Designing Complex Music Production Software — Virtual Instruments
--
We all read many articles about the design of mobile apps, for example, Instagram’s “click on a pic” to like it. This particular gesture was almost considered revolutionary. Of course, we’re talking about mobile apps where we have to keep things simple and easy to use for a large group of people, basically designing using the KISS principle (Keep It Simple Stupid).
Mobile devices nowadays are highly advanced in terms of the technology it uses, e.g. facial recognition. However, I’ve always been very intrigued by desktop software. Think Adobe Photoshop, MS Office, 3D graphics software, and my favourite type of software: Digital Audio Workstations (DAWs) and VST plugins (virtual instruments and effects) as I enjoy exploring music myself. Also, don't forget to follow me on SoundCloud: https://soundcloud.com/deadcatbouncemusic ;)
Quick Intro into DAWs, VST plugins, and MIDI
Due to my interest in this type of software, I will focus on DAWs and VST plugins for now. If you’re not sure what these are, think of a DAW as a digital music production platform that allows you to make and manipulate music, while VST plugins allow users to play virtual instruments from external parties, such as percussion, within their DAW. On a side note, DAWs also offer a library of virtual instruments, effects, samples, and so on. Many of these instruments are controlled through MIDI inputs that trigger notes that you can record and fine-tune.
Additionally, having an external audio interface is usually quite important as well if you want to record real instruments.
For those interested, my personal setup that I will discussing over the next articles is based on the following setup”
- DAW: Apple Logic Pro
- VST Library: NI Komplete
- External Audio Interface: Focusrite Scarlett 18i8
Designing Virtual Instruments
Although I will cover the design of a DAW, which is extremely complex, I will start with the design of virtual instruments. Please note that this not a technical article. We will focus on the user experience of virtual string instruments.
Firing up the configuration of a traditional virtual instrument can be intimidating as they originate from synthesizers and samplers.
However, I recently came across Native Instrument’s “Session Strings Pro 2”, a VST instrument plugin. I was more than impressed. Not only did it sound very real, but the user interface was easy to understand, given you know the basics of harmony.
String instruments are extremely complex, allowing the musician to play a plethora of articulations for example that are fairly hard to control in a digital environment. Nevertheless, this is the first time I felt that we’re getting close to producing sounds that makes it almost indistinguishable from real string instruments. Perhaps a bold statement, but it’s the best I’ve heard and work with so far.
What really caught my attention, was the interface, especially as a designer.
Different Modes of Playing
The first thing I noticed was the different modes of playing the instrument or instrument section. Admittedly, I usually use the velocity switch where the articulation depends on the pressure of the key. Perhaps I’ll explain my technique in a different article on how I combine articulations.
The User Experience: NI provides four modes to the user, and from a production point of view, that makes sense. Some users feel more comfortable using key switches, while others need to use the animator. They didn’t go overkill, rather, they picked four modes that work for every type of user.
Bridging the Gap Between a Human Style of Playing and Digital
For this part, articulations are key. Of course, the softness, the speed, and the irreplaceable human touch. However, the number of articulations is impressive. Ranging from trills to glissandos. The team at NI really did their homework and didn’t, or almost didn’t miss anything that let the user conduct a realistic-sounding string instrument.
The User Experience: notice the bar to the right of vibrato, which indicates how hard the user has to push the key to trigger the articulation. A simple and effective way of controlling the instrument. There are many ways, such as key switches, that reach the same objective. However, I like this solution. It’s simple, it’s elegant, and it’s easy to adjust. A great UX example.
Rhythm Animator
A more complex, yet intuitive solution, is the rhythm animator. This is basically a sequencer that makes the string instrument play patterns that you configured, including articulations.
The User Experience: although the animator is not new, it is an improved version. Furthermore, it gives the user complete control of the string instrument’s rhythm. By just looking at it, you pretty much get it and that’s what makes it a great user experience.
Admittedly, the dashboard still feels crowded, but with so many options and the pace at which NI innovates, I expect to next version to even top this one.
That’s Just A Small Part of The Virtual Instrument
There’s much more to the virtual instrument that you can configure as you might have noticed. On top of that, the user can stack effects on top of the string instrument or string section to produce a different sound.
I took this example is I find it an incredible piece of UX design. I don’t know how NI works, but it seems that the engineers worked closely together with designers to deliver a usable experience.
Admittedly, I’ve been a fan of Native Instruments, and Logic, for years. They keep improving and always impress me with every release. Building a virtual instrument like this takes a team of specialists and musicians, and in combination with the right design, they seem to have created a prime experience for string instruments, among other instruments.
Analysing Complex Software as a Designer
Don’t stick to the famous UX examples only. Look beyond the popular applications and learn about the UX of heavyweight software. Take Adobe for example, and try to understand the choices they made. The structure of the software, the position of elements, and how they managed to make complex features easy to use. A great example is the spot healing tool that has been introduced in Adobe After Effects.
Challenge and stretch your design thinking and appreciate the more complex UX solutions.
We offer multimodal product design and strategy to deliver experiences that your users will love.
