MSoundFactory free CM Pluck

[Fleer]

Great review in the August issue of Computer Music (p. 38) and a free CM Pluck instrument by Melda.

[cclarry]

https://www.zinio.com/computer-music-m3730

[Starship Krupa]

As much of a fan of both Meldaproduction and CM, this is coming off as kinda half-baked. The instructions in the magazine say that they will try to make some presets available at File Silo, but if they're up there, I can't find them.

Also, the synth's main UI is 4 knobs and 4 horizontal sliders. The sliders are operated by placing your cursor on the knob and then dragging up and down. Note that I said "horizontal" sliders. If you try to drag left and right, nothing happens.

Meldaproduction's patch browser is one of the company's weaker elements, and since MSoundFactory makes extensive use of browsing for instruments and patches, this is reflected in the product. I've yet to spend as much time lost in a softsynth's patch browser as I have with MSoundFactory, which is even weirder because the thing stock only comes with 2 instruments, the excellent grand piano and a really great-sounding synth called Super Saw. Word to the wise: once you finally get the UI of the instrument you want to show up, immediately make a DAW preset for the plug-in, before you touch or click on anything else. Failure to do so may result in your life ebbing away 5 minutes at a time while you repeatedly try to "get back" to where you last saw the piano or synth. What's that you say, you should be able to just search and find it? You are correct, you should. I'll let that one stand there.

I tried the "download presets" button but it said I wasn't a licensed user, a condition that I am sure will prevail until such time as someone gives me the  MCompleteBundle. An instrument is a different thing from an effect, and Meldaproduction's "Poindexter Jumps Down The Rabbit Hole" schtick works fine for the latter but not for the former.

[Sander Verstraten]

Next month seems to be MiniMoog month, wonder which one we'll get for free: IK's (again?), Arturia's or any other contender?

[Eusebio Rufian-Zilbermann]

45 minutes ago, Sander Verstraten said:

Next month seems to be MiniMoog month, wonder which one we'll get for free

For a companion to a "Moog, Arp and Roland" article, it could be one of the cherryaudio VIs https://store.cherryaudio.com/instruments

[kitekrazy]

1 hour ago, Starship Krupa said:

As much of a fan of both Meldaproduction and CM, this is coming off as kinda half-baked. The instructions in the magazine say that they will try to make some presets available at File Silo, but if they're up there, I can't find them.

Also, the synth's main UI is 4 knobs and 4 horizontal sliders. The sliders are operated by placing your cursor on the knob and then dragging up and down. Note that I said "horizontal" sliders. If you try to drag left and right, nothing happens.

Meldaproduction's patch browser is one of the company's weaker elements, and since MSoundFactory makes extensive use of browsing for instruments and patches, this is reflected in the product. I've yet to spend as much time lost in a softsynth's patch browser as I have with MSoundFactory, which is even weirder because the thing stock only comes with 2 instruments, the excellent grand piano and a really great-sounding synth called Super Saw. Word to the wise: once you finally get the UI of the instrument you want to show up, immediately make a DAW preset for the plug-in, before you touch or click on anything else. Failure to do so may result in your life ebbing away 5 minutes at a time while you repeatedly try to "get back" to where you last saw the piano or synth. What's that you say, you should be able to just search and find it? You are correct, you should. I'll let that one stand there.

I tried the "download presets" button but it said I wasn't a licensed user, a condition that I am sure will prevail until such time as someone gives me the  MCompleteBundle. An instrument is a different thing from an effect, and Meldaproduction's "Poindexter Jumps Down The Rabbit Hole" schtick works fine for the latter but not for the former.

Yep. I'm no longer impressed with free stuff in any of the magazines. 

[Fleer]

Those two Kilohearts EQs (Carve and Slice) were up there with the best. Thanks to CM. 

[Brian Walton]

1 hour ago, Starship Krupa said:

As much of a fan of both Meldaproduction and CM, this is coming off as kinda half-baked. The instructions in the magazine say that they will try to make some presets available at File Silo, but if they're up there, I can't find them.

Also, the synth's main UI is 4 knobs and 4 horizontal sliders. The sliders are operated by placing your cursor on the knob and then dragging up and down. Note that I said "horizontal" sliders. If you try to drag left and right, nothing happens.

