Posted
Stochas | Open-source advanced probabilistic polyrhythmic sequencer plugin
In Stochas one can loop a MIDI phrase and it will play differently each time around. For example, some notes might sound one time but not the next.
This is great for ambient music if you want to stick to a theme but want to vary it a bit.
But it's a VST3 and thus will not work in Synfire until the 2.0 update. And I'm not sure that even then it will work, or fit in with the Synfire workflow.
Anyway, can Synfire already do something similar without the need for Stochas? I know one can use Variation, but that's not quite the same thing.
Thanks.
Fri, 2022-01-14 - 03:47 Permalink
can't you put the vst 3 in a daw and drive it with a midi drone (or virtual midi cable) as a work around while you wait for synfire v2 to be released? It would give you the advantage you could record the plugin's output midi in the daw, pick out the juicy bits and discard the rest. You could also import that into a synfire library and use it in a different song, change key, etc.
Fri, 2022-01-14 - 04:04 Permalink
That makes a lot of sense. However, I'm somewhat reluctant to delve into the realm of MIDI drones again. I found that utterly confusing last time around. But I was a total Synfire noob then, and I found EVERYTHING confusing, so maybe I'll give it a shot.
But probably not until after I see that Stochas doesn't work the way I want it to in Synfire 2.0. I have many better ways to occupy my time until then.
Concerning recording Stochas' MIDI output into my DAW, that's a good point. I don't think I'll be able to get Synfire to export the processed MIDI, and if not...back to the drones.
Thanks for your input.
Fri, 2022-01-21 - 21:50 Permalink
I use a PC and I do have LoopBe30, but as previously noted I've decided to wait for Synfire 2.0 to drop before going any further with this.
If I do proceed at that time, I'll post a progress report here.
But my guess is that I'll be more eager to get up to speed with 2.0 than to immediately go off on a tangent with Stochas.
Thank you.
Fri, 2023-06-09 - 02:19 Permalink
UPDATE: Stochas can now be instantiated in Synfire, since it is a VST3, and Synfire 2.0 works with VST3s.
However...and it's a big however, it apparently still doesn't fit in with the Synfire workflow, because of the way Stochas and Synfire function.
Stochas does not generate audio. In a DAW (or at least in my DAW, which is Cubase), the procedure is to instantiate Stochas on a MIDI track. On that track Stochas will generate MIDI, and then that MIDI must be sent to a VST instrument on a second track, which will generate the actual audio.
So far as I know, there's no way to do this within Synfire, because Synfire doesn't deal with MIDI until it renders the arrangement into MIDI for export. (Or do I have this wrong? It seems Synfire must be working with MIDI at some level in order to play the various VST instruments, but not such that the user can access that MIDI.) Instead Synfire deals with symbols, and Stochas doesn't generate symbols.
I thought maybe I could add Stochas as an insert on a rack module of a VST such as Omnisphere, but Synfire recognizes Stochas as an instrument, not an effect, and apparently a VST must be an effect in order to be added to a rack module as an insert. Am I wrong about this? And is there a way to get Synfire to see Stochas as an effect? Anyway, it probably still wouldn't work, because Synfire doesn't deal with MIDI until export time (?).
I'm open to suggestions...either some secret magic mojo known only to initiates of the hallowed Inner Circle of Synfire, or perhaps something more mundane, such as a drone. And I suppose I could generate and record the MIDI within Cubase and then import it into Synfire, but that seems clumsy and might not get me where I want to go.
EDIT: Strictly speaking, Stochas doesn't automatically generate MIDI. Instead the user enters notes onto a grid, and Stochas plays those notes, or doesn't, according to various settings determined by the user. So it deals with probability and randomization. I want Stochas to apply that randomization to a figure in Synfire, and therein lies the dilemma.
Fri, 2023-06-09 - 13:54 Permalink
You could put Stochas in your daw as normal, route the midi output from the daw through either a virtual midi cable or via a midi drone configured as input in synfire. Then in synfire's settings, configure that midi device/channel as an input. You should then be able to capture/record the output of Stochas as if you'd played the notes in on an external keyboard.
I havent upgraded to 2.0 yet so I don't know the steps to achieve the above in synfire v2 but hopefully that gives you some ideas.