Microtonic 4 - when ???

Microtonic New5 418 views41 posts
  • Microtonic New

    Waiting Microtonic 4 with modern user interface and some improvements!

  • AB459

    Modern user interface ? Hm, mtonic interface always seemed to me modern and at the same time very original. Not sure that need to change it.

  • nic

    maybe adding a couple of more waveforms and the ability to morph between them could enhance the sonic palette of this little beast ;-)

  • AB459

    Waveforms and lfo absolutely agree, would be bomb.

  • Jeffrey S Bos

    The GUI could use a minor facelift (color, clarity etc.) but the main improvement I am looking for is that it really needs to be more self-contained. A lot of bonus features still need to be downloaded and implemented separately (some I cannot get to work at all) and a simple update including these features would go a long way. Browsing, loading and saving presets could also be simplified significantly.

    Don't get me wrong, mTonic is one of a kind, indispensable, but to say it's done forever just like this? It still has great potential to move forward.

    More Waveforms is also a great idea

  • drbdp

    New waveforms and some LFO would be great. The UI in my opinion looks modern and simple. In my opinion a bigger interface could be a good idea : )

  • Elan Hickler

    multipoint envelopes
    more distortion options

  • Taupe

    microtonic 4! imagine that! :))
    I would really like to see an addition to the A / B flexible output routing (...C, D...). I use this feature all the time, and I always pity that I loose it when using the multiple outputs version.
    For the rest I would like to see better hi- hat sounds. Hi's can be cold and 'middy' now, and very recognizable MT sounding...
    For the rest I have total trust in the engineers.
    I would love to have an eta but I am pretty sure they can not give that to us for various reasons.

  • Taupe

    Since this thread seemed to be turned into another microtonic 4 wish list (sorry for the inconsistency)
    I would like to add some more thoughts: Fills are very important to me, it is mainly because of that that i started to use and like the MT GUI. You can do some pretty funky things with it, and it is part of my sound designing process. So some extension to that would be very welcome. An lfo maybe? Settings per channel? Crazy timing things?, Pitched fills?
    I don't own a push, so I don't know if possible, the ability to program the Fill steps from there? I reckon it is possible already.

    Thanks for your attention, have a great week!

  • Paolo Gozzetti

    and Ipad app (like iSpark) with midi learn. This would be dope.

  • Michael Schirmer

    it is not always a new version which is the right way. the concept of microtonic is such a nice thing,it can stay version 3 forever. but there are some little things which could be improved, like a trigger probability or saving morph slider presets inside microtonic a.s.o.

    New versions are often pure marketing. Look on Battery 4: Not many improvements for a new version but the new look creates the illusion of something completely new. Please Sonic Charge, DONT go this way and fool the customer like this.

    So it is better to improve many little things instead of just a new look for the illusion because what should be improved much more in microtonic? The synths sounding nice, the performance is great and the functions are the concept of the VST. So you must distinguish impovements which are inside the concept like probability trigger and dont support the concept like loading samples inside or more synths.

    -->the concept is a SIMPLE CPU efficient drum machine for creative usage and every additional control&bigger feature could destroy this concept!

  • Taupe

    Makes sense to me Michael. MT is not cheap but it is very well supported. So I guess we want all the suggested features, and more, for version 3.1.3 ;))

  • JimStrider

    Easy workaround for the "trigger probability" function - drag the MIDI from MT into your DAW and randomly delete a few of the trigger notes for the beat or beat fraction that you want to "randomize". You can even mathematically estimate the number of trigger notes you should randomly delete.

    On the other hand, you could be less random about it and choose to delete the ones that a drummer might omit so the pattern sounds its best...

  • Michael Schirmer

    You have never played with a drum machine with a probability trigger function, have you? There is no workaround for the fun it creates! It causes so many different results you cannot imagine! Especially with many different drums and if you change the probability from 1% to 100% the posibilties are endless!

    I dont want to use it for the result, I want to use it FOR THE FUN! ;)

  • Taupe

    another want feature: fills repeat timing in The Golden Ratio: Phi, 1.618

    Philease?

  • Neil Mitchell-Goodson

    Audio Damage Tattoo has some interesting randomisation abilities, which you can use to drive other drum machines, such as Microtonic, quite easily.

    Edit: totally didn't spot this guy post the same thing:
    http://soniccharge.com/forum/topic/698-randomizing-triggervelocity-with-intensity-function?

  • new user

    good example why GUI is so important:

    old - http://www.kvraudio.com/product/zebra-by-u-he/details

    new - http://plugmon.org/massive-modular/

    and also read comments of happy customers - http://www.kvraudio.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=31&t=456163

  • new user

    any news of release date v.4 ?

