KVR Audio

bstageboss · Post by **bstageboss** » Thu Apr 21, 2011 9:40 pm

@michael2

I don't think gorgorgathgorgorgor meant any disrespect, but I think he just wanted to explain the point of the competition.
The idea is to let your creativity be the thing that overcomes the limitations of the contest. In other words, how good is the stuff that's in your head?

It used to be that the ultimate test for songwriters was how good their material sounded with a simple "campfire orchestra", i.e. using cheap bongos and badly tuned (and often badly played) acoustic guitar. This is sort of KVR's version of that; "simple" in this case meaning one synth and some free FX that available to anyone in the world.

In any case, I give you props to you for singing; it's a rare thing for us electronic musicians to work up the courage. Keep it up!

STV

V'ger · Post by **V'ger** » Thu Apr 21, 2011 10:04 pm

michael2 wrote:i wasn't sure about that myself. pored over the rules (and thread) and didn't find anything about vocals, so I went ahead and sang over it. stuck to the freeware premise though for my vocals. if this is something of a grey area, I can always pull the song.

Yes live voice is not really made very clear in the rules and can see the confusion with that, will update them before next competition. But basically the synth should make ALL sounds which excludes any other sources.

Anyway terrific vocals, you might want to look at using songs with vocals for entries in the other KVR competition in the Music Cafe section here where they traditionally do well.

michael2 · Post by **michael2** » Fri Apr 22, 2011 5:27 am

song with vocals has been deleted. on to the next one.

RuediRena · Post by **RuediRena** » Fri Apr 22, 2011 11:26 am

We made it!

We uploaded Free Kindergarten Alpha to this month's OSC!

Due to some BAD problems with stability we made it short. We have grey hairs now.

But we think this track is long enough anyway

Watch out:
We couldn't resist to put some heavy digital clipping into the track.

Her is what we used:
- LMMS with ten instances of FreeAlpha3
- Recorded into Ardour
- VC2 Vintage Valve Compressor by LinuxDSP
- Free Tape Delay Simulation by Steve Harris
- Calf Reverb LADSPA by Krzysztof Foltman

Looking out to next month/Greetings from sunny Ruhrpott and happy Easter holiday to all!

el-bo (formerly ebow) · Fri Apr 22, 2011 1:30 pm

think i'm gonna have to bail....

things got a bit hectic this month, having to move home and various other things.....

i might be able to squeeze something out, but it is unlikely

it's a real shame, as it looks like there are very few cross-platform options left to explore (maybe tyrell)

oh well, let's see

michael2 · Post by **michael2** » Fri Apr 22, 2011 6:47 pm

V'ger wrote:
michael2 wrote:i wasn't sure about that myself. pored over the rules (and thread) and didn't find anything about vocals, so I went ahead and sang over it. stuck to the freeware premise though for my vocals. if this is something of a grey area, I can always pull the song.
Yes live voice is not really made very clear in the rules and can see the confusion with that, will update them before next competition. But basically the synth should make ALL sounds which excludes any other sources.

Anyway terrific vocals, you might want to look at using songs with vocals for entries in the other KVR competition in the Music Cafe section here where they traditionally do well.

bstageboss wrote:@michael2

I don't think gorgorgathgorgorgor meant any disrespect, but I think he just wanted to explain the point of the competition.
The idea is to let your creativity be the thing that overcomes the limitations of the contest. In other words, how good is the stuff that's in your head?

It used to be that the ultimate test for songwriters was how good their material sounded with a simple "campfire orchestra", i.e. using cheap bongos and badly tuned (and often badly played) acoustic guitar. This is sort of KVR's version of that; "simple" in this case meaning one synth and some free FX that available to anyone in the world.

In any case, I give you props to you for singing; it's a rare thing for us electronic musicians to work up the courage. Keep it up!

STV

you know I usually chalk things up to the difficulty of interpreting the written word, and just ignore stuff like that. but for some reason that irritated me that morning. I think you guys are right as to his intent, and my reading into it the wrong way.

gorgorgathgorgorgor if you're reading this, sorry for getting into bitch mode; it was uncalled for. no hard feelings on my end, hope you can say the same.

will definitely check out the other challenges.

