Linnstrument and software synths

[48cube]

We have LS & HW synths thread so why not have a general soft one?
(At least search function didn't list any)

Let's discuss various soft instruments which play or don't play nicely with Linnstrument. I know there are dedicated threads around about specific soft synths so this one could be more general.

Roger has a list of recommended MPE software which is a good start when searching for something usable. I've found some more tips on Roli's web page.

Let's shoot the talk with my own experience. I've recently explored Bitwig Studio's synths deeper and it's really great and complete software solution. Chaining and routing freedom of BWS is great for MPE sound design. XY instrument container is really fun when mapped to pressure and Y axis of LS. It also runs on Linux which gives me much better DSP performance than comparably spec'd Windows machine. On the other hand, well optimized tablet mode of BWS on Windows has it's magic with direct (multi) touch editing. It might be that I'll end up with BWS as the final solution thanks to it's 'portability' - laptop (even two of them - one extra as a backup for stage situations) is much easier to carry around than HW sound modules with effects etc.

Two days ago I 'discovered' (yeah, I know, it's old) Synthmaster VST which is synthesists wet dream. It does subtractive, FM, PM, additive, vector, wavetable synthesis, various filters, plenty of modulations, massive modulation routings, MPE enabled, in-built FX and million other features. And it's not that CPU hungry as one would expect. There is an option to set internal oversampling quality per preset! which affects DSP usage. Variety of sounds is stunning. For Linnstrumentalists, it's the easy mapping of Y/Z dimensions to any parameter with variable depth and individual curves!, which makes it so awesome. There is also an iOS 'player' version of Synthmaster which allows you to play your presets on iOS devices. I've managed to install the full VST on Linux too but some graphics are not shown so editing is impossible and must be done either on Win or Mac.

I have Madrona Labs Aalto too for modular fun. It sounds outstanding. Limited number of voices though and I find myself creating kind of 'samey' patches with it. Need some more modular inspiration.

What are your favorite soft synths?

[BobDog]

If you like Aalto why not try a demo of Kaivo, 8 voices with that one and physical modelling.

[48cube]

Yeah, Kaivo is nice, love physical modeling. Tried the demo but it hogs CPU heavily. Perhaps because my laptops are either modern power saving Core M (Win) or 4yo dual-core i7 (Linux) so it's not exactly running well. At least Core M chokes easily. I might give it another shot on i7, thanks for reminder

[ulph]

I've tested a Linnstrument using u-he Diva, and with some care on patch design it was truly joyful! I believe most u-he softsynths are MPE responsive, actually.

Some quick pointers after messing about with it for a little while as to what I think works well;
* pitch bend range +-24
* modwheel (default for Y axis) preferably something timbre-altering, avoid vibrato settings and crazy lfo depth mods - PWM / OSC mixes / waveform selection work better in my opinion. this way you can do mild tremolo by wiggling up/down.
* Pressure ideally control a bit (or a lot) of volume and/or filter cutoff, either directly as mod params or via sustain levels
* Some velocity controlled plucky envelopes is fun and musical, gives you the choice between staccato or legato/swells