# MSoundFactory, anyone?



## Leandro Gardini (Nov 29, 2020)

Few days ago I came across this interesting synth. By watching the tutorials it seems to be a very comprehensive synth where you can build your own instruments.

However, I see no records of users experience with it. Have anyone tried it?









MSoundFactory


The ultimate modular virtual instrument



www.meldaproduction.com


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## Chandler (Dec 4, 2020)

leogardini said:


> Few days ago I came across this interesting synth. By watching the tutorials it seems to be a very comprehensive synth where you can build your own instruments.
> 
> However, I see no records of users experience with it. Have anyone tried it?
> 
> ...



I'm the person who made many of the tutorials and instruments in it. Of course I like it, but if you have any questions, perhaps I can answer them.


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## doctoremmet (Dec 4, 2020)

Chandler said:


> I'm the person who made many of the tutorials and instruments in it. Of course I like it, but if you have any questions, perhaps I can answer them.


I was JUST about to point Leandro to you!


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## doctoremmet (Dec 4, 2020)

@José Herring Did you get it (yet)?


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## José Herring (Dec 4, 2020)

doctoremmet said:


> @José Herring Did you get it (yet)?


Not yet. On the list for 2021.


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## doctoremmet (Dec 4, 2020)

Same here. Alongside F’ Em


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## Leandro Gardini (Dec 4, 2020)

Chandler said:


> I'm the person who made many of the tutorials and instruments in it. Of course I like it, but if you have any questions, perhaps I can answer them.


I am mostly interested in using the physical modeling features of this software.
How do you compare it with the most advanced ones like Modalys?


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## José Herring (Dec 4, 2020)

doctoremmet said:


> @José Herring Did you get it (yet)?


I couldn't resist any more. The 50% off made MSoundFactory less than $100 for me because I own MPowerSynth. So now is the time and I just pulled the trigger. 

I'm going to have a year of deep manual studies in my future.


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## José Herring (Dec 5, 2020)

OMG, MSoundFactory just turned me into the hippest composer on the planet.


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## Leandro Gardini (Dec 5, 2020)

José Herring said:


> OMG, MSoundFactory just turned me into the hippest composer on the planet.


If you are getting a commission to sell it for me you will get it in this way. 

Can you elaborate?


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## doctoremmet (Dec 5, 2020)

leogardini said:


> I am mostly interested in using the physical modeling features of this software.


I take it you have used or are still using AAS Chromaphone and String Studio too? And Friktion? Those are excellent PM synths too.


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## Vartio (Dec 5, 2020)

yes it's awesome. A little bit in its infancy still but the modularity aspect of it already opens up a whole field of new possiblities in developing and sound design, it's a bit like the Zebra of samplers tbh in addition to being a very very formidable synth. Theres a bit of a design filosophy to it that you need to get cued into but after that its a real breeze to build in. Bright future ahead for this one for sure.


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## gsilbers (Dec 5, 2020)

Not a new opinion but fugly! 

The 3rd party product concept is pretty cool for developers. Somethng with a better layout for the sampler and much better graphics, or a way to make your own in a decent way, would give kontakt/reaktor some competition.
( i didnt see examples on how graphics are implemented, im guessing there is?).
Melda does really need to put this concept in center stage. I just realized what is and i follow everything audio, even them, for a long time. 



in terms as a user myself i went with kiloharts ultimatum. I like better that concept even though the gui is not exactly way better.


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## José Herring (Dec 5, 2020)

leogardini said:


> If you are getting a commission to sell it for me you will get it in this way.
> 
> Can you elaborate?


I will when I have more time with it. Just finished downloading the last sound pack.

It isn't so foreign to me though because I use MpowerSynth. Msoundfacotry is actually a bit more simple.

It has an ultra modern sound very clear and open.


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## tf-drone (Dec 5, 2020)

José Herring said:


> I couldn't resist any more. The 50% off made MSoundFactory less than $100 for me because I own MPowerSynth. So now is the time and I just pulled the trigger.
> 
> I'm going to have a year of deep manual studies in my future.


Thanks, I did not know that! Have MPowerSynth too. I'll keep that in mind for next year.


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## Chandler (Dec 7, 2020)

leogardini said:


> I am mostly interested in using the physical modeling features of this software.
> How do you compare it with the most advanced ones like Modalys?



