Project Focus: vStack

Not every project is an installation or museum piece. Sometimes, a project will be a software package - and occasionally even a commercial (for-money) project. I consider these packages to be interesting, because they allow us to embrace someone’s development process, but inject our own content into the process.

I’m a big fan of loopers, so when I saw the overview of vStack, I jumped right onto the train. This standalone application does a few things that are unusual for Max-based applications, and especially drew me in with its ability to add channels with the click of a button.

As I got further into it, I kept finding new and interesting additions to the looper paradigm. Using channels rather than overdubbing means that you a lot of options for post-recording mixes. The ability to mix live recordings with pre-recorded audio files changes things up, too; it means that you can create hybrid performance systems that can be both controlled and chaotic.

Finally, it puts together a really nice effects routing and mixing system that perfectly aligns with my ideas for a simple-but-effective performance system. Simple channel sends combine with matrix-based routing and cross-mixing (and some really well-implemented effects) to create a fast and fun programming system.

I’m loving this device, and am really glad that it showed up in our Projects gallery. It is a paid app (it runs 15 euro - but a demo is available), but looping fanatics will find it well worth the investment to try some new ideas in the looping space. Thanks to Granny’s Audio for putting this out!