Vember Audio Shortcircuit NOW FREEWARE!!

[MaliceX]

http://vemberaudio.se/

This is like a dream come true.

The best sample mangler VSTi has finally been released free of charge by Swedish dev, claes, himself!

Originally for about $249 IIRC.

The official 'words' can be seen here:

http://forum.vemberaudio.se/index.php/topic,824.0.html (before the decision)

http://forum.vemberaudio.se/index.php/topic,826.msg5572.html#msg5572 (the decision)

It's kinda sad he's gonna let version 2 off like that (v0.5.0 or alpha 9) but at the same it's a tremendously generous gift.

There's a thread on KVR about it here: http://www.kvraudio.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=196784

[zircon]

The UI really does look like Microsoft Excel, and it's about as unintuitive, spartan, and frustrating to use as I could imagine. I was planning on posting about it except I think it's not even worth using as a free product.

[AMT]

Anyone have a link on how to use this thing, or a reccomendation for a better free sampler? I can't seem to set a directory for the file browser to be in, let alone load a sample.

[MaliceX]

Good luck finding an alternative as feature-ridden as shortcircuit.

Well, yeah the interface may be counter-intuitive, however I actually work in environments that look like mush anyway. (ACID or energyXT2 demo for example) Of course it may not be for everyone, I can guarantee it'll be handy to some people out there that need a fully-featured sampler/sample player with an arsenal under the hood. (Of course zircon, I know you're an FL user, one could say how counter-intuitive that is in terms of notation flexibility and the many seperate windows for automation, but let's not go there. )

Of course, once one understands how it works, it's a really great instrument/sample mangler. (For me, it's easier to use than using what I already have! Just remember, z, not everything is for everyone, much to say that Nexus is kept simple on purpose as stated before, despite the hidden parameters hard-wired on its presets.)

Anyway, the only other GOOD sampler that's free is discoDSP Highlife, and you need a text editor to make the most out of how it handles sfz format!

DirectWave (tried the demo) looks to be an alternative, but it's not free.

Anyway, the idea of having that much control under one program is great! (I've only tried version 1!!! I'm having trouble with version 2 to NOT crash.. It's now my primary drum sampler, soundfont player, and beatslicer.)

[AMT]

Ah, that explains why it kept crashing, I only tried V2. I'll get 1 when I get home.

[zircon]

Simply put, Malice, I've used a wide variety of samplers and none are even close to as confusing and annoying to use as Shortcircuit. There's an awful lot of free stuff out there (in general) but that doesn't mean one can/should use all of it; I'm not going to spend hours of my time figuring out how the hell to use all of SC's features, especially considering the help file sucks (yes, I did check it first!) when I could perhaps spend my time better elsewhere.

If you do get a lot of use out of it, great, but considering many newbies here can't even figure out basic functions of their sequencers, let alone complex samplers with cold, foreign interfaces, I'm not sure it will be the most useful to people.

[Dave Harris]

I've been wanting a fully-featured alternative to Logic's sampler for a long time, particularly something for percussion (EXS24 isn't great for drums.) I'm really looking forward to using this... being able to control all aspects of sound is really important to me.

If there are any better free alternatives, I'd like to hear of them (or even any better commercial alternatives... it certainly isn't Kontakt, and I don't care much for CronoX either...)

[Trash Man]

OK, I am an FL user and I really love this sampler. I was able to use it with ease and there was nothing that was hard to figure out. I was able to adjust everything I wanted per sample used within. I really don't see it being a problem, especially if you want to use just PARTS of a soundfont, rather than the entire thing. You can use other samples as well, and not have to have as more instances of the sampler itself. I'm sure there are other samplers out there that can do the same thing, but that's not my argument. My argument is that this sampler is NOT hard to use. It may be different, but it is definitely not hard to use.

I would recommend this to any FL user looking for a good way to be able to use multiple samples or soundfonts and have full control of the sounds.

[MaliceX]

OK, I am an FL user and I really love this sampler. I was able to use it with ease and there was nothing that was hard to figure out. I was able to adjust everything I wanted per sample used within. I really don't see it being a problem, especially if you want to use just PARTS of a soundfont, rather than the entire thing.

