Generator - has anybody given it a try ?

[Michael A. Firman]

> Michael Buchstaller wrote:
> > 
> > There is a PC program called Generator 1.5 from Native Instruments.
> > With this program , one can construct his/her own modular with
> > standard modules like vco´s, vca´s, filters, sequencers and much more.
> > I have tried it, and the results are amazingly good (at least to my ears...)
> > 
> > Has anybode else tried this program ? What are your thoughts about it ?
> > For a short period of time, it  made me think about thrashing my soldering
> > iron and scope and to do it all in software - well not really, but i liked it very
> > much !
> > 
> 
> I found it limiting, though I haven't tried a more recent version.
> For example, I wanted to simulate Craig Anderton's Pulse Width
> Multiplier, basically four comparators w/ inputs for a triangle
> wave and three LFOs to set threshold, all mixed using XOR's.
> It was impossible w/ generator. It had no comparator, no logic
> modules, etc. 
> 
> For those without large modulars it might be a good place to 
> start to get a feel of programming a modular. I still 
> prefer the real thing.
> 
> Thomas, 
> with each hand turning a knob, instead of a single
> mouse input...

Well, in version 1.5.7 there are a bunch of macros that do various
logic and other functions: AND, Compare, Counter, Flip-Flop, NOT,
OR, and XOR. I do agree with you about the knobs but it's a very
cool program none the less. On my system (a 300MHz Pentium II running
NT) MIDI is a bit slow but the program itself runs great (i.e. if I
don't try to control it with a MIDI keyboard and just use virtual
sequencers and the like). I've been told that it actually runs (the
MIDI part that is) better on a Win95/98 system (NT has a DirectX problem
or two, so it is said). Too bad that it doesn't exist for Linux.

Also you can map the on-screen controls to MIDI Continuous Controller
functions and use one of your favorite MIDI slider controllers to do 
the knob thing. Actually, I think Native Instruments sells some kind of MIDI 
knob thingy that you can map to the virtual controls.

P.S. I own a large Serge and several other modular systems and still
think that the program is pretty neat (well worth the price of admission).
I am in no way affiliated with Native Instruments, I just like the program.


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|Michael A. Firman <maf at mcs.net>
|Naperville, IL USA (finger maf at cluster.mcs.net for PGP key)
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