Possible feature request - Waveform Edit View

Question

Hi Guys,

I don't know how much programming would be involved in this, but the ability to shift-click (cmd-click) to select multiple partitions in the Waveform Edit View, and then edit them, would be awesome!  I think this would help speed up the workflow when a user is trying to make broad, sweeping changes, quickly.

Answer 1

Hi @synapticgroove!

Good idea!  Rob and I actually discussed this when we were designing the interface.  However, it definitely adds some complexity, and we had decided that the main performance page wasn't the place to do it.  Our current idea for that page is to just grab something fun and go with it...

The UI design problem here is that you really want two different modes for this type of editing, a relative mode that keeps any parameter offsets, and an absolute mode that sets everything to the same value.  You may even want a scaled (multiplicative rather than additive) response so that the parameter relationships get exaggerated or de-emphasized.

That would mean adding more shift keys or menus and then it starts getting to be not as fun.  We were thinking it would be better to have these editing tools in the deep patch editor and also let them be applied to other things besides the oscillator segments.  I found that while setting up tons of mod routes it could be useful there too, for example.  Or if you set up 48 LFOs and want to change them all from Sine to Random.  That sort of thing...

We figured that once you press that edit button, you're in a different mindset, more scientist than rock star, so navigating editing tools and modes would be more acceptable then.  We could be wrong though!  Maybe Waverazor users are all scientific genius rock stars!  :)  Rob and I are definitely open to other ideas on this.  I'm just laying out a little information about where we stand currently, and why.

I think having ongoing discussions about synthesis and user interface design are fascinating!  Please do let me know what you think about all this when you get a chance.

All the best,

Taiho

Comments

Hi @taiho,

Wow!  Thank you for sharing the information and taking the time to thoroughly answer that question!

Let me start off by saying that I absolutely love the UI on Waverazor.  That alone should garner a design award, or at the very least, some much deserved accolades.  I laud you and Rob on it!

Secondly, I'm definitely not a "scientific genius rock star" by any stretch of the imagination.  I probably fall halfway between the guy that watches 'I Dream of Wires' a few times per week and a neophyte plucking on presets.  I love music and I love technology.  With a stellar synth, the two are so inextricably linked, that it makes it difficult to differentiate between them.  It's just seamless.  In these rare instruments, I'm conflicted between devoting the time to editing or playing and tracking.  That's a good thing! :)  Waverazor does this extremely well...the Yamaha DX7, for example, did not, unless menus and sub-menus are your thing, one can never really unleash the potential of the synth.

Right now, the trend seems to be toward gigabyte samples, glitch romplers and anything that works on an iPad.  I'm not opposed to any of this, but it just isn't my cup of tea.  Some of the very best synth lines were done on one and two oscillator instruments...it's hard to believe in 2017 where software synths are only limited by CPU/RAM and often have stacks upon stacks of oscillators going at any given time.

I could be wrong, but I really feel like you guys went way beyond wavetable synthesis with WR.  The ability to delve as deep as possible into recombinations of waves is pretty astounding!  From my perspective, and thanks to the great UI, the possibilities seem endless.  The oscilloscope right in the middle of the interface just does it for me...the interplay between OSC 1, 2 ,3 and Pitch-Vol, Phase-OC selector combination just seems right.  It makes me think, "Why hasn't anyone done this before?".  So, I'd say you guys have a hit, right there.  With the current version's UI acting much like a 'simple' mode and the parameter editor version being the 'advanced' mode, I'd say an edit button of sorts is probably the easiest transition between the two.

Not to digress, but as I'm looking at the user interface, there is another area that stands out and might be overlooked, but useful.  Again, this might be a programming headache, but within the circles for each parameter are little, filled-in red circles.  It would be cool if one could click on those and it would return the parameter to it's default starting position.  Maybe only in an edit mode of sorts?

Anywho, sorry for the lengthy post, Taiho.  You are guys are legends and pros, so I'm fairly certain anything at all that you come up with will more than likely redefine an existing standard.  No pressure! ;)

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@synapticgroove, I really appreciate you taking the time to answer my answer!  It helps me get to know more about where you're coming from.  And this ongoing dialog helps us better chart a course for Waverazor's future.  I'm sure you've already seen me say this a bunch of times on the forum, but it's true.  The more information we share, as both users and designers, the more we can each make informed decisions about design priorities.

