Atlantis
by Jeremy on April 16th, 2009
Wow, it’s been a long time since I have posted a new version of Altantis. It’s slow going- I fight computers all day in the videogame factory, there’s little desire to do more of that when I get home.
There’s still so much I want to do with Atlantis for 1.0:
Complex envelopes on the oscillators are too gimmicky to be practical. I want to bring the oscillator envelopes back to the oldschool adsr days- they are easier to automate, especially in modern hosts. No one really needs native complex envelopes, that sort of thing is what host automation is for. Leave a comment here if I am wrong, because they will be changing in future versions if you don’t speak up. I may keep the modulator envelopes as is, let me know how you feel about that too.
The patch management is horrible, we’ve wanted to fix that for years, and even had an elegant online solution in the works at one point. A few people have pointed at various plugins that do it well. We had our own ideas about ways to do it here, but never got to 100%. This is an area of the program that needs serious thought. Does anyone use program changes any more? I may get rid of that whole system again as it just makes it complicated and annoying for both the user and the programmer. Let me know if you care.
Anyway, enough questions. Here’s your treat: A new, stabler Atlantis. No new features, just more solid: Atlantis VSTi beta 0.9k
on April 16th, 2009 at 1:57 pm
Thanks for the update Jeremy!
I actually like the quirky envelopes. Then again I’m not looking for “regular” sounds or anything. Easy automation is a plus though.
I never use program changes… As far as a patch system goes, I just use fxp/fxb most the time.
Not very helpful eh?
on April 17th, 2009 at 1:52 am
Hi, thanks for the update.
I agree with you regarding the envelopes. I could imagine those multistep envelopes make the parameter handling more complicated (variable parameter count).
About the preset system: It is the weakest part of your your otherwisely excellent synth and a main reason why I use it comparably rarely. I really miss inbuilt presets as quick starting point for patching. And: there are lots of provided presets as patch files, but you have to load it one by one to check it out. It should have a preview function, so selecting the file in the file dialog pre-loads the patch so you can hear it in context.
on April 17th, 2009 at 11:01 am
Hey
I’m glad something new is coming for Atlantis !
An easy preset manager will be veerryy welcome (while the osc envelopes are fine for me as it is now).
Thanks for keeping it alive
on April 17th, 2009 at 11:10 am
Hi
actually I like the complex envelopes…but PLEASE, change the patch management !
on April 17th, 2009 at 11:23 am
The only real wish i have is to have a folder structure for the external waveforms. I dropped like a thousand in there and it became unmanagable.
And more LFOs would be nice. I quickly run out of them since i want to modulate everything everytime.
Otherwise i’m really pleased with Atlantis once i found a way to make FXB banks for it. If you use TobyBears MiniHost the preset handling isn’t such a big deal.
on April 17th, 2009 at 12:41 pm
we want to choose wich envelopes to use (switchable)
current atlatis envelopes -realy great
AHDSR - very simple to use )
on April 18th, 2009 at 12:56 am
I disagree with anyone that wants me to keep the complex osc envelopes in there. Why?
I want to modulate sustain with velocity from within Atlantis, damnit. You can’t do that now.
With A(H)DSR you can modulate any of the envelope stages with a modulator. Which is rad- more expressive and fun to play. I like playing Atlantis with a midi controller.
You can still dial up a gate and modulate the volume of an osc with one of the complex envelope modulators if you want the crazy swells like you can program now (but it will use some envelope modulators).
As for patch management: I strongly agree with you guys. I designed the current patch management after my old beloved ax-73, mainly because I didn’t think anything more would be needed. I was wrong. It needs a more accessible interface.
I want to rework or remove program changes so patch switching is simple and easy for everyone. I’ve had an idea for a while about how to handle the guts of program changes in a better way, but it’s a departure from how it works now and will probably wreck all of your current banks. It might be better to abandon them entirely.
I think having 1000 chipsounds is goofy. I have 20, and even that’s ridiculous. However, when I decide on a clean method for patch browsing, I will keep it modular and apply it here too. Most likely it will be something simple like nested menus mirroring the directory structure, as has been suggested.
Thanks,
Jeremy
on April 18th, 2009 at 4:20 am
Hi,
I have too made fxb banks with Tobybear Minihost, so now its ok, but for the new users you should provide some preset fxb banks so they can quickly start to play. I have nothing about the modification of envelopes, but in this case will we lose our existing presets ? There is one thing that I think must be improved, its the main volume : when you have a lot of distortion, you cannot have low volume on the main output.
Atlantis is a great synth !
jp
on April 18th, 2009 at 2:46 pm
yep, a simple adsr could be really cool to modulate! i second that !
btw , here a little video using last release with xy pads controling some parameters of Atlantis ( made with Usine from sensomusic.com
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rrx8v-Lzabs
on April 20th, 2009 at 8:09 am
i must admit after much thought i do agree about the envelopes. host automation is much more suited to the task of giving complex movement to a sound. love the sound of this synth and love the modulation possibilities. probably no need to reiterate as everyone else has - preset management is the only downer at the moment. will be keeping a very keen eye on the development of this synth! best
on April 26th, 2009 at 6:49 am
Jeremy,
what about making 2-3 key point in envelope, with automatisation. you set time between key points (in ms), and changing will scale envelope between key points.
I think you understand ))) i will draw it if you want.
So, and if you make so complex envelope with automatisation - We need presets for envelopes to make work easier.
on April 26th, 2009 at 12:22 pm
Jean Pierre-
I always do what I can to prevent data loss when the file format changes. Do not worry about your old patches, I will respect them.
Gazzuar-
I like that idea. I was thinking about something similiar, basically setting a modulator range for 2 or 3 selectable points. I would like to see a sketch of your idea, as the trick is to make it simple for the user to understand. Your concept may be better.
Mick Rippon’s biggest complaint is the envelope windows are already too crowded to be useful- and I generally respect his comments.
Mick’s suggestion is an envelope maximize button that zooms it up for better editing. Which is a good idea, but of course lots of work for me.
I’ll keep thinking about it..
Jeremy
on April 30th, 2009 at 5:40 am
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v79/gazzz/atlantis.jpg
somthng like that )) choose start/end points and size …
on April 30th, 2009 at 5:42 am
maybe not maximize envelop, but open i new window (bigger). Also wave editing, and more noises )