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Developer interviews
Tony Hardie-Bick - UK
Aleix Riera - Spain
David McClain - USA
Paul Maddox - UK
Are Leistad - Norway
Raphaėl Mouneyres - France
Tony Hardie-Bick is the creator of Entity, a no compromise modelled synthesiser. He has worked for many years as an advisor to engineers and inventors,
based on his own experience developing various hardware synth prototypes.
Having been amazed at the quality of work going on in fields as such as mobile
phone telecoms and computer graphics, he is now determined to increase the number
of skilled developers working on Chameleon.
Q: How did you come across the Chameleon?
A: I found it by chance on the net, like I guess a lot of people must have.
Q: What it is you like about it?
A: It's a standard. Although the design is technically excellent, it is also
simple, and when you work on a platform of that kind, the payoffs are big.
You learn relevant techniques that are applicable on any platform. In the
same way the Sinclair Spectrum paved the way for a whole generation of game
programmers, I believe that Chameleon can and will provide relevant
experience for anyone interested in audio programming.
Q: How does it compare to programming on a computer - Why DSP?
A: A PC is a general purpose device, and operates like a general purpose
device. A musical instrument is not a general purpose device. Chameleon is a
step in the right direction, but nevertheless is a good developer platform.
There are obvious benefits, like the fact that a skin starts up in a few
seconds, but in fact there is a whole relationship between musician and
instrument, that a general purpose computer cannot provide. When you're
programming, you need to be continuously aware of that, like a craftsman
being aware of the whole instrument while attending to detailed aspects of a
guitar's construction.
DSP programming includes a fundamental operation - multiplication - that is
at the heart of musical instruments, both acoustic and electronic. By
implementing an efficient multiply instruction, DSPs transform ordinary
programming into a bewildering array of possibilities - music is one very
special part of that set of possibilities.
Q: What first made you take DSP audio seriously?
A: There was a product, called the Music 500, that was a box the size of a
disk drive that connected to a BBC microcomputer. The device had incredible
sonic capabilities. It also had shortcomings - it had some strange
distortions. I had one of these machines, and I realised that, if the
distortions were taken away, probably it would sound very dead. At the same
time, it was an amazing instrument. At that point, I decided I would find a
way to make digital sounds that were as lively as those I was used to
hearing from acoustic instruments, but with that life being a property of a
mathematical algorithm, rather than arising accidentally from the limited
precision of the circuits. I knew it had to be possible, because you could
hear digital recordings of acoustic instruments that sound exactly like the
real thing. So I took DSP audio seriously from the start, even though there
was nothing available that could do what I wanted.
Q: What gave you the idea to develop Entity?
A: Entity was a name I had for an earlier synth, but I always felt that the
name was better than the synth! So when I found Chameleon, I decided it was
time to put some new ideas to the test. When I got round to writing the
filter code, I was going to use a distorting state variable filter. But I
had an analogue filter, which I used all the time when recording, and which was
indespensible to me. I was certain I could not code a filter to sound like
that, but nevertheless, I dared myself to have a go. I paid careful
attention to all the components in the circuit, and worked out an algorithm. At first,
it sounded like all the other digital filters I've heard, and I was very
disappointed - in fact, I really decided that synth programming was not for
me. Then, after several depressing days, I discovered a twist in the
algorithm, and it came completely to life! After a few days' tweaking, I
really could not tell the difference between the digital and the analogue
filter. Entity is based around that filter.
Q: What soundskin would you love to develop - what have you got up your
sleeve
- and can you tell us?
A: Soundskins are really just instances of ideas, that should have a life
beyond any one product or situation. I see Chameleon as being at the root of
an evolutionary process, and Soundart existing as a facilitator of that
process. So I would like to see that process begin, more than seeing any
particular soundskin.
Q: Is there anything else you'd like to add?
A: Yes. Well done Soundart!
Aleix is a Telecommunication and Electrical Engineering student from Barcelona, who fell in love with music in 1993, when he listened Jean-Michel Jarre's Chronologie. But until he received recognition for his "Physics Park" investigation work when he was 17, he had never thought that sound programming would be his target years later.
