donaldcrunk
05-13-2009, 11:49 PM
Hi there.
i'm jason, and i've been using numerology as my primary MIDI sequencer a long damn time.
in the past, when i want to step-sequence AU parameters on effects i've used Param Mod and routed that to the parameter i want to sequence - and as we all know, that works splendidly. it's one of the things i love about numerology.
it can be a pain in the butt if you want to do multiple effects, though - it takes a while to patch up and running multiple separate AUs eats up a lot of CPU power.
those aren't necessarily bad things, but i wanted a solution that could run inside of numerology and possess a sequencing environment of it's own. my main use of this would be modulated sample looping on drums and such, for glitchy noises, but the more effects algorithms included the better, right?
Enter Sugar Byte's Effectrix:
http://www.sugar-bytes.de/content/products/Effectrix/index.php?lang=en
http://www.zikinf.com/logiciels/gfx/snapshots/effectrix-445_1.jpg
this program provides a basic step sequencer, multiple effects and a few Mod sequencers to modulate the parameters of those effects as well. sound quality is fine, and it's got some fairly unique effects to boot - but what i really love about it is how _immediate_ it is to use. i can spend more time using numerology to creat interesting grooves and rhythms, and just drop an instance of Effectrix on the end of the stack and just tear it up.
here's a couple demos i recorded tonight - i just used the master output recorder of numerology to do these:
Demo ONE (http://soundcloud.com/donaldcrunk/sugarbytes-effectrix-demo-apple-dls-harp) - the Apple DLS Synth's Harp soundfont being sequenced by a basic poly sequencer. Straight into Effectrix.
Demo TWO (http://soundcloud.com/donaldcrunk/sugarbytes-effectrix-demo-numerology-drum-sampler-modular-synth-samples) - the excellent Numerology Drum Sampler playing back some modular-created blips and bleeps, being sequenced by the drum sequencer. Straight into Effectrix.
forgive the lack of imagination here with these sequences, this was purely a spur of the moment thing on my part.
I didn't do any live manipulation during either of these demos, except to switch between 3 seperate step sequences. All the other changes you hear were programmed ahead of time into Effectrix.
sequences can be triggered live with a midi keyboard, that is very simple to set up - and when a new sequence is chosen, the sequence switches IMMEDIATELY rather than waiting until step 16. in this particular application, i think that is a very desirable feature, letting you create an endless number of unique sequence combinations that are as long or as short as you like. very cool.
when compared with the parameter mod way of doing things that i described earlier, though, Effectrix has some drawbacks. sequence types and subdivisions are fairly limited, and there's no hard sync (numerology has really spoiled me with hard sync) - that means for getting truly interesting polyrhythms, param mod + a glut of modulating sequencers is still your best bet.
fortunately, the way the sequencer works in conjunction with a midi keyboard negates a few of the disadvantages of the sequencer, at least for me. your mileage may vary.
i don't mean this brief review to come off as an advertisement for this plugin, it's certainly not - i just thought i'd share a solution that worked for me with the five12 community. thanks for reading! :cool:
i'm jason, and i've been using numerology as my primary MIDI sequencer a long damn time.
in the past, when i want to step-sequence AU parameters on effects i've used Param Mod and routed that to the parameter i want to sequence - and as we all know, that works splendidly. it's one of the things i love about numerology.
it can be a pain in the butt if you want to do multiple effects, though - it takes a while to patch up and running multiple separate AUs eats up a lot of CPU power.
those aren't necessarily bad things, but i wanted a solution that could run inside of numerology and possess a sequencing environment of it's own. my main use of this would be modulated sample looping on drums and such, for glitchy noises, but the more effects algorithms included the better, right?
Enter Sugar Byte's Effectrix:
http://www.sugar-bytes.de/content/products/Effectrix/index.php?lang=en
http://www.zikinf.com/logiciels/gfx/snapshots/effectrix-445_1.jpg
this program provides a basic step sequencer, multiple effects and a few Mod sequencers to modulate the parameters of those effects as well. sound quality is fine, and it's got some fairly unique effects to boot - but what i really love about it is how _immediate_ it is to use. i can spend more time using numerology to creat interesting grooves and rhythms, and just drop an instance of Effectrix on the end of the stack and just tear it up.
here's a couple demos i recorded tonight - i just used the master output recorder of numerology to do these:
Demo ONE (http://soundcloud.com/donaldcrunk/sugarbytes-effectrix-demo-apple-dls-harp) - the Apple DLS Synth's Harp soundfont being sequenced by a basic poly sequencer. Straight into Effectrix.
Demo TWO (http://soundcloud.com/donaldcrunk/sugarbytes-effectrix-demo-numerology-drum-sampler-modular-synth-samples) - the excellent Numerology Drum Sampler playing back some modular-created blips and bleeps, being sequenced by the drum sequencer. Straight into Effectrix.
forgive the lack of imagination here with these sequences, this was purely a spur of the moment thing on my part.
I didn't do any live manipulation during either of these demos, except to switch between 3 seperate step sequences. All the other changes you hear were programmed ahead of time into Effectrix.
sequences can be triggered live with a midi keyboard, that is very simple to set up - and when a new sequence is chosen, the sequence switches IMMEDIATELY rather than waiting until step 16. in this particular application, i think that is a very desirable feature, letting you create an endless number of unique sequence combinations that are as long or as short as you like. very cool.
when compared with the parameter mod way of doing things that i described earlier, though, Effectrix has some drawbacks. sequence types and subdivisions are fairly limited, and there's no hard sync (numerology has really spoiled me with hard sync) - that means for getting truly interesting polyrhythms, param mod + a glut of modulating sequencers is still your best bet.
fortunately, the way the sequencer works in conjunction with a midi keyboard negates a few of the disadvantages of the sequencer, at least for me. your mileage may vary.
i don't mean this brief review to come off as an advertisement for this plugin, it's certainly not - i just thought i'd share a solution that worked for me with the five12 community. thanks for reading! :cool: