synthmaker

So this is my new favorite program!! I stumbled across this while searching for some help in designing VST Plug-ins and since then I've been using this to design my school project. Basically, it's an soft-synth development environment, similar to visual basic or flex but completely audio based. It makes designing VST plug-ins MUCH less painful because you don't have to write the code. However, creating complex instruments is still somewhat tricky as you need to know a good bit about signal processing. Below is an example of a basic set up. Because Synthmaker has a highly efficient sound engine, it is able to process one signal at a time which makes for quality audio.

So how does this equate to a vst plugin?? Above is the inner workings and paths of the your plugin. This is like the second level view of the developer mode windows. Below is how all these pieces fit together.

The coolest thing about synthmaker is that you can go even deeper into different components of your plugin, giving you complete control of every aspect of your plugin.

Synthmaker also allows you to write short bits of DSP code to create your own algorithms. Once your finished with all the signal processing etc you can begin to work on the visual aspect of your plugin. SynthMaker has tools that allow you to spruce up your plugin and give it a realistic feel. Here is an exampe of what a final project would look like. You can also see that SynthMaker allows you to turn your project into a fully functional, ready to use VST plugin that can be used with most other audio applications. I highly recommend checking this out if you have any interest in designing your own audio software!

http://www.synthmaker.co.uk/about.html

security vs. convienence

Recently I ran into a bit of an inconvenience while attempting to pay some bills online. As part of Chase Bank's security procedures an activation code is required every time you log on from a different computer. This is no big deal except that I was logging on from the same computer I always log on from, which made me wonder about the it's effectiveness.

After I was informed that I would need to acquire an activation code I was given the following options: Send it to my home phone number as a voice or text message or send it to my email.
Here's the dilemma, I don't use online banking all that often and this security feature is fairly new. All of my information, phone and email was out of date... here comes the dreaded third option.... call blah blah blah-blah blah blah blah to wait for several hours on hold for a customer service representative.

Obviously this is the path I was forced to take and while it wasn't as long of a wait as I had hoped I was a little annoyed that I was never warned to change my info before this new security measure was implemented. And to be honest, I'm about almost positive that I actually already did update my information. I guess that's life on the internet.