I'd say it's mot quite as advanced as Modalys, but easier to use. I don't have much experience with Modalys though. It is more advanced than most of thing out there though and because it's modular it's easy to combine things. 

Check out the modal filter and player around with it. It's easy to come up with interesting things using it.


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## ReleaseCandidate (Dec 19, 2020)

Don't forget about Reaktor and it's modal resonator module, used in Prism for example





REAKTOR PRISM


REAKTOR PRISM is a highly playable, responsive polyphonic instrument with an unconventional sound, for use with the free REAKTOR 5 PLAYER or REAKTOR 5.5.




www.native-instruments.com




and Gentleclockdivider's Modal 32 and 64 (32 or 64 partials)





ENTRY







www.native-instruments.com









ENTRY







www.native-instruments.com




to which you can add other modules.

But the real fun starts when using the modal bank in own creations 










Stringed instrument | Salamander Anagram | Watch Online for Just $9.00 | Reaktor Tutorials







www.reaktortutorials.com


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## Fleer (May 16, 2021)

I’m in!


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## El Zorro (Aug 22, 2021)

José Herring said:


> I will when I have more time with it. Just finished downloading the last sound pack.
> 
> It isn't so foreign to me though because I use MpowerSynth. Msoundfacotry is actually a bit more simple.
> 
> It has an ultra modern sound very clear and open.


The "last" sound pack? Really? There is only one. Am I missing sth?


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## José Herring (Aug 22, 2021)

El Zorro said:


> The "last" sound pack? Really? There is only one. Am I missing sth?


Yes. there is more than one.








MSoundFactory Installation


MeldaProduction, professional audio processing software, VST / VST3 / AU / AAX plugins for mixing, mastering and creative music processing



www.meldaproduction.com


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## El Zorro (Aug 23, 2021)

José Herring said:


> Yes. there is more than one.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Thanks, I have seen that. There is MSoundFactory Essentials and the free Monastery Grand Piano. Nothing else. Everything else is for MDrummer.


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## José Herring (Aug 23, 2021)

El Zorro said:


> Thanks, I have seen that. There is MSoundFactory Essentials and the free Monastery Grand Piano. Nothing else. Everything else is for MDrummer.


All the MDrummer sounds work in SoundFactory.


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## José Herring (Aug 23, 2021)

From one of the packs:

Drum Empire 2020 requires MDrummer or MSoundFactory to work. See installation notes for details.


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## El Zorro (Aug 23, 2021)

José Herring said:


> All the MDrummer sounds work in SoundFactory.


Ah, didn't know that! So I will end up with 100 GB of drum samples and only 6 GB of sounds. Wished it was vice versa.


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## José Herring (Aug 23, 2021)

El Zorro said:


> Ah, didn't know that! So I will end up with 100 GB of drum samples and only 6 GB of sounds. Wished it was vice versa.


Yeah me too. So far getting full MDrummer doesn't seem all that appealing to me. But the sounds in the packs are good and usable. Would be nicer if they had some more film/orchestral drums too.


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## El Zorro (Aug 23, 2021)

José Herring said:


> Yeah me too. So far getting full MDrummer doesn't seem all that appealing to me. But the sounds in the packs are good and usable. Would be nicer if they had some more film/orchestral drums too.


No strings at all as far as I can see. :(


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## José Herring (Aug 23, 2021)

El Zorro said:


> No strings at all as far as I can see. :(


Strings may be too ambitious for this instrument. I honestly think that the instrument as itself is about 1/2 there. It has great synthesis capabilities though but only marginal sampler capabilities. 

I suspect that in the future if he keeps developing it that it will grow to be a full fledged sampler, incorporate all synthesis and be full fledged drum machine and sequencer. That's my hope, but for now I use it exclusively for its synthesis which is by far its most fully developed feature. It really is unique and only takes a little while to learn it.

For now I consider MSoundfactory midway between Reaktor and UVI Falcon.


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## doctoremmet (Aug 23, 2021)

MSoundFactory does not aim to be a Kontakt killer. Strings libraries won’t ever happen if you ask me. It costs a lot of money to record and the serious developers are either on Kontakt, or moving away from there to proprietary players.

MSF is one hell of a synth though.


