corporate memo no. 000004
sometimes i can't keep up. this livejournal is really a place where people can track the progress of robokoneko. now in ver. 4.0 (i think). i got paid today $$$ *bling.
and instantly i spent over half of my check on equipment.
that's the audiocard i got from zzounds.com (shameless plug for my fav music equip vendor). it'll get rid of the latency issues i've been having with the onboard sound card of my lovely motherboard. i also bought a very comfy chair from office depot. that way i'll be able to endure longer sessions at the computer. i really need to make some kind of split level (mouse+keyboard)/(midi keyboard) thing for my desk. it shouldn't be that bad for now, since i can roll around in my new chair back and forth from mixer, to keyboard and mouse.
next week:
encore knobby
for now it still sucks having to keep one hand on my midikeyboard and then one hand on my mouse in order to tweak the knobs. i've considerred how this is going to work when i get my knobby. i can design instruments with sections that reflect the knobby setups and that'll be easy. i'm wondering if i can remote different sections of the instruments i'm making to a second midi channel. hopefully that will be the case, otherwise i'll have to invest in a midi merge port, so i can merge the two signals. OH! or i could just buy some cables, get some tape and make my own "merge" cable. hmmmm... wonder if that would work? there's no reason it shouldn't.
anywho, last night i made a very simple sawtooth waveform LFO synth. had just one envelop (ADSR) for the amplifier. and it rocked! very video game sounding. i'm learning some about the filtering next. but i really like this simple sound that was produced. very much like an 8 bit nintendo or something. somehow, more "featured" synths, sound too polished to me sometimes. 3 osc, ADSR's all over the place, mixed waveforms all ring modulated, vco's, vcf's, LFO's like there's no tomorrow-- it gets crowded and somehow distracting. i can't wait until i hit the section on arpeggiator programming *drool. that'll be much fun. i have 6 weeks to produce five songs, so i'm not worried so far. i've been having problems with my audiodriver dropping out when i have cubase, reaktor, and reason open at the same time. i think it has to do with the limitations of my onboard soundcard. it's not too ASIO compliant, whereas the aforementioned card IS. ASIO compliance should solve everything, in that it's an open standard embraced by all of the software i'm using, or might want to use in the future. ASIO will work like a centralized driver host for all the applications... sort of the difference between peer to peer networks and client/server networds. peer to peer networks are just not stable, hence my audio crashing all the time.
also, i'm faced with the task of figuring out what the hell is happening when i conjure up the vst instrument versions of my apps through cubase. i think they're merely being slaved to cubase. which is fine, cuz i can just use a basic "send/return" concept in order to multitrack.
neu, i'd like to send you this audio software to "evaluate". i think you'd enjoy it. all you really need is a computer midi port and a keyboard controller. the reaktor would be another issue, i would probably have to scan the entire book one day. which is fine, i suppose. or you could order it from wizoo. it's so worth it. right now i have envelops, filters, and lfo's buzzing around in my head. it's a really good feeling.
much love from robokoneko corp.!
nik gaerlan
and instantly i spent over half of my check on equipment.
that's the audiocard i got from zzounds.com (shameless plug for my fav music equip vendor). it'll get rid of the latency issues i've been having with the onboard sound card of my lovely motherboard. i also bought a very comfy chair from office depot. that way i'll be able to endure longer sessions at the computer. i really need to make some kind of split level (mouse+keyboard)/(midi keyboard) thing for my desk. it shouldn't be that bad for now, since i can roll around in my new chair back and forth from mixer, to keyboard and mouse.
next week:
encore knobby
for now it still sucks having to keep one hand on my midikeyboard and then one hand on my mouse in order to tweak the knobs. i've considerred how this is going to work when i get my knobby. i can design instruments with sections that reflect the knobby setups and that'll be easy. i'm wondering if i can remote different sections of the instruments i'm making to a second midi channel. hopefully that will be the case, otherwise i'll have to invest in a midi merge port, so i can merge the two signals. OH! or i could just buy some cables, get some tape and make my own "merge" cable. hmmmm... wonder if that would work? there's no reason it shouldn't.
anywho, last night i made a very simple sawtooth waveform LFO synth. had just one envelop (ADSR) for the amplifier. and it rocked! very video game sounding. i'm learning some about the filtering next. but i really like this simple sound that was produced. very much like an 8 bit nintendo or something. somehow, more "featured" synths, sound too polished to me sometimes. 3 osc, ADSR's all over the place, mixed waveforms all ring modulated, vco's, vcf's, LFO's like there's no tomorrow-- it gets crowded and somehow distracting. i can't wait until i hit the section on arpeggiator programming *drool. that'll be much fun. i have 6 weeks to produce five songs, so i'm not worried so far. i've been having problems with my audiodriver dropping out when i have cubase, reaktor, and reason open at the same time. i think it has to do with the limitations of my onboard soundcard. it's not too ASIO compliant, whereas the aforementioned card IS. ASIO compliance should solve everything, in that it's an open standard embraced by all of the software i'm using, or might want to use in the future. ASIO will work like a centralized driver host for all the applications... sort of the difference between peer to peer networks and client/server networds. peer to peer networks are just not stable, hence my audio crashing all the time.
also, i'm faced with the task of figuring out what the hell is happening when i conjure up the vst instrument versions of my apps through cubase. i think they're merely being slaved to cubase. which is fine, cuz i can just use a basic "send/return" concept in order to multitrack.
neu, i'd like to send you this audio software to "evaluate". i think you'd enjoy it. all you really need is a computer midi port and a keyboard controller. the reaktor would be another issue, i would probably have to scan the entire book one day. which is fine, i suppose. or you could order it from wizoo. it's so worth it. right now i have envelops, filters, and lfo's buzzing around in my head. it's a really good feeling.
much love from robokoneko corp.!
nik gaerlan