Xhun Audio IronAxe ver 1.8 and its road to Win64/macOS

[Musical Gym]

Now that starts to sound really interesting !!

Sorry, I forgot to make a question : do you think previous/normal price for IronAxe (149.00 Euro) is a bit too high ?

PS: Obviously it is an open question also to anyone who join the discussion...

Thank you,

You might generate more sales if you kept it at $99. Somehow plugs below $100 are on radar for small budgets.

The name IronAxe seems to be geared for mostly metal music.
Since it's physical modeling, could it just as well do nylon, classical, acoustic type guitars?

If you could add more variety, maybe it would be worth more. Your demo video seemed to focus mostly on one music type unless I missed them when I fast-forwarded the video.

[xamido]

I will buy it if it's 99$, that's for sure. Despite the quality i cannot bring myself to buy it for 150euro (which is almost 200$). You'll make a lot of sale if you permanently bring it down to 99$ and keep the price that way, since quality can speak for itself.

[xhunaudio]

You might generate more sales if you kept it at $99. Somehow plugs below $100 are on radar for small budgets.

I will buy it if it's 99$, that's for sure. Despite the quality i cannot bring myself to buy it for 150euro (which is almost 200$). You'll make a lot of sale if you permanently bring it down to 99$ and keep the price that way, since quality can speak for itself.

Yes, it seems to be the trend, getting the prices for pro audio software under 100 Euro. It is something to be seriously considered.

The name IronAxe seems to be geared for mostly metal music.
Since it's physical modeling, could it just as well do nylon, classical, acoustic type guitars?

The name :) ? Uhmm, I think it is appropriate (also not for being an instrument for metal genre only), because IronAxe is not a 'generic' plucked string simulation, but a specific modeling of the Electric Guitar instrument (Solid Body at now, Semi-acoustic will follow). Responses for components and ranges for modeling are suited for closely simulating e.guitar steel strings, decays, inharmonics,...

Nylon/acoustic guitars simulations are different. For example, differently from e.guitars, they require also a 3d ambient simulation. Changes from e.guitar sim are not so simple and immediate to bring, and for this reason acoustic guitars will be available in a separate product.

[Musical Gym]

Look forward to next product. Thanks for explanation.

[TechnoSlave]

Hi,

to help all people who find IronAxe's performing learning curve a bit too high, a solution has been found. I'm working on a new Automated Performer engine.

It will perfectly fit into IronAxe, allowing complete electric guitar phrases contruction/playing with ease. It will be available with next updates.

I think it is the best solution to perform easily and with a great versatility on techniques.

Then, IronAxe will be included in the Summer Special Offer (starting in a few days)... More infos will be posted very soon. Great money saving.

Bought it yesterday and prefer the sound to AAS Strum Electric that i already have.

Looking forward to the performance engine.

Some feature requests:

Infinite sustain like the Moog Guitar

Reverse envelope (may be difficult depending on how your model works)

Bowing

Slide guitar style

Virtual sympathetic strings

[xhunaudio]

Bought it yesterday and prefer the sound to AAS Strum Electric that i already have.

Looking forward to the performance engine.

Some feature requests:

Infinite sustain like the Moog Guitar

Reverse envelope (may be difficult depending on how your model works)

Bowing

Slide guitar style

Virtual sympathetic strings

Thank you a lot for your support TechnoSlave,

yes, Performance Engine will come, I'm currently working on the Sequencing part (useful also for the next product).

What do you mean for 'Reverse envelope' ? Maybe 'reversed' delay FX?

You're right, sympathetic strings resonance is a great feature, it is in the to-do list from weeks before IronAxe's release. It has not been included because:

1- The theory part is not 100% complete yet

2- Bringing it correctly means a LOT of more CPU resources requirements. If you touch a string, simulating sympathetic strings resonance means an excitation of 3-4 more strings near the excited one. Not sure if adding additional tasks to the CPU/s is a good move at now...

[Krakatau]

Bought it yesterday and prefer the sound to AAS Strum Electric that i already have.

Looking forward to the performance engine.

Some feature requests:

Infinite sustain like the Moog Guitar

Reverse envelope (may be difficult depending on how your model works)

Bowing

Slide guitar style

Virtual sympathetic strings

Thank you a lot for your support TechnoSlave,

yes, Performance Engine will come, I'm currently working on the Sequencing part (useful also for the next product).

What do you mean for 'Reverse envelope' ? Maybe 'reversed' delay FX?

You're right, sympathetic strings resonance is a great feature, it is in the to-do list from weeks before IronAxe's release. It has not been included because:

1- The theory part is not 100% complete yet

2- Bringing it correctly means a LOT of more CPU resources requirements. If you touch a string, simulating sympathetic strings resonance means an excitation of 3-4 more strings near the excited one. Not sure if adding additional tasks to the CPU/s is a good move at now...

