Aja on 26/12/2020 at 19:27
It's interesting that they didn't include most of their purely digital models like their looper or granular processor, which could actually probably be pretty close if not exact replicas. I wonder how their virtual analog modules compare to their actual analog ones.
Aja on 29/1/2021 at 19:36
Make Noise is coming out with a new box, made in collaboration with Alessandro Cortini (whom I'm not really familiar with, but I gather he's a big modular guy). It sounds nuts. At first I was like "nope" but after listening a few times I'm kinda tempted. Thinking about selling my Reface DX to put a down payment on a Strega, as they're calling it. I'm not always into stuff like this, but when it's Make Noise I give them the benefit of the doubt; everything they make is just fun to play with.
[video=youtube;8IBXTMnTBnM]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8IBXTMnTBnM[/video]
faetal on 29/1/2021 at 21:09
Alessandro Cortini is great.
As well as being a long term fixture of NIN's live band, he also makes some pretty awesome (
https://youtu.be/Z692ZUrNYs8) music.
I'm pretty tempted by the strega too, though I highly suspect I'd use it more as send effects than a synth.
demagogue on 30/1/2021 at 03:04
I like the creative way it's using contact pads as controllers to make it more hands-on, and the calm and clinical way he's explaining it while absolutely insane sounds are coming out. XD
I picked up the (
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OJqy1G-obqs) Plasmonic recently while it was on sale, mostly on the reputation of the creator (Brian Clevenger), who also made Absynth which I loved & what I learned to synth on. Its focus is on handing as much mod control to the user as possible, changing the waveform & effects on the fly, and physical modeling (naturalistic sound design), kind of the opposite philosophy of Absynth in a way (which was focused on the creator creating the waveform & long evolving modulation through the envelope, which sounded great but the user is just holding down a key and not participating much). So it lends itself to an aftertouch or MPE keyboard. It fits right in the zeitgeist with morphing alien physical modeling, like the soundtrack to Tenet, etc.
(
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GkKSGQrNEaQ) Qubit Surface is another physical modeling module that interests me. The popular one is Rings, but it may be starting to get overused as the sound is becoming cliche, at least in its vanilla form; it's not used as a processor as much.
Other things I was looking at was the abovementioned eonoise Quadrantid Swarm.
I wanted a simple & interactive sample-based drum machine, just so I could put some cool beats behind what I'm doing without having some massive piece of gear for it like the Digitakt. So far what I like the most is the Erica Synths (
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4vSlTkUR0Bg) Sample Drum.
I was also looking at the (
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wYdvjUsFPHE) Vector recently.
On the horizon, I'm still thinking about a Novation Summit for my main work station.
There's just so much out there though... It's hard to focus.
faetal on 30/1/2021 at 18:33
Quote Posted by demagogue
The popular one is Rings, but it may be starting to get overused as the sound is becoming cliche, at least in its vanilla form; it's not used as a processor as much.
Rings can be had for free in VCV rack anyways. I never got the cliché thing though. It either sounds good or not. I mean, piano and guitar are pretty ubiquitous, but how valuable they are within a piece of music isn't diminished relative to how many pieces they appear in. Novelty isn't an important indicator of quality.
Jason Moyer on 30/1/2021 at 19:36
The Strega looks awesome, I just wish it were either a modular module or part of a full instrument. Desktop modules are such a massive waste of space and power cables. Also kind of holding off on this because PghModular is supposed to be releasing a new VRL and some other system this summer.
demagogue on 31/1/2021 at 02:17
Quote Posted by faetal
Rings can be had for free in VCV rack anyways. I never got the cliché thing though. It either sounds good or not. I mean, piano and guitar are pretty ubiquitous, but how valuable they are within a piece of music isn't diminished relative to how many pieces they appear in. Novelty isn't an important indicator of quality.
Just really quick, I was repeating a point someone else was making that struck me too, but your (also correct) point makes me want to elaborate. The point should be that Rings is often being used in a really cliche way, where it's just dropped into a patch for some "organic flavor", almost like a wind chime. The whole problem is that it's so versatile, but you very often hear it used in the same way. So yeah, it's not because it's an overused sound per se; it's that there's not much thoughtfulness put in its use, which you could say the same about piano & guitar licks.
But, that said, there is one arguable difference between synthesized music & acoustic music, I think, which is that synth types should be a little more responsible for the actual sound because half of the art itself is about synthesizing sounds. It doesn't have to be, and plenty of people make plenty of great tunes or patches with stock voices (cf. the DX7), but I think there is a special admiration for people that make their own voices that have an iconic sound, like some of the most iconic electronic bands like NIN, Boards of Canada, Squarepusher, etc. You can tell right off when a pad or a lead voice has their sound.
PigLick on 31/1/2021 at 08:58
I am guilty of this, I have some vst's which have such great stock presets that I rarely push myself to create more unique sounds. But when I do it does make a difference.
demagogue on 2/4/2021 at 11:51
Guys, I think I found the perfect module. Only 2 hp, and if I had money I would bet you most of it that it's the most mathematically precise filter you can find out there.
Inline Image:
https://i.ibb.co/h106k9m/nopass.jpg
Jason Moyer on 2/4/2021 at 14:59
Moog just released some bundles of their semi-modular stuff with a few other goodies that hopefully they'll release separately (the mixer/power splitter and cable holder). Seems like a good deal for anyone wanting to dip their toes into some Mooginess:
[video=youtube;7hDYJY7t41Q]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7hDYJY7t41Q[/video]