Cymatic software for AS/SS Creation

[Cymatic]

I've created and shared an initial version of two VST plug-ins that are geared towards making SpectraStrobe audio content. I've added a VST section to my SpectraStrobe resources github page.

You can find the plug-ins here. Just download the resources .zip file.

You can also read the instructions of the plug-ins here and here.

I've mostly created these for personal use and for educational purposes, but I figured I would share them here for anyone else interested. I'm trying to stay pretty lean on development effort so these are fairly minimal. No special custom GUI or anything. So far in testing they seem stable, but they're pretty new so YMMV. There are 32 bit and 64 bit versions, but Windows only at this point.

One plug-in generates AudioStrobe and SpectraStrobe control signals and takes care of some frequency filtering for you. From there you can adjust your DAW's audio and panning per track to control the LED signal. Basic audio input modulation is also possible. The other plug-in is a complimentary LFO (low frequency oscillator) plug-in that further allows you to control and modulate the LED colors to more interesting effects, with frequencies ranging from ~0 hz to 100 hz.

These plug-ins do not generate any audible tones like binaural, monaural, isochronic, etc., although I might eventually create a tone generating plug-in if it seems valuable enough, but I figured these would be the most likely to exist elsewhere.

Cheers

[Cymatic]

I managed to create Audio Units version of the plug-ins for all of the macOS users out there. Go to the releases section of the repository here and make sure you download the CymaticSpectraStrobeResources.zip file from the latest release (as of this posting v0.1.1).

[Andy]

Tested the Windows VSTs with Reaper and they "just work"! Easy to install and use. I'm sure with Reaper on MacOS it will be just as easy. Never used Reaper on Mac so I'm not sure whether I should be using the VST or AU versions of the plugins, but I'm sure I'll figure that out. (Likely the AU since the VSTs are .dlls)

Can't thank you enough for making these and your generosity for sharing them.

When I get more time, I will try to make a video tutorial on how to install the plugins into Reaper and how to modulate the LFO/Volume/Pan with automation to create SS tracks.

VERY well done!!

[Cymatic]

Thanks Andy!

Make sure to grab the latest versions as well: v0.2.0 has dramatic improvements over the prior two releases and is not backwards compatible, so I suggest ensuring you've got the latest from the releases section, always. I also decided to add a basic binaural/monaural tone generator plug-in as a bonus.

In terms of Win/Mac and VST/AU - although you can compile VSTs for macOS, I've not bothered to do this since AU seems like more of the go-to standard for audio plug-ins on macOS. So you are correct in that the VST (dlls) is for Windows and the AU is for macOS, respectively. I'm a little less certain about the stability and compatibility on macOS as I've done vastly less testing of the AU versions, but from what I have tested they do seem to work as expected. The tone generator plug-in may suffer from issues when trying to open the "GUI" (well lack-there-of) in some macOS DAWs. I noticed that something about the plug-in code I'm using has issues with AU instruments when no custom GUI is defined and the host DAW is expected to render a GUI, but the SpectraStrobe and LFO plug-ins seem to work fine since those are effects and not instruments (I'm not sure why yet).

I don't claim to be an expert plug-in developer, but I have dabbled on and off over the years. This was a great opportunity to "get back in the mix" and try my hand at creating something useful. I know there are other plug-ins for SS out there (Audacity, MuLab), etc., but not only do I not really use those programs for audio/music creation, I actually had some problems getting the Audacity stuff to work because they've fallen a bit out of sync with Audacity's latest versions and no longer work "out-of-the-box". I can't comment on MuLab because I've never used it, but I wanted to be able to control and edit the SS portion of a music production in the actual software I use to create the music itself, while I'm working on it, for maximum creative inspiration and flexibility. Audacity seems like more of a "post-production" path to adding SS. Also, VST/AU seemed like more of a wide-reaching standard than something like Audacity or MuLab, in terms of how many people out there would already be using those technologies in their music and audio workflows. I did a search for SpectraStrobe VST plug-ins and only really found LUX, which doesn't seem to be distributed any more, minus maybe people passing around prior private copies they had; so I saw a hole and decided to fill it! I hope others get some use out of it. Getting things to cross compile to Audio Unit on macOS was quite an adventure and took a bit of work, so hopefully somebody out there gets some use out of them!

I've also got a prototype SS "decoder" plug-in in the works that you can put on your master stereo audio track and it will "visualize" the LEDs in a GUI window without having to have the Kasina and Ganzframe glasses hooked up, although I'm not sure ultimately how useful it is, as it isn't a proper substitute for actually wearing the glasses, especially at high rates of flicker. I guess maybe as a diagnostic tool it could be useful (haven't released this plug-in yet though, not sure I will, maybe if others have a use for it).

Anyways I've really enjoyed working with the Kasina and SS so far and am super grateful that the format has been opened up and that some tools already existed to create content. It's so much more compelling than an AVS device with fixed sessions, or at the very least, compatible content that can only be acquired from a single gatekeeper/source. Opening it up makes the device a lot more compelling and interesting to someone like me, and I think it fosters a stronger user community and ecosystem, and allows people like me to add value back into the mix, hopefully for others to benefit from. As an audio/visuals person, it's always fun to have another "medium" to work and create with, especially with something as unique as AVS.

[Cymatic]

Anyone out there who is looking at creating audio plug-in based SpectraStrobe/AudioStrobe content and wouldn't mind sharing: is anyone still using a 32 bit audio/DAW environment and plug-ins? I'm wondering how relevant 32 bit plug-in support is at this point.

[Sebastiii]

Hi
I'm new to this (Kasina and VST audio DAW stuff), so I need to carefully understand how it works but what I would say first is thank you for making and sharing it.

[mosspa]

Hi. I'm most interested in the tone generator, as I am about to embark on a new audio-only entrainment effort (see my post here #10). When you say "basic binaural/monaural tone generator", how basic and how controllable is it?

Thanks in advance,

John

[mosspa]

Oops, that attempt at a link didn't work the way I thought it would, The post refferred to is the 10th post in this thread... http://mindplacesupport.com/forum/sh...n-BWE-Software

[Andy]

Hi. I'm most interested in the tone generator, as I am about to embark on a new audio-only entrainment effort (see my post here #10). When you say "basic binaural/monaural tone generator", how basic and how controllable is it?

Thanks in advance,

John

Give it a try! It's free and amazing. It all works really well. I only wish I had more time to work with it more, make some templates and YouTubes. Cymatic has done an amazing and generous thing here.

[AndrewChi]

Thank you so much @Cymatic.
This is great!!!