He is also a composer, but always made music in order to learn more about electronic music and its techniques. He released "Pink Rain" in June 2003, appearing on the Exoniqe compilation from Lightnet Music.
Now, he sees the Chameleon as his most important learning instrument, which he uses to test and implement the theory he has been studying.
Q: So how did you first learn about the Chameleon?
A: I heard about it surfing in Internet. But I met Mr. Tomąs at the Insolit Music forum last July (2003) and it was there that I really fell definitively in love with the whole Chameleon idea. I really wanted to learn more about sound programming, but not on a PC standard platform, as I always had done. Thus, Soundart kindly gave me a Chameleon to start testing my skills.
Q: What first made you take DSP audio seriously?
A:Mr Tomas, Jordi Trujillo and I talked about DSP programming. I think I'm a programming lover, but until then it was always on a PC. Although I already had programming experience on a V25 microprocessor, on a Texas Instruments DSP voice coding platform, on Intel 8086 assembling codes, and on Altera VHDL programmable logic, it was the Chameleon's interface - specially designed for audio signal editing - which made me seriously consider this DSP platform.
Q: How long have you had a Chameleon?
A:I have had my Chameleon since September 2003. I finished a beta of SouthPole in December, but until June 2004 I had not finished testing and improving the quality of the soundskin.
Q: How are you getting on with DSP coding?
A:I'm very proud of having programmed my own Chameleon's DSP code. Apart of programming my own modules, such as the hot-saturators and mixers, I have configured a personal structure on the audio processing side, based on a classic analogue modular point of view. For example, there's two assembler files whose work is only to connect the sound modules (or black boxes) in the SouthPole soundskin, as we could link two hardware modules with cables. Then you can disconnect and change dramaticly the structure of your audio processor (or synthesizer) very easily. It seems to be an object-oriented high-level language implemented directly in assembler.
Q: How does it compare to programming on a computer - Why DSP?
A:As I said, the generic platforms - such as a personal computer - aren't conceived to develop any specific project on them. Maybe graphic developing is the most interesting application for them. but I really like programming in low level languages. Look at it this way... I'm still composing music with a tracker! I think it's very nice to feel the control you don't have when programming with other things. The DSP is made for optimal signal processing, and this is where we should code. What's better?
Q: Who can benefit from SouthPole?
A:As I explain in the SouthPole web-site, all the musicians who want to make their sound more characterful and organic. For example, static drum loops can be transformed into a dynamic and evolving, always-changing pattern. But anyone can extract some interesting FX sounds from it. but I think the most important thing you can do with this skin, and with Monowave (the other open-source soundskin), is actually learning from all of us and taking it even further!
Q: Did your program turn out as expected on the Chameleon?
A:Although it is surprising, yes. Firstly, Southpole had to be an essential LPF bank with the LFOs. But I slowly added some more features, as the BPF and HPF in parallel to LPF, the Hot-Saturators, the SP-Delay (with Random parameter), logarithmic controls, and the final modification of the order of the Filter Bank and Hot-Saturators at lines 3 and 4. I think the program has, at least, a few applications in sound processing. It is great for me. I have learnt a lot.
Q: What are you planning to do with it?
A:There are lots of ideas on the table. On of my central ideas is always to simplify and to obtain nice results with very simple ideas - so maybe a very simple but effective FM synth would be a good choice. But I have more things in my mind, as I say. Why not make a talking Chameleon? ;-)
Q: What would you say to someone thinking about using the Chameleon for their DSP-based project?
A:I've few things to add to this. I repeat - what's better than this dedicated, programmable platform with keys, potentiometers, LCD panel, and the encoder? The access is direct, and you don't have limits about what you program inside it.
Q: What do you think is the future of the Chameleon?
A:A lot, hopefully. In my honest opinion, I think the very best choice out of the options for sound signal processing research is the Chameleon.
Q: What soundskin would you love to develop?
A:Australis. Oops, too late!
Q: Is there anything else you'd like to add?
