Solaris Visual / Patch Designer Software / Librarian

Discuss John Bowen Synths - Solaris
Bernard
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Joined: Fri Jun 25, 2010 7:47 pm
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Post by Bernard »

OK, here's my tuppence worth...

i wouldn't automatically assume that a visual editor software package is going to be beneficial to the creation process of sound programs for Solaris.

while such software is usually mandatory for complex synths (i.e., ones with lots of editable parameters and routing options) with very limited user interfaces implemented in the hardware (e.g., Roland MKS-80, Yamaha DX-7, Sequential Prophet VS, DSI Evolver, etc.), this really isn't the case with Solaris. John has gone to huge expense in design time and production cost to (soon) deliver a very complex synth with many parameters and myriad possible routings accessed through a maximal hardware interface of plentiful knobs and displays.

i think my preference will be to naturally use what is already there in the Solaris user interface to create and edit sounds rather than to use a software editor. i think i'll be a lot more efficient and effective twiddling knobs directly with my fingers rather than mousing all over the screen and then click dragging to minutely adjust parameter values.

and what would this hypothetical software editor look like? will it just duplicate the layout and menuing of the Solaris hardware controls? this wouldn't be the most creative solution but would certainly provide familiarity with Solaris' menu layouts along with structure and order to what can reasonably be fit onto a screen but the menu paging then totally loses the ability to visualize what is going on all at once.

alternately, all the parameter and menu pages could be spread across the screen (or as much that fits while still being readable). this may not benefit visualization of what is going on in a monster snapshot (or is shotgun more appropriate) view if i was to judge on the basis of the graphical results of many Reaktor, Max, Kyma, Nord Modular programs.

not to knock Psicraft or any other software editing vendor but i think anyone who undertakes the challenge of creating an editing environment for Solaris will have their hands full coming up with something that is truly useful and adds upon what John has already designed with his decades of experience and countless hours of thinking through how to layout and order the menus, parameters and controls.

so i'm dubious about the benefits of a software editor but there could be potential for a librarian, especially if it implemented a dynamic keyword hierarchy filtering something like what Native Instruments Kore 2.x does for the programs of soft synths.
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