One-Synth-Challenge 40: Augur - Submissions and gossip

[bzur]

Good news: opening Cubase Studio 4 in compatibility mode (Xp SP2) seems to work. Anyway, the project is still in a very early stage of development (3 tracks...).

Let's see

[oxebe]

Quite long discussion now about Augur/Minimogue... If you'd like to check what Augur can do, here's the example. Hopefully not that bad synth?
Sorry for noises in the track again , there are even more 'crackles' this time...

I had last few days free so could focus on my track for OSC-40. I didn't expect to finish it so quickly but I will be busy later this month so I hurried up.

Not sure what final decision will be about OSC-40 synth, but I have the track already done so uploaded to the contest.

Title:
Bumtu - Damaged Radio Workshop
Host: Ableton Live
Augur instances: 15.
DAW FX: reverb, EQ, delay, autopan, compressor, limiter.

http://soundcloud.com/bumtu/damaged-radio-workshop

[V'ger]

Nice one

With 2 tracks already finished and one half done things can't really be changed now as it wouldn't be fair to those who already put in the work as it's still a competition.. Sorry for those with insurmountable issues, but in reality not many OSCs without some trouble, we even saw it with the payware synths too.

Good to hear the XP compatibility mode worked, and with the tip on changing waveforms to avoid the GUI issues with WINE, at least some things can be done.

Like you say Adagiocm, there are things lacking with Augur, but imo it's still one of the best sounding non-VA freeware synths out there. The UI is also for the most part quite clever I think.

As for people not noticing the synth vote, I will make sure it's on the site as well as a sticky on the forum here for the future so it's easier to see.

[bzur]

Here's the Prophet VS manual:
http://soundprogramming.net/synthesizer ... prophet_vs

Arturia's Prophet V2.5 manual gives some good hints as well: http://www.arturia.com/downloads/prophe ... 2_5_EN.pdf

[K-Bee]

Geez! This osc was announced 3 days ago, tracks are flying in already and I haven't even opened my DAW yet! How on earth can guys work as fast as this??
Judging from the tracks so far Augur definitely has potential...but the question remains...can I do some gritty, dirty FUNK with this?

[APZX]

I think I'm sitting this one out simply because I really detest sequencing in Reaper. Nowhere near a fluid as FL in that regard.

[V'ger]

Heh I would say the opposite, but let's not start a DAW war..

Did you try to run FL in XP mode btw?

[APZX]

I do not want to start a DAW War either. I love Reaper, but not for sequencing. I love FL, but not for mixing. So, yeah they both do what they're supposed to, just different.

I did try FL in XP mode and I can get two instances without crashing, normally. So, I'm sitting this one out.

[rozkun]

Alright folks, here's mi Augur OSC entry:-

soundcloud.com/r0z/the-augural-automatons

10 tracks of Augur, then epicverb & Ferric TDS on't master, in Reaper.

for the record Augur ran wi no probz at all on reaper w7 but crashed constantly within Ableton

Hope u all dig, watch out for those soothsaying Cyborgs though

good luck with the competition all!

[z.prime]

Heh I would say the opposite, but let's start a DAW war..

There, fixed that for you.

On a related note... I was a Cubase user for years (although moderately inactive most of them). I got a fancy new quad-core system for SX 3... and I got crackles when anything hit about 20% CPU. So, I tried Reaper and I noticed that it uses 1/2 the CPU for just about everything (yes, plugins themselves used 1/2 the CPU) and it seems to use the cores nicely. But, there have been some MIDI quirks with Reaper and now randomly bad timing issues (I've had timing issues with Cubase too, but not nearly as bad and have been able to fix them). So, I'm still looking for my panacea. Ideas? I've sorta tried Live and some others... they're okay.

On an unrelated note... I sorta figured out how to work without Augur crashing. But I have a problem: when you play *the same note*, it doesn't apply the same settings. But if you play different notes, it does; anyone know how to fix that?

For example, trying to have a kick drum (fast envelopes, no trail)... if I play the same note, the first sounds right but the subsequent notes are different. If I play *different* notes, they all sound right but of course pitched differently. Anyone noticed this problem and/or how to avoid it?

Thanks!

[bzur]

For example, trying to have a kick drum (fast envelopes, no trail)... if I play the same note, the first sounds right but the subsequent notes are different. If I play *different* notes, they all sound right but of course pitched differently. Anyone noticed this problem and/or how to avoid it?

Thanks!

I've noticed a certain unconsistency on a bass drum preset in term of volume amount. Changing some preset parameters (the envelopes in particular) I've almost fixed the issue.

A second issue I'm experiencing is a sort of slight but annoying crackle, again in the bass drum. I really don't know what's the cause, as it appears randomly, from time to time; it completely disappears soloing the parts, so it's not due to a single Augur instance. Still investigating...

On the other hand, using the compatibility mode fixes the crash issues: at the moment I have about 20 Augur instances, without problems.

BTW thanks for your kind comments on sc, especially on the old tracks

[gorgorgathgorgorgor]

You can always use a multiband compressor to shape and homogonize your kick, i may resort to that myself, this is quite an unruly synth.

[V'ger]

Heh I would say the opposite, but let's start a DAW war..

There, fixed that for you.

On a related note... I was a Cubase user for years (although moderately inactive most of them). I got a fancy new quad-core system for SX 3... and I got crackles when anything hit about 20% CPU. So, I tried Reaper and I noticed that it uses 1/2 the CPU for just about everything (yes, plugins themselves used 1/2 the CPU) and it seems to use the cores nicely. But, there have been some MIDI quirks with Reaper and now randomly bad timing issues (I've had timing issues with Cubase too, but not nearly as bad and have been able to fix them). So, I'm still looking for my panacea. Ideas? I've sorta tried Live and some others... they're okay.

My bet it's to do with the soundcard more than anything. I've seen several cases where issues have been cured with replacing native drivers with ASIO4ALL which is quite remarkable. (have a look at post 28 of this thread as an example) But also hardware things like graphics card and other things can interfere as you know.

[Pulse Width Modulation]

I know there's a lot of problems in host programs and it first appears to be an intimidating synth, but let yourself be open to the challenge! It could be a lot of fun! I haven't even checked it out in Cubase yet. Instead, I spent some time just building Auger patches in Cantabile and getting used to the synth. I was nervous at first. All I'd get was flat, dull sounds, but now I've got some rich sounding pads and spacey sounds, that have inspired a good piece of music. Next step is to check it out on Cubase 6. If that doesn't work, I'm not intimidated! I might even go all-retro and record the analog output from my Cantabile computer into my old-old-PC loaded with the Majix Audio Studio 6 software I bought in 2002 for $30. So, don't drive yourself too crazy! If it sounds good, it works!

[V'ger]

Nice

Interesting that Cantabile is more stable than a top-of-the-line DAW. But yes, the difference between bad and good sounds in Augur is huge, more than most synths it seems.