Fathom Synth Development Thread

[RPH]

Seems like all lowpasses have some issues when adding resonance and sweeping the filter but especially Massberg has issues.

I had some problems in Flstudio, but after changing some settings in FL even Massberg is smooth now.
Renoise handles Fathom perfectly, all filters are smooth there for me.

So:

- Computer specs?
- Which Fathom version ( 32 / 64bit )
- Operating system?
- Which DAW are you using?
- Which audiodriver ( ASIO / ASIO4ALL / other ) and buffersize?

Think Everett needs more info then lowpasses have issues..

[FathomSynth]

Yes, RPH is right, if there are any problems with the filters when modulated
beyond them going silent then I'll need to know the questions he listed to debug it.

The filter going silent problem should be fixed in 108.

What's going on with the Massberg?

Does anyone with Reaper have over 4 GB of RAM and are they experiencing the same problems?

RPH, We'll miss XGmode, I'll change the moniker to RPH in the features list.

Banished? Maybe they were just jealose of his sound cloud page, lol.

Touch The Universe: The LuSH-101 patch sounds amazing. But its hard to tell exactly what
they are doind there internally. It sounds like some manipulation of the spectrum partials.
I think Fathom could do that if it allowed individual modulation of single partials
or groups of partials in the additive spectrum oscillator, which sadly currently it does not.

Also, CHOOS suggested the ability to program detune parameters for different
sections of the frequency spectrum, which I plan on adding, but it is complex
so it will be in the future.

[ScottAxxe]

Just wanted to post a quick note. I have not by any means exhaustively tested Fathom yet, but my initial experiments with the purchased version of Fathom 1.07 on Samplitude Pro X3 ran without a hitch. I haven't seen anybody else mention Samplitude yet in this thread but I haven't read through all the posts either.

I'm running on Win 8.1 with an i7 4700MQ and 24G RAM. Not the latest hardware, but still runs very well. I noted that some presets chewed up to 70% on a single core with 4 note chords. Overall the machine wasn't sweating at all.

I like the overall layout. I'm still getting through the videos. It's quite uncluttered and generally very intuitive. Only one thing that struck me as odd thus far was when I was trying a few of the preset patches. I turned up the polyphony on a mono patch to hear chords and the synth still played in mono mode. I know I'm missing something simple but considering how basic that mode change is, I think it should be more obvious. I've used many hardware and software synths and that just seemed rather unintuitive. Still, I'm sure it was an error on my part.

Anyhow, GREAT effort thus far. I'm really impressed and look forward to continuing developments. Hopefully sales will continue to swing upward.

Scott

[FathomSynth]

Hi. Welcome! Yes, I think you are the first person reporting Samplitude Pro as a host.
It is very helpful to have someone with a different host using the Synth
from a stability and testing perspective.

I think for the mono issue you probably have Glide turned on which forces it to mono
even though the polyphony is turned up. The glide setting is just to the right of polyphony
on the global panel. I admit this is very confusing and it will be fixed when I have time
to change the glide mode so that it glides for chords as well as mono notes.
That is planned for an upcoming release but requires some work.

Until then having glide on must force it to mono.

[ScottAxxe]

Thanks for the tip. I figured it was something specific to the way Fathom works. Fathom would benefit greatly if it had some way of highlighting conflicts like highlighting a knob or panel when the user adjusts a control that conflicts. No doubt as you keep adding features more possible functional conflicts will develop. You don't want to get to the point that strange behaviors like oddly locked controls show up and the user has no idea why. I have a Samsung camera that should be an example of how NOT to develop a UI. It locks and disables features and the user has no idea what they did to cause a given option to become disabled.

I will keep testing things and reporting anything strange. Keep up the good work. Your development pace is impressive. I'm an embedded developer myself and an EE. My DSP skills are nowhere close to yours though.

Scott

[RPH]

Does anyone with Reaper have over 4 GB of RAM and are they experiencing the same problems?

I have an old version (4.78) and 16GB RAM, all LP filters are silky smooth here..

RPH, We'll miss XGmode, I'll change the moniker to RPH in the features list.

Banished? Maybe they were just jealose of his sound cloud page, lol.

Thanks!

I guess haha!

[d34dmeat]

Had some time to do some more testing both with the free mono version and the poly version i bought and it worked fine with at least 3 instances as long as i kept the gui closed, my bad, it was definitely the gui that broke my little camel's back

[FathomSynth]

ScottAxxe, Yes that is a good point.

I recently started placing user messages in the top edit box,
for instance if someone tries to use a feature that is only
available in the pro version, and I should probably make use of
that mechanism more for other stuff such as the Glide conflict.

EE, Same here. I took a lot of DSP for undergrad, forgot it all
and then had to relearn it for this synth. Will Pirkle's first book
has a chapter on DSP which is excellent and got me back into it.

