UVI Falcon 3

[lulukom]

Hi all . Where can I read or watch about the possibilities of midi output in Falcon 3 ?

[dayjob]

Hi all . Where can I read or watch about the possibilities of midi output in Falcon 3 ?

let me youtube that for you (midi out info starts around 6:48):



and the manual is on their site:

https://s3.amazonaws.com/uvi/UVIFC/falcon_manual.pdf

[lulukom]

Thank you ! ))

[padillac]

Is there a way to sync Drum Designer start/stop with DAW, like host sync in Stylus? The play button only works one time, so if I stop the daw then DD doesn’t start up again.

[Octave_Jumper]

Is there a way to sync Drum Designer start/stop with DAW, like host sync in Stylus? The play button only works one time, so if I stop the daw then DD doesn’t start up again.

no, i'm pretty sure it's been established that sync with daw play button is not possible due to some kind of technical limitation. You'll have to settle for triggering patterns with midi notes.

[machinesworking]

I think people also get a bit confused when they compare a synth like Falcon to a synth like Phase Plant. They’re both multi-engine synthesizers, but Falcon is far more rooted as a sample playback machine than most anything else.

Yeah, this is UVI's model for a lot of their stuff. For a lot of their products this is what actually prevents me from wanting them - compare something like USQ-1 to SQ-80 V for example, and there's just no comparison - Arturia wins by a mile.

However, with Falcon, it seems much more fundamental to me and wouldn't bother me at all.

The one thing keeping me from buying v3 is that I just have so much of it covered in other synths. But as others say, nothing really collects it all in one quite like Falcon.

Well one thing you might not know is Falcon started off as a collaboration with MOTU called MachFive as a competitor to Kontakt, it could load all of the sample libraries from UVI. By version 3 of Machfive it started adding in oscillators and filters and various granular engines. At that point UVI and MOTU seem to have parted somewhat amicably and UVI came out with the "new" Falcon, which at version 1.0 was basically MachFive 4, so IMO Falcon 3 is basically M56.

The UVI sample libraries like USQ-1 are just like Kontakt libraries, it's a GUI with some filters and other modulators over a multi-sampled instrument etc.

At this point Falcon is it's own ecosystem, MIDI FX, multiple synth engine types, granular, wavetable, and massive amounts of audio FX etc. IMO it's a lot more fun to create your own sound in than Kontakt, and seems to me to have a lot deeper control for sound design than something like Omnisphere.

[rasmusklump]

I prefer anything UVI over anything Arturia.

[Korg Supporter]

I think people also get a bit confused when they compare a synth like Falcon to a synth like Phase Plant. They’re both multi-engine synthesizers, but Falcon is far more rooted as a sample playback machine than most anything else.

Yeah, this is UVI's model for a lot of their stuff. For a lot of their products this is what actually prevents me from wanting them - compare something like USQ-1 to SQ-80 V for example, and there's just no comparison - Arturia wins by a mile.

However, with Falcon, it seems much more fundamental to me and wouldn't bother me at all.

The one thing keeping me from buying v3 is that I just have so much of it covered in other synths. But as others say, nothing really collects it all in one quite like Falcon.

I am so spoiled by the Phase Plant workflow at this point that Falcon's might be something that keeps me from using it much, though.

Eh. Maybe I'll SonicPass it for a month and give it a shot. It will go on sale again, no rush.

I would get Tone2 Icarus for something that sounds similar to the SQ80 but can do more. The butter filter sounds so sweet.

[stoopicus]

I would get Tone2 Icarus for something that sounds similar to the SQ80 but can do more. The butter filter sounds so sweet.

Icarus looks great but really I am covered there. SQ-80 V, for all intents and purposes, *is* a SQ-80. It loaded all the EXQ-1 sysex dumps I could find and sounded really close.

Yeah, it misses the analog filters of the original, and I loved my ESQ-1, but for a software emulation it's really good.

As for Falcon - I was just using the USQ-1 as an example of UVI's longstanding model of providing sample-based instruments with additional synthy features similar to the ones you can make in Falcon as freestanding packages for use in UVI Workstation (or Falcon). It wasn't meant as a slight on Falcon or UVI; I simply prefer the approach Arturia took when it comes to emulating vintage gear.

Falcon is an amazing synth. I almost bought 3.0 on the intro sale, in fact I was so close that I couldn't make up my mind and subscribed for a month afterwards to see if I made the right choice. But in the end, just too much overlap with my other stuff. It did lead me to buy Thorus and SparkVerb though.

UVI makes great stuff, no slights intended above.

[newuser2014]

Ok

[Lerian]

I was playing on F3 at a friend, and man.. it might be flexible but the UI and user experience is one of a migraine simulator. After 1h I still haven't managed to find out how to edit <multiple> tabs of existing presets. Also the hierarchy and positioning is way too complicated for what it actually is.

