@percussa #ssp @kickstarter update - Return of the 4-voice Demo and MIDI Controller Auto-Detection

Published on Mar 9, 2018 PERCUSSA

"The past week I decided to focus on MIDI-related features in our SSP software ... read more https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/..."

"It's time for another update :-) The past week I decided to focus on MIDI-related features in our SSP software. I wanted to add listboxes to the Global menu of the SSP so you can see MIDI input and output devices connected to the SSP, and I wanted it to work in such a way that when you connect a USB MIDI class-compliant device, the ports would be automatically discovered and added to the listboxes. In addition I also wanted the first new input and output port to be automatically opened, and I wanted to make sure that repeatedly plugging/unplugging different MIDI controllers would not cause any problems in the software, with ports remaining open while the device is already gone. Obviously there were a lot of subtle bugs and challenges, as a MIDI input or output port might be used multiple times in the same application and connecting MIDI devices/ports in Linux is done using Virtual ports in the ALSA stack.

You might remember from the videos we did during the campaign that we did a 4-voice wavetable synth demo. I decided to revisit that idea and recreate the preset on the SSP: 4 wavetable oscillators, 4 amplitude envelopes, 2 LFOs for XZ modulation, 2 input modules for interfacing with the Intellijel Dixie II and Make Noise MATHS for XY modulation, and of course the global delay and reverb section (also running on the SSP, of course).

In the video I connect a generic USB MIDI controller, the Nektar Impact GX61. It shows up immediately in the Global menu, after which I can start playing the synth patch. In the patch I've created prior to the video, I've mapped the 4 wavetable oscillators and the 4 amplitude envelopes to the 4 voices. The MIDI notes are assigned round-robin to the voices.

Meanwhile Celine has been working on some other exciting features: signal visualisation and scaling in the network editor. We'll be posting a video about her work in the next update :-) Until next week, and thanks again for your patience and support.

Bert & Celine"