Mulab under the hood

[masterjoe]

Please do NOT remove 3rd party support!

For me the MuLab plugin is a super instrument where I can chain and control other plugins like never before. For me MuLab is the ONLY sequencer plugin with that much potential given that Composers can be nested.

When you would remove plugin support for VST and potentially never do CLAP I would surely have to abandon MuLab again. Because what it does is so super helpful especially when you have so many 3rd party plugins like I have.

So please do not drop the plugin support and please also add VST3 and CLAP support. VST3 is the current state of the art plugin interface while CLAP will be the future.

Thank you so much

[rickpress]

Is clap easier to implement than vst3? I have a mixcraft Pro studio 9 license as well as mulab and some other daws and there's been nothing but complaints on the mixcraft forums and even YouTube videos about how vst3 performs on it. Personally I'd rather jo just develops mulab and makes it more fun with new modules and features. If vst3 is hard to add then I'd rather it's not added but I hope clap is added. Hopefully adding clap isn't too difficult

[robert_p]

For me the MuLab plugin is a super instrument where I can chain and control other plugins like never before.

I also use it for this purpose - chaining MIDI effects, modulators and vst Synths within MuLab Plugin instead of using DAW's complex routing. There are several other plugins that can give me similar results but the ability to create custom front panels makes MuLab a winner.

[mgiambro]

I have a question too: What about the hypothetic idea to make MuLab plugin-free and focus 100% on the internal sound engine? Like the original Reason. It surely has both advantages as disadvantages and so i wonder what you guys think & feel about the idea.

I can see the appeal and potential benefits in this idea. I really liked the early versions of Reason as it forced you to learn and use what was there to the full and you weren't distracted with other plugins. However, for MuLab to remove plugin functionality retrospectively would surely be very problematic no? Presumably existing projects which use plugins would no longer work and would have to be re-worked? Also, I don't think this would be a good sell commercially. I'm pretty sure there are a significant number who wouldn't even consider a DAW which couldn't host third party plugins.

On the vst3 issue, I can understand a developers reluctance to adopt it and resentment at being held to ransom by Steinberg. Personally, I never install vst3 versions. I intend to bypass it and only use vst2.4 and clap.

[Bombaoglan]

I fully support removing any vst plugin format support. for Mutools.First of all,removing vst support increases Mutools Mulabs's performance and stability.External vst plugins decreases your creativity as when u are limited u develop yourself.
So, i welcome upgraded Mux with new presets,especially with dramatic,cinematic sounding pad presets,lead,synth presets
I made this song using only fl studio mobile presets.So u can do it too
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1-3T31L ... =drivesdk

[Bombaoglan]

Yoo da man!

I'm jumping on board the VST3 wannabe list too...

Bro be minimalistic then u will not suffer.Actually,Mutools doesot need any vst support coz mux is so powerfull

[Bombaoglan]

I fully support removing any vst plugin format support. for Mutools.First of all,removing vst support increases Mutools Mulabs's performance and stability.External vst plugins decreases your creativity as when u are limited u develop yourself.
So, i welcome upgraded Mux with new presets,especially with dramatic,cinematic sounding pad presets,lead,synth presets
I made this song using only fl studio mobile presets.So u can do it too
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1-3T31L ... =drivesdk

Brothers did u like my music?I hope that u will be pro composer like me after using app built in presets in any daw

[sl23]

I want to spent what little time I have making music, not learning software!

[Bombaoglan]

I want to spent what little time I have making music, not learning software!

U should first learn something,without knowledge u cant make something.Btw Mutools is very user friendly daw.

[sl23]

I know, I've been using it for ten years. Music is a hobby, not my main hobby, but a side hobby. I've learnt all I want to with regards to music composition. Further knowledge is a bonus, not a pursuit. My efforts are applied to more important things. This is nothing more than a bit of fun and down-time from my main pursuits.

[MuTools]

I want to spent what little time I have making music, not learning software!

I fully understand that, as a musician i say the same, and it's one of the main ambitions of MuLab!! I know there still is a way to go to make MuLab even more easy out of the box, while still preserving its deepness, but if MuLab would be 100% integrated (ie. no external plugins) then you would have to learn less because for each new VST plugin you would use you would have to learn that specific VST plugin. So wouldn't a totally integrated MuLab (without external plugins) decrease the total learning time as everything works in a uniform way?

[Michael L]

So wouldn't a totally integrated MuLab (without external plugins) decrease the total learning time as everything works in a uniform way?

Most importantly, it would help sustain our attention and focus on our own ideas

So much music composition today is based on buying stuff created by someone else.
We have so much stuff that DAWs primarily host and route it.

OTOH, some of the most innovative composing software is integrated (e.g. Kyma, MetaSynth, Max)
Their responsive design helps us become immersed in developing our own musical ideas

We can develop our musical ideas further in MuLab if Jo spends his precious Life Time expanding MuLab's integration to include more of our endless wishlist.