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## sostenuto (Aug 23, 2021)

MPowerSynth / MSoundFactory ?? Either _ $242. and tough given @ Jose Herring points. 
No argy-bargy re. 'MSF is one hell of a synth ...' comment. 
Not yet rising above F',em or ABYSS on current short-list. 🤷🏻‍♂️

MSF vs MPS ? Overlap ? ( _yeah, lazy today !_ )


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## José Herring (Aug 23, 2021)

doctoremmet said:


> MSoundFactory does not aim to be a Kontakt killer. Strings libraries won’t ever happen if you ask me. It costs a lot of money to record and the serious developers are either on Kontakt, or moving away from there to proprietary players.
> 
> MSF is one hell of a synth though.


I agree. I almost don't want it to go in that direction. I'd rather the he concentrate on the synthesis and incorporate more of MDrummer into MSoundfactory. And, of course the FX which are top notch bar none. 



sostenuto said:


> MPowerSynth / MSoundFactory ?? Either _ $242. and tough given @ Jose Herring points.
> No argy-bargy re. 'MSF is one hell of a synth ...' comment.
> Not yet rising above F',em or ABYSS on current short-list. 🤷🏻‍♂️
> 
> MSF vs MPS ? Overlap ? ( _yeah, lazy today !_ )



I'm not sure but you may get MPowersynth with MSoundfactory. I already had MPowersynth so I'm not sure if this is true but I was given one hell of a bargain on MSF for already having MPS. 

The most curious thing about MSF is that you can build within MSF MPS with relative ease. So they are closely related. So in my mind MSF is mostly an expansion of MPS that's why I think that the synthesis portion of MSF is way advanced of anything else in it.

(note: If you can follow the above logic hats off to you, because I'm not even sure I can follow what I wrote though for some reason, it is true.)


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## El Zorro (Aug 23, 2021)

José Herring said:


> From one of the packs:
> 
> Drum Empire 2020 requires MDrummer or MSoundFactory to work. See installation notes for details.


Hmm, I downloaded some MDrummer stuff (Essentials, ElectronicGenres and Studio 2008-2018) but it doesn't show up in MSoundFactory anywhere. Installation was smooth, no error messages at all.


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## sostenuto (Aug 23, 2021)

José Herring said:


> I agree. I almost don't want it to go in that direction. I'd rather the he concentrate on the synthesis and incorporate more of MDrummer into MSoundfactory. And, of course the FX which are top notch bar none.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Cool for my needs now ! Demo(s) just installed and will work thru. 👴🏻


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## José Herring (Aug 23, 2021)

El Zorro said:


> Hmm, I downloaded some MDrummer stuff (Essentials, ElectronicGenres and Studio 2008-2018) but it doesn't show up in MSoundFactory anywhere. Installation was smooth, no error messages at all.


From an empty MsoundFactory hit the "edit" button. Then go to "Generator". Then load up a "Drsampler" and just in the middle to the right you'll see the libraries pop up in a menu.


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## El Zorro (Aug 23, 2021)

José Herring said:


> From an empty MsoundFactory hit the "edit" button. Then go to "Generator". Then load up a "Drsampler" and just in the middle to the right you'll see the libraries pop up in a menu.


It seems that my IQ is good enough for Kontakt, Halion, VSL etc., but not for MSoundFactory.
Edit? Generator? Nothing there.


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## José Herring (Aug 23, 2021)

El Zorro said:


> It seems that my IQ is good enough for Kontakt, Halion, VSL etc., but not for MSoundFactory.
> Edit? Generator? Nothing there.


Give me a moment. I'll post some pictures. 

Your IQ isn't in question. I had to work hard to understand MSoundfactory even after using MPowersynth for years which was equally as hard to understand. But, once you get it, the effort pays off because you never forget it. There's some twisted logic to MSF.


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## José Herring (Aug 23, 2021)

El Zorro said:


> It seems that my IQ is good enough for Kontakt, Halion, VSL etc., but not for MSoundFactory.
> Edit? Generator? Nothing there.


Try this.


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## AkashicBird (Aug 24, 2021)

José Herring said:


> Yeah me too. So far getting full MDrummer doesn't seem all that appealing to me. But the sounds in the packs are good and usable. Would be nicer if they had some more film/orchestral drums too.


