One Synth Challenge #82: BR808 (Zendorf Wins!)

[aluode]

MidiOut Stuff

One instance gives you at least 16 instruments.
Just set each instrument to a different channel inside BR 808 (you have to assign an instrument number to a channel, then click on the "Set to channel" button to save the setting, it is a little confusing i think)
Then route midi out accordingly. I havent tested if you can assign several instruments to the same channel.
128 instruments for 16 channels^^

The lazy way
In the piano roll, each color correspond to a midi channel. No tweaking required.
But guaranted to drive you insane in the long run. You have to remember which color is which instrument and good luck seeing the differences beetween the green and lesser green notes.

The lesser lazy way
I created two quick templates for fl studio (im on 11, i dislike 12 gui, feels cluncky, makes me feel nauseatous something, lack of contrast chewing gum design i dont know i get sick)

Anyway^^ (sorry):
-One template with 16 midi out (instruments 0 to 015)
-Another one with 16 midi out AND dedicated FX channels
Global is on FX1, and each subsequent instrument is split into left right channels.
(when using the automap function)

Hope this helps. Enjoy.

BR808 MultiOut FL StudioTemplate.zip

Thanks Daru.. I am going to use this as a template for my song..

Antti

[mehum]

oscs to same filters

Hm, can you route oscillators to filters in the mod matrix? Got to check that out!

[Dee.P.Tree]

MidiOut Stuff

One instance gives you at least 16 instruments.
Just set each instrument to a different channel inside BR 808 (you have to assign an instrument number to a channel, then click on the "Set to channel" button to save the setting, it is a little confusing i think)
Then route midi out accordingly. I havent tested if you can assign several instruments to the same channel.
128 instruments for 16 channels^^

The lazy way
In the piano roll, each color correspond to a midi channel. No tweaking required.
But guaranted to drive you insane in the long run. You have to remember which color is which instrument and good luck seeing the differences beetween the green and lesser green notes.

The lesser lazy way
I created two quick templates for fl studio (im on 11, i dislike 12 gui, feels cluncky, makes me feel nauseatous something, lack of contrast chewing gum design i dont know i get sick)

Anyway^^ (sorry):
-One template with 16 midi out (instruments 0 to 015)
-Another one with 16 midi out AND dedicated FX channels
Global is on FX1, and each subsequent instrument is split into left right channels.
(when using the automap function)

Hope this helps. Enjoy.

BR808 MultiOut FL StudioTemplate.zip

Thanks Daru.. I am going to use this as a template for my song..

Antti

Many thanks from me too, Daru. I'll check out your "lesser lazy way". Yes, I had roughly tried the lazy way earlier but I could not find it very intuitive. And you sad it right, first way is confusing... Your "lesser lazy way" will make it clear, I hope.

Again thanks.

[aluode]

If you guys want to use multiple instances of br808 with midi, just set the input port to 1 for the next one
(in flstudio under wrapper settings) and then in midi out send it to the port of the br 808 you want to play.

Antti

[bh9090]

Uhh, I just lost all my sounds. When I reloaded the Live project all the tracks went back to the default sound?!?! Ohh...not happy. I guess I hit some limit of instances (16?) then it wouldn't load anymore. I made some tweaks, closed and reopened the project... all that default sound (with no output except for the reverb) ugh, bummer. I saved some .fxb files, but certainly not with the latest adjustments. Damn. I had my drum rack all set up.

So heads up.

Is there a 16 instance limit? This thing is a little wacky.

[mehum]

Is there really much difference using it in multitimbral mode instead of multiple instances? The CPU hit should be roughly the same in my thinking. Some shared resources perhaps but the heavy load should be on running the oscillators and modulation, right?

@bh: Thanks for the heads up! Perhaps a good idea to run this in its own process in Reaper then...

[aluode]

My entry

https://soundcloud.com/antti-luode/aluo ... g-in-miami

It uses 2 instances of BR808 (one is using first steps Bank by Tinga and the other Damncoldwinter bank that comes with it. The 2 instances are played with 10 different midi outs.

The midi channels are as follows:

Midi channel 1
trash strings (br808 #2)
Midi channel 2
bass drum (br808 #1)
midi channel 3
slow strings (br808 #2)
midi channel 4
snare (br808 #1)
midi channel 5
closed hi hats (br808 #1)
midi channel 6
ep worn (br808 #2)
midi channel 7
ring low bass (br808 #2)
midi channel 8
clap (br808 #2)
midi channel 9
noisine (br808 #2)

All drums go to channel 3 with no fx

all instruments go to channel 1 with effector working as reverb

The FLP file is at: (5 Aluode Raining in Miami.zip)

https://drive.google.com/folderview?id= ... sp=sharing

[H-man]

Is there really much difference using it in multitimbral mode instead of multiple instances? The CPU hit should be roughly the same in my thinking. Some shared resources perhaps but the heavy load should be on running the oscillators and modulation, right?

