KVR Audio

Lance · Post by **Lance** » Thu Nov 30, 2006 8:56 am

metalifuxx wrote:krakli Cygnus

And Cygnus-SF.
http://www.gearwire.com/cygnus-sf.html

pdxindy · Post by **pdxindy** » Thu Nov 30, 2006 9:17 am

Tassman is something worth looking at too. It is especially good for industrial, percussive, metal hits and so on... obviously far more than that too

SuitcaseOfLizards · Post by **SuitcaseOfLizards** » Thu Nov 30, 2006 5:41 pm

I use STS-24 and ProtoplasmTSM for pads and ambient sounds, along with Vapor and Rhino. Sometimes Rhino is a bit too "thick", which is where Vapor comes in to play as most of the multis seem to sit well in a mix.

H.G. Fortunes stuff is excellent for atmospheres, moods, and the like. I've gotten some mileage out of Chimera as well, with a nice 3D panning echo you can scare the crap out of people!

MFXxx · Post by **MFXxx** » Thu Sep 21, 2017 8:43 pm

How things hav evolved 11 years on?

martinjuenke · Post by **martinjuenke** » Thu Sep 21, 2017 9:04 pm

Normally reviving necro threads suck...
But this is worth it!
Looking forward to hearing strange noise machines

wagtunes · Post by **wagtunes** » Thu Sep 21, 2017 9:28 pm

This stuff is more about the reverbs, delays and panning than the synth itself. Any synth that isn't monophonic can be used with the right FX and automation. Do some synths make it easier? Yeah, I guess. But if reviving this 11 years later does anything, all it's going to do is get just about every synth in existence named...as usual.

pdxindy · Post by **pdxindy** » Thu Sep 21, 2017 9:49 pm

wagtunes wrote:This stuff is more about the reverbs, delays and panning than the synth itself. Any synth that isn't monophonic can be used with the right FX and automation. Do some synths make it easier? Yeah, I guess. But if reviving this 11 years later does anything, all it's going to do is get just about every synth in existence named...as usual.

Depends on what sort of textures, atmospheric sounds and drones one likes. No amount of reverb and delay will make most synths sound like some of the stuff I get out of Bazille.

enCiphered · Post by **enCiphered** » Thu Sep 21, 2017 9:53 pm

Padstation from Steinberg can produce amazing cinematic and ambient pads, soundscapes and drones. And you can feed it with your own sounds in the pro version to dive really deep in finest granular synthesis.

I do a lot of sound design every day and for me the best tool for crafting high quality atmospheric sounds is still Omnisphere.

Another great source for drones and evolving soundscapes are the Dronar sample libraries from Gothic Instruments.

dnekm · Post by **dnekm** » Thu Sep 21, 2017 10:41 pm

Might want to look into the Anomaly VSTi (Wusik V6 Engine) and also think about pairing that using the WavSeqs with an HG Fortune synth at the same time. Personally I prefer the STS-24....

Take those and set them up in EnergyXT with custom FX chains and many weird and wonderful things are possible.....

wagtunes · Post by **wagtunes** » Thu Sep 21, 2017 10:55 pm

pdxindy wrote:
wagtunes wrote:This stuff is more about the reverbs, delays and panning than the synth itself. Any synth that isn't monophonic can be used with the right FX and automation. Do some synths make it easier? Yeah, I guess. But if reviving this 11 years later does anything, all it's going to do is get just about every synth in existence named...as usual.
Depends on what sort of textures, atmospheric sounds and drones one likes. No amount of reverb and delay will make most synths sound like some of the stuff I get out of Bazille.

Well sure. Bazille's sequencer can produce a virtual non repeating drone for an infinite length of time. Like I said, some synths make it easier. But outside of those very few, anything can be used. You may need 15 FX to get what you want, but it's possible.

martinjuenke · Post by **martinjuenke** » Fri Sep 22, 2017 4:55 am

wagtunes wrote:
pdxindy wrote:
wagtunes wrote:This stuff is more about the reverbs, delays and panning than the synth itself. Any synth that isn't monophonic can be used with the right FX and automation. Do some synths make it easier? Yeah, I guess. But if reviving this 11 years later does anything, all it's going to do is get just about every synth in existence named...as usual.
Depends on what sort of textures, atmospheric sounds and drones one likes. No amount of reverb and delay will make most synths sound like some of the stuff I get out of Bazille.
Well sure. Bazille's sequencer can produce a virtual non repeating drone for an infinite length of time. Like I said, some synths make it easier. But outside of those very few, anything can be used. You may need 15 FX to get what you want, but it's possible.

