Scenic Hybrid Instrument - let's speculate :)

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fieldframe
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06 Sep 2019

platzangst wrote:
06 Sep 2019
"why was this put in suite?"

Probably to try and get you to buy the suite.

The number of you who are almost eager to dismiss the thing outright when we haven't actually seen it in action at all is kind of amazing.
For me, this is the device that will determine whether I spring for Suite or just wait for Complex-1 to go on sale again as the latter is really the only other Suite product I have an interest in / don’t already own.

I’m hoping Scenic is a deep, versatile hybrid sample/modeling synth, and not a better-looking version of a DNA Labs testosterone rompler.

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FLVZ
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08 Sep 2019

fieldframe wrote:
06 Sep 2019
platzangst wrote:
06 Sep 2019
"why was this put in suite?"

Probably to try and get you to buy the suite.

The number of you who are almost eager to dismiss the thing outright when we haven't actually seen it in action at all is kind of amazing.
For me, this is the device that will determine whether I spring for Suite or just wait for Complex-1 to go on sale again as the latter is really the only other Suite product I have an interest in / don’t already own.

I’m hoping Scenic is a deep, versatile hybrid sample/modeling synth, and not a better-looking version of a DNA Labs testosterone rompler.
TBH, if it was a world beater they would be raving about it don't you think ? Its probably more in the Klang/Humana/Pangeae grade of useful but not essential. Marketing has been directed towards everything but this, early signs are not blowing my mind. Be interesting to see what the hybrid is though...

antic604

09 Sep 2019

Flavolous wrote:
08 Sep 2019
TBH, if it was a world beater they would be raving about it don't you think?
That is if it was already finished. I've feeling that just like the SSL modules, Scenic simply wasn't ready to be announced and showcased. Just look at the GUI - it's not enigmatic. It's unfinished.

I hope they make it, because I'm genuinely curious :)

antic604

19 Sep 2019

antic604 wrote:
09 Sep 2019
Flavolous wrote:
08 Sep 2019
TBH, if it was a world beater they would be raving about it don't you think?
That is if it was already finished. I've feeling that just like the SSL modules, Scenic simply wasn't ready to be announced and showcased. Just look at the GUI - it's not enigmatic. It's unfinished.

I hope they make it, because I'm genuinely curious :)
LOL, I was right. Look at the new graphics! It didn't have those Complex-1 like metal cheeks, or those "clock hands" in the middle display. Still week to go :D

Image

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JiggeryPokery
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19 Sep 2019

antic604 wrote:
19 Sep 2019
antic604 wrote:
09 Sep 2019


That is if it was already finished. I've feeling that just like the SSL modules, Scenic simply wasn't ready to be announced and showcased. Just look at the GUI - it's not enigmatic. It's unfinished.

I hope they make it, because I'm genuinely curious :)
LOL, I was right. Look at the new graphics! It didn't have those Complex-1 like metal cheeks, or those "clock hands" in the middle display. Still week to go :D

Image
The overall look is quite nice in a fairly basic with lots of dead space that's all the rage now over at Native Instruments, which this is clearly intending to rip off, but I still think the use of that style of Part Library red LED lamp, especially when lit, and the standard library Pitch/Mod wheels, doesn't fit the rest of the non-skeu GUI style, or that modern style of volume knob. Pick one or the other, or create a new lamp that matches, don't mix two entirely different design ethos's like that. It's the design equivalent of wearing belt and braces, and as Henry Fonda once pointed out, a man can't even trust his own pants.

Design is always going to be objective, though. However. This next bit is actually scary.

TremStrings + TremStrings.

Wow, that's a modern style combo right there! Who was the last person to use trem strings—unironically—anywhere, anytime? Bernard Herrmann?! :lol: Christ on a bike I hope they're not the same hoary old trem strings from 1992 that are in the FSB cos that would suggest Scenic is more like SeenIt, and little more than an incredibly cynical FSB repack :o . I mean, I can't seriously imagine RS would spend a dime recording new exclusive tremolo strings samples in 2019 for a device like this, so they must be archive samples. They wouldn't pay to license newly recorded trem strings samples, as that's so damn niche (even by my, uh, transistorized standards :lol: ). If you were going to license new samples, you'd license samples appropriate to this style of device, right?

What's behind that edit button is anyone's guess but presumably it's the controls for osc settings and FX: looking at that new image I'd guess those three markers are controllers in a custom display (you could have curved controllers in a custom, which you couldn't do in standard bitmap-based format), and are Modifiers, like the two additional knobs on the front of Thor, as it looks like each can somehow be user-targeted to a particular parameter (in this case "Width", "Vintage", "Echo", so in GE terms that'd be hitting Pan width, Lo-Fi sample rate and Delay mix). Still, no amount of random jiggling of Lo-Fi and a bit o' Haas and delay is going to make trem strings of use... Although... Song challenge ahoy? :puf_bigsmile:

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Creativemind
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19 Sep 2019

Spryx wrote:
27 Aug 2019
It looks like a bathroom scale :lol:

I'm thinking something like Omnisphere - very lite.
I was. Like that orb thing on that?
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boingy
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19 Sep 2019

Still, it's not all negative. How many other REs are there that show the time on their front panel?

It's just coming up to 2 o'clock by the look of it. Maybe it chimes with TremStrings when it get's there :lol:
Last edited by boingy on 19 Sep 2019, edited 1 time in total.