A:Yes, I would like to thank everyone for all their help on the Forums, the Chameleon Developers mailing lists, and specially all the support of Jordi, Jesus and Vicente. I hope they don't remember about the fridge beers I promised them...
To read more about Aleix and is work, visit www.fjarre.com/~aleix.
David McClain is an astrophysicist, developer of computer solutions for more than 30 years and a DSP developer for more than 20 years. He has developed compilers, computer languages, realtime operating systems. His work has included cutting-edge defense research. In short, he knows his stuff.
As well as being a computer scientist, he is also a musician, composer and lover of sounds of all kinds. When his own hearing became damaged a few years ago, he could barely recognize the sound of his own compositions.
He says: "hearing aids proved to be a complete disappointment, I was determined to overcome this situation. I have spent every waking moment over the past four years investigating human hearing, testing sound perception, and developing equations to perform near perfect hearing restoration for musical listening".
Now with the Chameleon he has found the ideal platform to realise his ground-breaking research.
Q: How did you come across the Chameleon?
A: I first saw the Chameleon in a press release about 2 years ago. It looked interesting at the time, but I got distracted by the Kyma. Kyma is great for prototyping ideas, but not close enough to the bare metal. For example, to do my Crescendo in Kyma requires about 12 DSP's, while I can do it in only one DSP on the Chameleon. You can definitely pack more power into the Chameleon by working so close to the bare DSP. I regret waiting so long before getting a Chameleon!
Q: What it is you like about it?
A: I love the 24 bit Audio streams in and out, the speed and horsepower of that 56303 DSP, and the really neat Coldfire executive processor programmed in C and C++. The Coldfire makes life really easy for interfacing to the outside world. To top it off, the Chameleon comes with the best set of cross development tools I have ever seen in my 20 years of DSP work. I have never had a crash, and the work flows so smoothly and simply. Chameleon and its software development system make a potentially difficult programming task (i.e. DSP coding) into a pleasant experience.
Q: How long have you had yours?
A: I got my Chameleon about 4 days ago. In those 4 days I programmed two complete versions of my Crescendo application. The second improves on the first in many different ways, and packs so much into the DSP that only 10 compute cycles remain. But the fact that I could do this much in only 4 days testifies to the superb design of the software development system and the straightforward computer architecture of the Chameleon.
Q: How does it compare to programming on a computer - Why DSP?
A: DSP coding is a speciality artform, reminiscent of the very early days of computer programming. You have to juggle registers and thoughtfully arrange data in memory addresses. While more tedious than writing code in C or C++, it is this closeness to the raw horsepower of the DSP that gives it so much strength.
The DSP also provides some degree of parallelism in the code, so that while an operation such as add or multiply is taking place, the operands for the next upcoming instruction are being loaded. While many instructions take multiple clock cycles to complete, the DSP is pipelined so that it achieves an effective throughput of one instruction per clock cycle. Now that is killer speed that can't be matched by any other kind of CPU! It only takes a few days to become familiar with the DSP instruction set. Once you do you become absolutely amazed at the power of only one DSP!
Q: What is your Crescendo system designed to do?
A: Crescendo allows audiophiles and professionals in the music industry to adjust the spectrum of sound in real time to compensate for peculiarities in their hearing. Everybodys hearing has peculiarites beyond what is normally known as "deafness". Crescendo makes it possible to hear what a "Standard Golden Ear" would hear, even if they don't possess a Golden Ear. It does this by means of nonlinear, frequency selective, compression. Not your typical studio multiband compressor. Our compression curves are derived from a detailed understanding of human loudness perception, and mathematical models of normal and impaired sensio-neural hearing.
The bands are isolated by well-matched high rolloff filters and produce virtually no phase cancellation where they join to adjacent bands. Left and right channels are treated independently to accommodate hearing asymmetries. Ahead of this processing is an optional truncated 1/F stereo delayed crossover that makes the headphone listening experience much more pleasant than raw left and right channels. It gives the impression of listening to stereo speakers at +/-30 degree azimuth.
For live studio use, musicians, and composers, our in/out latency is very short, being around 1 ms.
Q: How does Crescendo differ from other DSP hearing restoration systems?
