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Re: My Thanksgiving Vacation Project: Building a new looping computer w/Core 2 Duo
On 23 nov 2006, at 18.57, Krispen Hartung wrote:
> I'm inclined to think that a combination of Reaktor ensembles, MAX/
> MSP patches, and other high quality VSTs can work together to do
> what a FireworX or Eclipse can do in principle (though wiht not the
> exact propietary sound), with 50% CPU utilization or less (in fact,
> I think I'm doing it now)....
Yes you're right, that's what I said in my first post ;-) (but with
my recent laptop it would mean 100 to 120 % CPU utilization which is
a bit over the top for a single core centrino)
> of course, they won't produce that "it" factor that an Eclipse
> makes that allows everyone to identify it in someone's overall
> sound. This is why some folks go to software and MAX/MSP, because
> they want to be in in control of their sound and develop their own
> unique effect personality.
I know my patches down to every detail and I'm sure I would be able
to copy them in Max/MSP too (as I did on the FireworX, that BTW comes
with rather plain default settings). It would just be a matter of
time though - time that I'd rather spend making music since I happen
to have a FireworX handy and ready to go - and of course it's also a
question of getting enough computing power.
> I got rid of my FireworX because I thought it was limited. I can
> stack and combine many more effects in my PC VST system....but I
> don't doubt that there are FireworX patches that you can't emulate
> right now with your PC system, for whatever reasons.
The reason for not being able to emulate what happens inside a rack
device is only lack of raw CPU power IMHO. I mean, a ring modulator
is always a ring modulator and an LFO works the same on both computer
software based and dedicated hardware systems like Eclipse/FireworX.
There's nothing magical about an effect device or Max/MSP, they all
have those classic effect modules that give certain complex sounds if
wired up properly. What I like in the TC is that the wiring options
are very musically designed and what I like with Max is that the
options are all open. Bidule is somewhere in between; it's software
based but has the musical "pre-fab" simplicity of hardware when
dealing with tempo and sync in sound design.
My understanding of Max/MSP is that to really take advantage of that
system you should stay free from VST plug-ins (heck, it doesn't even
support AU!) and wire up your patches from scratch by using only Max/
MSP objects. But that's what makes it too time consuming for me right
now, since you also have to come up with custom workarounds to deal
with tempo and sync implementation.
Greetings from Sweden
Per Boysen
www.boysen.se (Swedish)
www.looproom.com (international)
http://tinyurl.com/fauvm (podcast)
http://www.myspace.com/looproom