New improved version of Phasex now out! :)

[briandc]

Just wanted to say that the new Phasex version in KXStudio is really nice. The pitchbend was lagging in the older version, and now it's fixed. And there's a new GUI that's really nice.
I hope to put tweak and share some sounds for this one in the near future, too. (If anyone out there has new patches for this version, please share them!)

It seems that old patches won't convert to the new interface.. or at least I haven't had any success yet.. but hopefully that won't happen anymore..

brian

[Alwaysanewb]

I wish there were more Youtube videos demonstrating some of these synths Every time I look up one of the ones posted I can find the web page but know videos with sound samples. If you look up synth1 a popular windows softsynth there is like a hundred different videos so you can see the diffrent sounds people get and how different people are using it.

I would do it myself but honestly my cup is full with other things and I haven't really used any of the linux softsynths yet. It would make it a lot easier to publicize linux as a music platform. It just makes it harder to tell people linux is great and can do all these things and have no examples. Plus it would be awesome if there was like 20 videos for every linux soft synth.

[briandc]

I wish there were more Youtube videos demonstrating some of these synths Every time I look up one of the ones posted I can find the web page but know videos with sound samples. If you look up synth1 a popular windows softsynth there is like a hundred different videos so you can see the diffrent sounds people get and how different people are using it.

I would do it myself but honestly my cup is full with other things and I haven't really used any of the linux softsynths yet. It would make it a lot easier to publicize linux as a music platform. It just makes it harder to tell people linux is great and can do all these things and have no examples. Plus it would be awesome if there was like 20 videos for every linux soft synth.

I couldn't agree more! I'm hoping to try my hand at some videomaking sometime in the next months. I keep procrastinating..

Phasex is a bit more complicated than many synths. You might start by noticing that there are 4 oscillators. Depending on how the synth opens, it'll all be on one graphic interface, or else as two "tabs." If there are two tabs, the oscillators will be on the second tab. You could set all the oscillators to "off" except one, and that simplifies things quite a lot. Then put all the settings to "zero" and then try them one by one, to hear what they do. Some will be fairly obvious, others less obvious.

On the first tab, you will find the amplitude area where the sound is controlled, the filter area, and a few effects that can be adjusted and activated/deactivated: delay, chorus, phaser.

If you click on "load" at the top of the page, it should load all the preset sounds, which can be found in the ~/.phasex/phasexsounds folder. (If I remember correctly.)


Let me know if I can help better..
brian

[tatch]

anywhere i can see a screenshot of the new gui?

[StudioDave]

I love this synth. But does anyone else agree that color-coding would help its GUI ?

I know, I know, I'm just kvetching, it's a great synth.

But I'd still like colored panels.

Best,

dp

[tux99]

Why do devs insist on using rotary knobs on soft synths?

With a mouse sliders are far easier to use than rotary knobs!

[briandc]

How's this:
http://ubuntuone.com/24KveNw82n9OhlMUegrEo4



brian

[tatch]

Why do devs insist on using rotary knobs on soft synths?

With a mouse sliders are far easier to use than rotary knobs!

knobs take up less space, maybe? And a lot of them function nearly identically to sliders in that you can edit them by dragging the mouse up and down. I used to wonder the same thing but I think I ultimately prefer the knob look more. (mx44 is the scariest thing I've ever seen)

I think what devs should really consider more is direct visual representations on graphs or something. My friend got some programs from fabfilter recently and I played around with them a little: you can see at the bottom right a graph of ADSR as opposed to the typicall knob interface! I think that's neat.

Phasex is looking pretty good! I think I agree with StudioDave though, color-coding would make it easier on the eyes. It looks a little nicer than before but still rather intimidating. I'll give it a go sometime.

[Alwaysanewb]

Phasex is a bit more complicated than many synths. You might start by noticing that there are 4 oscillators. Depending on how the synth opens, it'll all be on one graphic interface, or else as two "tabs." If there are two tabs, the oscillators will be on the second tab. You could set all the oscillators to "off" except one, and that simplifies things quite a lot. Then put all the settings to "zero" and then try them one by one, to hear what they do. Some will be fairly obvious, others less obvious.

I'll try it out but that helps a lot. I'm use to programming fm synths. So breaking down in to oscilators is something I can understand.

[StudioDave]

How's this:
http://ubuntuone.com/24KveNw82n9OhlMUegrEo4

Easier on the eyes, definitely.

[briandc]

Phasex is a bit more complicated than many synths. You might start by noticing that there are 4 oscillators. Depending on how the synth opens, it'll all be on one graphic interface, or else as two "tabs." If there are two tabs, the oscillators will be on the second tab. You could set all the oscillators to "off" except one, and that simplifies things quite a lot. Then put all the settings to "zero" and then try them one by one, to hear what they do. Some will be fairly obvious, others less obvious.

I'll try it out but that helps a lot. I'm use to programming fm synths. So breaking down in to oscilators is something I can understand.

-If you're used to FM synths, anything else is a walk in the park..!


brian

[briandc]

Why do devs insist on using rotary knobs on soft synths?

With a mouse sliders are far easier to use than rotary knobs!

knobs take up less space, maybe? And a lot of them function nearly identically to sliders in that you can edit them by dragging the mouse up and down. I used to wonder the same thing but I think I ultimately prefer the knob look more. (mx44 is the scariest thing I've ever seen)

I think what devs should really consider more is direct visual representations on graphs or something. My friend got some programs from fabfilter recently and I played around with them a little: you can see at the bottom right a graph of ADSR as opposed to the typicall knob interface! I think that's neat.

Phasex is looking pretty good! I think I agree with StudioDave though, color-coding would make it easier on the eyes. It looks a little nicer than before but still rather intimidating. I'll give it a go sometime.

Nice GUI!!

I'm convinced that part of the reason I love amSynth so much, is because of the GUI. I've seen lots of softsynths, some of them are just ugly, and dampen the desire to tweak.


brian

[paulmerchant]

I would love to see many more presets for Phasex. I'm not too great at programming sounds and I always like to have a lot of patches to start with. I learned to make a few interesting patches with earlier versions of Phasex, though. This version is sounding way better and I'm interested in hearing what people come up with.

[tux99]

knobs take up less space, maybe?

That could be a reason but is not always true, it depends on the size of the knob and of the slider.
And small knobs are far more fiddly to use with the mouse than small sliders.

And a lot of them function nearly identically to sliders in that you can edit them by dragging the mouse up and down.

Sort of, I still always get confused because intuitively I try to use the knob with the mouse just like a real knob with a curved movement.

I will stick to horizontal sliders in the software that I write (moving the mouse left<->right is IMHO they easiest movement, up<->down requires more effort already).

[Thad E Ginathom]

The mouse wheel should be ideal on knobs, however small --- but often the increments are too big.