Released: ToneBoosters Flowtones - virtual analog synthesizer

RandallVanLandingham

Cool…glad it worked , even if a little archaic-wise. I just went to iCloud files and saved under one mother-file, then zipped it and THEN copied/pasted to the comment box…glad it worked…tell me (when/if you get a chance) how you liked the sounds…

NeuM

@RandallVanLandingham said:
Cool…glad it worked , even if a little archaic-wise. I just went to iCloud files and saved under one mother-file, then zipped it and THEN copied/pasted to the comment box…glad it worked…tell me (when/if you get a chance) how you liked the sounds…

Yeah, some good sounds in there. I hope to be posting some myself soon.

gregsmith

I got lost for > @horsetrainer said:

I find that I can get lost experimenting in Flowtones similar to how I can get lost experimenting in Drambo.

There are so many modulation options, and options in the modulation sources, that it's easy to build up layers of modulations.

So I'm like... What would that sound like? And all the "connections" are all waiting to be activated to see what it will do.

It's not as deep as Drambo. But it has that same "sound lab workshop" feeling to it. It's very fast to go from idea to testing, and that's something I find difficult to do in some of the other otherwise very good iOS synths that have the potential, but their interfaces take more time to set up.

Folders for saving custom user made banks is definitely a good idea.

@DJB I'm looking forward to the new wave algorithms you mentioned in your post.

Aside from user folders, there's just one other feature I think would bring a more "organic" feel to Flowtones that a few other users seem to be complaining it lacks....

A simple polyphonic voice gate triggered Random modulation source added to the list in the "knob" Modulation menus.

Description: Selecting "RND" in the modulation menu and applying a value. Results in a random polyphonic modulation voltage being applied to a selected "knob" on every individual key-strike.

This is the simplest method for emulating analog hardware synth "Circuit Drift". It can be added to Pitch, Cutoff, Res, and just about anything. The result is it makes every individual key-strike sound a little different from all the others and that give a more natural organic analog feeing to certain patches.

And there's no need to devote any GUI space. It's alway on, and the only control necessary is the slider in the modulation menu. Different Knobs are assigned a different degree of RND per their respective modulation setting.

This is similar to the function of the "vintage knob" on certain synths, but the users chooses where to apply it.

P.S.  faking it using slow LFO's is close but not quite as good.

This is a great idea!

Agreed about getting lost in the sound design options. This hasn’t happened to me for a while. I usually just find a sound I like from a modified preset and use an effects chain to mess with it, but with flowtones the effects chain is right there. A TB quality effects chain at that. And the modulation options are so easy to apply and mess around with like you say.

Fingolfinzz

On the topic of it sounding bland, I honestly feel like most oscillators are a tad bit boring until you start modulating stuff and getting some movement and adding effects. I love the model d but even that can get stale without modulation and detuning a bit

aleyas

@gregsmith said:
I got lost for > @horsetrainer said:

I find that I can get lost experimenting in Flowtones similar to how I can get lost experimenting in Drambo.

There are so many modulation options, and options in the modulation sources, that it's easy to build up layers of modulations.

So I'm like... What would that sound like? And all the "connections" are all waiting to be activated to see what it will do.

It's not as deep as Drambo. But it has that same "sound lab workshop" feeling to it. It's very fast to go from idea to testing, and that's something I find difficult to do in some of the other otherwise very good iOS synths that have the potential, but their interfaces take more time to set up.

Folders for saving custom user made banks is definitely a good idea.

@DJB I'm looking forward to the new wave algorithms you mentioned in your post.

Aside from user folders, there's just one other feature I think would bring a more "organic" feel to Flowtones that a few other users seem to be complaining it lacks....

A simple polyphonic voice gate triggered Random modulation source added to the list in the "knob" Modulation menus.

Description: Selecting "RND" in the modulation menu and applying a value. Results in a random polyphonic modulation voltage being applied to a selected "knob" on every individual key-strike.

This is the simplest method for emulating analog hardware synth "Circuit Drift". It can be added to Pitch, Cutoff, Res, and just about anything. The result is it makes every individual key-strike sound a little different from all the others and that give a more natural organic analog feeing to certain patches.

And there's no need to devote any GUI space. It's alway on, and the only control necessary is the slider in the modulation menu. Different Knobs are assigned a different degree of RND per their respective modulation setting.

This is similar to the function of the "vintage knob" on certain synths, but the users chooses where to apply it.

P.S.  faking it using slow LFO's is close but not quite as good.

This is a great idea!

Agreed about getting lost in the sound design options. This hasn’t happened to me for a while. I usually just find a sound I like from a modified preset and use an effects chain to mess with it, but with flowtones the effects chain is right there. A TB quality effects chain at that. And the modulation options are so easy to apply and mess around with like you say.

