Harmony Bloom by Mario Nieto (MIDI plugin)

[MarioNietoWorld]

Are there essential differences to Spiral in the Reaktor Library?

It's hard to say, I haven't used Spiral for many years. But off the bat, I think one of the main differences is that with Harmony Bloom, you have much more control over which notes play and when.

[Dr.Gunjah]

Harmony Bloom sends everything generated through a single MIDI channel. Could you give me more details about that function?

Regarding the demo version - I have a version created but not finished. If you send me an email at "I think it's because I've posted little, but I can't leave my email... please send me a PM.", I can send it to you. Although, I hope to have a public DEMO available at some point.

Maybe I misinterpreted what I've seen in the video. It looked like you set a pattern and then make layers of that pattern, but after watching again you just increase the note count (?)
I still wonder what happened if you could route certain notes to different plugins (midi channels).

I think I will simply check out the demo when it's available.

[MarioNietoWorld]

Indeed, it is the same generated sequence where it is possible to change the number of notes. In the future I would like to add the possibility of having much more control over the generated notes, so I think it would be a good idea to add the option of being able to assign the desired midi channel to each note.

[vulpes777]

Instabuy for me

A few feature requests I hope Mario will consider for the future updates:

- Start and stop synced to the host transport (...unless it's already there? I can only seem to make it start and stop in either free-run mode or on note on/off).
- loop length down to 32, for those slooooow ever-evolving soundscapes (or possibly also up to 1/32 for some fun chaos).
- an actual "spiral mode", where the free offset constantly loops from 0 to 1 in either direction. EDIT: I was hoping I could simulate this with an LFO automation; the "visuals" are there but the note triggering is, unfortunately, not quite consistent...
- trigger bars that can be mapped to different channels.

(hope all this makes sense).

Keep up the good work, I really needed something like this!

--
Marco

[vulpes777]

Are there essential differences to Spiral in the Reaktor Library?

It's hard to say, I haven't used Spiral for many years. But off the bat, I think one of the main differences is that with Harmony Bloom, you have much more control over which notes play and when.

I think the main difference is that, in Spiral, the notes tend to move at different speeds, effectively spiraling out. This makes for some very complex patterns that take a long time before they repeat, but it also means that, at times there can be no note playing, or at some point all the notes play at the same time since there is, I think, only one trigger bar-equivalent.

in your sequencer, once I have set the speed and the offsets, things are more under control, I can't get the same sense of unpredictability, but I can safely avoid the "dead" or overcrowded spots, which is nice - of course having both worlds would be nicer

Spiral is a really nice concept, IMHO, pity it wasn't built with customization in mind. Following a tutorial I have made my own copy of Spiral with a bunch of more spicy scales (also, hookers and blackjack), but I had to stop when I realised I would have needed to redo part of the UI elements for the new scale names to be displayed. Kind of a bummer but hey, other than that it works.

Regards,

--
Marco

[gentleclockdivider]

Are there essential differences to Spiral in the Reaktor Library?

It's hard to say, I haven't used Spiral for many years. But off the bat, I think one of the main differences is that with Harmony Bloom, you have much more control over which notes play and when.

I think the main difference is that, in Spiral, the notes tend to move at different speeds, effectively spiraling out. This makes for some very complex patterns that take a long time before they repeat, but it also means that, at times there can be no note playing, or at some point all the notes play at the same time since there is, I think, only one trigger bar-equivalent.

in your sequencer, once I have set the speed and the offsets, things are more under control, I can't get the same sense of unpredictability, but I can safely avoid the "dead" or overcrowded spots, which is nice - of course having both worlds would be nicer

Spiral is a really nice concept, IMHO, pity it wasn't built with customization in mind. Following a tutorial I have made my own copy of Spiral with a bunch of more spicy scales (also, hookers and blackjack), but I had to stop when I realised I would have needed to redo part of the UI elements for the new scale names to be displayed. Kind of a bummer but hey, other than that it works.

Regards,

--
Marco

Uh reaktor ensembles ARE made with customisation in mind , that's what reaktor is about .
To each their own but I rather make stuf myself in architect or Plugdata , the spiral is just eye candy

[vulpes777]

Are there essential differences to Spiral in the Reaktor Library?

It's hard to say, I haven't used Spiral for many years. But off the bat, I think one of the main differences is that with Harmony Bloom, you have much more control over which notes play and when.

