0.9.1 Major Update – Custom Nodes vol.1

The next major update of AudioNodes is now out, and comes with a new major feature, custom Nodes. This powerful new system enables you to design your own Nodes, save them for easy reuse later, browse custom Nodes created by others (including some of AudioNodes’s built in Nodes), or even edit their internal patch, to fit them to your needs.

Priority Fixes

While in a subpatch, creating a Delay Node from the feedback prompt will now place it in the correct subpatch, instead of the top level patch.
Added a fix for a rare issue where opening one project, and then opening another project would sometimes not load some Nodes in the second project.

Custom Nodes

Custom Nodes are a powerful new feature in AudioNodes. They are basically Nodes with the same usual UI features (knobs on the Patcher, configurable properties, placeable from the Node browser, etc.), but also come with an editable internal patch, and an editable UI:

This introduces 2 major improvements in AudioNodes:

Many built-in Nodes were converted to custom Nodes, meaning you can now freely inspect or edit their internal patch. In a way, this change makes these Nodes open-source.
You can create these custom Nodes from scratch yourself, or search the snippet browser for custom Nodes created by other folks.

Built-In Nodes to Custom Nodes

This update converts several built-in Nodes to custom Nodes, meaning you can now edit their internal patch as you see fit. This includes the following Nodes for now, with more added later:

Crossfader Node
Echo Node
Graphic Equalizer
Oscillator Node (internally, this uses what was previously called the FR Oscillator Node)
Phaser Node

Custom Node Designer

With this update, the Subpatch Node received a new visual Custom Node Designer, which you can access at the top when inside the subpatch:

Node- & Snippet Browser Changes

The snippet browser (accessible at the bottom of the Node browser, like before) is where you can also browse custom Nodes now. It received a few changes in this update:

Snippets/custom Nodes received a slightly updated design
Added a new “type” selector to limit search to custom Nodes, or every other snippet
Added a new “Add to node browser” button in the top-right menu of each snippet (or custom Node) card — use this to add a custom Node to the main Node browser

Browsing & adding custom Nodes to the Node browser

A custom Node (Phaser) in the Node Browser

Removing custom Nodes from the Node browser

Knob Node Changes

The last update added a new set of options to the Knob Node. This update adds more:

New Size setting with 2 options: Medium and Small. A Large option might come later, but not for now.
New Step setting. For example, a Step of 1 will only allow integer values.
New Marks setting, which optionally adds dashes to the Knob’s outer circle. This is only visual, and has no real effect on the Knob’s behavior. For reference, built-in Nodes use these values:
- Knobs which control a dry/wet mix setting (such as the Mix setting on the Convolver Node), use a single dash at the 0.5 mark (with a min-max value of 0-1, placing the dash halfway through).
- The Gain Node uses a dash at a 0.1 interval, starting at the 1.0 mark, which you would write as: “1, 1.1, 1.2, 1.3, 1.4, 1.5, 1.6, 1.7, 1.8, 1.9”.

Most importantly, all of these settings will affect the Knob Node as it appears on custom Nodes. Thus, you can easily create your own custom Nodes with a unique, snappy UI.

Oscillator Node Changes

The Oscillator Node was replaced by the lower level FR Oscillator Node in this update:

Meaning:

Original Oscillator Node removed from the Node browser
FR Oscillator Node renamed to Oscillator Node, and is no longer experimental
Previously placed original Oscillator Nodes will continue to function unaffected

Here’s how the new Oscillator Node behaves vs. the old one:

The oscillator is now always on, and will start outputting its signal as soon as it’s placed
Removed ADSR
Removed the Melody Input
Removed the Mode setting
Removed the Unison setting, and all its related settings

Instead, you can now find the new Oscillator Synth Node in the Node browser, as a custom Node under Audio Sources. This new custom Node behaves similarly to the old Oscillator Node, except you can edit the internal patch.

Noise Generator Node Changes

Similarly to the Oscillator Node, the Noise Generator Node has been replaced by what was previously called the FR Noise Generator Node:

Original Noise Generator Node removed from the Node browser
FR Noise Generator Node renamed to Noise Generator Node, and is no longer experimental
Previously placed original Noise Generator Nodes will continue to function unaffected

And like the Oscillator Node, the new Noise Generator Node:

Is now always on, and will start outputting noise as soon as placed
Removed ADSR
Removed the Melody Input
Removed the Mode setting

Other Deprecated Nodes

Prior to custom Nodes, AudioNodes had a large number of higher level audio effects. The Echo Node, for example, is just an internally patched set of Delay Nodes, Gain Nodes, and Lowpass Filter Nodes, with some channel mixing thrown in.

Because these Nodes can now be recreated using custom Nodes, they are getting deprecated in this update. Deprecation means they won’t receive any further updates, and will disappear from the Node browser.

Here’s the full list of deprecated Nodes:

You can now find some of these Nodes in the snippet browser as custom Nodes (click the More Nodes & Snippets button at the bottom of the node browser to access it, or start a search at the top). More Nodes will come soon.

Filter Feedback Nodes

The following Nodes can now be used in feedback cycles, as an alternative to the Delay Node:

Misc Changes & Fixes

Newly created snippets (and now, custom Nodes) will no longer remain stuck showing “Processing…” in the snippet browser