This is a tool I use often too. It could be added to the LFO list. The way it's handled in Elektron devices such as the Analog Four is quite nice. The way to do it is with a key triggered one-shot random LFO (often called S&H lfo). So every time a note is played, a new random value is generated. It's basically the same thing as a RNG - rolling the dice for every note played. I didn't see a true random LFO in Flowtones though, just a semi random 4, 8, and 16 step sequence. Did I miss it somewhere? If they could implement LFO one shot, and key trigger along with a true random LFO, then that'd do the trick for a random, polyphonic mod source.
I especially love this function when programming percussion such as hats and snares.

horsetrainer

@aleyas said:

@gregsmith said:
I got lost for > @horsetrainer said:

I find that I can get lost experimenting in Flowtones similar to how I can get lost experimenting in Drambo.

There are so many modulation options, and options in the modulation sources, that it's easy to build up layers of modulations.

So I'm like... What would that sound like? And all the "connections" are all waiting to be activated to see what it will do.

It's not as deep as Drambo. But it has that same "sound lab workshop" feeling to it. It's very fast to go from idea to testing, and that's something I find difficult to do in some of the other otherwise very good iOS synths that have the potential, but their interfaces take more time to set up.

Folders for saving custom user made banks is definitely a good idea.

@DJB I'm looking forward to the new wave algorithms you mentioned in your post.

Aside from user folders, there's just one other feature I think would bring a more "organic" feel to Flowtones that a few other users seem to be complaining it lacks....

A simple polyphonic voice gate triggered Random modulation source added to the list in the "knob" Modulation menus.

Description: Selecting "RND" in the modulation menu and applying a value. Results in a random polyphonic modulation voltage being applied to a selected "knob" on every individual key-strike.

This is the simplest method for emulating analog hardware synth "Circuit Drift". It can be added to Pitch, Cutoff, Res, and just about anything. The result is it makes every individual key-strike sound a little different from all the others and that give a more natural organic analog feeing to certain patches.

And there's no need to devote any GUI space. It's alway on, and the only control necessary is the slider in the modulation menu. Different Knobs are assigned a different degree of RND per their respective modulation setting.

This is similar to the function of the "vintage knob" on certain synths, but the users chooses where to apply it.

P.S.  faking it using slow LFO's is close but not quite as good.

This is a great idea!

Agreed about getting lost in the sound design options. This hasn’t happened to me for a while. I usually just find a sound I like from a modified preset and use an effects chain to mess with it, but with flowtones the effects chain is right there. A TB quality effects chain at that. And the modulation options are so easy to apply and mess around with like you say.

This is a tool I use often too. It could be added to the LFO list. The way it's handled in Elektron devices such as the Analog Four is quite nice. The way to do it is with a key triggered one-shot random LFO (often called S&H lfo). So every time a note is played, a new random value is generated. It's basically the same thing as a RNG - rolling the dice for every note played. I didn't see a true random LFO in Flowtones though, just a semi random 4, 8, and 16 step sequence. Did I miss it somewhere? If they could implement LFO one shot, and key trigger along with a true random LFO, then that'd do the trick for a random, polyphonic mod source.
I especially love this function when programming percussion such as hats and snares.

Adding features to the LFO would be nice too.

I suggested putting a RND in knob-Mod Menu's because I thought it might be the easiest to implement.... Add code for RND generation and link to it in the menu's.

The only special criteria might be coding the Random generator with some level of greater probability for generating -0- values, to better emulate cycling through analog voice cards.

But I think any Random, Poly-per-key-strike... Mod source would be nice.

ALB

Is there an "init" setting?

horsetrainer

@ALB said:
Is there an "init" setting?

It's in the "Template" Category and named "Default".

branis

@ALB said:
Is there an "init" setting?

If you open the randomizer panel (dice icon, bottom right) you'll find a reset button. Press that to reset all the items that are checked above the button.

FPC

@horsetrainer said:

@ALB said:
Is there an "init" setting?

It's in the "Template" Category and named "Default".

Ahhh brilliant - thank you. Was thinking I'd have to make my own init patch

Spent some time last night with @gregsmith messing around with this beauty. We've both decided that this synth is going to our sound design go-to.... Well hopefully.

eylvy

ElektrikDiva

@DJB said:

@Shabudua said:
Can anyone confirm: When i rename the current patch, the name isn’t updated on the main screen. This confuses me about whether the rename was successful or not, and which version of a patch I’m actually working with.

You are renaming the patch stored in the file only; the patch you are working on is not affected by renaming a patch in your user library. So you can independently rename patches stored without affecting your current patch and work.

So basically:

• You have a name of the patch you are working on (showing in the title bar)
• You can save that patch and rename the saved patch without affecting the patch in memory.

