polarity_music

New Updates: Kick Ninja, Kick 3, Note Grabber, Spectrum Analyzer

Added 2024-10-03 13:49:09 +0000 UTC

Here's a quick update on a few plugins I’ve been exploring:

KickNinja: It now has a new update with some cool features. One of the key improvements is how the sample and oscillator layers are handled. Previously, the kick drum sample and the oscillator were in serial, but now you can layer the sample's noise on top while keeping the oscillator’s bottom end intact. This helps avoid any clashing frequencies. There’s also a face-locking feature that keeps the phase of the oscillator stable when adjusting pitch envelopes. Overall, it's very user-friendly and might be the best kick drum VST right now, though the interface still needs some scaling improvements.
Kick 3: The new update has fixed stability issues, but the interface is still more cumbersome compared to KickNinja. It’s missing phase-locking, but still delivers solid features and sounds.
Node Grabber: This plugin allows you to manually convert audio into MIDI by painting in notes on a spectrogram. It’s a cool alternative to algorithm-based audio-to-MIDI tools like Melodyne. However, it's quite expensive for what it offers, and I wish it had micro-pitch support for more precise work.

Key points:

KickNinja update: new sample/oscillator layering, phase-locking, better interface.
Kick 3: stable but less intuitive, missing phase-locking.
Node Grabber: manual audio-to-MIDI conversion, expensive, lacks micro-pitch support.
I’m experimenting with coding a browser-based spectral analyzer using AI.