12 ms·

Show HN: Anyma V, a hybrid physical modelling virtual instrument

79 points by oinj 2y ago

Hi HN! We're a small team in Lille (France) who make synthesizers and MIDI controllers. We've just released a virtual plugin version of our hardware synth Anyma Phi, which offers a semi-modular environment with a focus on physical models, although there are several other kinds of synthesis. Here's a video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6efDQ9GmRpg https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6efDQ9GmRpg We're not pivoting to VSTs, it's just that it was a practical way of investigating several issues and helping us with the ongoing development of our upcoming Kickstarter-backed synth (Anyma Omega) and MPE controller (Loom), and a gift to thank our backers for the wait they gave to go through due to several manufacturing and production issues. I enjoy reading music-related entries here, so I thought I'd contribute this time and I hope it will interest some. I'm here for any question or remark.

conradfr 2y ago
FYI someone (not me) created a thread on Gearspace about your synth[0] where I think it's probably more relevant than here? [0]https://gearspace.com/board/new-product-alert/1432677-aodyo-anima-v.html https://gearspace.com/board/new-product-alert/1432677-aodyo-...
Bharathkumar12 2y ago
Awesome
efnx 2y ago
What is your sound engine built with? What tools are you using for the GUI? I’ve found the GUI the hardest part of VST development (but I’m not on a traditional C++ Juce stack).
- oinj 2y ago
  We use JUCE for building the app/plugin. It handles the GUI, the audio/MIDI devices and the plugin API. The synth engine was originally developed to run on a STM32F4 (what the Anyma Phi uses), so almost everything is purpose-built (with good old Makefiles). On the hardware, we use an immediate-mode UI and it's hard to go back to something like JUCE, which is flexible but a bit quirky. I often write GUIs with Cocoa for our internal tools (simulators, DSP models, etc) during the development of our hardware products and it's a much more comfortable environment. In 2019 I had an early version of the Anyma engine running on Dear Imgui, it was really fun, but it would have required too much effort to properly manage audio/MIDI/plugin aspects in a cross-platform way, and the backends were incomplete at the time. JUCE was too much of a time saver to ignore for a team of 1.5. I'm curious, if you don't use C++ and JUCE, what is your stack?
  - pyinstallwoes 2y ago
    Did you entertain choosing anything outside of juice?
    - oinj 2y ago
      We also investigated iPlug2, but ultimately decided on JUCE partly because it was easier to find help.
vegadw 2y ago
Cool to see you on HN! What do you see as setting your synths and hardware apart from, say, the Osmose and Hydrasynth? If you don't mind me asking, for your hardware, what's running under the hood? Big ARM cores / SOC? RTOS on a Cortex-M? What challenges have you faced working on whichever you're less used to? (The VST if you have more hardware background, the hardware if you have more desktop software background)
- oinj 2y ago
  The EaganMatrix (inside the Osmose) and the Hydrasynth are both great and each one has its own approach. I think the Anyma synths are less beefy, in terms of computational resources, but the synth engine offers more kinds of modules, more freedom in some way. Not that it's always useful to have 16 LFOs or envelopes, or to be able to modulate the curve of a mapping, but it sometimes makes trying an idea easier during sound design. As we started with a wind instrument (Sylphyo), we also take special care to make support for this kind of MIDI controllers effortless. The synth engine in the Anyma Phi runs on a STM32F4. The UI and MIDI routing runs on a separate STM32F4. No RTOS, we find it much easier to reason with cooperative multitasking, and easier to debug. So far, we don't have any latency/jitter issue with this approach, although it required writing some things (e.g. graphics) in a specific way. The Omega runs on a mix of Cortex-A7 and STM32. I have a pure software background but I came to appreciate the stability, predictability and simplicity of embedded development: you have a single runtime environment to master and you can use it fully, a Makefile is enough, and you have to be so careful with third-party code that you generally know how everything works from end to end. The really annoying downside is the total amount of hair lost chasing bugs where it's hard to know whether the hardware or the software is at fault. In contrast, programming a cross-platform GUI is sometimes hell, and a VST has to deal with much more different configurations than a hardware synth, you're never sure of the assumptions you can make. The first version of Anyma V crashed for many people but we never had the case on the dozen machines we tested it on.
  - vegadw 2y ago