I don't understand how people design these complex tools without giving total flexibility to the user. I work in UX and i think I know what UVI tried to achieve - "complex yet simple" UI. But unfortunately there is not such thing. You can only embrace one or the other. For Falcon 3 I would have embraced complexity and provide more than one way to do a single thing. And they don't even have to reinvent the wheel - there are countless modular architectures to get inspired from.

So yeah, Falcon 3 is tempting, but I just can't stand its UX. Not enough flexibility, things way to crammed, zero intuitive for me. If UVI will change these things in F4, and use some common sense approach, then I will sure become a customer.

[Jac459]

I was playing on F3 at a friend, and man.. it might be flexible but the UI and user experience is one of a migraine simulator. After 1h I still haven't managed to find out how to edit <multiple> tabs of existing presets. Also the hierarchy and positioning is way too complicated for what it actually is.

I don't understand how people design these complex tools without giving total flexibility to the user. I work in UX and i think I know what UVI tried to achieve - "complex yet simple" UI. But unfortunately there is not such thing. You can only embrace one or the other. For Falcon 3 I would have embraced complexity and provide more than one way to do a single thing. And they don't even have to reinvent the wheel - there are countless modular architectures to get inspired from.

So yeah, Falcon 3 is tempting, but I just can't stand its UX. Not enough flexibility, things way to crammed, zero intuitive for me. If UVI will change these things in F4, and use some common sense approach, then I will sure become a customer.

Well, very little people here will challenge the fact that Falcon 3 UI language and workflow are ... complex (to say the least).

If you are looking to start a sound from scratch, definitely Avenger 2 or Phase Plant are way way better choices for me.

BUT

The guys from UVI are very talented sound designer and soundware makers and you need to consider the fact that Falcon is also an incredibly rich and fun library of sounds, supported by a hell of powerful synth.
So basically if you are just human like me, and not a kind of genius able to speak Falcon 3 fluently, just keep your energy to navigate the presets and modify them as you want. It is already a joy and source of fun.
Some soundware are in my view the best I have ever seen, I am particularly fan of the Quadra series. Give it a listen...

[Lerian]

So yeah, Falcon 3 is tempting, but I just can't stand its UX. Not enough flexibility, things way to crammed, zero intuitive for me. If UVI will change these things in F4, and use some common sense approach, then I will sure become a customer.

Well, very little people here will challenge the fact that Falcon 3 UI language and workflow are ... complex (to say the least).

If you are looking to start a sound from scratch, definitely Avenger 2 or Phase Plant are way way better choices for me.

BUT

The guys from UVI are very talented sound designer and soundware makers and you need to consider the fact that Falcon is also an incredibly rich and fun library of sounds, supported by a hell of powerful synth.
So basically if you are just human like me, and not a kind of genius able to speak Falcon 3 fluently...

Well, it may be true that the guys are very talented, and judging by the presets they are. Even though, I always like to at least tweak my sounds, if not design them from scratch. But no matter how talented you are in coding or sound design, when it comes to user interfaces/experiences.. that is a totally different job.

I was staring at a list of modifiers the other day, without knowing which operator is affecting which osc or fm, or another lfo, or whatever. Just a list with a bunch of numbers. We're not in 1970 guys, when only engineers knew whats what. We do have graphical representations nowadays, I could see exactly the freq at which an LFO is pulsing, and where it is going.

The same with which FX goes where, and also in the list on the left there are dozens of FX enabled, without being actually enabled on any sound. Its confusing while doesn't have to be. There are clear rules on enabled/disabled/running states nowadays, we don't need to invent anything new. Just follow the rules, to make everyone's life easier.

Also, I was mapping (midi learn) some macros on a preset (from a specific pack), and then when I switched the preset all the mappings were gone, even though the number of macros and their roles was the same. Again, friction where things could go much smoother if anyone would have thought of it in a user-friendly way.

There were more pain points, but these I remember right now as being the most frustrating. I really hope that UVI will hire a skilled UX person to bring Falcon back from ux of the korg keyboard arrangers of the 90s, to 2024

[EvilDragon]

MIDI learn is stored per preset, there is no guarantee the next preset you load would have the same parameters at all, that's why that works the way it works. No easy solution for that.

[Jac459]

Well, it may be true that the guys are very talented, and judging by the presets they are. Even though, I always like to at least tweak my sounds, if not design them from scratch.

...

I think that even if the workflow is not ideal, the UI still allows to modify your sound "kind of" easily, or at least easily enough.
And for the soundware, you actually have a ton of macros ready for you, and for more advanced soundware it is even new interfaces with access to arpeggiators, filters, effects and all that are available to you.
Have a look at whoosh, Quadra, they are both created as script from Falcon.