Programmable Do-All Pedal w/ open source code?

[ga_edwards]

It might not appeal to your average plug-n-play bassist, but could be a lot of fun for someone with programming chops and more time than money.

And therein lies the crux of the matter. To do anything other than tweaking presets or other people creation which you can already do with current multi, you need quite advanced programming skills that many, heck, most of us don't have.

I think it would need more work by the open source community to make that side of it more accessible to joe bloggs before it could really take-off. Like Unbuntu has done for Linux.

But that's kinda the whole point of open source. I hope he does well.

 

[mikeboth]

Based on the code samples for distortion and chorus, it doesn't look too hard to play around with things. Really, an outstanding price for such a platform. I'd love to be able to get one, but I'm in Australia.

 

[mikeboth]

Wait, it has video out also???!!! (faints)

 

[superbassman2000]

I'd have to disagree. I think a lot of people would be more into a tweakable open-source $350 box than the $500 for basic MAX/MSP and ~$1000 laptop, or the $2000-$3500 Receptor.

It might not appeal to your average plug-n-play bassist, but could be a lot of fun for someone with programming chops and more time than money.

thats what I am saying though--I am talking in a strictly marketing viewpoint--there are probably way more people that would to just plug-n-play rather than program-n-play. Thats what i was saying with the midi business or MAX/MSP. I would go so far to say that its a turn-off to a lot of people that it doesn't work exactly how they want it to right out of the box. That being said, The GUI looks great. What it was sounding like was that it would be a programming language (like MAX) but if it's graphic-based, then thats a different story--it looks great

Also, that being said, I'd really like to see it have MIDI support to plug in a midi controller--say if I wanted to be able to recall a bunch on patches on the fly or wanted to set up a whole bunch of parameters (my main focus would be using it as a looper) and then be able to use the controller to do stuff like record, play/stop, reverse, undo, etc-you know, like a full-feature looper like a looperlative

 

[slight-return]

I wish em the best o luck!

it isn't the first time 'round for this concept

remember the soundart Chameleon? (used to be an owner of one of those myself)

hope they look carefully at lessons from that unit

 

[mikeboth]

remember the soundart Chameleon?

That wasn't an open-source DSP system in pedal format. As far as I can tell, it's not meant to be a large-scale production effort designed to empty the pockets of musicians; it's meant to be a open platform for technically-capable musicians to play around with.

Any comments about 'lessons learned' and 'marketing' or how 'easy' it is to program miss the point, IMHO. If you can't - or won't - learn to program than you'll need to rely on using other people's presets or sticking to a 'traditional' DSP box with limitations imposed on you by the manufacturer.

 

[slight-return]

That wasn't an open-source DSP system in pedal format.

just different form-factor -- It was a rack format device - same basic idea
open source - pretty much THE common DSP engine (ye ole My56K)
really nice SDK

The weaknesses in the unit weren't really in the form factor (it was pretty damn stock as far as that is concerned)

As far as I can tell, it's not meant to be a large-scale production effort designed to empty the pockets of musicians; it's meant to be a open platform for technically-capable musicians to play around with.


real similar to the Chameleon in that regard --
well, the non-tech users could still load the skins and some of them were quite nice


Any comments about 'lessons learned' and 'marketing' or how 'easy' it is to program miss the point, IMHO. If you can't - or won't - learn to program than you'll need to rely on using other people's presets or sticking to a 'traditional' DSP box with limitations imposed on you by the manufacturer.

can kinda depend, Even as a specialist box if it dosn't make critical mass it can orphan out (which can be a real drag...already went through it once -- well more than once if we count SW dev in general)

 

[mikeboth]

just different form-factor -- It was a rack format device - same basic idea

The devil is in the (pretty obvious) details. It's like saying all compressors are the same because they are compressors. I don't recall the Chameleon having a video output, for example.

open source

The Chameleon wasn't open source.

real similar to the Chameleon in that regard --

How so? The Chameleon was produced by a company that needed to make sales to survive; the 'effort' and 'investment' (aside from ongoing production of units and support) has been made, doesn't look like the guy NEEDS to make x sales to continue.