IrionDaRonin · Post by **IrionDaRonin** » Fri Apr 22, 2011 8:48 pm

Contest Song

Song Name: Falling Asleep
Song Composer: Irion Da Ronin

Equip

OS: Windows XP x32
Memory RAM: 2 GBs DDR
CPU 2,66 MHZ
SoundBlaster Extigy SoundCard
SkullCandy 20-20000 Hz HeadPhones
FL Studio and ASIO4All Drivers

Instances

Synths: 8 instances of Linplug FreeAlpha

1 Synth: Bassline (TAL-Dub III, Main Host EQ)
1 Synth: Slow Arpegio (TAL-Filter, TAL-Reverb III, TAL-Dub III)
1 Synth: Plucked Melody (TAL-Reverb III, TAL-Dub III, Main Host EQ)
1 Synth: Ambient DrumKick (TAL-Reverb III, Main Host EQ)
1 Synth: Pan Triangles (TAL-Reverb III, TAL-Dub III)
1 Synth: Ambiental Snare Noise (TAL-Reverb III, TAL-Dub III, Main Host EQ)
1 Synth: Armonic Pads (TAL-Reverb III, TAL-Dub III, Main Host EQ)
1 Synth: Power Lead (TAL-Reverb III, TAL-Dub III, Main Host EQ)

Effects

Main Mixer Channel: Host Main EQ, Thomas Mundt Loudmax (Free BrickWall/Maximizer) and Ferric TDS.

Channels: Main Host EQ in all channels.
Free Effects Used: TAL-Reverb III, TAL-Filter, TAL-DubDelay III, Thomas Mundt Loudmax and Ferric TDS.
Built-In Synth Effect used: Linplug FreeAlpha Chorus.

Explanation

8 synths FreeAlpha mixed with free effects in a structured song.
Used Main Host EQ in mostly of channels.
Automation everywhere; LowpassFilter, Resonance, Effect Wetness, Channel volumes, Filter synth parameters.
Thomas Mundt Loudmax and Ferric TDS in the main Mixer Channel.
An ambient-dreamy 3:42 minutes length song for relax.

Notes

I had some problems with CPU peaks while making the song, i'm using an old computer, old soundcard, old all ( i really need upgrade it, or buy a new
one better haha, but i can handle it)
I didn't need even render tracks to save CPU anyway. I dealed with it.
I learned much more about tweaking LinPlug FreeAlpha and gained experience in some techniques. So i'm happy and grateful with the work.
It's the first time i use only one type of synth in a song, so i liked the experience.
FreeAlpha is a great synth, i already had it in my little collection of freebies long time ago.
And yeah, i know, mastering (EQ and Compression) is my weak point, i need to improve my skill in it i guess. I'm still learning about it.
I was using Plektron Comp4 in main mixer Channel, but i changed it in last moment for Ferric TDS, so i expent almost one hour more in mastering again.
At last moment i decided to put some automated lowpassfilter in the rhytmic part in some zones and render the whole song slowly at 128 kbps instead
of 320 kbps.

The song

I wanted to express the moment between we go to sleep and we fall asleep completelly and we put our foot in our world of dreams.
Enjoy the last epic pad and put the subwoofer and speakers loud there.
I made whole song in 7-8 hours. Plus 2 hours more tweaking details and perfecting it.

Synth Suggestion for next OSC28
CakeWalk Triangle 2 or Acrobatics Alieno.

If there is something wrong with my song, let me know, please!
I hope you all like my song and good luck to contesters!

V'ger · Post by **V'ger** » Fri Apr 22, 2011 9:19 pm

@RuediRena: Getting Alpha to work in Linux is not bad at all, will any VST be able to work in theory?

@ebow: Nothing more disrupting than moving, but I see you're right Tyrell is indeed cross platform also. It will probably be on for next month tho..

@Michael: Nice one

@Irion: You did everything right which is not always the case for first time entries and nice detailed entry report too, cheers.

Happy Frog · Post by **Happy Frog** » Fri Apr 22, 2011 9:44 pm

+1 for CakeWalk Triangle 2, good suggestion.

RuediRena · Post by **RuediRena** » Fri Apr 22, 2011 10:38 pm

V'ger wrote:@RuediRena: Getting Alpha to work in Linux is not bad at all, will any VST be able to work in theory?

LMMS (Linux Multimedia Studio) does support VST-Plugins but is generally very unstable. Hosting Windows programs via wine is possible. Rena's system takes about 20 seconds to start the plugin the first time in a session. Mine gives you five minutes to do something else because Ubuntu doesn't react any more.