A bit off-topic but though, very interesting information..!

The time perhaps has not come yet but soon will, and this looks like the dawn of sitars and alike virtual acoustic models , for instance !

[xhunaudio]

The time perhaps has not come yet but soon will, and this looks like the dawn of sitars and alike virtual acoustic models , for instance !

:tu:

...and much, much more... :)

I really hope to keep on with my long-term Project.

[xhunaudio]

Announcing IronAxe price drop and the incoming 'Special Thanks' Bonus Offer

To avoid a 'loss of competitivity' in the Pro Audio world (joining the current trend of mantaining Pro Audio softwares' price below 100 Euro/€) and following a growing number of requests by Users, IronAxe price has been mantained to 99 Euro/€.

An important step to help people without big budges to reach this product and its revolutionary approach/technology.

My very special thanks is obviously for all the Registered Customers who in the passed months bought IronAxe and supported my Research/Development and so let me carry on with my long-term project. So as a token of my gratitude, a 'Special Thanks' Bonus will be offered : all Customers who bought IronAxe or the XA Complete Bundle from May 7th to July 15th 2012 will benefit of a special discount with the purchase of one of the other/incoming Xhun Audio products.

More infos about this offer/initiative will be posted soon.

[electro]

What about are assignable keyswitches? The current Iron Axe mapping is very poor.

[xhunaudio]

Hi,

Techniques keyswitches can be added, improved, expanded. Now in addition to Strums, Power Chords there're 5 techniques keyswitches (and in addition you can combine all of them together).

Now priority to Performance/Phrases Builder, so you can combine all techniques to perform Electric Guitar phrases in sequences. It will be available in the next update for IronAxe.

[electro]

keyswitches should not extend below MIDI #36. They should be to the right of the playing range (or both)

[Jaleo]

This one is on my list!

But it needs at least a pair of repeat keys to be more playable in keyboards.

Also an optional hold/sustain function for hold keys to play typical rythm guitar techniques:

You play p.e. a triad, you release 2 fingers but the remaining one sustains the sound of the triad, so with the repeat keys you can repeat the hold note/s.

With this behavior you can play more relaxed, faster and sophisticated guitar licks, and you get time to change chords with sustain sound.

It's not easy to explain but easy and fun to play.

[xhunaudio]

Hi Jaleo,

thank you for your feedback, specially for the 'sustain' feature addition request.

It has not been added at now for technical reasons, but I would make it possible in next updates to bring a feature to simplify the strum performing.

With this kind of thing also, a Phrase Builder would be a not-so-necessary addition (you can make Phrases using directly your sequencer 'piano roll').

[SSN688]

Hi,

I recently just tried the demo of IronAxe and I could not believe my ears when I heard the sound of this less than 20MB plugin.
In fact, I truly believe this will be the technology that will finally deliver us from gigabytes after gigabytes of sample libraries.

Though the sound is absolutely amazing, there are some functionality and articulations that I'd love to see included in IronAxe in the future, that is, if technical issues are not a problem. Here are some of my thoughts:


More articulations would definitely help.
For instance, if it's possible to physically model the different ways a pick would interact with the strings, higher velocity then can trigger articulations like pinch harmonics.
Also, real-time unison bend can be performed if the pitch bend can be set to only bend the lowest note if multiple notes are pressed at the same time.


A portamento system that is capable of auto fret sliding between overlapped notes would also be a nice addition. In my opinion, the system should be only temporarily activated by either midi CC or a keyswitch (so user can decide whether to slide between notes or regular legato). Also, it would be really nice if the portamento speed can be set to base on the velocity of the target note.


I also noticed IronAxe seems to be more useful for solo parts instead of rhythm parts. Therefore, a good strum system or chord recognition system to recognize a chord I play on the keyboard and translate it into proper guitar voicing would be extremely helpful. In fact, lots of guitar sample libraries or VSTi on the market already have similar features.
I would also suggest using different strum keys and velocity for different articulations. For example, using different strum keys for chuckas, and use the velocity of the sustain strum keys to determine string damping. So muted strums would be triggered at low velocity.


Lastly, if not too much to ask
Maybe create some latching keyswtiches that turn regular notes into intervals.
So that I can shred really fast power chord sequences without being able to play fifths on the keybaord like crazy



I apologize if all those suggestions seem to be overwhelming or overly demanding.
But again, I am just so excited to see the first ever physically modeled guitar that actually sounds realistic and convincing to me. As a result, I can't resist wanting it to be better and one day the ultimate solution for keyboardists like me who want to write convincing guitar parts