Cherry Audio has released Voltage Module Designer, a visual development tool for creating modules for their software modular system, Voltage Modular.

Voltage Module Designer is a complete integrated development environment that simplifies module layout, coding, testing, and publishing so that users can quickly implement their module ideas and add them as working modules to their Voltage Modular library. All the modules in Voltage Modular, whether from Cherry Audio or third party developers, were created with Voltage Module Designer.

In the video above, from our 2018 NAMM Show coverage, Mitchell Sigman gives a quick demo of the Module Designer.

If you’re not familiar with Voltage Modular, here’s an intro our 2018 NAMM coverage:

‘The Voltage Module Designer is the easiest tool for designing your own piece of music software that I have ever worked with,” says Mateusz Wozniak, Head of Development at PSPaudioware.com. “It combines an extremely easy visual development environment with the algorithmic flexibility of Java. I wish that doing plug-in prototypes in any format would be as easy as doing release versions in Module Designer.”

Easy, Code-Free GUI Layout

Voltage Module Designer’s GUI layout tools allow users to create module layouts without having to write any code, by dragging and dropping controls onto their module layouts. Available controls include jacks, knobs, sliders, buttons, and more, with a variety of pre-supplied skins, all vector based for alias-free scaling, and additional tools provided that allow users to import their own custom skins. Users with more specialized needs can add ‘canvas’ objects to their modules and render their own custom graphics elements and create their own custom controls.

Integrated Java Code Editor

Voltage Module Designer auto-generates nearly all GUI code and automatically handles details like save/restore state and undo/redo for most pre-supplied controls, so users can concentrate on adding their signal-processing code in the module designer’s built-in Java code editor. All module coding is done in Java. Voltage Module Designer includes a variety of pre-built signal processing APIs that users can take advantage of, including oscillators, filters, envelopes, sampler voice readers/processors, and more.

Integrated Building, Testing, and Debugging

Voltage Module Designer includes an integrated debugger that lets users set breakpoints, inspect data values, and step through code. Test mode launches a custom Voltage Modular cabinet to which users can add other modules from their Voltage Modular library, so they can test how their modules interact with oscilloscopes, oscillators, LFOs, etc., without leaving the debugger.

Voltage Module Designer was designed so that its build process could create highly efficient cross-platform code without requiring in-depth platform expertise. Each module’s Java code is compiled into highly optimized Java bytecode, and when a module is loaded, its Java bytecode is converted into native machine language using Cherry Audio’s custom Hotspot virtual machine. The company says that thisconverted machine language is capable of being faster than compiled C++ code, because it can be locally optimized for the capabilities of each individual user’s specific processor on the fly.

Publishing and Beyond

Adding finished modules to Voltage Modular is as simple as launching the Publish dialog and clicking the ‘publish’ button. Users can also submit their modules for approval for sale in the Voltage Module Store, accessible from the Cherry Audio website and from within Voltage Modular. All modules built with Voltage Module Designer are automatically cross platform, so Windows users don’t need to recompile their modules on a Mac or vice versa, and modules will work in Voltage Modular in all its supported formats, including VST, VST3, AU, Pro Tools AAX, and OS X/Windows standalone.

Voltage Module Designer itself is a standalone application running on both Mac OS X and Windows.

Pricing and Availability

Voltage Module Designer is available now as a free download. A Personal License for Voltage Module Designer is free, and allows users to create their own modules for personal use. A Commercial License is $99, and allows users to submit modules for sale in the Voltage Module Store.