New free plugin based on VCS3 sim : Kx-Synth-x16

[kx77free]

Hi all,

It is unusual for me to work on VA.
But when Burnie asked us Nova and me to do a VCS3 plugin I was interested. This old EMS synthesizer is great with its modern matrix concept, its joystick and its possibility to do feedback patches.
Nova collected some docs and Scot Solida sent to Nova his recordings.
I used them to research the way to do a close oscillator simulation.
I did a new filter based on the KX filter code.
Nova built a modern skin.
We did not built another SE clone of this synthesizer
but added some great features on the original concept.



common features:
Three variable shape oscillators.
Noise generator.
Ring modulation.
Two external inputs.
LP filter, 18 db per octave with self oscillating
Same structure of the matrix (16*16)
XY joystick

added features:
Modern skin with notepad and variable color background.
Keyboard controls to the oscillators and filter, -10 volts to 10 volts, useful for keyboard scaling.
You can adjust the response curve of the oscillators.
256 mini knobs to adjust the plot modulation, 0 to 1.
The original ASR (trapezoid) is extended to 2 ADSR with Host synchronization.
Delay fx with Host synchronization.
Midi controllers.

http://kx77free.free.fr


Xavier

[Z3R0T0N1N]

just dl'd it, i will give it a spin. Thanks! I always like a nice modular machine

[Scot Solida]

This may not be a clone of the VCS3, but it has very much the same sort of feel as the VCS. I can set up some of my favorite VCS3 patches on this and play with the joystick and still get the same sort of crazy experimental cacophony I get from the real one. The delay gives it a cool "Forbidden Planet/Radiophonic" kind of sound. If you were out to give this the character of a great seventies synth, you have pretty much hit the nail on the head. Great fun.

[dreaddd]

said that by Mr Solida..if i had developed this synth, i would stick his quote on the synth page already
thanx for the new toy Xavier!

Peace

[Scotty]

Scot, I always pick up me ears when I see your name on a thread. I remember some time ago that you had had an accident and were going to have to curtail some of your musical endeavors as a result of the injury to your arm. How are you doing now? And best wishes.

This may not be a clone of the VCS3, but it has very much the same sort of feel as the VCS. I can set up some of my favorite VCS3 patches on this and play with the joystick and still get the same sort of crazy experimental cacophony I get from the real one. The delay gives it a cool "Forbidden Planet/Radiophonic" kind of sound. If you were out to give this the character of a great seventies synth, you have pretty much hit the nail on the head. Great fun.

[toine6]

Looks like an interesting little vsti, I'll give it a spin later.

Scot, I always pick up me ears when I see your name on a thread. I remember some time ago that you had had an accident and were going to have to curtail some of your musical endeavors as a result of the injury to your arm. How are you doing now? And best wishes.

ditto, would be nice to know how things have been working out. Hell, the man's (S. Solida) got his own theme song, that Kriminal made for him around the time of the accident.

[Scot Solida]

Scot, I always pick up me ears when I see your name on a thread. I remember some time ago that you had had an accident and were going to have to curtail some of your musical endeavors as a result of the injury to your arm. How are you doing now? And best wishes.

Thanks! Well, the accident certainly took a toll... My right hand is incapable of a tight grip or total extension of my fingers. They cannot move entirely independently. I can't tough my palm with my fingertips of three of my fingers. It still hurts quite a bit, especially after a long day's work behind the computer. As you can imagine, I had to relearn a lot. How to write, type, play keys and most difficult of all, how to draw and paint. I haven't regained any of those things to my previous abilities, but I am pretty stubborn. I draw differently and my keyboard playing is simpler, slower and more restrained. These may not be bad things. I look at it all as a way to explore some new approaches and techniques. It made me a better arranger and my art a little less ornate and worried. So, it'll never get better... but it made me get better, if you see what I mean.

And it certainly didn't deprive me of the ability to shove pins into the matrix on the VCS3!

[novaflash]

Happy to see the project finally released.
And thanks again to Scot to have provided the original wave form

[Scotty]

I am very glad to read that you are learning to adjust and compensate. I saw an awe inspiring concert video of Jazz great Oscar Peterson after he suffered a debilitating stroke. I can't imagine the struggle, but those like you who just have to create, won't be easily deterred. One day, when you are so inclined , it might be very instructive to read about your accident and your pathway back, especially in how you use technology differently, post accident, to express yourself. Thanks for the update and for your outstanding contribution to our collective passion. Kindest regards.

Scot, I always pick up me ears when I see your name on a thread. I remember some time ago that you had had an accident and were going to have to curtail some of your musical endeavors as a result of the injury to your arm. How are you doing now? And best wishes.

Thanks! Well, the accident certainly took a toll... My right hand is incapable of a tight grip or total extension of my fingers. They cannot move entirely independently. I can't tough my palm with my fingertips of three of my fingers. It still hurts quite a bit, especially after a long day's work behind the computer. As you can imagine, I had to relearn a lot. How to write, type, play keys and most difficult of all, how to draw and paint. I haven't regained any of those things to my previous abilities, but I am pretty stubborn. I draw differently and my keyboard playing is simpler, slower and more restrained. These may not be bad things. I look at it all as a way to explore some new approaches and techniques. It made me a better arranger and my art a little less ornate and worried. So, it'll never get better... but it made me get better, if you see what I mean.

And it certainly didn't deprive me of the ability to shove pins into the matrix on the VCS3!

[Gucky]

Many thanks for the synth. It sounds very good.

A question: Many presets never stop playing. How can I stop it playing?

[thorau]

Very good emu! I like the colorizing option too. For me it's the best free emu of Synthie A.

[[Solstice]]

Very good news !
I'll try it this week-end, I think !

[mrcleats]

Has no-one actually tried this yet? I mean, am I going mad or is this the best vsti ever?

Sincere thanks to Xavier and all involved for this, this is very special indeed.

[thorau]

I tried it. and as I wrote before it's the best Synthie A emu imo. I'm going to try to translate the settings from the original sheets to this one. There are of course some differences. What's making it so good is something like more fatness than the other clones. Not the same as the original or the EMS vsti, but close. The idea to make the pins (in the matrix) tweakable is simply brilliant. Really good work!

[Scot Solida]

What's making it so good is something like more fatness than the other clones. Not the same as the original or the EMS vsti, but close.

Definitely not the same as the original... the VCS3 is anything but fat. Weird and wonderful, yes... fat, no. There has never been a situation in which I thought my VCS3 might be the perfect bass synth for a song...

This is a different synth with some of the same appeal as the original. Different and all the better for it.

Oh, and it costs exactly $4000 less than mine did...