  • Rene Gerlach

    Yes, indeed

    • a bigger GUI (on a 4k-screen the plugin looks really tiny) would be the finest!
    • a pattern sequencer with a number of up to 32 steps (without chaining)

    and if there´s still enough time:

    • more complex envelopes (for both amplitude and filters)
    • 16 voices (not a must but would be nice)

    Thanks a lot - Rene.

  • Bryan Ferguson

    I'm waiting for microtonic 4 before buying. It has been quite some time on version 3. I don't want to buy now and then have to purchase an upgrade to 4 just outside of a free upgrade grace period.

  • Magnus Lidström

    Bryan: we have never charged for an upgrade yet, and if we ever change that policy we will surely offer a very long and generous "upgrade grace period".

    Furthermore, we have not announced a version 4 of Microtonic. We will have some news regarding Microtonic relatively soon, but it will probably (and hopefully) not be what you expect. :)

    This thread is purely a list of wishes and speculations by our users about the future of Microtonic. Which is great to read btw! Thanks everyone for chiming in and letting us know what you think could be improved.

  • Bryan Ferguson

    Thanks for the reply, Magnus. So I've been waiting for nothing :) I'm keen to use microtonic as a replacement for MachineDrum. So building p-locks into the step sequencer would be great!

  • phil redmond

    Resizeable GUI would be very welcome!

  • Sergio Suarez

    more sounds!! new modern gui, themes! etc. etc

  • 3113

    Hey Magnus and all,

    First off, uTonic is something quite special I have to say, and in all honesty I have reviewed every single product out there. The sound quality is really good.

    There are couple of things that in my opinion could really need refinement:

    • Envelope shapes are not optimal: Drum synthesis is all about envelope shapes and utonic does not let the user to define them, and by shapes I mean log/lin curves. This would really help with the overly poky/spiky transients.
    • The oscillation noise autopanning is a bit cheap effect and hard to remove afterwards, I would love to be able to switch it off.
    • More advanced parameter with the ratcheting would be great.
    • Would love a feature to drag audio out from utonic, in a similar manner to dragging out midi

    Best

  • Chris Siege

    I wouldn't mind a companion app for the iPad, that links to the VST/AU for some hands on control. Can be done with a bit of time and max4live I guess, but would be better if official... :-)

  • Taupe

    I would like a new version of microtonic to broaden the sound a bit further into 'melodic' synth territory, like bell's, vibe's etc. (just some example's for the idea, I am sure I am looking for more abstract sounds ;)
    I catch myself often (trying) programming different sounds than drums. It is one of the cool features of microtonic that this is possible (in a limited way). Drum machines with 'just drums' are boring to me ever since the MT, so, more please ;)

  • sameloop

    There are couple of things that in my opinion could really need refinement:

    - Envelope shapes are not optimal: Drum synthesis is all about envelope shapes and utonic does not let the user to define them, and by shapes I mean log/lin curves. This would really help with the overly poky/spiky transients.

    Got to second that - needs full ADSR at least, plus the other major problem is with the clap envelope; the more you apply, the larger the pre-delay, meaning you can never really have a proper clap sound that's right on the beat.

  • MOBIZOID

    How about a button that does random rolls and/or accents. I need it controllable from my midi pedal while I am looping. By the way...fun machine. I just bought it. Pirates Beware!

  • Steve Olofsson

    Hey there, I had some thoughts about uTonic after using it for a few months.

    1. The sound of uTonic is really nice, but it has a very specific character and I was thinking that it would be cool if each drum unit had a third "dimension", a sample, that was mixed in with the noise and the osc. There could possibly be a set of X fixed samples included in the plugin (no loading of external) that can be selected, specifically tailored for a range of sound possibilities, this could also be a really nice addition to the patternarium since there would be a plethora of new sounds randomized that one could browse for find good kits. It's easy enough to do this manually by just blending in another kit in the DAW, but with the whole randomization part of patternarium I think it could be a great addition and broaden the sound range of uTonic further.
    1. Alternatively to #1 there could be a new cousin of uTonic that was more like Redrum in reason, but that also had a patternarium. I'm thinking sound ranges such as hiphop/urban.
    1. I don't know if this is possible, but when a kit is generated in the patternarium, it would be great if the sounds was mapped to general "hihat" "kick" tags so that the machine can easily be used with external midi data that is mapped to GM style kits. I haven't tried this yet so it might already be easy to do. I'm thinking about the virtual drummer in logic for example.
  • fabian l.