A: The only other DSP hearing restoration systems that I am aware of are hearing aids. Those are strictly used to help people comprehend human speech, which is a specialized kind of signal. Bandwidth requirements are very narrow compared to the needs of music reproduction systems. They also typically incorporate active noise cancellation, which wreaks havoc with music. Finally, the compression curves used by hearing aids are all wrong for musical listening, typically overemphasizing the higher harmonics of instruments. This causes pianos, for example, to sound inside out, where the higher harmonics outweigh the fundamental tone of the notes.
Q: who can benefit from this system?
A: Music lovers with some degree of hearing loss are obvious candidates. Anyone who has been exposed for long periods to damaging levels of sound (rock music performers?) may have impaired high frequency response. But also, audiophiles who want the purest sound from their systems, and recording industry professionals who don't want to impose their hearing peculiarities on the rest of us are natural candidates. Crescendo gives these users the ability to hear what a Standard Golden Ear would hear.
Q: Did your program turn out as expected on the Chameleon?
A: It actually turned out to be even better than expected. I have many prototypes of the Crescendo system running on everything from PC plug-ins, to Kyma's multi-DSP platform, to SHARC prototyping cards. But Chameleon absolutely blew these away with its high quality audio in and out, and the raw horsepower of working so close to the "bare metal" of the DSP.
By thinking in DSP code, attempting to make every cycle count, I discovered a novel improved high-order filter topolgy that blows away any competing designs. These new filters would never have occured to me, had I been working at a higher level of code.
Chamelon now runs our flagship standard "Crescendo/Pro-Audio" implementation, which defines a level of performance that none of our other implementations have been able to match. As a result, I now find myself working in the field of hearing research at an entirely new plateau.
Q: What would you say to someone thinking about developing on the Chameleon?
A: DO IT!! NOW!! You won't regret it. Chameleon is absolutely the finest available development system and reproduction hardware for sound engineering. I have worked with many different DSP systems in the past, some costing obscene amounts of money, and yet nothing even compares to the quality, ease of use, and reliability of a Chameleon. I might even get about a dozen more and just fill a rack with them so that I can have a super-studio all running various Soundskins. That's my fantasy, anyway...
Q: What do you think is the future of the Chameleon?
A: I think it will continue to lead the pack, despite the upcoming prevalence of ASIO and DXi computer based plugins. Chameleon is 100% dedicated to processing sound. The other systems, while quite good, will always take second place to word processing, Web browsers, and the like. Chameleon has a superb multitasking operating system in the Coldfire control processor, and it is tuned to do one thing and do it well. What I foresee coming down the pike is a super-Chameleon with at least 4-8 of the DSP 56K's inside. Now that would be an absolute killer!
To read more about David and is work, visit RefinedAudioMetrics.com.
Ever since hearing Tangram by Tangerine dream, he has been obsessed by synthesisers and music. On the back of an HNC in electronics in the mid 90's he started building his own hardware modular synth,
using bits of schematics from the internet and his own experience. One module of great interest to many was the PPG VCO, born from his love of the harsh PPG sound.
He fed this into a Moog ladder filter clone he had built and found that he really liked the sound.
In 2000 he created a 2U monosynth (the Monowave), it had 2 DCOs with 256 waveforms (more than the original modular),
two sub-oscillators, a moog ladder filter and two EGs. The module was very, very well received, enough to persuade him to do a small run of them, and the Monowave was born (for more details on the hardware Monowave visit pauls website). All 25 of the original handbuilt Monowaves have now been sold and he has had excellent feedback on its sound and originality.
Q: what first made you take DSP audio seriously?
A: During the production of the hardware Monowave I had always maintained that DSP lacked the 'guts' that analogue had, that it was boring, bland and that most DSP synths sounded the same and rather 'flat' - and they all relied on effects to disguise the poor sound. During 2002 I had a chance to play with an Access Virus B - and was amazed - here was a DSP synth that actually had character. This led me to conclude that the reason DSP synths sounded boring was that they were being programmed by mathematicians, and not musicians! I am now proramming like crazy on the Chameleon, and recently gave a talk at the recent Synth DIY meeting at Cambridge University that I helped to organise, helping to communicate exactly what is possible with this great little machine.
