Poll: Most Wanted New MU.LAB Feature

[theorize]

i had to vote for modular areas because it was the synth section that sold me, more fx would be nice as well as some stuff needed to create our own fx algos would be cool as well, but as a whole there is stuff that should go first, like a nice automation system, that is a must, especially to do really cool stuff with the synth... i think splines or some type of curve would be necessary though.

[davidweese]

I take it you don't use the modular plugin area at all? (Hit F3)

Not so. For sound design (like synth patches) and potentially for advanced routing and layering (say, at mixdown), a modular (or I would say "node-based") interface is very cool. But as we are in more of a tracking and composing phase, so far I haven't had to spend much time doing any deep editing to do what I've needed to do.

That is the whole point of my feature suggestions : let's make the BASIC activities smooth and fun. I have no doubt Jo will be developing plenty of "deep" capabilities for those of us who need it!

You sort of mentioned punch in for vocal takes. Good call and a requested feature not on the list above.

I would clarify that I'm not referring so much to punching in, although the opton to overwrite a previous take might be useful...It's just that, recording pop tunes, it's pretty common to do a bazillion takes. The way mulab works right now, it get's unweildy pretty fast.

I also like the idea of "mix down to single part and replace selection" or whatever it would be called - yeah, "consolidate" is shorter...

Well, again, to clarify, I do make a distinction between the consolidate operation and "single part" as you say. What concerns me is the rapid proliferation of tracks, each of which contains a single clip, or "take". I want to consolidate them to a single track for orgranizational purposes. In most cases, I don;t think I would neccessarily want to combine these into a single clip, although that functionality should be present as well.

Thanks!

Dave

[oldguy]

Jo, Correct me if I'm wrong - but I seem to recall that MuLab runs at 16bits behind the scenes.

It's not on the list, but I'd like to see 24 and/or 32 bits in the audio engine. That would make it more forgiving for amateurs such as myself who are challenged when it comes to setting levels.

Cheers,

-Oldguy

[muzycian]

Hey Jo!

I have posted entry #3 to the Natalie Weese production blog, and there includes a very favorable review of MuLab's current usability status in addition to a list of fairly minor feature requests.

Thanks Dave.

Will process!

I would note that my requests relate to fundamental workflow, as opposed to adding new and exciting features to MuLab.

Right now, the basic capabilities are quite solid, but I would definitely address a few rough edges that impede workflow before going too far with additional features. JMHO.

To put it another way, the good news is, I am not seeing much in the way of bugs OR a lack of features. It's more about making what's already there more fun and intuitive to use.

I fully understand!

[muzycian]

Jo, Correct me if I'm wrong - but I seem to recall that MuLab runs at 16bits behind the scenes.

NO!!

The complete audio engine uses 32 bit!!

Only the "Mixdown to Audiofile" renders the 32 bit audio to a 16 bit file.

An option for "Mixdown to Audiofile" to render to a 32 bit file is on the whishlist.

[muzycian]

I would clarify that I'm not referring so much to punching in, although the opton to overwrite a previous take might be useful...It's just that, recording pop tunes, it's pretty common to do a bazillion takes. The way mulab works right now, it get's unweildy pretty fast.

But you could just delete the unused takes from the composition, no?

This won't delete the audio from your harddisk, it just deletes the parts from the compositions. Even the used audio files stay in the session's audio file pool so you could even access them again very easily.

Now i think of this, there is only one 'sensitive' point: if you delete the part from the composition, then you loose the accompanying 'start point' as that is a part parameter, for audio files.

pljones, this is right on top of the other thread.

Regarding the above situation, it would be better if the start point was part of the audio file, and not of the part. But that would cause that you could only have 1 start point per audio file (otherwise you would need a start point parameter on part level anyway!), and that's unusable.

That is the very reason why i chose to put the start point on part level, for audio files.

Now to solve the above situation, it would be good that audio files can have as many locators as you want, and then on part level you can choose between 1 of these locators. Yes, that sounds good to me. It's the same system as what will be used for samples then.

Regarding sequence parts and sequences, i'll continue the discussion in the other thread:

http://www.kvraudio.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=203074

Mmm, never thought this could be such a difficult topic...

