IMPORTANT: Check out our new page for sound designers at http://land.percussa.com/audiocubes-evolvor/
Recommended: LoopShaper for AudioCubes
Our flagship application to use AudioCubes for sound design is called LoopShaper.
Reveal the hidden potential of your VST instruments
There exist a lot of free and commercial synths as VST instruments, which can create interesting sounds if (ab)used in certain ways. However, part of the “parameter space” of these synths remains unexplored, because with a knob box you can only turn 2 knobs at a time at most.
If you are specially gifted and are able to turn three knobs at the same time you could access a three-dimensional parameter space at best.
With AudioCubes, you could access a 4D space per cube used, because each cube has 4 built-in optical sensors which controls 4 parameters. 
We made an interesting tool called LoopShaper, that lets you design sounds and loops using VST instruments, by simply using your hands, fingers and two audiocubes.
By moving your hands and fingers in front of the AudioCubes’ sensors you can have control over 4 parameters of a VST instrument.
Of course there are ways provided to scale and invert parameter data and there is a visual display of the parameter level to give you feedback during your work.
Design sound using only AudioCubes and a VST instrument
LoopShaper is a standalone application capable of hosting a VST instrument, and letting you play the instrument using one cube for note triggers, and another cube for controlling 4 parameters of the synth simultaneously, letting you access an area of sound outside easily accessible regions in parameter space.
ASIO is supported in LoopShaper, so if you have a high-end audio interface which comes with ASIO support you can use it in LoopShaper and get low latency. If you don’t have such an audio interface you can still use the standard sound card that comes with your computer.
The cubes’ colours can be set for visual reference. They help you remember the function of the cubes and help set a mood (if you want).
The application will loop over a bar and let you record the parameter changes you applied with your hands. It will repeat whatever you recorded and let you record on top of it. Finally, you can also record the audio output to disk as a WAV file, and there is a metronome which you can turn on and off. You can set the number of beats in a bar, set the tempo, etc.
After you’ve recorded a lot of ideas and raw material using loopshaper, you can then import the resulting WAV files in other software to cut or to mix them, alter them and create a composition or new sound from them, using the material as building blocks. When you record the WAV files you can choose from different formats. Of course, you can also use the WAV loops without further processing if you want. It’s all up to you.
If you’d like to work with multiple loops you can store and recall them easily using computer keyboard shortcuts. Eight slots are available for storage and recall.
The faces of the cube which is used to control the instrument parameters can be assigned easily to the parameters of the VST instrument. There is a drop down menu of parameter names next to each of the faces. There is a way to adjust the gain of the sensors for optimal mapping and use with the synth parameters being controlled. For the note triggering cube you can choose which face triggers what note. This way you can make sure the notes are in the same key.
There is also a decay knob which lets you determine how much of the previous recording of the loop is remembered for playback. You can adjust the knob to remember all of the interaction, or you can set it such that nothing will be remembered. There is a lock checkbox which you can use to freeze the looping parameter changes which you recorded.
More focus, more listening, less clutter, less distraction
Because LoopShaper has a minimal but powerful set of features, it lets you focus more on creating sound, listening, and the interaction with the cubes, and forget for a moment about your computer, which is not the case if you’re running a full DAW with all the configuration possibilities (and hence distraction). We believe that a certain level of minimalism helps you focus, and that software with too many features is not to your advantage as a creative person. It should be all about the sound and your interaction with it.
Better speed and resolution, better experience
The application itself talks directly to the AudioCubes hardware for tight synchronization and rock solid performance (we use USB HID which gives us a 1kHz update rate and 10 bit resolution, so much better than MIDI). We developed the latest version in C++ with help of the JUCE toolkit, and it looks and works exactly the same on both Mac and PC. We’ve made the application as easy to use as possible, so you won’t be clicking through a series of drop down menus and option menus to find what you need. It’s all there in one screen with clear layout.
Flexible integration
If you use Max/MSP, you’ll be pleased to know we have a software development kit available. For more advanced programming we have a static C library available, to let you integrate AudioCubes in your own software. You can get the development kit from the downloads page here.
More Info
You can read more about LoopShaper on its application page here.
LoopShaper is available for download at http://www.percussa.com/downloads/
There is also a user’s manual on our wiki at http://manuals.percussa.com/
If you don’t have any VST instruments yet you can find some free ones at http://www.kvr-vst.com/. There are quite a few excellent VST instruments available for free.
[...] has launched an application for AudioCubes called LoopShaper, the first app in a series of tools we are releasing to let you use AudioCubes without needing [...]