It's That Time Again...I Need A Synth

[wagtunes]

You're spreading yourself very wide if you're running a business (are you really making a living at this?!). I would stick to maybe 4 or 5 very popular synths, drill down exactly what the preset market is for those synths and get cracking. I would say you're wasting a lot of time 'searching' when you could be making a name for yourself with a few popular synths..

I do this to make some extra cash. My wife and I are both retired. But I didn't want to just sit around doing nothing. So this gives me something to do and at the same time earns me some spending cash. it was never meant to be a 6 figure a year business. I've already run one of those and they're not all they're cracked up to be. My health and a lot of other things suffered. Those days are long gone.

Fair enough, If you're retired then I can see why you might want to do this just for a bit of fun on the side.


Well how about doing some sounds for the AAS plugins like Chromaphone?

If I'm not mistaken, Chromaphone is acoustic modeling. I have String Studio and for whatever reason just could never get into it. Plus, I think their preset management system is terrible. All in all, even though I have a number of their products, not a big fan of the company. Tassman being the biggest disappointment as it has so much potential.

[V0RT3X]

You're spreading yourself very wide if you're running a business (are you really making a living at this?!). I would stick to maybe 4 or 5 very popular synths, drill down exactly what the preset market is for those synths and get cracking. I would say you're wasting a lot of time 'searching' when you could be making a name for yourself with a few popular synths..

I do this to make some extra cash. My wife and I are both retired. But I didn't want to just sit around doing nothing. So this gives me something to do and at the same time earns me some spending cash. it was never meant to be a 6 figure a year business. I've already run one of those and they're not all they're cracked up to be. My health and a lot of other things suffered. Those days are long gone.

Fair enough, If you're retired then I can see why you might want to do this just for a bit of fun on the side.


Well how about doing some sounds for the AAS plugins like Chromaphone?

If I'm not mistaken, Chromaphone is acoustic modeling. I have String Studio and for whatever reason just could never get into it. Plus, I think their preset management system is terrible. All in all, even though I have a number of their products, not a big fan of the company. Tassman being the biggest disappointment as it has so much potential.

Yah It's an physical modelling plugin. Ok so AAS is out, then what about maybe the VirtualCZ plugin?

http://www.olilarkin.co.uk/index.php?p=virtualcz

It's a pretty nice 80's style synthesizer and AFAIK doesn't have that many commercial libraries at all.

[wagtunes]

You're spreading yourself very wide if you're running a business (are you really making a living at this?!). I would stick to maybe 4 or 5 very popular synths, drill down exactly what the preset market is for those synths and get cracking. I would say you're wasting a lot of time 'searching' when you could be making a name for yourself with a few popular synths..

I do this to make some extra cash. My wife and I are both retired. But I didn't want to just sit around doing nothing. So this gives me something to do and at the same time earns me some spending cash. it was never meant to be a 6 figure a year business. I've already run one of those and they're not all they're cracked up to be. My health and a lot of other things suffered. Those days are long gone.

Fair enough, If you're retired then I can see why you might want to do this just for a bit of fun on the side.


Well how about doing some sounds for the AAS plugins like Chromaphone?

If I'm not mistaken, Chromaphone is acoustic modeling. I have String Studio and for whatever reason just could never get into it. Plus, I think their preset management system is terrible. All in all, even though I have a number of their products, not a big fan of the company. Tassman being the biggest disappointment as it has so much potential.

Yah It's an physical modelling plugin. Ok so AAS is out, then what about maybe the VirtualCZ plugin?

http://www.olilarkin.co.uk/index.php?p=virtualcz

It's a pretty nice 80's style synthesizer and AFAIK doesn't have that many commercial libraries at all.

Already bought it. Isn't that on my list of synths I own? Bought it to do my 80s CD but you know, that may not be a bad idea. I didn't even think of that one to do a library for. May just consider it because it really is a pretty nifty synth. Thanks. Completely forgot I had that.