[rl]

on my list:
- sysex recording and playback (eg. patch dumps)
- dedicated solo/mute buttons
- dockable patch selector for VST plugins including patch rename, load/save, quick edit knobs (as the musynth has)
- labels for the knobs on the musynth's deep editor page (now I have to click on knob to see what it does)
- for workflow simplicity I think there is no need for different tools - at least arrow, pen, eraser can be combined. E.g. I could think of: left click creates sequence/note with lenght of last sequence/note, drag at right edge resizes sesequence/note, right click deletes note, ctrl drag draws a rubberband and then right click or delete button deletes,..
(I don't like switching tools over and over again)



Small bug: the hotspot of the pen in the sequence editor does not match. If I click a little right of the middle of a cell the note appears in the next cell.

[guitarfrodo]

Agree with rl, if I understand what the term means; dockable patch selector(Locater) (load save edit) that stays with a specific vst from project to project would be nicer than going over to the favorites folder all the time for this function.

[muzycian]

on my list:
- sysex recording and playback (eg. patch dumps)

It's on the whishlist.

- dedicated solo/mute buttons

Some other people also requested this.

Just to better understand:

Why do you want separate buttons?

I assume it's for speeding up a 'solo', right?

(as the mute is already there with 1 click)

So what about Alt+Click on Mute button = Solo.

So you don't have to popup the context menu.

- dockable patch selector for VST plugins including patch rename, load/save, quick edit knobs (as the musynth has)

the vst patch selector is on the whishlist.

but there are some technical difficulties with that...

will try to find a solution.

- labels for the knobs on the musynth's deep editor page (now I have to click on knob to see what it does)

Just hovering the mouse over a knob is sufficient

- for workflow simplicity I think there is no need for different tools - at least arrow, pen, eraser can be combined. E.g. I could think of: left click creates sequence/note with lenght of last sequence/note, drag at right edge resizes sesequence/note, right click deletes note, ctrl drag draws a rubberband and then right click or delete button deletes,..
(I don't like switching tools over and over again)

Just select the pen and you got it all!

See http://www.mutools.com/mulab/docs/composer.html

Small bug: the hotspot of the pen in the sequence editor does not match. If I click a little right of the middle of a cell the note appears in the next cell.

It's not a bug.

When you click, the timing is rounded to the NEAREST grid point

[davidweese]

Jo said

Why do you want separate buttons?
I assume it's for speeding up a 'solo', right?
(as the mute is already there with 1 click)
So what about Alt+Click on Mute button = Solo.

Yes yes yes! That's just as good, in fact I tried that thinking maybe you had already set it up that way! Thank you!

Dave

[Spitfire31]

I'm a little bit surprised that no one but me wants drag and drop support...?


Or is it just me bouncing tracks and using loops from time to time?

Oh, I would love that! I just prefer an integrated sampler more.

How many samplers are there already to choose from?

But without drag'n'drop support, EZ Drummer and similar machines which are based on dragging MIDI clips to tracks, in order to build a drum track, are unuseable!

I definitely wouldn't ever consider MU.LAB without this very basic feature.

YMMV, of course.

/Joey

[MUDX]

returning things to the 'fun' area for just a moment...

a template to choose one's own COLORS ?

a simple typing-in after clicking on any area.. and "save skin" ..

and

i'm not sure, but i think that the plugin delete hasn't been made easy.

[Bonteburg]

How many samplers are there already to choose from?

Buy a Mac and ask that question again

Besides which, having an integrated sampler is a totally different way of working in my opinion. Neat and tidy, no incompatabilities or performance issues.

I don't think anyone wants MuSynth to be the next Gigasampler.
A simple WTF oscillator behaving like a wave player (possibly two loop points) would be just the ticket.

Here's a good idea -You could set the note range and create simple multiplayers or drumkits by chaining modules in the plug area!


Marco

[mickeh]

How many samplers are there already to choose from?

Buy a Mac and ask that question again

Another reason not to buy a mac

(No, no, no, it's not a flame, it's just a joke! )

[Bonteburg]

hehe

Actually, in the way of samplers, you might just be right. Choice of samplers for the Mac is pretty limited compared to he PC world.