Introducing MindMeld ShapeMaster

Announcements
42

You pretty much summed up my thoughts exactly. Everything that makes DAW Editing/Mixing afterwards less of a necessity I think is a blessing.

Things like Multiband Sidechain and precise volume automation synced over time just get you a lot closer to the final bounce.

I had my own concept for a 4 stage envelope where the stages’ length can be set in Note values based on clock input / bpm. But this does so much more it’s an Instant addition to the template.

Thank you so much for thinking outside the box and truly raising the bar!

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43

The level of quality of your modules is truly amazing!

It doesn’t happen often that a piece of software has all the features I want from it, but with your stuff I always find even more features that I didn’t even know I wanted before, and all so perfectly executed.

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44

After being completely boggled by the possibilities, and in full knowledge the I have no idea about most of the concept being discussed, my second thought was - I wonder what sound the Magma Logo makes; I have a feeling there is going to be a lot of saving/sharing presets and .smsh files … (can’t post them here btw)

My third thought was - just as an academic exercise in the spirit of recreating old synths like the Moog - is it possible to recreate the functionality of this thing using standard VCV Rack modules and how big would that patch be ???

This sounds interesting by the way; (having fun is what it’s all about etc.)

Screenshot 2021-04-24 at 17.27.55
Screenshot 2021-04-24 at 17.27.552728×1196 471 KB

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45

Is there a way to quantize a shape after drawing it? I have only found the random quantization.

46

I recognize that logo!

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47

After it’s drawn, there is not way to quantize it, but while drawing it, if you setup your grid accordingly to how you want to quantize, you can position the nodes using ctrl and alt (cmd and option on Mac) and they will snap to the grid.

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48

Ok, just found out, that you can draw quantized while holding shift, alt and ctrl. That is nice. Thanks

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49

I played with ShapeMaster for a couple of hours yesterday, and watched the videos. It’s an amazing modules that oozes of the quality that we have now been accustomed to with MindMeld. In particular the UI system of selecting the 8 channels on top, and reusing the controls at the bottom is just brilliant. The module feels a bit like a couple of Rampage, a couple of Tides, and then quite a bit more, all packed into this delicious package. The inclusion of the presets is a stroke of genius, and makes it a lot easier to get started, and to get a grip on what it’s doing. You should feel seriously proud of yourselves guys, it really is a top-shelf module.

The only thing that confuses me slightly, is the seeming semi-overlap between the “presets” and the “shapes” menus. But I haven’t read the manual yet, so it will probably become all clear.

I have a question: Because it has VCA’s (which is a brilliant move) I can do the “modulate the modulators” thing, and get some really nice, complex LFO’s and envelopes. Am I right in suspecting that I cannot control a VCA channel with the resulting complex waveform, and that I have to use an external VCA for that?

As an example: Let’s say that on channel 1 I have a modulator, and on channel 2 I have a carrier. I take the CV out from channel 1 and stick it into the VCA input of channel 2. On the VCA output of channel 2 I now have the complex waveform. Is there any way to use that complex waveform to control the VCA on channel 3?

As far as I can tell it’s not possible to provide a CV input for the VCA of a channel, it’s locked to the generated CV of the channel, and it’s not possible either to say something like: “For the VCA of this channel, don’t use the generated CV, but instead use the CV from output X”. The deluxe option would probably be to have an option/switch/setting that says: “The CV line of this channel, affecting it’s VCA, is the envelope of the channel modulated by the envelope of the preceeding channel/channel X”.

It’s a niche case I guess so don’t sweat it, it would just be convenient to use the VCA’s already built in, for this particular use case of making complex LFO’s in the module.

Again - thank you for once again raising the bar for VCV Rack modules, and well done!

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50

Thanks for the kind words Lars! We put in many months to get this beast up and running :slight_smile:

You’re correct in assuming that a given channel’s VCA can only be modulated by it’s own shape, and I think in the interest of keeping an already complex module not too complex, we might leave it as is and defer to an external VCA like you mention.

For presets vs shapes, there is an overlap, since the shape is the actual drawing in the main window, whereas a channel preset (not to be confused with a Rack module preset), is a shape plus all the settings of the knobs and such (everything below the main display and some of the settings in the display itself (grid, random settings etc).

Cheers!

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51

No more using Host for this effect :smiley:

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image1674×688 296 KB

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52

Mëkanïk Dëstruktïẁ Kömmandöh

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53

Hello Marc/Steve, I have been messing and hopefully succeeding to control 2 delay modules and JW Substation patch with ShapeMaster. Do the connections look right to you? Here is the patch:

jeremy_drone-Substation +ShapeMaster.vcv (62.7 KB)

Substation controlled by ShapeMaster
Substation controlled by ShapeMaster1259×620 176 KB

I can supply audio if you’d like to hear the effects and ShapeMaster working or not? Much appreciated.

54

this module is amazing! I had no chance to try it until today , and I love it, from today, is in my default rack (beside the mixer).

only one question, I use an external sequencer that send clock at 24ppqn , but it is tagged as "not recommended " , I understand it should be due the resolution , but at 24ppqn it work very smooth to me, so are there some other reason for it?

55

24 PPQ is going to sound grainy with some smooth curves. Even back in the 80’s we didn’t think 24 was nearly enough.

I’m not sure, but won’t ZZC Clock interpolate 24 to something higher?

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56

The only reason for 24 and 12 not being recommended is that at those ppqn you will not have all possible sync lengths available, i.e. at 24 ppqn 1/128 is not available and at 12 ppqn 1/128 and 1/64 are not available. But if those are not lengths you use, then 24 ppqn should be more than sufficient.

@Squinky in our case, it does not really affect the grainy-ness of the curves, since everything is generated at audio rate and the clock is used just for synchronizing the shape playback

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57

Ah, nice!

58

An absolute joy to play with. Having great fun just adding this into old patches and breathing new life into them. So much to tinker with too!

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59

I’m not exactly sure what you are trying to achieve but some of the connections look a bit odd to me…

Each of your 5 channels are in Auto mode, which means the connections you have going into the channel’s T/G inputs are not doing anything.

60

Thanks Steve, ‘Each of your 5 channels are in Auto mode’. So how do I go about getting the T/G inputs to do anything? What other mode does it have to be in? Much Appreciated, the module is so deep it takes a lot of learning in a short time scale-that’s my defence!

61

If you want a ShapeMaster channel to play when a trigger goes into the T/G input, put it in Trigger/Gate (T/G) mode.

I recommend checking out the manual which covers all this - you can read about the different Trigger modes on page 12

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