Q: How did you first hear about the Chameleon?
A: Sometime in 2001 , Soundart announced it on the SynthDIY list (a mailing list for synth enthusiasts, builders and hackers), and after the initial barrage of people saying 'it's DSP, it's digital, it's not DIY, blah blah' I took a good long look at it and decided it *was* DIY and told the list I thought it was.. So I'd been keeping an eye on the SoundArt Chameleon for a while and shortly after the Synth DIY event (in 2002) I purchased my Chameleon.
After buying it I've been constantly preaching to the SynthDIY list about it being perfect for DIY and being easy to write for!
Q: What attracted you to the Chameleon platform?
A: The ability to create my own synths. The concept of a re-skinnable module was nice, but the ability for me to make my own synths was far more important to me. It meant I could play with different architectures and sounds without constantly soldering and buying parts only to bin them later. It also meant I could develop my skills in DSP and then perhaps sell some of my designs to other synth manufacturers.
Q: How long have you had a Chameleon?
A: A shade over a year, and I wouldn't trade it or sell it for anything, though I'd buy a second one in a flash (if I only had the money!)
Q: How does it compare to building analog hardware, and what persuaded you to switch?
A: The advantage over analogue/digital hardware is that I dont have to keep soldering, I can focus on getting the sound I want, not on my soldering skills, it also means I don't have to take up much space (building analogue synths not only takes time, but space) it's also far far more cost effective - if I want to try an idea all I have to do is write the code, I don't have to buy parts only to discover it's not worth using and wasting the parts I just purchased.
Q: How are you getting on with DSP coding?
A: Fine, there is a learning curve, and I'm not saying Im an expert, but I'm no mathematician either and I can do it, I can actually write code for DSPs! If I can do it, then so can others...
I decided that a good place to start would be a clone of my hardware Monowave, I knew what it sounded like and what sound I liked. Added to this it would be monophonic so I could start simple :-) I downloaded the excellently documented monosynth example but was completely confused.. bits of it I could understand, bits just looked like russian to me..
so I began pestering the Soundart team and forum. Everyone was really helpful and were very, very patient with, what must have seemed like completely stupid questions.. Having got the hang of some of the basics, I managed to build upon the original monsynth example and it's now the MonowaveII.
It now has the following spec: 3 Oscillators, each with 256 waveforms and 7 stage de-res (to give that grungy PPG sound) A modified Moog ladder filter, with a 'pole sweep' control, so you can choose from the classic 4-pole, full on moog filter sound, through bandpass and into a nice 'fizzy' 1-pole mode.
We now have 3 ADSRs, one for VCA, one for VCF and one 'free' eg that can be used to modulate certain features (LFO rate, pole sweep, resonance,etc). I also added two LFOs, This has 64 waveforms to choose from, so you can move on from the usual, sine/saw/tri LFOs and into something different.
It's come a long long way, and its taken a lot of work, but its been a very enjoyable ride.
The project is now open source, again, so anyone can contribute, and there is a Chameleon developers mailing list running now to swap files and get things going.
Q: What would you say to someone thinking about developing their own soundskin?
A: Don't just think about it, DO IT! If you get stuck, ask the forum or other developers, if its a cruical bit of code you don't wish to share with the world, email the guys at Soundart privatly and explain you don't want to share it, and ask for their help. I couldn't have met much nicer, more helpful bunch of people. And they really know their stuff. And as more and more people develop for the Chameleon the community is growing fast.
Q: What soundskin would you love to develop?
A: A PPG Wave clone (and I am planning to) that interacts with the PC and wavetermC to allow user creation of tables and playback of samples from the PPG library. classic sounding stuff!
Q: What do you think is the future of the Chameleon?
A: Hardware wise? faster CPus, larger panel, bigger display..Software wise? Id like to see a Granular synth of some kind, and FM synth of some sort and a wavetable synth.
Q: Is there anything else youd like to add?
A: This baby rocks!
