That is a fantastic way to phrase it and much better than I ever did. That’s exactly how I feel about it.
Load up a few patches, samples, loops and shit. All sounds pretty good. Start working with them together. And like you say, there’s nowhere to go from here.
And in contrast, that’s why I prefer the Blackbox for song writing. Whenever something goes in there, I’m for real excited just to see what’s gonna happen when I pitch it around, apply the filter, slam it in reverse, apply the granular engine, whatnot. It all sounds so good through that box.
The Pioneer Toraiz SP-16 is kind of the same, though I won’t chime into the chorus saying the onboard fx are that great. They’re okay, but not more. However, just the onboard space for each sound and the basic algoritms for sample manipulating - pitching, slicing, stuff like that - just works so well.
Like those tracks, by the way. I think the dynamics came across especially well in the Okayyyy track, sounded good even through my computer speakers. The rumble effect was really cool on the Mars track, suggestive and haunting, and it’s 1st of March here which spells out Mars in Swedish. How appropriate
Feels validating to know others have the same experience with the Dellie. I’m still searching for how to fill that mixer/arranger gap in my setup (which is just the D and a ND for extra sounds).
You already knew I was gonna say this, but I recommend the Blackbox
In terms of how it approaches structure and composition, I feel it’s a kindred spirit to the Deluge. They’re both free form enough to help you break out from traditional 64-steps all in one pattern stuff, but still has all you need when you just wanna lay down a four bar beat.
Yes, I knew you’d recommend it In fact, I was about to write it off before reading your CDM review last night. I want the OT to be the right answer… your write up reminded me that the few features that define the workflow and more important than the features one doesn’t need/intend to use.
That phrase hits home for me, understanding how they can be complimentary as opposed to substitutes for each other.
Anyways, I’m going to keep looking into it and may ask some questions in the BBox thread. We’ll see how long this lasts, but I’m going to try to see what I can get out of the Dellie for now. I remapped my volume controller faders to go from CC0-CC50 which makes it feel like I have more breathing room. At the very least, I’m going to get better at mixing in a non-optimal environment.
Also, while I’m taking up more space in this thread, just wanna give another shout out to Rohan and team for being responsive and on top of bug fixes. Superb support
I’m finally getting around to doing some input sampling, looping, and other non-synth-y/pre-sampled stuff, and it is probably the most confusing part of the Deluge yet. Lots of head scratchers. Things like rec-arm behavior, input selection, etc. are all gated behind what (at least for now) feel like kind of arcane button combos. Hoping it gets easier soon, as I’m really enjoying playing some guitar stuff directly into it.
Refreshing straightforward tease of incoming MPE and wavetable features!
[Also, they shared they’re moving their beta testing from FB to the Synthstrom forum which is a 10/10 move in my opinion.]
Regarding the headroom of the Dellie… some of my previous problems where user error. I found some advice to lower the song volume (in my case around 5-10% is good). I then max output volume and control everything from the mixer - it definitely helps avoid unwanted distortion
Moving focus away from FB: absolutely. I’ve been vocal about this for a long time (I quit the beta tester group for that reason)
Killing the official forum feature request thread and promising to kill any discussion on new features because ‘they alredy know what they’re going to be working on’ (paraphrasing): I don’t think that’s good.
MPE, for this device, is utterly baffling to me as a development focus. If you think about how niche the market is for the Deluge already and then multiply that by how niche the MPE market is and then combine that with the fact that, honestly, the Deluge isn’t THAT rich or sophisticated a synth engine (it’s not like it can do, like, string simulation etc.), MPE features in the Deluge is literally being developed with a very small target audience.
Edit: on reflection I removed some of the more emotive parts of my little rant
which features are you keep asking ?
i understand your point of view but i think MPE will be a standard for synths and seq in close future (isn’t one of the big feature of ableton 11 ?). and don’t forget we will have a new wavetable synth with this update !
I think this is where you are wrong (nothing personal just exchanging opinions). MPE is slowly finding it’s way to people. More and more players get on board each month. And in my short time with Deluge I’ve noticed there’s quite a few MPE users. Of course, my view is biased because I’m Linnstrument user and I’m actively searching for this kind of information bits.
And believe me, there will be more people interested in officaly the first HW MPE sequencer in the future. If Synthstrom are pioneering this, their MPE implementation will only mature over time which I see as vital strategic decision. Even if the group of Deluge + MPE users seems relatively small now.
But I get your point that there might be other, more burning features that users want to get implemented. Although it’s not IMHO always bad when developers decide to follow their own ideas. If too many people cook the cake, it’s often tasteless. And it’s not the case with Synthstrom that they are not listening to community. I think their new approach to forum is trying to get more self-sufficient and filter the comm noise.
MPE is still a lot like VR. Lots of cool demos, plenty of theoretical use cases and solid demonstrations of those cases.
But when you sit down and play and write your song, I’m betting you’re not gonna need this all that much. A few artists will make it part of their thing, but I’m gonna go ahead and guess, most won’t. Because they just don’t need it.
From the top of my head:
Linnstrument (has to be on the list :-D)
Roli Seaboard (more to choose from)
Roli Blocks (more to choose from)
Eigenlabs Eigenharp
Madrona Soundplane
Keith McMillen K-Board Pro
Haken Coninuums (more to choose from)
Expressive-E Osmose (not out yet but should come soon)
Sensel Morph
And there’s probably more and more are attempting to get crowdfunded on various platforms.
This isn’t my issue. I’m refering to what I’ll call ‘feature fixes’ so as to distinguish them from ‘bug fixes’ or ‘feature requests’. There’s a lot of REALLY cool things about the Deluge that aren’t quite there (I’m not going to go pulling examples up - many have been discussed here, on FB and on the Synthstrom forums). This is what frustrates me. So as a long-term owner (since the first batch!) I’m just left waiting for some of the fundamentals to be addressed, I’m baffled as to why we’re getting yet another new feature while some basic functions leave you wanting.
You got some examples of these basic functions that leave you wanting? I know you mentioned you didn’t want to bring them up, but I’m asking. For a friend. Anyway. Don’t answer if you’re not comfortable doing so. All good, mate.
How many people have those devices? And what’s the subset of those that have a Deluge? That’s my point about MPE, not that I think MPE is bad OR that I think the Deluge should have it, at some point. Just with so much still undone or not addressed with the Deluge, why MPE, why now?
I’ll just give you one off the top of my head: you can’t edit the start of an audio recording. If Synthstrom don’t believe that’s an issue, or every other user apart from me don’t think it is, then I’ll pipe down.
Happy Mars to you!
)
just exchanging opinions). MPE is slowly finding it’s way to people. More and more players get on board each month. And in my short time with Deluge I’ve noticed there’s quite a few MPE users. Of course, my view is biased because I’m Linnstrument user and I’m actively searching for this kind of information bits.