Meldaproduction's patch browser is one of the company's weaker elements, and since MSoundFactory makes extensive use of browsing for instruments and patches, this is reflected in the product. I've yet to spend as much time lost in a softsynth's patch browser as I have with MSoundFactory, which is even weirder because the thing stock only comes with 2 instruments, the excellent grand piano and a really great-sounding synth called Super Saw. Word to the wise: once you finally get the UI of the instrument you want to show up, immediately make a DAW preset for the plug-in, before you touch or click on anything else. Failure to do so may result in your life ebbing away 5 minutes at a time while you repeatedly try to "get back" to where you last saw the piano or synth. What's that you say, you should be able to just search and find it? You are correct, you should. I'll let that one stand there.

I tried the "download presets" button but it said I wasn't a licensed user, a condition that I am sure will prevail until such time as someone gives me the  MCompleteBundle. An instrument is a different thing from an effect, and Meldaproduction's "Poindexter Jumps Down The Rabbit Hole" schtick works fine for the latter but not for the former.

I haven't loaded it yet.  

It is just a stripped down version of something MSF owners already have, or something we would actually need to download to get from CM?

[Brian Walton]

4 hours ago, Brian Walton said:

I haven't loaded it yet.  

It is just a stripped down version of something MSF owners already have, or something we would actually need to download to get from CM?

Answering my own question, it seems to be different than anything else I have in the MSF_LE

[kitekrazy]

5 hours ago, Fleer said:

Those two Kilohearts EQs (Carve and Slice) were up there with the best. Thanks to CM. 

Yep and I think those helped reduced the price to the Kilo everything bundle.

[Starship Krupa]

There are some fantastic gems in the CM FX plug-in vault. Unfiltered Audio G8CM, the HY create-your-own multieffect, Boz-JST Sidewidener to name a few. I find the instruments to be less interesting. I think I prefer my synths either ROMpler or fairly straight ahead rather than learning a whole new paradigm, and theirs tend toward the latter. The ADM-CM drum machine is a notable exception. It's a Roland-alike that comes stock with 606 sounds, but each slot can be replaced with the excellent samples that CM includes.

This CM Pluck thing works as bait to get people to install MSoundFactory, but by itself, I haven't found it very compelling. Maybe if they get some presets going. It's odd, Vojtech is arguably the industry leader in freebie enticements, seems like they could have done better with this.

Edited June 17, 2021 by Starship Krupa

[Brian Walton]

17 minutes ago, Starship Krupa said:

There are some fantastic gems in the CM FX plug-in vault. Unfiltered Audio G8CM, the HY create-your-own multieffect, Boz-JST Sidewidener to name a few. I find the instruments to be less interesting. I think I prefer my synths either ROMpler or fairly straight ahead rather than learning a whole new paradigm, and theirs tend toward the latter. The ADM-CM drum machine is a notable exception. It's a Roland-alike that comes stock with 606 sounds, but each slot can be replaced with the excellent samples that CM includes.

This CM Pluck thing works as bait to get people to install MSoundFactory, but by itself, I haven't found it very compelling. Maybe if they get some presets going. It's odd, Vojtech is arguably the industry leader in freebie enticements, seems like they could have done better with this.

Agree on CM Pluck, but the free piano is a legit premium freebie.  it is also a bit odd it isn't included in MSF since the premise of buying that is "you get everything we will release" but they put a foot note that there might be exceptions...though I expected the exceptions to be some sort of monster instrument(s).  

I'll take it as a good sign they are still developing more, I don't think it is anywhere near the potential yet.

[Fleer]

MSF v15 has Pluckiano and Pluck Pad among its newly added instruments. I presume they’re CM Pluck’s siblings. 

[Starship Krupa]

31 minutes ago, Brian Walton said:

I don't think it is anywhere near the potential yet.

I'm not going to spring for it unless it gets put on some deep discount at a reseller or whatever, but man, those oscillators sound ferocious on Super Saw. I'm guessing that MPowerSynth uses the same oscillator code (Vojtech being the king of code reuse). I just have way too many synths as it is, especially after Ocean Swift released theirs as freeware.