Are Leistad is the brains behind Infiltrator, the Chameleon Soudskin that is blowing people away left right and centre with its unusual FX capabilities and classic vocoding sounds. An expert in embedded systems and synthesis, he found the perfect tool in the Chameleon to realise his own synthesis ideas.
His background is equally in music and computing. In the early eighties he was a teenager and was totally taken by both music and microprocessors. He says "You can say anything you like about the "bad taste" and "hopeless hairstyles" of the 80's, but it was a period of storming musical and technological activity of all kinds, and it was the period when 'digital' really started to change the world!".
Q: How did you come across the Chameleon?
A: From a friend who had spotted it on the net. I checked it out and nearly had to pinch my arm to see if I was dreaming or not...
Q: What it is you like about it?
A: The Chameleon is essentially the box I always wanted to make. For me it is almost the perfect product ("almost", since no engineer will be bereft of further ideas for improvement :-). There has never before been offered such a package: a well designed and reasonably priced hardware platform together with a complete SDK that has you going in minutes, all with no strings attached. Add to this the friendly people at Soundart and their philosophy of openness. I couldn't ask for much more.
Q: How long have you had yours?
A: Since May 2002. Got my second one a few months ago. And since all good things come in threes.... :)
Q: How does it compare to programming on a computer - Why DSP?
A: Programming for a machine such as the Chameleon is both easier and harder than for a PC. Easier because you have a well defined, stable and bounded system to work with, which is very "clean and lean" technically. Harder because it involves low level programming. One of the main attractions of programming for a DSP platform is that the end product will be highly responsive (low latency), stable and roadworthy - qualities that all good musicians appreciate.
Q: What gave you the idea to develop Infiltrator?
A: Fascination with vocoders combined with the facts: a) I never got hold of a "proper" one, and b) I now had a Chameleon sitting in front of me! As the project went on it became clear that it could become more than just a vocoder since the "parts" that it consisted of could be rearranged and used in other ways with a few additions.
Q: Did it turn out as expected?
A: It turned out better. After testing an alpha version, SoundArt expressed interest in the project and we agreed to cooperate on the release version. This brought in many new ideas and user interface improvements as well as an extensive manual.
Q: How do you feel now that it is out there and receiving such great feedback from the user community?
A: It's always good to know that your work is appreciated. If people can use it in creative music making then it's "mission accomplished" and I'm happy!
Q: What would you say to someone thinking about developing their own soundskin?
A: Firstly, if you have "only" general programming skills, don't be afraid of the DSP. It is actually quite simple and understandable in its workings, and given interest and some dedication, it may well turn out to be the best programming fun you've ever had. Secondly, the Chamelon provides a new and unique opportunity for learning and having fun with an embedded system made for sound, without any of the headaches. The SDK is one of the very best I have seen; a couple of clicks takes you from source code to the running soundskin, leaving you to just think about your own code.
Even if you don't plan to make soundskins for the public (yet!) you can experiment with and learn about programming and signal processing in the exact same environment as the "hardware pro's" use. Thirdly, if in doubt, get one and see for yourself - if nothing else you get a very interesting experience and at the end of the day you've actually got a Chameleon sitting there to run those cool soundskins that keep coming out...
Q: What soundskin would you love to develop - what have you got up your sleeve - and can you tell us?
A: Hmmm, well, just let me say that working with the Chameleon has got me fired up, and I have new things in the making that will be as unusual as Infiltrator...
Q: What do you think is the future of the Chameleon?
A: I really think the Chameleon is the right way to go. Just like PC's and plug-ins opened up new creative territory, the Chameleon opens up a similar territory only with the solidity, performance and traditions of high quality "hardware". I know that everybody I speak to who is aware of the concept is very enthusiastic.
Raphaėl Mouneyres is a hardware and software developer from Southern France, who is heding a team of developers working on new and unusual MIDI controllers, synths and live performance tools.
He is partly funded by the French government in his research, and uses the Chameleon engine to realise the DSP aspects of his work.
Q: How did you first hear about the Chameleon?
