Someone on here mentioned that there’s a Beads reimplementation for the Disting NT. I have been wanting to play with Beads, so I took a look and (with the author’s permission) adapted it for the MetaModule (and VCV Rack). I don’t own a Beads so I don’t know exactly how authentic it is, but it sounds great — the guy who cloned it knows his stuff.
To be clear, this isn’t like the existing Mutable clones because Beads has never been open-sourced – this is an entirely new implementation of the original Beads design.
If anyone wants to play with it, I’d love to hear any bug reports. It works fine for me on VCV and Meta but I’m sure there’s stuff I haven’t tried. (Including the Windows build!)
not really an emulation, dev states “based on the Mutable Instruments Beads manual”, so its aim is functional equivalence rather then be a clone/emulation.
unfortunately, Émilie did not release the beads source code, so we will never know exactly how it was implemented.
when I looked at the source code, what first struck me was how (very!) similar, the code style and structure is to MIs. also it seems also dev uses Claude - so, I wonder if Claude was used to create beads functionality based on MI code base (for other modules) , at least for ‘first draft’
That would have been a really interesting / clever approach.
note: even an LLM cannot emulate Beads however, as Émilie stated she did things very differently (having learnt a lot) for Beads compared to previous projects, and that code has not been open sourced.
ofc, that pure speculation, Claude can also be used simply as a code assistant on your own code base, and similarity could be co-incidence.
anyway, a cool project, however it was created… I love my Beads, so a nice addition.
(and frankly, Ive little hope Émilie will ever release beads source code, but we can hope I guess)
Thanks for this! One question that I haven’t been able to resolve without a Beads of my own. The manual says:
PITCH controls the transposition, from -24 to +24 semi- tones, with virtual notches at selected intervals.
But I can’t find any reference to what those selected intervals are. My guess would be octaves and fifths. Do you remember, or would you mind firing up Beads and checking?
this thing sounds awesome! much thanks for creating this, and also for the win vcv plugin. im noticing that the pitch cv doesn’t seem to do anything when the ‘delay mode’ option is on but (i don’t own this module) perhaps that’s expected behavior?
Hmm … for me changing the Pitch knob (not the Pitch attenurandomizer) does change the pitch of the delay signal … but I’m running into some other issues with the delay mode so it’s probably all connected. Assume delay mode is broken for now, I’ll get it fixed soon. [EDIT: Sorry, you said the pitch CV, got it.]
Oh also, does the Windows VCV plugin basically work? I am glad to hear that because I can’t test it and getting it built was a bit of a struggle!
Another new beta. Lots of fixes to Delay Mode (thanks @offthesky). Please post bug reports here! (Or in Github Issues, if you prefer.)
Changelog
v2.0.0-beta.3
New features
Clocked delay mode: when a clock is patched into SEED in delay mode, DENSITY snaps to quantized subdivisions of the clock interval (1/1 at noon; binary subdivisions CCW; wider ratios CW), matching hardware behavior.
Clear buffer: right-click menu option to clear the recording buffer.
Bug fixes
Delay mode levels: fixed an issue where auto-gain was applied to delay signal but not dry signal.
Delay mode pitch shift: pitch shifting in delay mode now functions correctly.
New beta. Polishing up some details, including virtual notches on the PITCH knob that make finding harmonious intervals easier (as on Beads), and finding a use for SIZE in Delay mode (not on Beads). If you have any existing patches this will mess up the pitch, be warned.
Changelog
v2.0.0-beta.4
Breaking changes
PITCH knob patch format changed: saved patches from earlier versions will load with incorrect PITCH values. Reset the PITCH knob after loading old patches.
New features
PITCH virtual notches: the PITCH knob now has virtual notches at unison, fifths (±7, ±19 st), and octaves (±12, ±24 st), matching hardware behavior. These intervals occupy more of the knob range for easier landing; any intermediate pitch is still reachable.
