Våld Labs Vekte — public beta (generative MIDI sequencer, VST3)

[starflakeprj]

Not plugin related, but out of curiosity. As far as I know only the Nordic countries have Åå in their alphabet. The word våld (violence) is only used in Sweden and the Swedish (Finnish-Swedish) speaking parts of Finland (including Åland). Valdlabs.com seems, on the other hand, registered in Portugal, so is there a story here?

Haha, fun that you ask. Indeed i'm based in Lisbon - but the name is really about the aesthetics and sound of the word which I really like - such a small and apparently inoffensive sounding word on my ears, but packing so much punch

That's a bit what i'm trying to do with my products, especially the instruments: power in a small pack

Thanks for asking!

And thanks for sharing

I've seen a couple of use cases for the typical Nordic letters (and words) during the years (IKEA and Klevgränd Produktion do not count since they are Swedish already), it's fun to note that the small languages in the Nordics sometimes get global attention

We also have Madrona Labs, an American developer I believe, who use Finnish words as names for their plugins.

[valdlabs]

Not plugin related, but out of curiosity. As far as I know only the Nordic countries have Åå in their alphabet. The word våld (violence) is only used in Sweden and the Swedish (Finnish-Swedish) speaking parts of Finland (including Åland). Valdlabs.com seems, on the other hand, registered in Portugal, so is there a story here?

Haha, fun that you ask. Indeed i'm based in Lisbon - but the name is really about the aesthetics and sound of the word which I really like - such a small and apparently inoffensive sounding word on my ears, but packing so much punch

That's a bit what i'm trying to do with my products, especially the instruments: power in a small pack

Thanks for asking!

And thanks for sharing

I've seen a couple of use cases for the typical Nordic letters (and words) during the years (IKEA and Klevgränd Produktion do not count since they are Swedish already), it's fun to note that the small languages in the Nordics sometimes get global attention

We also have Madrona Labs, an American developer I believe, who use Finnish words as names for their plugins.

Yes, the diacritics in scandinavian languages look very exotic and typographically they're beautiful, somewhat mysterious imho. Great to explore as branding.

Also Finnish is great for that though linguistically totally unrelated - to a foreign speaker it is easy to articulate (when short words, not agglutinated ones which can go pretty long I know) and also gives (at least to me) some reminiscence of a bit of Japanese or Korean, not sure why, maybe the incidence of K's and some vowels.

I know well Madrona Labs and used Kaivo! Legendary and very creative in terms of synthesis.
I had in the drawing board a VSTi which is for now on hold called Kaikki but "everything" is a bit too ambitious for a name I guess haha, and also too similar to Kaivo as a name

[planet_b]

Ahh nice, many bugs squashed again! However, Live 12.4.3 on MacOs Tahoe still reverts to channel 1 AND displays the notification about Tresse beta being available every time you re-open the window.

Indeed, unfortunately that annoying bug will have to be solved when I return next week from a short summer break - I wanted to release a new version this week so people can test while i'm just recharging my batteries

To be solved as soon as I return!

You go and enjoy your break, it's more than deserved! You've been pushing crazy updates to several products in the heat of the summer. We'll be patiently waiting for your return.

[valdlabs]

Ahh nice, many bugs squashed again! However, Live 12.4.3 on MacOs Tahoe still reverts to channel 1 AND displays the notification about Tresse beta being available every time you re-open the window.

Indeed, unfortunately that annoying bug will have to be solved when I return next week from a short summer break - I wanted to release a new version this week so people can test while i'm just recharging my batteries

To be solved as soon as I return!

You go and enjoy your break, it's more than deserved! You've been pushing crazy updates to several products in the heat of the summer. We'll be patiently waiting for your return.

Thank you! I'll let you know once i have the next update, and afterwards I'll focus on the iPad version. In the meanwhile i'll still be able to reply to here if needed

[starflakeprj]

I downloaded and installed Vekte, entered my email address and was expecting an activation email. Didn't get one though, are these sent manually?

[simmo75]

This is such an inspiring sequencer!
Love it.

[valdlabs]

I downloaded and installed Vekte, entered my email address and was expecting an activation email. Didn't get one though, are these sent manually?

hello, sometimes it can land on the spam folder. could you let me know through PM what's your email so I can check on my side?

[valdlabs]

This is such an inspiring sequencer!
Love it.

Thank you! Really glad you are enjoying it, keep tuned for the developments

[valdlabs]

VEKTE 1.2.0 is here.

