Edisyn Patch Editor for PreenFM2

[feijai]

I have made a patch editor for the PreenFM2 for Edisyn, my patch editor tool.  Edisyn runs in Java and works on OS X, several versions of Windows (I am told), and Linux.  Edisyn's PreenFM2 editor is feature-complete.  Edisyn has a lot of facilities for exploratory patch programming -- and in fact over the next few months I'm going to use it as a basis for some new facilities to make FM programming easier.  Anyway, check it out.

[lokki]

nice, looks good! how easily is it adoptable? (i.e. write your own editor for say a waldorf microwave) or for a custom preenfm2 firmware... :-)

[Xavier]

Glad to read you could have it working for the preenfm2. 
I'll follow what you'll come with to make FM programming easier.

[feijai]

Writing a patch editor for a synth in *ANY* toolkit is hard because you'll have to do many of the following: (1) lay out the widgets (2) write the patch dump parser (3) write the patch dump emitter (4) write the code to issue requests for patch dumps etc. (4) write the code to send individual parameter changes (5) write the code to respond to individual parameter changes made on the synth. 

All synths do these things in completely different ways, have lots of bugs in their communication protocols, etc.  And to be complete you'd need to write separate editors for single-mode and multi-mode etc.

That being said, in Edisyn I tried really hard to make patch editors relatively easy to code, while at the same time providing a lot of flexibility so you can handle the particular weirdness of the synth you're dealing with. 

And Edisyn provides a whole lot of built-in features that you get for free: lots of widgets, MIDI handling facilities, CC or NRPN mapping, pass-through from a controller, saving and loading sysex files, and a host of exploratory synth programming options, like variable randomization and mutation, patch merging and recombination, nudging your patch towards other patches, and (soon to be released) a full-featured hill-climber.

BTW, you mentioned the Microwave. Edisyn already happens to have good-working patches for the Microwave II, XT, and XTk.  Not the Microwave I: I don't own one.

[feijai]

The long-awaited Edisyn 11 is out, with patch editors for the Blofeld, Microwave II/XT/XTk, Matrix 1000, PreenFM2, Kawai K4, and Yamaha TX81Z.  Very extensive collection of patch exploration tools aimed directly at FM synthesizers such as the Preen.  It's a very major improvement over Version 10.  Please let me know if you find any bugs or problems.

[chaocrator]

very nice & usable piece of software.

p.s. after i fiddled with it for an hour, i'm a bit frustrated that i can't code in java, so writing an editor for my precious Novation Nova appears to be not very smart idea, so i'll continue to use stolen librarian/editor in the nearest future )
but maybe someday.

[feijai]

Writing a patch editor is a fairly monumental task, even if you knew Java really well.

However, the Nova has an *extensive* NRPN facility.  What I'd do is make a bunch of templates for the Novation SL Zero Mk II to control the Nova, assuming Novation hasn't done it already.  You can often get a Zero Mk II for about $100 on ebay (I did).

[chaocrator]

However, the Nova has an *extensive* NRPN facility.  What I'd do is make a bunch of templates for the Novation SL Zero Mk II to control the Nova, assuming Novation hasn't done it already.  You can often get a Zero Mk II for about $100 on ebay (I did).

just one question: how did you know about my rig? )))

mine is Mk 1, but anyway, it's definitely one of the very few best controllers ever made.
btw, a template for PreenFM2 is in progress too.

[pmj]

Just wanted to say I'm really enjoying using Edisyn with the FM2, excellent work

One thing - and apologies if I've missed something obvious - is there a way to slow down the "stepping" speed between Candidates when you're running a Hill-Climb?  On slower / evolving type patches with long envelopes it sometimes hops to the next Candidate before you've had a chance to hear what's happening.

[PreeenFM2]

Hi,
Thanks so much for the Preen+Edisyn!
Now we can map every function to a controller

I've noticed the fine tune on all the oscillators is scaled incorrectly though, it only goes from -9 to -7, so you can't get past -7?