Today I created a new plug-in for Prometheus to replace the ancient (as old as the program itself) white noise generator. The old one just created a random sample each time, so very limited in functionality. In the new one I can specify the gap (in millisecs) between each new sample and have a smoothing parameter too. There are also two versions: one stereo (well, hexio) and a mono version which creates the same noise in all channels. In practice, the latter is more useful; mono instruments are better and can be panned later, but too much stereo can stop any of the nicer spatial effects. The old white noise (which was stereo only) was used a lot, perhaps in half of all of my 1000 or so sequences to date, so I'll have to regularly update them when loading the old ones (the update process is automated, thankfully, this makes it easy to create a supersessional plug-in).
I can't say I really 'needed' the new one, but I might make use of it in future and it's future music that's always more valuable than past music.
I've recorded two of the first vocals for the Sisyphus album since my pause in November. The quality is far better, so my almost daily training has helped; in particular these two tracks have a high register and were nearly impossible for me to sing at all in November.
Sadly, Prometheus crashed again today with the 'Stop' bug, so my recent bug fix has not worked. My best guess now is some sort of corruption due to a plug-in, which is a nightmarish conclusion because there are over 100 of them and many are very complex. It's odd that the corruption only happens when playing rather than during live playback, and also odd that the corruption is so subtle that it only affects a specific area of the playback code. If it were more common (it's about 1 in 100 plays) then I would stand a better chance of making it happen and tracking it down.
Generally it's been a slow and restful sort of day due to the change between the end of The Infinite Forest and moving towards the vocal work for Sisyphus. The Covid lockdown is also sapping physical energy, it's difficult to exercise. The programming is a saddening distraction. I don't like the idea of faulty tools, even if the bug may have been there for a decade or more (did I notice it before and simply ignore it, or is this somehow new? When working on music I may ignore a crash as the music is the priority, not programming). How I wish I could fix this. Still, Sisyphus and vocal work must now get my attention, though I don't have the freedom or space to practice as I would like. I must do my best with limitations.
