AudioThing releases Hand Clapper - Update v1.5.2

[camsr]

How do it work with snare samples? Sounds pretty good, I like the ease of variation.

There are few things to consider. Claps sounds usually have a noise source repeated at least 2-3 times (with about 8-12ms delay between the repetitions) before the long noise. Like this:

Instead, snares are usually made with a tuned component (sine/square) and a noise source playing simultaneously.
Using a snare sample in Hand Clapper will definitely work well (especially adding a bit of Randomness control), using the repetitions settings will probably make the snare fatter/bigger BUT you should anticipate each note to go with the beat, otherwise it may sounds offbeat.
With claps sounds that are layered with snares sounds this mismatch might be something that you want, but it's very important to be aware of that. With 4 repetitions at 10ms each, the last one (the main one) will be delayed by 30ms.

In the following days I'll try upload more demos and perhaps another video showing how it sounds with custom samples. Another user suggests to use vocal sounds as well. I'll give a try next week

So each delay is equal amplitude? If it fades out I think it would work regardless of tempo but that's interesting.

[audiothing]

So each delay is equal amplitude? If it fades out I think it would work regardless of tempo but that's interesting.

Kinda equal yes, depends also on the Randomiser control. The thing is that often the ear feels the last/longest noise as the beat. Many producers used this trick to "boost" snares by slightly anticipating a clap sound over a snare sound. This is, of course, personal taste and not a rule per se, It's just worth knowing if you want to use snares sounds inside Hand Clapper and keep the repetitions amount/rate the same as a clap sound.

[cryophonik]

Thanks for the feedback, those can be suggestions for a version 2 or even "pro" version. As usual I wanted to keep everything as simple as possible yet give enough controls to change/mangle with the sounds.

This is a great plugin - very useful and very well thought out IMO. If there ever is a v2 or Pro version, I think it could benefit from some sort of spread control to move the repetitions around the stereo field (I often do this manually when layering claps) and a pre-delay parameter for the reverb would be nice to separate the transients from the reverb a bit. Other useful additions IMO would be a bit crusher, saturation, distortion, etc. to dirty up the sound a bit. An on-board transient shaper would also be a nice touch, although the Decay parameter partially fulfills that role. Most of these ideas can already be accomplished via separate plugins, of course, but they would certainly be convenient additions to a more advanced version IMO, since they could be saved as presets. Regardless, this is a really cool and useful plugin at a great price.

[Aloysius]

^ ''move the repetitions around the stereo field''.

What a great idea. Gonna experiment with that myself.

[audiothing]

This is a great plugin - very useful and very well thought out IMO. If there ever is a v2 or Pro version, I think it could benefit from some sort of spread control to move the repetitions around the stereo field (I often do this manually when layering claps) and a pre-delay parameter for the reverb would be nice to separate the transients from the reverb a bit. Other useful additions IMO would be a bit crusher, saturation, distortion, etc. to dirty up the sound a bit. An on-board transient shaper would also be a nice touch, although the Decay parameter partially fulfills that role. Most of these ideas can already be accomplished via separate plugins, of course, but they would certainly be convenient additions to a more advanced version IMO, since they could be saved as presets. Regardless, this is a really cool and useful plugin at a great price.

Cool, I'm collecting all suggestions, some are actually very very interesting. I'll definitely consider making a new version next year.

[musiclover55547]

Hand Clapper is a drum synthesizer plugin dedicated to claps sounds. The internal design is inspired by a famous Japanese percussion synthesiser from the ’80. There are three internal noise sources that are used to recreate the classic sound of vintage analog drum machines. It’s also possible to load external samples and sculpt them with the same circuit emulation.

Details
- Intro Price: $20 / €20 (full $25 / €25)
- 4 sources: 808, 909, HC2, Custom
- 20 Factory Presets
- Tone bandpass/peak filter
- Vintage Reverb
- Preset system with randomizer
- Formats: VST, AU, AAX (32/64bit)
- Platforms: OSX, Windows

Product Page: http://www.audiothing.net/instruments/hand-clapper/

Video Demo:
Audio Demo: https://soundcloud.com/audiothing/hand- ... loops-demo

Product Page: http://www.audiothing.net/instruments/hand-clapper/

LOL there actually was a "Famous" Clapping synthesizer? LOL maybe for the song Car Wash.

[Spitfire31]

This is an almost illegally fun instrument to play with!

One small detail that I'd like to see implemented is a sensitivity curve adjustment for velocity.

As it is now, I find that I have to be very light on my fingers to get controllably quieter claps and then my timing is apt to suffer.

There are of course a lot of possible workarounds, but a built-in adjustment would come in handy.

/Joachim

[stardustmedia]

Interesting feature could be if the several sources, you have in Hand Clapper, can be mixed. Plus if the user can load 2 samples, this would enhance the sound possiblities extremely. Not really necessary in my opinion though. 1 custom sample seems quite fair enough to me.