I think the main difference is that, in Spiral, the notes tend to move at different speeds, effectively spiraling out. This makes for some very complex patterns that take a long time before they repeat, but it also means that, at times there can be no note playing, or at some point all the notes play at the same time since there is, I think, only one trigger bar-equivalent.

in your sequencer, once I have set the speed and the offsets, things are more under control, I can't get the same sense of unpredictability, but I can safely avoid the "dead" or overcrowded spots, which is nice - of course having both worlds would be nicer

Spiral is a really nice concept, IMHO, pity it wasn't built with customization in mind. Following a tutorial I have made my own copy of Spiral with a bunch of more spicy scales (also, hookers and blackjack), but I had to stop when I realised I would have needed to redo part of the UI elements for the new scale names to be displayed. Kind of a bummer but hey, other than that it works.

Regards,

--
Marco

Uh reaktor ensembles ARE made with customisation in mind , that's what reaktor is about .
To each their own but I rather make stuf myself in architect or Plugdata , the spiral is just eye candy

Counterpoint: editable does not equal easily customizable. In order to integrate the new scales in the UI I would have needed to remap the frames of the knob image and extend the scales image to account for the new labels taking care to match the colors and font, which was more time and effort than what I had originally planned.

So I did it the quick and dirty way: saved a copy of the ensemble with my own custom scales and a txt to remind me what's what. I might get back to it, eventually.

Anyway, back to Harmony Bloom that, while not being a direct replacement for Spiral, is indeed a nice piece of software that could use some exposure.

(Chris, are you reading this? )

--
Marco

[MarioNietoWorld]

That the notes move at different speeds is something that I am considering, in fact the first prototypes that I created was this idea, but the results were often a little more complicated to use within the context of a song. Now I'm thinking it would be a good idea to add this option, perhaps a control to adjust the speed difference between notes. I'll see what I can do.

[Uncle E]

Harmony Bloom is lovely and also deceptively easy to use. The three controls - N.Notes, Q.Offset, and F.Offset - create a huge range of bizarre patterns (probably millions) and yet their behavior is logical and easy to control. Really enjoying this.

[enCiphered]

Hi Mario, congratulations! This looks indeed very lovely. I would buy it immediately, but only if every parameter, especially the dice buttons, are automatable. Is that the case?

[ians]

Really like this. Does remind me of Spiral a lot, but with more control. A free running spiral would be good though. I wish the standalone could output to external hardware synths I have but I guess I could get this to work with the plug-in from a DAW like Logic or Bitwig?

Fine work

[psynical]

Hi Mario, congratulations! This looks indeed very lovely. I would buy it immediately, but only if every parameter, especially the dice buttons, are automatable. Is that the case?

you don't need to automate the dice since you can just randomize the amount through automation.

[MarioNietoWorld]

Instabuy for me

A few feature requests I hope Mario will consider for the future updates:

- Start and stop synced to the host transport (...unless it's already there? I can only seem to make it start and stop in either free-run mode or on note on/off).
- loop length down to 32, for those slooooow ever-evolving soundscapes (or possibly also up to 1/32 for some fun chaos).
- an actual "spiral mode", where the free offset constantly loops from 0 to 1 in either direction. EDIT: I was hoping I could simulate this with an LFO automation; the "visuals" are there but the note triggering is, unfortunately, not quite consistent...
- trigger bars that can be mapped to different channels.

(hope all this makes sense).

Keep up the good work, I really needed something like this!

--
Marco

Hey, thanks for the requests, I'm already working on a new update where I will add controls to have more unpredictable results, such as each note having a diferent speed /delay or a probability control so that the notes have a percentage of sounding or not, among other things.
I'll take note of the others and see what I can do

[MarioNietoWorld]

Harmony Bloom is lovely and also deceptively easy to use. The three controls - N.Notes, Q.Offset, and F.Offset - create a huge range of bizarre patterns (probably millions) and yet their behavior is logical and easy to control. Really enjoying this.

Thanks for your comment, I'm glad you're enjoying it

[MarioNietoWorld]

Hi Mario, congratulations! This looks indeed very lovely. I would buy it immediately, but only if every parameter, especially the dice buttons, are automatable. Is that the case?

Almost 100% of the parameters can be automated and controlled from midi CC. And those that cannot be automated in the current version, will be able to in the new update that I am preparing. What I would like to look at a little more calmly is the automation of the DICE, which currently cannot be automated but can be controlled from midi CC. I take note!