Glitch Free Preset Switching

[User1]

Any ideas how to switch presets without interrupting the sound ? I have this sampler that needs a better preset manager and faster sample loading. Maybe to preload the entire sample library folder if there is a way.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1vYmzUK ... sp=sharing

[User1]

I solved it by creating a muted duplicate layer and then switching between the layers on the fly. You can find an mp3 and ogg audio sample here. The seamless preset switching is still not solved yet.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1d86lL6 ... sp=sharing
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Jb53uA ... sp=sharing

The VSTi and FSM files are here.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1-HyVlz ... sp=sharing

Use v3.0.9b2-3319-gd51130b to modify it.

[Spogg]

The Preset Manager prim has an OPT input pin which isn’t described in the Component Guide but if you click on it you get a description of a number you can put in to select from 3 options, one of which is do not recompile.

However, when a preset is changed, typically many parameters are updated very fast and in sequence, so I would always expect to get clicks and stuff. The only thing I can think of is using the “Before preset change” trigger to start a soft mute and the “After preset change” trigger to un-mute the audio. But I don’t think this will be useful in practice because the mute would need to operate very fast and that in turn might cause a click. If it did work you’d have a short period of silence anyway.

[User1]

Thanks Spogg. I just noticed that all the knobs and switches have the wrong name or description when I checked the info bar in FL Studio. I think I copied them from the GONGVERB. It still says GONGVERB. How do I reset all the presets or the entire preset manager after I rename all the knobs ? I also managed to crash it because the old preset that was saved on disk is not matching the new knob names. Here is a new version with most of the knobs and switches renamed but the old presets are not going to work. Or maybe it will just crash.

[User1]

I just found the preset properties box. The one from the GONGVERB Preset Manager. That's where the GONGVERB label comes from. It's still there so it's still going to say GONGVERB because of it. LOL. Sorry about that.

About the seamless preset switching. The idea is to have either a dual layer preset manager or a duplicate. When you load a preset or switch to a new preset it has to do it in the second layer. The layer that is not currently active. Once it finished loading it can cross-fade quickly from the muted background layer to the active layer. Like a flip flop switch that is morphing between two layers.

I have a similar thing going with the random sample loading. The bottom right switch that is labeled as "Layer Flip". When the switch is off the top layer is active and the bottom one is loading samples randomly from the HOME folder. Then when you turn the switch on the second layer becomes the active one and the first layer starts to load samples randomly from the HOME folder. We need something similar for the preset manager too.

[Spogg]

I’m not sure I follow this completely, but I can see your thinking. However, you can’t have more than one preset manager per complete synth, and the single preset manager has to be placed at the top level in the schematic. Two might work in the schematic but the preset manager is the interface for the DAW in a plugin. If there were more than one, which one would the DAW communicate with? I suspect the last one you added, but I never tried it.

Someone here had a system of using a preset manager as some sort of slave to the main one and claimed it worked, but I don’t remember who, or what they described. If they read this maybe they could offer some details. The important point is to try your system in a plugin before you do lots of work on the project so you don’t waste time and effort!

[User1]

In that case you could have one preset manager but with 2 buffers or 2 layers inside. One foreground layer that is the active layer and the other one to be the background layer or the muted layer that is doing all the loading in the background without interrupting the sound or the active preset. Probably it has to do it in a separate thread but I don't know how to assign modules or components to different threads. That's the general idea. I will have to try it to see if it works.

Is there a way to make a new preset manager from scratch ?
Do I have to use the existing components or can I make my own ?

[Spogg]

I’ll be interested to see what you come up with following your tests.

The preset management system is proprietary to FS. To create an alternative system would be a huge undertaking even if it was actually possible. You’d need to know exactly how a FS plugin communicates with the DAW for starters. I’ve never seen any detailed information about the P connector, so everything would have to be made from scratch but I reckon you’d need deep access to FS routines and FS is not open source software.

The closest you could get is saving and loading of parameters for controls in some sort of file which contained the set values you wish to operate with, such as an array of knob values etc. But you’d still need a FS preset manager to communicate with the DAW.
Also, you’d still get glitches when changing these "local" presets due to parameters needing to be updated when a local preset changes.

I must confess I’m still not clear on why you want to change presets on the fly, while a synth is playing. If you just want to load different samples during play I would steer clear of using preset changing to achieve it. Maybe some sort of sample sequencer is needed so while a sample is playing the next one is loaded and, when the current one has finished playback, it switches to the next one. That in itself would be a pretty advanced project.

[User1]

This is what I'm going to try tomorrow in order to build a Preset Manager from scratch. The Preset Module with send all of it's settings to a Manager Module using wireless connectors but that indirectly also means that the Manager has to be buried deep below everything else in order to receive the wireless signals and to store the values. In order to apply those settings back when the preset is reloaded there needs to be a Manager Module at the highest level to be able to send the wireless signals to everything below in order to apply them. I will have to try it tomorrow.

When is FlowStone going to be updated to make things quicker and easier like in this video ?
Here is an example of a beat repeater done with Bitwig Grid.
Unfortunately Bitwig is not exporting the result as a VST plugin.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z38_aRo ... Tx&index=6

[User1]

So far this seems to work but it's just a small test. The wireless connections didn't work and it's not clear why. The receiver was way below everything else and the data type was the same.