[Aleatoriac]

You should buy a Virus

[1wob2many]

...the 2nd set didn't sell anywhere near what the first set sold.

Once bitten....?

[Ingonator]

Not that i think all your patches are crap and i´m sure you have a user base. But they seems to be rushed out one after one and doesn´t seem to were made with deep thoughts and playability in mind.
I have the feeling that you never explored really one of your synths.
No synth will make you happy.
However, i wish you the best and that you find what you search.
Good luck.

To be honest i did never buy or use a soundset by Wagtunes yet, just some free patches he posted for The Legend at KVR. Due to that i have no real clue about his sound design skills. The audio demos are just a smal hint and you have to use the patches yourself to get a clue.

Anyway doing sound design myself (including lots of factory presets for different synths) it's usually not my style to do negative comments about the skills of other sound designers in the public, except if they ask themselves for posting an honest opinion.

I admit i am a bit puzzled too how fast he could release his libraries, maybe faster than most other professional sound desgners, but this does not mean they have to be of ow quality at all. Some are just faster than others while they still could produce good quality.

[Cinebient]

Not that i think all your patches are crap and i´m sure you have a user base. But they seems to be rushed out one after one and doesn´t seem to were made with deep thoughts and playability in mind.
I have the feeling that you never explored really one of your synths.
No synth will make you happy.
However, i wish you the best and that you find what you search.
Good luck.

To be honest i did never buy or use a soundset by Wagtunes yet, just some free patches he posted for The Legend at KVR. Due to that i have no real clue about his sound design skills. The audio demos are just a smal hint and you have to use the patches yourself to get a clue.

Anyway doing sound design myself (including lots of factory presets for different synths) it's usually not my style to do negative comments about the skills of other sound designers in the public, except if they ask themselves for posting an honest opinion.

I admit i am a bit puzzled too how fast he could release his libraries, maybe faster than most other professional sound desgners, but this does not mean they have to be of ow quality at all. Some are just faster than others while they still could produce good quality.

Sure, it might be just the demos. A good demo can sell a lot more maybe.
I listen to nearly all the demos before i judged it of course.
I don´t wanted to offend wagtunes and i don´t wanted to judge his skills here in a negativ way.
It just felt for me he could do more with his synths he still own if he takes more time with it.
After reading my post again it sounds a bit negativ. So i apologize for that.
I really wish him all the best and respect his way to do things.
But you have to live with a bit of critic if you post often in such forums with long list of soundcloud and i have to judge it by this demos.

[do_androids_dream]

You're spreading yourself very wide if you're running a business (are you really making a living at this?!). I would stick to maybe 4 or 5 very popular synths, drill down exactly what the preset market is for those synths and get cracking. I would say you're wasting a lot of time 'searching' when you could be making a name for yourself with a few popular synths..

I do this to make some extra cash. My wife and I are both retired. But I didn't want to just sit around doing nothing. So this gives me something to do and at the same time earns me some spending cash. it was never meant to be a 6 figure a year business. I've already run one of those and they're not all they're cracked up to be. My health and a lot of other things suffered. Those days are long gone.

Ah okay I understand. Back when I was embracing software (after using hardware for about 15 years) I too was seeking out everything under the sun - it is fun I must admit - throw in the motivation of earning a bit of cash doing sound banks and I can understand your quest. I guess you're googling as well as making these threads.. I can't really add anything but if I come across random synths that you might have missed I will link them here.

[dune_rave]

Sylenth1 ?

[Ingonator]

Not that i think all your patches are crap and i´m sure you have a user base. But they seems to be rushed out one after one and doesn´t seem to were made with deep thoughts and playability in mind.
I have the feeling that you never explored really one of your synths.
No synth will make you happy.
However, i wish you the best and that you find what you search.
Good luck.

To be honest i did never buy or use a soundset by Wagtunes yet, just some free patches he posted for The Legend at KVR. Due to that i have no real clue about his sound design skills. The audio demos are just a smal hint and you have to use the patches yourself to get a clue.

