PG-8X (2.0) released – Page 39 – Instruments Forum

martin_l wrote: ↑

Thu Nov 18, 2021 8:33 am

To be honest. I was planning for a long time to update the pg-8x (only did not have the time for it). But now I am getting more hesitant. Having the pg-8x plugin available while there was no alternative from Roland was one thing, but I am slightly nervous that now with the JX-8P officially available as VST from Roland, any further development on the free plugin might be welcome by Roland. So, I am not quite sure what to do…

I’m no lawyer, but as pointed out, there are lots of Roland clones out there, some freeware, some commercial. Just don’t make the GUI too close to the Roland hardware (you’re already good there) and don’t use any Roland trademarks (you’re already good there) or copyrighted material (like including factory presets which you don’t).

I think there’s a lot of great reasons to update PG-8X as pointed out already. One, it’s freeware! Thanks for that. Two, people seem to prefer the sound of it. Three, people will prefer the GUI. Four, you could look to expand it into an MKS-70 if you wanted, and there’s no competing version of that. Five, people with a recent Mac would love you for a Mac version that runs on Apple Silicon just to keep it alive on their newer machines.

It’s an excellent freebie and worth continuing IMO. Thanks for making it! Worst case, if you were planning on abandoning it, you could always look to open sourcing it. It may never get picked up by anyone, but you never know if the Surge guys or someone may take an interest.