Fathom Synth Development Thread

[RPH]

That doesn't work as I expected, I set Fathom Vector up the way you explained.

Draw a long note in your DAW, and add some short notes e.g. an octave up within the length of the long one.
When I press play the long note stops immediately when it starts to play the second note, it should not do that.

[Charlie Firpo]

I see, try "mono note tap return" option in the preferences and see if that will do the trick.

[FathomSynth]

I believe there is a legato setting also. I can't remember specifically where it is but I tested that very heavily a while back and I know you can make it so if two notes overlap or change without picking up for a space between them you can force it to use one oscillator without restarting the envelope or even the oscillator period itself. It is perfectly smooth. Look up "legato" in the manual and it is in there how to do it.

Mono note tap return means you hold a note down and tap another note and release the second note while holding the first note the oscillator will jump from the first frequency to the second and back to the first without releasing just like a hardware synth. The legato setting is different.

[RPH]

I see, have tested the options. Mono note tap return did the trick for what I want.
Thanks for the replies!

PS: A limiter in Fathom would be nice.

[Charlie Firpo]

Edit: i found out that automating via Renoise graphical envelopes works as it should. So it seems like there's something strange going on when using the pattern fx commands in Renoise instead of the regular automation. So nothing wrong with Fathom.

i'm having some trouble with midiCC in Renoise.
Lets take a simple patch: 1 osc (basic waveform). 1 sequencer modulating the pitch note of that osc. And then a midiCC (3) that modulates the amount of the sequencer.

In Renoise you can write pattern commands instead of using automation/CC curves. So i've added a midi controll device. The pattern fx for the midiCC 3 in Renoise is "13XX". It works fine when moving the slider. But when using the fx command Renoise misses/can't read the Value of the first note. This is what it could look like in the pattern:

C-4 1380 (this value has no effect)
C-4 1340 (now it suddenly catches on)

So it's like there's a slight delay for the midicc? I also tried to modulate the note pitch on osc 1 directly with midicc 3, but this did not work at all. However automating the knob works fine. So i'm a little confused about what can be midi controlled versus automated in Fathom.

[FathomSynth]

Good question. I can't answer for sure without the manual in front of me but keep in mind almost all the dials in Fathom have the exact same code under them. Meaning that you can modulate almost every dial, and if you can modulate it you can MIDI input it since all the MIDI signals are just modulators in Fathom and also if you can modulate it you can probably also automate it from the host GUI. There are very few exceptions.

Some things are too complex internally to modulate such as some of the modulator and envelope parameters themselves but almost guaranteed if you can turn a dial in Fathom and it sounds different you can certainly modulate it, MIDI it, and automate it.

When all else fails, just try it and see if it works. I have not had a single bug in the modulation code for several years now so if you cannot automate a dial it is 99.999% that you are not suppose to modulate it, i.e. the code does not exist inside.

[Charlie Firpo]

When stopping the playback in the host (Renoise), the sound creates a short static click. I've tried to set a global vol modulator with some release, and i've looked in the manual and tried various options with no result. Is there some way to let the notes release/fade away on host stop? In blue 3 there's an option "Reset on host start on/off" that eliminates the click.

[FathomSynth]

Sadly I never got a chance to program Fathom to do an equivalent note release when the host stops. I can do that in the next release. That is the only real solution. In terms of an actual click that depends on the quality of the host. Ableton and CuBase do not do that. At least not for me. Fathom will at least finish the current waveform to zero when the host stops so I'm not sure why it is clicking.

I would try starting with the simplest possible sound with no filters or effects and see if it does it and then slowly add features to the sound one at a time until you get the click to try to isolate the cause. Some hosts will stop plugin audio when the transport stops even if the plugin is trying to finish notes. Obviously check first and see if there is a host setting for that. Is Renoise a free version or a paid full feature host?

[Charlie Firpo]

I started from scratch and added a basic waveform = no noticeable click. Then i added a first order lowpass filter = started to make that static click on host stop. And yes, Renoise is paid full feature host. There is a demo version (without asio support). I know that some hosts have the ability to make a small fadedown on host stop (like Reaper), but could not find this in Renoise. This click is no showstopper by any means, but would be nice if there were an option in future versions. Thank you Everett.

Edit: I tried this in Cubase, you're right. This seems to be a Renoise thing.

[zzz00m]

I started from scratch and added a basic waveform = no noticeable click. Then i added a first order lowpass filter = started to make that static click on host stop. And yes, Renoise is paid full feature host. There is a demo version (without asio support). I know that some hosts have the ability to make a small fadedown on host stop (like Reaper), but could not find this in Renoise. This click is no showstopper by any means, but would be nice if there were an option in future versions. Thank you Everett.

Just thinking outside the box here, but why not add an extra empty bar or two to the song before the host stop occurs? That way any notes should have time to finish fading, along with any reverb tails...

[Charlie Firpo]

Zzz00m, great tip thanks! But this click does not affect rendering or anything. It's just an annoying thing while you're tracking and composing. And since i saw that Blue3 has an option for this i thought i should ask.

[zzz00m]

It's just an annoying thing while you're tracking and composing. And since i saw that Blue3 has an option for this i thought i should ask.

This behavior appears to be in the default way that a plugin is programmed to respond to host sync. I would be surprised if a host itself shut off audio as soon as the transport stopped.

Out of curiosity, I tried placing an instance of Fathom Pro in Ableton Live, then did an A/B test using the Fathom's internal Reverb Echo effect, vs. an 3rd party insert reverb effect in the DAW track.

Using only Fathom's Reverb Echo, the reverb tail ceased immediately when Live's transport stopped. In comparison, the 3rd party insert reverb tail continued after Live's transport stopped.

Repeated this test in Reaper and Cakewalk with the same results. Conclusion is that the host audio path typically remains open after their transport stops.

Edit: But in all my tests, no clicking from Fathom was heard when the DAW transport stopped. Just a sudden halt to audio output.

[FathomSynth]

OK, Thanks. That is a good test. Yes I will do that for the next release. When the host transport stops allow note tails, release envelopes and effects decay to finish after the host transport stops. That is a good recommendation. Sorry I did not do that to begin with.

[Charlie Firpo]

Great Everett, thank you for listening. Fathom is a very good synth with great sound and lots of options for sound design. I really like the flexible modulators. Just one more thing: I've been using Vst2 but recently tried the Vst3 version, but i'm having some trouble with the automation using vst3. In Renoise i can't add any parameters. (Doing everything as written in the manual) I tried it in cubase12 and it's the same thing there except that eventhough the parameter shows up, drawing curves has no effect. But it works flawless with the Vst2, so i must have missed something? I copied the whole fathom map and put it in the usual vst3 directory (common/vst3). It opens just fine and i can create sounds, but the automation does not work?

[FathomSynth]

It's hard to imagine automation does not work in VST3 as we have a lot of VST3 customers with no reported this. I will try it out and see. Do you have another host you can try it on using Fathom VST3?