From what I've read full mdrummer is the same as the one in msf except Msf's mdrummer only has 4out, not 16 like the full mdrummer?
Since mdrummer's got a full mixer and all of Melda's effects, it could be enough to mix drums, but as a beginner I'm wondering if I might still need more than 4outs for drums in the future...I don't see it right now if I can mix everything in Msf's mdrummer but... Anyone can confirm Msf's got the same mixer and other tabs etc? Or is it just presets?


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## KarlHeinz (Aug 24, 2021)

José Herring said:


> Try this.


Thanks a lot for all you illuminating and explaining posts. I still feel the same in a way like El Zorro. I have to admit I had already problems getting into MPowersynth (it is Melda at least and that - for me - stands for great stuff, great presets but not really the most simple thing to get into it cause it simply IS totally different then all the other stuff out there) but at least, well, it was a synth  .

As I am mostly using presets there are lots of, good structure to find what you are looking for, useable and even some special ones, with the morph capabilities you could easyly "create" (on the lowest level) something nice like in most of the other synths I use.

Now with MSoundfactory I just felt evrything is going two levels more complicated and when ever I try and at least reach something where there is a prest that sounds at least like "something" it just sounds like the lowest level of kontakt libraries I have. I am sure that there has to be some "good" ones in there but seemed to be well hidden .

Of course when I updated from MPowersynth I was a little naive cause my thinking was kind of: well, I am getting MPowersynth + physical modelling (I have not find ONE patch in that direction that comes close to more then 10 years old 32 bit plucks I gladly kept) + ????.

But I will keep on looking into it when new updates coming out, so maybe someday.....

But your infos (something like this "simple" picture for example) really help to get a (little) better understanding, thanks a lot for it


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## El Zorro (Aug 25, 2021)

José Herring said:


> Try this.


Thanks for the video, now I understand my problem!
MSoundFactoryLE does not have an *Edit* button. 
In fact, I don't want to edit anything, I just want to play the drum samples like I do in SS Drums et al.


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## El Zorro (Aug 25, 2021)

KarlHeinz said:


> Thanks a lot for all you illuminating and explaining posts. I still feel the same in a way like El Zorro. I have to admit I had already problems getting into MPowersynth (it is Melda at least and that - for me - stands for great stuff, great presets but not really the most simple thing to get into it cause it simply IS totally different then all the other stuff out there) but at least, well, it was a synth  .
> 
> As I am mostly using presets there are lots of, good structure to find what you are looking for, useable and even some special ones, with the morph capabilities you could easyly "create" (on the lowest level) something nice like in most of the other synths I use.
> 
> ...


Me too, not impressed so far. Glad I only bought the LE version for € 50 in the recent sale.
Monastery Grand isn't bad, but this is in the free version too, and my disks are full of piano samples anyway.


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## José Herring (Aug 25, 2021)

KarlHeinz said:


> Thanks a lot for all you illuminating and explaining posts. I still feel the same in a way like El Zorro. I have to admit I had already problems getting into MPowersynth (it is Melda at least and that - for me - stands for great stuff, great presets but not really the most simple thing to get into it cause it simply IS totally different then all the other stuff out there) but at least, well, it was a synth  .
> 
> As I am mostly using presets there are lots of, good structure to find what you are looking for, useable and even some special ones, with the morph capabilities you could easyly "create" (on the lowest level) something nice like in most of the other synths I use.
> 
> ...


I can help you with MPowersynth if you like. I used it as my only synth for about 3 or 4 years. I still know it fairly well. The only annoying thing is that he kept on rename some of the parameters or moving them or giving them knobs when they had sliders. It was a bit of an annoyance for a while. But he's moved on and it's been the same for 2 years now.

Let me know what you are having trouble with and I can do a brief video.


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## KarlHeinz (Aug 25, 2021)

José Herring said:


> I can help you with MPowersynth if you like. I used it as my only synth for about 3 or 4 years. I still know it fairly well. The only annoying thing is that he kept on rename some of the parameters or moving them or giving them knobs when they had sliders. It was a bit of an annoyance for a while. But he's moved on and it's been the same for 2 years now.
> 
> Let me know what you are having trouble with and I can do a brief video.


Thanks a lot for this offer, really appreciated .

At the moment I am more getting into Omnisphere which I finally get some weeks ago (after nearly a decade waiting for it). Getting started is much easier but of course lots of functions/options to explore (not to talk about included sounds...). 