Even as a specialist box if it dosn't make critical mass it can orphan out

That isn't going to bother the sort of people the pedal appears targeted at.

 

[slight-return]

The devil is in the (pretty obvious) details.

Yup - and that's where the chameleon ca be a good ref point

It's like saying all compressors are the same because they are compressors. I don't recall the Chameleon having a video output, for example.


yes and no - that's the cool part abou programmablitity there is a great deal of similarity (as you "construct" the compressor)
are there differences? sure!
are there smilarities? sure!

again, that's where it makes a great ref point




The Chameleon wasn't open source.


Largely it was, in practice to be honest, almost all of it (there were a few ports that weren't)
you were allowed to develop either way (you were not restricted to a GPL) most of the dev was open source (and the SDK was provided free)
some of the closed source actually moved to open source along the lifetime


How so? The Chameleon was produced by a company that needed to make sales to survive; the 'effort' and 'investment' (aside from ongoing production of units and support) has been made, doesn't look like the guy NEEDS to make x sales to continue.


It's the "aside from ongoing production and support" part that is the deal, it's a resource load and, with all endeavors, there's an opportunity cost -- that's how even non-commercial operations can fall apart, not enough momentum


That isn't going to bother the sort of people the pedal appears targeted at.

There we simply disagree - I mean hey! I'm all for it (hell, I AM the kind of person it's targeted to - **** primary instrument is gamba, ride a seca turbo and my harpsichord has pearwood jacks...talk about orphan tolerant!)
big open-source tinkerer myself -- but momentum and orphaned platform issues can be a real stumbling block
and that's specifically WHY I think it's wise to go back and look at stuff like the Cham...it had (still has) a dedicated open-source dev guys and it has also had momentum problems

It's a QA classic - failure analysis isnt for stopping the project, it may scrub off a little speed to you don't come off the rails around the turns
(it's actuall one of the problems with many of the people the pedal is target at...when the coder hat goes on things can get overly optimistic...that's why PM and QA are soooo important...dismissed by the coders, but then again that's why projects are "90 done for 110 of the dev cycle" )

I dig you are excited for the project...hell, me too!

that's exactly WHY looking at similar concepts and their dev history can be really helpful

 

[Bongolation]

I understand the developer of the hardware & software wants to keep the price below $300...

[Invalid or Expired Link Removed]

Why would I buy something from someone too dumb to spell "tremolo" correctly?

 

[AndrewShirley]

Looks like an absolutely brilliant idea.

If you look at some of the amazing VST plugs that have been coming out over the past couple of years, even many of the free ones, you can imagine what this thing can do for you. (I realize its not going to be running VSTs, but the underlying signal processing theory is the same).

There are some brilliant hobbiest programmers out there who understand signal processing to the same level as professional engineers. I'm pretty excited to see what they come up with.

I suspect that this platform will be similar to the VST platform in regards to the type of effects available, ranging from crap right up to commercial grade, top quality stuff.

If they allow commercial effects to be sold, I just hope they keep the prices under the actual cost of a new pedal. Some of those companies are expensive, ie: Waves.

In addition, it would be interesting to see just how much processing power this pedal can actually pull together. ie: How many effects at once. It would determine how complex of a patch you could implement, or how GOOD your compressor is, how creamy your reverb is, etc.

I'm pretty excited about the possiblities.

- Andrew

 

[msquared]

Why would I buy something from someone too dumb to spell "tremolo" correctly?

Given the choice between the ability to spell correctly and the ability to write code and do hardware logic, I'm going to give preference to the latter when it comes to designing this sort of thing.

Blame it on spell checkers and specialization.

 

[four2oh]

it play's Pong! http://www.openstomp.com/phpbb/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=9

once someone gets Doom running on it, i'll pick one up.

 

[EastCoastThump]

The Kyma/Capybara system has mapped a lot of useful features in this terrain, although as a C-Sound based hardware/software package.

One of the ideas I'd borrow from Kurt and Carla at Symbolic sound is the ability to roll your own programs *or* to combine algorithms in complex signal paths by simply dragging icons.

http://www.symbolicsound.com

Full disclosure: I wrote the manuals for a couple versions of this system about a decade ago. I have no current connection to the company, but I still think the system is astounding.