VEKTE is a 16-channel generative MIDI sequencer — 36 algorithms, fully deterministic, everything you see is everything it plays. 1.2 is the biggest update yet:
- **Every channel now has a mode.** SEQ is the sequencer you know. ARP turns a channel into an arpeggiator that plays whatever pattern the engine generated — from your keyboard, or driven by another VEKTE channel. KIT turns it into a fixed 12-note kit built from any scale — one octave, still very beta: point it at a drum kit mapped within one octave and let the algorithms play the pads. It will improve with your input.

Channels can play each other.
Route a SEQ channel into an ARP channel and the sequence becomes the arp's conductor — melodies that play melodies. Chain as deep as you like.

APPROACH & FILL.
Two new humanizers that improvise in-scale passing notes between your notes — APPROACH sneaks short pickups in before the next note, FILL bridges the whole gap like a melodic tie. Deterministic, visible on the piano roll before they sound, always in key.

Plus: ratchets with musical rates, six interpolation shapes for modulation, smarter ties that show what they play, humanize that wraps the loop, and three weeks of beta fixes.

For now APPROACH, FILL and ratchet are reached through MOD lanes only — dedicated knobs are coming.

Remember: every slot patch or whole song is a short shareable key
Use PTTRN Key to see it or Copy / Paste key in the menu: paste yours in the thread or with friends, if you'd like to test it.



valdlabs.com/vekte

Five minutes with 1.2.0:

Load VEKTE on a MIDI track, point a synth at it, press play — it opens with a default playing patch:

1. ARP — click ARP on the NOTE lane's left rail, play a note: the generated pattern arpeggiates from it, and the note you hold becomes the root. RTRG restarts the pattern on every new note; LATCH keeps it running silently so it re-enters mid-flow.

2. SEQ playing an ARP — slot 1 SEQ, slot 2 ARP, turn slot 1's DEST past 16 to A2. Slot 1 goes silent and starts conducting slot 2. Hit RND on either and listen to it reorganize.

3. APPROACH — add a MOD lane, set T: to Approach, turn it on, raise MAX. Wherever the melody jumps, one to three short in-scale passing notes lean into the next note, drawn dim on the piano roll before they sound. HUMN above 50 arms a bit automatically.

4. FILL — same idea, target Fill: the passing notes stretch across the whole gap between two notes. Try a sparse pattern with TIE off and the space turns into a walking line.

5. KIT — set a slot to KIT for a fixed 12-note kit from your scale and root. Point it at a drum kit mapped within one octave and it works.


Våld Labs

[andrelafosse]

This is absolutely tremendous. Wow.

[andrelafosse]

Is this behavior normal? I'm clicking in the piano roll, but the affected notes are many rhythmic divisions away from where I'm clicking. (And, clicking in the mod lanes doesn't seem to do anything.)

Video example:
https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/mtwo1gy0 ... ncrp2&dl=0

Mac 3.2 GHz 6-Core Intel Core i7
macOS 14.7.2
Ableton Live Suite 12.4.3

[planet_b]

Oh mine, arp mode! This thing just keeps getting better and it's not even officially released yet. 6/5 would buy again!

[eecrumjr77]

Best software sequencer I've come across since Stepic.

Is there a way to pre-define sections of different keys/scales/modes, so that the deterministic engine would follow along with those modulations?

[valdlabs]

Is this behavior normal? I'm clicking in the piano roll, but the affected notes are many rhythmic divisions away from where I'm clicking. (And, clicking in the mod lanes doesn't seem to do anything.)

Video example:
https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/mtwo1gy0 ... ncrp2&dl=0

Mac 3.2 GHz 6-Core Intel Core i7
macOS 14.7.2
Ableton Live Suite 12.4.3

Thanks for reporting this!

Would you be able to test a patched version and help me solve this issue? It is the second time this bug is reported and unfortunately until now I was not able to replicate it, and it would be great if it could be tested before releasing.

I'll contact you by PM once I have the patch.

[valdlabs]

This is absolutely tremendous. Wow.

Oh mine, arp mode! This thing just keeps getting better and it's not even officially released yet. 6/5 would buy again!

Best software sequencer I've come across since Stepic.

Thank you for the feedback!

Is there a way to pre-define sections of different keys/scales/modes, so that the deterministic engine would follow along with those modulations?

It is not yet possible, though it is on the roadmap