SWAY - a synth modeled after the Yamaha SY77

[Uncle E]

Harmony Bloom and Chord Generator can output multiple MIDI channels. When used with a multi-timbral synth, it's really easy to have different voices play off each other.

[tapper mike]

If any emulation of an old fashioned multitimbral synth running from an original rom would load a copy of the same patch into all slots, it would be a voice per channel synth and thus could be played with any MPE controller expressively.
Any other multi timbrality is complicating everything in a DAW context.
I wonder what exactly and how this could be an advantage in any workflow imaginable. For me its mostly an annoyance…
Certainly it had its use case 40 years ago…

It all depends on YOU, Your DAW, Your plugin and Your controller.

Yes I was one of those guys 40 years ago with various midi enabled guitars which used one channel per string to perform slides bends and hammer ons, pull offs as a guitarist does and have those techniques properly expressed via the sound modules of the day. It was a lot of fun and a much closer approximation to the actual instruments than could be achieved at the time by keyboards.

Yes there are some instances where mpe is not the most effective solution however mpe hardware such as the linnstrument can assign multiple or single instances of channels.

I have two Linnstrument 200's. Generally I assign the left side of one LS to a single channel for multitimbral plugins which utilize some type of sequencing. Such as Sonuscore's the Score multi's or VPS Vengeance.
The second third and fourth sides I can distribute the remaining 15 channels as needed. These are used with plugins designed for mpe like Hallion 7 or SWAM The list of daws and plugins that support MPE are constantly being expanded and if you know how a chainer works you too can take full control of mpe with even a modest daw setup and non mpe supported instruments.

I personally will never go back to a traditional keyboard after experiencing the linnstrument. And if I wanted/needed a non mpe environment to perform that is still available to me.

You don't need to set up 16 different instances of an instrument with 16 different channels to achieve mpe. MPE can be achieved via round robin and/or in the case of the linnstrument per row (string) Considering you can do splits on the linnstrument means yes you can use all 16 midi channels on per row if that is your intent.

Personally I find I only need 5 per side although people who like to explore could conceivably use ten one for each finger.


The value of having independent control of a specific note say applying modulation or pressure sensitivity or bending/sliding on a per finger basis is quite satisfying to me. I know some people may not seek nor desire that level of expressiveness. To each their own.

[tapper mike]

Thanks to this thread I've discovered Dune 3 has been updated to 3.6 with MPE support.

[Spitfire31]

And Dune 3 has to do with SWAY … exactly what? Except you want to show off your Osmose?

/JHS

[DCrown]

Thanks to this thread I've discovered Dune 3 has been updated to 3.6 with MPE support.

it is buggy, though

[cslevine]

Just for fun :

there was an abandonned project of SY77 emulation, here. i guessed no parameter was exact, so was not even possible to copy manually parameters from a real original patch, and it was only somewhat alpha... Was never intended to deal with any sys ex.
i liked the idea of green mainscreen display in the GUI ( wich was mor close to TX81Z )

"MF77"
https://www.fiedler-audio.de/mf77-fm-sy ... wavetable/

[IvyBirds]

Just for fun :

there was an abandonned project of SY77 emulation, here. i guessed no parameter was exact, so was not even possible to copy manually parameters from a real original patch, and it was only somewhat alpha... Was never intended to deal with any sys ex.
i liked the idea of green mainscreen display in the GUI ( wich was mor close to TX81Z )

"MF77"
https://www.fiedler-audio.de/mf77-fm-sy ... wavetable/

Yeah that looks awesome with 1st Gen DX7 chocolate brown and the neon Green

[McLilith]

Just for fun :

there was an abandonned project of SY77 emulation, here. i guessed no parameter was exact, so was not even possible to copy manually parameters from a real original patch, and it was only somewhat alpha... Was never intended to deal with any sys ex.
i liked the idea of green mainscreen display in the GUI ( wich was mor close to TX81Z )

"MF77"
https://www.fiedler-audio.de/mf77-fm-sy ... wavetable/

There was another unfinished SY77 emulation that made it to a public alpha or beta stage several years ago. I just can't remember the name of it, nor the name of the developer. I do remember it had a nasty habit of crashing my computer, and it sometimes spat out harsh digital noises. That said, it was nice when it worked.

That was several years ago, and I've been wanting a reliable SY77 emulation ever since. That's why I'm so excited about SWAY.

