Sundog Scale Studio 1.5.0 with new Scale Finder feature available now

[hauke]

Hey there!

I just released a new version of Sundog today. 2014 is coming to an end, so I thought it might be a good idea to do a small "Thank you" release .

The most prominent new feature: The Scale Finder view (Tools -> Scale Finder). Just enter a few notes of a melody and Sundog will search through over 300 scales (* 12 root notes) for you to find some fitting scales. Depending on your input this will range from Major/Minor stuff to very exotic variants



Also new in this release: A Swing setting (based on sixteenth notes) and an "Open recent songs" menu.

If you don't know Sundog yet: Sundog is a specialized tool that helps electronic songwriters to develop new chord progressions, melodies, and even whole songs. The stand-alone software connects to all major DAWs via MIDI and is available for Windows and Mac OS X.

An overview over other features can be seen in this introductory video:



You can get the new demo here (Win, Mac):
http://feelyoursound.com/sundog/

The update is free as usual for all existing customers

I wish you all the best for 2015

Cheers,
Hauke

[SirkusPi]

Hey Hauke -

Just a quick note to say how much fun I've had with Sundog over the last couple of weeks. I have it hooked up to Logic Pro X through the IAC Bus, and it's been working fine, with a single exception where I was doing constant shifting of Sundog's output channels and moving connections in the Logic Environment until finally it started doing ... weird things. But a quick quit-and-restart of Logic and Sundog set it all back in order, and the problem could just as well have started in Logic -- or in my constant shuffling of ports -- as with anything in Sundog.

I have two mild issues that might be worth considering for future updates, although I really don't know whether the problem stems from Sundog, Logic, or the nature of IAC-bus routing. First, when trying to record keystrokes into the built-in arpeggiator to add patterns for different instruments, I often have a hard time getting changed notes to hit right on the beat -- I often have to circle through the recording process over and over to hit it just right. Please consider adding a way to program in individual notes at the various steps in the pattern-record timeline, just like one can click-to-add chords on the chord screen. (Or is there a way to do this already that I haven't noticed?)

Second, there are some pretty awful timing issues going on when I try to play Sundog "live," so as to take advantage of the changing chords while playing the melody. In other words, once I get the individual instrument patterns programmed in to my satisfaction (as per the first point above), if I then hit 'record' in Logic and 'play' in Sundog, so the only midi being sent to Logic is directly from the Sundog pattern player, everything works fine in terms of timing. But then if I set up another instrument channel in Sundog and try to play a melody 'live,' I get all kinds of timing problems on that one channel. And actually, that's the case whether or not Logic is recording; as long as the pattern is playing and triggering Logic's instruments, it's basically impossible to play another instrument routed through Sundog into Logic "live."

I hope the above makes sense; if so, I appreciate any thoughts you may have (although again, it could be a Logic or IAC problem rather than a Sundog issue).

In any event, as I said above, I'm having fun (and making some good music) regardless of the above issues, and I look forward to future updates.

[hauke]

Hi SirkusPi,

thanks for your feedback !

Yes, I want to implement a way to edit the recorded input on a timeline. I will have to remodel the interface for that a bit, but this should be worth it

About the timing problem: Hmmm... I'm not sure yet if I understand you correctly here. I think there might be two explanations:

1) The latency in the setup is too high. Either in the audio settings of Logic or in the IAC bus (unlikely). However, I guess you already took a look at that. If you can play a melody without latency issues in the Sundog Jam View (Tools -> Jam with current instrument) then this isn't the case here.

2) You are irritated by Sundog's live quantisation. Sundog will quantise the input to set it on sixteenth notes. This means that Sundog will hold back your input until it reaches the next "perfect" spot and then send the MIDI note to the DAW. My intention here is to give instant feedback where your input was placed in the pattern. However, this might also be confusing, because it doesn't behave like doing a recording in a DAW (where your input would be played back instantly).

Maybe point 2 can explain what is happening?

Cheers,
Hauke