Lux Spectra - VST Spectrastrobe Lightshow Synthesizer for Kasina

Hey folks,

If you're a windows user and/or a computer musician, and you own a Kasina, you might want to try my new plugin, called Lux Spectra.

Attachment 777

With it, you can design real-time, full-color light shows for Kasina using the fantastic new spectrastrobe format. Rather than giving you independent control of each of the colored LEDS, they're mapped to "color wheels", which makes it much easier to select and change colors in realtime.

You'll need, of course, host software (a DAW) for running the plugin. I recommend Reaper, but any VST-compatible host/sequencer should do the trick, such as Cubase, Sonar, Ableton Live - even Fruity Loops. Oh yeah, and it's 32 bit, so 64 bit users might have to run their hosts in 32 bit mode.

If you don't have a DAW, but still want to try it out, you can run Lux Spectra with a little free piece of software called Savihost, which lets you run plugins as standalone applications. Directions for using it are on the page.

Lemme know what you think.

-Steve

Wow this looks promising I'm very curious.
Thank You so much Steve
Cheers
Esthy

Hi Steve
I installed Reaper .Now can you tell me how I get your plugin into the program.
Sorry I^m a technical Dummy.And except MindWorkstation I have no experience at all
with these Programs but I really am curious to try out your plugin.
(When I just rightklick your plugin and go to open with reaper it looks like this..see screenshot)
Cheers Esthy

Congratulations on installing Reaper. I think it's the best out there, and I love their pricing, user community, and overall ethic.

That said, it's a tough program to get into, especially for someone who has never used a digital audio workstation. Let's get you started anyway.

Before loading the plugin, set up your audio interface. You can use Kasina as a USB interface. With your Kasina plugged in, go to Reaper preferences. Under Audio Devices, select your Kasina.

Below are the steps to load Lux Spectra (or any other VST instrument Plugins)

1) First, you need a place to store all your VST plugins. Most users make a folder called "VST Plugins" and put it in the "Program Files" folder on the C drive. Please create that folder if it's not already there.

2) Move the Lux Spectra folder to the VST plugins folder you just made.

3) Tell Reaper where your VST plugins reside. In Reaper Preferences, select Plugins, then VST from the list on the left. On the main part of the window, type in the path to your VST Plugins folder. Click OK.

4) Back in the main Reaper window, under the "Track" menu, select "Insert Instrument on new track". A list of available plugins will pop up. Under "VST", you should find lux spectra. Double click on it, and Spectra will load on a new track, ready to go. If this doesn't work, you might need Reaper to scan for new plugins. The easiest way is to just exit, restart the program and repeat step 4.

This should be enough to get you started. If not, then let me know where you're stuck and I'll see if I can help move you forward.

Recording your knob movements and programming the parameters to change over time will require some more in-depth study, but when you're ready for it, you'll want to read the part of the reaper manual on "automation". There are also a lot of tutorial videos on youtube, so please don't let Reaper's complexity turn you off. With a little elbow grease, you'll be rewarded.

-Steve

Thank you very much for your help Steve.It worked your plugin is on.
Well using it , is another story ,but I will try wish me luck!
Just one more question.Is it possible to automatic syncronize the lights with an audiofile with your plugin
or will the LightOrgan from CraigT be the better choice for this purpose?
Cheers
Esthy

Hi Esthy,

Lux is a more capable and polished product than TKE, KLO or KBM - Steve does awesome work!

From my collection you would be wanting TKE - it is the only one that includes envelope following. The UI for TKE is the best approximation of "simple" that I could come up with that adequately fulfilled the task of adding Synchromuse or AudioStrobe to existing content of for inclusion in new material created in MuLab. KLO is a very simple MIDI to light controller. KBM is a complex beat generator, beats sufficiently complex that the output from KBM could easily be used as a session with nothing else added.

Lux also runs just fine in MuLab 32-bit. A significant plus for Lux is that it doesn't require MuLab - it will run in pretty much any DAW. To do the same, my MuLab MUX presets require the purchasable MUX program that encapsulates MuLab Mux presets in a VST wrapper for use in any DAW.

Cheers,
Craig

Esthy,

Craig's TKE is quite a different beast. The "envelope following" that Craig refers to means that TKE listens to the incoming audio and analyzes the components (bass, mids & treble), then sets the brightness of the lights according to the volume of those audio components. For instance, louder bass = brighter blue, or louder highs = brighter greens and so on. As far as I know, it does not synchronize the flashing rate per se. If, however, the music has a strong rhythmic element, then of course the lights would follow that rhythm.

Spectra does not listen to incoming audio at all. (I may add that function later, though, if there is significant interest.) Instead, it listens to the tempo clock in Reaper, or Ableton, or whatever DAW you're using. Spectra has it's own clock which synchronizes to the DAW's tempo. Then, other modules can synchronize to the Master clock, at various fractions and multiples.

It was designed not so much for adding lights to pre-made music, but for composing lights and tempo-based music together. So if I write some music in reaper that follows a certain tempo, I can run Spectra as a plugin within that project, and it will sync automatically with my music.

