This is possibly the most insane piece of software I've ever seen - in a very good way. I came across this the other day when going through the Very Obscure Formats competition on Battle of the...
This is possibly the most insane piece of software I've ever seen - in a very good way.
I came across this the other day when going through the Very Obscure Formats competition on Battle of the Bits. I don't look into software synthesizers and DAWs very often because it feels like they're an essentially "solved" problem; there's a handful of interfaces and synthesis engines that just get copy-pasted among different products. So this one really caught me by surprise.
It's called bespoke because it was started as an exercise to understand the concepts behind audio synthesis methods, which is why it's so surprising to see how polished this is. Sure, some things look really plain, but the interface is amazingly simple to understand very quickly and the shortcuts and quality-of-life extras are crazy. You can add an LFO to any parameter by simply right clicking, and the common LFO parameters can be accessed without needing to click through any menus. You can even override the min and max values for things!
But more than anything, it's amazing how much this program extends the concept of a modular synthesizer with a number of additions. There are so many different kinds of signals and so many ways to route and modulate them. One of the things I find really useful is the wide variety of note modefiers, which can do simple things like automatically turn notes into chords or arpeggios. But there are so many interesting little gadgets to play around with. Critically, it plays well with a number of external tools and sources as well, so you can use it with your controllers or Ableton, add in your VST instruments and effects, and even script things with python. I'm particularly impressed with how easy it is to associate a controller's CC functions with any given parameter; that's something I've always found difficult to deal with in most DAWs.
Wow this is crazy. I am getting tired of just playng guitar without any purpose and was thinking about start composing. I will try this with Linux. If anyone want drums for free, there is Hydrogen...
Wow this is crazy.
I am getting tired of just playng guitar without any purpose and was thinking about start composing.
holy crap this is awesome, the sequencers are intuitive, it works with my VSTs, and it isn't trying to replicate the weirdness of traditional modular synths like VCV or Automatonism (which are...
holy crap this is awesome, the sequencers are intuitive, it works with my VSTs, and it isn't trying to replicate the weirdness of traditional modular synths like VCV or Automatonism (which are amazing for what they are). I can see myself working with this for fun generative stuff.
I've always toyed with the idea of messing around in a DAW to make some sounds (not sure I can really classify it as music) so it's cool to see software made for experimenting! Also pleasantly...
I've always toyed with the idea of messing around in a DAW to make some sounds (not sure I can really classify it as music) so it's cool to see software made for experimenting! Also pleasantly surprised that it's open source software. Usually when I think of DAWs and music creation software, it's usually a specialized piece of software that costs a decent bit so cool to see something free. Might toy around with this after work and see if I can come up with something decent.
Do be aware that even though I praised the UI, it's not exactly beginner friendly if you're not used to how modular synthesizers work. The default project that shows up when you start the program...
Do be aware that even though I praised the UI, it's not exactly beginner friendly if you're not used to how modular synthesizers work. The default project that shows up when you start the program will not make any sound because there is nothing attached to the audio output. The whole thing is like programming, just done in a highly visual way.
What I'd recommend starting off with just so you can learn the basics is to start with a keyboarddisplay instrument, attach that to an oscilator synthesizer, and attach the output of that to the box marked gain. That will get you an extremely basic setup to make beep sounds and from there you can do some experimentation.
One of the neat features that the program has is that it automatically records the last 30 minutes of audio it creates. So if you're grooving and jamming along, you can just click the "write audio" button at the top of the screen to save what you've done. That way if you have forgotten how you accomplished it you still have access to the sound! This program really is the perfect sound experimentation platform.
Yeah I took a look at some other screenshots and things got chaotic very quickly haha. Thank you for the recommendations though, I will keep them in mind as I try it out and learn!
Yeah I took a look at some other screenshots and things got chaotic very quickly haha. Thank you for the recommendations though, I will keep them in mind as I try it out and learn!