    Interesting prespective. I can definitely see how you have the immediacy edge over the pain of the EaganMatrix, and having different engines besides the core wavetabel-y of the Hydra is a win, IMHO - though, yeah, both fit different needs. I'm mostly an embedded guy (Usually much lower power ST parts), so it's neat to hear about how you approached it. Having multiple chips separate so can't underrun as easily if the UI needs to react is really nice design! I see a lot of your engine is modified from from Mutable Instruments, but you do have a good selection of original sound sources as well. What sets yours apart? Did you have a strong background in DSP before Aodyo?
anjel 2y ago
Looks very cool but note, Virus Total fails the windows installer (twice) https://www.virustotal.com/gui/file/29c67d9d9725178a2337f6d00d734e6d28ae5be44278399804634606098eb712?nocache=1 https://www.virustotal.com/gui/file/29c67d9d9725178a2337f6d0...
- oinj 2y ago
  Thanks. It's weird, we cross-compile using llvm-mingw from macOS and then run the Inno Setup compiler using Wine inside a fresh Docker image (Linux guest). I'm not sure how I could obtain more info on what caused both antivirus to trigger, but we'll look into it.
Rediscover 2y ago
Thank You very much. It is extremely nice that a virtual piece of hardware such as this is created AND shared. High regards!
ajxs 2y ago
This is very cool! Some of the samples in the Soundcloud playlist sound really amazing! Is it possible to use the paid version offline? I keep my studio computer off the network so that I can totally avoid distraction.
- oinj 2y ago
  Thanks! The software doesn't connect to the network. You can use another computer or your mobile phone for activation.
henearkr 2y ago
Hi! Would this would be misplaced hope to wish that in a near future there would exist an electronic instrument reproducing physically the clarinet (with the same keys), while simulating finger holes physics and (most importantly!) reed/lips/tongue/breath interaction?
- bambax 2y ago
  MIDI wind instruments have been around for a while now, including: - Akai EWI (one of the first MIDI wind instrument, and still well known and well used) - Roland Aerophone - Berglund NuRAD Have you tried them and where do you think they fall short?
  - henearkr 2y ago
    I've watched a lot of reviews on Youtube. The problem is that these instruments are not physically similar to the clarinet, for example regarding the system of keys and levers. I hope that some electronic instrument would make that jump. That would allow clarinetists to silently practice anywhere, as well as seamlessly engage in electronic music and digital creation without having to change the muscle memory.
    - bambax 2y ago
      My son plays the clarinet and uses an EWI with no difficulty? (He doesn't like it much though, and much prefers the real instrument. But he can play it.)
      - henearkr 2y ago
        Yes I believe the second point is less of a problem. That leaves the first point, which is the major one for me at least (allow to practice clarinet with headphones).
mortenjorck 2y ago
I’ve been following the Anyma Phi on the synth blogs; great to see you here! Any advice for someone on the product side looking to get into the synth development scene? I’m a designer and have so far partnered with a DSP developer on one project, a plugin for Reason based on Mutable Instruments’ Plaits (https://soundlabs.presteign.com https://soundlabs.presteign.com), but haven’t really figured out where to go next.
- bambax 2y ago
  Macro is very good, and beautifully designed! Congrats and thanks for this.
PaulDavisThe1st 2y ago
Thanks so much for making a Linux release of this awesome synth plugin (I'm Mr. Ardour).
aitchnyu 2y ago
I dont know crap about music, but can this simulate a vacuum tube amplifier and demolish the market? One internet guy explains the frequency response of a solid state amp getting a 100Hz sine wave shows a peak at 100Hz, and a tube amp shows multiple peaks. People pay a pretty penny for glowing tubes on their desks claiming its got a warmer sound which a solid state device cannot replicate.
- ssfrr 2y ago
  The tube amp simulation market is already pretty…saturated. :)
bambax 2y ago
Hello fellow Frenchmen! Physical modelling is really fascinating... Currently testing this and it sounds good! The UI is a little overwhelming though. But of course it's a difficult task to allow manipulating many parameters in a simple way. (Reason's modelling synth Objekt does a reasonably good job at that, I think). Anyway, congrats! HN loves music, please post more! (A month ago I did a ShowHN for a "random" sequencer: https://billard.medusis.com https://billard.medusis.com [0]; it works well when connected to unusual sound generators such as this.) [0] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=40719782 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=40719782