To see how the synchronization works:
* Try setting Spectra's "Clock" module to 1/4. That means it will flash on every quarter note beat of the DAW's tempo.
* Now set the LEDs "Rate Sync" to "Master". This means they will follow whatever the Clock module's rate is. If reaper's tempo is 120 Beats Per Minute (BPM), that's 120 quarter notes every minute. You'll see the lights flash once for every click of the metronome.
* Now, change the tempo in reaper, and you'll see that the LEDs flash rate slows down or speeds up accordingly. Try setting the clock to 1/8, and you'll see the lights flash twice for every click of the metronome, and so on.

OK... If you really want to synchronize spectra with a piece of already made music - it CAN be done in reaper, but you would have to adjust Reaper's tempo to precisely match your music. I've tried it before, and it can be a real pain unless the music has a very VERY steady beat.

Good luck! I hope you get some use out of it. :)

Steve

Craig,

Thanks for the compliment, but don't be so self-effacing. Your MUX plugins rock, too! Seriously, you can do anything with them. I like to think that you and I are just designing tools for different workflows.

-Steve

Hi Steve - I assume with the new plug in that the colour wheels and rate knobs etc are all able to be linked to real knobs on Midi hardware like the original LUX.

The colour wheel in Lux is however a simplified version of Kasina control as it is not possible to have differnt rates flashing on different colours in the same eye as you can with normal audiostrobe.

Mark

Mark,

Yes, you're right on all counts. Spectra's parameters can be linked to hardware MIDI controllers. Also, the color wheel does limit the possibilities for some flash/color/panning combinations.

I made that design decision because in my first prototypes, I found that having totally independent control over each LED was a real pain to program. It sounds cool to have absolute control, but I found that dialing in a particular color with 3 separate knobs was very tough. Additionally, when I dialed in the RGB knobs to intermediate values, I often didn't even like the colors. I realized that I would probably never use grey, beige, or brown light. All possible color combinations sounds cooler than it looks, in my opinion. Ultimately, I felt that the trade-off between complete control over ever parameter and ease of use was worth it.

That said, if you want to have different rates flashing on different colors in the same eye, you could load up multiple instances. And as I think about that, though, I realize I never included an option to turn off the spectrastrobe reference signal to allow for just such a thing. Ha. OK, well I'll recompile a new version this weekend that has that feature added.

-Steve

Thanks Steve - i follow your logic . Running multiple instances of the plugin will allow interesting evolving phase effects ( and the resultant visuals ) to be used much like can be done with the Procyon RGB software . I wasn't sure re your reference to the Spectrastrobe reference signal.

One feature I would love to see is an option for square wave light pulses which give crisper visuals. I assume the plugin currently uses sine wave for light pulse control.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by synaesthesia

I wasn't sure re your reference to the Spectrastrobe reference signal.

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The reference signal is a pulsed tone which triggers the Kasina to enter SpectraStrobe mode. On Craig's MUX plugins, he's got the option to turn it off when you run multiple instances, because Kasina only needs one signal. My latest version copies this feature

Quote:

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Originally Posted by synaesthesia

One feature I would love to see is an option for square wave light pulses which give crisper visuals. I assume the plugin currently uses sine wave for light pulse control.

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Lux and Spectra let you use pulse waves (and also sine, triangle, saw and ramp waves) for the light pulses. I like pulse waves the best not only for the crisper visuals, but also because modulating the pulse width (or duty cycle, in procyon terminology) gives a really cool effect.

Okay, there is a new version.

This version fixes glitches that happened when messing with the Modulation LFO sync rates. It also separates the reference signal and the light signals, with each on its own track. This makes running multiple instances possible.

PS - working on an envelope follower (aka color organ) next... I've got a standalone plugin that works great in audiostrobe - but I'm trying to figure out the best way to make it work with spectrastrobe at the moment.

Steve - I downloaded the latest version. My Kasina wont switch to Spectrastrobe mode -it only allows AS mode . I have the reference signal switched on. Trying to dial up a colour doesn't seem to effect the balance of the RGB's although they are flashing .

Mark

Hi Mark,

I bet that your DAW is not set up to receive the reference signal. If you want, you can delete version 1.1 and then install 1.2 in its place (it's up now). Under the Reference on/off switch is a dropdown menu which lets you select which output the reference track is sent to. Now, set the reference output to tracks 1/2 and it will probably work.

-Steve

Hi Steve , yes that fixed the problem ( I was using FL Studio )

After having a brief play - a couple of niggles came up .

With both sides synced for manual control ie left eye set to no sync and right eye set to `sync left' - with phase sync on and both phase knobs equal the left and right side are way out of phase...I need a phase setting of about 125 on the right eye ( with phase lock off ) to get the lights back into phase - but every time I engage phase lock both eyes revert to a setting of 0 degrees and go out of phase again . Right and left eye out of phase gives me the spins ! :)

With rate sync on right eye set to sync left the knob and number read out ( on right ) doesn't move or mirror the rate knob on the left eye eye as it is moved ( minor prob I know but the mirror helps to understand how you have things configured - caused me minor confusion at first ) .