I have become obsessed with this program. So much so I've actually managed to create something that resembles a song and doesn't sound awful, at least to me. And even more so I've found out that...
I have become obsessed with this program.
So much so I've actually managed to create something that resembles a song and doesn't sound awful, at least to me.
And even more so I've found out that digital music production is sooooo similar to software development. Figuring out how to create a sound or get a combination of sounds working together scratches the exact same itch in my brain that fixing a bug or adding new functionality in a software project does.
I knew nothing of music production before this and through experimenting and looking up tutorials and resources online I've managed to make something. I can't wait to keep learning and making more music, it's so much fun.
So genuinely from the bottom of my heart, Akir, thank you for posting this because it has opened up a whole new world for me.
Honestly my first thought was to just start plugging VSTs in. I only use samples for drum machines, and it's got a pretty robust interface for that. What sort of documentation did you use to pull...
Honestly my first thought was to just start plugging VSTs in. I only use samples for drum machines, and it's got a pretty robust interface for that. What sort of documentation did you use to pull this off? I'm impressed, and like the screen mover.
That was a pretty cool demo! I actually shouted you out on @Halfdan's post looking for an intuitive music interface because you actually show this off really well.
It's funny because I made the screen mover so I could keep things organized and then maybe a day later discovered Bespoke has a minimap that kind of does the same thing. (^: In the beginning it...
It's funny because I made the screen mover so I could keep things organized and then maybe a day later discovered Bespoke has a minimap that kind of does the same thing. (^:
In the beginning it was pure experimentation, I would grab a module, put some notes through it, modulate everything in different ways and then see what it would sound like. Pure trial and error. Then when I started discovering plugins I turned to a bunch of different YouTube channels like unfa, Dash Glitch, Demis Hellen, S1gns Of L1fe, and probably more I'm not remembering. I fell in love with Vital so I started searching "vital trance pluck" or "vital ambient pad" etc., watch some videos to see all the different possibilities of using it and then try it myself. The /r/linuxaudio and /r/edmproduction subreddits also have useful information on all kinds of stuff.
hey, I'm just coming back to this post to consider playing around with Bespoke in the future - I have only a beginners level understanding in music theory, and have never used a DAW before, would...
hey, I'm just coming back to this post to consider playing around with Bespoke in the future - I have only a beginners level understanding in music theory, and have never used a DAW before, would you say it's still possible to use this program to create for a beginner?
Bespoke is not really anything like a traditional DAW. In fact I would say it’s a particularly bad choice for that use case scenario because composition tools are “plug-ins”, so to speak. Bespoke...
Bespoke is not really anything like a traditional DAW. In fact I would say it’s a particularly bad choice for that use case scenario because composition tools are “plug-ins”, so to speak. Bespoke is really more of a means of experimentation with sound.
That being said, that experimentation focus makes it good for anyone with the patience to figure out how it works.
Neat! One of the neater things about this program that I can see from your example how you mentally approached building it. The Python integration is something I thought would be a niche thing,...
Neat!
One of the neater things about this program that I can see from your example how you mentally approached building it. The Python integration is something I thought would be a niche thing, and that the main thing people would flock to is the synth building stuff. But here you are, with a python script running a song that is rendered entirely with VST sound sources.
For what it's worth I did experiment using nothing but the builtin modules for about a month and a half (and did make some cool stuff!), and then I discovered that plugins exist and oh boy it is a...
For what it's worth I did experiment using nothing but the builtin modules for about a month and a half (and did make some cool stuff!), and then I discovered that plugins exist and oh boy it is a rabbit hole.
The Python integration is so useful! The script you can briefly see next to the songbuilder is there to set up the bars automatically because the songbuilder has an option to reset the transport on every scene change (at least on the nightly version) and I don't want that to happen because it would mess with the note progression. But if you disable that option you can't say "I want 8 bars of this scene, 16 bars of that one" because now the transport isn't being reset and that's what the songbuilder uses to count the bars for each scene... So all the bars need to be summed up. (^: And rather than manually do that, a script can do it. Is it obvious I'm legitimately obsessed? x)
[...] rendered entirely with VST sound sources.