We experienced about fifty crashes in the making of our track.

Ardour should be able to take VST. The new version 3 (still alpha) handles also midi.

Greetings
Ruedi

V'ger · Post by **V'ger** » Fri Apr 22, 2011 11:20 pm

Well grats on persevering with the tech trouble, I usually go nuts when that happens which is why I had a break from music until I could get a system in place that ran without hiccups.

Cakewalk Triangle is definitely an interesting synth, but with one of the best freeware of all time just released in Tyrell, shouldn't we really just go for that first?

glokraw · Post by **glokraw** » Sat Apr 23, 2011 6:50 am

V'ger wrote:@RuediRena: Getting Alpha to work in Linux is not bad at all, will any VST be able to work in theory?

Hi, the reality I experience over the years is that Reaper is the best vst host for linux, using wineasio followed by the windows version of EnergyXT2xx

Most plugins work except those using these copy protections
pace
ilok
macrovision
dongles

A few synthedit/synthmaker plugins fail, most work. These are some currently working here
Zebra, ZebraCM Triplecheese
Alchemy, Alchemy Player CamelPhat CamelSpace CMFuzz
FM8 Reaktor 5 Absynthe 5 Massive Guitar Rig 4
Amplitube variants (but not the new custom shop itself) Sonic Synth2 Sampletank
Cobalt and Leslie Sanford plugins
Wusikstation and add-ons
Drumcore EZDrummer Addictive Drums
Highlife CMPlay
Ugo synths
AlgoMusic synths
Benoit Serrano Synths
GTG synths
Angular Momentum synths
LePou plugins
Most HG Fortune synths
Synth1
Voyager
Oatmeal
Atlantis
Triangle 1 and II
The rather large grain of salt, is that the linux software base is
always in a state of flux, so versions of wine known to work with Reaper
should be stored against future changes with unpredictable results. The little
connections jewel jackd has two divergent versions, jackd 2 is a good basis
to roll your own linux version, by remastering an your OS once you have added
and deleted what you prefer. Several linux versions offer this, and it's not
rocket science, after a bit of jargon is jotted down

Cheers

RuediRena · Post by **RuediRena** » Sat Apr 23, 2011 9:40 am

glokraw wrote:
V'ger wrote:@RuediRena: Getting Alpha to work in Linux is not bad at all, will any VST be able to work in theory?
Hi, the reality I experience over the years is that Reaper is the best vst host for linux, using wineasio followed by the windows version of EnergyXT2xx

_explaining in detail_

Wow, thank you for sharing your knowledge, glokraw. We will try Reaper.

el-bo (formerly ebow) · Sat Apr 23, 2011 11:45 am

V'ger wrote:
@ebow: Nothing more disrupting than moving, but I see you're right Tyrell is indeed cross platform also. It will probably be on for next month tho..

i've moved so many times, i should be used to it.....it never fails to knock me on my arse, though....every time

might make a last bid attempt to get something together...if not, i'll be all over the 'tyrell' challenge

glokraw · Post by **glokraw** » Sat Apr 23, 2011 2:18 pm

RuediRena wrote:
glokraw wrote:
V'ger wrote:@RuediRena: Getting Alpha to work in Linux is not bad at all, will any VST be able to work in theory?
Hi, the reality I experience over the years is that Reaper is the best vst host for linux, using wineasio followed by the windows version of EnergyXT2xx

_explaining in detail_
Wow, thank you for sharing your knowledge, glokraw. We will try Reaper.

Hi, I install reaper in /home/user, and make a full windoze path

/home/user/.wine/drive_c/Program Files/Steinberg/VstPlugins

Most installers are happy, and simple .dll can be dragged to VstPlugins
If you choose to start a standalone, fill in spaces in filenames with *

wine .wine/drive_c/Program*Files/Native*Instruments/Guitar*Rig*4/Guitar*Rig*4.exe

Investigate reaper preferences from the Options menu, Device will be asio for audio, and wineasio, for asio driver. A .deb of wineasio is at debian package mirrors.
In the VST panel, you will have to input the path to your plugins, and have reaper scan it,
or it will scan automatically if you restart. Reaper output can be sent to any jackd aware
app, for more fx, or recording. I like timemachine for recording Reaper, small simple gui, and excellent results, either w64, or wav format.

Cheers

One-Synth-Challenge 27: Free Alpha - Submissions and gossip