It's Step Generator, not Step Sequencer

I was viewing Rapture's step generators as sort of step sequencers or arpeggiators. That they are not.

Agreed. It's like shopping for a delay line, and landing on a programmable flanger instead. They share many of the same characteristics, but are geared to different purposes. Modern step sequencers generate a series of MIDI notes and control curves; that's what they do best. Arps take a chord or note input, and shape that with algorithms for variations. The results may or may not generate distinct MIDI Notes. When you think about it, the part "missing" from the StepGens is MIDI note output.

It's closer to compare the intent here to pre-MIDI analog sequencers; generating CV in discrete/slewed steps to modify oscillators, filters, and such. Except that you have six parallel synths with analog sequencers, and each of those has seven rows of 'knobs'. Each row has up to 128 'knobs' apiece, and those rows can be trimmed, sync'ed, smoothed, and more. Add two more analog sequencers to the mixer output.

Combining more than one design really opens things up. A Pitch StepGen can be 'delayed' by entering in a series of base values before a flurry of 'notes'. Note duration controls the onset. An arpeggiator can be funneled into Elements with partitioned key or velocity zones. That way, certain arp'ed notes can trigger unique StepGen patterns, or none at all. MIDI control by note characteristics (velocity; keyboard position; KB gate; aftertouch) add another layer of variations.

So if we want a cool bass line with the attack played on every note, forget it. If you try to shorten the duration of the note("s"), you can only accomplish this by pulling down the amp values.

Maybe not. You still control the overall envelope with the Amp EG, but you can introduce multiple attacks, decays , and 'releases' with the breakpoint nodes. In the Pitch EG, you can transpose that over time with hard-edged transitions. An Amp StepGen with 4X or 8X the number of Steps in a Pitch sequence gives you that many steps for attack and decay. Bringing in a sync'ed Amp LFO with a down-sloping waveform gives an accent with (up to) a 12 dB travel. One-shot emulates an envelope. Copying to the Cut LFOs reinforces the feel, and shifting the Sync setting can add a shuffle to it; like 3 against four, for example.

You're not going to cover everything that a step sequencer or arpeggiator does with a StepGen. It's not designed to, but in some areas, you can come very close. I think the way to approach this is not from the disadvantages of a one-note trigger. It's better to look at it from the advantages viewpoint. Fingertip control over properties and the amount of StepGen revealed.

ORIGINAL: René

Then, the trance effect. I would say that 90%+ of the trance effects are created by abuse of an effect called 'trance-gate', which was exactly that: an effect. That one is basically the same as the amplitude step sequencer, when it's sync'ed. Thus, most trance combos are actually covered by the step generator.

I hate to say it, but I would love to find out exactly how to do this with Rapture!

Continued thanks to B and R for the detailed tips and explanation.

ORIGINAL: René
The manual will guide you thru installation, and will teach you how to turn on any feature, like how to set the filter in two-pole lowpass mode, for instance. But it will not explain you what to do with a two-pole lowpass, saw wave, ping delay or symphonic chorus, just as an oscilloscope manual won't teach the owner about electronics. That knowledge needs to be aquired somewhere else.

-René

Understandably. As an expert in the field of synth development, where would you point a user wanting to program Rapture but needing fundamental synth programming techniques for gaining tips and experience?

ORIGINAL: René

I guess the answer is, just as you'd do it with any other synth, such as a Virus or a JP8000/JP8080, probably the most used trance synths. Or z3ta+/Vanguard, which are possibly the most used in the soft arena.

Now Rick, that moves the question to, do you really know how you'd do what you're after with any synth? If so, then you'll quickly find your way thru in Rapture. Other posts of you, however, move me to think that you need to research more on synthesis, and how to apply synthesizers to achieve a particular result. Those topics are certainly not Rapture-specific, but applicable to any synthesizer.

For newcomers to the synth world, Rapture has a lot to offer: instant, great sounding patches, easily tweakable. For synth addicts, matrix junkies and sound freaks, it has much more to offer, with bigazillion parameters. Anybody in between can for sure be comfortable with a combo of both scenarios.

However, Rapture manual won't turn a preset-whore into a synth expert, no. The manual will guide you thru installation, and will teach you how to turn on any feature, like how to set the filter in two-pole lowpass mode, for instance. But it will not explain you what to do with a two-pole lowpass, saw wave, ping delay or symphonic chorus, just as an oscilloscope manual won't teach the owner about electronics. That knowledge needs to be aquired somewhere else.