79 points by oinj 2y ago

conradfr 2y ago

FYI someone (not me) created a thread on Gearspace about your synth[0] where I think it's probably more relevant than here? [0]https://gearspace.com/board/new-product-alert/1432677-aodyo-anima-v.html https://gearspace.com/board/new-product-alert/1432677-aodyo-...

Bharathkumar12 2y ago

Awesome

efnx 2y ago

What is your sound engine built with? What tools are you using for the GUI? I’ve found the GUI the hardest part of VST development (but I’m not on a traditional C++ Juce stack).

oinj 2y ago
We use JUCE for building the app/plugin. It handles the GUI, the audio/MIDI devices and the plugin API. The synth engine was originally developed to run on a STM32F4 (what the Anyma Phi uses), so almost everything is purpose-built (with good old Makefiles). On the hardware, we use an immediate-mode UI and it's hard to go back to something like JUCE, which is flexible but a bit quirky. I often write GUIs with Cocoa for our internal tools (simulators, DSP models, etc) during the development of our hardware products and it's a much more comfortable environment. In 2019 I had an early version of the Anyma engine running on Dear Imgui, it was really fun, but it would have required too much effort to properly manage audio/MIDI/plugin aspects in a cross-platform way, and the backends were incomplete at the time. JUCE was too much of a time saver to ignore for a team of 1.5. I'm curious, if you don't use C++ and JUCE, what is your stack?
- pyinstallwoes 2y ago
  Did you entertain choosing anything outside of juice?
  - oinj 2y ago
    We also investigated iPlug2, but ultimately decided on JUCE partly because it was easier to find help.

vegadw 2y ago

Cool to see you on HN! What do you see as setting your synths and hardware apart from, say, the Osmose and Hydrasynth? If you don't mind me asking, for your hardware, what's running under the hood? Big ARM cores / SOC? RTOS on a Cortex-M? What challenges have you faced working on whichever you're less used to? (The VST if you have more hardware background, the hardware if you have more desktop software background)

oinj 2y ago
The EaganMatrix (inside the Osmose) and the Hydrasynth are both great and each one has its own approach. I think the Anyma synths are less beefy, in terms of computational resources, but the synth engine offers more kinds of modules, more freedom in some way. Not that it's always useful to have 16 LFOs or envelopes, or to be able to modulate the curve of a mapping, but it sometimes makes trying an idea easier during sound design. As we started with a wind instrument (Sylphyo), we also take special care to make support for this kind of MIDI controllers effortless. The synth engine in the Anyma Phi runs on a STM32F4. The UI and MIDI routing runs on a separate STM32F4. No RTOS, we find it much easier to reason with cooperative multitasking, and easier to debug. So far, we don't have any latency/jitter issue with this approach, although it required writing some things (e.g. graphics) in a specific way. The Omega runs on a mix of Cortex-A7 and STM32. I have a pure software background but I came to appreciate the stability, predictability and simplicity of embedded development: you have a single runtime environment to master and you can use it fully, a Makefile is enough, and you have to be so careful with third-party code that you generally know how everything works from end to end. The really annoying downside is the total amount of hair lost chasing bugs where it's hard to know whether the hardware or the software is at fault. In contrast, programming a cross-platform GUI is sometimes hell, and a VST has to deal with much more different configurations than a hardware synth, you're never sure of the assumptions you can make. The first version of Anyma V crashed for many people but we never had the case on the dozen machines we tested it on.
- vegadw 2y ago
  Interesting prespective. I can definitely see how you have the immediacy edge over the pain of the EaganMatrix, and having different engines besides the core wavetabel-y of the Hydra is a win, IMHO - though, yeah, both fit different needs. I'm mostly an embedded guy (Usually much lower power ST parts), so it's neat to hear about how you approached it. Having multiple chips separate so can't underrun as easily if the UI needs to react is really nice design! I see a lot of your engine is modified from from Mutable Instruments, but you do have a good selection of original sound sources as well. What sets yours apart? Did you have a strong background in DSP before Aodyo?

