Developer Jonathan Heppner offers an update on the status of his AudioGL modular software synthesizer & sequencer.
AudioGL is designed to allow musicians to create complex compositions in a dynamic 3D interface.
Although the interface is rendered in 3D, Heppner says that it does not consume any more resources than a typical 2D interface. The graphical quality of the interface can be also raised or lowered, depending upon your preferences.
The synthesizer is designed towards low CPU usage without compromising sound quality. To provide both, the instruments you create in AudioGL will only consume CPU when they are playing. This makes it possible to create a large composition on an underpowered laptop, provided that you only have so many instruments playing at one point in time.
Heppner is hoping to ‘crowdfund’ the development of AudioGL. See his IndieGoGo page for details.
I can’t deny that it is a really innovative idea – and I think that new approaches are always a great thing 😉
But to be honest, I feel that the 3D aspect is an end in itself. If you have ever played 3D games like the Homeworld series, you know that orientation in a fully 3D-dimensional space can be quite confusing sometimes. I’m afraid that this feature does not really contribute to working speed but rather makes it necessary to re-orientate each time you want to switch to another part of your arrangement.
But again, It’s an interesting concept nonetheless…
Can it be viewed in 3d too? With a 3d screen?
Honestly, if he was seriously making this software he could easily just do an open beta with a pre-release special price. My guess is this isn’t real.
Both videos, and the narrations therein, demonstrate that this developer has both a logical and innovative brain for electronic music. It’s a fascinating “work space” and I think it will lend itself well to working in some non-traditional styles. I especially like how he is able to pack a lot of modularity and control into a small space. I also like seeing that he will be making it easy to share “modules” and sub-sections of the rig.
The developer seems sensitive to the issue of spontaneity and speed of work-flow. This is welcome.
I’ll be especially curious to see how it will handle things like alternative scales/tunings.
This is real. I have been tracking his progress for a while. This is as innovative and cutting edge as it gets. The guy is a genius and this project is a huge leap forward it is comparable to how cutting edge Melodyne DNA was. Modular synthesis in a computer environment has always lent itself well to a visual metaphor like that found in Synthmaker, Synthedit or Reaktor it is a natural evolution that leads to 3d. Visual programming in 3d makes sense.
Mind blowing. Somebody fund this guy, he deserves it. I’ll definitely be keeping an eye out for this.
“There we have it– four seconds of dubstep.”