Kontrol Series Patches

#1

Ive not been releasing patches for a while, since Ive been busy writing a new ‘architecture’ that will be used by all my future patches, this system is called "Kontrol"
Kontrol v1 is now complete, and so all of my patches have all been updated to use it.

The main features for end users of Kontrol are:

  • easy to use MIDI Learn, for all parameters
  • a preset system
  • Remote control of patches via OSC (more on this to come… )

(there are some other important elements, which I cannot reveal yet :wink: )

here is the updated list, which include a couple of easter eggs to find.

Wrps - here
Clds -here
Brds - here
Lmnts - here
Rngs - here
Grds - here

Rngs Chorus - here
Rngs Reverb - here
Rngs Ensemble - here

Brds OSC here
Brds OSC here

Also updated is my MEC application which supports Eigenharps, Soundplane and Ableton PUSH 2
MEC - here

all are shipped in the new ZOP format for OS 3.0 , which must be used
simply download the zop, put it in your patches directory , and then on the Organelle you will see the option “Install …zop”, click it. (feel free to put in sub folders, thats what i do)

some highlights over the (already detailed) Kontrol benefits

  • Ive optimised the build of all the externals, so should be lower cpu usage, and also fixed bugs I found since the release.

  • a new Rings modules which I know some were waiting for, to add a bit of fun (also tongue firmly in cheek) , I followed it with Clouds :wink:

  • Grds replaces ‘pd-grids-link’, its still based on the fantastic pd-grids by @spoitras, but now its been built in the same Mi4Pd library (with build optimisations), based on Kontrol… oh, and I added a small reverb after it.

  • eBrds, has been renamed to Brds OSC, and is now accompanies with Brds MPE, both patches allow for expressive playing using T3D OSC and MPE midi respectively.
    Note: Kontrol is also now much smoother than it was with the pre-releases of Brds/eBrds with Kontrol
    (if you installed these, you will need to delete before installing new versions, otherwise the install may fail)

  • Simplified patches, meaning you can edit them !
    seriously they are simple , one of the main benefit of ‘Kontrol’ is all the UI code is stripped out, so these patches are really small and simple, so experiment with them… they are designed to take bits from different patches and combine…hint: adding automation is a good step, especially for clouds.

  • Linked to last point now they are using Kontrol, I plan to extend them, as its now much easier… and so more fun.

Again the main credit here has to go to Mutable Instruments, as by generously releasing their source code as open source, I was able to port to the Organelle.
It goes without saying, that these are in no way endorsed or supported by Mutable Instruments, and do have differences (for a number of technical reasons) , and may include bugs that Ive introduced.

Anyway I hope you enjoy the updates… and I look forward to bring you more soon.

Mark

#2

All sounds rather wonderful, thanks @thetechnobear!

#3

These are fun, thanks for posting!

The paging works great, I love the big text that comes up. Is there a difference between ‘Save Settings’ and ‘Save Preset’?

#4

yes…
save preset saves the preset in memory / non permanently…
(hmm, update preset, would be less confusing name)

save settings, saves (all) the presets and the midi mapping (from midi learn)

the idea being, you can create presets, update them, switch between them, map midi
and at the end, you can save if you want. (or not if you don’t)

(… also, technically i didn’t want to hit the filesystem, if you just wanted to create new presets/update existing ones)

(you can also do these operations via OSC messages :wink: )

btw: Default is loaded when the patch is started.
(i could save which was the selected preset, if people thought this was better)

also, if users edit the file …-rack.json they can edit the preset names.
(they get called 'new-preset #1… 2 etc)

#5

Thanks :pray: for these, I like the interface…less button pushing. I’m finding the menu selects the page really fast, is there a way to slow it down a tad? Old eyes

#6

Agreed, this is a wonderful improvement.

#7

cool, im glad people are enjoying the UI experience.

Ive got some ideas on how to add ‘shortcuts’, to try to reduce the main menu-> select sub menu type flow… so still some areas to improve… but they are linked a bit to next phase.

if anyone has some ideas on how to improve things, im all ears :slight_smile:

one area we could ‘discuss’ is if users are using the keys and the knobs still belong to the patch, whilst in menu mode… so you can carry on playing ( the current ‘norm’), but this means i only have the encoder to play with. (even the aux key is reserved for patches)
but in some areas im considering relaxing this criteria… as if your busy doing stuff in the menu, im not sure you can still play easily (though of course you could hold a chord!?)
(I’ll say the knobs, are particularly useful, because using them in the menu, means you have to lock the parameter… so is not a nice UX)

so you mean the speed the ‘page title’ is displayed?
or the speed the main menu reverts to the parameters page?

