BigTick audio software

Zen !

Big Tick — Wed, 07 Jul 2010 00:39:23 +0000

Just announced Zen on kvr – and I think the feedback has been great so far. People have very legitimate and relevant questions, but with a genuine interest. I’m glad I wasn’t so far off, about about 9 months ago, when I started writing down the Zen requirements: the music software industry is now ready for the turn we have seen in the games industry, and users are willing to consider software that requires online connectivity if this means better functionality or service, ease of use, while of course respecting privacy.

Beta testing is starting today and I am really counting on the involvement of users to start publishing and tagging presets. So if you want to contribute… just drop me a line !

RhinoCM 2.08 available

Big Tick — Wed, 23 Jun 2010 09:44:46 +0000

I have just released RhinoCM 2.08. This is a bugfix release, most notably addressing issues with multiple instances.

You can download it here:
PC Version
Mac Version

You will need the original RhinoCM install that came with your Computer Music magazine.

RhinoCM fix for Cubase

Big Tick — Sat, 12 Jun 2010 11:31:34 +0000

In the 2.4 version of the vst sdk, Steinberg deprecated the wantEvents() methods, implying that it was enough to declare the plugin as a synth, and say (in the cando() method) that it implements “receiveVstMidiEvent”.

Well, it turns out, some hosts out there still rely on the deprecated wantEvents() method, including Steinberg’s own CubaseSX !

Why they didn’t adhere to their own standard is beyond my understanding, but anyway, here is a fix to get RhinoCM running in CubaseSX.

Rhino is also suffering from the same syndrome, I’ll fix it and bump the version number to 2.07 later today.

Backup, backup…

Big Tick — Sat, 22 May 2010 14:10:46 +0000

Once can never have enough of these… I have nothing but praises for OSX’s built-in Time Machine, but as I’m not carrying my USB drive when traveling, I needed some kind of automated, internet-based solution… I finally ended up using a modified version of this script, it works really well… I feel safer now

Of course, I guess I should just invest in a GitHub account…

Rhino|CM – soon in bookstores !

Big Tick — Fri, 21 May 2010 19:43:47 +0000

Here is what has kept me busy for most of the last month – ComputerMusic’s Rhino|CM, a fully-functional streamlined version of Rhino that will be given away in their June issue. This little baby runs on the same engine than his big Rhino brother, with a reduced number of oscillators, filters, and effects. It still is a wonderful freebie, especially with Daniel’s fantastic job on the built-in presets.

Rhino 2.06 upgrade available

Big Tick — Mon, 19 Apr 2010 15:25:40 +0000

Hi Rhinomaniacs, here is a new version of the monster:

version 2.06 adds:

- new spectral editing functions (read about them here)
- new, quick A/D/S/R editing for envelopes.
- next/previous buttons for waveform selection
- UI performance improvements
- Midi activity indicator and panic button
- and the usual bunch of small bug fixes

and yes, the bug with incorrectly loaded microtuning scales is gone !

Enjoy,
‘Tick

Quick ADSR control of Rhino envelopes

Big Tick — Wed, 14 Apr 2010 21:28:37 +0000

It seems my previous post (the envelope modulation time mini-tutorial) gave away one of the features I have been working on for Rhino 2.06: quick ADSR editing of Rhino envelopes. Did you notice the new A, D, S, R parameters at the top of the envelope window ?

Rhino 2.06 will add 4 new, assignable A, D, S, R controls. They globally control the attack, decay, sustain and release of all envelopes. Each envelope has its own “amount” control, defining how much these global ADSR controls impact the envelope times.

The A, D, S, R controls can be assigned to any one of the user sliders, or to an external controller.

The video below shows the whole thing in action.

Envelope Time modulation mini-tutorial

Big Tick — Tue, 13 Apr 2010 23:01:30 +0000

Some users have requested this (maybe the documentation is not clear enough), so here a mini tutorial showing how to make envelope attack time shorter for higher notes.

First define an envelope with 1 second attack, and set the modulation marker (the little downwards pointing triangle) to 20 ms.

and then use the Keyboard Time Modulation curve to define how this modulation is mapped across the keyboard:

That’s it ! With these settings, attack time will be 1 second for midi note C3, and 20ms for midi note C8. In between, it will move linearly from 1 second down to 20 ms.

Similarly, the Velocity Time Modulation curve can be used to control envelope times with velocity. And remember, each segment of the envelope has his own modulation marker !

Got my domain name back !

Big Tick — Tue, 13 Apr 2010 22:34:36 +0000

so this site can now be accessed either with http://www.bigtick-audio.com, or http://www.bigtickaudio.com.

Still, I hate the fact that I had to pay a lawyer to get my domain name back.

Web site moved, lost a dash

Big Tick — Sat, 10 Apr 2010 16:02:16 +0000

Due to a legal dispute with my website hoster, I had to move to another server. Hopefully the disruption has been minimal, with the only visible consequence being the loss of a dash in the domain name. So yes, we are now http://www.bigtickaudio.com, until the lawyers and judges give me http://www.bigtick-audio.com back. At this point both domains will be valid.