It is interesting that the eye seems to need some with just blue light to really perceive it . With LFO set to turn the colour wheel - if there is any much overlap with other colours I can't really see much blue - I have to slow the colour change right down . Still colour control has never be so easy so it will be possible to exploit whatever an RGB system is capable off.

Mark

Hy Mark,

Yup - you found a few niggles all right. At the moment, I don't have a clue why the lights are out of phase. I looked at all the obvious things, but I guess I'll have to dig a little deeper. Thanks so much for reporting the behavior.

-Steve

Mark,

I believe I fixed all of the phase problems when synchronizing the right LEDs to the left. Would you mind giving it another go?

-Steve

Quote:

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Originally Posted by esteband

Mark,

I believe I fixed all of the phase problems when synchronizing the right LEDs to the left. Would you mind giving it another go?

-Steve

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Hi Steve - I'm still needing a manual phase setting of about +80 on the right to get L/R sync -its way out with the sync lock on ( using FL Studio ) - . This was in AS mode as this version doesn't seem to enable Spectrasstrobe mode in the DAW like 1.2. I have reference ytrack set on to ch1/2 setting. I will try in Live tonight and see if results any different . I wonder would it be simpler to just switch off the right hand side of the `synth ' and just port the left audio to the right as well if one is wanting the same output to each eye rather than trying to deal with sync problems.

Mark

Mark

Mark,

I guess you're right. In Reaper and Ableton, my 'fix' works 95% percent of the time, at least on my machine. In other words, as I run the plugin through various sync scenarios, the phase link option behaves normally. However, there are times when it doesn't - and in FL Studio, it seems not to work at all. I'm at a loss at the moment to figure out why. I see where you're coming from with your suggestion to simply mirror the left LED to the right channel, but I'd rather not for two reasons:

1) I really like the effect when the two sides are blinking at the same rate, but PW and phase are subtly modulated on one of the channels.
2) Since it's in a DAW, which has very flexible I/O routing, it's not that big of a deal to duplicate 1 channel and pan it left and right. So users can do that if they want the left and right perfectly mirrored.

If I find a solution to this odd sync behavior, then we can have perfect mirroring, OR have the cool effects that come with modulating PW and phase on opposing channels.

As for the reference signal disappearing, I think I have an idea. The signal needs a WAV file, called TKE.wav to be present in a specific location within the Lux Spectra 1.xx folder relative to the .dll file. It's probably not where the plugin expects it. You should find it in :

\LuxSpectra\LuxSpectra 1.22\LuxSpectraData\TKE.wav

The LuxSpectra.dll file should be here:

\Lux Spectra\LuxSpectra 1.22.dll

Thanks so much for helping me iron out these kinks.

-Steve

Hi Steve

I copied the whole v1.21 folder into my VST folder and Spectrastrobe is now working as it should . Remarkably I am now getting pretty good L/R sync within FLStudio . I made sure to have both the LFO mods switched off . Go figure.

I think this plugin will be more useful for colour control with open eye glasses in the sense that it can deliver pure colours in a simple way . I set up two instances to give me an alternating red /green flash tied to tempo ( the only way I could think of doing it ) , but there is no tempo slider in FLstudio - only a mouse over thetempo window.

I will have a look at Lux for Kasina and see if it is easier to do there . I basically want to have red and green out of phase by 180 degree ( in each eye ) flashing in sync in both eyes and rate controllable by a midi control wheel. That seems to give me the best visual effects and standing waves in the mandala . I can get this effect in 'manual mode'' in the Proteus by hitting the middle button in manual mode to give me an alternate red/green flash in manual mode.

Mark

Mark,

I have an idea. Why don't you send the spectrastrob signal to an FX channel with a delay to achieve your standing waves? I think just about any tempo synced delay would work. Set it to the same rate, but delay it by 1 beat. Feedback should be set to zero. If the delay has a ping-pong setting, it might be able to flip the channels. Otherwise, you could use another plugin to invert the channels on the delay.

For this to work, you'd need to isolate the reference signal to its own tack. You don't want that getting the delay, otherwise spectra would revert to AS mode.

-Steve

hi, I downloaded the zip file and unzipped it but dont know what to do with it,there is no installer in it.There is a manual and a file named "LuxBWEI_1.1.dll".I have win xp service pack 3.Please help me..

Thanks

This is so awesome. Thanks for your hard work. I'll be trying in Ableton Live. Exported audio can be transferred to Kasina as a session??? Thanks.

This link no longer works
The site seems to be offline.
How do I get "Lux Spectra" back?
Thank you very much.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by MarcF

This link no longer works
The site seems to be offline.
How do I get "Lux Spectra" back?
Thank you very much.

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Hello, someone can add it, or send it to me privately. Thank you very much.

For anyone looking for it, Here is a Link to Lux-Spectra 1.28.

Are there any presets available for the Lux Spectra VST? If anyone has any it would sure be appreciated....colors, patterns...any settings you have found producing interesting results.