AudioMulch vs Bidule

3 replies [Last post]

Sun, 08/23/2009 - 12:05

dhjdhj

Joined: 08/23/2009

I'm not an expert with these kinds of tools although I have in the past dabbled with Max/MSP.

I'm trying to understand the pros/cons of AudioMulch vs Plogue Bidule so I can see which of them (or both) I should buy.

I found some comparisons on the web but they seemed to be for a much older version.

Feedback would be appreciated. I'm on a Mac and for music stuff I mostly use Logic and Digital Performer and for live stuff I use MainStage with a ton of soft synths as well as a lot of external MIDI gear (which MS 2 finally supports).

Thanks,
D

Mon, 08/24/2009 - 04:23

rooftopsonfire

Joined: 06/23/2009

Buy both; I did!

I didnt have the money for a Mulch license at first, so bought bidule. While, bidule is completely open-ended with it's scope, there's still a bit of a learning curve if you want to go deep. Thankfully, what I want out of it isn't hard to achieve!

I bought Mulch because of the ease in setting up a song or a live jam, and (again) the ease of making something sound so lush and complex without having to spend hours on automation, sample editing, and effects.

If you can afford both, buy both. If you can't, think about exactly what you want to do as, while both can do similar things, neither are the same by a long shot.

Mon, 08/24/2009 - 04:44

hellomynameisphil

Joined: 06/23/2009

Bidule pros: very powerful (in many ways it rivals the power of sound 'programming languages' like Csound, Max/MSP and PD), but easier to use; more MIDI capability than Mulch

Bidule cons: steep learning curve; rough user interface; not always the most stable (but most of the instability seems to come from third-party plugins)

AudioMulch pro: easy and fun to use, fairly open-ended

AudioMulch cons: no way to save 'groups' of contraptions as you can do in Bidule, less of a 'programming language' and more of an audio patcher.

There is a fair bit of overlap in functionality between Mulch and Bidule, but they really are pretty diverse in the range of things they can do. As far as I know, Mulch still lacks Rewire, so you can use Bidule and Mulch together by loading Bidule as a VST plugin within Mulch.

The Mulch/Bidule double-whammy would be a very different kind of music-making than anything involving Logic, MainStage or Digital Performer. This is both a benefit and a drawback: Mulch and Bidule both lack the kinds of MIDI sequencing abilities that your other preferred programs have, but this means that you can work more directly with sound and play with the considerable routing possibilities that BiduleMulch (to coin a term) has to offer.

Mon, 08/24/2009 - 04:57

dhjdhj

Joined: 08/23/2009

Actually I did buy both although if I had discovered AudioMulch before Bildule, I might not have bought Bidule since I already have Reaktor and Max ... not sure whether I will have much use for Bidule.

The setting stuff up more easily is much more relevant to me than constructing things from a low level. I'm looking forward to playing with it.