posted 11 March 2011 21:34            

I still use an ensoniq keyboard wich is great because of this feature... a shame that i can t use it in any direct way with kyma...no polyaftertouch to MIDIKeyTimbre yet? or am i missing something... polyphonic MIDIKeyTimbre only works with the fingerboard right?

posted 13 March 2011 19:13            

I find the integration within Kyma fantastic; now I know what the little icon at the top of the VCS does! The responsiveness overall is great.
One of the most liberating feelings is taking control of two or three parameters at once and making smooth coherent automation sweeps.

I must make one of those printy templates for the pitch steps. OOhh don't forget to check the preferences for it, there are some interesting modes.

Fun Fun.

Charlie

p.s. oh yeah, I had another go at Adobe Illustrator now I have the intuos; WOW, that is so much easier. lol.

posted 02 September 2012 16:09            

I am really interested if anyone is using V-Control Pro with kyma? The V- window feature of the app seems to be a really efficient ( in terms of workflow) method of switching between different software and I am curious if it functions well with kyma.
Can you edit in the timeline including the controller lanes?
can you in the sound window? can you drag and drop from prototypes windows etc? Are there any issues that impede workflow? Etc etc

This the front runner of the Ipad apps I've been researching but I'm looking at the lemur app too. If anyone has any info they can share on these or any other app I would appreciate it.

Lastly is the new Ipad 2 with the A5x chip and graphics improvements a significant boost in performance over the Ipad2?

I'm on 10.6.8 mac pro with airport card

cheers

rafe

posted 06 September 2012 12:17            

Kyma supports three different VCS "languages" (protocols): MotorMix, BCF2000 (native), and OSC. None of the existing iPad controllers that I am aware of support the MotorMix nor BCF2000 (native) protocol. The vast majority of them support the Mackie Control protocol. This does not work with Kyma.

OSC opens up far more options but with the exception of Kyma Control you have to do the work yourself to design the control surface and connect it to your Kyma creations either through direct OSC commands or using VCS learn. Still the Lemur is a very creative option if you enjoy crafting your own controllers. TouchOSC is also a very nice option but lacks many of the features of the Lemur.

I have not mentioned conventional MIDI "knob boxes" on purpose. Those too can be used to control Kyma sounds, either by directly entering the MIDI commands into the Kyma sound itself, or using the VCS learn feature. You can do quite a bit with "plain-old-MIDI", especially now that Kyma supports double-resolution controls. But there is one flaw you need to know: Kyma does not automatically provide feedback. When you load a new preset or change a control from Kyma it is not reflected on the MIDI controller. The Lemur and TouchOSC each allow MIDI control, and there are many different iPad MIDI controllers available.

There is another emerging class of iPad apps that I think can be a promising addition to the Kyma studio. Konkreet Performer comes to mind, as does something like SoundPrism Pro, or Geo. This are alternative music controllers that output OSC or MIDI. Well worth investigating, and that's only a sample.

You mentioned V-Control. V-Control is a very capable multi-DAW control surface. Its a bit of an odd duck though because it requires a special program running on the same computer with the DAW. Depending on the DAW it changes how it "talks" to the application. Some of the time it is using Mackie Control. Pro Tools has its own protocol so V-Control switches to that. For Logic Pro it uses a proprietary OSC protocol. The computer application also provides other features like keyboard commands and the special remote window you seem to like. As far as I know the iPad app itself always speaks the same protocol the V-Control desktop app. All of this is essentially how our GarageBand controller operates.

Unfortunately since V-Control does not support MotorMix nor BCF2000 (nor Kyma OSC) it does not currently work with Kyma.

As I said V-Control has proven to be a popular product and is worthy of consideration to control and DAW (though I personally think that our lpTouch at 1/10th the price is a better value for Logic Pro). However I want to caution your expectations about V-Control's "V-Window" feature. This is a specialize remote screen application similar to OSX's "Screen Sharing", Windows "Remote Desktop" and the more universal open source "VNC", which OSX's is based upon. All of these accomplish their magic by grabbing screen pixels and sending them over the network. Most use clever schemes to only send the changes. I fully expect that the "V-Window" uses something comparable.

This type remote screen viewer can be acceptable or not acceptable depending upon how critical latency is in your usage. Latency in turn depends greatly on the speed and reliability of the network connection. I regularly use OSX's Screen Sharing over a wired 1GBIT Ethernet between two high-end Macs and its pretty much like sitting in front of the remote computer. Still there is a small perceivable lag.

Over Wi-Fi it is more challenging to achieve acceptable responsiveness. A lot of it depends on how much other traffic is on the same network, and of course signal quality. The speed of the viewing device, the iPad in this case, also comes into play. Neyrinck offers a free version that would give you the chance to at least try the viewing performance (it does not support user interaction though from the V-Window).

In a way though display latency is not even the primary issue. The premise behind using something like V-Window is that you can use touch events on your iPad to interact with the computer's GUI. These are single touch events that are converted into equivalent mouse actions. How well this works depends a great deal on the pixel size of the on screen elements. If the buttons, rotaries, or other elements are too small you will not be able to reliably control them from the iPad. Furthermore when using this for something like an arbitrary plugin's GUI you most likely will run into the issue of rotary control. Changing a rotary on the iPad, especially a small one, by using a rotational gesture, can be a very frustrating experience.

Furthermore a user interface designed for the computer screen and mouse does not necessarily translate well to a touch device. There is a reason why Apple does not offer a menu bar on iOS, and that many of the GUI "widgets" are quite different. It was not a stylistic choice but one of usability. Whether you can productively control an given computer UI from the iPad using a "remote screen" utility is questionable. The only way to know is to experiment with the applications you wish to control.

I would recommend a multiple controller approach. Choose something like Kyma Control or vKiP to control the VCS while exploring or designing new sounds. Each is automatically "mapped" to Kyma sounds. Since Kyma Control tries to mimic the actual VCS layout you can customize the iPad screen a lot by adjusting the layout at your computer to best meet your needs. Alternatively vKiP provides a consistent controller from sound to sound.

Supplement this with one or more physical controllers. I personally like to have a hardware "knob box" that I can quickly assign to critical performance settings. This may, however, be the result of having tweaked synth sounds using knobs for nearly 40 years :-) I also firmly believe that a Wacom still has a place in the studio (or on stage) along side something like the iPad. There is a lot of precision control available from the pen/tablet and it is so well integrated into Kyma.

Finally, spend some time and invest some money (apps are unbelievable inexpensive compared to the hard work put into them) experimenting with some of the pre-made iPad alternative music controller apps. They really have a lot of potential (but require practice as with any instrument). If you like the creative freedom of making your own controllers, get the Lemur app. But only if you are committed to learn how to program it. It takes time (just like Kyma, but its no more difficult) but can be very rewarding.

posted 07 September 2012 14:39            

I agree with your assessment that more than one controller would be ideal and with your comment regarding the lemur app, that it requires committing to learning the software to get the most out of it. That is part of my reluctance to purchase it as I don't have the time in the foreseeable future.

Konkreet Performer looks particularly interesting as an expressive controller app. Sadly the app store does not allow a demo period for apps but as you say the price point for a lot of the apps is cost effective enough that you aren't risking a lot with a purchase even if a particular software is not for you.

Thanks again