Sample Logic has introduced Animation Station 2.0, a major update to their MIDI sequencing tool, described as “the world’s most advanced and flexible arpeggiator”.
Here’s what they have to say about it:
“ANIMATION STATION 2.0 is an intuitive and dynamic one-stop solution for creating awesome arpeggio patterns with a little stutter and glitch on the side. The included presets offer a world with limitless possibilities, from simple standard arps to extreme experimental patterns and everything in between. For songwriting inspiration, try the melodic and chordal sequences, or drum machine style patterns for kicking your beats up a notch, or even glitchy stutters that would previously have taken forever to create using standard MIDI programming.”
Here’s what’s new in Animation Station 2.0:
- ABCD patterns: now it is possible to switch between 4 patterns. There is right-click menu for copying, pasting and reseting patterns. There are 4 key switches that can be attached. When host plays, plugin switches patterns at the first beat of the next bar.
- Updated preset management to support ABCD presets as well as original 1-pattern presets. When a 1-pattern preset is picked, it is loaded into the currently active slot only; presets with several active patterns load into all slots and inactive slots are rewritten with default patterns. It is also possible to load a single pattern from any preset into the currently active slot by picking ABCD buttons at the right side of the preset name.
- Global settings (gate, velocity sensitivity, swing) exposed as plugin parameters which enables users to modulate them.
- Modulation system has been reworked with 2 modes: mod wheel does not edit sequence directly; instead, it is applied as modulation to stored values and visualized as semi-transparent fills on top of velocity/duration bars. Absolute mode ignores current values); Relative mode takes current step values as a mid-point.
- Transpose sliders are reworked. Now there are 2 edit modes: octave and chromatic. Modes can be switched in the right-click menu under slider presets, or with a left click on the transpose slider then holding shift key while sliding up/down.
- Extended stutter rates: added triplets.
- Reworked Latch filter to support notes compound. When new note is played, latch filter activates to 200ms timeframe to let other notes of a potentially played chord to be latched as well. Then latch filter closes and resets currently latched notes when new notes or a chord is played.
- Minor bug fixes and stability improvements.
- Included new 250 preset expansion pack “Breaking Borders” by Ben Aylon added.
Pricing and Availability:
Animation Station 2.0 (VST/AU/AAX) is available now, with an intro price of $99.99 USD through August 22nd, 2023 (regular $149.99 USD).
“Only limited by your imagination.” I can imagine stutters that aren’t on a regularly spaced grid (i.e., accelerating or decelerating hits/notes). This software seems to only support fixed grid values.
DP has an arpeggiator that allows you to load ANY MIDI for unusual rhythms. It’s had the same powerful arpeggiator for decades, I think. Break Tweaker also had lots of super powerful rhythm creating tools.
I don’t mean to sound overly critical. This does seem like a useful tool for some. And it does have lots of nice features especially with realtime control. But when they make a claim like the above, well, it’s like they are challenging me.
Yes, the canned list of arp types on each step seems at odds with the claims of full flexibility. It was really unclear how it interprets played chords of different numbers of notes, and that appears to be buried in that canned selection. Most traditional arpeggiators do a bad job of handling different numbers of notes by changing the length of the loop, which is seldom musically relevant (adding a seventh to a triad changes the time signature); maybe this does so only inside each step, leaving the loop as a whole self-consistent. If so, that’s an interesting idea, but I was hoping to see something more clever in this regard like BlueArp.
I think it’s the main catch with these “Composer-bot” tools– i.e., how much control are you given over the various functions.
Presets that generate interesting material are all well and good, but not that different from just buying “MIDI Packs” (I throw up in my mouth a little when typing that phrase).
For truly engaging tools, I look for the ability to (for example) create custom scales & chords (even if they are not new, per se), custom melodic & arp patterns, and rhythmic flexibility– i.e., fluid step rates, etc.
I don’t doubt these tools are difficult to make– particularly when trying to cobble an “all-in-one” thing like this.
I’ve used separate tools for chord-triggering and arpeggiation for some time now, and this works well for my work flow. The realtime control aspect is missing; and admittedly has intriguing potential.
Can you recommend some of the tools that you use?
Ripchord, Cthulhu, Scaler, and the built-in transpose and arpeggiater in Digital Performer (MOTU). The MIDI plugins in Logic & MainStage are pretty nice, prettier UI’s.
The Korg Prophecy has a very deep arpeggiator with offset as an option for each step, it would allow for off grid notes in the Arp. The UI was tedious but useable.
Per step offsets! What a cool feature! Though I can see how it would be tedious to make stuff, the flexibility is there.
just learn to play better; then you’re only limited by your imagination.
John implies we’re lazy and we don’t play well because we’re talking about an arpeggiator.
Actually, John, no matter what, my imagination will always go well beyond my physical ability to play an instrument. Also, I’m a decent player. I practice and perform several hours every day.
I get your point– play an acoustic instrument, don’t mess with tech/tools, don’t deviate from the Olde Ways. Eat a simple gruel cooked on the fire of old-growth logs.
What made you look at this article and comment thread, John?
stub, i respect your thought. thank you. animation caught my eye. i was a maintainer for the blender3d IRIX ‘port’. in this case it was porting open source onto the IRIX platform, dog work, i shelved it. but it’s still an interesting field. I used a machine arp once instead of playing on a tune; it wasn’t really fulfilling. I always play in the moment.
Yea, I have a similar feeling about loopers. Yes, I can play along with a repeating pattern. Yes, it can sound kind of cool– but to compare that to playing with others who are responding moment to moment and adding more variation– no contest.
Arpeggiators have potential to do some unusual and interesting things. For example, there are non-grid based rhythms that are super interesting, but for some reason, developers who delve into that territory are SO rare!!