Kjaerhus Synth coming up

[Dave Blakely]

Thank you rouge and all others for your great comments I will see if we can get some more presets to show in the next demo version, but the last days before the release was really crazy work-vice so the demo presets was just a fast selection of some of the more than 650 presets in the full version. We still got 1200-2000 presets from sound designers to go through and categorize for later releases.

Thanks
Torben

Sounds good. Any comment on the very dissimilar volume levels for the presets? I tried a different host -- eXT -- and still got the same effect...

/fcd

Its probably down to the fact that the sound design had to be completed in a fortnight so i bet most of us were concentrating on getting good sounds out and forgetting about the generics like overall volume. Its easily sorted by the player though when they seperate the presets into banks that suit them.

[funkychickendance]

[
Sounds good. Any comment on the very dissimilar volume levels for the presets? I tried a different host -- eXT -- and still got the same effect...

/fcd

Its probably down to the fact that the sound design had to be completed in a fortnight so i bet most of us were concentrating on getting good sounds out and forgetting about the generics like overall volume. Its easily sorted by the player though when they seperate the presets into banks that suit them.

Okay, that sounds pretty plausible! And the remedy is not such a big deal, you're right. It's just a bit disconcerting to go from "Jeezus! My ears are ringing!" to "Hello, did a plug come out?" while navigating in the same bank (I exaggerate a little here )

I did tinker around for a half-hour this pm to see what kind of sounds a 'nitwit' could make with Spectra...yeah, it's definitely got something, I'll say that. Rich, attractive 'ordinary' sounds are just as important to me as freakish shrieks...

/fcd

[ouroboros]

Some tips for Spectra in FL that affect using the preset banks(and perhaps other hosts, too).

The primary issue, I think, is that you must enable "allow program editing" in the Fruity wrapper. Don't know if there is an equivalent in other host. You can then, in FL save the plugin options (new in 6, I think?) which will then load it correctly everytime.




----------Detailed Instructions for FL-----------
1. in the Fruity Wrapper, in the left hand drop down menu (denoted by the arrow), "allow program editing" must be selected for the banks to load correctly. I did not notice this in the demo versions, but have found it to be true in Spectra v.1.0.

2.Then, in the same menu, "Automatically save plugin options" should also be selected. This will reload the plugin allowing program editing the next time.

[Torben]

Any comment on the very dissimilar volume levels for the presets? I tried a different host -- eXT -- and still got the same effect...

/fcd

No, I went through the presets several times while I was categorizing them and I adjusted the Master Level so they sounded right to me. I rather adjust level per ear than by meter because some sounds might sound louder than other at the same level. I will go through them again.

it really is a musical synth, a player's synth. I think it will really find some champions among players who need lots of very tonal and pleasing bread-and-butter sounds. And the patch management system will probably appeal too many who are on stage and need that type of thing to be clear, fast, and dependable. Good job Torben!

Thank you Shane! Yes, Spectra is meant to be an instrument more than a funny noises tool I am a keyboard player myself and I hate to go through presets on softsynth where it sounds like it is playing for me; I want to play. Most new soft synths use appegiators to give this "wow what a synth" effect when one key is pressed. It reminds me a little of the 80's where it was popular to have a big el-organ in the house (looked like an upright piano). Everyone wanted one and because most of those who bought it could not play, they where always having this automatically rhythm, bass and cords section so allot was going on when a key was pressed; that sold allot of these terrible sounding organs.

Thanks for the tips ouroboros

Torben

[Reverse Engineer]

...but!!! You can get all the crazy noises you want from it too. It's very much a do all type synth, this time focused on actual useable sounds, but as Torben said, it wont play itself. You gotta put the (really not too much) effort in to reap the rewards with this one.

[Timfonie]

It reminds me a little of the 80's where it was popular to have a big el-organ in the house (looked like an upright piano). Everyone wanted one and because most of those who bought it could not play, they where always having this automatically rhythm, bass and cords section so allot was going on when a key was pressed; that sold allot of these terrible sounding organs.

Exactly my feelings back then. The electronic organ was the only instrument I really disliked. Worst of all: they weren't pressure sensitive which was hard to understand for me as a young piano player.

[pethu]

Thank you rouge and all others for your great comments I will see if we can get some more presets to show in the next demo version, but the last days before the release was really crazy work-vice so the demo presets was just a fast selection of some of the more than 650 presets in the full version. We still got 1200-2000 presets from sound designers to go through and categorize for later releases.

