REAKTOR-COMMUNITY

DESCRIPTION

* Version 0.31 has a fix that hopefully reduces the occasional dropouts and 'over's that mosaic_ reported - did it help?

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This is a test upload primarily to get some feedback and get a better idea of system requirements.
PLEASE post your cpu results in the comments.

-*WARNINGS*-

* This is definitely in alpha stage.
* You will need a hefty system to use lots of poly modules.
* There are some annoying little details in the workflow that can't be 'fixed' without updates in the main Reaktor program.
* PLEASE USE THE SAFETY LIMITER MODULE before the output just in case!
* Some of the moules included here are hacked together and aren't really general enough to be blocks, or aren't finished. e.g. the mon2pol module works in the context of this particular ensemble, but will probably need more work to be a plug'n'play block. The 'poly delay' won't make sense until more controls are added - it applies an exponential trancendental delay time that depends on the voice number... So watch out for unpredictable results there ;)


The main issue here is cpu. Blocks are pretty demanding when Monophonic, so multiplying that by making them polyphonic eats up cpu like nothing else. This system tries to make it easy to mix and match polyphonic blocks with their standard monophonic cousins. The polyphonic connections use some cpu, but only when connected.
If you are struggling, mute any blocks you are not actually using. Also try reducing polyphonic voices. To do this, go to the properties of the 'VOICE MASTER' module. Changing the number of voices here changes it for all the blocks, so it's easy to get the best compromise.
Even with a medium system, it should be possible to use poly blocks to succesfully develop paraphonic ensembles.


-*NOTES*-

*Do not remove the 'VOICE MASTER' module in the top left of the ensemble structure. This is needed as a MIDI master for all the other poly modules.
*When loading a fresh poly module (rather than cut'n'pasting), it is crucial that you go to VOICE ALLOCATION in it's function properties and choose 'Voice & MIDI slave to', then pick 'VOICE MASTER <*DO NOT REMOVE*>' from the list.
*Outputs marked (poly) carry no audio, they should only be linked to inputs and mod inputs on other polyphonic blocks.
*Outputs marked (mono) are monophonic audio outputs that can be connected to standard Blocks and/or audio outputs.
*Inputs can accept poly connections and standard blocks mono connections.
*Pitch and gate will use internal MIDI if they are left unconnected (I have some other blocks not included in this release that explicitly provide polyphonic pitch and gate)


-*BUILDING YOUR OWN*-

Probably best to discuss this in the forum. Most of the internals are based on, and similar to the factory blocks template code. The main differences are the poly input and output connections where there are special macros that can just be copied in from other poly blocks, and the control multiplexing which uses an audio multiplexing setup.
It's not particularly difficult to use, but definitely not for beginners - I'm not going to create templates at this early stage.

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PLEASE post your cpu results in the comments.
PLEASE post any bugs or problems.
I can upload some other examples with fewer blocks if this one is overloading too many systems, but there's no point in spending more time on it if 95% of folks can't use it.
If there is enough interest, I'll finish up some of these and some other polyphonic blocks I have, and post them too.

Thanks to Efflam Le Bivic for his Blocks panels, and to Joey Valizan for sewing the seed.

colB