Survey for new MIDIFX plugin I'm developing

[Danny Wyatt]

I would like to know your opinion on 2 things:
- Is this a tool you see yourself using?
- What price do you think it's fair for something like this?

One thing I've always wanted to have as a plugin was a MIDIFX plugin that allowed me to load MIDI files from Finder and preview them one after another by just clicking a Previous / Next button. Super simple concept, but in my opinion, super useful. Let's say you have programmed a good MIDI drum loop with different velocities, un-quantized notes to create a human vibe, super fast notes to create snare rolls, etc (some of this stuff you can't really create with the new Sequencer, if that was your first thought. Also, when it comes to chord progressions, the Sequencer is not your best option for numerous reasons). Now you save that as a MIDI file in Finder where you have 50 other MIDI drum loops you created. You insert the Drum Kit Designer, for example, and you want to audition those rhythms. So far you can't with Logic (at least it's not easy or fast). You can convert them to Apple Loops, drag one into your session and use the menu to pick a different loop:

Some issues with this:
- All files have to have the same name and just change the number at the end so Logic can identify them as part of the same "group". What if you want to use different names based on the genre, the bpm, the groove, etc? You can't. What if you want to have those files on a different folder, not the Apple Loops folder?
- All Apple Loops you create using this method will take space, because they are first converted into Aiff files for audition.
- For each loop you have to click the menu, pick one. Then click again, pick the next one. What if you have 200 files on that list? You will have 200 files on a long list and you will have to keep scrolling up and down.

Maybe there are some other issues with this approach, but those are the ones I don't like.

So think of a simple plugin where you load one of the files from a folder and then just press previous/next. All you need is to create a MIDI region and draw a MIDI note so it can trigger the sequence. Simple, right?

 

I have a LOT of ideas for other features for this plugin such as transpose, play the file at half or twice the speed and much more! For now, I want to build something that will at least improve the workflow a little bit.

So yeah, let me know if you see yourself using this and how would much would you be willing to pay for this. Be honest, of course.

 

Thank you so much!

Edited June 29, 2022 by Danny Wyatt

[Atlas007]

Just out of curiosity, is this something you can do with Keyboard Maestro?

[Danny Wyatt]

2 minutes ago, Atlas007 said:

Just out of curiosity, is this something you can do with Keyboard Maestro?

I don't see how this can be done with KM...? You need a plugin that sends notes to an instrument based on a .mid file, the same way you have for example the arpeggiator or the chord trigger triggering notes on an instrument. How would KM be useful? I'm a bit lost... what is your thought process here?

In this case instead of having a midi region with a chord progression, for example, on your arrangement, you only need a single note that triggers the MIDI FX, then based on that, it will trigger whatever sequence you have loaded into the plugin.

[Danny Wyatt]

@Atlas007 also, even if it was somehow possible with KM or any other app, the idea is that you have a dedicated audio (or in this case MIDIFX) plugin, instead of relying on apps that are not specific for music as a "workaround".

[Atlas007]

3 minutes ago, Danny Wyatt said:

How would KM be useful?

Being totally KM naive, I was just questioning about same, since you lately expressed enthusiasm about same…

Didn’t mean anything else…

Sorry if my post could have been upsetting… 😔

[Danny Wyatt]

14 minutes ago, Atlas007 said:

Being totally KM naive, I was just questioning about same, since you lately expressed enthusiasm about same…

Yes, I'm loving KM for sure. It's a super helpful tool. If you haven't explored it yet, I totally recommend it, along with another one called Hazel (from the company Noodlesoft). I'm all about saving time and work, so those are very helpful.

When it comes to this particular case, it won't replace a plugin, because the work itself is audio/MIDI specific. You can't replace that.

You can do a lot of stuff inside Logic that will for sure save you a lot of time. It did already in a lot of my current projects, but this is a very specific case and won't help at all. It could, on that scenario where you have the Apple midi loop and you click and select another loop, but again, this has a lot of limitations as I pointed out, such as the name, the space for the aiff versions, etc.

[Danny Wyatt]

@Atlas007 but would this be something you see yourself using? Do you think it's useful? And even if you don't see it being valuable for your workflow, can you see it being valuable to other people? If so, how much do you think it's a fair price for it?

