I Fixed The Major Problem With All Software Synths

Yes yes yes! Someone please build this!

I am waiting for the HUDs via reading my eye position in webcam with ai guide voice commands or just . Computer assign this nob to what I am looking at. Or it knowing before I know I even want to assign it. Welcome to 2024.

Clearly, VST plugins and virtual instruments are superior, in terms of sound (Keyscape, Pianoteq, etc.). For the performing musicians, why don't they make a keyboard/synth/workstation with built-in VST plug-ins? Do any of the current top-sellers (Korg Kronos, Yamaha Montage, Nord Stage, etc.) even come close to Keyscape, for example? Why isn't Korg, Roland, Yamaha doing this?

That's actually pretty cool. I'd certainly go for something like that.

im not expecting to make anything good with free applications even much advanced free ones, especially not with a 17$ keyboard with defective stuck key or a mouse that wild as fuck or unprecise and worth 2$ more i had for over a year or so....... im so fucked bored right now, im trying to learn these impossible tools that never sound right cause you dont have the paid tools or equipment to do anything good, or will not have them anytime in the future at this current stage, i think i will take it very slow money wise and find the cheapest stuff i can manage to afford every few months and go back to messing around for now, aint nothing to learn for free anywhere on the net, or do, its all expensive and unreachable for someone like me............ im exhausted of being tired and hopeless or being sarcastic, driven my depression hermit energy

Nice idea. I’d actually like the Hover Knob to be able to move the mouse pointer. So effectively it is a “mouse” with - bespoke knob and slider on it 👍👍

Audient iD audio interfaces already have this.

I think if a keyboard shortcut for each knob on the screen would be even better than hovering the knob, but it's more a matter of taste than anything else, I guess.

What about a glove that gives you the actual feel of moving the nobs/controls etc

The Apple touch mouse works great with vsts knobs and sliders. You hover, don’t have to click anything, then just slide your index finger up and down. No dragging of the mouse. Been doing this for 15 years Woody. Glad you figured out how to use it 😂

I have a better idea : using our voice to choose a parameter like filter, cutoff, etc. and then moving the knobs and sliders. So no more mouse movements, only voice control over all parameters in the vst. Future will tell.

This will be solved in a few years, once people start using EEG devices, and they're already pretty sensitive and advanced.

Simply by thinking you want the knob turned the knob will be turned.

Easier than with hands!

Am I immature? Yes or No(b)

IT'S PERFECT!!

It's an idea Woody, but you've got me thinking now. I wonder how far software companies are from being able to drop a sample ..ANY sample, into a synth and instead of copying the sample, self adjusting it's parameters to recreating it.

First, just as you described, I was very dissapointed with soft synth/mouse experience.
Then I bought Push 2 which has 8 knobs and also buttons to switch banks of parameters. Tweaking knobs is good, but this time I hadn't enough visual feedback on what I tweak. Had to look at computer screen too often. On the push display I can see only 8 parameters at once, not the whole thing. Also, not every parameter can be controlled with knobs. Some things simpy can't be done with knobs like assigning a modulator to a parameter or connecting modules to each other in a modular environment etc.
Last week I bought a laptop with touchscreen and, man, I'm happy so far. Kind of getting the best of both worlds. Tweaking parameters on a touchscreen is way better than with a mouse. And I can see everything at once. All the actions work just like with mouse. The screen is only 13'' so I keep it closer to myself than my main 27'' monitor. It has kind of new 'synth at my fingertips' feel. I use Bitwig. It provides fantastic touch support. Yeah, I can tweak two parameters at once with my fingers. Touchscreen works in Bitwig like an MPE controller as well. I can control 2 parameters per note when playing chords and 3 parameters when playing single note with a pen. So the problem is solved for me.

This is indeed a very good idea, especially in combination with the touch screen that you mention. Hopefully software manufacturers do pick this up. Though It reminds me a bit of computer keyboards that after all these years still don't have dedicated copy and paste buttons. The easiest things might prove the hardest to get done, sadly.

Just find your channel that´s why the respond are a bit late. I use my trackpad with my mac. Works perfect! Slider, knob and movement without having to move the actually trackpad itself.

I'd imagine staying on target would be quite difficult

Hi Woody. Have you tried out Gig Performer? It is brilliant for customisation..very easy to do all manner of user mapped configurations etc..perfect for live playing. Once it is setup you don't have to touch the mouse...any midi button can do anything you need. But I do think the idea you've mentioned would be great too. Thanks.

Nice idea. But it requires that you use two hands. If I turn a knob I want to hear what it does, so that would take that you move your hand between the mouse and keyboard while the other hand is on the hardware knob. That can lead to a lot of moving with your mouse-hand if you want to change several parameters back and forth to get the right sound. (Let’s say filter frequency and resonance or adsr.) And then we’re back to where we started. 😊

This has been around for a while, Studio one for example has this feature which I use with their fader port.. mouse over anything and you can use the knob to control.

Monogram midi controller can do that..I think..

I've seen some pretty impressive demos of eye tracking software, wonder if you could pair them so you wouldn't even need to touch the mouse, just look at what you want to adjust and move the knob 🤔

It's called Presonus fader port lol , the link option makes the pan pot being link to mouse controla and on what ever you point he mouse on , also my Focursite Forte interface can do that (when i'm on the go) , the fader then can also flit to this mode versus regular fader mode ....
Great video as usual ...

