Charlatan³ Free VA synth updated to v3.3.2 (Win/Linux)

[cyrb]

Charlatan3 appears to crash my DAW if left running for a long time (4-8 hours). I reproduced it three times so far.
Win10 using FL Studio 12. Ryzen 5600x CPU.
I basically left a MIDI sequence playing on loop using a modified LA 2019 patch, with some automation clips being applied.
Could be some sort of timer overflow in memory or something.

Some notes

- GUI does not have to be active (third try had GUI closed), so must be the audio thread.
- I also encountered an issue where returning to Charlatan3 after 2-3 hours of silence caused a 'signal burst', causing some weird DC offset issue - my DAW was reporting 100% volume and clipping but there was no sound. Changing patch and attempting to play a note would cause another signal burst, after I used the "panic" feature to stop all audio, so I had no choice but to reload the plugin entirely to stop the issue.
 

ok, I'm pretty sure at least one aspect of the issue involves the Reverb, as toggling it on/off seems to trigger the signal burst issue.

Video (right click - open in new tab): https://github-production-user-asset-62 ... 61528b.mp4

So basically, if Charlatan3 is open too long, the Reverb breaks somehow.

[Snow and Electricity]

Hello!

Cool and comfortable synth.
Workflow is super fast.
Everything you need at your fingertips.
This is about what I was looking for.

Windows 10, Intel CoreI7 (2012), Studio One 6
Works stable for a 2 hours.

It would be nice if there were default MIDI CC# for macro-knobs.
For example popular numbers for macros are 2 and 11 (U-He, Arturia plugins), or 16,17,18,19 (some other manufacturers).

There are 16,17,18,19 CCs on Expressive E Touchee MIDI-controller.
IK Multimedia iRig Keys offers 16,17,18,19 on it's default set.

Or maybe MIDI-learn for macro-knobs.

It is not very convenient to assign macros using DAW settings.

[glokraw]

A Charlatan 3 topic at linuxmusicians.com plugins section has over 1100 views,
which is a lot in that locale!
Cheers

[wikter]

As someone already quoted, it seems that any pitch modulation applies to all 4 oscillators at once, except those, whose Ratio sinewave symbol is turned off.

Which is reasonable. I don't see many scenarios where I would want to have different pitch modulation for each oscillator or even sub-oscillator.

Given the possibility of create a dual layer FM, it'd be great to have different pitch modulations for each generator.

[linkstate]

Sounds marvelous! Thank you for your hard work.

I found maybe a bug in unison width spreading. If I play three chord riff slowly - no overlapped notes in poly than it sounds narrow and "mono". Once I start playing franaticaly chords one on top of another than the notes starts to spread accros the left center right spectrum.

Quick preset included.

[wikter]

I've found that the same freezing behaviour in Studio One v5 happens with NI Reaktor. It's been a long time i don't use Reaktor but I've tried some things and the problem persists. Maybe the problem is not from Charlatan itself.... I'll try to downgrade S1 version.
Funny thing. after i finished writing this message S1 is working properly with Reaktor...
I'll try the same with Charlatan, let's see.
No fun. I've Also tried Charlatan 3 in Studio One V2.6 and the problem with the cutoff hint display also creates a freeze.

[Teksonik]

As someone already quoted, it seems that any pitch modulation applies to all 4 oscillators at once, except those, whose Ratio sinewave symbol is turned off.

Which is reasonable. I don't see many scenarios where I would want to have different pitch modulation for each oscillator or even sub-oscillator.

I can see many many scenarios where I want to have different pitch modulation for each oscillator and many of my patches for other synths take advantage of that feature.

Since Charlatan doesn't have a traditional built in Sequencer the only way we can do pitch variations in semitones is to use Osc Pitch modulation. There are 4 XForms so plenty for the task.

In fact off the top of my head I can't think of any other synth that doesn't allow separate pitch modulation for each Osc, no matter how many it has......

Anyway, the developer has said this version is feature locked so we just have to accept things the way they are now. Perhaps a future version if there is one will allow this very common feature.

[NWSM]

Hi, i test C3 on windows 10, 64bit, i7-4790, Bitwig 5
Testing CLAP Version (appreciate using this new Standard )

Here is my List:

