KVR Audio

7EROCOOL · Post by **7EROCOOL** » Thu Sep 03, 2015 5:53 pm

Dear KVR community,

I'm looking for a synth which I can pull some warm pads / leads that sit well in rock / alt rock music. What would you recommend I take for a spin / demo?

I own Zebra 2 (which I'm still learning) and use for soundscape / scoring.

Cheers!

SJ_Digriz · Post by **SJ_Digriz** » Thu Sep 03, 2015 6:04 pm

All of them

wagtunes · Post by **wagtunes** » Thu Sep 03, 2015 6:39 pm

I won't go as far as to say all of them, but most "commercial" synths are capable of cutting through the electric guitars, drums and what have you.If you own Zebra 2, you've already got what you need. It is more than capable of producing the sounds you're looking for.

7EROCOOL · Post by **7EROCOOL** » Thu Sep 03, 2015 6:53 pm

Cheers wagtunes,

I realise it's a generic and potentially, ridiculous, question.

A better questions: a synth that is a bit more beginner friendly with a great warm sound that is worth investing in? I just need it to do a couple things really well.

I find Diva, spire, sunrizer ect... more approachable. I'm just getting a bit lost in Zebra, definitely need to spend more time investing / learning it.

SJ_Digriz · Post by **SJ_Digriz** » Thu Sep 03, 2015 7:18 pm

7EROCOOL wrote: I'm just getting a bit lost in Zebra, definitely need to spend more time investing / learning it.

Do this, you have everything you need.

wagtunes · Post by **wagtunes** » Thu Sep 03, 2015 7:44 pm

7EROCOOL wrote:Cheers wagtunes,

I realise it's a generic and potentially, ridiculous, question.

A better questions: a synth that is a bit more beginner friendly with a great warm sound that is worth investing in? I just need it to do a couple things really well.

I find Diva, spire, sunrizer ect... more approachable. I'm just getting a bit lost in Zebra, definitely need to spend more time investing / learning it.

The three synths you listed are all fine, especially Diva.

Like somebody else said, you have everything you need.

fischkopf · Post by **fischkopf** » Thu Sep 03, 2015 7:44 pm

If Zebra is too complicated for you, why did you even buy it in the first place?? Just watch some video tutorials on Youtube, you already own one of the most versatile synths on the market.

glokraw · Post by **glokraw** » Thu Sep 03, 2015 7:53 pm

7EROCOOL wrote: I find Diva, spire, sunrizer ect... more approachable. I'm just getting a bit lost in Zebra, definitely need to spend more time investing / learning it.

Go through the presets, and put your favorites in a folder.
Then inspect them, look at how the modulations are routed,
the filter settings and envelopes.

Leads you like will be easy to convert to pads.
Synthmaster Player has 1200 or so presets,
and is an affordable companion for Zebra.

Make some popcorn and coffee, and fire up the synapses:

https://www.youtube.com/user/uheplugins

EnGee · Post by **EnGee** » Thu Sep 03, 2015 8:18 pm

Low CPU usage, I would take SEM V, Retrologue or Sunrizer.

7EROCOOL · Post by **7EROCOOL** » Thu Sep 03, 2015 8:27 pm

fischkopf wrote:If Zebra is too complicated for you, why did you even buy it in the first place?? Just watch some video tutorials on Youtube, you already own one of the most versatile synths on the market.

A: I thought it was a great synth and I've been using it in projects.

I also believed I would grow into it and start creating more patches instead of just some basic preset altering.

I'll definitely take your encouragement on-board and continue to hit the YouTube tutorials.

7EROCOOL · Post by **7EROCOOL** » Thu Sep 03, 2015 8:30 pm

glokraw wrote: Go through the presets, and put your favorites in a folder.
Then inspect them, look at how the modulations are routed,
the filter settings and envelopes.

Leads you like will be easy to convert to pads.
Synthmaster Player has 1200 or so presets,
and is an affordable companion for Zebra.

Make some popcorn and coffee, and fire up the synapses:

https://www.youtube.com/user/uheplugins

Brilliant! Great suggestions. Thank you.

wagtunes · Post by **wagtunes** » Thu Sep 03, 2015 8:59 pm

7EROCOOL wrote:
fischkopf wrote:If Zebra is too complicated for you, why did you even buy it in the first place?? Just watch some video tutorials on Youtube, you already own one of the most versatile synths on the market.
A: I thought it was a great synth and I've been using it in projects.

I also believed I would grow into it and start creating more patches instead of just some basic preset altering.

I'll definitely take your encouragement on-board and continue to hit the YouTube tutorials.

I don't know how new you are to synthesis, so my apologies if I'm assuming any lack of knowledge that you already have.

What I'd do is actually study sounds. What do you like? What is it you're looking to create? Find examples online from songs or even demos of other synths and then see if you can duplicate them with the synth of your choice. In order to do that, you'll need to be able to identify certain basic oscillator types such as saw, square and pulse and what each one sounds like. Learn to identify a supersaw sound and then how to create it in your own synth, if it has the capability. Not every synth does. Well, not a really good one anyway.

The quicker you're able to hear a sound and say to yourself "Ah, that's made with two detuned sawtooth waves and a low pass filter with mod wheel assignment to cutoff" the easier this stuff is going to become.

And finally, experiment with trying to come up with new sounds off the cuff. To do that, you'll need to be able to throw caution to the wind. Don't be afraid to do things with your settings even if you think they'll sound stupid or bad. Some will. Eventually you'll learn what sounds your synth is good at and what sounds your synth should probably stay away from because of some weakness either in the oscillators, filters, LFOs or even envelopes. For example, some oscillators don't do good kick drums because of how they trigger. A perfect example of that was a recent OSC synth that was just plain bad at kicks.

Don't be afraid to screw up, scratch what you've done, and start over. Not every patch I make is a jukebox hero.

Most importantly, have fun.

kv331 · Post by **kv331** » Thu Sep 03, 2015 9:18 pm

Please listen to the following SynthMaster expansion 'Art Rock Basics' by Nori Ubukata:

https://soundcloud.com/kv331synthmaster ... bukata-art

It might have the sort of sounds you are looking for.

Lotuzia · Post by **Lotuzia** » Thu Sep 03, 2015 11:01 pm

Maybe take a listen to Omnisphere. It has a lot of rock/alt oriented presets. Ready to play, ready to mix.

7EROCOOL · Post by **7EROCOOL** » Fri Sep 04, 2015 6:49 pm

Cheers wagtunes, Lotuzia, EnGee, and glokraw for the great suggestions / recommendations!

I'm really digging the SEM V the most out of my demos from Arturia.

kv331 player seems like a no-brainer @$12, epic support, and I've already found some useful patches.

Sunrizer, I'm waiting to hear back from them on a couple issues including the modwheel.

Omnisphere... not sure I even what to tempt myself into falling in love this one because of the price of admission.

Diva... I'll line up to pick it up used.

And Zebra... popcorn, patch reviews and YouTube baby! :harp:

[Recommend] Synth for rock / alt rock music...