[kitekrazy]

2 hours ago, Brian Walton said:

Agree on CM Pluck, but the free piano is a legit premium freebie.  it is also a bit odd it isn't included in MSF since the premise of buying that is "you get everything we will release" but they put a foot note that there might be exceptions...though I expected the exceptions to be some sort of monster instrument(s).  

I'll take it as a good sign they are still developing more, I don't think it is anywhere near the potential yet.

I think it's the end user that isn't near the potential. One could probably go crazy on this.  I started watching the videos on this.

[Brian Walton]

2 hours ago, Fleer said:

MSF v15 has Pluckiano and Pluck Pad among its newly added instruments. I presume they’re CM Pluck’s siblings. 

That was the first thing I looked at.  I only did a 10 min test but the layout/controls and sound of CM Pluck did not match up wiht any of the "Pluck" labeled instruments in MSF_LE according to what I saw/heared.

19 minutes ago, Paul Young said:

I think it's the end user that isn't near the potential. One could probably go crazy on this.  I started watching the videos on this.

Yes and no.  My thoughts

1)  This isn't just a synth and it certainly doesn't come with so many samples that one could treat it like a massive instrument library out of the box.  

2)  Yes, if you have the FULL version (not the LE) you can get into lots of controls and as a synth have to imagine it is insanely deep.....but a synth isn't say a Saxaphone.   Most end users can't be expected to sample a few hundred instruments then create a custom interface for them, etc.  MSF is a hybrid of sorts in that it can act as a sample player with extra controls or a full blown synth.  The Synth part has a ton to offer out of the box.  As a sample based instrument the offering right now is tiny compared to the "market leader"

3)  LE version gives a surprising amount of tweakability to existing sounds, patches....but honeslty still feels very "synth" like over all, when the sampling possibility like we get with the Grand Piano means there is a whole world that is untapped with this product - if those samples were included and in an instrument format (for the LE users, Full Users obviously could create using the samples.

1 hour ago, Starship Krupa said:

I'm not going to spring for it unless it gets put on some deep discount at a reseller or whatever, but man, those oscillators sound ferocious on Super Saw. I'm guessing that MPowerSynth uses the same oscillator code (Vojtech being the king of code reuse). I just have way too many synths as it is, especially after Ocean Swift released theirs as freeware.

I got LE when it was the typical half off.  We can expect that price to continue to increase if they really do put the development and build out into it.  Since they offer free updates for life - my thinking was - get it while I can afford it.  It is unlikley I'd ever jump to the full version due to the cost.  But since the LE version should come with all the instruments it is less limited than many would expect.  Those extra tabs of controls pack a big punch.

Edited June 18, 2021 by Brian Walton

[Anxiousmofo]

The full MSF is a ridiculously powerful playground. Crazy value, especially on sale. 

I'm not wowed by most of the factory stuff so far, but holy hell on the range of the tools themselves.  It's not terribly straightforward, but the depth is generous and inspiring. 

[Starship Krupa]

19 hours ago, Brian Walton said:

I got LE when it was the typical half off.  We can expect that price to continue to increase if they really do put the development and build out into it.  Since they offer free updates for life - my thinking was - get it while I can afford it.

I'm hoping to harvest some more referral credits before the next storewide half off. If I have enough and there's nothing else I want (I'm still just scratching the surface of my EssentialFX bundle), I might just spring for the LE. I definitely DO have more than enough synths, but I'm a Meldamoonie. As for price increases, I've seen him do that with bundles more than individual plug-ins.

One thing that has inspired me to mess with MSFP a bit more is that I've been chatting with a couple of the guys who have been making instruments for it (and giving them away for free). HorusAnd in particular. One scary thing: Horus told me that a Meldaproduction update broke some of the 3rd-party instruments, which, if people are going to be making these things and selling licenses for them, raises some questions about how long it would take the 3rd-party developers to fix whatever might get broken. 😬

For anyone new to Meldaproduction, you get 20% your first purchase if you use my referral code: MELDA1923165. Also sign up for their newsletter and get a coupon for $10. Combining these things can get you a pretty good discount, especially when they're having one of their half-off sales.

Edited June 18, 2021 by Starship Krupa