I am STILL super confused with this type of patch saving system. Is there not a more straightforward way to save my tweaked patches and my newly created ones? Does anyone get how to do this? Samu? Shbudua? Anyone? I for one cannot get how this works. I lose everything if I continue to try to save anything. Cheers, ED

ElektrikDiva

@DJB said:
On the whole topic of patch saving:

would it help people if you save a patch by opening the patch browser, and if you decide to rename it, we would also rename the patch loaded in the plugin itself? It seems that may resolve much of the currently existing confusion about a patch stored in memory vs a patch stored on disk...?

I'm asking because there is a reason why this isn't happening at the moment. Say you rename the patch you've just saved to disk, and then select another patch on disk to rename. It becomes ambiguous what the expected behavior is when renaming the other patch (should it get loaded because you selected it even though the browser is running in a patch saving mode)?

Greetings DJB, can you create an auto save feature to save our work say every 5 minutes and also make a save button that we can press at any time to save our work so far? And make the save button easier to access? I think the whole save feature as it stands right now is still mega confusing. I just don’t get it as to how not to continue to lose any changes that I make. This is the most confusing save system that I have seen on any iOS synth unfortunately. Cheers, ED

ecou

@ElektrikDiva said:

@DJB said:

@Shabudua said:
Can anyone confirm: When i rename the current patch, the name isn’t updated on the main screen. This confuses me about whether the rename was successful or not, and which version of a patch I’m actually working with.

You are renaming the patch stored in the file only; the patch you are working on is not affected by renaming a patch in your user library. So you can independently rename patches stored without affecting your current patch and work.

So basically:

• You have a name of the patch you are working on (showing in the title bar)
• You can save that patch and rename the saved patch without affecting the patch in memory.

I am STILL super confused with this type of patch saving system. Is there not a more straightforward way to save my tweaked patches and my newly created ones? Does anyone get how to do this? Samu? Shbudua? Anyone? I for one cannot get how this works. I lose everything if I continue to try to save anything. Cheers, ED

I do save program(copy) then rename it. It may not be the most efficient way but at least I know I am not loosing anything. 🤷🏼🤷🏽🤷🏾🤷🏿🤷🏻

ElektrikDiva

@NeuM said:
Whether you rename a loaded or unloaded patch is too unclear to the user. IMO, tapping once on a patch should be the same as loading the patch into memory so it does not disappear when closing the patch menu.

Also, would be better to make the Save function idiot simple.

Yes, PLEASE! +1 What NeuM and Mr. Haq said please! Cheers, ED

ElektrikDiva

@Shabudua said:

@DJB said:
On the whole topic of patch saving:

would it help people if you save a patch by opening the patch browser, and if you decide to rename it, we would also rename the patch loaded in the plugin itself? It seems that may resolve much of the currently existing confusion about a patch stored in memory vs a patch stored on disk...?

I'm asking because there is a reason why this isn't happening at the moment. Say you rename the patch you've just saved to disk, and then select another patch on disk to rename. It becomes ambiguous what the expected behavior is when renaming the other patch (should it get loaded because you selected it even though the browser is running in a patch saving mode)?

All I know is, I can save a patch in most synth apps without confusion, but I’m having a heckuva time trying to get my head around how Flowtones handles it. 😆 but I’m sure i’ll figure it out, because i’m not gonna give up on such an awesome synth. Thanks for your responsiveness in this issue.

Same here! +1. ED

ElektrikDiva

@Musicfan said:
Has anyone any insight on what the Sequence option in the Randomizer feature is supposed to do? I would have assumed that it would randomize the sequence but so far it doesn’t appear to change anything.

Same here Musicfan…is this a known bug/issue? I hope this gets sorted as it intrigues me. Cheers, ED

gregsmith

@ElektrikDiva said:

@Musicfan said:
Has anyone any insight on what the Sequence option in the Randomizer feature is supposed to do? I would have assumed that it would randomize the sequence but so far it doesn’t appear to change anything.

Same here Musicfan…is this a known bug/issue? I hope this gets sorted as it intrigues me. Cheers, ED

I think the first column is reset and the second column is randomise, so not sure you can randomise the sequencer unfortunately

ElektrikDiva

@yokotate said:

@NeuM said:
Whether you rename a loaded or unloaded patch is too unclear to the user. IMO, tapping once on a patch should be the same as loading the patch into memory so it does not disappear when closing the patch menu.

Also, would be better to make the Save function idiot simple.

I second this. Love the synth for its clear layout (and all the different themes - nice touch) and sound possibilities but patch saving is confusing. Would also really love to see the ability to favorite patches - it is such a useful feature, sadly, many soft synths don’t provide it.

