I am interested in a synth that can do warm pads and evolving soundscapes. I am satisfied With soft synth Like Absynth and FM8 but I hate using mouse to navigate . For me hard synths are much more better to express myself musicaly.I am already own a MiniKorg. And I have also tried VIRUS TI once and so I know how it Sounds.
I want good and detailed FM
Powerful Modulation
Good Bass End (I know that VIRUS TI is very good at this)
As much warmth as possible
Not software dependant modularity like Clavia G2 but modular none the less
I am not a preset maniac , I will build my own sounds but good ambient presets could help as building blocks
It sould be able to make excellent pads, leads, bass, strings and sounscapes.
Does Virus satisfy these requirements???
Is Virus Ti the best synth for producing ambient music?
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- KVRist
- 365 posts since 13 Jun, 2004
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- KVRian
- 625 posts since 19 Mar, 2004 from Copenhagen
Andromeda A6! Though it's on the way out of production.
You will get a warmer (analog of course) and less digital sound with the A6 + you can tweak everything by hand since it has so many knobs. I own this great synth
Listen to the sounds on this site:
http://www.wohmart.com/a6/audio
Like this one?:
http://www.wohmart.com/a6/audio/BrianK/ ... n%20or.mp3
Otherwise I think the Virus sounds like The synth for your purpose but I have only tried it in a music store. I'd really like to try that synth thoroughly myself. I've heard some of the sounds it can make and they are really amazing.
Have you checked the virus sounds?:
http://www.access-music.de/audiodemos/
Either synth will be really great for what you want to do, I think. Good Luck.
You will get a warmer (analog of course) and less digital sound with the A6 + you can tweak everything by hand since it has so many knobs. I own this great synth
Listen to the sounds on this site:
http://www.wohmart.com/a6/audio
Like this one?:
http://www.wohmart.com/a6/audio/BrianK/ ... n%20or.mp3
Otherwise I think the Virus sounds like The synth for your purpose but I have only tried it in a music store. I'd really like to try that synth thoroughly myself. I've heard some of the sounds it can make and they are really amazing.
Have you checked the virus sounds?:
http://www.access-music.de/audiodemos/
Either synth will be really great for what you want to do, I think. Good Luck.
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- KVRian
- 519 posts since 12 Dec, 2005
Yes, the A6 or any Oberheim Synth.
I also love the Wavestation for ambient as well.
I also love the Wavestation for ambient as well.
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- KVRer
- 15 posts since 22 Mar, 2002 from Laval, Qc (Canada)
Why not go to the end of your idea and go for a real modular instead? I always thought the building a modular was out of my price range until recently. After reading some articles in Electronic Musician I spent some time watching all the products available to me, and I built myself a Dopefer/Plan B modular that cost me about the same a Virus TI would have.
Of course, a modular is completely open, so you'll be tempted to always put some more modules in and it can be expensive in the long run. Nonetheless, you should consider the real thing. There's never been a better time to buy real brand new modular synths. There's LOTS of manufacturer (Doepfer, MOTM, Plan B, LiveWire, Encore, .com, ModCan, Blacet, etc) and they are very imaginative.
I used to be intimidated by soft-modular synths and never liked them. But in front of the real thing, I have fun like a child. I plugued no keyboard in it, no MIDI, just the modular on it's own. I creat a patch (usually a ryhtmic loop based on the analog sequencer), sample it in the computer and remove all the wires. The patch is then a loop that I use in Acid ... et voila! No fuss at all.
Check the Doepfer BaseSystem 1 for a start:
http://www.analoguehaven.com/doepfer/a100bs1/
Of course, a modular is completely open, so you'll be tempted to always put some more modules in and it can be expensive in the long run. Nonetheless, you should consider the real thing. There's never been a better time to buy real brand new modular synths. There's LOTS of manufacturer (Doepfer, MOTM, Plan B, LiveWire, Encore, .com, ModCan, Blacet, etc) and they are very imaginative.