[Atlas007]

5 hours ago, Danny Wyatt said:

@Atlas007 but would this be something you see yourself using? Do you think it's useful? And even if you don't see it being valuable for your workflow, can you see it being valuable to other people? If so, how much do you think it's a fair price for it?

IIUW, your MIDI Fx would let preview (serially) a bunch of MIDI files (against a playing project) more quickly and conveniently than Apple Loops browser can presently do, with the addition of (some) speed and transposition control. Although that wouldn't be of much use in my workflow, I can easily imagine that being very useful to people creating music by "collage"; which is apparently a broadly used method. How much would that worth? I really can't tell. Would I be interested in purchasing same? Not likely, unless to satisfy my curiosity and that would be on cheaper scale like few dollars... For others, I couldn't tell. I guess it all depends of how useful and how often the workflow would dictate its use.

[Atlas007]

BTW, how do you manage to put my alias in the oval button like this:

[Danny Wyatt]

On 6/30/2022 at 4:17 AM, Atlas007 said:

IIUW, your MIDI Fx would let preview (serially) a bunch of MIDI files (against a playing project) more quickly and conveniently than Apple Loops browser can presently do, with the addition of (some) speed and transposition control. Although that wouldn't be of much use in my workflow, I can easily imagine that being very useful to people creating music by "collage"; which is apparently a broadly used method. How much would that worth? I really can't tell. Would I be interested in purchasing same? Not likely, unless to satisfy my curiosity and that would be on cheaper scale like few dollars... For others, I couldn't tell. I guess it all depends of how useful and how often the workflow would dictate its use.

I don't think it just applies to people making music by "collage" (I gotta be honest, I don't know what you mean by that haha), but for example, let's say you are one of those people who like to just create random things, not necessarily stuff that have a specific project. It could be piano ideas, drums, etc. You could save those as midi files and when you are starting a new project, you can audition those against something that complements it. For example, sometimes I like to come up with reggae ideas and programming a good and human reggae drum loop, takes time, because of all the swing, velocity, etc. So having some templates that one can easily audition, seems to be a good tool.

I decided to come up with this, because I saw myself in need of something like this over and over. Of course, if your workflow is more recording, engineering, etc, then it probably doesn't make much sense.

Since it will be super simple in the beginning, I was thinking of $5.99 as introductory price. Seems like a fair price, then once I release a more complex version, increase the price, but for now, I think I will stick to that price.

[Atlas007]

$5.99: Sold!

Edited July 2, 2022 by Atlas007

[Atlas007]

By collage I mean building a piece of music by adding loops.  kind of à la DJ, if you prefer...

[Danny Wyatt]

7 hours ago, Atlas007 said:

$5.99: Sold!

Great! Hopefully the developer will be able to start working on it in a week, so before the end of July I will have something to share here.

[Danny Wyatt]

On 6/30/2022 at 4:23 AM, Atlas007 said:

BTW, how do you manage to put my alias in the oval button like this:

Just add the @ symbol and start typing the person's name. Even if it has spaces, like mine for example, it will find it.

[Dewdman42]

If you get a custom plugin made it can certainly do exactly what you want!  Good luck on that project I will look forward to see it come out.

In the meantime...Have you tried using LogicPro's live loop feature at all for loading up a bunch of midi clips and firing them off as the music is playing?  Seems to me like using that in conjunction with the Apple Loops feature would get you quite a bit of the functionality you are hoping for, and then some.

 

[Danny Wyatt]

33 minutes ago, Dewdman42 said:

Good luck on that project I will look forward to see it come out

Thanks! Hopefully by the end of this month, something will be ready to share.

I haven't explored the Live Loops that much, but the only times I played with it was with audio. One thing I didn't like about it is that you can't trigger audio without recording it. For example, it would be great if we could create an arrangement where regions would trigger the loops and if we decide that a certain loop doesn't fit that section, we would just change the region, similar to transposing a midi note, but in this case, changing the "note" would trigger a different loop. Hope it makes sense...

My goal with this plugin is that it will have the AU version (MIDI FX) and VST, because as far as I know, this functionality doesn't exist at all. At least based on my research. What I see with DAWs such as FL Studio, for example, is that people always need to drag and drop midi file in order to preview them. I like creating workflows that make everything easier and faster and I've always felt the need to having this kind of tool to save me time.

In the beginning it will be a super simple concept, but I have more advanced features that I would like to implement in the future. Let's see what's the feedback first and go from there.