Tomasz Głuc has updated TOMiC Drum Synth to version 0.6.
The update combines major additions to Standalone plugin hosting, modulation architecture, pattern sequencing, audio export fidelity, and real-time engine stability.
In-Process Instrument and Effect Plugin Hosting (Standalone)
TOMiC Standalone now functions as an in-process host for external plugins across both sound generation and mixing stages:
- CLAP and OMNiPlugin Instrument Hosting: Third-party synthesizer plugins in CLAP and OMNiPlugin (.omniplugin) formats can be loaded directly onto Layer A and Layer B of any channel, replacing or augmenting the internal synthesis engines.
- Oscillator and Noise Section Hosting: Each voice layer can host two instrument plugins simultaneously (one on OSC and one on NOISE), allowing up to four hosted plugins per drum channel with blending via the Morph parameter.
- CLAP and OMNiPlugin Effect Hosting: Up to 8 CLAP effect plugin slots are available per drum voice strip and on the Master bus via the Mixer panel.
- 20 Host Parameter Knobs with Modulation Pinning: Hosted instrument slots expose 20 parameters as native float parameters for step sequencing (p-locks), Macros, and real-time modulation via LFOs, ModEnv, and the Marbles generator. Active modulation destinations are pinned to prevent reassignment during manual parameter adjustments.
- Dedicated Modulation Lanes (ClapMod 1–8): Hosted effect slots provide up to 8 modulation lanes with automated base-value restoration to prevent drift.
- Low-Latency Audio Thread Architecture: Plugin processing runs on planar 64-sample buffers with zero dynamic heap allocations on the real-time audio thread, backed by a soft circuit breaker that mutes slots exceeding a 100ms processing threshold.
- Background Plugin Scanner: Plugins are discovered and validated via an isolated background scanning process (–clap-scan) with file metadata caching.
- Always-On Clock Mode: An optional continuous clocking mode maintains internal plugin sequencers and sync clocks during silent periods.
- Session Persistence: Hosted plugin states, parameters, and routing maps are serialized directly into .tomic session files.
Expanded LFO Engine (10 Waveforms)
The modulation LFO has been expanded with new wave shapes, variable pacing, and envelope functionality:
- 10 Waveforms: The selection includes Sine, Triangle, Saw, Square, Random (S&H), Ramp Down, Trapezoid, Stepped (quantized 2–16 step staircase), Drift (interpolated randomness), and Walk (bounded random walk).
- Multi-Purpose Pulse Width: The PW control modulates duty cycle on Square, skew on Sine and Triangle, plateau width on Trapezoid, step count on Stepped, and step displacement on Walk.
- Continuous Curve Shaping: A dedicated Curve control alters waveform pacing between logarithmic, linear, and exponential transitions.
- One-Shot Retrigger Mode: A One-Shot mode completes a single cycle per trigger and holds the final value, allowing LFO shapes to function as custom envelope generators.
- Real-Time Trace Visualizer: Stochastic waveforms (Random, Drift, and Walk) display a rolling history trace in the modulation visualizer.
Sequencer and Song Mode Enhancements
Arrangement and pattern workflow have received several structural updates:
- Interactive Sequencer Range Ring: An interactive ribbon above the step matrix allows dynamic trimming and shifting of the active playback window (win_start and win_len) across 16, 32, or 64 steps, with automatic synchronization to step copy range controls (From, Len, To).
- Per-Pattern Start/Stop Clips: Each pattern (A–L) stores an independent Clip state per channel, with support for live-recorded automation overrides.
- Live Pattern Chain Growth: Activating recording while running Song Mode appends newly selected patterns to the chain dynamically in real time.
- Dynamic Window Sizing: The Song Automation panel utilizes a dynamic layout resize pipeline to preserve the working area of the upper voice editor.
Bit-Accurate Audio Export and Stem Bouncing
- Parity with Live Playback: Offline rendering of Master WAV files, individual drum stems, and MIDI export accurately processes active CLAP effect chains, per-voice BPM modulations, transport states, and recorded parameter automation curves.
- Export Tail and Solo Fixes: Channel release tails no longer retrigger pattern playback during bounce routines, and soloed stem export eliminates channel bleed.
Sample Slicing and Workflow Improvements
- Slice Routing Menu: Right-clicking a sliced region in the sample editor allows sending the trimmed audio file directly to another drum channel, a round-robin variant slot, or the noise engine.
- Multi-Variant Sample Drag-and-Drop: Dragging an audio file onto the Noise/Sample pad assigns the sample to the currently selected variant tab (A, B, C, or D).
- Persistent UI Scaling: Interface zoom settings (80%, 100%, 125%, 150%, or custom values) are saved to %APPDATA%tomicui_settings.json and persist across application restarts.
Real-Time Stability and Hardware Compatibility
- Audio Engine Safety: Protection against non-finite floating-point values (NaN/Inf), automated DSP state recovery following caught exceptions, and thread-safe atomic operations in MIDI CC Learn.
- ASIO Output-Only Mode: Resolves buffer invalidation issues on ASIO4ALL, Focusrite USB ASIO, and FL Studio ASIO drivers by operating exclusively in output streaming mode.
- Embedded Windows Metadata: Binary executables and plugin libraries include embedded application icons and VERSIONINFO metadata with compile-time build version reporting.
Pricing and Availability
TOMiC Drum Synth 0.6 is available now for Windows and Linux in Standalone, VST3, and CLAP (64-bit) formats:
- Price: €10 / $11 / 40 zł (one-time payment, lifetime license including all future updates).
- Upgrade Policy: Free update for all existing license holders.
- Compatibility Build: A dedicated installer for legacy systems without AVX2 processor instructions (TomicDrumSynth-Setup-0.6.0-compat.exe) is available.
For more details, audio demonstrations, and downloads, visit the official website at omnidaw.com/tomic or the OMNi Purchase Portal.
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