I was thinking after new year’s? I would like it to be a somewhat substantial update so there aren’t a bunch of incremental changes. (Updating a Max for Live device is a pretty manual process on the user’s end, so I think it might get annoying.)
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Congratulation for that device… I think it’s the best percussive synth/sequencer in a software format I’ve used since MicroTonic, 15 years ago. And I tested a lot of what is available…It just clicked right away. The dephts of the synths/sequencer combine with the simplicity of the interface is a sweet spot rarely achieved. You managed to port to software the fluidity of the Elektron workflow.
My only two concerns was multi out and microtiming and I just read that you were working on it !
Brillant, thanks a lot !
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No objections !
Microtiming is a huge part of my workflow but having each engines as standalone devices will help to wait for it’s implementation in Opal’s sequencer.
I was a bit afraid that a percussive device from Fors would take me away from Sugar Bytes Drumcomputer but after the first attempts with it, i know that i will use it as a more versatile instrument…It goes way beyond the “simple” percussive duties.
Lots of weird textures and sequences ahead !
Excellent…excellent.
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I guess it must be possible to use this (or any other plug-in) almost entirely through a MIDI controller (eg. Push).
My main problem is the screen, I’m afraid.
But like you, I’m severely tempted to go back to computer looking at such a nice software instrument.
One issue I’ve come across, which I expect is probably a m4l issue, is that when i save and reload a live set containing a track with Opal on, Opal’s sequence is retained for each device, but the device parameters are completely reset. Slate retains the samples, but is reset to the first one in the list, and all other synths reset params to default.
Is there a way to avoid this?
Export the patterns on the copy/paste etc pattern tab, and reload. I’ve had this happen once today, only on one of the instances weirdly. I think, maybe, once you have copy and pasted a pattern it stays the same? But exporting should give you the safety net of being able to reload it.
Does importing back in an exported pattern bank work ok for you? Im finding that when I do that all of the synth params are back at default…
Also, whenever I clone/copy and paste a pattern, the FX track level always defaults back to 70 even tho ive changed it. And then does this over any other pattern I switch back to. All other track levels stick to whatever ive set them to
update-
Seems like Opal-rack doesnt want to reinstate any of the synth params upon re-opening a saved session, nor does it respond at all if i import a saved bank. However, the version with the pop-out editor does reinstate all saved params, and imports saved banks. The issue with the FX level always reverting to default 70 remains across both versions.
Has anyone else noticed this?
I’ve only been using the popout, so unfortunately don’t have the experience thus far to compare.
I only use the popout version and It does revert back to 70 on the FX track every time.
I’ve had once the bank not being recalled but never managed to reproduce the problem so far
I’m only using the popout version and having problem with params reset on reloading live set.
Sorry to hear that! Will look into it asap.
It would be really helpful if you send some more info to hi@fors.fm - specifically which version of Live, computer spec + OS and some detailed error description, like which parameters did not load.
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Will do that asap
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I’m really loving Opal! I finally also just sussed out how to properly/easily install my other Fors devices that I’d always been confused about. The documentation finally clicked with me and made sense for the first time.
I have a couple of questions for @Ess:
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If Ableton crashes while running only Opal, would the crash report be of any use to you? I wasn’t do anything too crazy, but it hosed repeatedly on a fairly well-spec’d M1 Mini and the most current version of Ableton.
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Do you think there could be a more clarified system for downloading purchased plugs? I used 2 different email addresses for payment and now that’s where my only reference to the purchases of the different plugins lives, which gets confusing quickly. I’d love a centralized identity for your ecosystem.
Thanks for what you do. Great work.
It could be, but it’s best to send it to Ableton’s support. A lot of the time these crashes seem to be an issue in the Max <=> Live communication which is not something we can fix.
I have seen people having success with updating the Max version used in Ableton Live though, by changing it from the bundled Max app to the one downloaded from Cycling74.com (you can change this in the Live preferences under File / Folder) … Specifically this seems to be good for Apple Silicon users as the bundled version seems a little shaky running natively.
We should really move away from Gumroad at some point, it’s not the best system for this. But the best way is to create a Gumroad account and make your purchases from it, that way all the products will be collected in your user profile.
I should be able to set the same email for your purchases though, so feel free to email us at hi@fors.fm and we’ll fix that. You can send the crash report in too, would be good for us to have a look at that as well.
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I have been experiencing multiple crashes, only with Fors m4l devices (I have all of them, big fan!) and thought multiple times about reaching out to you @Ess! I am also on a M1 Macbook Air. I don’t have any problems with other m4l devices or 3rd party plugins.
I am gonna try what you suggested and download max from cycling74.com, let’s see how that goes.
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I just installed Max but I don’t own a Max licence, your suggestion would only work if I own a Max licence, right @Ess?
I have also experienced ALOT of crashes since I bought Chiral & Glänta and I dont expeirince this with other M4L devices as well. Many times it’s when Ableton loads a project and sometimes it crashes randomly. @Ess It would be amazing if you could look into this!
Edit: I use MPB M1 Max.
You don’t need to open the Max application, just go into the Ableton Preferences, choose the File/Folder tab and change the Max application there to the one downloaded.
Sorry to hear that!
We’ve looked into to some crash reports, and they all point to an issue in Max itself and not something we do, or have control over. But, still useful if we get more to look into just to make sure there isn’t anything we can do about it.
I think it could be a problem with the Gen framework instancing on the Apple Silicon version of Ableton Live, since all Fors devices use that extensively.
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I see it says it runs on ableton 10 but suggests using 11
Is there any noticeable differences between the two?