@bh: Thanks for the heads up! Perhaps a good idea to run this in its own process in Reaper then...

Absolutely there is a difference! I was running 4 instances of the the plugin in FL Studio 64-bit and that was the limit for me. It seems that each instance snaffles up a lot of RAM.

Now I have one instance running 8 tracks (16 outs - stereo) using 260MB of ram and about 14% CPU. So I will probably create my whole track on 2 instances.

I would urge peeps to use the multi-out version. Once you get set up properly (including all your midi controller assignments for automation) things get a great deal easier.

Still save (export) often tho. Exporting the .fxb seems to reliably save the whole configuration which I have had to rely on a couple of times

[H-man]

Additionally, while I think of it, there are lots of quirks with this thing that can cause frustration but once you get past that ....well you're partying

Maybe a list of things to look out for could be handy? People could post their experiences for others to learn?

Here are some:

Quite a bit of the internal Modulation seems broken. For example, using an ADSR to modulate the channel effects doesn't seem to work or works poorly.

On the other hand modulation using the CONTROLLER source seems reliable. Just configure a MIDI CC and match the numbers.

Re-ordering the FX in the channel can easily cause a crash. Especially if playing back at the time.

Look out for high frequency ranges on some of the filters ...seems the maths can get a little hoopy and you will need that limiter!

On occasion, changing the synthesis modes "on the fly" has caused a complete hang.

And,

Be careful not to have an external window (such as the Export pop-up window) open while making changes. Can often lead to another ear-buster.

Well there you go for starters, tips and comments welcome of course.

[mehum]

Is there really much difference using it in multitimbral mode instead of multiple instances? The CPU hit should be roughly the same in my thinking. Some shared resources perhaps but the heavy load should be on running the oscillators and modulation, right?

@bh: Thanks for the heads up! Perhaps a good idea to run this in its own process in Reaper then...

Absolutely there is a difference! I was running 4 instances of the the plugin in FL Studio 64-bit and that was the limit for me. It seems that each instance snaffles up a lot of RAM.

Now I have one instance running 8 tracks (16 outs - stereo) using 260MB of ram and about 14% CPU. So I will probably create my whole track on 2 instances.

I would urge peeps to use the multi-out version. Once you get set up properly (including all your midi controller assignments for automation) things get a great deal easier.

Still save (export) often tho. Exporting the .fxb seems to reliably save the whole configuration which I have had to rely on a couple of times

This is so strange to me... Sounds like the developer have made a mistake and let the unused engines run all the time. I see no other reason for you to get that much difference in CPU. I can understand a bit of overhead on memory since you're loading more instances into RAM but CPU use should be close to 100% based on the audio processing.
I'm stubborn enough not to go through the pain of using less instances. Closest I've been so far in OSC to hit CPU limit was with MUX. I'll just make something more minimal if my old i5 starts to crackle

[rghvdberg]

Can I have OSC1 only go through Filter 1 and OSC2 only to Filter 2 ?

[H-man]

Can I have OSC1 only go through Filter 1 and OSC2 only to Filter 2 ?

Still not really sure. Have yet to figure out how the Chain and Cascade options affect the signal flow. Would love some clarification on this as well.

Edit: I'm thinking 8 filters in serial has got to be a little excessive ...right?

[rghvdberg]

Can I have OSC1 only go through Filter 1 and OSC2 only to Filter 2 ?

Still not really sure. Have yet to figure out how the Chain and Cascade options affect the signal flow. Would love some clarification on this as well.

Edit: I'm thinking 8 filters in serial has got to be a little excessive ...right?

Exactly the same thing I was thinking.

[bh9090]

On the other hand modulation using the CONTROLLER source seems reliable. Just configure a MIDI CC and match the numbers.

So, just want to confirm. There's no way to use VST automation? All external modulation has to be set up with MIDI CCs?

Also anyone notice that sometimes assigning an LFO or ADSR to something in the mod matrix, the sound stops? Haven't figured that one out yet. And WTF does "Carry" do? Did I miss a manual?

I usually don't mind spending time to figure out a synth (VOPM I'm looking in your general direction) for the challenge, thinking I might use it in the future, but I'm having a hard time convincing myself on this one.

[ere2learn]

LFO & ADSR have to be activated with the little tick box before sounds pass though,still trying to figure our carry myself