-René

Ummm. There's a lot to "reply to" in your reply.

First of all I guess you're not going to tell us how to do trance gates in Rapture. That's disappointing. I'm sure someone else will be willing, however, so my inquiry still stands.

Second, I will give you the list of synths I've owned and/or still own, and have programmed:

Minimoog
Sequential Prophet V
Yamaha DX-7
Roland Super Jupiter MKS-80
Roland Juno 2
Roland Juno 106
Yamaha DX-7II
Roland D-70
Emu Emax II
Roland JD-990
Studio Electronics SE-1 (Analog)
Roland Fantom XR
Yamaha Motif ES Rack

For many of these I have created entire banks of sounds for various musical projects. I have programmed EGs as simple as ADS, and as complicated as the Roland and Yamaha multi stage, multi level time-based EGs. I have also done extensive programming in performance mode, setting up entire banks of multi-patch performances for gigs. So suffice it to say I know my way around a synthesizer or two. From my perspective your synth is quite different from the ones I'm familiar with.

You mention two extremes - flicking through presets ("preset whore" I believe you described it as - wow, you just trashed a bunch of really talented music producers and arrangers who don't necessarily have the time to get in to deep programming), and being a synth expert. I will give you an analogy - A brand new top of the line gas stove and microwave combination. At the one extreme is using it to heat up frozen dinners. At the other is cooking custom gourmet multi-course meals. Is there any room for functioning between those poles?

Mr. C, I believe you need to take another look at your position on training users after the sale. I would guess as a businessman you want to increase sales. I have read here and on other forums that Cakewalk products don't always get the respect we feel they deserve. Now you have a synth that is starting to generate some buzz. Why not support it with a proper training manual? Who cares how much I or anyone else knows or doesn't know about synth programming? So what if some of the material would apply to other synths. The point is, right now we don't care about other synths, we want to learn how to program Rapture!. And that should be from the ground up.

My post regarding Rapture "Step By Step" still stands. Create a book or online tutorial taking users through the programming process of 20 - 30 sounds in an orderly manner with increasing complexity, from the simplest sawtooth brass sound, to one of your "matrix junky, sound freak, bigazillion parameters" whoppers.

I said it in my other post and I'll say it again - take a lesson from Microsoft. They didn't get so big by selling copies of Office and then telling users to look elsewhere for training. Certainly many third party training solutions exist. But at the same time Microsoft offers a comprehensive pallet of training materials for all of their software. Why shouldn't Cakewalk/RGC? Because it's expensive? Not hardly. It's not an expense, it's an investment in acquiring and keeping loyal customers, one of whom is writing this post. And of course, I would expect to pay for such a resource, so this is in no way something I'm asking to be put out for free.

Right now, Rapture is in its infancy stage. We know it's a killer synth, capable of a huge range of soundscapes. And bits and pieces of progamming skills being published here and there are helpful, assuming users can find them. And assuming users want to learn what is being offered. And assuming users can move from writing style to writing style with ease (e.g. B Rock's style is certainly different from Chad's). That's what I'm talking about. The reference materials are not homogenous and not available easily, orderly, and in a central location. Creating such a training resource adds value to the synth and adds value to the company, and I would welcome a product such as that, and I believe a number of other users would as well. I believe it would sell more copies of Rapture, and strengthen the perception of Cakewalk as a company that supports its customers (which we all know they do).

To be honest with you, along with Rapture I am interested in such a synth as the Arturia Analog Factory. Now maybe such an instrument disgusts the hardcore purists who want to program everything from scratch. But I'm already seeing some heavy endorsements from the likes of Herbie Hancock (who knows a thing or two about synths), and Paul Harnoll. Here is Harnoll's quote: "I like to create my own sounds and I own all of Arturia’s synths but to have them in this all-in-one form is very useful. For people who like to flick through presets quickly; who want an in exhaustible supply of vintage analog gear at their fingertips, Analog Factory is a must."

What you may or may not realize is that sometimes people have to get work done fast. They don't have time to do anything more than make quick tweaks to sounds already programmed. That's why Roland and Yamaha offer such menu options in their synths now - the ability to tweak cutoff, resonance, attack, release, and a few other "broad-stroke" parameters from within performances, without having to go into the patch and tweak it and re-save it.