anjel 2y ago

Looks very cool but note, Virus Total fails the windows installer (twice) https://www.virustotal.com/gui/file/29c67d9d9725178a2337f6d00d734e6d28ae5be44278399804634606098eb712?nocache=1 https://www.virustotal.com/gui/file/29c67d9d9725178a2337f6d0...

oinj 2y ago
Thanks. It's weird, we cross-compile using llvm-mingw from macOS and then run the Inno Setup compiler using Wine inside a fresh Docker image (Linux guest). I'm not sure how I could obtain more info on what caused both antivirus to trigger, but we'll look into it.

Rediscover 2y ago

Thank You very much. It is extremely nice that a virtual piece of hardware such as this is created AND shared. High regards!

ajxs 2y ago

This is very cool! Some of the samples in the Soundcloud playlist sound really amazing! Is it possible to use the paid version offline? I keep my studio computer off the network so that I can totally avoid distraction.

oinj 2y ago
Thanks! The software doesn't connect to the network. You can use another computer or your mobile phone for activation.

henearkr 2y ago

Hi! Would this would be misplaced hope to wish that in a near future there would exist an electronic instrument reproducing physically the clarinet (with the same keys), while simulating finger holes physics and (most importantly!) reed/lips/tongue/breath interaction?

bambax 2y ago
MIDI wind instruments have been around for a while now, including: - Akai EWI (one of the first MIDI wind instrument, and still well known and well used) - Roland Aerophone - Berglund NuRAD Have you tried them and where do you think they fall short?
- henearkr 2y ago
  I've watched a lot of reviews on Youtube. The problem is that these instruments are not physically similar to the clarinet, for example regarding the system of keys and levers. I hope that some electronic instrument would make that jump. That would allow clarinetists to silently practice anywhere, as well as seamlessly engage in electronic music and digital creation without having to change the muscle memory.
  - bambax 2y ago
    My son plays the clarinet and uses an EWI with no difficulty? (He doesn't like it much though, and much prefers the real instrument. But he can play it.)
    - henearkr 2y ago
      Yes I believe the second point is less of a problem. That leaves the first point, which is the major one for me at least (allow to practice clarinet with headphones).

mortenjorck 2y ago

I’ve been following the Anyma Phi on the synth blogs; great to see you here! Any advice for someone on the product side looking to get into the synth development scene? I’m a designer and have so far partnered with a DSP developer on one project, a plugin for Reason based on Mutable Instruments’ Plaits (https://soundlabs.presteign.com https://soundlabs.presteign.com), but haven’t really figured out where to go next.

bambax 2y ago
Macro is very good, and beautifully designed! Congrats and thanks for this.

PaulDavisThe1st 2y ago

Thanks so much for making a Linux release of this awesome synth plugin (I'm Mr. Ardour).

aitchnyu 2y ago

I dont know crap about music, but can this simulate a vacuum tube amplifier and demolish the market? One internet guy explains the frequency response of a solid state amp getting a 100Hz sine wave shows a peak at 100Hz, and a tube amp shows multiple peaks. People pay a pretty penny for glowing tubes on their desks claiming its got a warmer sound which a solid state device cannot replicate.

ssfrr 2y ago
The tube amp simulation market is already pretty…saturated. :)

bambax 2y ago

Hello fellow Frenchmen! Physical modelling is really fascinating... Currently testing this and it sounds good! The UI is a little overwhelming though. But of course it's a difficult task to allow manipulating many parameters in a simple way. (Reason's modelling synth Objekt does a reasonably good job at that, I think). Anyway, congrats! HN loves music, please post more! (A month ago I did a ShowHN for a "random" sequencer: https://billard.medusis.com https://billard.medusis.com [0]; it works well when connected to unusual sound generators such as this.) [0] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=40719782 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=40719782