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diminished
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19 Sep 2019

I think it's a sampler that's using some Parsec tech. Like Iris 2. These little clock indicators let you browse through the spectrum. Third one is for a sub osc.
(Edit: NOPE. Didn't read the small print of that clock/scale UI)
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supersplaron
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20 Sep 2019

Here's a closer look (and listen) to Scenic.

https://www.reasonstudios.com/blog/a-fi ... instrument

antic604

20 Sep 2019

supersplaron wrote:
20 Sep 2019
Here's a closer look (and listen) to Scenic.

https://www.reasonstudios.com/blog/a-fi ... instrument
Wow, considering the amount of info shown here, I stand by my assertion that it's still far from being finished - at least the GUI.

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aeox
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20 Sep 2019

supersplaron wrote:
20 Sep 2019
Here's a closer look (and listen) to Scenic.

https://www.reasonstudios.com/blog/a-fi ... instrument
Sounds good :thumbs_up:

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supersplaron
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20 Sep 2019

antic604 wrote:
20 Sep 2019
supersplaron wrote:
20 Sep 2019
Here's a closer look (and listen) to Scenic.

https://www.reasonstudios.com/blog/a-fi ... instrument
Wow, considering the amount of info shown here, I stand by my assertion that it's still far from being finished - at least the GUI.
Why would you think that? I'm fairly certain things are very very close to finished (currently in testing).

antic604

20 Sep 2019

supersplaron wrote:
20 Sep 2019
Why would you think that? I'm fairly certain things are very very close to finished (currently in testing).
Because the GUI changed on your website only yesterday? Because you don't show any of the FX units? Because there don't seem to be a way to LOAD OWN SAMPLES into it?

Looks like I'll be passing on Suite and just get the PolyStep separately.

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aeox
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20 Sep 2019

antic604 wrote:
20 Sep 2019
supersplaron wrote:
20 Sep 2019
Why would you think that? I'm fairly certain things are very very close to finished (currently in testing).
Because the GUI changed on your website only yesterday? Because you don't show any of the FX units? Because there don't seem to be a way to LOAD OWN SAMPLES into it?

Looks like I'll be passing on Suite and just get the PolyStep separately.
Doesn't seem too bad. I'd be surprised if you couldn't load your own samples(fingers crossed), but I don't see how you're already passing on it without trying it first. Sounds pretty good!

antic604

20 Sep 2019

aeox wrote:
20 Sep 2019
I'd be surprised if you couldn't load your own samples(fingers crossed), but I don't see how you're already passing on it without trying it first. Sounds pretty good!
1) There's no "load" button or icon anythwere on the sample engine:

Image

2) The description is pretty clear:
The sounds in Scenic are created from the 100+ multi-sampled instruments and sound effects built into the instrument.

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supersplaron
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20 Sep 2019

I can assure you that there are graphics for all the panels not visible in these shots. I've made a couple of the sound examples myself so it's highly functional and close to being ready for release on Wednesday. It doesn't have sample loading.

antic604

20 Sep 2019

supersplaron wrote:
20 Sep 2019
I can assure you that there are graphics for all the panels not visible in these shots. I've made a couple of the sound examples myself so it's highly functional and close to being ready for release on Wednesday. It doesn't have sample loading.
I take your word for it! :thumbs_up: :puf_wink:

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Loque
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20 Sep 2019

Looks good and sounds good. Sample loading would be nice, but i read "multisample", which makes it pretty hard. I will give it a try...
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FiatLux
Posts: 99
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20 Sep 2019

Wow, really seems a lot like Straylight by Native Instruments.
Part of what makes Straylight so successful is not just the engine,
but the choice/quality of the included multi-samples that the engine utilizes.
I hope Scenic has a quality set of multi-samples. Think that will make or break it.

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boingy
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20 Sep 2019

Well I think it's nice that someone has finally found a use for General Midi sound #126.

zumBeispiel
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20 Sep 2019

So the price will be $99.

Reason 11 upg ---> 129
SHI ---> 99
Reason Suite 11 upg ---> 249

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Last Alternative
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20 Sep 2019

Just checked it out and I might be prejudging but it sounds like running a regular instrument with a pad and lots of fx inside a Combinator — layering, of you will. Not exactly earth shattering enough for me to spend $100 ON TOP OF upgrading. Probably won’t do either. Not impressed.
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craven
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20 Sep 2019

sounds and looks nice. I wish it would be a regular part of Reason 11 as I wouldn't pay 100 bucks for it on top of the upgrade. The suite doesn't make sense in my case as I have too many REs of it already. Good to see a new sound device, though! Maybe sample loading can be added at a later point?
:ugeek:

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fieldframe
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20 Sep 2019

This is shaping up to be a solid selling point for Suite. The demos sound great and it looks very accessible.

As a UI designer, however, there is one detail I can't let go. Time for a design review!

Let's take a look at a few elements on the performance mode of the front panel. They're all rendered the same way, which, in Reason's rack metaphor, means they are "silkscreened" onto the "surface" of the device:

Image

However, one of these things is not like the other. The two examples in the top part of the panel, the device nameplate and the A/B labels, are static elements. They don't change based on the state of the UI. The waveforms, however, do change, and it's visually confusing that they are rendered in the same way:

Image

If I were working with a colleague on this, I would propose we use the "LED" treatment used in the alphanumeric displays instead of the "silkscreen" treatment. This would give the dynamic elements the same visual treatment, making the whole UI more internally consistent.

Image

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guitfnky
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20 Sep 2019

that main panel is kind of ugly, but those demos sound pretty great. sounds like it could be a useful addition to the rack.
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