That's actually one of its advantages. Being able to load a single patch from a huge soundfont like Fluid or SGM-v2 beta (~150-250MB) without clogging up that much memory in that instance.

It's also a multisample player, beatslicer, glitch sample/loop mangler, and can work like a wavetable synthesizer in one (not just the internal 'oscillators', using sample fragments as loopable waves.)

Of course, as zircon tried to say, it's not everyone's cup of tea, but if there's (not necessarily better) alternatives you're already got, it's likely payware or comes with your DAW such as Ableton Live or FL's sampler functions. (in short. there's no better free alternative. Done my research kthx. )

'm not going to spend hours of my time figuring out how the hell to use all of SC's features, especially considering the help file sucks (yes, I did check it first!)

For the record, reading a manual isn't necessary if one knows how soundfonts/multisamples are constructed. I think you're exaggerating the "ugliness" factor with "difficulty." But again, you've probably already got what you need (and paid for) to pull off the task quickly and efficiently.

If one is familliar with synthesizers or soundfont creation, this is really handy. Supports drag-n-dropping to keymap as well. (Though version 2 handles it better, but that's still got issues with databasing, odd loading sample-type habits, and effects routing.)

You can use other samples as well, and not have to have as more instances of the sampler itself. I'm sure there are other samplers out there that can do the same thing, but that's not my argument. My argument is that this sampler is NOT hard to use. It may be different, but it is definitely not hard to use.

Thanks for sharing your experience.

I should add that unlike with FL's standard sampler/beatslicer, with SC, you DON'T need to save new waveforms when 'cutting them up' or shortening them to use for loopable waveforms. And because it supports multi-outs, depending on your host it's pretty much easy to route whatever effects you want on it without loading too many instances..

Just make sure before saving a project, you save a 'multi+samples' in shortcircuit; it's got a recall issue. version 2 doesn't, however.

[Harmony]

My two cents:

I’m using v1.2, since I couldn’t get v2 to work (it didn’t crash, but I couldn’t get anything to actually load or play…and the color scheme was freaking me out). I’m primarily interested in shortcircuit's soundfont player capabilities, so that’s really all I explored. On the plus side, every soundfont that’s given me problems with SFZ sounded as it should in SC. Unfortunately, SC created a bunch of new absolutely unbearable problems. For example, none of the mute groups worked on any of my drum soundfonts which means that, for example, I can play an open hi-hat and a closed hi-hat simultaneously. That makes drums completely unplayable for me. Not that I should have to manually turn that function on, but I do see a ‘choke group’ button which is set at ‘off’ by default. I’d like to click it to turn it on but it doesn’t seem to be that simple, and the mediocre-at-best help file doesn’t make mention of the button. Other problems included some of my samples being randomly panned hard left/right, and some of the velocity layers not being interpreted correctly. I’m no plugin programmer, but how hard is it to write plugin that correctly imports the well-defined .sf2 specification? C’mon.

Although I wouldn’t recommend this to anyone as a primary soundfont player, that’s not to say that all was lost in terms of soundfont capabilities. I liked the ‘learn all’ function which assigned samples to keys simply by playing the desired keyboard note. In the list view, grey/white bars pop up to indicate what layers/samples are being accessed as they are played. I’ve never seen anything like that, and with 100’s or 1000’s of samples in some soundfonts, that’s pretty useful for finding exactly what sample needs to be edited. In fact, if this could export in .sf2 format I would probably use this as my primary editor (to replace SynthFont and Viena). Who knows, maybe it can export .sf2, but again, the help file fails to make any mention of soundfonts at all.

I’m sure I could mess around with it and force it to do a few of the things I want, but after an hour of fiddling I’m tired. So in the end, for my purposes SC is only usable in a limited sense. I'll be keeping it installed, and the potential is certainly there, but I just don’t feel it delivers well enough in its current form to become my primary anything. Thanks though for bringing it to my attention MaliceX.

The UI really does look like Microsoft Excel

lol, yeah.

