Any roadmap-like plan for the future of KarmaFX Synth ?

General feedback, questions and feature requests.
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Koshdukai
Posts: 25
Joined: 01 Oct 2010 11:49

Any roadmap-like plan for the future of KarmaFX Synth ?

Post by Koshdukai »

Hi :)

I know this may seem an awkward request (disguised as a question), but is there and can we know what direction any future updates or even the next version (2.0 ?) of KarmaFX Synth will have ?

I'm not talking about more modules (ok, I may be talking about new modules) but I'm also asking about any changes or improvements planned on some of the basic philosophy of how the modules are presented to us in the GUI and what's possible to do.

As an example (already mentioned here sometimes) is the GUI itself and the way we connect/construct the audio path as well as the modulation "web".

(...now entering, what I think, is a new feature request, basically...)

Another example that relates to modulation: Will there be an improvement on what's possible to modulate, besides knobs, will KarmaFX Synth go the next step and allow modulation of what's inside the expanded screens available (Osc: Sampler, Additive, Pad; Modulators: Envelope, Step, ...) ?

To clarify this, a simple example would be to change through modulation one or a specific group of notes on a Step sequencer.

Another more complex example that may better illustrate what I'm thinking here, and that might need a redesign/improvement on the way we modulate (including DAW automation) stuff today on KarmaFX synth:

Imagine if we could pick one or a group of steps, envelope points, additive harmonic magnitude or phase, wave amplitude regions, whatever and be able to assign a modulator source to that group or region ?

To go a bit further on this, each assignment would include an algorithm that would define the shape of how the modulation would propagate on that region/group, something like a simple Flat algorithm, where every value of that group would have the same value, or a bell shaped control of the center of the region with adjustable influence width (I know there's a technical name for what I'm describing but it escapes me atm, sorry), etc... odd/even filtering of the elements of that group (so when using Odd, the mod value would only propagate to 1st, 3rd, 5th, ... values of that group, etc).

I'll stop here, before I start rambling about envelope-like timelines for each harmonic automatically extracted from imported samples... erm, allowing for some resynthesys techniques... :mrgreen:

...aaaaanyway, erm...

Why am I asking this ? Well... first and foremost, it looks like KarmaFX is quite stable for quite a while in terms of GUI and paradigms so I'm curious if the future of this will keep the original paradigm or will there be an evolution on that too, besides new modules and incremental improvements on existing ones.

Another reason is that I was looking at the Additive generator while watching the new Native Instruments Razor and thinking that we could do some interesting stuff along those lines if we were able to modulate sections of whats inside those graphical displays some modules have (usually generators and modulators).

ok, sorry for the long (and maybe boring) post, but, I just had to make these questions and suggestions to feel good with myself :D

For those that got this far, thank you! :)
Last edited by Koshdukai on 31 Mar 2011 18:46, edited 2 times in total.
Koshdukai
Posts: 25
Joined: 01 Oct 2010 11:49

Re: Any roadmap-like plan for the future of KarmaFX Synth ?

Post by Koshdukai »

Using the current way of doing things here's a rough mock-up of what could be added (as an evolution instead of a revolution, I guess) to some of the Generators (Additive, Pad, Sampler), Controllers (Pattern), Modulators (Envelope) or even Filters (EQ31), to allow automated modulation of sections that now are only accessible through the GUI for user editing, allowing dynamic vs static changes to the patch.
Image

Sorry for the crudeness of that mock-up when compared with the current elegance of KarmaFX's GUI (which I love) but that was the best I could do with the time I had available (and my non-existent graphic skills, btw).

oh... darn, there's a missing column in there, next to the "Value" there should be a "Type" column, to select what value were we modulating: Waveforms, Magnitude, Phase, ... all depending on the context of the device, of course. This was just an example for the Additive OSC.

hmmm... I hope this won't sound too crazy and over the top when looking at KarmaFX Synth's goals as an instrument :?
Koshdukai
Posts: 25
Joined: 01 Oct 2010 11:49

Re: Any roadmap-like plan for the future of KarmaFX Synth ?

Post by Koshdukai »

*bump*

so... no news is good news ?
karmafx
Site Admin
Posts: 1194
Joined: 07 Mar 2005 16:37

Re: Any roadmap-like plan for the future of KarmaFX Synth ?

Post by karmafx »

Koshdukai wrote:*bump*
so... no news is good news ?
Exactly :)
Thanks for the long feature request, and sorry for the slow reply. :oops:

A system like the one you sketched, while powerful, I suspect would be a little cludgy to use. I like the idea however, i.e, adding some form of programmability/automation to the additive harmonics. I will think about how that could be done in a user friendly way, without loosing control, and without excessive cpu utilization.
Thanks so much for the input! 8) 8)

Right now however, the focus (road-map-wise) is still stability. We are only one version away from the the addition of the mac version. So bare with me if the next few version will most likely only consist of minor bug fixes and tweaks. :roll:

After that I have some ideas in which direction it should be taken (and also started on), but that is too early to reveal. :D
Koshdukai
Posts: 25
Joined: 01 Oct 2010 11:49

Re: Any roadmap-like plan for the future of KarmaFX Synth ?

Post by Koshdukai »

Finally, some feedback ;)

Ok, understood and I'm glad that at least you find it interesting to allow some sort of control/automation to the harmonics (besides Additive, Pad and Sampler could also benefit from this). I'm guessing this would allow some pretty incredible modulations with (hopefully) some amazing results sound-wise :)

No worries, I thought the Mac version was already stable but if that's not the case then you're doing the right thing.

Thxs for the reply and keep up the good work.

Can't wait for "what's next" from this "stable" :D
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