I could make these configurable… obviously the trade off is, the longer the timeout , the longer you have to wait till you can see the parameters again… which is why i liked it kind of snappy… but yeah i think if your unfamiliar with the menus/pages, can imagine it feels a bit fast.

#8

…yes this is what I was referring too. I keep having to repeat things being a bit ponderous in nature :face_with_raised_eyebrow: as it is really fast. I can understand how this would suit some people though.

#9

May be user error but key 60 on rngs seems to have same pitch as whatever note was played before it. Is this intentional?

#10

I noticed after installing the .zop files I have a duplicate of each but displayed as eg: Install ._clds.zop

If I look at the usb drive on my macbook I don’t see these files.

Can I delete them any way?

#11

yeah, these are being added by some version of macOS … which is why macOS then hides them.

thanks for the report, I’ll put in a fix for the next OS 3.1 beta.

(i tend not see these things as i always use wifi to transfer the zop file, and i also dont use usb :wink: )

#12

funny, i was walking the dog this morning, and suddenly thought this error might be there…
(its because i pasted the code over from clouds, which uses a couple of keys for trig/freeze)
thanks for the report - I’ll fix it for next version.

#13

oh excited to play with these! Been looking forward to a rings patch, thanks so much for exploring these Mr Bear!

#14

Wow, loving it! The menu system and overlays works so well too, I’ll have to try and record some jams with it and share. :slight_smile:

#16

marvelous stuff! lmnts is beautiful. i can’t wait to try the others.

#17

Thanks for this! Really loving Rngs!
I made a couple changes if anyone is interested.
I fixed the note 60 issue and changed the note handling so releasing a previous key wont cut the gate off for a newer note.
Also I noticed the tuning didn’t seem right, I’m guessing its because its based on code made for 48000 hz sampling rate, it seems right if I add 1.46 semitones to the pitch input.
I also added a sequencer since the aux wasnt doing anything.
rngs_seq.zip (640.2 KB)

Loving Braids too, but models 2-12 don’t seem to work right (I’m comparing to braids in VCV rack), they always just make the same noise regardless of the note or model.

Kontrol is also really smooth to use now! I would definitely try using it for some of my own patches. Is there going to be an offical release?

#18

@thetechnobear you are my hero :slight_smile: . I love these patches so much and the new architecture is amazing! it achieves a level of actual usability I hope becomes the new standard for more complex organelle patches :slight_smile:

I was messing around with clouds today and was having some weird issues with the freeze not unfreezing, as well as some weird pop-crackle stuff. is that just me or has anyone else encountered this? I tend to think its just me since everything else is running so smooth.

#19

@friender , im not aware of any issues in clouds… perhaps others have got some details?
(it may be that some parameters are too cpu intensive to be modulated as fast as the knobs allow… e.g. mode)

Ive got family visiting this week (hence why i wanted this out before the weekend).
after that i do plan to revisit each of the patches , particular rings and clouds…

rings was very much ‘knocked together’ quickly after i got the underlying code working - so i’ll fix the tuning (yes, its caused by SR in various places in the MI code hardcoded to 48k).
also it really needs an arp, to make sense of the strum modes :wink:
(Ive also not tested the audio input modes… not sure if anyone has stumbled on these yet)

clouds needs modulation for the ‘cloud’ to be created properly- as Olivier has pointed out this is a common misconception about clouds usage… so going to ‘fix that’ for the Organelle.

@WyrdAl
Kontrol being released, well this is phase one, I hope the meta file will not alter too much, which is why i converted all these patches. so yeah its pretty stable, as any changes I’ll also have to reflect in my patches.

however, there is one important ‘feature’ yet to come…
(there is hints at what it is, but i don’t want to spoil the surprise of)
for which the proof of concept works, but Ive a few things to tweak, and a bit more UI for the Organelle/Push - but Im pretty hopeful its not going to be too long.

Id love to see more patches using Kontrol, and lets just say the ‘next thing’ , I think, will open a few doors for us all :wink:

#20

I’m struggling with your lmts.zop - claiming it is corrupt. The rest installed fine

Love the interface

looking forward to using these to make some music!

(edit) although it seems to have installed despite claiming the file was corrupt? weird

#21

must be an issue on your USB stick… works fine here.

basically what happens is the zop is uncompressed, and then the resultant files checksums are compared to what they should be , if they differ then an error is reported. (but its still uncompressed, hence why you can see it)
(there is a log file produced but not easy to get to , so only worth us checking if you repeatedly get the error)

one thing, which I’ll changed in the next 3.1 beta is , if you start adding files into the directory , then the install will fail - not an issue here, but could be in other scenarios.

anyway hope you enjoy the patches
Mark

side note:

I had a quick look at this… and noticed the code already should not be showing,
then I checked, and its a ‘bug’ I fixed just after OS 3.0 was released.

So… this is already fixed in the OS 3.1 betas