New user: drowning in add-ons, and steep learning curve

[Golcondio]

I've finally started committing at least 30 minutes a day (it's not much but I need to practice too, and compose, and feed the cat, and... well, you know how it is...) to Usine, but find it very difficult to enter the right frame of mind. I've followed the quick-start guide to the letter, without any problem of course (apart the shitty sound coming from my on-board audio card); the issues started when I tried to insert some of the add-ons found on the site (I downloaded them all, of course): I can't understand the logic behind most of them, can't seem to get them to sound (the Strange Drums), and if I do, I don't know if they were supposed to sound like that (I'm talking about the glitcher, for example) and what most of the controls do.

I would find it very helpful if the makers posted on the forum a brief description of the add-on, explicitely stating the original purpose (does it process audio? or midi? Or does it generate signals?), and maybe making some examples (audio would be perfect).

[martignasse]

hi Golcondio,

and welcome in the Usine world.

I've followed the quick-start guide to the letter, without any problem of course (apart the shitty sound coming from my on-board audio card); the issues started when I tried to insert some of the add-ons found on the site

Before that, did you have a clean setup in usine?
The audio and midi+VSTi have right result with the Quick Start exercices ?

I can't understand the logic behind most of them

Are you alredady experienced with modular synth ? the logic is the same.

Hope it help.

I would find it very helpful if the makers posted on the forum a brief description of the add-on, explicitely stating the original purpose (does it process audio? or midi? Or does it generate signals?), and maybe making some examples (audio would be perfect).

Good idea, or why not an info text file included in the zip file.
For the audio examples, i think they should go on the Add-ons page, but the space may could be a problem.

[senso]

We are working on a total reorganization of the add-ons section. It will be easier.
Most of actual add-ons where made with older versions of Usine, and can be simplified with the latest.
To test you audio config try to run the 'bass line generator' in the demo folder. It should generate a kind of sub bass line.
Normally you shouldn't ear any click or glitch.

[Golcondio]

Ok, I was very unclear: I don't have any problems getting Usine playing through the on-board soundcard (tomorrow I'll buy a good firewire interface, one that I can really plug myself into!).
The problem is that I've never delved into modular synthesis (I'm a total layman in the world of electronic music), therefore I have some problems understanding what all the controls on the different modules are for, especially those that make very subtle changes... I'm more than willing to do some reading up, if you can suggest me some good documents (either in English, French or, of course, Italian!).

BTW, my name is Michael, I use Golcondio on the forums everywhere as a legacy of the olden days, even though I don't like it anymore like I did... But I still love Magritte!

[bsork]

Golcondio/Michael, I know it's not much help, but maybe you'd like to know I also had trouble getting the Strange Drums to sound. Don't remember what I did to check it out, though... You'd maybe also like to hear that I often have a hard time understanding what I've programmed myself, even if it's not necessarily a long time ago I did it.

Maybe getting your interface will help you understand Usine better. I suppose you have experimented with patching together different effects before - hard- or software - before, and I think stuff like that probably would be the best path for you when learning Usine. Instead of trying to decipher a large, complicated add-on, it seems you would be better off trying to eg. start with something simple and then add bits and pieces; eg starting with a single delay and then adding another, then maybe a filtered feedback loop etc.

...and Magritte is my all-time favorite painter!

[runagate]

In the world of modular synthesis the weird thing is that making something new from modules you understand is almost always easier than using something you yourself made long ago! I don't understand any of the things I made in old version of Usine before I bought a Gold license!

The beauty behind Usine is that, once you know what you want to do there almost always a way to do it, unlike in most DAWs.

It's spoiled me - I was trying to help an MC recently with his hardware-bundled "lite" versions of Pro Tools and ReWired Reason. We hooked my Trigger Finger up to the Redrrum drum machine in Pro Tools, got it to trigger the Reason module... and you couldn't change the hard-wired midi assignments to the drum pads the way I'd assume you could in Reaper or Usine. I think of everything in terms of Usine modules now, where anything can be changed to anything else you'd like... somehow.

The trick is figuring out which modules will do what you'd like.

So oftentimes stepping away from the machine and designing on paper or in your head what it is you hope to accomplish, then looking at the manual and deciding which modules you think will accomplish this goal is the key.

Ask: Is this for live Fx mixing?
Is this for writing a midi score to link to a virtual instrument?
Is this for live instrumental triggering via a hardware keyboard or somesuch?
etc.

And then, when you get to the nitty gritty details of it, if you have a question ask here. For instance I'm always being driven nuts trying to create odd ways to constrain the parameters of a midi knob on my hardware controller so that it'll only send out a certain range (of the 0 to 127 possible) of values to a midi CC#, say... modwheel. But the plug-in parameter I've latched it to is, say, a delay feedback knob. I know that for a live performance I'll only want it to go from 65% to 95% of the value, so I try to set a math module to make the lowest value correspond to 65%... it takes math knowledge, and I'm working on making some easy to use algorithms where you can just plug in the numbers and get the output values you should assign to your math filter that anyone can use without too much trouble.

Course, you have to know what you want to make. Plan something out, and see if you can make it, and that's a great way to learn.

Here's a link to the Gersic Wiki on DSP (digital signal processing)
http://dspwiki.com/
which might help you a bit

Wikipedia is your friend when learning what the digital music jargon means, too.

Here's the KVR audio forums that I haunt constantly and am more than happy to field any questions, no matter how dumb they might seem to you, any time I'm around. Anyone can feel free to private message me with any question they'd like, anytime. I assure you I knew nothing about any of this 3 years ago, but insomnia and a long attention span are my secret weapons.


http://www.kvraudio.com/forum/


Stick to it and you'll never believe what's possible with digital music on a PC now.