[SonicBlue555]

Just for fun :

there was an abandonned project of SY77 emulation, here. i guessed no parameter was exact, so was not even possible to copy manually parameters from a real original patch, and it was only somewhat alpha... Was never intended to deal with any sys ex.
i liked the idea of green mainscreen display in the GUI ( wich was mor close to TX81Z )

"MF77"
https://www.fiedler-audio.de/mf77-fm-sy ... wavetable/

There was another unfinished SY77 emulation that made it to a public alpha or beta stage several years ago. I just can't remember the name of it, nor the name of the developer. I do remember it had a nasty habit of crashing my computer, and it sometimes spat out harsh digital noises. That said, it was nice when it worked.

That was several years ago, and I've been wanting a reliable SY77 emulation ever since. That's why I'm so excited about SWAY.

Speedsoft VX7?

[McLilith]

Speedsoft VX7?

I think that was it. I was really excited for it back then, but for whatever reason it never was finished.

[cslevine]

Speedsoft VX7?

I think that was it. I was really excited for it back then, but for whatever reason it never was finished.

VX7 was the definition of an alpha...

[sheaf]

Quick update: I think the next build could be a release candidate for version 1.0, so the code is nearly there. I've made almost 80 presets so far. I'm not 100% decided yet, but my current idea is to make 128 in total for the initial release. Not a lot, but enough to showcase the capabilities I guess. I wonder if this is a good idea though, because factory preset libraries influence my own purchase decision quite a bit. I like making presets as a synth user, but it also takes a lot of time so if I'm going to be dropping money on a synth I want a lot of new sounds out of the box. Especially if it's a synth with a lot of controls, like SWAY. The idea that I would spend more than 4 years on this project and then people aren't buying it simply because I didn't take the time to make enough presets...

Question about custom samples, for in the future: there are several ways I could go about it and I'd like to hear your thoughts. I could make it so you can import audio files on the spot specific to the patch you're working on. It can take quite some time for the user to make an actual multisample with different zones and optimal loop points though. So you'd also want the ability to easily reuse a multisample you've created. I could add some special folder where custom multisamples could be saved for reuse, similar to what the INTERNAL waveform source does on a SY99. Both of these things require me to make a full blown multisample editor within the plugin, and this is going to take a huge amount of time. Many months in my estimate. It would also mean I have to change the patch structure to allow for custom samples that are either linked or embedded, which complicates things a lot.

Another way is this: I just make an external expansion card editor. This way you can only add custom samples by making custom expansion cards. It's less flexible, but it would massively simplify everything. The plugin itself wouldn't even have to be changed, since it already supports expansion cards right now! An external editor means that you could still open it from the plugin, but it launches an external Windows/Mac app in a new window outside of your DAW. When you save changes to your card you refresh them in the plugin and you're good to go. I could probably make this external editor in 4 weeks or so, because I can use web technology which is just easier and faster.

Thoughts about this? Would the second option disappoint you?

[sonidomolino]

Quick update: I think the next build could be a release candidate for version 1.0, so the code is nearly there. I've made almost 80 presets so far. I'm not 100% decided yet, but my current idea is to make 128 in total for the initial release.

great to hear, congrats on the progress..

... my current idea is to make 128 in total for the initial release. Not a lot, but enough to showcase the capabilities I guess. I wonder if this is a good idea though, because factory preset libraries influence my own purchase decision quite a bit. I like making presets as a synth user, but it also takes a lot of time so if I'm going to be dropping money on a synth I want a lot of new sounds out of the box. Especially if it's a synth with a lot of controls, like SWAY. The idea that I would spend more than 4 years on this project and then people aren't buying it simply because I didn't take the time to make enough presets...

imagine there might be significant expectation for replicating the factory presets, but ya, a bit of work there. perhaps an opportunity for the community to step up and fill the gaps? with some incentive? would you be up for hosting any shared contributions?

also for clarification as i might have missed this, but sample based sounds/sound-a-likes (i.e. drums) or are not included?

Question about custom samples... I just make an external expansion card editor.

sounds like a very practical solution, with the potential for further community engagement?

[EvilDragon]

You could, instead of doing a full blown multisample editor, try to support importing SFZ? I very much think you should not waste time on providing full sample editing capabilities, there's other tools for that.

Basic SFZ support makes a lot more sense.

[wintoid]

You could, instead of doing a full blown multisample editor, try to support importing SFZ? I very much think you should not waste time on providing full sample editing capabilities, there's other tools for that.

Basic SFZ support makes a lot more sense.

Gets my vote.