Anyway doing sound design myself (including lots of factory presets for different synths) it's usually not my style to do negative comments about the skills of other sound designers in the public, except if they ask themselves for posting an honest opinion.

I admit i am a bit puzzled too how fast he could release his libraries, maybe faster than most other professional sound desgners, but this does not mean they have to be of ow quality at all. Some are just faster than others while they still could produce good quality.

Sure, it might be just the demos. A good demo can sell a lot more maybe.
I listen to nearly all the demos before i judged it of course.
I don´t wanted to offend wagtunes and i don´t wanted to judge his skills here in a negativ way.
It just felt for me he could do more with his synths he still own if he takes more time with it.
After reading my post again it sounds a bit negativ. So i apologize for that.
I really wish him all the best and respect his way to do things.
But you have to live with a bit of critic if you post often in such forums with long list of soundcloud and i have to judge it by this demos.

Hi,

the point of my post was that because i never used or bought one of the soundsets i could not judge about the sound design skills if i would be aksed to post my honest opinion and that audio demos are not really enough when not using the patch yourself.

I also out that i would be able to do soundsets with the same speed that wagtunes does. Anyway the speed does not have to be related to the quality of the presets of course and at the moment this would be pure speculation.

To really judge the sound design skills you would need to check several soundsets for different synths. Not all of them could be of the same quality so judging just from one to get conclusions for the others does not really work.

Concerning multiple soundsets for the same synth of course this could work nicely (but maybe also not...). After a while you should be able to get new ideas for the same synth.
Even with soundsets that sold badly this could still be different with a second or third one. Nothing should be really sure when talking about possible sales.

Of course there is no guarantee and Wagtunes mostly seems to search for a safe choice.
Anyway based on how many synths he alraedy used for soundsets teh amount of safe choices along the synths he did not do soundsets for yet seems to be much smaller now.

Based on how many synths he excluded due to not lliking the GUI etc. i am not sure if there are any safe bets left now with what is ramaining.
At the moment the bets might be to either do a second soundsets for one of teh synths he already owns or doing one for the synths he excluded at the moment.

[Lotuzia]

If I were the OP, I would simply let passion speak. Even when it's a real business, passion seems to be the best criteria for me. But if, according to your words, it's not even a real *business*, I don't know why you would insist on this side of the project. Just take the synth you prefer, and there you go. Well, my 0.002 kopeks.

[Cinebient]

Not that i think all your patches are crap and i´m sure you have a user base. But they seems to be rushed out one after one and doesn´t seem to were made with deep thoughts and playability in mind.
I have the feeling that you never explored really one of your synths.
No synth will make you happy.
However, i wish you the best and that you find what you search.
Good luck.

To be honest i did never buy or use a soundset by Wagtunes yet, just some free patches he posted for The Legend at KVR. Due to that i have no real clue about his sound design skills. The audio demos are just a smal hint and you have to use the patches yourself to get a clue.

Anyway doing sound design myself (including lots of factory presets for different synths) it's usually not my style to do negative comments about the skills of other sound designers in the public, except if they ask themselves for posting an honest opinion.

I admit i am a bit puzzled too how fast he could release his libraries, maybe faster than most other professional sound desgners, but this does not mean they have to be of ow quality at all. Some are just faster than others while they still could produce good quality.

Sure, it might be just the demos. A good demo can sell a lot more maybe.
I listen to nearly all the demos before i judged it of course.
I don´t wanted to offend wagtunes and i don´t wanted to judge his skills here in a negativ way.
It just felt for me he could do more with his synths he still own if he takes more time with it.
After reading my post again it sounds a bit negativ. So i apologize for that.
I really wish him all the best and respect his way to do things.
But you have to live with a bit of critic if you post often in such forums with long list of soundcloud and i have to judge it by this demos.

Hi,

the point of my post was that because i never used or bought one of the soundsets i could not judge about the sound design skills if i would be aksed to post my honest opinion and that audio demos are not really enough when not using the patch yourself.

