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EssenceFM firmware V5.0

KODAMO
V5.0 is now available, with tons of improvements thanks to your suggestions ---> https://kodamo.org/firmwares.php
Do not hesitate to share your impressions here ๐Ÿ˜‰
BROCKSTAR
OH BOYYYY! Just updated it! Everything of mine is getting updates recently! My line 6 helix did 2 weeks ago, then my tasty chips gr-1 granular synth did 2 days ago and then my hydrasynth did 2 days ago and now this kodama one :D Thank you!
TJontheRoad
Well done guys ๐Ÿ‘
BROCKSTAR
Having that same LATCH feature available elsewhere would be awesome I think ๐Ÿ˜. Put it in the touch piano section too by velocity. Having it available per voice and patch would be cool too so when editing we can use it as well instead of going to voice sequencer to latch it and backing out to edit and back to voice sequencer to unlatch it etc.. etc..
BROCKSTAR
Ohh no I just realized the start up screen changed too. I enjoyed the other one better lol...

Also pitch bend range, portspd and pan used to auto save where you had them and stay there on start up each time but now it's starting up with pitch bend on 48
Failed Muso
Awesome work, Stephane! Great to see so many of our suggestions incorporated here ๐Ÿ™‚๐Ÿ‘๐Ÿงก
hwk
thank you very much guys for all the hard work! outstanding support!!
KODAMO
now it's starting up with pitch bend on 48

Yes because in MPE mode it made more sense to have it to 48 by default.
If you're using a normal keyboard, in Global > MIDI select Omni for the Global Channel (instead of MPE), then the pitch bend will be set to 2 semitones by default
BROCKSTAR
Ok thank you, that worked :)
BROCKSTAR
Ok another thing regarding latch feature. Possible we could make it the other latch version or make it have 2 different versions of latch?

For instance when you use this latch anything that you play on top will keep stacking and stacking and stacking. Maybe the other option where say you hit a chord or note and it sustains and then when you hit another chord or note it changes to that and sustains without stacking on top of each other.

I know it's only there so we can latch something while editing the sequencer, but work flow I think would be better with the other latch version because sometimes we wanna hear the edited changes and timbres we did in real time with different chords and notes but having to uncheck and play, recheck and play is tiresome.
KODAMO
I suggest you press Panic to reset the latch, it's very useful for that (and also for sound design in general, to cut note releases and reverb tails).
Latch may be improved as you suggest in a future version, currently it just simulates a sustain pedal
BROCKSTAR
"I suggest you press Panic to reset the latch"

This is true ๐Ÿ™‚ forgot I could do that however I was also looking at the other latch option as a musical / writing feature as well. For instance you could use it while recording or videoing or writing etc.. all in real time instead of having to hit panic each time to cut things off to change chords and notes.

Sorry not really trying to nit-pick, just ideas coming to my head while I'm messing with it lol ๐Ÿ˜€ Thanks for everything you've already done!
Teomi
This is very well appreciated! And the USB mouse also works with a wireless mouse and USB dongle. Very cool!!

Any idea when you will be able to implement keeping the CC window is Perf mode open?
flec8
Great update. Thank you for all the hard work Kodamo team. ๐Ÿงก๐ŸคŸ๐Ÿ‘
DX100
Thanks for the hard work!
noyzelab
thanks very much for this update.

i have a lock-up issue with in patch mode i would be interested to see if anyone can replicate?

enter patch mode, select any patch, press edit, select patch in the tab [this should already be selected], press the tuning button, when the list of tunings appear scroll down a few times, & then up all the way to the top [scale overide], mine then locks up completely requiring a power down to restart. sometimes it will also playout a **very loud** tone, while its locked up !
Teomi
I get the lockup as well.
KODAMO
Fixed. If you use that feature I suggest you update your EFM again. Usually small bugs wait for the next release but we fix any lock-ups immediately. Thank you for reporting! ๐Ÿ‘
DX100
Yes tuning table lock up fixed here now.
On another topic.
I still don't get true Mono mode, I thought that had been fixed?
Voices still carry on which is not good especially with low frequencies overlapping.
ESFM is the only synth I've ever used that behaves in mono mode like this!
Which on one hand this is cool as I do like the sound of this very much in some situations but I think we need the usual mono mode behaviour, an option to have both would be good?
KODAMO
You should be able to get true mono by assigning an Exclusion Group to the layer you want, then checking "hard cut on exclusion"
DX100
Brilliant ยฑ!!+

----
tunings not locking up now but noticed you can't add to a pack of tunings and load at once, small point but thought I'd mention it.
Soarer
Great update, thanks Kodamo ๐Ÿ‘
This has fixed an issue I had with connecting my Torso T-1 sequencer via USB which meant that I couldnโ€™t use it. Now it works fine. I do however sometimes get stuck notes when playing with the Keystep via MIDI in, on top of the T-1.
I have had an issue with not being able to go back via the tabs. Nothing happened when pressing the tabs so I had to press Perform to go back.
After a restart tabs worked again.
Had a freeze too while adjusting some settings in the long delay in Perform mode (sequencer running).
KODAMO
We found what may cause the stuck note issue when you're using both devices at the same time, don't worry you won't have to wait much before it gets fixed.
Soarer
I'm so glad to hear that ๐Ÿ˜€ I really want to use both together like this onward, so great.
Thought it might be complex or not possible to fix it. Thanks.
DX100
Master tune does not seem to work now?
KODAMO
Are you testing your tunings in "Advanced Mode" ? In that mode Master Tune is ignored since each note has a set frequency in Hz. That could be changed however, to add more flexibility
DX100
oh ok, yes we really need master-tuning in advanced mode...we can't have simple mode having more tuning features ๐Ÿ˜‰

