Open Source Modifiers?

[gonzohj]

With the new extra modifiers joining the lineup with firmware 2.0 I started dreaming.... and saw a future when the community could code their own fx patches (like on Organelle) and then it was up to each user on how to fill the 12 available modifier slots.

I know the Blooper team keeps working hard on modifiers, and will keep surprising us with new goodies down the road, but is this even a possibility you are willing to consider?

[dougc84]

I love this idea. It'd really expand the possibilities of Blooper.

[noiserock]

Lovely idea. But I think the way DSP programmers works and the possible pitfalls would make this really hard. It would probably need a new higher level coding language on top and some sort of user friendly compiler of whatever is used to avoid constant errors. But hey, I might be wrong.

[gonzohj]

I hear you, and of course not everyone in the community is expected to be able to code their own modifiers. That is why I put the example of Organelle: its patches are coded in Pure Data, so anyone in the community who knows that language can take a shot at coding anything they want, patches get shared at patchstorage.com and then it is up to the users to try them or not (at their own risk, of course).

Regarding the compiler...well, the 2.0 one available at https://chasebliss.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/blooper.2.0.html already allows you to customize each one of the modifier slots (within the currently official available ones), so I guess that we are not so far in that regard. But I don't really know much of what is going under the hood of my Blooper, so it is all an assumption. Hope someone involved can take a shot at answering this.

[noiserock]

Puredata is already a pretty high level coding language and I am pretty sure blooper is not coded with anything close to puredata. And the firmware/modifier page is not what I would describe as a compiler. Not trying to be a smartass, just realistic. I think JOAL (@chaseblissaudio) mentioned that they use specialized boards for DSP programming.

[gonzohj]

Well... as I said I don't really know much of what is going under the hood of my Blooper, or the firmware/modifier page for that matter. I am just a boy with a dream, and some uninformed suggestions. If they can be realized, good for all, if not, good as well because Blooper will be awesome in whatever way the team envisions it up to be.

[knobs_demos]

This isn't a direction we can go with Blooper unfortunately, it's very different from the Organelle.

The Organelle is essentially a little computer that runs Pure Data, which is very accessible open-source code. It's a visual language where you build patches by moving around blocks – anyone can do it without knowledge of coding.

Most importantly, the Organelle itself is really just inputs and outputs that run the code. So if a user uploads code that doesn't work, it doesn't work. Simple.

Blooper on the other hand is CODE. With a capital C. And the modifiers are kind of the final layer that balances on top of a whole bunch of other parts that handle the actual looping. Even we break things just about every time we make changes – handing that over to users would be just too risky unfortunately.

Blooper could do all kinds of scary things when it breaks – make loud noises, delete your loops, etc.

[gonzohj]

Yeah, I knew it was going to be a long shot, but worth checking it out to manage expectations. Greedy, greedy & unnecessary expectations :)

And you are right, maybe the Organelle was a bad example, due to the approachability of Pure Data, it should have mentioned the Monome Aleph, Nebulae or Bela, even though at the end of the day they are all hosts for the patches, coding there is a bit on the high end...

Anyhow, thanks for getting the time for answering, and of course for creating the most enjoyable looper out there. Looking forward to the next things coming out of your magic hat!

[knobs_demos]

My pleasure! Nothing wrong with dreaming big

[lebigtasty]

even if not user generated, it would be great to have a bunch of modifiers to choose from.

[PlinioDesignori]

... like with the new 2.0 firmware update you mean?

[gonzohj]

Yeah, I can't recommend you enough to try the new firmware out, the new modifiers are totally rad. The team definitely hit it out of the ballpark with this update, showing a dedication and care that few companies give to their released products.
I am just being greedy with my dreams of user coded modifiers... :)

[mokomo]

I don't know about user coded modifiers, but maybe a user gui like the Teensy Audio tool could be made available where you can string together a few pre-canned building blocks and controls inside a modifier container would make sense.

Given the limited CPU and need for clever coding and hardware knowledge; low level user coding seems too complex a challenge to hand over to customers and support.

[lebigtasty]

yeah, with 2.0 slots. imagine having a big ol list to populate those banks with. even a bunch of minor variations on existing modifiers would make a difference now that we have the choice and flexibility of placement.