New granular synth: The Mangle

[Neon Breath]

My ears never been able to enjoy Reaktor's granular sound, no matter what. Definitly a old classic pillar in the granular tools, but I think its aural quality has been surpassed by all the other granular synths we're talking about here. Sounds outdated.

[el-bo (formerly ebow)]

One of Reaktor's weaker aspects is it's granular sampler, even in the latest NI release Molekular, the granular module still produces clicks and ugly artifacts and none of the granular ensembles I've used either from the UI or the factory lib come anywhere close sound-quality-wise to some of the state of the art instruments.

that's a real shame, given just how many have built ensembles around it

[Sampleconstruct]

One of Reaktor's weaker aspects is it's granular sampler, even in the latest NI release Molekular, the granular module still produces clicks and ugly artifacts and none of the granular ensembles I've used either from the UI or the factory lib come anywhere close sound-quality-wise to some of the state of the art instruments.

that's a real shame, given just how many have built ensembles around it

But that said, for certain purposes under certain circumstances you might just find the one ensemble which fits the bill, have you tried DRON-E, it's a free granulator (monophone):

http://www.antonioblanca.com/dron-e

[el-bo (formerly ebow)]

One of Reaktor's weaker aspects is it's granular sampler, even in the latest NI release Molekular, the granular module still produces clicks and ugly artifacts and none of the granular ensembles I've used either from the UI or the factory lib come anywhere close sound-quality-wise to some of the state of the art instruments.

that's a real shame, given just how many have built ensembles around it

But that said, for certain purposes under certain circumstances you might just find the one ensemble which fits the bill, have you tried DRON-E, it's a free granulator (monophone):

http://www.antonioblanca.com/dron-e

i did download it, but haven't got around to trying it. am i right in thinking the patches are not playable across the keyboard ?? i am looking to make some dreamy, playable pads

i like how it sounds

[Sampleconstruct]

It's only good for one finger pads if you feed it with the right sample, as you can't play chords with it (only 1 voice -> monphonic).

This is a 1finger pad in DRON-E:
http://soundcloud.com/sampleconstruct/d ... ts/drone-e

[DJ Warmonger]

You mean Mangle? I swear I played some chords with it without problems

[Sampleconstruct]

You mean Mangle? I swear I played some chords with it without problems

We're talking about DRON-E/Reaktor - it was a slight thread derailment.

[el-bo (formerly ebow)]

It's only good for one finger pads if you feed it with the right sample, as you can't play chords with it (only 1 voice -> monphonic).

This is a 1finger pad in DRON-E:
http://soundcloud.com/sampleconstruct/d ... ts/drone-e

that's lush

but you have confirmed what i suspected. i have the feeling that such ensembles (also graincube), might be good as pre-processing for using in another program

i do wish to make polyphonic pads. however, i think i have narrowed down what i am really looking to do....

when i used to have alchemy, i often found myself turning layers off (sometimes leaving only 1 of 4), because the results were TOO dense, or too complex; great for taking centre-stage in full-on ambient, but too complex to fit in the mix.

i guess i don't need huge layers of complexity, but just want to be able to get as smooth as possible. maybe padshop's filters would help in taming the more jarring elements. or 'the mangle'...sigh

i also read somewhere that you pre-stretched samples in 'paulstretch' before using them. is that because it is a better algorithm ?? i reinstalled 'paulstretch' last week, and found some great ways to get beautiful lush sounds...another good starting point

maybe i could 'pm' you, so as not to derail this thread into competitor's territory

[el-bo (formerly ebow)]

You mean Mangle? I swear I played some chords with it without problems

We're talking about DRON-E/Reaktor - it was a slight thread derailment.

yeah, sorry..i have kinda run off with this thread

[Sampleconstruct]

Sure, pm me, I really have to do a PSP basic tutorial asap, off to get some sleep now, so your pm will collect a little dust.

[el-bo (formerly ebow)]

Sure, pm me, I really have to do a PSP basic tutorial asap, off to get some sleep now, so your pm will collect a little dust.

i was looking for that tutorial after watching the 'guitars' series. it would be useful

might 'pm' you tomorrow. thanks

[Echoes in the Attic]

Only been following this thread for a few weeks, and have come close multiple times to purchasing Mangle, but then the concerns others have mentioned get the best of me. A few dollars more and I wouldn't be following the thread at all. A few dollars less and I'd buy it without concern about whether it was ever finished or how good support was.

In any case the dev is somewhat forthright on his blog saying that communicating with customers overwhelms him. It's sort of a blanket apology.

I should say that my statement sounded a little colder than I meant. I do think that if you charge for something you should provide some support but he has apologized and it's not a pricey thing for what it does, so I don't regret buying it at all and recommend it to others. But I mean if you want potential customers not to be nervous about buying, you really gotta answer people's support emails in reasonable time so I hope he catches up.

[mostlyjustj]

and it's not a pricey thing for what it does, so I don't regret buying it at all and recommend it to others.

I bought The Mangle a few days ago after reading up on this thread, and I agree with this statement entirely.

Hopefully enough people buy this to allow the developer to offload some of the customer-service stuff, because his talent *obviously* lies on the design and development side - I think this is good enough to turn into a really popular tool if the developer could hook up with someone to handle the other parts of the business and stay focused on developing and adding features.

It's a nice focused tool that's really unique and it's easy to understand. The visualization is brilliant! It's actually helped me to really wrap my head around the concept of granular synthesis - on top of helping me generate some really interesting and nice sounding patches.

[Greg Houston]

Echoes said that; not me.

[mostlyjustj]

Echoes said that; not me.

Oops. Fixed