(Strategically, we don't want to tip our hand completely to our competitors who may be checking us out up here, but I'd like to share as much with our community as I can.)

And boy am I glad you brought up the need for a default starting position on the controllers!  It's actually already there, but hasn't yet been communicated clearly anywhere.  Totally my bad.  Now I have a chance to start rectifying that oversight...

I forget what the equivalent is on Windows (maybe someone can chime in), but on Mac, hold down the command key and click on the controller you want to return to default.  If you've moved it off default value, you should see it jump back to it's starting position.  This is true for any controller on the main GUI page, not just the XYs. However, the wave editing in the central display doesn't support this (yet).

Defaults can be set independently for each axis of the Vector XY Controllers in the editor, but can't be actuated independently from the main GUI yet.  It just returns both to default when you command click on the controller.  But your idea of clicking on the red circles could potentially be the way to implement it in the future (along with having the same ability inside the editor).

Rob and I have already discussed grabbing those red circles independently as a way to isolate an axis you want to control by itself, but that hasn't happened yet.  When it does, we could also possibly add the default return behavior.  We have some other fun feature ideas for those controllers as well.  They are by no means done yet!

By the way, while we're speaking of XY controllers, when you're editing the oscillator wave segments in the central display, you can already move both axes independently from each other by grabbing the red or blue lines in the crosshair instead of the circle where they intersect.

Hope all that helps!  And many thanks for your support!

All the best,
Taiho

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@taiho, absolutely!  I can't speak for everyone on here, but I certainly appreciate the interaction and feedback, as I'm sure many do.  You guys are a lean and agile company and very smart (something others in the industry should take note of, if they are checking up on here).

I've got around 800 plugins on my Mac Pro...around ½ of which are soft synths  (my computer integration with music goes back to being a teenager in the early to mid 90's when I was driving Cool Edit Pro with a Creative Labs SoundBlaster interface...hehe), so I'm definitely an enthusiast.

Having been involved with a few grassroots startups, two of them in the music industry, I can both appreciate and understand how essential early feedback is to the development and life cycle of a product.  Likewise, I can appreciate that there are months and, probably, years involved in the process before the consumer public ever gets a chance to get hand's on with anything.

Back to the 800 plugins...yeah, a little overkill, but my wife is understanding and it's not a bad vice to have (as far as vices go).  Many of those plugins have replaced a ton of hardware through the years (i.e., Korg M1 & Wavestation, Kurzweil k2000vp, Sequential TOM, Roland JX-10 & JP8000, Yamaha DX-7, E-MU MP7, etc.).  Within the last 5-10 years, software has eclipsed what can be done with hardware with a lot less overhead.  Thank you Moore's Law.

All of that being said, Waverazor is at the very top of my software synth list.  Even though it is newly released, I believe it sets the standard by which a lot of other companies are going to try to run to catch up to.  You and co. are set to disrupt an industry, which needs disruption.  The vintage synth market is starting to wane much like the boutique pedal market did a few years ago.  A lot of companies are focused on the iDevices, which I'm a fan of, but I prefer the quad-cores of my Mac Pro for real music work.

U-HE, Sugar Bytes, Rob Papen, Roli, Wolfgang Palm, etc...are all great companies.  None of which released Waverazor! ; )

There is something extremely unique about this synth, synth engine, GUI.  The user-interaction is what I wish hardware would do (if that were the case, I'd still invest in hardware).  But, I don't think a room full of hardware could accomplish it.  Maybe I'm slightly biased because I'm an Apple guy and I can tell that you are as well, and Waverazor works really, really well with the Apple->Logic Pro X or Ableton Live workflows.  Who knows, but I do know that I really like what you guys have done.  It sounds really, really good and the potential seems veritably limitless.

Thank you again for taking the time to provide as much insight as you can with the direction that MOK is headed.  I am truly looking forward to it!

Very best wishes,

Benjamin