    The only thing I would like is a per track equalizer (Po32 Compatible)

  • netro

    My wish list:

    1. GUI scaling is important for sure especially in high pixel screens. I find myself changing the entire computers resolution for microtonic :). Vectored graphics could be nice for scaling.

    Also a dark theme would be nice since everything else on my system is this way, micro stands out a bit. As far as gui styles I prefer minimalist, mostly flat, and dark.

    1. Attack and decay snap to tempo option. (For perfect in time fades)
    1. Probability / trig conditions would be awesome. (For randomness on certain hits etc)
    1. 16 or 32 step sequence
    1. Per drum sound step length (for really interesting poly rhythmic stuff)
    1. Time signature divisions for whatever time sig you choose (electronic drums need to break away from 4/4 a bit)
    1. LFOs that can be step sequenced or simply synced
    1. An added OSC and Noise type (maybe wavetable or FM stuff)
    1. Per step pitch / note changes for independent drum sounds, using the internal sequencer.

    (a lot of things one could do / experiment with this, for example arpeggio stuff or playing a single drum/synth sound in key with the song)

    1. More filter types, comb for example and/ or ring mod
    1. Make the Noise stereo option a knob for greater control of the width
    1. A couple one more effect per drum patch, maybe a different distortion type or bitcrusher / reduction, maybe a drive knob that saturates / compresses it. Something that can make it either sound distinctly different or more beastly if needed.

    If I had to choose one new effect I would probably go for bit crush because you could almost get some vintagey sounds out of it or highly destructive. Or if there is any effect that radically changes the sound I would be okay with that.

    1. Drum hold button that freezes the sound while being held, kind of like sustain per drum patch. Or if playing the keyboard if you hold down the drum sound it sustains infinitely until released in which it finished with the normal release time. This could add a lot of flexibility to the piano roll.
  • netro

    parameter lock would be great also

  • Bebe Ruhi

    New to uTonic so I haven't discovered all of its features but as far as I can see:

    -Resizable or larger GUI
    -Pattern sequencer (so I don't have to use a MIDI track in the DAW and the entire song could be saved in uTonic's preset)
    -Audio Damage Tattoo-like randomization features (I loved Tattoo but could not program it to change patterns in my DAW, so I had to drop it)
    -Polyrhythm

    would be awesome for version 4. Looking forward to it!

  • netro

    just came on here again to ask for a dark theme again, for night time programming or in dark environments

  • Rui Peixoto

    I always thought that uTonic would be the perfect to have a p-lock system like the elektrons. select a step, tweak all parameters...voila.

    that would make all the difference...no drum vst has adopted this way of working which I find quite surprising since it's perfect for drum design

  • netro

    - sameloop wrote:
    There are couple of things that in my opinion could really need refinement:
    - Envelope shapes are not optimal: Drum synthesis is all about envelope shapes and utonic does not let the user to define them, and by shapes I mean log/lin curves. This would really help with the overly poky/spiky transients.
    Got to second that - needs full ADSR at least, plus the other major problem is with the clap envelope; the more you apply, the larger the pre-delay, meaning you can never really have a proper clap sound that's right on the beat.

    I happen to like the minimalism of the envelopes but I do agree about the sound. The look of a non cumbersome interface is one of the reasons I keep coming back to using this tool. For timing it could be nice to have lookahead per drum.

    1. Magnifying glass similar to that in omnisphere for more in depth envelope editing without making things look cumbersome.
    2. A look ahead option (to compensate for timing)
  • Korzybski

    +1 Resizeable GUI

  • Barnabás Tóth

    If microtonic 4 will come, will the software work with po 32?

  • netro

    On Micro 4 it could be awesome to have instead of a two way morph having a 4 way grid where each corner is a preset.

    On another note on LFOs i really like the drag and drop options A LOT on Xfer Serum synth. I think if they had a grid snap magnet and magnification on the grid it could be better. The macro knobs are also amazing for automating multiple parameters at once for the DAW.

    On drum machine news the Elektron Digitone that just came out (or is about to) looks amazing. I totally think FM and/or wave table synthesis would be an amazing pallete upgrade for Microtonic. Also I'm not against having a one sample slot per Micro voice, so you choose either sample or synth. Of course that opens up a whole can of worms. If you go with sample maybe having access to simple filters / FX. Also if you do go down the sample route, drag and drop please. Dreamer on the run :) :)

  • James Gregory

    I love Microtonic, but that UI is tiny on modern day monitor resolutions. Perhaps a scalable interface would be a good start in terms of updating this brilliant drum machine plugin - with slightly enhanced graphics. Then maybe add some of the excellent suggested features that the forum peeps have mentioned above. Please please please <3

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