- i would increase the Unison voice over 7
- i would adjusting the osc phase vertical like all other knobs and parameters
- i would keep the Modulator Tabs and put the OSC Editors below them. - The only switch between both is [X] of the OSC Editor, what is kinda hidden to easier get the Modulator Tabs back
- i want modulate the Macros
- i would give Filter 2 another Color to differentiate better
- use a colorized visual feedback for Knobs when it is not Modulated (like Note Mod in onto FREQ)
- a assigned Modulator is named as MOD3 when it is an LFO
- i would adding a Point in XFORM also when i click everywhere in the Field as directly on the Line
- i dont know why is there an X and Y Macro if we dont have an coordinate system with x and y axis
- let us Loop and Trigger MSEG's with adjustable Loop-Regions
- i do not fully understand XFORM Modulators, seems it need also a Rate Knob and Running/ actual Position Light
- Running/ Position Light in all Modulator's _ seems that the XMOD starts after Sustain in the Release of an ADSR, weird*
- ADSR Rate need maybe also Time Signatures
- Editing via Mouse Scrolling would be also nice (like in Ration but for Knob and Drop Down Menues)
- Add MIX to all FX
- Add an Compressor with or Saturation or with Limiter (OTT wirkt wahre wunder )
- Because that much Modulators i would add an Modulation Matrix to get an Overview of what is modulated
- want to set up the Voices in Polymode there are mor than 12 Voices?
- overwriting existing Preset warning needed - optional out
- save Preset when change it warning needed - optional out
- if the Distorsion become a little Filter with good Reso (Phaser like) could increase the Distorsion Unit?
- increase EQ Bands maybe 3 for LMH
- Want to modulate ADSR
- Let see us Frequencies in Filter and EQ
- i want to Re-Order FX

Bugs:
- switching Presets in Browser does not not actualize the Presets and stuck in INIT
- - Unison with ZERO Detune and from 2 Voice upwards got a little Frequency Hang on when open and close the Detune Knob fast, but it can be a Feature

Bigger Ideas:
Chord Snap? i want to Keep Chords when editing Ratio in Polymode

Hope that helps, if you have any Questions -> PM (eng, ger)

[cyrb]

Charlatan3 appears to crash my DAW if left running for a long time (4-8 hours). I reproduced it three times so far.
Win10 using FL Studio 12. Ryzen 5600x CPU.
I basically left a MIDI sequence playing on loop using a modified LA 2019 patch, with some automation clips being applied.
Could be some sort of timer overflow in memory or something.

Some notes

- GUI does not have to be active (third try had GUI closed), so must be the audio thread.
- I also encountered an issue where returning to Charlatan3 after 2-3 hours of silence caused a 'signal burst', causing some weird DC offset issue - my DAW was reporting 100% volume and clipping but there was no sound. Changing patch and attempting to play a note would cause another signal burst, after I used the "panic" feature to stop all audio, so I had no choice but to reload the plugin entirely to stop the issue.
 

ok, I'm pretty sure at least one aspect of the issue involves the Reverb, as toggling it on/off seems to trigger the signal burst issue.

Video (right click - open in new tab): https://github-production-user-asset-62 ... 61528b.mp4

So basically, if Charlatan3 is open too long, the Reverb breaks somehow.

Ok, I conclude that the Reverb effect is 100% the cause of this crash.

- If there is no MIDI input, crash won't occur if Charlatan is idle.
- Coming back after work 8 hours later, turning off Reverb immediately and playing MIDI works fine.
- Turning Reverb on while MIDI is playing instantly crashes (closes) my DAW, no C++ error popups or exceptions, just boom, gone.

[Jbravo]

I've noticed that if you overfill the presets window, there is no option to scroll in order to load those out of view

[eb23]

A non-zero start-end of MSEG envelope as Mod1 (Amp) turns the whole thing as a paraphonic mess, with previous voices playing through. Unexpected and funny, sorta.

[karrikuh]

So basically, if Charlatan3 is open too long, the Reverb breaks somehow.

Good catch! I can reproduce the issue here so hopefully this should be fixed in the next Beta. Thanks for taking the time to investigate.

[karrikuh]

I can see many many scenarios where I want to have different pitch modulation for each oscillator and many of my patches for other synths take advantage of that feature.

I'd like to point out that there is a way to modulate the pitch of Osc 1 and 2 separately, albeit not totally obvious (which is ok in my view because I considered it a not so common use case when designing the synth). The idea is to modulate Tune (i.e. global pitch) in addition to Osc Pitch and "erase" that modulation for Osc 1 by applying an additional inverted modulation just for Osc 1.

As an example, let's say you want to modulate Osc 1 pitch with Mod1 Depth 5 semitones and Osc 2 pitch with Mod2 Depth 12 semitones.

• Enable pitch mod for Osc 1 ("S" icon in Ratio control)
• Disable pitch mod for Osc 2
• Create a modulation Mod1 -> Osc Pitch (depth 5 st)
• Create a modulation Mod2 -> Tune (depth 12 st)
• Create a modulation Mod2 -> Osc Pitch (depth -12 st)

I probably didn't explain it well, but I hope the example illustrates the idea.

Anyway, the developer has said this version is feature locked so we just have to accept things the way they are now. Perhaps a future version if there is one will allow this very common feature.

