Craig Anderton Posted June 13, 2021 Share Posted June 13, 2021 I love Rapture Pro, and have developed a zillion sounds for it. But it has its quirks, and BandLab doesn't seem to have any interest in nailing down a few remaining issues. And of course, maybe someday an OS change or something will kill it. So... Has anyone found a virtual instrument that's as flexible as Rapture Pro? You can convince Kontakt to do a lot of the same things, but it's a more cumbersome process. I'm looking forward to any recommendations. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lynn Wilson Posted June 13, 2021 Share Posted June 13, 2021 Xpand 2! by AIR is dirt cheap, able to output on 4 MIDI channels, and has a ton of presets in almost any category with a nice set of built in effects. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
abacab Posted June 13, 2021 Share Posted June 13, 2021 1 hour ago, Lynn Wilson said: Xpand 2! by AIR is dirt cheap, able to output on 4 MIDI channels, and has a ton of presets in almost any category with a nice set of built in effects. Ha! That one's probably deader than Rapture Pro! But as a ROMpler VSTi, I still like Xpand!2, as it's light and quick and has over 2,500 sounds. But it's not even close to Rapture, as you cannot load your own samples, and the available tweaks are limited. Mostly just a few performance macros. More like Rapture Session, but with way more sounds... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
abacab Posted June 13, 2021 Share Posted June 13, 2021 (edited) 1 hour ago, Craig Anderton said: I love Rapture Pro, and have developed a zillion sounds for it. But it has its quirks, and BandLab doesn't seem to have any interest in nailing down a few remaining issues. And of course, maybe someday an OS change or something will kill it. So... Has anyone found a virtual instrument that's as flexible as Rapture Pro? You can convince Kontakt to do a lot of the same things, but it's a more cumbersome process. I'm looking forward to any recommendations. Have you tried Arturia's Pigments 3 yet? That's a sound designers wet dream! Combine any 2 of these engines, plus the Utility Engine, in a single patch (the analog engine contains 3 oscillators): Sample & granular engine Browse hundreds of instrument samples and loops, import your own, and transform them into genre-defying granular patches. Warp, contort, stretch, and modulate samples down to the finest detail. Harmonic engine Cutting-edge additive synthesis that lets you forge curious & tangible timbres from scratch, from plastic tubular resonance to evolving vowel-like swells - in vivid harmonic detail. Virtual analog engine Energize your mix with coveted analog warmth and irresistible vintage charm, inspired by the greatest synths ever made, courtesy of our award-winning analog emulation technology. Wavetable engine Animate, distort, or morph through over 160 wavetables, bringing a vast spectrum of breathy, glassy, and abrasive digital sounds. Perfect for everything from roof-raising bass music to hyperpop toplines. Utility engine Used in conjunction with Pigments’ dual sound engines, the Utility engine lets you add an extra oscillator to the mix, complemented by 2 noise sample players, ensuring that your sound always has the depth and detail it deserves. https://www.arturia.com/products/analog-classics/pigments/overview#en This video is a brief overview of the first Pigments version, before they added the additional synth engines (such as the sample & granular engine), but the user friendly interface and workflow have mainly remained the same: Edited June 13, 2021 by abacab Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Craig Anderton Posted June 13, 2021 Author Share Posted June 13, 2021 Re Xpand, I'm definitely not looking for a ROMpler. Pigments sounds promising, to say the least. I have a bunch of friends who love it, but haven't gotten around to checking it out yet. Thanks for the push! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peter C Posted June 13, 2021 Share Posted June 13, 2021 2 hours ago, Lynn Wilson said: Xpand 2! by AIR is dirt cheap, able to output on 4 MIDI channels, and has a ton of presets in almost any category with a nice set of built in effects. Plugin Boutique have this on at £11.95 at the moment. UI is pretty dreadful but there's a lot there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
abacab Posted June 13, 2021 Share Posted June 13, 2021 2 hours ago, Peter C said: Plugin Boutique have this on at £11.95 at the moment. UI is pretty dreadful but there's a lot there. If you don't know Craig, he worked for Gibson when they used to own Cakewalk, and was the resident DAW guru around here. Sound design is one of his many talents, and I'm sure it is going to take much more than a cheap unsupported synth, with no sound design features, to tickle his fancy, LOL!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Craig Anderton Posted June 14, 2021 Author Share Posted June 14, 2021 4 hours ago, abacab said: If you don't know Craig, he worked for Gibson when they used to own Cakewalk, and was the resident DAW guru around here. Sound design is one of his many talents, and I'm sure it is going to take much more than a cheap unsupported synth, with no sound design features, to tickle his fancy, LOL!!! Yeah, but sometimes you just need a decent GM instrument. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
abacab Posted June 14, 2021 Share Posted June 14, 2021 17 minutes ago, Craig Anderton said: Yeah, but sometimes you just need a decent GM instrument. TTS-1 👍 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Promidi Posted June 14, 2021 Share Posted June 14, 2021 3 hours ago, Craig Anderton said: Yeah, but sometimes you just need a decent GM instrument. This is why I still use the Yamaha SW1000XG (in another PC connected via USB to MIDI)..... no VST can touch it (probably never will)... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Magic Russ Posted June 15, 2021 Share Posted June 15, 2021 For me, part of the joy of Rapture was the multiple step generators and such. I think the easiest way to create a lot of those sounds might be to set up a multi-output Kontakt instrument and put an instance of Guitar Rig on whichever outputs you want those kinds of step modulators. I know this might not be the first thing that comes to mind, but Absynth actually has a few things in common with Rapture. It does allow you to add your own waveforms, and has multiple multi-stage envelopes that can be tempo synced and set to modulate any parameter. Granted, the filters don't sound like any analog filters but that's not always necessary. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Magic Russ Posted June 15, 2021 Share Posted June 15, 2021 On 6/13/2021 at 7:32 PM, Craig Anderton said: Yeah, but sometimes you just need a decent GM instrument. A while back, Computer Music used to include user produced tracks that they would comment on. Someone submitted a track made with only CM-101 which actually sounded pretty good. For those who don't remember, CM-101 was a very simple software synth which they gave away with the magazine about 20 years ago. It sounded very basic, even by the standards of the first few years of the millenium, when some people thought Pentagon was the greatest synth of all time. You may be wondering how this guy managed to come up with a cool track with such a limited synth? Clever use of effects. Now I'm inspired to create the most amazing tracks with TTS-1 and every effect in my catalog. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Fogarty Posted June 24, 2021 Share Posted June 24, 2021 (edited) deleted my post. I misunderstood what you are looking for. Edited June 27, 2021 by Michael Fogarty clarity Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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