One Synth Challenge #181: Surge (Voting Started!)

[neverbeeninariot]

VCV Rack has the benefit of all the Airwindows FX plugins available in a single module (thanks baconpaul and jinxter for this!).

Whoa, I haven't realized Airwindows isn't available in Cardinal. It's an epic collection and module to have in VCV form, for sure!

The last Cardinal release was Oct 2023, and I am not sure when the Airwindows module was added to VCV, so perhaps it is just a matter of time... It is so cool having them all available in one place

[baconpaul]

I am not sure when the Airwindows module was added to VCV,

The first airwindows for rack was in Feb 2023.

But airwindows for rack is definitely *not* surge. Surge has a subset of air windows effects in it (including in the synth or in the surge effects plugin) with some tweaks to make ranges and formats match the rest of the synth; whereas the airwin-for-rack has the complete set just direct ported.

[Leonard Bowman]

Alright, with all the advice I got I might stand a chance in winning this time. Where can I get the best surge presets?

My personal favorite (although I'm biased since I made it) is the third party>Rare Earth>FX>Deep Note preset. It's a recreation of The THX Sound in one patch of surge. Maybe not the best for making songs but that didn't stop me from sneaking it into my OSC 134 track.

If you're new to designing your own synth presets (not sure where your current skill level is here) surge can be a little daunting because it has a lot of controls and some strange quirks but the manual is AWESOME and if you right click ANY control in the synth and click the (?) icon in the top of the menu, it will take you right to the relevant part of the user's manual that explains that control.
Really, right click everything because there's a handful of interesting hidden controls that only exist in the right click menus.

---

Also, here's a friendly invitation to everyone to try and make a zero instance track: Use only Surge XT effects. I did so for OSC 159 and it was a very satisfying challenge. Some tips in the 159 forum thread: viewtopic.php?p=8446269#p8446269

[neverbeeninariot]

I am not sure when the Airwindows module was added to VCV,

The first airwindows for rack was in Feb 2023.

Thanks for the clarification.

But airwindows for rack is definitely *not* surge.

Absolutely, I'm not trying to conflate the two.

External free effects are allowed in OSC, (subject to the rules) - the Airwindows module in VCV provides convenient access to all of Chris's plugins in one place, neatly categorised.

My initial mention of it was aimed towards the mods to see if it was ok to use Rack Pro inside another host to get access to both Surge and Airwindows modules.

[LunarKitten]

My personal favorite (although I'm biased since I made it) is the third party>Rare Earth>FX>Deep Note preset. It's a recreation of The THX Sound in one patch of surge. Maybe not the best for making songs but that didn't stop me from sneaking it into my OSC 134 track.

I'm going to give that one a try for sure. My last entry didn't compare favourably with the others, so I really need every advantage I can get this time.

I'd like to do some experiments and would need a stable free synth that is low on CPU load. Any recommendations?

Really, right click everything because there's a handful of interesting hidden controls that only exist in the right click menus

Understood.

[baconpaul]

Also, here's a friendly invitation to everyone to try and make a zero instance track: Use only Surge XT effects. I did so for OSC 159 and it was a very satisfying challenge. Some tips in the 159 forum thread: viewtopic.php?p=8446269#p8446269

This is still one of the most technically impressive things I've seen someone do with the surge products.

[FrogsInPants]

External free effects are allowed in OSC, (subject to the rules) - the Airwindows module in VCV provides convenient access to all of Chris's plugins in one place, neatly categorised.

My initial mention of it was aimed towards the mods to see if it was ok to use Rack Pro inside another host to get access to both Surge and Airwindows modules.

Having them neatly categorized would indeed be convenient. The raw list is a bit much.

I'm no authority, but I would say Rack Pro inside another host isn't permitted under the standard rules. As a plugin, it's non-free. As a host itself, it would be permitted, but you only get one host.

[baconpaul]

Having them neatly categorized would indeed be convenient. The raw list is a bit much.

I keep meaning to make a single CLAP (and therefore VST3 and AUv2 through the wrapper) which uses the same trick as the airwin rack collection so you get one module with a menu. But other things keep beckoning. If this sounds interesting to you and you are a dev, hit me up.

But right now most of my focus is on shortcircuit, some sampler adjacent tools, and surge fixes when they arise

[3lu5iv3]

which skins are u guys using? i'm using Andromeda. https://surge-synthesizer.github.io/skin-library/

[neverbeeninariot]

which skins are u guys using? i'm using Andromeda. https://surge-synthesizer.github.io/skin-library/

I was using Surge Dark, but some of those Andromeda variations are pretty cool. Lets see how long I can stand the rainbow of the Dub variant

[ChanceB]

which skins are u guys using? i'm using Andromeda. https://surge-synthesizer.github.io/skin-library/

I don’t like most of the skins I’ve found for surge that much but I found this and I think it’s pretty good

https://coroniumrecords.blogspot.com/20 ... synth.html

[3lu5iv3]

yo sound design gurus, i need your help.
any tips for a crunchy phat sounding snare?
my snare sounds like ass. ㅠ.ㅠ

[J.Ruegg]

yo sound design gurus, i need your help.
any tips for a crunchy phat sounding snare?
my snare sounds like ass. ㅠ.ㅠ

I usually design snares using a sine wave, pitching down around 200hz, like a kick drum but pitched high.
And then a noise layer that rises up and then decays, it's a bit tricky to set up the times correctly.
Then some saturation helps, or an HP filter with a lot of resonance around 200hz.
Sometimes I use FM synthesis to generate the noise, which gives a bit more control of the flavour and can even be modulated over time.

Also, I think in surge you get lots of additional options with right click, like the pitch of the oscillators can be set to extended and absolute, to have more control of where they are tuned, and have bigger pitch slides if you modulate it.

PD: I uploaded here, some drum sounds I used for OSC #159, I don't remember exactly how I did them, but I used a lot of MSEGs.

Also, one video that opened my eyes (or should I say ears?) about synth design was this:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ra-mZivYchk

It explains it really well, and the idea of what parts a drum sound consists of helped me a lot to understand what I was doing, or at least to have a more organized and ordered way of desinging drums.

[3lu5iv3]

yo sound design gurus, i need your help.
any tips for a crunchy phat sounding snare?
my snare sounds like ass. ㅠ.ㅠ

I usually design snares using a sine wave, pitching down around 200hz, like a kick drum but pitched high.
And then a noise layer that rises up and then decays, it's a bit tricky to set up the times correctly.
Then some saturation helps, or an HP filter with a lot of resonance around 200hz.
Sometimes I use FM synthesis to generate the noise, which gives a bit more control of the flavour and can even be modulated over time.

Also, I think in surge you get lots of additional options with right click, like the pitch of the oscillators can be set to extended and absolute, to have more control of where they are tuned, and have bigger pitch slides if you modulate it.

PD: I uploaded here, some drum sounds I used for OSC #159, I don't remember exactly how I did them, but I used a lot of MSEGs.

Also, one video that opened my eyes (or should I say ears?) about synth design was this:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ra-mZivYchk

It explains it really well, and the idea of what parts a drum sound consists of helped me a lot to understand what I was doing, or at least to have a more organized and ordered way of desinging drums.

Thank you so much!

[Chris-S]

Also worth mentioning is that the Twist Oscillator has special drum modes IIRC.