As you can tell I am passionate about this. My money doesn't leave my wallet without a huge amount of research, and I've researched a huge amount of soft-synths before settling on just one - Rapture. For the present, I am skipping Albino, Sytrus, Fab Filter Twin, Arturia Prophet V, and a bunch of others I forgot the names of. The Arturia Analog Factory would be for other uses (my "preset whore" needs), so it doesn't count. In other words I have chosen one synth to go deep into, and that synth is Rapture. It was chosen first of all on sound quality, and second on potential for deep programming. I want to learn. Please provide proper training materials!

There is no reason Rapture couldn't be positioned as a synth that "preset whores" could acquire and gradually learn how to program their own sounds from scratch. I think busy producers would still use presets as necessary, but Rapture could certainly be a go to synth for complex, unique sounds, given the programming skills requisite for such undertakings.

I hope that didn't turn into a rant. If so, rant over. My money has been put where my mouth is - the owner of a copy of Rapture. Most likely I will purchase Cake/RGC's next offering as well, especially if it turns out to be a dedicated drum "center" complete with sequencing. I notice a trend towards a uniform GUI on Cake's synths, and, considering Kinetic 2, even some of their groove-oriented DAWs. I think this is a good thing. The only thing missing is a easy to access, relatively comprehensive set of traning resources.

ORIGINAL: lawapa

What is a trance gate and how does it work? I am not a trance fanatic or someone who follows trance music. But I do like my z3ta/Rapture. I bet David Adams knows this one I'm just curious what this effect does.

So I guess I'm not the only one. Please, oh please Rapture gurus, come down off high. Put aside your multi-modded, bit-decimated, element-step-genned, uber-sound design projects and show us luddites how to do a trance gate in Rapture. Curse me for being practical, I guess.

Rene`, you've got me all wrong. First of all, I'm not in any way expecting you or anyone else to be available to answer tech support or programming questions. On the other hand, you did design the synth, and I think it would be cool if you and some of the experts would put together a training manual. I think it would sell more product. If you don't care about that, I'm very surprised because it would seem that product sales faciliates more R&D, which means more money to spend on you designing new synths.

Regarding developers moving away from end users, I think that's really sad. I hope not all developers take such a position. How many have you interviewed?

Regarding a trance gate tutorial, if it is so easy and so common, I think you could have thrown one together in the time it took you to reply to my post. I would have much preferred no reply and a trance gate tutorial. To be honest I wasn't speaking to you directly anyhow.

Regarding increasing sales, it doesn't have to involve "tricks". Especially if you've got a great product and a sense of ethics and decency. Your statements indicate that you might be somewhat bitter about the business end of music and music technology. The fact is, unless you just want to design great synths and give them away for free, then some type of business thinking must come in to play.

Anyway, I think your reluctance, maybe even refusal, to consider putting together any type of coherent, orderly training resources for Rapture will ultimately hurt the sales of the synth. That's just my opinion. Certainly your competitors offer no more. I thought maybe RGC and Cakewalk, taking the lead in so many other areas of music technology, might take the lead here. I guess I was mistaken.

Anyway I will conclude that most likely the continued availability of Rapture programming information will be centered around and directed toward very advanced users, while the rest of us will be left to fend for ourselves. Thanks for such great after-purchase support!

Anyway I will conclude that most likely the continued availability of Rapture programming information will be centered around and directed toward very advanced users, while the rest of us will be left to fend for ourselves. Thanks for such great after-purchase support!

Oh Now - - Lets all hold hands and take a deep breath....

Rick - you raise several good points !

A great software application takes a development team.
First and foremost, you have the technical developers - then the documentation writers and the support folks. Each takes very different talents and it's very rare that these overlap in a single individual. And I don't think anyone expects they should.

Rene, I think its very safe to say that you represent the "technical" heart of Rapture. And it is extremely valuable to be able to tap into your time and insights via this Forum. But because you are the point man so to speak, we are trying to use you as a conduit to cover other dimensions of Rapture that surface after we install and start using the instrument. And these other dimensions are indeed extensive and broader than Rapture itself. It is really Cakewalk's decision (obligation) to weigh in here and ID a few more faces to offer you some relief. These folks would have a passion for improving documentation and for building a user's sophistication so they can eventually go head-to-head with all that Rapture's got to give.


Regards, Cyg

Rene
Thus, most trance combos are actually covered by the step generator.

Thought as much. I've used the step gens and within sfz. Although I don't think my stuff is trance like. It is all good no matter.