To be honest: I am rather interested in these specific Drone and Texture machines which come up with cool sounds easy and quick than to deal with 15 FX two weeks long to get a thinly sounding something out of the usual suspects of KVR fanbois...

ccDuckett · Post by **ccDuckett** » Fri Sep 22, 2017 5:59 am

I guess I automatically translated the title as, "What VSTi do you find best for pads, drones.." etc.
since yes, "Best" leads to silliness; unlike, say, a MiniMoog emulation, you can't have an Atmospheric-Texture-Pad-Drone Synth Shoot-Out! That being said, a lot's happened since 2006, and it's a bittersweet note that H G Fortune synths are still getting used and praised, even though he's not here to develop any more

ART Pyrite is one I was happy to buy, a LOT of thought and experience went into it, and Vera is a treat to deal with. Bazille, yep. Sonigen Modular is a great freebie for mad scientists, and The Mangle was a granular with great features for the price I plunked down for, too. Krakli was mentioned then for Cygnus, he should be mentioned now for the Arminator.

It really does get to be too lengthy if you let the noggin git gallopin', so I'll cut it short here..

dangayle · Post by **dangayle** » Fri Sep 22, 2017 6:54 am

Serious thread necro. I was like, Camel Audio? What? Then I looked at the posting dates.

I wish it were updated, but this is where iZotope’s Iris 2 really shines. Drop any old sample into it and drone on forever to your heart’s content. I saw a tweet recently that indicated that they’re thinking of making their next plugin a creative one, but all I really want is for them to support Iris like it deserves.

martinjuenke · Post by **martinjuenke** » Fri Sep 22, 2017 8:35 am

dangayle wrote:Serious thread necro. I was like, Camel Audio? What? Then I looked at the posting dates.

I wish it were updated, but this is where iZotope’s Iris 2 really shines. Drop any old sample into it and drone on forever to your heart’s content. I saw a tweet recently that indicated that they’re thinking of making their next plugin a creative one, but all I really want is for them to support Iris like it deserves.

+1 fullheartly

himalaya · Post by **himalaya** » Fri Sep 22, 2017 9:28 am

One of the easiest ways to make deep organic drones and atmospheres is to use re-synthesis and/or granular.

For re-synthesis I find Harmor extremely good. Just drop a sample on the GUI, and play it a few octaves down. Because the sound is re-synthesised and keeps it's tempo (if it's a rhythmic loop) plus harmonic content intact, you can get a very good, defined, otherworldly sound ready for further manipulation with Harmor's extensive editing options. I think this is the easiest way. A kid can come up with unique textures in no time.

However, even simply transposing a sample in a sampler will give an instant drone. Add some effects and hey presto!

Alchemy takes it further and is still the king of deep sample manipulation which can give amazing drones, atmospheres, pads. V1 is still good on PC, and Mac/Logic users have the much improved V2.

Despite having so many presets, it can still be pushed into uncharted territory. It's just so deep and the many ways in which the same sample can be manipulated is unique. I love how easy it is to mix between 4 versions of the same sample: a re-synthesised additive version, granular version, spectral version, formant version (v2), or some morphed variant...unique stuff.

iZotope Iris is another obvious candidate for easy discovery of deep, drones and textures.

However, most synths or sampler/synth hybrids will create good drones, atmospheres, pads.

Effects are very important here as they can totally transform a sample, very much like synthesis can. There are many options. Get Michael Norris' free spectral effects (Mac) and experiment:
http://www.michaelnorris.info/software/ ... icspectral

When used carefully with other standard effects like reverb, delays, chorus, these spectral effects can create some unique sounds.

However, even a chain of very simple effects can create great sounds.
The example below was created many years ago to show that we don't need new synths to make a cool pad.

This example uses an old Roland General Midi string sample from some obscure GM plugin in Sonar. You hear it first DRY , then you hear it transformed with a chain of several very plain effects:

New Age Wash-More cowbell

I especially like how the cowbell sample was transformed....

Best VST Synth for pad, drons, atmospheric sounds/textures