D34dmeat, thanks for testing that further. It's not your fault.
Fathom's use of 1 GB of RAM for the GUI was extreme,
and that will be greatly improved in 108. You will get just over
four times as many instances of Fathom for the same memory.

[ScottAxxe]

While this is certainly not a mainstream request, it would seem that thinking about how to implement Multidimensional Polyphonic Expression in Fathom would certainly be better considered earlier than later. For those unfamiliar, MPE is the variation on using midi messages to achieve polyphonic expression supported by controllers like the Roli Seaboards, Linnstrument, Eigenharp, and more. Up to this point the MPE controllers have been rather esoteric and expensive. Roli keeps driving their prices down and just introduced the modular "BLOCKS" seaboards which start at $300 thus making MPE much more accessible. There are other less expensive MPE controllers on the way as well.

http://expressiveness.org/2015/04/24/mi ... ession-mpe

Basically, if the hosting DAW is capable of sending multiple midi channels down the pipe to a single VST, then the basic requirements are met. Beyond that the VST implements the details. The final result is a VST that can play with greater expression than most VST's. Just the ability to individually bend single notes is amazing with these new controllers.

For examples of what MPE controllers offer just go to Youtube and search for Roli Seaboard. Jordan Rudess is particularly good and showing what a controller like this can do.

From what I understand, the main idea behind MPE is that each note is sent on a different MIDI channel thus allowing things like pitch bend that only effects individual notes.  Global data is sent on a base channel like 1 and notes along with their individual control data are sent on the other channels.  Global data can also be sent on the note channels as well.  It goes beyond that, but really it's just the use of standard MIDI messages in a new way to allow a greater range of expression.

Big names like Apple, Bigwig, Haken Audio, KMI, Madrona Labs, Moog Music, Roger Linn Design, and ROLI are signing on to this new expansion to MIDI. It would appear that more expressive MIDI controllers are here to stay thankfully giving keyboard players a whole new range of expression.

I've got a Roli RISE on the way so I can test things when and if you get time to fiddle with MPE in Fathom.

Here's a list of DAW's and instruments capable of MPE.
https://support.roli.com/article/mpe-co ... thesisers/

It certainly would be a nice way of setting Fathom apart from the crowd.

[overhishead]

great work,

Sorry if this has already been asked, but can Fathom be used as an insert effect to process audio?

if not, I'd like to suggest an "audio in" module.

[ScottAxxe]

This morning's MPE news reinforcing that MPE is becoming a real thing in the industry.
https://www.kvraudio.com/news/stagecraf ... nths-37658

Yeah it's still somewhat esoteric but in the next few years I think MPE support will become standard for hardware and software synths alike.

PS - Everett, you've created such a consistent online presence that when you go quiet for a day it's like "What happened!" Hope all is well.

Scott

[FathomSynth]

Scott, I'm still here, yesterday was a big coding day so I did not check here in the evening.

MPE looks very interesting. Because of the way Fathom is architected it would have
no problem processing all midi control signals per note instead of globally.
I will just have to find out which plugin format provides the necessary data.
I don't think VST does, maybe VST3 and problaby AAX will.

I'm very familiar with Roli as a company and anything that they are involved with
is probably going to be a major thing!

In the future I plan on trying to get an AAX developer license so I can make
Fathom Pro Tools compatibile.

Your idea for an Audio in unit is brilliant. It could then be routed
into any Fathom filter or effect and could even be routed into another
oscillator for FM. I will put that on the feature list.

I think a lot of the users here would really like that !

You seem to be very well informed on industry tech, how about finding
me a great analog distortion algorithm!

[ScottAxxe]

Thanks for the compliment. Been following the industry for a LONG time. My first synth was an Arp Axxe, thus the user name.

As for "analog" distortion I would think modeling the nasty characteristics of a zener diode would be a good first step.

If and when you want to test a few things with MPE just let me know. Once I get the Roli RISE board figured out, I can be useful as a Fathom MPE tester.

** Credit where credit is due though. The indeed awesome idea for audio in was provided by "overhishead".

[ScottAxxe]

An interesting paper on modeling tube distortion. You may have already seen this.

https://ses.library.usyd.edu.au/bitstre ... 106370.pdf

[Scrubbing Monkeys]

+1 for the audio input. that gives anything access to these fantastic envelopes. The delay and reverb are good enough to be their own plugins.

Earlier I had reguested some type of numerical identifier for the keynoard tracing display, however the beauty of this gui is in clean nature. Perhaps making te pixel count higher on the vertical lines on every other C note.

The reverb is great and I am glad it is its own module. Is there any way to control the amount sent from another module to the rev. If not, adding an attenuater module solves that and adds a universal tool for other applications as well.

It would be cool to be able to toggle the filter frequency control value from HZ to note value. I saw this implemented in Kariatune a freeware mono synth. Great idea and allows for tighter filter modulation especially on low notes..

Shane at Kazrog or Alexander at Softamp may be willing to share some notes on analog saturation. They both are very good at it. Both use SPICE I believe.