've seen him do interviews and demos before and fwir he wasn't acting like that.

Maybe the booze was free on this occasion?

Damn, why aren't i a music industry journalist!

[VitaminD]

You guys even implemented the sandbox I requested too (most recently on page 3)!! wow.

[memyselfandus]

I wonder how drag and drop midi will work if xnl or toontrack are in?

[headquest]

Anosou, in terms of a positive comparison, can you confirm something else in terms of the Re format and it's advantages over plug-ins:

I've been really impressed with the Note Expression feature that Steinberg have introduced in VST3.5, with its ability to do far more powerful editing (described by some as the most revolutionary thing since MIDI... how's that for hype?!).

Can you confirm if and whether the Re devices will be able to have comparable features like-for-like?

Also, is their CPU usage scaled dynamically when not in use, as with VST3?

Thanks in advance for any info you can give on this

[musikmachine]

Has anyone caught the bitspeek video?

The modular patching looks like it will be a blast.

[Caco]

This is somewhat disingenious as it is perfectly possible to sandbox a vst, it is not something that is specific to any plugin format or to RE.

A quick note...

With the greatest respect Mattias - I think the big problem word that is thrown around by Ernst and in the marketing is the characterisation of VST plugs as:

...unstable plugins...

Seriously??

Do you think that the VST plugins created by Urs, Softube, KORG, etc are all unstable in their current format??

Isn't this genuinely an unfair and grossly over-simplified statement?

To those of us who use VST plugs every day - and in my case I also use Reason pretty much every day - this is a very wrong statement on your behalf, and one that many of us simply can't identify with.

Software in general - or the computer hardware we run it on - can basically freeze and crash. But I've never found VST particularly unstable, or the cause of any crash I ever had in Cubase, Ableton, etc. Sure, it happens. but it's not something I've experienced (and as you know, I have experienced Reason crash).

Absolutely fair! While they might not be unstable, there is no sandboxing so if a plug-in is unstable it could bring down software. I think that's the point we're alluding to, albeit not successfully it seems!

Appreciate that feedback. I just pointed out that many of the things you mentioned as being non-problems are in fact problems in some (but not all) cases. I think we're both kind of painting with broad strokes here, right?

Will pass your feedback on to marketing in any case!

[Anosou]

Anosou, in terms of a positive comparison, can you confirm something else in terms of the Re format and it's advantages over plug-ins:

I've been really impressed with the Note Expression feature that Steinberg have introduced in VST3.5, with its ability to do far more powerful editing (described by some as the most revolutionary thing since MIDI... how's that for hype?!).

Can you confirm if and whether the Re devices will be able to have comparable features like-for-like?

Also, is their CPU usage scaled dynamically when not in use, as with VST3?

Thanks in advance for any info you can give on this

I'm afraid that this question is a bit too technical for me and not all things are finalized with Rack Extensions. Furthermore, this is just the first version of Rack Extensions too! I will however pass on your questions to our dev team to (if they aren't already) make them aware of Note Expression and the CPU usage scaling. Thanks!

[Anosou]

This is somewhat disingenious as it is perfectly possible to sandbox a vst, it is not something that is specific to any plugin format or to RE.

Yeah, absolutely, but it's not standard with the format anywhere I think. In any case, I don't think I'm the best person to talk about the finer points of the format and how it works on a more "system level". I'm sure Urs is willing to share some details further down the line, as will our devs. Sorry I can't be of more help!

[eXode]

Since Reason 5 you can choose "Song Self-Contain Settings" and actually include any samples from 3rd party refills in your song. You can't "unpack" those files though unless you own that refill, they stay saved within the document.

On the other subject of portability, since record and incorporated in Reason 6 you can bounce any track to audio, that means devices too. So for instruments it's not a big problem. It might be a bigger problem with effects then.

I may have missed this in the flurry, but doesn't this mean Reason projects (and Combinators) will no longer be guaranteed to be completely 'portable' between different users' system?

This is true. But then refills created a similar problem. Not having the right sample was always a bit of a downer. This may have changed in R6 though.

Tony

[bmanic]

Has anyone caught the bitspeek video?

The modular patching looks like it will be a blast.

That is undoubtedly very very cool indeed!

Cheers!
bManic

[headquest]

I'm afraid that this question is a bit too technical for me and not all things are finalized with Rack Extensions. Furthermore, this is just the first version of Rack Extensions too! I will however pass on your questions to our dev team to (if they aren't already) make them aware of Note Expression and the CPU usage scaling. Thanks!

No problem
Those things are clearly a huge advantage, and I would love to see them implemented in Reason. I'm guessing that the note expression equivalent isn't there for now, because that would require a rework of the sequencer, but commend it as an idea/request for the future.

Re. Sandboxing - again the marketing is disingenuous because it is host dependant, not device dependant. IIRC, Bidule already has sandboxing (and possibly Reaper...?). Bitwig Studio, which is on sale shortly, also has it, and I believe it is a strong likelihood for Live 9. THat said, congratulations to Propellerhead for being the first big name to the table with this

And for all my comments, congratulations in general for opening up the rack in this way. Every success

...and having personally missed out on the PWYW Duo upgrade offer last Autumn due to poor timing/planning, the chances are I'll try to join the queue on time this time around

[arp_laszlo]

...but they portray themselves as the only right way to do things.... never a good plan

So you have an opportunity to start a more altruistic music software company

What you mean like open standards and stuff?

No - just one where your marketing emphasizes your competitors' strengths and benefits as much as your own. Taking the Props to task for doing what a normal company does in their marketing is bs. Any business owner will try to differentiate their product/service from others. Am I a bad person if I tell a potential client that 'unlike other developers I am reliable' when they ask me why they should hire me?

As Anosou noted, it's painting in broad strokes. Anyone with half a brain will not believe the marketing verbatim and will learn & decide for themselves.