Scott Lumsden Blue and Pink is a new open-source feature-rich MIDI editor for the Dreadbox Nymphes analog polyphonic Synthesizer.
The Dreadbox Nymphes is a great-sounding desktop analog Synthesizer for little money. More of it is Dreadbox’s take on the Roland Juno, as some say. The portable 6-voice polysynth has one weakness, though: the interface.
Even though it has 14 sliders, and two knobs (knob + knob switch), many parameters are hidden behind display-less menu diving. An editor is needed. There are a few: Tim Shoebridge’s NymphCC editor for Cherry Audio Voltage Modular, midierror’s editor for Ableton Live M4L… Unfortunately, many of them are very basic and a bit half-baked.
Scott Lumsden Blue and Pink
There is a new one that is even deeper and smarter implemented. Scott Lumsden has released Blue and Pink, an open-source editor/librarian for the Dreadbox Nymphes. One thing in advance: the editor currently only runs on macOS (native Apple Silicon + Intel).
I have no information on whether Windows or Linux support will be added. However, anyone who can program and use Python should also be able to use it on other platforms.
Blue and Pink is a patch editor and librarian for the Dreadbox Nymphes. Once the MIDI setup is complete and the Nymphes are connected to your computer, the software recognizes the synth and loads the patches from memory. Then, the editing fun can begin.
If you move a slider on the Nymphes hardware, the software follows, and vice versa. The editor exposes all the features of the Greek polysynth.
This starts with the choice of voice mode: Poly, unison A/B, and so on. Then, you have the individual sections of the analog engine: oscillator, filter, amp and filter envelopes, two LFOs, and reverb.
The assignment of the modulators is nicely implemented. Under each parameter is a modulation matrix with four modulator slots: LFO2, mod wheel, velocity, and aftertouch. Each modulator is color-coded and easily mappable to the parameter.
Chord Editor & Librarian
Further, the Dreadbox Nymphes has an extensive chord engine that is a bit unsexy to program from the hardware. Scott Lumsden has also visualized and made it editable in the Blue and Pink Editor. On a dedicated page, you can program eight chord sets of the Nymphes, which are then saved as part of the patch.
As already mentioned, the Blue and Pink is also a librarian. The software reads the patches from the hardware and can also write them to the hardware factory and user banks. This makes it easy to manage your custom patches.
Finally, Scott Lumsden added support for Nymphes’ fine mode, which provides high-resolution control of the parameters using MIDI sysex messages. More precisely, Nymphes stores most sound parameters at a higher resolution than the 0-127 integer values supported by traditional MIDI CC messages.
First Impression
At first look, Blue and Pink looks like an excellent editor and librarian that lets you control everything in Dreadbox Nymphes. I’m looking forward to using it. It would be nice if there were a Windows version in the future.
Scott Lumsden Blue and Pink is now available as an open-source file on GitHub for Python programmers. The ready-to-use and built version runs as a standalone app on macOS (native Apple Silicon + Intel) and costs $20. A Windows version is not available. You can download a demo version on the site.
More information here: Scott Lumsden
Available at my partner
Hello, I’m the developer of Blue and Pink Synth Editor. Thank you so much for your kind words. Support for Windows is the next big thing I’ll be working on. I expect it to be ready by end of May 2025 (if not sooner).