Announcing synthclone-0.3.0!

Renoise Tools
1

I’m happy to announce the release of synthclone-0.3.0!

synthclone is a Linux-based tool that allows you to create sample-based instruments. You can create sample-based instruments by sending MIDI messages to your MIDI-capable gear or software that instructs an instrument to emit sounds for a series of notes, velocities, controls, and aftertouch values, or by recording your own samples. After the sampling is done, you can apply effects to your samples, and finally save this data as a sample-based instrument that can be loaded by sampler software.

The new Renoise plugin allows users to create Renoise instruments from data sampled using synthclone.

Features:

  • Supports user-configurable per-zone sample time, release time, MIDI note, MIDI velocity, MIDI aftertouch, MIDI channel pressure, MIDI control changes, etc. via a table interface.
  • Audition samples and change zone parameters until you’re happy with the data you’re acquiring from your MIDI device.
  • Save and restore sessions.
  • Distributed with plugins that support the JACK Audio Connection Kit (with JACK Session support), PortAudio and PortMidi, trimming of samples, reversing samples, LV2 effects, the creation of Hydrogen, SFZ, and Renoise instruments, automated zone generation, and loading samples from your local filesystem.
  • Can create multiple targets in one session (i.e. a Renoise patch and an SFZ patch) from the same set of samples.
  • A well-documented plugin API is available for developers to write their own plugins to extend synthclone.

Important Changes Since 0.2.0:

  • Lots of bug fixes.
  • The new LV2 plugin allows you to use LV2 effects within synthclone
  • The new Renoise plugin allows you to save your instruments as Renoise instruments
  • The new Reverser plugin allows you to reverse the samples you load into synthclone
  • The new Sample Loader plugin allows you to load samples into synthclone from your local filesystem
  • Internal architecture changes for future expansion of the plugin API to handle main view manipulation

Future Development:

  • Consider capturing release of samples.
  • Figure out a good packaging scheme for Mac OSX.
  • Support the Non-Session Manager protocol.
  • Consider different ways to support the detection and/or creation of loops.
  • Get someone to design an icon that isn’t ugly.
  • Extend the LV2 plugin to support more features so that it can load more LV2 plugins.

The new version of synthclone is available at:

[indent]http://synthclone.googlecode.com/[/indent]

Please report bugs using the issue tracker:

[indent]http://code.google.com/p/synthclone/issues/list[/indent]

If you like synthclone and have ideas that can make it better and/or want to keep up with its progress, join the users group:

[indent]http://groups.google.com/group/synthclone-users[/indent]

If you’re a developer and want to write plugins for synthclone or contribute to the application itself, join the development group:

[indent]http://groups.google.com/group/synthclone-development[/indent]

Thanks,

–
Devin Anderson
surfacepatterns (at) gmail (dot) com

blog - http://surfacepatterns.blogspot.com/
psinsights - http://psinsights.googlecode.com/
synthclone - http://synthclone.googlecode.com/

2

appreciate the effort, but isn’t this comparable to renoise’s render plugin to instrument functionality?

3

It looks like it, but the renderplugin does not render Midi instruments :)
I think a Windows and Mac OSX variation would be appreciated as well,

4

I’ve only given the plugin grabber a brief look. From what I can tell, Renoise’s plugin grabber has a subset of the functionality of synthclone. Mainly, synthclone gives you a lot more control over the parameters used to acquire samples for sample-based instruments, and can acquire instruments from any source that can take MIDI input.

–
Devin Anderson
surfacepatterns (at) gmail (dot) com

blog - http://surfacepatterns.blogspot.com/
psinsights - http://psinsights.googlecode.com/
synthclone - http://synthclone.googlecode.com/

5

I’ve done some work on a port to Mac OSX. synthclone does compile on OSX, but I haven’t yet figured out a good packaging scheme. At some point, I’ll finalize the packaging scheme and release an OSX package.

As far as Windows goes, I’m not a Windows developer and have no desire to start developing on Windows. But, if a developer comes along that is interested in porting synthclone to Windows, then I won’t stop him/her from doing so. :)

6

i like you,

7

Well, when inspecting the requirements this would require some libraries around and installed before synthclone can do something because the application has quite a few dependencies.
Even when the application is compiled standalone, still the end-user has to install quite a few libraries and engines to get it working.
In Windows this is not as easily done for Linux specific libraries as this can be done in the Linux software and library manager.

8

Some of the synthclone plugins that aren’t likely to be used on Windows (JACK, LV2, etc.) could be omitted in the beginning, which would bring down the list of dependencies. It doesn’t solve the whole problem, of course.

I went through some of this when porting to Mac OSX. With a combination of macports, otool, and install_name_tool, I was able to build a standalone package. I’m not altogether sure I did it in the best possible way for Mac, but it did seem to work.

I was hoping that something similar could be done with Windows.

9

How did I miss this!!!
Has anyone used this yet? I’m trying to intall this but I’m no Linux guru :confused: