Sander Verstraten Posted February 10, 2020 Share Posted February 10, 2020 Hi music creating friends, a somewhat different ask: I want to up my game in audio production. And one of the things I want to focus on is sound design. That's why I want to deep dive into one VSTi Synth. Which one should I take? Options on the table: - Absynth - FM8 - Massive - Massive X - ANA 2 - Ultra Analog VA3 - Z3TA+ 2 The kinds of sounds I would like to focus on: 70s Prog, Synthwave and Soundscapes Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mesh Posted February 10, 2020 Share Posted February 10, 2020 I'm also very interested in this topic Sander and still learning to use VSTi synths. That being said, I ended up getting Arturia's V Collection and extremely happy with their sounds. There's just sooo many synths in this, I get lost in playing (easy to tweak as well). Anyway when you said 70's Prog, I've been playing around with the Mini V and just love it.....really good if you like the Moog sounds. I have most of the synths you mentioned, but Arturia' stuff is fantastic. Looking forward to getting some good tips on sound design...total newbie here. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tezza Posted February 10, 2020 Share Posted February 10, 2020 Also interested in this, I'm not really a synth sound design person, tend to stick with presets with a little tweaking. I've got a bunch of synths, most of which I never use. I find them frustrating. trying to create a sound from scratch or deeply twiddling with presets just results in a time destroying, horrible noise for me. Sorry, I can't help but I am sure someone will come along who can., Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Starise Posted February 10, 2020 Share Posted February 10, 2020 (edited) If your goal is to take raw sound waves and make them into a sound you like Absynth has some very deep programming capability. It's an older synth, but you really can't exhaust the potential it has with imagination. The guy in the video owns Plug In Guru. No plug here for them specifically, but he really knows what he's doing . Has made sounds for just about all of the major synth makers. I have all of the others and they are also full of potential in their own way. Many of these simply let you tweak what's already there which is fine...if you want to start from scratch though, Absynth is a good place to start. There are plenty of other newer kids on the block too. Have you looked at Serum? You could literally get lost in this stuff and never come out...endless possibilities, which is why I choose to let the sound design up to those experts and tweak the sounds I have to get what I want. Automation/ tweaking- That's another thing altogether which can also get deep since you program parts midi cc # to controls and this can make the synths come alive in a mix. Edited February 10, 2020 by Starise 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
msmcleod Posted February 10, 2020 Share Posted February 10, 2020 I would recommend adding SynthMaster & Omnisphere to your list, especially with regard to your interest in 70's prog (synthmaster) and soundscapes (omnisphere). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sander Verstraten Posted February 10, 2020 Author Share Posted February 10, 2020 Yeah thought there were too many options. In regards to learning Synths, anyone used Synthorial, I believe it was called? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Starise Posted February 10, 2020 Share Posted February 10, 2020 This is potentially the beginning of a 50 page thread ........we are literally overloaded with possibilities. Some of them very accessible, better said inexpensive. I have to hand it to the programmers. Amazing bunch they are. Thankfully I can attempt to make music and am more than happy to let them do what they do.? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mettelus Posted February 10, 2020 Share Posted February 10, 2020 The layout of synths is pretty similar, so from a "sound design" perspective, understanding one would be an agnostic venture. For "tweaking presets," that is an entirely different animal. Case in point... if you open Z3TA+ 2 and then initialize it, that is a nice reality check to "so how do I create the sound in my head?" If this is really your intent; again, the chosen synth is not as paramount as understanding its guts. This is a nice walk through of sound design from scratch with Z3TA+ 2 from way back when. The concepts in it are universal, and the work he does is just scratching the surface on the guts of what is available (he only walks through very specific targets). As for "tweaking presets"... a massive portion of that comes from Cutoff and Resonance with pre-existing patches. Modulation Matrix adds a lot to the mix as well. Bottom line... it depends if you want to invest the time into programming from scratch (that often thwarts most out the chute). 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Christian Jones Posted February 10, 2020 Share Posted February 10, 2020 If 70's prog synth is what you want you can't pass up Synth Magic. I have several of his synths and they're some of the best available and not for too much money either especially when they're on sale. If you were to get just one of his synths I'd get the Quadra - it's flat out dope and Steve (the dev) said it's the best thing he's ever made (to date). The presets alone on all of his synths are awesome, no filler, just great presets as is or for great starting points. His synths use genuine samples of the hardware synths he created these from rather than modeling (nothing wrong with modeling per se, just saying). You do need the full version of Kontakt 5x but it looks like you probably have that. You can email him ask him when his next sale will be when his synths are usually half price or close. Listen to the demos there. The Logan Big Band was the first one I got and it's awesome, sounds like an old movie. https://www.synthmagic.co.uk/store.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Christian Jones Posted February 10, 2020 Share Posted February 10, 2020 https://www.synthmagic.co.uk/exploration-1.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
synkrotron Posted February 10, 2020 Share Posted February 10, 2020 u-he Hive Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sander Verstraten Posted February 10, 2020 Author Share Posted February 10, 2020 You're supposed to help me settle on one Synth to deep dive in and learn. Not suggest a slew of other amazing synths that I want to have! Damn you! LOL 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kitekrazy1 Posted February 10, 2020 Share Posted February 10, 2020 FM8 and Massive - these are far from 1 trick ponies. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Starise Posted February 10, 2020 Share Posted February 10, 2020 (edited) For hands on go with a Little Fatty........ knobs are more fun The ZT3A+2 demo doesn't scratch the surface. The presets in it are amazing IMO. This guy loves hardware ???...what do you call these?? Edited February 10, 2020 by Starise Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sander Verstraten Posted February 10, 2020 Author Share Posted February 10, 2020 i always loved Z3TA, especially the M3Z3um presets. They really made it from a great synth to an amazing synth for me. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vernon Barnes Posted February 11, 2020 Share Posted February 11, 2020 Of your list I would say Massive X, it's the most recent and there are several synthesis methods making it capable of a wide range of sounds. Softube Modular with some of the add on modules is where I go if I want to delve deep into sound design, Routing possibilities are endless and you can do really unconventional things. A cheaper (and possibly more versatile) alternative Cherry Audio's modular. Reaktor has a lot of potential and is less obtuse since they introduced blocks but I admit I have not delved deep. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wibbles Posted February 11, 2020 Share Posted February 11, 2020 14 hours ago, Sander Verstraten said: i always loved Z3TA, especially the M3Z3um presets. They really made it from a great synth to an amazing synth for me. Sounds like you've answered your own question to me. If you connect with a synth, you're half-way there ... that's probably why I'm still using Rapture all these years later. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mettelus Posted February 11, 2020 Share Posted February 11, 2020 21 hours ago, Sander Verstraten said: i always loved Z3TA, especially the M3Z3um presets. They really made it from a great synth to an amazing synth for me. I forgot to mention the presets, and couldn't help but laugh that the OP did I agree with Wibbles post above... since you already own Z3TA+ 2, that one is deep enough that you can start with grabbing patches and tweak/dissect them at will. Silly things like how oscillators are synced (and how many of the 6 you use), waveform mangling, and signal splitting can change a lot... and that is just on the oscillator module. Ironically... the oscillator sync was one of the primary arguments (and wins) for Aux Tracks... depending how the oscillators are synced, the same performance can sound totally different each run... it was very easy to lose the "damn that sounded good" take before Aux Tracks were introduced. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Magic Russ Posted February 14, 2020 Share Posted February 14, 2020 For soundscapes, Absynth will take you to places not many others can. If you want to write patches whose names sound like chapters of science fiction novels, Absynth is the one for you. Massive X is probably the most versatile of the ones you listed. It covers everything from analog leads to lush pads to modern dance sounds and crazy SFX sounds. It's not on your list, but if you are interested in 70s prog and 80s new wave, I would definitely recommend SynthMaster. Check out the sound demos of the Nori U. banks to see how well it covers sounds of early synth pioneers. And if you are interested in picking up one of those packs, they usually go on sale right before Black Friday. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Agincourtdb Posted February 18, 2020 Share Posted February 18, 2020 Yeah I've recently started deep-diving into learning actual programming of softsynths, and I've started with Z3ta+2, and I'm finding that it makes a lot of sense to me, even the matrix which I previously feared as if it were formed from the deepest, darkest Chthonic magicks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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