I want to clarify that the feature freeze only applies to the initial 3.0 release. I do plan new feature additions in later 3.x releases. Although it's true that I don't intend to introduce significant changes to the synth architecture in the near future, instead I want to concentrate on UI and usability improvements.

[Teksonik]

I'd like to point out that there is a way to modulate the pitch of Osc 1 and 2 separately, albeit not totally obvious (which is ok in my view because I considered it a not so common use case when designing the synth).

It's a pretty common use case here. As I said, off the top of my head I can't think of a single synth where I can't modulate the pitch of every Osc separately. There may some simple synths that don't allow it but I doubt any of them modulate the pitch of both Oscs simultaneously.

The idea is to modulate Tune (i.e. global pitch) in addition to Osc Pitch and "erase" that modulation for Osc 1 by applying an additional inverted modulation just for Osc 1.

As an example, let's say you want to modulate Osc 1 pitch with Mod1 Depth 5 semitones and Osc 2 pitch with Mod2 Depth 12 semitones.

• Enable pitch mod for Osc 1 ("S" icon in Ratio control)
• Disable pitch mod for Osc 2
• Create a modulation Mod1 -> Osc Pitch (depth 5 st)
• Create a modulation Mod2 -> Tune (depth 12 st)
• Create a modulation Mod2 -> Osc Pitch (depth -12 st)

I probably didn't explain it well, but I hope the example illustrates the idea.

Thanks, but to be honest with you I don't think I'd bother. I'd just use another synth.

Although it's true that I don't intend to introduce significant changes to the synth architecture in the near future, instead I want to concentrate on UI and usability improvements.

Ok fair enough but keep in mind we use synths for their sound first and "UI and usability" second.

Anyway thanks and good luck, I'll be keeping an eye on future development.

[lolilol1975]

After several years in the making, I'm pleased to announce the next major iteration of Charlatan, the free Virtual Analog synth!

Charlatan³ has been redesigned from the ground up in order to better meet the needs of today's productions. Besides the new powerful synthesis engine, the completely revamped user interface offers an ultra-fast workflow and encourages a creative sound design process much like what the original synth is known for.

Feature summary

* Two dual oscillators per voice with custom drawable waveforms, cross-modulation (Phase Mod, linear Frequency Mod, Ring Mod) and windowed hard sync
* Two multi-mode filters per voice with 9 filter types each and flexible routing
* Oscillator unison with up to 7 unison voices per synth voice
* Four modulation generators with user-definable shape where each can operate either as LFO or envelope generator
* Four Modulation transformers (XFORM) allow reshaping any control signal through a user-defined mapping
* Arbitrary routing of modulation signals via Drag'n'Drop
* High-quality master FX section
* Very low CPU and RAM usage
* Optional internal 2x oversampling
* Preset browser
* FREEWARE

System requirements

* Windows 10 or later, Ubuntu Linux 20.04 x86_64 or compatible distribution
* A CLAP or VST3 compatible host application
* An Intel x86_64 compatible CPU with support for SSE4.2 extensions

Status and availability

- Public Beta available now.
- Synth architecture has been finalized, no breaking changes planned, unless a critical flaw is discovered during Beta testing that warrants a breaking change.
- Feature freeze for initial release
- Factory preset library is limited currently, community contributions welcome!

Download
Charlatan v3.0b1 Windows
Charlatan v3.0b1 Linux

FAQ

- Will there be a Mac version?

No plans currently. From what I gathered over the years, supporting the Apple platform is a time-consuming commitment which I can't really justify for a spare-time project. Instead, I'd rather support open platforms like Linux, in the hope to help them gain adoption.

- Will it load patches from Charlatan 2.0?

Not at this point. While being much more capable overall, Charlatan³'s architecture differs from that of its predecessor in ways that it could not reproduce every preset accurately. One could consider an import option in a best-effort fashion, without any guarantee to achieve identical results. However, I'm not sure whether it's worth the effort, given that the former architecture is so simple that you can basically dial in every patch within seconds.

- The plug-in does not load / is blacklisted by my DAW

Please make sure that your system meets the systen requirements listed above

- Where are the presets located on my hard drive?

The easiest way to find out is to open the preset browsers menu and click "Open file browser".

Awesome ! One last thing I'd love to see added is a granulator, perhaps as an fx ?

But you know what the best feature of Charlatan could be ? It's to be open sourced. Please sir, release the source code to Github so that people can bug fix it, port it, perhaps even develop new features for it.

Everyone can understand that you don't have all the time in the world to do things like port to Mac, but really I think noone understands why you don't open source it on Github. By open sourcing it, you don't lose control over it, you simply get free help from collaborators and you can even decide whether to include the patches. It's a complete win-win.

Please, please, please...