Just found another big bug, all the loaded .scl tunings are forgotten on power down, which makes the 'add to tuning pack bug' even more important now as we're going to have to load all the tuning files back in again...one at a time.๐Ÿ˜ข
KODAMO
This is not a bug, you need to Save imported elements to make them permanent (they have an asterisk next to their name).

About the 'add to tuning pack bug', can you elaborate ? I thought you were looking for a feature to allow adding elements to an existing pack.
BROCKSTAR
EDIT: Couldn't find a way to delete my post so just editing it with this.... "Never mind, I need to learn to read the manual more often before commenting haha. User error on my end."
KODAMO
Effects are only saved in Patches and Performances. Not in Voices, so that's probably what you experienced here.
On the Voice List, the Effects button is here just for listening purposes (like the Portamento setting, Pan, Mono...)

If you like a Voice with a specific effect setting when you're in voice mode, you can press "Create Patch From". That will create a new patch, with this voice as a layer, and copy the effect settings into it.



You can also do it the other way in Patch mode : create a new patch, assign an empty voice to it and edit the voice from there. So you're ready to add effects, layers and more.

EDIT: Couldn't find a way to delete my post so just editing it with this.... "Never mind, I need to learn to read the manual more often before commenting haha. User error on my end."


No worries ! I leave my reply here for other people in case ๐Ÿ˜‰
BROCKSTAR
Thank you lol ๐Ÿ˜€
DX100
oh save tunings, yes, I KEEP forgetting essence works like this, thanks for the help.
DX100
HI,

So there is still this big problem with making a patch that uses a different tuning other than EQUAL.

If you transpose one of the layers up or down it doesn't stay relative to the other layers, so you can't make chords or even tune things slightly differently, as things will go wrong further up or down the keyboard, the transpose and fine tune should stay at the same ratio at whichever key you play on the keyboard?
DX100
ah i think its gone now in 5.0e, I was on 5.0c still.
Great!
DX100
On 2nd thoughts there is definitely a problem, layers definitely don't always stay relative in tune when the transpose value is changed.
Also when you are defining a tuning in Advanced mode, if the voice has transpose on the tuning points to the wrong key in the tuning table, so it's pretty much unusable as it is now :(

I had a song I really loved but now I've updated the o.s it sounds totally different, so I'm trying to get it back but this bug is making it impossible.
DX100
When you define Initial phase as a mod destination the sound changes even if the offset is zero and the ratio is 100% is this correct?
DX100
if you transpose a sound by -1 at the voice level and play C3 then go to advanced tuning editing, have the auto note function on, you will actually be hearing B2 !
KODAMO
On 2nd thoughts there is definitely a problem, layers definitely don't always stay relative in tune when the transpose value is changed.


Can you precise when do they stop being in tune ? We haven't managed to reproduce this behavior on our test unit.

Also when you are defining a tuning in Advanced mode, if the voice has transpose on the tuning points to the wrong key in the tuning table, so it's pretty much unusable as it is now :(


I think you're looking for a different transpose mode. The current transpose make an instrument use a scale by starting at different positions in the scale. You want the whole scale to be recalculated from a different root note depending on the transpose value. Not sure if that's possible but we'll check. That make sense, although the current way it works is also useful.

When you define Initial phase as a mod destination the sound changes even if the offset is zero and the ratio is 100% is this correct?

Yes, if the mod matrix already has a non-zero value on its input (since your ratio is 100%). Note: Initial phase destination only make sense for sources that happens on Note On (note number, velocity, RNG...), not for continuous events like Control Changes or Aftertouch. Otherwise, phase will be changed all the time while the sound is playing.


if you transpose a sound by -1 at the voice level and play C3 then go to advanced tuning editing, have the auto note function on, you will actually be hearing B2 !


By "auto note function", are you referring to the green "MIDI Learn" button that allows finding the note you're playing in the tuning table ? If yes, then it's normal: transposition at patch/voice level only happens inside them. Scales are global, they aren't aware of any transposition applied afterwards. We could change it while in Voice mode, but in other modes (Patch for example) that wouldn't make sense, you could have several layers with different transpositions using the same scale: the EssenceFM wouldn't know which note to select in the list.
DX100
It should behave the same way as it does with Scale Override:none
but it doesn't, it behaves differently, yes this is quite interesting behaviour I agree but its very hard to use though in a musical way but it really should also behave as normal like the "Scale Override:none"

Really hoping this can be fixed, it would be a huge loss to not be able to use layers with microtuning.

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