[MaliceX]

My two cents:

I’m using v1.2, since I couldn’t get v2 to work (it didn’t crash, but I couldn’t get anything to actually load or play…and the color scheme was freaking me out)

Yeah, version 2 (v0.50) has got issues in terms of stability in certain hosts. To get files to appear in SC2, you have to make folder shortcuts via explorer, in the patches AND samples folders in the SC2 directory. Ignore the batch file in there too. Otherwise you should be at least able to load WAV files via drag-n-drop in either version. As for soundfonts, they must be loaded through the browser unfortunately (under the PATCH tab) and even so, what's going to appear is individual patches rather than the entire bank. (Can be a good thing...but can be a band thing too.)

version 2's advantage; on saving a project, it saves the samples in it too so no need for relocation! (SC2's part/multi format it appears.)

I’m primarily interested in shortcircuit's soundfont player capabilities, so that’s really all I explored. On the plus side, every soundfont that’s given me problems with SFZ sounded as it should in SC. Unfortunately, SC created a bunch of new absolutely unbearable problems. For example, none of the mute groups worked on any of my drum soundfonts which means that, for example, I can play an open hi-hat and a closed hi-hat simultaneously. That makes drums completely unplayable for me. Not that I should have to manually turn that function on, but I do see a ‘choke group’ button which is set at ‘off’ by default. I’d like to click it to turn it on but it doesn’t seem to be that simple, and the mediocre-at-best help file doesn’t make mention of the button.

Select the assigned WAV files you want to 'mute' (for example high hat samples mapped) on the list on the left (HOLD CTRL to select all three), then where it says choke groups, make it 1 or anything. That's how to do it. Same method with both versions. (I know, it's a bit annoying to do it manually.)

Never opened the v1 help file mind you. (A user at KVR is creating a guide for v2 however)

Other problems included some of my samples being randomly panned hard left/right, and some of the velocity layers not being interpreted correctly. I’m no plugin programmer, but how hard is it to write plugin that correctly imports the well-defined .sf2 specification? C’mon.

Well, not many people pointed out issues like this when it was still payware so...maybe it's a good time to say something. (Though I dunno if claes is still updating either version since he's started to involve himself with Ableton, from what I hear)

As for the panning hard-left and right...uhm...to tell you the truth I've never encountered that problem, however I've noticed that when opening soundfonts in version 1, it tends to split the sounds to L and R.

Although I wouldn’t recommend this to anyone as a primary soundfont player, that’s not to say that all was lost in terms of soundfont capabilities. I liked the ‘learn all’ function which assigned samples to keys simply by playing the desired keyboard note. In the list view, grey/white bars pop up to indicate what layers/samples are being accessed as they are played. I’ve never seen anything like that, and with 100’s or 1000’s of samples in some soundfonts, that’s pretty useful for finding exactly what sample needs to be edited. In fact, if this could export in .sf2 format I would probably use this as my primary editor (to replace SynthFont and Viena). Who knows, maybe it can export .sf2, but again, the help file fails to make any mention of soundfonts at all.

Nope, it can't export SF2's. It'd be nice if it exported SFZ at least, like HighLife. (cause there's a converter available for that.) I do agree this can suit as a soundfont editor in general, function-wise.

I’m sure I could mess around with it and force it to do a few of the things I want, but after an hour of fiddling I’m tired. So in the end, for my purposes SC is only usable in a limited sense. I'll be keeping it installed, and the potential is certainly there, but I just don’t feel it delivers well enough in its current form to become my primary anything. Thanks though for bringing it to my attention MaliceX.

No problems. Only the user can determine what one can work with properly..

[zircon]

I should add that unlike with FL's standard sampler/beatslicer, with SC, you DON'T need to save new waveforms when 'cutting them up' or shortening them to use for loopable waveforms.

You mean Edison? Since when do you need to save new waveforms after editing them? You just drag and drop right back into FL. More specifically, it saves the dragged sample automatically - you don't need to choose a place on your HD or name the file. Regardless, the amount of work needed is roughly zero.

[Trash Man]

If you have problems with panning or velocity or anything like that. It's a very easy fix. Takes 2 seconds. All you do is select all zones at once, and then make the adjustment to the low and high values. Same thing for Panning, Pitch, and so on.. It's very easy to fix these things on the fly. I don't see this as a problem. Also, more than likely, it's probably a problem with the Soundfont itself, rather than the Sampler.