Yes, it would be nice. I think it can be solved by software only. Nevertheless there are already touchscreens now availlable where you can controll all knobs only with your finger tip. Well i have one of this devices (viewsonic td-1655) and it works fine. For just 200$ you get a 16" Screen touchable as an extra device connecting via usb/hdmi. Well - i hope that someone will take your idea and bring it into the real world. I wish you - and all of us - luck ;-)

Bravo!!!! That's a great idea!!!!

If I'm playing the keyboard with my right hand, I'd have to use my right-hand-specific mouse with my left hand to hover over an onscreen knob with my non-dominant hand. I noticed that you weren't very accurate when you were attempting to hover over the on-screen knobs; sometimes you missed. A mouse click could eradicate that. Also, two actions would be involved with each different parameter change instead of the one action involved in turning the dedicated knob on the controller keyboard.
I like your way of thinking though.

OK. just tried this with Repro One in Logic, and if I hover the cursor over a control, and two finger swipe on my trackpad (the Magic Trackpad 2) it does exactly as described. Will check other synths...

Yes Cubase already has this. I think they may actually call it an AI knob. And they've had it for a while as far as I know. With the new mini remote features it's very easy to set up. I just haven't found a suitable knob or device just for that purpose that is inexpensive.

Woody, I enjoy your videos! Have you tried scrolling your mouse wheel while hovering over a control knob?

Take a look at the product called a Space Mouse

Great idea. One downside however is when you hover over let’s say a virtual fader, the fader is in a certain state that most likely does not match the state of the physical fader. As soon as you start moving the physical fader, the midi postition gets reset. That means you don’t start off the desired position. Maybe not a huge deal, but annoying when you want to work with precise values. It kind of takes away the authenticity of working with hardware. A great, but expensive solution would be a motorized knob and fader though 😊 if it could be made affordable it will have great potential on Shark Tank 😅

They have this already Knob One I believe it’s Called!

Great idea, when will we be able to buy Woody's knob?!

I’ve had the same idea. I don’t have a controller with a lot of knobs so I have thought about using the modwheel for that purpose. We need pester our favourit software companie with this request to make it happen. I read in the comments that some software have this function, but it would need to be universal I think.

they don't sound better or close to equally good compared to their hardware versions. depends of course how deep and detailed your sound is, mine is, and i notice a massive difference between using for exmample a real wavestation AD fed into a Neve preamp versus the software counterpart. It's more than just the converters, its the whole signal path, it just sounds much bigger, wider, warmer, yes, better. and it should be. Jd-990 beats omnisphere patches based on it everytime too.... no moog emulation comes close to my vintage moogs neither, just as far apart as my real fender rhodes vs any sample library. but, yes, i could make great music with just plugins! it just will feel and sound a bit different , cheaper, more generic, and thats the sound i hear a lot around.

Adding a track pad or track ball to your control box design would be a useful addition.

what about a knob, thats ALSO a mouse...a Knouse! So you need a knob like the Microsoft Studio knob thing, but with a mouse in the bottom build it...Although im one hundred procent sure a real hardware synth is much, much nicer...Just go with the Modwave/Microfreak hardware-software combo...i saw your Modwave review the other day...didnt you get the hardware to test it out? :)

IMHO moving the mouse during playing requires some dexterity to precisely hit a knob ... and then if I already did that I'd rather use the mouse wheel as it's already there. Perhaps I'm missing the point

seems worse if anything

imagine playing your keyboard twiddling the 1 knob or 1 slider and somehow moving your mouse around to adjust the things you want in real time as you play

We can also use the steering wheel of a car as a midi controller, or even better a ship's steering wheel in order to get a high resolution of changing parameters

Serious issue: what about the fader being at a given position, every time you move to a virtual fader it will override the value with the value of the physical fader. I guess the knob would work better but for the same reason it cannot be limited to a min and max position, it needs to be a free turning knob. That already limits the tactile feel. To me, these issues would already kill the project. But let's to be positive, pretend that these issues don't exist for a moment: I would add some kind of mouse cursor controller like a track pad to the device, so we can do everything with one hand on the device, to minimise the effort.

Nice idea but I think I've got a better one. Something like apple glasses or VR headset. Just look at the control in question and then squint or blink appropriately to change the value. Hand-free :) Or how about rigging up a theramin to output CC values rather than sound.

a much cooler solution would be to use voice commands to assign stuff to knobs, e.g you say "Cutoff" into the mic and the VST assigns the cuttoff parameter to the super knob. Much easier because no need to reach for the mouse everytime even, you only work with the 1 controller you have to create the sound. Such controller should have 1 super knob and 4 sliders. So the words "Cutoff" and "Resonance" e.g would dictate the knob's function by default, and the words "Filter", "Pitch" and "Amp" would assign ADSR envelope functions to the 4 sliders.

Good idea. I would buy a device with a sensitive pad (instead of a mouse) to point, and then a knob to change pointed parameter. Easy. Just big synth vendors (Native Instruments, Arturia, Cherry Audio, Kv331, U-he, Korg, Roland etc etc) should introduce that editing feature. I guess not an easy task