Download of the Month: X-Wheel of Fortune Pro
Dec 1, 2004 12:00 PM, By Len Sasso
advertisement
|
CURRENT NEWSSTAND ISSUERead the full Table of Contents for the issue on sale now! Click here Subscribe for only $1.84 an issue! Please tell us about yourself so we can better serve you. Click here to take our user survey. |
| |
 |
Life in the Fast Lane This collection of St.CroixÕs columns was assembled during the two years following his death of cancer in May 2006. Included are many of his most-read columns, as well as personal notes, drawings and photographs. Click for more books |
 Listen to these latest podcasts and more: |
|
eDeals Newsletter for Discounts on GearGet First Dibs on Hot Gear Discounts, Manufacturer Close-Outs and Job Opportunities when you sign up to receive eDeals E-newsletter, sent twice a month. Check out an issue get advertising info or subscribe |
|
X-WHEEL OF FORTUNE PRO
X-Wheel of Fortune Pro (Win, $38) is an algorithmic-composition tool from Günter Hager (www.flomo-art.de/se). Created in SynthEdit (www.synthedit.com), X-WoFP is a VST instrument plug-in and requires compatible Windows VSTi host software. X-WoFP automatically generates five audio parts — bass, solo, pad, voice-atmosphere, and percussion — that can be independently muted, mixed, and panned. Each part has its own synthesis engine, its own algorithm parameters, and its own feedback delay line, allowing individual parts to be as busy or as sparse as your taste dictates. Global parameters include transposition mode (keyboard, algorithmic, or both), transposition rate in bars, and a choice of scale (major, minor, whole tone, pentatonic, and so on). X-WoFP can be synchronized to the host's tempo or free running.
X-WoFP's bass and solo synthesizers feature a single oscillator followed by a lowpass filter with ADSR envelopes for output level and filter cutoff, as well as a multiple-waveform LFO for filter cutoff. The pad synth is more complicated, offering three oscillators, one of which takes its shape from a built-in sound font containing 22 waveforms. The percussion generator offers five tracks of sample-based percussion. Track 1, intended for kick or snare sounds, offers individual beat programming, whereas the other tracks generate their rhythms algorithmically and are best suited for percussion sounds. The fifth part combines a wavetable-based voice-atmosphere generator and a WAV file player with a multimode filter. A joystick-like x-y controller offers user-assignable control of all five parts.
X-WoFP is capable of giving you a wide range of styles, as is amply illustrated by the variety of factory presets, of which Web Clip 1 is an example. A multichannel MIDI-controller layout facilitates real-time interaction as well as host automation for each of X-WoFP's parts. X-WoFP is a great background generator, an interesting composition starter, and just plain fun. For a test-drive, download X-WoFP's free sibling, X-Wheel of Fortune, from www.algomusic.nl/freeware.
Acceptable Use Policy blog comments powered by Disqus
Want to use this article? Click here for options!
© 2009 Penton Media, Inc.