I also out that i would be able to do soundsets with the same speed that wagtunes does. Anyway the speed does not have to be related to the quality of the presets of course and at the moment this would be pure speculation.

To really judge the sound design skills you would need to check several soundsets for different synths. Not all of them could be of the same quality so judging just from one to get conclusions for the others does not really work.

Concerning multiple soundsets for the same synth of course this could work nicely (but maybe also not...). After a while you should be able to get new ideas for the same synth.
Even with soundsets that sold badly this could still be different with a second or third one. Nothing should be really sure when talking about possible sales.

Of course there is no guarantee and Wagtunes mostly seems to search for a safe choice.
Anyway based on how many synths he alraedy used for soundsets teh amount of safe choices along the synths he did not do soundsets for yet seems to be much smaller now.

Based on how many synths he excluded due to not lliking the GUI etc. i am not sure if there are any safe bets left now with what is ramaining.
At the moment the bets might be to either do a second soundsets for one of teh synths he already owns or doing one for the synths he excluded at the moment.

At the end Mr. Google and market research has all his answers....not we!

[1wob2many]

Whenever I read of Wags' problems reading GUIs always think of:

Mr Wagoo.jpg

[wagtunes]

Let me address a couple of the points being made.

1) I'm retired. That means I don't have a job I have to go to. That means I have nothing to do all day. Sitting in front of this computer working on my "business" and doing music is all I do all day. So let me ask you a question. How long do you think it takes to make just one preset? If it took me a whole hour to do one preset (which is an absurd amount of time) that means after 5 hours of work (I start at 6 AM) I have 5 presets done for that day and it's only 11 AM in the morning. Multiply that by 30 days and there's my 150 preset library. I mean for the love of God, how long do you people actually spend on one lousy preset? So if you break this whole thing down hourly, I really don't knock out libraries all that fast. I just have an amazing work ethic that I stick to religiously. And after my presets are done for the day, I spend the rest of my day writing music. Take a look at my Soundcloud page. I bet I have more songs on it than anybody else here. So much for just buying synths and not doing anything with them.

2) As to my synth choices, I don't have unlimited funds. So I have to be very picky about what I buy. I can't afford to take chances, especially with the prices of some of these synths. Something like Falcon I knew would sell well so as much as it cost me ($235 at the time) it has paid for itself many times over. Which brings up another point.

3) With some people here bashing my skills or whatever, funny how I seem to have a decent loyal following. People actually buy my libraries. Who'd a thunk it. No, I don't appeal at ALL to the wub-wub, supersaw, EDM crowd. They think my presets are garbage. They think my demos are garbage. They think I"m garbage. Guess what? I couldn't give 2 craps. They're not my target market. I know who I am after and I go after them. It's a relatively small segment but it's a loyal segment.I have two customers who have purchased every single one of my libraries.

4) What anybody thinks about any of this in general doesn't matter to me. I started this thread for one reason and one reason only. To get synth suggestions so I can go out and buy another synth so I can make another library so I can sell it. That's all this thread should have been about. But of course there are always going to be those who have to do their little digs and bash me. I've come to expect it after all this time here. I have also learned to just accept the nastiness. It's part of the KVR charm.

Anyway, I will be getting Hive in April. I was also reminded that I have VirtualCZ which I think will be a safe attempt. It is a Plugin Boutique synth and they appear to be a very popular site. So it might do well, especially since it excels at vintage sounds. Might be right up my alley.

I am also going to check out Obscurium and Strobe 2. So in spite of the parts of this thread that I can do without, it was not a waste of time for me and ultimately proved to be very helpful. To those of you who contributed to the helpfulness, I thank you sincerely. To those of you who did your usual "let's rag on Wags because we're bored today" I thank you too.

Without you guys these threads would be dull as hell.

[Aloysius]

If you're going to have a go at VirtualCZ, can you test your presets in mono? I seem to remember that when I was messing about with it at one time that the chorus effect didn't translate well to mono. My memory may be failing but it would only take you a minute to confirm or deny my suspicion.