I haven't really had any issues though. I had one occasion where the velocity was borked on one patch, but I easily fixed it in 2 seconds.

Really, this isn't hard or a hassle to use. Also, the fact that you can edit and manipulate the sounds is really a huge pro, and it's just well worth it (very little need to drop to audio). Also, you don't use as much RAM as you do with SFZ, which loads the entire soundfont, which nobody wants to do with something like the SGM-180, and then only end up using a few patches on it.

Also, with SFZ, you can't adjust the pitch range. On this sucker, you can, and have it for each patch, rather than the entire Soundfont.

[Harmony]

If you have problems with panning or velocity or anything like that. It's a very easy fix. Takes 2 seconds. All you do is select all zones at once, and then make the adjustment to the low and high values. Same thing for Panning, Pitch, and so on.. It's very easy to fix these things on the fly. I don't see this as a problem. Also, more than likely, it's probably a problem with the Soundfont itself, rather than the Sampler.

In some cases it may be an easy fix, but the point is that it is completely unnecessary. The soundfonts are certainly not the problem as I have tried multiple free/commercial soundfonts (ns7-free kit, Sonic Implants Blue Jay drums, etc) and none of them with mute groups work properly. Again, I am absolutely sure that most of the SF that are giving me this problem have the choke groups properly enabled within the file (the mute groups come up correctly in SynthFont, Creative's Vienna, Viena and SFZ) but SC is not reading them properly. And honestly, it's not really that easy a fix if when I want to load, for example ns7, I have to go through the 700 samples, find the 40-80 samples that should have the choke turned on, turn on the choke and hope that I don't have to edit anything else. That is tremendously more complicated than: load SF, play.

Also, you don't use as much RAM as you do with SFZ, which loads the entire soundfont, which nobody wants to do with something like the SGM-180, and then only end up using a few patches on it.

If RAM is that big a concern for you, SFZ allows direct from disk streaming which uses 0 ram I didn't see that in SC, but I didn't check. And although I guess being able to selectively load patches is fine, I like loading the entire font because it allows me to quickly change patches without opening up the SF player.

Also, with SFZ, you can't adjust the pitch range. On this sucker, you can, and have it for each patch, rather than the entire Soundfont.

Yeah I posted about trying to do it in SFZ a little while ago and no one seemed to know how. That is a big plus for SC and I think this may be the primary use of it for me.

I didn't mention it before, but as far as quality I was happy with SC. The soundfonts that worked sounded just as clean and glitch free as SFZ.

[Trash Man]

I'm using version 2, so maybe that's why you are having problems. I have yet to have any trouble with any soundfonts I have, and I'm sure the few patches that do have a few easy to fix issues, are ones that weren't made properly in the first place.

So, sorry if there was any confusion, it must be because I'm using version 2; I never tried any other versions yet, as 2 seems to work fine with me.

You have to create shortcuts to your soundfonts/samples in the correct folders, or else you can't load any patches or samples. That may be why you didn't get it to work. It also helps to click "refresh" so they show up.

[MaliceX]

For those that care, version 2 was updated to v0.5.1 today.

Changes since last release:

- Ctrl-click to reset a parameter didn't always update the engine setting

- Fixed issue with names of user parameters not being set/stored properly

- LFO Cycle/Step parameter wasn't restored correctly when loading

- No longer crashed on drag&drop with no samples selected in the browser. It is also no longer possible to initialize an empty drag&drop.

enjoy,

- Claes

I suppose this means he's still doing some work on it in his free time.

Harmony: That's true for the case of multivelocity samples. However it does help a little if one is in multi-view and physically select them. (Though sc2 has a better way of sample selection...) It's understandable if it's a hassle.

Trash Man: Version 2 is more CPU-optimized (though it does have the occasional jump/spike) than version 1 though both work for me. I should at least make a tune with either of them before the end of the year, after one finishes the hassles of school exams.)

zircon: Thanks for clarifying that. Again, this thread is mainly for those who are interested.

[anonymous hippopotamus]

fuckkkkkkkk no Mac support