Variable Groove Controller Plugin

[paulo32]

Hello everyone there,
First of all, i'd like to thanks each & everyone who is contributing to this great place !
It's been some time now since I started developing new technologies for cutting records, that i will probably introduce to you in the future. One of them is a new variable groove controller, i couldn't find a plugin that does that. Now it's done, it has extreme precision and a lot of tweaking possibilities.

You can find some informations here:
https://www.sweetwatersrecords.com/sawasound-pitch-controller/

[theinhabitant]

Very nice! Is this intended to work with older systems or Arduino?

[paulo32]

Mostly with Arduino or similar, i use it on a T560. I think the pitch signal format can be easily adapted to other lathes..

[trailerparkjesus]

This is very very cool. Great to see some improvements with the t560

[symatic]

looks great - i have a motor and i can attach it to the gear box of my Presto. the gear box was originally intended to be driven by a belt attached to the main drive shaft for the Platter. Can this software can be calibrated to work with gear system?

[paulo32]

it is actually implemented on a gear system, i bypassed the original pitch motor that is too limited.. So yes, i can make the gear ratio parameter accessible for changes on the user interface. We are potentially limited by the positional accuracy of the driver you'll use, wow and flutter of the platter (which can be compensated by comparing surrounding samples on a given area) and frequency response of the cutting head. If careful attention is given to those details, the plugin will do the rest.

[Sillas]

Hi, this seems to be a great tool. Are you planning to release it anytime soon?

[urieldeveaud]

it is actually implemented on a gear system, i bypassed the original pitch motor that is too limited.. So yes, i can make the gear ratio parameter accessible for changes on the user interface. We are potentially limited by the positional accuracy of the driver you'll use, wow and flutter of the platter (which can be compensated by comparing surrounding samples on a given area) and frequency response of the cutting head. If careful attention is given to those details, the plugin will do the rest.

woo, thats nice, you did it with Juce (i am also a juce dev.) the thing i never try yet is to connect arduino with juce and audio treatment together.,... hummm, very intreresting !

[Teddy]

Looks like this plugin is a must have upgrade for T560. Want it! please post how it went.

[rubenr]

I would like to test in my tuned VR. When is out?

[paulo32]

The plugin needs to communicate via Serial port (usb) with a microcontroller that drives the pitch motor. It doesn't controls directly souri's motor.
So for those who wants to get it now and interface it themselves with their own pitch drivers, i can provide you a version of it, you can send me PM or mail here: studio@sweeetwatersrecords.com
For those who still relies on souri's motor & drivers, just wait a few months till hardware parts are finished.. )
here is a video of the pitch controller prototype i've originally designed to be used with the plugin : https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=374538263198239

[theinhabitant]

PM Sent!

[simrfid]

PM sent !

[mustafa umut sarac]

PM Sent!

[paulo32]

Greetings,
I'm coding last details of the plugin before release (licensing system, gear parameters, reference levels & serial port to use accessible on front end) and writing the user manual with all informations for the communication protocol.
We did tested the plugin on hundreds of cuts and everything is working very well.
A limited in time and functionalities trial version will be available on september for people to check the plugin before buying.

I have to mention that the calibration of your system (0dB ref levels) and frequency response of your cutting head must be very carefully set up in order for the plugin to work properly.
It is not a simple thing to set up everything correctly, if you don't have knowledge for coding the hardware part of the communication protocol for your pitch motor to receive speed orders then you'll have to wait till i release the full hardware pitch system (with closed loop motor positioning, touch screen, etc...) that is really adapted to the T560, probably in november.
I can come to your place and set up everything correctly if you can afford my displacement (i'm currently living in south of France).

[PMST]

This is great! Good work Sawa! I'm not the best with coding or working with this system so great to hear you are doing a full version later, much appreciated for the works!

[Discomo]

Following this with great interest.

[PMST]

Any news on the full hardware pitch system?

[paulo32]

I give thanks to each & everyone for your support ! Yes we do have some news on the hardware pitch system. It's been two years since i'm developping & enhancing the system. We use it everyday and i bring constant upgrades. For the release version, a lot of changes & upgrades has been done.

Here is the list of features included in the basic system:

=> 7" Touch Screen Display with all features accessibles
=> Manual mode: let you define arbritrary LPI with given range relative to needed time of cut / nbr of tracks per side
=> Lead-In/Out, crossovers between tracks are done in one click
=> Closed Loop Positionning : go to the beginning of a 7” / 10” or 12” in one click
=> Fast navigating display: fast forward / rewind, position 1, position 0, marker
=> closed loop motor control system with 256microsteps positioning resolution
=> Original FlexiGroove new variable pitch algorithm, enhanced & fully working on microcontroller chip instead of plugin, it is still compatible with the plugin if you don't want to feed him with the preview signal on SPDIF.
=> Software upgrades for the complete system will be regularly available on the internet with straightforward upload protocol for new firmwares, giving you some new features/enhancements regularly.
=> Stocks gestion module
=> Good / Bad / Lost cuts count
=> Keep count of total stylus cutting time

The variable pitch control algorithm is even more efficient on microcontroller with the use of DSP's. So as per the plugin version, here is the list of features:
=> Extreme compacting/nesting of grooves
=> Phase Recognition
=> Variable preview time (if using the hardware version you'll have to change accordingly the delay of the preview signal you feed to the pitch system)
=> Variable IS time
=> calculate & compensate wow & flutter impact on pitch calculation (comparator time parameter, which makes possible to use such a precise algorithm with the not so precise platter rotation of the technics turntables..)
=> variable groove width / land width

-Our Pitch System is meant to be modular so we will have different types of extensions :
=> Relays board to control Suction, Lamp, Stylus Heating & Amplifier
=> Temperature Monitor Extension with infrared temperature sensor, possible link to disable automatically the lamp over a fixed temperature threshold
=> Linker Extension to allow simultaneous control & communication between different lathes / pitch systems
=> Maybe: Bluetooth communication with computer and android application for further controls(extension)

For the time of release i can't give you a precise timing, i expect in two months or less i will have first units ready to ship.
Enclosures will be PETG material 3D printed, i will maybe do a rack version if people feel the need to.
I still need to work a little bit on the design of the different enclosures, finalize the different PCB's and check the new UI on the 7" display.
All algorithms & features are ready but those last things still ask me some work.
I will release the basic system first, and then different extensions will come.
One enclosure take about 20 hours of print and I have one printer, i have different materials to source, so i will probably do a sort of preordering system with a list of orders taken chronologically.

[soeffingodly]

GREAT work! I am very interested in this. Do you have a pricing model set up yet?

Thanks for putting in all this hard work.

-S