(And two of the builtin samples in the drumplayer module but we won't speak of those. ^^)
One of the things I find so cool about this program is that you really don’t have to know everything - it’s built around exploration. There is a lot that I still don’t understand about it myself....
One of the things I find so cool about this program is that you really don’t have to know everything - it’s built around exploration. There is a lot that I still don’t understand about it myself. But the possibilities are very exciting.
I have a Korg Volca FM (and a lot of guitar pedals) but I've never really hooked anything straight up to my computer yet before. I guess I should get one of those amp pedals and get cracking. This...
I have a Korg Volca FM (and a lot of guitar pedals) but I've never really hooked anything straight up to my computer yet before. I guess I should get one of those amp pedals and get cracking. This is one of the most inviting software projects I've ever seen.
This is possibly the most insane piece of software I've ever seen - in a very good way.
I came across this the other day when going through the Very Obscure Formats competition on Battle of the Bits. I don't look into software synthesizers and DAWs very often because it feels like they're an essentially "solved" problem; there's a handful of interfaces and synthesis engines that just get copy-pasted among different products. So this one really caught me by surprise.
It's called bespoke because it was started as an exercise to understand the concepts behind audio synthesis methods, which is why it's so surprising to see how polished this is. Sure, some things look really plain, but the interface is amazingly simple to understand very quickly and the shortcuts and quality-of-life extras are crazy. You can add an LFO to any parameter by simply right clicking, and the common LFO parameters can be accessed without needing to click through any menus. You can even override the min and max values for things!
But more than anything, it's amazing how much this program extends the concept of a modular synthesizer with a number of additions. There are so many different kinds of signals and so many ways to route and modulate them. One of the things I find really useful is the wide variety of note modefiers, which can do simple things like automatically turn notes into chords or arpeggios. But there are so many interesting little gadgets to play around with. Critically, it plays well with a number of external tools and sources as well, so you can use it with your controllers or Ableton, add in your VST instruments and effects, and even script things with python. I'm particularly impressed with how easy it is to associate a controller's CC functions with any given parameter; that's something I've always found difficult to deal with in most DAWs.
Wow this is crazy.
I am getting tired of just playng guitar without any purpose and was thinking about start composing.
I will try this with Linux.
If anyone want drums for free, there is Hydrogen and MT Power Drumkit 2.
holy crap this is awesome, the sequencers are intuitive, it works with my VSTs, and it isn't trying to replicate the weirdness of traditional modular synths like VCV or Automatonism (which are amazing for what they are). I can see myself working with this for fun generative stuff.
I've always toyed with the idea of messing around in a DAW to make some sounds (not sure I can really classify it as music) so it's cool to see software made for experimenting! Also pleasantly surprised that it's open source software. Usually when I think of DAWs and music creation software, it's usually a specialized piece of software that costs a decent bit so cool to see something free. Might toy around with this after work and see if I can come up with something decent.
Do be aware that even though I praised the UI, it's not exactly beginner friendly if you're not used to how modular synthesizers work. The default project that shows up when you start the program will not make any sound because there is nothing attached to the audio output. The whole thing is like programming, just done in a highly visual way.
What I'd recommend starting off with just so you can learn the basics is to start with a keyboarddisplay instrument, attach that to an oscilator synthesizer, and attach the output of that to the box marked gain. That will get you an extremely basic setup to make beep sounds and from there you can do some experimentation.
One of the neat features that the program has is that it automatically records the last 30 minutes of audio it creates. So if you're grooving and jamming along, you can just click the "write audio" button at the top of the screen to save what you've done. That way if you have forgotten how you accomplished it you still have access to the sound! This program really is the perfect sound experimentation platform.
Yeah I took a look at some other screenshots and things got chaotic very quickly haha. Thank you for the recommendations though, I will keep them in mind as I try it out and learn!
