The next major update of AudioNodes is now available.
This large update redesigns how Nodes appear on the Patcher, and introduces a more consistent, more sleek, more professional looking interface, making it easier to identify Nodes. The update also introduces the experimental Poly Subpatch Node, which is a powerful new tool for creating polyphonic synth patches, custom ADSR effects, and more.
Additionally, there are also a handful of useful Node changes in there, and some important fixes.
Priority Fixes
- Fixed missing main menu on some Mac devices in the web version.
Appearance Changes
All Nodes on the Patcher have undergone a major redesign in this update:
The most significant changes are the following:
- Nodes now appear as a rectangular, semi-transparent card, with the Node title visible at the top. Useful for Nodes which don’t have a unique appearance, including many melody processors and math Nodes.
- Inputs and outputs are now visually inside the Node.
- Control knobs on Nodes are now identical in size, and generally smaller than before.
- Most icons were removed. In most cases, these were placeholder icons to help you identify what Node you were looking at, but a visible Node title is a lot better in many cases.
- Connections no longer activate under the cursor if they are behind a Node.
- Drag-and-dropping a Node above a connection now only places it on the connection while holding the Shift key. This currently lacks a tooltip.
- Removed tooltip when hovering/selecting Nodes, as well as the related setting.
Note: some Nodes (still) appear as placeholders, with nothing but inputs, outputs, and now the Node title. This will get addressed later.
Poly Subpatch Node
🔧 Experimental
This update also introduces an experimental preview of the new Poly Subpatch Node. This Node simply creates multiple clones of the subpatch under the hood, and spreads notes between them, so each copy (each voice) only processes one note at a time.
This enables a lot of cool synth techniques. For example, the following is a simple pad synth using a filtered sawtooth oscillator, and a filtered noise generator. But because it’s in a Poly Subpatch Node, it’s also fully polyphonic:
To better support this, there are additional 2 new Nodes in this update, both in experimental phase:
- FR Oscillator Node
- FR Noise Generator Node
FR stands for free-running, and these Nodes start generating sound immediately. The idea is that, like in a hardware synth, you’ll gate the output of these Nodes with ADSR envelopes (and yes, there is an optional reset input, but only for Melody for now).
Note Limiter Node
The new Note Limiter Node replaces the Staccato Node, and improves on it in a few ways. There are no breaking changes:
- Removed slider from the Patcher Node and properties, because a slider makes little sense for a Node like this. Instead, replaced the slider with a number input field.
- Removed upper limit (was 4 beats previously).
- Upped max precision to 4 digits, from 3. This means the max precision is now around 0.1 ms (depending on BPM).
- Added a new setting to switch between seconds and beats.
Subpatch IO Ordering
Every subpatch i/o Node received a new Order setting, available from properties as usual. This lets you override their order as they appear on the Subpatch Node. Lower ordered ports appear first.
Very handy, but also pretty basic at the moment.
Misc Changes & Fixes
- Viewports (Patcher, Timeline, etc.) can now be scrolled with Shift + wheel horizontally, and Alt + wheel vertically.
- Fixed a visual issue on the Sequencer Node when using the step-by-step velocity mode.
- Fixed shift-key slicing not working on the Timeline, when undocked into a separate window.
- LFO Node Frequency setting minimum value is now 0.01, from 0.1. This allows for 10x longer oscillator periods.
- The default option for new connections is now Smooth curve. This works better with the new Node design.
- Gain Node output range, as shown in the tooltip, now correctly considers the Boost setting.
- New connections, created from an already connected output, now use the shape of existing connections.
- Fixed an alignment issue on the Subpatch Node.
- Renamed the following nodes:
- Sin Node to Sine Node.
- Cos Node to Cosine Node.
- Constant Offset Node to Note Pitch Change Node.
- Memory Bit Node now updates its activation visuals faster.