Alternatives, alternatives, alternatives (for Alchemy)

[Sampleconstruct]

Now that CA has quietly left the stage we have to recognize that there is no real hybrid alternative to Alchemy, as all other hybrid instruments I love, use and create content for - like MachFive 3 and HALion 5 - don't do additive nor spectral resynthesis. It would currently be impossible to recreate an Alchemy patch which combines granular with normal sampling and additive resynthesis in any other instrument on this planet. Of course purely granular or multisampled patches can be re-created to a certain extent and at better quality, but without the morphing part.

As I spent a lot of my time during the last almost 5 years creating content for Alchemy, I am now rather consternated.

The options could be to try and recreate some of the Alchemy patches e.g. in M5/H5 and multisample the additive/spectral oscillators to a certain degree, but that would be an awful amount of work, it would create huge library sizes and it would never sound the same, nor would it offer the real time control one has when tweaking the oscillators/timbres with the assigned Macros. Also none of the alternatives offer the unique morphing options available in Alchemy.

One option would be to hire a coder and develop my own platform, but in order to finance that I would need to rob a bank or two. The other option is to try and influence the companies I do betatesting for to develop something in this direction...

More thinking to do, we need alternatives, alternatives, alternatives.

[mandolarian]

Well, you're more fun than my last mastering engineer.

His line was: "I don't want alternatives. I want decisions!"



Those pesky camels have stepped on toes and toddled off into the barren internet desert without leaving so much as a hint to the location of the next additive/spectral resynthesis oasis...

[billcarroll]

Is it plausible that MachFive 3 and HALion 5 would ever get additive and spectral resynthesis?

[Sampleconstruct]

Those pesky camels have stepped on toes and toddled off into the barren internet desert without leaving so much as a hint to the location of the next additive/spectral resynthesis oasis...

[dream]Well, the technology in Harmor seems very good, but it's PC only so I never got to hear it myself. Also the additive/spectral resynthesis in Metasynth is spectacular, if I could only license that kind of technology and built my own instrument, that would be paradise.[/dream]

[back to reality]...[/reality]

[Sampleconstruct]

Is it plausible that MachFive 3 and HALion 5 would ever get additive and spectral resynthesis?

Let the dust settle and hopefully other developers will fill the gap, and there is now a huge gap.

[aMUSEd]

There is a Mac alpha of Harmor - seems pretty stable for an alpha.

Personally I'm not liking the interface though.

[Sampleconstruct]

There is a Mac alpha of Harmor - seems pretty stable for an alpha.

Personally I'm not liking the interface though.

Too many Alphas here, I need at least a Beta

[mandolarian]

There is a Mac alpha of Harmor - seems pretty stable for an alpha.

Personally I'm not liking the interface though.

Too many Alphas here, I need at least a Beta

Preferably a Sigma. Or even a Theta.

[aMUSEd]

I thought Mach V had an additive synth engine?

[Sampleconstruct]

I thought Mach V had an additive synth engine?

It has a wavetable module which can resynthesize single cycle waveforms from imported samples, then it has several synth modules but no additive snythesis/resynthesis, no.

[aMUSEd]

OK well it claims to have one on their site, a bit of a stretch then?

[Sampleconstruct]

OK well it claims to have one on their site, a bit of a stretch then?

It has a module with 8 oscillators but that's hardly an additive synthesizer as I understand it (which usually has at least 64 if not hundreds of oscillators) and it does not resynthesize, it's named "analog stack module".

[emasters]

Instead of coding up your own solution, how about approaching CA to see if you could purchase the code/rights to Alchemy, and start from there (financing aside)? Not necessarily purchasing the existing customer base, and it wouldn't have to be exclusive (others could purchase rights to the code base independently, for their own use). I suspect others have considered this already. It seems strange that a successful product would not be sold with or without the customer base, to compensate the prior stakeholders at CA, as they move on. Perhaps not likely, but none the less, an alternative...

[aMUSEd]

I agree - bit naughty of them to claim that then.

[Sampleconstruct]

Instead of coding up your own solution, how about approaching CA to see if you could purchase the code/rights to Alchemy, and start from there (financing aside)? Not necessarily purchasing the existing customer base, and it wouldn't have to be exclusive (others could purchase rights to the code base independently, for their own use). I suspect others have considered this already. It seems strange that a successful product would not be sold with or without the customer base, to compensate the prior stakeholders at CA, as they move on. Perhaps not likely, but none the less, an alternative...

As soon as we know more, I mean what actually happened with CA and what will happen with their technology (other than all those wannabe-expert-assumptions), that's a viable option.