Updates/Releases for Mac OS X

I finally got my hands on a nice pre-owned Apple Mac Mini at a reasonable price from that well-known online auction site 😉 so I’ve been able to update the Mac OS X version of the Blue Nebula Librarian app to the latest version (4.03) and the new MemBuilder app is now available for Mac OS X too.

My Mac Mini is running macOS Sierra 10.12.6 but these apps should work with any Mac OS X from 10.9 onwards.

Important: If you are new to these Blue Nebula apps and you haven’t already done so, you will need to install the Java Runtime Environment (JRE) from this page on the Oracle website (choose the .dmg Mac OS X file).

To allow the Librarian and the Blue Nebula to communicate with each other you will also need to install the driver for the CH340 USB-Serial chip in the Blue Nebula, if you haven’t already done so before. (This driver is not required for MemBuilder).

Since the last release of Librarian for Mac OS X I have found a ‘signed’ version of the driver which simplifies the installation. You can find the driver here and once it’s been downloaded to your Mac double click it to unzip it, then double-click CH34x_Install_V1.4.pkg and follow the instructions. Restart your computer after installing. When you connect the Blue Nebula to your Mac and run the Librarian, click the Serial Port drop down and you should see /dev/cu/wchusbserial440 in the list (the number may differ). This is your Blue Nebula’s serial port.

If you are a Mac OS X user please leave a comment below to let me know that you are using these apps.

MemBuilder – a New App

The Blue Nebula guitar effects pedal has two memory banks which can store effect programs: MEM1 contains the standard 8 programs mainly focussed on emulations of vintage echo machines such as the Meazzi Echomatic 1 and 2 and the Vox Long Tom. MEM2 contains a second set of 8 effects that are usually programmed at the factory with other effects including emulations of the Binson Echorec 2 machine. Each effect occupies one of the 8 ‘slots’ available in the memory bank.

MemBuilder is a Java app that allows a Blue Nebula user to assemble their own set of up to eight effect programs from special ‘effects’ files, as made available on this site, by StanleyFX or third parties, for upload to the Blue Nebula’s MEM2 memory bank. The already-available Blue Nebula Librarian/Editor app is used to perform the transfer of the effects file produced by MemBuilder. This allows the ordinary user to decide on which effects are of most use to them without having to rely on a pre-determined set of effects installed by Stanley FX or supplied by a third party.

Important Note: if you have already created some User Patches that use any of the existing effects in MEM2 then these will now use the new effects that you have uploaded so obviously they will sound different. Any patches using the effects in MEM1 will not be affected.

You can download the MemBuilder app (available for Windows 32 and 64 bit operating systems and Apple macOS) from the Latest Updates Here link in the menu bar above.

I’ve put together a selection of 20 or so effects for you to try out and hopefully more will be added in due course. You can have a look at these and download them from the MemBuilder Effect Files link in the menu bar above.

 

Blue Nebula Librarian Updated

I’ve just updated the Blue Nebula Librarian app which is now Version 4.03. Apart from a couple of cosmetic improvements the main change is to correct a bug that caused the Librarian to send incorrect values for the P2 ‘flag’ when uploading a DSP program to MEM 2. This flag tells the Blue Nebula whether to display P2 as ‘ABCEF’ or as a numeric value between 0 and 100.

You can download the latest version of Librarian for Windows 32-bit and 64-bit on the Latest Updates Here page – link above in the menu bar. Update: Apple macOS X version is now available 🙂

Librarian User Guide in French

Guide de l’utilisateur Bibliothécaire en français

Many thanks to Michel Nogré for his hard work in translating the User Guide for the Blue Nebula Librarian into French. Michel is now enjoying a hard-earned rest on a beach in Barbados 🙂

Si vous souhaitez télécharger le nouveau guide, il est disponible sur la page ‘Latest Updates Here’ (“Dernières mises à jour ici”)

Manuel d’utilisation de la Blue Nebula

Now, thanks to the efforts of Michel Nogre, we have the Blue Nebula User Manual available in French – Manuel d’utilisation de la Blue Nebula.

The link to this and all the latest guides, software and firmware is, as always, in the Navigation bar above, under ‘Latest Updates Here’.

Michel will get to work on translating the Librarian Guide when he gets back from his holiday.

Editor de patches/Librarian para el Blue Nebula

Many thanks to Pancho Diaz for his hard work in translating the Blue Nebula Librarian User Guide into Spanish which you can download from the ‘Latest Updates Here’ link on the navigation bar above.

Manual de Usario Español por Blue Nebula

Many thanks to Pancho Diaz for translating the Blue Nebula User Manual into Spanish. Hopefully this will help the Spanish-speaking Blue Nebula owners to get the most out of their pedals. You can download the manual here or from the ‘Latest Updates Here’ link on the menu bar above.

Pancho is currently working on the Spanish translation of the Librarian User Guide so check back here soon for news of this.