Thanks
Torben

Sounds good. Any comment on the very dissimilar volume levels for the presets? I tried a different host -- eXT -- and still got the same effect...

/fcd

Its probably down to the fact that the sound design had to be completed in a fortnight so i bet most of us were concentrating on getting good sounds out and forgetting about the generics like overall volume. Its easily sorted by the player though when they seperate the presets into banks that suit them.

Well, I actually did make a final effort to roughly balance my output levels, but that still leaves the problem of them being freely mixed with 500+ sounds from other suppliers... At least, the Spectra preset banks don't seem to be involved in an active conspiracy to destroy your speakers like the MMV ones!

[AdmiralQuality]

...that sold allot of these terrible sounding organs.

Exactly my feelings back then. The electronic organ was the only instrument I really disliked. Worst of all: they weren't pressure sensitive which was hard to understand for me as a young piano player.

Just FYI, pianos aren't pressure sensitive either. They're velocity sensitive. It may feel like pressure to your finger, but actually you're feeling the force of accelerating the big wooden key's mass to a given velocity. That's why it's so hard to play with good velocity control on an unweighted, spring action keyboard... springs give about the same resistive force whatever velocity you move them, so you get very little tactile feedback.

Agree the "do-it-all" electronic home organ like grandma had in the 70's was an abomination. But the mechano/electric tonewheel organ (Hammond B3, etc)... that's a whole other thing! Though it's also not sensitive to velocity or pressure. This is why organs almost always have volume pedals.

[emdot_ambient]

Two more demos at the auditorium:

SPECTRALYSIS I & II

Most of the demo songs I've heard so far show off its more VA and dance capabilities. I thought I'd ptich in with a couple songs showing off its more ambient/esoteric side.

Both songs use 7 instances of Spectra with no additional synths or samples, and no track freezing was done. Spectralysis I uses no additional FX. Spectralysis II uses some extra delay on one sound and reverb on another. Both have some gentle compression on their master track, care of Kjaerhus's GPP1.

I'm using an AMD-64 4000 processor and with 7 instances of Spectra running, these songs never put me above 40% CPU use. By comparison, Disco DSP's Phantom maxed out my CPU with 8 instances.

[Torben]

...but!!! You can get all the crazy noises you want from it too. It's very much a do all type synth, this time focused on actual useable sounds, but as Torben said, it wont play itself. You gotta put the (really not too much) effort in to reap the rewards with this one.

Yes, that's right. I did indeed focus on the playable sounds for the present presets but you can do allot of more experimental sounds as well

Two more demos at the auditorium:

SPECTRALYSIS I & II

Most of the demo songs I've heard so far show off its more VA and dance capabilities. I thought I'd ptich in with a couple songs showing off its more ambient/esoteric side.

That's some fine examples not covered by the present demos, thank you

/Torben

[mayan]

it's a beaut!! loving the glorious sounds and the intuitive nature of the beast...the present presets are great leaping off points

[drinelli]

Hi Torben, whenever I get some money again, this will be the first thing I will buy, but I have not gone into details testing this, so is there a way to soften the notes through velocity without using the filter for it, Because the filter uses much more cpu than the additive proces.

[Torben]

Hi Torben, whenever I get some money again, this will be the first thing I will buy, but I have not gone into details testing this, so is there a way to soften the notes through velocity without using the filter for it, Because the filter uses much more cpu than the additive proces.

You have to use the filter for this but in many cases the 6 or 12 dB low-pass filter is enough and that won't cost much CPU.

Thanks
Torben

[emdot_ambient]

Two more demos at the auditorium:

SPECTRALYSIS I & II

Most of the demo songs I've heard so far show off its more VA and dance capabilities. I thought I'd ptich in with a couple songs showing off its more ambient/esoteric side.

That's some fine examples not covered by the present demos, thank you

No. Thank YOU! It's weird but working on presets is kind of like not being able to see the forest for the trees...you're so wrapped up in details that the overall genius of the synth gets missed. It wasn't until I started actually working on songs that this synth came alive for me. It's gorgeous!

[asseca]

Hi Torben,
Is it possible to build in a method to change each harmonic in real time ?

Currently you can only hear the change after you release the mouse button

Also the ability to, for example, use NRPN 0 to select which harmonic to change, and NRPN 1..250 to set the value of each harmonic...

That would really make this a versatile beast...