But I am sure I will come back to MSoundfactory one day cause in general it is a great idea and has lots of potential. So great to know there is someone I can ask if I get stucked again


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## DANIELE (Dec 14, 2021)

I recently bought MSoundFactory and I'm loving it. There's a lot to learn though. I love the sample analysis function for example but I still need to understand how to use it well, to get the sound I want. The difficult part is to choose the right exciter.

Has MSF an MSEG type modulator?


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## doctoremmet (Dec 14, 2021)

DANIELE said:


> I recently bought MSoundFactory and I'm loving it. There's a lot to learn though. I love the sample analysis function for example but I still need to understand how to use it well, to get the sound I want. The difficult part is to choose the right exciter.
> 
> Has MSF an MSEG type modulator?


You can use an LFO and literally draw any shape you need.


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## Chandler (Dec 14, 2021)

DANIELE said:


> I recently bought MSoundFactory and I'm loving it. There's a lot to learn though. I love the sample analysis function for example but I still need to understand how to use it well, to get the sound I want. The difficult part is to choose the right exciter.
> 
> Has MSF an MSEG type modulator?


You can use the LFO or the envelopes for that. Inside the envelope push the tremolo button. Inside there is an LFO that will occur during the sustain section of the envelope. You also click the custom shape button to drawn your own attack and release envelopes. You can also draw your own LFO shapes.


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## DANIELE (Dec 14, 2021)

Thank you both for the answer.

I thinked about that but I was thinking about an envelope that occurs every time I press a note without cycling again. Think about a sustained note, I'd like it to slowly decaying while it is been pressed. How can I achieve that?

Sorry if it is a stupid question, I've been able to study the software only a little this days.


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## doctoremmet (Dec 14, 2021)

The custom shape LFO does not necessarily loop. It basically behaves like an MSEG would. Assign it to whatever you’d normally would want to apply an envelope to, amplitude, pitch, filter cutoff or whatever other parameter.


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## DANIELE (Dec 14, 2021)

doctoremmet said:


> The custom shape LFO does not necessarily loop. It basically behaves like an MSEG would. Assign it to whatever you’d normally would want to apply an envelope to, amplitude, pitch, filter cutoff or whatever other parameter.


I tried with a simple oscillator and I applied the modulator to the volume. Evelope is better for that specific function. I put sustain to 0 and I set a very long decay.
The problem in doing this with the LFO is that, even if I set the cycle number to 1, after the cycle is ended the volume comes back to the initial value (as expected). An MSEG useful function is the looping of a specific part, you can start with a particular envelope and then looping a specific area until you stop pressing the note.


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## doctoremmet (Dec 14, 2021)

DANIELE said:


> I tried with a simple oscillator and I applied the modulator to the volume. Evelope is better for that specific function. I put sustain to 0 and I set a very long decay.
> The problem in doing this with the LFO is that, even if I set the cycle number to 1, after the cycle is ended the volume comes back to the initial value (as expected). An MSEG useful function is the looping of a specific part, you can start with a particular envelope and then looping a specific area until you stop pressing the note.


I am not exactly sure what it is you want to achieve, but what you want can also be achieved by using the tremolo section in a regular envelope, as pointed out by Chandler in his post above.


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## doctoremmet (Dec 14, 2021)

So, if you basically just want to apply an envelope that does MSEG type stuff during the sustain stage of your envelope, and quits doing that when you release a key, here's how I'd do that:






I've added modsource Env1 to Volume






Open the Env1 editor






Now note the Tremolo section in the envelope shape above, click that and you can then shape the MSEG part of your sound:






Also note the options here ("tremolo continues in release stage", etc.)

View attachment Render MSEG MSF.mp3


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## DANIELE (Dec 14, 2021)

Ok, understood what you meant, I was thinking about tremolo itself, there are so many options and buttons I almost lost it. I understood what Chandler meant before.


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## Pier (Dec 14, 2021)

Jesus this thing is a monster.

It even has a pretty powerful utility for creating custom GUIs 🤯


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## doctoremmet (Dec 14, 2021)

Pier said:


> Jesus this thing is a monster.
> 
> It even has a pretty powerful utility for creating custom GUIs 🤯



Erm… wait… you *don’t have MSF?!*


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## Pier (Dec 14, 2021)

doctoremmet said:


> Erm… wait… you *don’t have MSF?!*


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## Bee_Abney (Dec 14, 2021)

Buy it!


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