More success for your plug-ins

In the past four episodes, we have described how to create a hybrid synthesizer and sampler plug-in with Flowstone. Finally, we‘ll give you some tips that will make your plug-in more successful and powerful, saving you a lot of time. Research

Set yourself apart from other plug-ins by researching in advance whether it should be just another analog synthesizer that‘s already a dime a dozen, or whether you‘d rather try something new and serve a niche. Ask yourself which features you miss in which plug-ins. Try to implement these functions in your plug-in. 1

Effects

Another factor of a high CPU load is due to effects. Before you start developing, think about which effects are really necessary for your synthesizer. Too many can have a negative impact on performance. In particular, processors like a Convolution Reverb with impulse responses that need to be loaded or complex granular effects are among them. 1

More individuality

To be sure, the building block modules from Flowstone‘s toolbox are helpful, but to incorporate more of your own elements, programming or assembling your own modules is beneficial. Extend existing modules with new functions. For example, you can add more waveforms or wavetable samples to oscillators. 1

Graphics performance

When integrating graphic elements, make sure that they are imported only once, such as animated sliders or buttons. By cleverly linking to the source, memory can be saved for each slider so that the graphic object does not always have to be reloaded. This is also beneficial for performance. 1

Samples

The integration and use of samples should be chosen carefully, because samples make a plug-in significantly more memory- and CPU-intensive and, therefore, slower. If you do decide to use samples, use short ones that can be looped. Diverse editing options are always in demand for more flexibility. 1

Troubleshooting

One of the biggest time suckers during development is de-bugging; therefore, it makes sense and is more efficient to get to the bottom of errors immediately and not wait until shortly before the completion of the plug-in. It is also advisable that you seek help from experienced developers in forums [2] before you spend countless hours searching in vain for a bug.