Imagine how unique MuLab could be!!

[sl23]

I do agree that simplicity is key, which is why I have gone from having hundreds of VST synths down to 20! Still excessive, I agree, but as much as I wish I could learn all about synthesis and how modules in Mux work and interact, I just don't have the inclination or the time. I am also trying to reduce the collection of VST FX, which I have done massively, but most are 32bit or VST3, so I personally want VST3 support.

Even worse, I don't want to have to learn another DAW in order to be able to use the VST's I have purchased! That would essentially make MuLab redundant for me. Reaper has everything I want, including the WaitNoteRecording feature I requested for MuLab. I know it's unlikely to happen and fully understand why, I also sympathise with Jo's time constraints. Reaper though is too complex and I just can't be arsed to learn it! Sadly though, it's looking increasingly likely that Ill have to move to it!

Is there a way to separate VST compatibility from MuLab into an extension? So, offering MuLab as a basic package and VST compatibility as an extra? Or does that defeat your purpose of removing VST compatibility? I think that you are aiming to remove it so you can focus more on MuLab, yes? And from the arguments laid down, it seems it is something you are in favour of, hoping to convince your followers this is the way to go. I think the VST route is such a massive task for you that maybe you don't want to spend that much time on it and are looking for another solution. I don't think this is the way. Don't get me wrong, that's not a dig at all, your wishes also count here. But as I say, for me personally, it would ruin MuLab, as I love it as it is.

I think the best way would be to open up MuLab to allow plugins from the community. This would alleviate some of the time constraints you have. We only install what we want then and I bet many items on that wishlist would be incorporated by others.

I recently purchased Sylenth1, Diva, Hive and Warlock. I have been scouring the internet for free patches for these for the last month or so and amassed quite a library of tens of thousands of presets! My spare time this last month alone has been spent organising banks, removing duplicates, renaming patches for better legibility, the less you need to read when searching for a patch, the faster the workflow. All this would be for nothing without VST support. But for people like myself that work with patches, rather than sound design, MuLab just doesn't have enough and without meaning to criticise, they aren't up to the standards of things like Tone2 or u-he synths.

MuLab is a DAW, and DAW's are a shell to produce music with. Everything else comes from outside. If you were to ask me what I would want, it may surprise you that I would say remove MuX, and concentrate on the actual production side of things instead of the synthesis. Keep stuff that allows manipulation of audio, like Time Stretch, Waveform Editing, etc, but remove the more complex MuX stuff. MuX is a great thing, I know that, but it is also very specific and very complicated to learn. On the face of it, it is basic, but as soon as you want to do something unique, it becomes a rabbit hole! I don't have time for that, personally.

I get that removing VST support means a simpler DAW and less distraction from VST's, but the problem there isn't with VST support, or with VST's. The problem is with people! Greed has become a massive part of western culture as we succumb to marketing of the latest thing. If you can't control your greed for GAS, then that isn't a problem with software, it's a problem with people. It's the same with chocolate, alcohol, tobacco, drugs, shopping, sugar, people get addicted through lack of self control. Should all those things be removed from society because some people get addicted? I'm not trying to be self-righteous here, just making a point. I am also one of society's addicts, though mainly of the sugar type, not drugs or alcohol! I still try to exercise self-control. And that's my point. If people stop chasing the latest greatest VST's all the time and look at what they NEED from them, they'll find there's actually a lot less than they want.

I have always wondered, what exactly is the difference between all these VST's anyway? I just picked u-he and Tone2 because they're portable, have thousands of presets and don't cost the earth, I buy them when discounted. I've had thousands of VST's and many sounds exactly the same! Why people go around chasing every new thing I don't know! It's a con to get you to part you with your money! Always remember that and you'll curb your spending! Seriously though, I have found hundreds of thousands of presets for u-he synths and many are just basic sounds that sound just like Sylenth1, or vice versa. If you think about it, there are only so many sounds that can be made, there's only a limited range of frequencies with which we can tinker.

I know some (many) enjoy the process of sound design, but not everyone can do that. I have a little dabble with it, but time doesn't allow. I have other priorities.

Also, can you imagine how many people would be put off by the lack of VST support?!

Anyway, that's my opinion

Sorry for the essay!

[sl23]

So wouldn't a totally integrated MuLab (without external plugins) decrease the total learning time as everything works in a uniform way?

From my point of view, no. Because I only have a few VST's and mostly work with presets, then tinker to alter the sound a little, this takes very little learning and yeah I'm not very good and only an amateur so maybe not the best to take advice from, but I am one of many customers who are just tinkerers.

[sl23]

One other thing... If MuLab becomes self-contained, Couldn't you still have it as a Plugin itself? Also, not sure on the best way to do this, but allow the new MuLab to host the old. At least that way, those of us who want VST can do so via the old MuLab and still benefit from the new? Not sure if that's a good idea, feasible or just plain shite!