I used to be intimidated by soft-modular synths and never liked them. But in front of the real thing, I have fun like a child. I plugued no keyboard in it, no MIDI, just the modular on it's own. I creat a patch (usually a ryhtmic loop based on the analog sequencer), sample it in the computer and remove all the wires. The patch is then a loop that I use in Acid ... et voila! No fuss at all.
Check the Doepfer BaseSystem 1 for a start:
http://www.analoguehaven.com/doepfer/a100bs1/
Exsurdo | http://hardsync.blogspot.com/
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- KVRAF
- 2875 posts since 28 Jan, 2004 from Da Nang, Vietnam
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- KVRian
- 1032 posts since 2 Aug, 2004
The Virus TI is a fine synth and you'll probably be happy with it. There is, of course, no accounting for taste...personally, I prefer the ti to the Andromeda, although I'm a fan of analog. I'd say that the a6 sounds warmer overall, but - I don't know - I just didn't enjoy working with it. Of course, I have a Sunsyn, and I generally turned to it for analog....a modular is a good idea, but I wonder about it as a main synth, given that you can't save presets. I love mine, but I wouldn't want it as my main synth. Maybe I'm too lazy...
reread your post - the ti is not modular. Neither is the a6. To get that in hardware, you'd need either a real analog modular, or the g2 (or earlier nord modular). I 'm not sure what you mean by 'not software dependent modularity'...if I read what you say literally, the only thing that satisfies that requirement would be an analog modular.
reread your post - the ti is not modular. Neither is the a6. To get that in hardware, you'd need either a real analog modular, or the g2 (or earlier nord modular). I 'm not sure what you mean by 'not software dependent modularity'...if I read what you say literally, the only thing that satisfies that requirement would be an analog modular.
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- KVRAF
- 7886 posts since 24 Feb, 2003 from Earth, USA
I'd say go for the Virus TI. The G2 is great, but if you want to get away from the mousing on the PC, you're right, the G2 is not a good option if you want FULL control over the synth and to access all of its possibilities on the interface. I do love the G2, but I also love the Virus. I don't think you'll be disappointed.
Devon
Devon
Simple music philosophy - Those who can, make music. Those who can't, make excuses.
Read my VST reviews at Traxmusic!
Read my VST reviews at Traxmusic!
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- KVRian
- 1032 posts since 2 Aug, 2004
I picked up a Polar for a great price recently, and I'm quite enthused about it. I was not a big Virus fan before the ti...(on the other hand, I'm finding instabilities with running the software .... hope those will be ironed out)
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- KVRist
- 131 posts since 7 Jul, 2006
With the updated OS 2.0 there are 2 new oscillator models (graintable and formant)which are based on the 128 wavetables. You can do amazing things with them especially if modulated.
I found those very interesting for Pad/Drone/Soundscape type of Sounds.
I found those very interesting for Pad/Drone/Soundscape type of Sounds.
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- KVRian
- 625 posts since 19 Mar, 2004 from Copenhagen
I think at this time we all need to wait for a reply from our thread starter LOL!
Come on Kilon, what do you think? Much fine advice has been given here...
Come on Kilon, what do you think?
Much fine advice has been given here...-
- KVRist
- Topic Starter
- 365 posts since 13 Jun, 2004
LOL Well Soarer I will tell you one thing .... Yamaha MO6 .
Actually guys thanks for your replie I have to say that Virus Ti is an excellent synth and can satisfy my needs
A potential answer to the question is a new synth called Artutia Origin http://www.arturia.com/evolution/en/pro ... intro.html
but the disadvantages is that it has only 32 voices and will cost $3000. So i think virus will do !
As you have already said Virus is very simple and yet powerful and that appeals to me plus the fact that polar is ultra portable. It is excellent synth for ambient music as you can see here
Now about yamaha Motif6 ... well I saw this video on YouTube
and this one
and this one
and this one
That is simply amazing setup
VIRUS TI + MO6 (I choose Motif 6 because it costs only 1300 Euros [1$=0.8 EUROS] and offers a lot more for its price compared to other more recent models)
So I think that is the direction I am pretty much going. So it should not Cost me more than 4000 Euros total. The rest could be done by software eventhough it seems that software will not be needed so much.