I think this mix has to be done before the *source*:

Then, ideally, the sources can be individually panned. And the source 'Custom' should be true stereo, so when loading a stereo-wide sample, it should stay like this.


Still haven't found the time to play with it...

Thanks for the feedback, those can be suggestions for a version 2 or even "pro" version. As usual I wanted to keep everything as simple as possible yet give enough controls to change/mangle with the sounds.

You're welcome. This version is already pretty perfect.

[audiothing]

LOL there actually was a "Famous" Clapping synthesizer? LOL maybe for the song Car Wash.

Well the Boss HC-2 was quite "famous" at the time because offered something that cheaper drum machines didn't have.

This is an almost illegally fun instrument to play with!

One small detail that I'd like to see implemented is a sensitivity curve adjustment for velocity.

As it is now, I find that I have to be very light on my fingers to get controllably quieter claps and then my timing is apt to suffer.

There are of course a lot of possible workarounds, but a built-in adjustment would come in handy.

This is definitely possible in a future update. Added to the todo list. Thanks!

[audiothing]

We've just added a new audio demo: https://soundcloud.com/audiothing/hand- ... ops-demo-2

[stardustmedia]

Finally I have some time to play with it. FUN FUN FUN Thanks for that great plugin.

Here are some couple things I noticed in Hand Clapper

- True stereo is missing. Stereo samples are mixed down to mono.
- Randomizer can be locked to be not randomized? That confused me, though it didn't seem important. Does that lock really do something on the randomizer itself?
- A good feature would be if user presets (especially those using samples) could be saved into the project folder (or anywhere). This way, when I take sessions to other studios, I'd be sure to have the samples with me. Best thing would be, if the sample is saved with the user preset, so a easily-forgets-things guy like me won't need to remember everything
- With a longer sample, 0ms decay, 7 repetitions and 30ms rate, start to increase decay. From about 8-12ms there is a "long" tail. If you lower now rate, the tail gets lower until about 29ms, and is gone when reaching 27 - 28ms.

BTW: Where are the preset files saved on a Mac? I couldn't find that information in the manual.

[audiothing]

A good feature would be if user presets using samples could be saved into the project folder. This way, when I take sessions to other studios, I'd be sure to have the samples with me.

BTW: Where are the preset files saved on a Mac?

This can be done, but I'm not sure if it's a good idea. Maybe I can offer an option to do so.

Samples are stored here:
MAC: ~/Music/Audio Music Apps/AudioThing/Presets/HandClapper
PC: /Documents/AudioThing/Presets/HandClapper

Presets store the sample path relative to their path. You can create a folder inside the preset folder for the samples. Or I can add a Sample folder by default and offer that option for plugins like this or Fog Convolver. I'll think about it.

[audiothing]

Here are some couple things I noticed in Hand Clapper

Ops, I missed the feedback.

- True stereo is missing. Stereo samples are mixed down to mono.

The internal design is definitely just mono (like the Boss HC-2), but I'll see if I can add a stereo/spread option in a future update.

- Randomizer can be locked to be not randomized? That confused me, though it didn't seem important. Does that lock really do something on the randomizer itself?

The randomizer works on all parameters UNLESS you lock one or more parameters with the right click menu.
You can lock all parameters if you want to just enable one or two on the fly. It's useful when there are lots of parameters, maybe not the case for this plugin.

- A good feature would be if user presets (especially those using samples) could be saved into the project folder (or anywhere). This way, when I take sessions to other studios, I'd be sure to have the samples with me. Best thing would be, if the sample is saved with the user preset, so a easily-forgets-things guy like me won't need to remember everything

As replied above, I'll think about a good way of handling this.

- With a longer sample, 0ms decay, 7 repetitions and 30ms rate, start to increase decay. From about 8-12ms there is a "long" tail. If you lower now rate, the tail gets lower until about 29ms, and is gone when reaching 27 - 28ms.

Yes, the decay actually acts on the last noise, so you have to count the repetitions.

[stardustmedia]

- With a longer sample, 0ms decay, 7 repetitions and 30ms rate, start to increase decay. From about 8-12ms there is a "long" tail. If you lower now rate, the tail gets lower until about 29ms, and is gone when reaching 27 - 28ms.

Yes, the decay actually acts on the last noise, so you have to count the repetitions.

It behaves differently (I'd say how I'd expect it) when 6 repetitions are set. And I had the feeling the decay on the last (7th) repetion makes jumps within a couple of ms.

If I could take I would show you.

[audiothing]

It behaves differently (I'd say how I'd expect it) when 6 repetitions are set. And I had the feeling the decay on the last (7th) repetion makes jumps within a couple of ms.

If I could take I would show you.

Oh, I probably see what you mean. I think it might be related to the release. If you keep the note playing, you'll hear the correct decay, if you play and then release the key really fast the (built-in) release will kick in. I'll fix this in the next update.
Should work normally if you keep the note pressed, unless there's something else I'm missing.