I have become obsessed with this program.
So much so I've actually managed to create something that resembles a song and doesn't sound awful, at least to me.
And even more so I've found out that digital music production is sooooo similar to software development. Figuring out how to create a sound or get a combination of sounds working together scratches the exact same itch in my brain that fixing a bug or adding new functionality in a software project does.
I knew nothing of music production before this and through experimenting and looking up tutorials and resources online I've managed to make something. I can't wait to keep learning and making more music, it's so much fun.
So genuinely from the bottom of my heart, Akir, thank you for posting this because it has opened up a whole new world for me.
This is really cool, thanks for sharing. It's got a really nice mellow feel to it - rainy day/night cruising, I dig it a lot!
Thank you so much, I really appreciate it!
Honestly my first thought was to just start plugging VSTs in. I only use samples for drum machines, and it's got a pretty robust interface for that. What sort of documentation did you use to pull this off? I'm impressed, and like the screen mover.
That was a pretty cool demo! I actually shouted you out on @Halfdan's post looking for an intuitive music interface because you actually show this off really well.
It's funny because I made the screen mover so I could keep things organized and then maybe a day later discovered Bespoke has a minimap that kind of does the same thing. (^:
In the beginning it was pure experimentation, I would grab a module, put some notes through it, modulate everything in different ways and then see what it would sound like. Pure trial and error. Then when I started discovering plugins I turned to a bunch of different YouTube channels like unfa, Dash Glitch, Demis Hellen, S1gns Of L1fe, and probably more I'm not remembering. I fell in love with Vital so I started searching "vital trance pluck" or "vital ambient pad" etc., watch some videos to see all the different possibilities of using it and then try it myself. The /r/linuxaudio and /r/edmproduction subreddits also have useful information on all kinds of stuff.
And thank you for the kind words!
hey, I'm just coming back to this post to consider playing around with Bespoke in the future - I have only a beginners level understanding in music theory, and have never used a DAW before, would you say it's still possible to use this program to create for a beginner?
Bespoke is not really anything like a traditional DAW. In fact I would say it’s a particularly bad choice for that use case scenario because composition tools are “plug-ins”, so to speak. Bespoke is really more of a means of experimentation with sound.
That being said, that experimentation focus makes it good for anyone with the patience to figure out how it works.
Neat!
One of the neater things about this program that I can see from your example how you mentally approached building it. The Python integration is something I thought would be a niche thing, and that the main thing people would flock to is the synth building stuff. But here you are, with a python script running a song that is rendered entirely with VST sound sources.
For what it's worth I did experiment using nothing but the builtin modules for about a month and a half (and did make some cool stuff!), and then I discovered that plugins exist and oh boy it is a rabbit hole.
The Python integration is so useful! The script you can briefly see next to the songbuilder is there to set up the bars automatically because the songbuilder has an option to reset the transport on every scene change (at least on the nightly version) and I don't want that to happen because it would mess with the note progression. But if you disable that option you can't say "I want 8 bars of this scene, 16 bars of that one" because now the transport isn't being reset and that's what the songbuilder uses to count the bars for each scene... So all the bars need to be summed up. (^: And rather than manually do that, a script can do it. Is it obvious I'm legitimately obsessed? x)
(And two of the builtin samples in the drumplayer module but we won't speak of those. ^^)
This looks really cool - unfortunately I am afraid I am too dumb to learn how to use something like this lol.
One of the things I find so cool about this program is that you really don’t have to know everything - it’s built around exploration. There is a lot that I still don’t understand about it myself. But the possibilities are very exciting.
I have a Korg Volca FM (and a lot of guitar pedals) but I've never really hooked anything straight up to my computer yet before. I guess I should get one of those amp pedals and get cracking. This is one of the most inviting software projects I've ever seen.
Oooh interested in checking this out. I have just enough surface level DAW knowledge that I think this will prove to be a fun new way to experiment!