A: I was planning to create my own DSP board, so I searched the internet for components, advice and previous work by other people. Then I posted in the music-dsp mailing-list with my intentions, and got an answer from Jesus Villena (head of Soundart's technical team) inviting me to visit the Soundart website...
Q: What attracted you to the Chameleon platform?
A: Building your own DSP board is quite a headache ...b ut when you see the Chameleon unit, it has everything you need to start coding without worrying about the hardware; it quite simply saved me months (or years) of hard work :) On top of that, Soundart team gives a complete SDK full of examples where you can grab pieces of code for your own project. This is very useful because starting from scratch is not an easy task and I think is what puts most people off wanting to work with DSP - instead they play around with VSTs. The Chameleon changes all this.
Then of course, as a live musician I face a lot of different situations. The Chameleon is now essential in my setup! When playing techno stuff I'll use the Fahrenheit skin, when recording some guitar tracks i'll use Amp-o-matic, in my studio i'll play with Infiltrator ... and then there's new soundskins coming out all the time...
Q: How long have you been working with it?
A: I took me one day after visiting the Soundart website to buy my unit. That was in July 2002. Since then, I've always found new ways to use it.
Q: What are you planning to do with it?
A: Aside from my music making I have two development projects currently running:
- An auto-feedback synth. This is a strange synth as you don't need any keyboard nor a pitch or modulation wheel, IT IS ALL ABOUT TWEAKING KNOBS AND FADERS!!! Using it as an effect unit can also be as creative.
- A Live Looper : The main goal of this project is to have a similar real-time looper to the well known Jamman, Boomerang or Oberheim-Gibson Echoplex (interesting for its midi features).
You can get more information and download it from:
looper skin
Q: How are you getting on - how does the Chameleon platform fit in?
A: The Chameleon has more DSP power than I personally will ever need. The provided API speeds up the development a lot (and fills my knowledge gaps). Only the RAM memory is sometimes a little too short for sampling long audio streams, but hey...
Q: What would you say to someone thinking about using the Chameleon for their DSP-based project?
A: The main advantage is you need only one day to get used to the interface, then you can start coding immediately. The provided examples and exercices are a perfect course to getting all the Chameleon developing skills and knowledge. For those interested in programming synth engines, the monosynth example is a complete open-source starter kit. I understand that's what Paul Maddox has used to create his Monowave II.
Q: What soundskin would you love to develop?
A: A complete modular environment similar to NI Reaktor! We are currently thinking about a brand-new modular concept for the Chameleon, it is called "némo".
Q: which is your favourite soundskin?
A: Today, I mainly use the Fahrenheit soundskin. I'm doing a lot of electronic music either home or at various events as DJerash. Here's a quick view of my live setup:
- Chameleon with Fahrenheit : complete drum machine and synth for all kind of tekno sounds.
- A Korg Kaoss Pad as effects looper and Scratching pad
- Yamaha Rm1x sequencer/remixer with all the skin MIDI files loaded for switching at the venue if I need to
- Minidisc desk with personal samples and loops collection
an external mixer with effects for mixing
I also play guitar, mainly metal, and have been VERY impressed by the Amp-o-matic soundskin (I've also been able to have a sneak preview of the soon-to-be-released full version!). I Use a Rocktron Gainiac Preamp which goes into the Chameleon, and thus I have a killer guitar sound with only two little 1U racks. There is also Australis standing as the best synth I own and of course Infiltrator, maybe the weirdest one, but time is needed to really control this beast and then it is truly amazing...
Q: What do you think is the future of the Chameleon?
A: There has been many discussions on the forum about USB additions, more DSP power, more memory, enhanced user interface, extended connectivity, etc ... Well, this is all very promising!
But even now, I think it is necessary to praise the enormous work from the Soundart development team for the constant addition of free professional level soundskins while providing excellent support to independant developers like myself. I think that with time, the fame of the Chameleon will allow a larger audience to realise its advantages in versatility and performance. For me, the Chameleon is *the* adaptable-on-demand audio rack...
Q: Is there anything else you'd like to add?
A: Yes : I'm a total Chameleon addict :))
