Opal by Fors — an Elektron-like drum synth and sequencer for Max for Live

[fireapplered]

Just take all my money.

https://youtu.be/Rf-M5vbX6Q8

[gentleclockdivider]

It's kind of funny that he can't seem to leave the elektron UI aesthetic behind him .
It is mighty impressive all of this is done with gen~ , perhaps some c++ thrown in too ?

[dayjob]

It's kind of funny that he can't seem to leave the elektron UI aesthetic behind him .
It is mighty impressive all of this is done with gen~ , perhaps some c++ thrown in too ?

elektron gui style is most obvious in this device but their other devices reveal their own personal style choices more obviously.

regardless, this is a really nice well thought drum machine with a wide range of sound design options. a lot is packed in there and having it closely tied to the sequencer + having individual devices for use in drum racks etc is a huge win for me.

[pierb]

Max allows you to use JavaScript, C, and C++.

[dayjob]

Max allows you to use JavaScript, C, and C++.

also JUCE

https://youtu.be/4OQVBX2vx_g

[ess_m]

Thanks for all the kind words!

For those curious, the DSP is all written in Gen~, but more specifically using the Genexpr language which makes writing more complex DSP algorithms and structures more manageable compared to the data flow approach.

UI is all done in JavaScript with the JSUI object in Max. It's sort of a roll-your-own UI object that lets you interface with a lot of the Max draw calls using JS.

It's kind of funny that he can't seem to leave the elektron UI aesthetic behind him

Heh, to be fair I did design the UI of the Digitakt, Digitone and Model:x so I'd like to think that the aesthetic bleed-over is more or less just my personal style... But yes I am very inspired by the early aesthetics of Elektron that Jesper Kouthoofd (who later formed Teenage Engineering) did, always have been. We're all standing on the shoulders of giants, after all.

[LFO8]

Is there any hope that this will see the light of day as a plugin outside of Max for Live or Ableton?

[dave dove]

beautiful work...

[dayjob]

Is there any hope that this will see the light of day as a plugin outside of Max for Live or Ableton?

on the elektronauts forum he mentioned working towards making plug ins but no indication if Opal will be a plug in any time soon since even w/cycling74's additions of RNBO and ability to export code from Gen etc it's not a simple process and it would have to be rewritten from scratch. here's a quote from the thread at elektronauts:

Our goal for the past year has been to work towards being able to venture outside of the Max for Live space while also making new things that are both exciting and makes enough revenue to expand.

This is a hard but rewarding path forward, and while a Kickstarter is not a bad idea I see it more as a last resort. I’d rather try to fund things ourselves and have a more natural growth. In fact, we have already expanded with a very talented developer (and ex-colleague, good friend, of mine!) joining the team, so things are moving.

so, sounds like more good things to come down the road but for the time being max for live is the place where all their stuff will exist...

[kmonkey]

Purchased. I never used Elektron machines. If this is somewhat similar then I see what is all bout. This packs a ton of fun and the sound is awesome. I mean everything is so well laid out. And visuals and GUI are very "Ableton" like and natural, but at the same time their own style and thing.

Overall this is the first time M4l creation impressed me with aesthetics and sound.

Usually, I stay away from M4l because almost all devices I ever purchased are broken in future updates (I mean when Live updates periodically). But let's not talk about M4l here.

This is a highly recommended product if you are Live user.

[worldfever]

very underrated still, this device. its incredibly deep and the synths/sampler they included are super unique and top notch and hit amazing sweet spots. i know this is inspired by elektron stuff but i kinda wish elektron hardware was more like this!
(EDIT: just now read that ess used to be lead developer at elektron for a couple years lol)

drawbacks are that it has 0 midi capabilities, and parameter locks arent visualized , but i think they might amend some stuff in future updates, not sure about the midi thing but i think there might be cool stuff coming

also the dev(s) really care and love what they are doing, its very evident in how they present everything. can really recommend of their stuff if you have ableton

their show&tells also really fun to watch
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rf-M5vbX6Q8&t

[HOTF]

I want this so bad seems like the perfect techno machine

[christian f.]

I want this so bad seems like the perfect techno machine

It really is a perfect Techno Machine !

[Double Tap]

very underrated still, this device. its incredibly deep and the synths/sampler they included are super unique and top notch and hit amazing sweet spots. i know this is inspired by elektron stuff but i kinda wish elektron hardware was more like this!
(EDIT: just now read that ess used to be lead developer at elektron for a couple years lol)

drawbacks are that it has 0 midi capabilities, and parameter locks arent visualized , but i think they might amend some stuff in future updates, not sure about the midi thing but i think there might be cool stuff coming

also the dev(s) really care and love what they are doing, its very evident in how they present everything. can really recommend of their stuff if you have ableton

their show&tells also really fun to watch
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rf-M5vbX6Q8&t

The 1.2 update came a few days ago - there's now a randomiser, and a Midi Control version which is basically a sequencer which can control 10 parameters in an instrument which is pretty cool as well.

You can modulate parameters for the standalone instrument devices, like Dust or Gem on its own for example, but obviously it would be much more fun to be able to do that in the main device - the manual suggests that just isn't going to be possible though:

The main Opal device has limited mapping options due to its inherent complex structure, parameter locking functionality and preset system. It is for example not possible to use external modulators to affect the different synth parameters in Opal. This is essentially a trade-off for having the sequencer’s deep functionality.

https://stuff.fors.fm/opal-guide.pdf

Also you can route each device to a separate track from the main Opal device which I guess some people might find really useful, but the trade off there is that I don't think there's a single volume control which is slightly inconvenient if you're only using it in one track since it starts up pretty loud.

[HOTF]

just dowloaded this morning. This is really amazing!I have not felt this excited by some software like this in a while. Version 1.2 opens a lot of possibilites.