itch.io

Thanks for the detailed report, that makes fixing bugs so much easier. I don’t get the constant crashes you report though, the buggiest area of the code is removing modules. That can create a bad state that makes everything subsequently misbehave. I fix the issues when I find them so it should get more and more stable. I’ll look through the crash reports you’ve posted and see what I can do.

of course I’ll address it. Give me time, I’m a sole developer and this is a MASSIVE project compared to most Playdate software. I’ve just got the latest OS update will see how it performs over the next few days,

Yeah, I’ve tried this, kinda got it working in a demo: https://github.com/orllewin/playdate_posync

I meant it for casual use, so I’d say yes. People are doing fantastic things with it, but my target use-case was sitting on the toilet or the bus as much as anything else.

Yes of course, from the main Granular screen just navigate to Open or Record.

How do you mean running the Windows version on your Steam Deck, does it run on your Playdate? Are you trying to run it via the emulator on a Steam Deck? Needless to say that’s not something I’ve tried!

Absolutely, I’m already looking into creating an interface using a Arduino Leonardo board. Android possibly too, I’ve had a brief look at the Midi API there.

thank you! It’s a good little tool for adding a little eztra something to a track.

Okay, will investigate, thank you

The problem is the Playdate is single-threaded, so any slow down on the one and only thread affects everything, including the timers/clocks. I am thinking about adding external midi clock sync which would make the timing precise, but it would require a little technical know-how from the end-user (it would use a small Processing.org project as an intermediary bus between the host system, and the Playdate: https://github.com/orllewin/playdate_midi_bus - you can already use an external keyboard with that, but if I can find the time will add midi clock too)

Lovely work, I love seeing it being used in the wild. I’ll try and find time to improve the sequencer module too - its a little clunky at the moment.

Can you rememeber which module you deleted that left that cable on-screen? I’m trying to fix up all those loose ends but each module needs handling individually - it’s a big job!

I know there’s a music box app for Playdate that does work with the crank, but that’s triggering samples as you turn - much simpler than dealing with sample frames in a file/buffer.

I did try implementing a scrub control with the crank but it’s just not possible with the way the Lua audio API works in Playdate. TapeLooper would need to be rewritten in C to do that I think, not an easy task.

I’ll try and replicate but it’s been pretty stabke for me. I’m tempted to move Granbular functionality into Modular Play.

you already posted on the Granular page - certainly not here! Will have a look

thank you, fixed one already, the rest are here: https://kinopio.club/orllewin-modular-play-hobVkZawudc7bwByphsLx?present=true - trying Kinopio as an alternative to boring tickets in Github.

Yes, a sample recorder module and a playback module, but you can also use recorded samples in the Sample Synth. It’s fairly limited but fun

Researching this has brought another copy/paste error to light, so you’re responsible for about 10 fixes in the next release…

I’ll fix that now, it’ll be in 0.0.14 in a few days. Modules are supposed to check if they’re connecting to themselves…

You can’t connect a clock signal to a synth, a synth needs a midi signal, so that sounds correct.

Tye midi keyboard though, I’ll make it so instead of just sending on events when pressed it also sends an off event when released.

Not sure I’ve found this specific bug but have found a related one while trying to replicate. Will be a bunch of fixes for this kind of thing in the next release.

Ok, fixed, download 0.0.13-Alpha - there’s also two new modules, one in Clock and one in Sequencers, don’t tell anyone: https://orllewin.itch.io/modularplay

oh jeez… I rerwrote the midi classes and removed too much. Not cool the tutorial crashes! Will get a fix in tomorrow, I need to fix all 3 ‘stochastic’ synths. That means some new fun modules will be launching tomorrow too.

There’s a problem with that saved file, if you email it to oppen@fastmail.com I’ll have a look.

I think I’ve fixed this, the issue was in the Micro Sequencer. Following your steps to build the patch then save threw an error - Micro Sequencer is an older module and wasn’t following the expected naming convention internally. So I think the error happend on save causing a bad save file. Fix will be in the next Alpha in a day or two.

If you click the yellow hardware menu button that will suspend the entire app. If you mean suspend a particular clock - that’s not available but you can do it with a switch instead.

Lots of synths have params you can hook up to an Oscillator to do what you describle - more customisation will come over the next few months too.

Actually I missed your description - I’ll try and replicate

Okay, this is the kind of bug I expect to see quite a lot of - adding and removing modules is tricky, when you delete a module it’s supposed to inform all connected modules that it’s being removed - so they can clean-up and unplug cables and reset their state… if a module doesn’t do that correctly when you come to reconnect it it thinks the sockets are still populated even though there’s no visible cable. I’ll havde a look at a patch with clocks, switches and dividers and try and replicate.

It’s an easy fix once I’ve found where it’s happening! If it does happen it’s pretty unrecoverable, you can try deleting the module with the issue and then add a fresh version of it.

This is a strange one, when you save and reload a patch it adds the modules in the order you added them, then adds the cables in the order you added them… so there’s something strange going on here - could you email the patch to oppen@fastmail.com and I’ll take a look. It’s saying there’s no audio channel available for some synth or effect, but if they’re re-added in order there should be.

thank you!

Fixed: https://orllewin.itch.io/modularplay/devlog/631476/00122-alpha-released - sorry!

Looks like the latest update killed the Drone sequencer completely…

Had some feedback from Panic about a few things that aren’t intuitive, so will be making a few changes - but if you’re comfortable already it wont make any difference for you.

Moving a module is implemented now 0.0.11-Alpha or newer, open the module menu and it should be one of the last options, select it, move your mod, then tap A again to drop it - I might add some satisfying moving and a drop sound in a future release.

Phew! and thank you! Much more to come with Modular Play, I’ll be fixing it and adding new features for a long while yet I hope.

That depends on your Midi setup on the host computer, try running MidiKeys on the computer first and get it up and running with that: https://flit.github.io/projects/midikeys/ (or similar if you’re not on MacOS).

If still no luck move the conversation to an issue on the repo: https://github.com/orllewin/playdate_midi_bus - it’s a bit out of scope for this forum.

You need to be on the latest OS version: 2.1.0 - go to settings and check for an update, it should have propagated to all devices by now: https://devforum.play.date/t/playdate-os-sdk-2-1-0-is-rolling-out/14139

Thanks for all the early feedback everyone, here and elsewhere. You can see everything that’s open: https://github.com/orllewin/modular_play_public/issues

and all the fixed issues for the next Alpha in a day or two: https://github.com/orllewin/modular_play_public/issues?q=is%3Aissue+is%3Aclosed+milestone%3A%220.0.10+Alpha%22

The most useful reports involve specific actions and modules - if you get a crash and can take a photo of it with your phone that would be fantastic.

Thanks again, already lots of positive progress.

Thank you, I fixed the 808 issue earlier because the 606 had the same problem. In fact I’ve fixed so many issues today I might do a second Alpha release earlier than intended. I’ll post a new release in a day or two that should have fixed all these most visible issues.

Good catch on the sequencer (all C’s, using the first note), that should be an easy fix - there’s a fromState and a toState method in all the modules to save and load them from a patch, one of the two isn’t parsing the notes in memory correctly - will get on it for the next Alpha.