I just started working as a lawyer and that means that my income will increase so that i will be able to buy these products. So this is the first stage of deciding what fits the way I like to work. And i want to work very fast. As alwas thanks for your advice and I am open to any further advice!!!
Actually guys thanks for your replie I have to say that Virus Ti is an excellent synth and can satisfy my needs
A potential answer to the question is a new synth called Artutia Origin http://www.arturia.com/evolution/en/pro ... intro.html
but the disadvantages is that it has only 32 voices and will cost $3000. So i think virus will do !
As you have already said Virus is very simple and yet powerful and that appeals to me plus the fact that polar is ultra portable. It is excellent synth for ambient music as you can see here
Now about yamaha Motif6 ... well I saw this video on YouTube
and this one
and this one
and this one
That is simply amazing setup
VIRUS TI + MO6 (I choose Motif 6 because it costs only 1300 Euros [1$=0.8 EUROS] and offers a lot more for its price compared to other more recent models)
So I think that is the direction I am pretty much going. So it should not Cost me more than 4000 Euros total. The rest could be done by software eventhough it seems that software will not be needed so much.
I just started working as a lawyer and that means that my income will increase so that i will be able to buy these products. So this is the first stage of deciding what fits the way I like to work. And i want to work very fast. As alwas thanks for your advice and I am open to any further advice!!!
Last edited by kilon on Fri Feb 23, 2007 10:33 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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- KVRAF
- 8731 posts since 24 May, 2002 from Tutukaka, New Zealand
Another vote here for a Wavestation. It won't make the warm strings and basses so much (at least not without an awful lot of layering)...in fact it does the exact opposite of big warm sounds. It specialises in tinkly evolving subtle sounds. You could almost characterise it as thin, but that is why it is so good at subtle evolving landscapes and ambient noodlings. For your basses and thick pads etc, use something else, but a Wavestation is still very hard to beat for ethereal evolving sounds. You hear WSs all over films. It would me my all-time favourite for ambient music, superb at making distonic washes and scraping scary noises (used especially alot in horror films). But it depends on what you class as "ambient" - to me, thick fat warm analogue beasts are exactly wrong for ambient music, but maybe I'm thinking of a different style of ambient?
I'd go for a rack unit Wavestation A/D or possibly SR, so that you get all the waveforms and more patch memory. Plus, the earlier keyboards and screens are not known as particularly long-lasting, whereas the rack units seem to last.
See, you mentioned Absynth. To me that almost straight away rules out anything obviously analogish like a Virus. Viruses are more for big sounds....not what I'd call good at evolving ambient sounds. To compare to Absynth, in s/w there's Crystal, Wusikstation, Wavestation plugin, XPhraze. But for h/w it really cuts it down to Wavestations or modulars. And to be honest, it's actually far easier programming a Wavestation via s/w rather than h/w...the h/w has a very small screen and very few controls for an awful lot of programming.
I dunno...what type of ambient music are you making that you need big fat powerful basses?
I'd go for a rack unit Wavestation A/D or possibly SR, so that you get all the waveforms and more patch memory. Plus, the earlier keyboards and screens are not known as particularly long-lasting, whereas the rack units seem to last.
See, you mentioned Absynth. To me that almost straight away rules out anything obviously analogish like a Virus. Viruses are more for big sounds....not what I'd call good at evolving ambient sounds. To compare to Absynth, in s/w there's Crystal, Wusikstation, Wavestation plugin, XPhraze. But for h/w it really cuts it down to Wavestations or modulars. And to be honest, it's actually far easier programming a Wavestation via s/w rather than h/w...the h/w has a very small screen and very few controls for an awful lot of programming.
I dunno...what type of ambient music are you making that you need big fat powerful basses?
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- KVRist
- Topic Starter
- 365 posts since 13 Jun, 2004
I understand what is warmth but what is fat exactly ? Are we talking about distortion??
Well Ambient , Electro, Down-Temp , Chillout etc music does not necessarily target specific type of sounds. Some of it use almost accoustic and some of it use distorted digital sounds. True ambient does not have any rythm and melody it is basicaly pads, sound effects and sounscapes. But again labels are just mostly suggestions than declarations. You cannot cleary define what really music is and what it should be.