SIZE in delay mode: SIZE now sets the effective tape loop length — fully CW gives the full buffer, turning CCW progressively shortens the maximum available delay time. In beat-slicer mode (Freeze engaged), SIZE continues to control loop duration as before.
Pitch lock in delay mode: the Lock Pitch menu setting now quantizes pitch in delay mode as well as granular mode.
Attenurandomizer in delay and wavetable modes: the attenurandomizer knobs now work correctly in both delay and wavetable modes. Turning CW with a CV patched attenuates the CV; turning CCW with CV uses a slow random LFO gated by the CV level; with no CV, CW gives uniform LFO modulation and CCW gives peaked (center-weighted) modulation — matching grain mode behavior.
Another beta — added some glyphs on the panel, derived from hardware Beads, that make it clearer what’s going on with the knobs. (Also fixed the initialization command, which was incomplete.)
I wasn’t sure how relevant it is following the Beads manual, but seems to be pretty close functionally. It is great so far and getting super fun and musical results! So glad to have this, so thank you!
Let me know if there’s anything I can test here that would be helpful. I plan on following the manual line by line tomorrow to really learn how it all works. Will definitely respond back if I find anything unexpected.
Only thing so far I’ve run across which I’m not clear about is this:
“One can manually restart the gain adjustment process by pressing and holding the audio quality
selector button [A] for one second”
Assuming that’s the quality button. but not sure if it’s even relevant.
Glad you’re getting good results from it! There are definitely still issues — I’m working on some now. I’ll get another release up by this evening so make sure you download that.
Also, I had a go at making a manual for Particules. It’s a bit more beginner-focused than the Beads manual, and like the module it’s not totally done, but it does point out where Particules diverges from Beads. You can check it out here.
And yeah, the “hold the quality button for 1 second” feature won’t work in Particules — if you want to restart the gain calibration, try toggling Auto Gain on and off from the context menu.
Here’s beta 6. Some important bug fixes in this one, especially an issue that broke the Feedback knob in regular (grains) mode.
Bug fixes
FEEDBACK now works properly in grain mode.
Minimum grain size on the SIZE knob – the point where the knob transitions between forward and backward playback – is now at 11 o’clock rather than center, matching hardware. (That’s handy because we added a little glyph there in the previous release, and that little glyph was misinforming you.)
Fixed 1V/oct pitch tracking on DENSITY CV when Density reaches audio rates in Delay mode.
The thing that I’m still not confident about is “beat slicer” mode — when the module is in Delay mode and the buffer is frozen. Divkid does some clever tricks with it in his Beads video, and I cannot replicate those tricks on Particules. So that’s the next thing I’m going to look at — my advice is, don’t spend much time puzzling over that.
(I’m also considering removing Delay mode altogether — it’s complicated and it’s not the heart of what Beads is about anyway. Wavetable mode, on the other hand, is fun and easy and isn’t going anywhere.)
i hope you leave it in! ive been having fun with it anyway. i realize it’s not in keeping with an accurate recreation but i certainly think delay mode adds a little something nice and extra on top of the original beads imo.
It is part of the original Beads! But I’m curious: what are you doing with it that you couldn’t do with one of the many other delays available on MM?
My thinking is, that kind of hidden mode is great on a hardware module (if you don’t want to use granular in a patch, you get a free delay!), but for the MetaModule it adds complication and it’d be more useful to split the functionality into a separate module. But every delay is a little different and maybe this one has some sauce that’s not obvious to me.
Another option would be separate modules for Delay mode and Wavetable mode — that way the knobs and labels could permanently match their function.
thats a good question! id have to compare it to all the other delays to see, it was just sounding very interesting to me with some of these patches im mucking about with. but even if you removed it, no worries- i could still lean on one of these beta version .mmplugins
I’m glad folks are using it! I’m thinking the next version will split it into three modules: granular, delay, and a little wavetable oscillator. So all the same functionality but not modal.
I am also using the delay a lot, so please keep it…