YOKOTATE~Yes, the ability to save faves is essential to a BEASTI Synth like this! DEV please add this feature ASAP as we do need this! Yes, very unclear saving feature, glad I am not the only one flummoxed with this saving thing issue. Cheers, ED

ElektrikDiva

@richardyot said:

@DJB said:
Thanks! The process is supposed to be this:
1) Change the name of the patch you are working on by double tapping the name in the title bar
2) Hamburger menu -> Save. This will create a saved patch in your user library with the same name as you've set in step 1) and overwrite any existing patch if it already existed with the same name; or:
3) Hamburer menu -> Save a copy. This will attempt to create a saved patch with the name you set in step 1), unless it already exists; in that case it will create a copy with the name 'copy' appended to it.

If the above doesn't work, please let us know, ideally with a step-by-step instruction how to reproduce the issue... If you use step 3) for saving I don't think you can ever loose any work (unless there's a bug somewhere).

The important thing to keep in mind (and we should probably make this more clear!) is that renaming a patch in the program manager renames the patch in the file only, leaving your current patch loaded in the synth untouched.

The trouble with this workflow is that it’s too specific. It’s really easy to accidentally lose your work, for example if you single-tap on the preset name it will bring up the preset menu and load the default “Flowing Tones” patch and you lose your work.

It would be more intuitive if it just worked like a regular file saving workflow, like we are all used to in Explorer or Finder.

Some save system that’s universal that we are all used to~That sounds like a great solution Richard.+1. Cheers, ED

ElektrikDiva

@richardyot said:

@Samu said:

@richardyot said:

The trouble with this workflow is that it’s too specific. It’s really easy to accidentally lose your work, for example if you single-tap on the preset name it will bring up the preset menu and load the default “Flowing Tones” patch and you lose your work.

The preset selector 'bug' is fixed in the update that just dropped...
..with a few other fixes as well.

Ok I will test it in the update. I would still prefer a more standard file saving behaviour, with a dialog, so that it feels more familiar.

+1! Cheers, ED

ALB

@horsetrainer said:

@ALB said:
Is there an "init" setting?

It's in the "Template" Category and named "Default".

Many thanks!

DJB

@ALB said:

@horsetrainer said:

@ALB said:
Is there an "init" setting?

It's in the "Template" Category and named "Default".

Many thanks!

Fastest way to init a patch: hit the randomiser button (dice), and hit 'Reset'. That will reset everything, including the sequencer.

And indeed the sequencer doesn't have a randomise option; it can be reset with one click but cannot produce randomised patterns.

Fingolfinzz

Really fantastic work, @DJB. The amount of features is absolutely mind blowing and it sounds great. The layout is really great as well in terms of not making you feel overwhelmed even with the amount of features. It all feels very intuitive.

richardyot

A quick tip to anyone who accidentally loses a preset when trying to save: the undo button is your friend.

@DJB a definite bug when saving an existing preset: the category gets set back to “default”, and if you then recategorise you have to create a second copy of your preset because the previous version is still there.

Musicfan

I am assuming that Flowtones does not have a MIDI out option, only MIDI in , but can someone confirm that’s the case I looked in the settings but couldn’t find any option for MIDI out

branis

@Musicfan said:
I am assuming that Flowtones does not have a MIDI out option, only MIDI in , but can someone confirm that’s the case I looked in the settings but couldn’t find any option for MIDI out

Yup, it doesn’t seem to have midi out

Samu

@branis said:

@Musicfan said:
I am assuming that Flowtones does not have a MIDI out option, only MIDI in , but can someone confirm that’s the case I looked in the settings but couldn’t find any option for MIDI out

Yup, it doesn’t seem to have midi out

In that case @DJB could we please have an option to completely hide the keyboard when Flowtones is used as an AUv3?
(Without the keyboard a full-screen AUv3 could show more of the available parameters reducing 'tab switching').

[Deleted User]

The user and all related content has been deleted.

Poppadocrock

@Samu said:
@DJB Being able to record / step-record notes into the sequencer could come in handy?
An additional sequencer (ie. one per ’part’) would allow more complex sequence design.

’keyboard split/range’ for the parts to layer or split the parts.

Additional modulators similar to TB DualVCF with a loop on/off toggle?
(ie. an option to replace an envelope/lfo ’slot’ with the ’modulator’).

A log/exp curve function for the envelope steps?

Hard-Sync & Ring Mod could be handy sound-shapers?

More ’Noise Types’ with modulation input for pitch/cut-off etc.
(ie. add noise to the ’oscillator types’ and use the pwm knob to alter the parameter).

My all time favourite noise type is the bit-shift noise from the C64.

Creating, Sharing & Importing of preset folders with an easy way to copy & move presets between banks could be nice especially if we do a community patch thing like we’ve done for a few other apps in the past.

And if possible share the ’things’ that are on the drawing board for the app to get feedback that could evnetually help to prioritise implementation order

I know this might be big time ’feature creep’ so if it doesn’t make any sense just ignore it
Cheers!
/Samuel

Yea I’m in agreement here. I also didn’t notice the sequencer randomize even though it’s in the Randomize options? Mite be user error.