0.8b2 Release Notes
6/6/99 AudioMulch 0.8b2 Release Notes
Version 0.8b2 fixes many bugs from version 0.8b1 and adds four new contraptions: Shaper, DigiGrunge, Invert and Gain (see below). Support for VST plugins and MIDI parameter control has been improved and a new "Set Value..." context menu item has been added to allow exact parameter values to be typed in.
There are more new contraptions on the way, these and finalised MIDI support will be included in version 0.8b3.
There were a number of unexpected problems with the 0.8b1 release - a special thankyou goes to the many beta testers who have contributed to making this release more stable than the last.
Bugs related to the SoundIn contraption in 0.8b1 were reported, mostly when using Sound Blaster sound cards. I'm not certain that this issue has been completely addressed, please contact me if you have this problem with 0.8b2.
If you encounter any bugs in this version please let me know about them and I will fix them as soon as possible.
If you're interested in what changed between version 0.7b6 to 0.8b1 then click here to read the 0.8b1 release notes
New Contraptions
The following contraptions have been added and can be found in the Beta category of the New Contraption menu.
Shaper
Shaper is a Chebychev polynomial waveshaper that provides a form of harmonic distortion. Shaper allows the user to graphically edit the relative strength of the first 27 harmonics induced on a full strength sine wave input signal. Waveshaping is commonly employed by passing a full strength sine wave (such as that generated by TestGen) through the shaping function to synthesise rich harmonic spectra. Shaper may also be used as a flexible distortion unit.
DigiGrunge
DigiGrunge allows the controlled application of two major types of digital distortion: bit depth quantisation noise and sample rate decimation aliasing. It can be used to demonstrate digital distortion and to create extremely clipped and distorted sounds characteristic of low bit rate sampling techniques
Invert
Invert is a simple one input, one output contraption that inverts the polarity of its input signal - this is sometimes referred to as a 180 degree phase shift. A simple pseudo stereo effect may be created by panning a mono signal to one speaker and an inverted version to the other speaker. Invert may also be useful for implementing some phase related encoding and decoding schemes.
Gain
MGain, SGain, QGain and OGain are one, two, four and eight input/output gain modules that attenuate their inputs by a gain factor controlled by a single knob. A Gain contraption may be used to apply global attenuation to a set of signals that are mixed using AudioMulch's automatic
bussing feature (multiple outputs patched into a single input).
Bug Fixes and Additions
Changes to version 0.8b2 since version 0.8b1 are listed below.
- The context menu that appears when right-clicking on any contraption parameter Knob or Slider now includes a "Set Value..." item which allows an exact parameter value to be typed in.
- Various problems with VST plugins have been fixed: Plugins with custom 'bitmapped' user interfaces now display correctly, plugin settings are now saved with the document correctly, presets now work with VST plugins.
- A warning is now displayed when loading documents that contain uninstalled plugins.
- Bugs which would cause crashes when cutting and pasting contraptions, deleting contraptions, opening and closing documents, and quitting have been fixed.
- Bugs related to the SoundIn contraption that would cause crashes or freezes when creating or deleting SoundIn, stopping audio while playing a file with SoundIn, and switching between real-time audio input and use input file have been fixed.
- Fixed bug where the number of output buffers setting was always reset to 4 when AudioMulch was restarted.
- There is now an "Enable MIDI Controllers" button on the toolbar.
- Fixed problems with configuring MIDI mappings in the Parameter Modulation window. MIDI mappings are now saved correctly with the document.
- The Parameter Modulation dialog box now uses icons to indicate which Contraption parameters are modulated by MIDI.
- Range type parameters (e.g. Flanger frequency range) can now be correctly modulated from MIDI control sources.
- The DLGranulator Freeze parameter was disabled in the previous version. It is now enabled and may be switched on and off under MIDI control.
- Fixed bug that caused the Matrix contraption to use more CPU cycles than in previous versions.
- Fixed bug where documents opened from Windows Explorer didn't display correctly.
- Fixed bug where documents opened from Windows Explorer display with DOS file names in reload menu.
Important Note
Some documents created with version 0.8b1 that include MIDI controller mappings may not open correctly in version 0.8b2. If you encounter this problem please contact me.
Known Issues
The following bugs and issues have not yet been resolved, I will attempt to address most of these in version 0.8b3.
- Trying to load non-16 bit soundfiles into LoopPlayer will not work, and may cause program errors.
- An error may occur when trying to use SoundIn with a half-duplex sound card.
- "Delete" in patcher context menu is never enabled. Contraptions and connections must be deleted using the delete key on the keyboard.
- MIDI Sync may not function correctly on some systems, especially when using a loopback device to synchronise with a sequencer running on the same computer.
- SDelay and LoopPlayer produce glitchy output when AudioMulch is syncing to an external MIDI clock.
- AudioMulch may have problems when taking audio input from the virtual audio cable driver.
- Patches with feedback that worked fine under 0.7b6 may use an unusually large proportion of CPU power.
- MIDI mappings are incomplete for Matrix4x4, Matrix8x8, SSpat and LoopPlayer.
- Numeric edit boxes don't work properly when dragging upwards to increment negative numbers.
- AudioMulch cannot access VST Plugins' default or factory preset banks.
- Parameter value hints are not displayed correctly with some system font settings.
Planned Additions
The next release (0.8b3) will hopefully be the final 0.8 version and will add the following functionality:- More flexible MIDI parameter modulation including range selection, non-linear mapping curves and MIDI note messages as modulation sources.
- New contraptions (Arpeggiator, Resonant Filter, Delay Lines, Granular Filter, Pulsar Filter, Multi Soundfile Player, Ambisonic Encoder, Decoder, and Panner).
- Syncronisation time offset (+/-1000ms)
Following 0.8b3 I plan to add the long awaited automation and sequencing system. Here is an initial screenshot of the automation editing window.
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