TimeShaper: Less clicks when jumping in audio - Beta

[MogwaiBoy]

+1

But I've gotten used to just routing a bunch of channels to a bus and then automating any curve at any point in time I want on the bus fader, all directly in the DAW without using any plugin.

FYI Polyverse have a volume envelope plugin for $19 (I think) at Audio Deluxe - and it supposedly has smoothing.

[woggle]

So Cableguys guys, when will we have this fabulous auto-smoothing for volume shaper so we can use it on non 4-on-the-floor beats without clicks?
I actually endedup using a classic sidechain comp because of this issue which drives me mad...

works fine for me

Gatekeeper from Polyverse is on sale and is worth getting if the shaperbox volumeis not working for you

[Kr3eM]

Gatekeeper from Polyverse is on sale and is worth getting if the shaperbox volumeis not working for you

Well Gatekeeper is only one band or am I missing something?

[woggle]

Gatekeeper from Polyverse is on sale and is worth getting if the shaperbox volumeis not working for you

Well Gatekeeper is only one band or am I missing something?

yeah it is only one band

[Jakob / Cableguys]

So Cableguys guys, when will we have this fabulous auto-smoothing for volume shaper so we can use it on non 4-on-the-floor beats without clicks?
I actually endedup using a classic sidechain comp because of this issue which drives me mad...

Thank you very much for your feature wish!

I am still not so much fan for smoothing the volume curve, as in my opinion this would thwart the curve drawing (or its start at least, if we limit it to the start of the curve). One of the big advantages of curve drawing over a compressor or standard DAW envelopes is that you can easily define the exact curve you want. If you'd then apply smoothing, then your curve would be altered (and ultimately would change the sound that you've set up before).

But I do understand the wish.. sometimes you might not care about a change in sound and that you do not have full control any more, and you just want to quickly remove the clicks.

But there's another solution to avoid clicks - without a smoothing control that alters the modulation curve and sound. Would that work for you? This is it:

Lets say you've drawn a ducking curve in VolumeShaper. And you are using the LFO's one-shot mode and MIDI triggering it to allow for non 4-on-the-floor beats. Lets say that's the curve:



Of course that'd click on every trigger, as it introduces a sudden jump from top position to the low position.

You can solve this by moving the curve to the right - for example by a a 1/32 note. And then by sending your MIDI triggering notes a 1/32 note earlier:



Then the trigger picks up the curve at full volume and applies the fade first.

By the way, for many styles it's even great to start the ducking a tiny little bit before the kick hits - which would perfectly work in this example then, without the need to add plugin latency for lookahead.

[Kr3eM]

Of course that'd click on every trigger, as it introduces a sudden jumo from top position to the low position.

You can solve this by moving the curve to the right - for example by a a 1/32 note. And then by sending your MIDI triggering notes a 16th note earlier:



Then the trigger picks up the curve at full volume and applies the fade first.

Correct me if I'm wrong but that only works if you never have a kick repeated earlier than the lenght of the fade curve, or? I mean if I re-trigger it when the fade position is halfway thru say at 50% then it still generates a click when it goes from 50% to 100% does it not?

[Jakob / Cableguys]

Correct me if I'm wrong but that only works if you never have a kick repeated earlier than the lenght of the fade curve, or? I mean if I re-trigger it when the fade position is halfway thru say at 50% then it still generates a click when it goes from 50% to 100% does it not?

Good remark! Yes, that would indeed produce a click.

OK, short pro / cons list..

Pro smoothing on MIDI trigger:
- Quick to set up.
- Avoids clicks even when retriggered fast.
- Easy to understand.
- More freedom; you can still decide not to use it, and to use the workaround that I mentioned.

Con smoothing on MIDI trigger:
- Wave drawing is not WYSIWYG anymore (for the beginning of the curve).
- The slope of the beginning of the wave cannot be defined by the user any more.
- No lookahead (as long as we do not introduce plugin latency).
- When we offer it, many users will start using it even in situations where the workaround would be superior.
- More controls which can be confusing (we want to keep the UI straightforward.. but maybe we could simply add the control to the MIDI trigger setup screen, which should be ok).

Let me know if I forgot some arguments..

[zeep]

Reading all this i'd say a Smooth function would be the simplest solution. Working for audio as well as midi input. I get that you want to keep things "pure" but when using Volume Shaper you're already "thwarting" the volume, so that tiny extra bit to get rid of a click is nothing.

You can put Smooth on a slider like LFOTool, if you want to give the extra control to users.