Virus has a wonderful deep end and that can be useful for creating some really bassy ambient which i like. Delerium for example use bass to a great degree in some of their songs. Also i believe that virus is misunderstood because its presets are Trance- orientated. However formost Virus is a synthesizer , a machine that makes sound and so it can be used to create any type of sound. Because of its greate polyphony and adding a lot of oscilators in the background can even be used for acoustic sounds. The problem is that true ambient sounds like Vangelis , jean Michel Jarre , enigma etc are difficult to programm and ussually they eat up all the timbres and polyphony. Ambient music is not as much based on simple waveforms as Trance or Techno so you really have to be careful on how much you put of everything . Simple distortion , filter cuttoff and reasonanse wont cut it. It is no wonder that Vangelis used CS80 to the full a so advanced synthesizer that even virus cannot much today some of its feature. And we are talking abut something which is at least 30 years old!! He even used multiple layers of this monster-synth to produce that powerful orchestral analog sound and that tells alot of how many nights he stayed awake twisting the knobs.
Of course there are presets that can be used for ambient. Obviously Absynth is one made exactly for that but the truth is that it lacks the warmth of some of the hard synths out there.
I have been investigating hard synth this week , I may know alot of things for VSTs folloiwng their developm since 2000 but when it comes to hard synths I am completly ignorant.
To tell you the truth i do not worry for the quality of sound , even my miniKorg can do amazing sounds with only 4 polyphony using 1 timbre and 2 using 2 timbres!! Should I worry about Virus, A6 , G2 or anything else that cost 5 times plus MicroKorg and has 20 times more power. My worries are more focused on the interface and of course collecting the money I need to buy them. To me all of them are amazing and super-powerful tools. But because I am more practical , i worry whether all this mountain of features , that each one has, will get in the way of creating music.
Thats all!
Well Ambient , Electro, Down-Temp , Chillout etc music does not necessarily target specific type of sounds. Some of it use almost accoustic and some of it use distorted digital sounds. True ambient does not have any rythm and melody it is basicaly pads, sound effects and sounscapes. But again labels are just mostly suggestions than declarations. You cannot cleary define what really music is and what it should be.
Virus has a wonderful deep end and that can be useful for creating some really bassy ambient which i like. Delerium for example use bass to a great degree in some of their songs. Also i believe that virus is misunderstood because its presets are Trance- orientated. However formost Virus is a synthesizer , a machine that makes sound and so it can be used to create any type of sound. Because of its greate polyphony and adding a lot of oscilators in the background can even be used for acoustic sounds. The problem is that true ambient sounds like Vangelis , jean Michel Jarre , enigma etc are difficult to programm and ussually they eat up all the timbres and polyphony. Ambient music is not as much based on simple waveforms as Trance or Techno so you really have to be careful on how much you put of everything . Simple distortion , filter cuttoff and reasonanse wont cut it. It is no wonder that Vangelis used CS80 to the full a so advanced synthesizer that even virus cannot much today some of its feature. And we are talking abut something which is at least 30 years old!! He even used multiple layers of this monster-synth to produce that powerful orchestral analog sound and that tells alot of how many nights he stayed awake twisting the knobs.
Of course there are presets that can be used for ambient. Obviously Absynth is one made exactly for that but the truth is that it lacks the warmth of some of the hard synths out there.
I have been investigating hard synth this week , I may know alot of things for VSTs folloiwng their developm since 2000 but when it comes to hard synths I am completly ignorant.
To tell you the truth i do not worry for the quality of sound , even my miniKorg can do amazing sounds with only 4 polyphony using 1 timbre and 2 using 2 timbres!! Should I worry about Virus, A6 , G2 or anything else that cost 5 times plus MicroKorg and has 20 times more power. My worries are more focused on the interface and of course collecting the money I need to buy them. To me all of them are amazing and super-powerful tools. But because I am more practical , i worry whether all this mountain of features , that each one has, will get in the way of creating music.
Thats all!