Reaktor

[danielmarshall]

reaktor is not worth learning for the magority of people. yes it is rediculously powerful, but then learning C++ and the VST API is even more so, yet it really is like shooting a mosquito with a bazooka. i toiled for about a year with the program and whilst i found it technically intersting in the beginning, eventually it was just too cumbersome to be of any real creative use. one idea i'm still keen on doing is creating a cross fading mixer which fades in bands rather than just the entire signal. i'm also keen on working on my own side chaining compressor, though I'm not sure how I'll approach that one just yet. if you're into wild stuff like that then yeah, it may be worth a poke around, but if you're still learning the basics of synthesis, then you're really wasting your time.

[TechMouse]

yes it is rediculously powerful, but then learning C++ and the VST API is even more so

I see what you're getting at, but Reaktor is much friendlier.

C++ is not to be trifled with by any stretch of the imagination.

One or two pointers left hanging and it's a recipe for serious stability problems.

[danielmarshall]

I see what you're getting at, but Reaktor is much friendlier.

C++ is not to be trifled with by any stretch of the imagination.

One or two pointers left hanging and it's a recipe for serious stability problems.

I try to avoid using pointers directly in my data structures for that very reason, although if you follow sound software engineering practices you shouldn't need to worry about writing to unallocated memory etc... That said, it is altogether too easy to put one extra asterix in where it doesn't belong.

Anyway what I was getting at is that there is almost always a tool more powerful than the one you're using (Native ASM trumps C++ in fact!), but it is often times not the tool that is the most suited to the job. Just because you can doesn't mean you should. There are so many other deep and powerful tools that take as much time to learn, but provide allot more in the long run. Time is a scarse commodity to me, so I spend it learning the things that will provide the most eventual benifit.

Just my opinion of course, and there are many cases where Reaktor, MSP or proprietry software do fill gaps that just can't be filled otherwise, but they are the exception to the rule.

[TechMouse]

I try to avoid using pointers directly in my data structures for that very reason, although if you follow sound software engineering practices you shouldn't need to worry about writing to unallocated memory etc... That said, it is altogether too easy to put one extra asterix in where it doesn't belong.

For sure, but pointer arithmetic sits at the heart of most DSP.

It's one of the few things that elevates C++ above managed code.

Anyway what I was getting at is that there is almost always a tool more powerful than the one you're using (Native ASM trumps C++ in fact!), but it is often times not the tool that is the most suited to the job. Just because you can doesn't mean you should. There are so many other deep and powerful tools that take as much time to learn, but provide allot more in the long run. Time is a scarse commodity to me, so I spend it learning the things that will provide the most eventual benifit.

Just my opinion of course, and there are many cases where Reaktor, MSP or proprietry software do fill gaps that just can't be filled otherwise, but they are the exception to the rule.

Completely agree.