How many soft synths do you really use?

[evertonfan]

I have way too many soft synths & samplers.....someone when I started writing & producing music about 4 years ago should have told me how addictive it would be buying these software tools (I was a sucker for every sale offer, no brainer, group buy....you name it). So depending upon the project I tend to stick to the following.

- Omnisphere (Bass, synths, ARPs....everything)
- Strum Electric GS-1
- Kontakt (piano's & strings)
- EastWest Play & Kirk Hunter (strings, etc.)
- Alchemy (everything else)


Sometimes I dabble with impOscar, Diva, CronoX 3 & ElectraX in my projects if I am looking for a particular sound or inspiration, but looking at what I have available I am shocked that I don't touch any of my Arturia, FXPansion, FabFilter, Korg, XILS-lab & some other soft synths that I have. Don't get me wrong I love how all of those synth's sound......just don't use them in any of my projects.

Funny enough I find that I use all of my drum vst's & samplers (DrumSpillage, Drumaxx, Tremor & DrumCore, Steven Slate, Superior Drummer & NI's Abbey Road Drums), all of my guitar amp software & the majority of my production/mastering tools, which is weird. There is only a couple mix/master tools that I regret buying, but I could quite easily loose about 50% of my software synths & not really notice a difference. Though having said that I have been a sucker for bundled software packages, so have acquired a bunch of soft synths rather than deciding I must have such-&-such an instrument

From my prospective, I have in the back of my mind what the character of each synth/sampler will sound like & then I go to that instrument first. Only if the sound is lacking or not what a want do I then have a look for alternatives. So could probably get away with using between 5-8 soft synths & that would be plenty!

[U-o]

Bass Station
Drumatic 3 (free)
Drumaxx/Drumpad
Harmless
Sytrus
V-Station
Zebralette (free)

+ some commercial guitar .sf2

[highkoo]

I get a sense from quite a few people here that the only thing wanted is novelty and are more interested in what the next version of "BlowHard Analog" will bring just as soon a the current one is released. It's as if music were an ancillary thing. So, I wonder, do people actually use these things or just collect them to show the other boys who has the biggest… collection.

Sorry. I'm way off topic!

Oh I think thats right on topic.
That is surely the cause of our huge collections, well, along with lower costs...
But the obsession with things is not uncommon in people. And getting lost in the tools of the craft before the craft itself is a common trap in almost every area of art too, but I cant help seeing it a little different than just collecting. The difference for me is between an object that exists just to exist, and a tool, that exists as a means to do something.
I dont think Ive ever bought a synth just to 'have'. (:hihi: Actually, Diva is the closest I have ever come to that, ever. And it gets used.)

Also, I think that with DSP in particular, the way technology has affected it in the last twenty years has been so strong that enthusiasts of any type cannot help but to notice, and be chasing 'new' stuff. I mean how many guitar players on on KvR? How could say, a cellist or pianist afford to ignore the new tech that is creeping on "their" area of expertise?
Even the people who have been banging away on hardware synth XYZ for twenty years cant help but notice Diva. I can actually see how they are more prone to being 'obsessed' by the tech, because they have the perspective to see just how crazy it is right now. A kid born in 1995 who is casually playing with Diva demo is likely to not appreciate how amazing it is. By "it" I mean the entire scenario. From Diva, to the Demo, to the $500 PC it runs on....

We are in the middle of it, imo, but I think we are seeing where it goes.
One thing I notice;
Music and technology are now intertwined more than they used to be.
We have seen how there are now people who get into making music and music tech via a general tech background. Which, I guess goes along with the concept that it is now a programmer who creates a musical instrument.
The interesting flipside for me is to see people who come from a regular instrument based musical background who are pushed into a lot of tech knowledge because of the amount of tech going on in every area of music.
Hate to pick on the guitar players, but they always come to mind;
When you guys were young and started playing guitar, did you ever think that youd be paying more for your PC and plugins than your guitar, or spending time learning three DAWs and how to route midi?
It is a different craft, and the focus of the new technology is obviously on new techniques and sound, but I guess I hope that the whole thing is as amazing and fruitful for "you guys" as it is for us ITB junkies.

So, on topic....

I dont feel bad about any of it, really.
Its a constant evolution. Everything is still installed. I organize em in FLs browser and let Acronis cover my ass, so C:\VST is total mayhem.
Theres dozens that dont get used much, but they used to.

I basically just have a slowly rotating stable of about three or four that are used every day. I probably end up swapping one of those out like yearly or so?
And then there is a faster changing group of maybe 10-20 wildcards that I generally dont know as well, but just kind of kick around to see what is interesting.
Basically I cant help looking at new stuff, but when its so new I cant control it I get frustrated and go back to the bread/butters.

[Lotuzia]

I could do 97% of everything I do with erf 17 .......

2 Sampler/Romplers
5 VA/Special VA
1 FM
2 Wavetable
2 Additive/hybrids/grain
2 Rythm Units
3 Special ones

But I would still be very happy to have a few additional ones to make the 3% remaining, wich sometimes needs some dedicated synths

I'll add that I am less and less inclined to work with synths that dont have content management tools. Spending three hours to browse presets or load banks to find an "analog bass" "funky" is more and more uncomfortable for me, especially when a synth has not a solid factory library.

When browsing presets at random to find something fresh, inspiring or unusual its not a problem though.

LtZ

[highkoo]

I'll add that I am less and less inclined to work with synths that dont have

Mousewheel support.
Dammit, that is gonna end up making me forget some good synths...

[kelvyn]

I have a lot of synths and use them all in a very random haphazard way.

I'm the same way. I know enough about synthesis to get around most any synth to a fair degree. Enough to tweak a preset I've come across that I like. Some synth I know really well... it's funny I tend to know my hardware synths really well, yet not take the time to learn my software as deeply, though there are a few I know really well.

Either way, I love plucking a VST out of my synths folder and throwing it into a track and randomly picking though presets until I find something inspirational. Tweak to taste, and go. No need to go really deep. It feels more collaborative and often I'll find myself using a preset that's not really something I'd make myself and then have to bend the rest of the track around it. I love this type of thing. I also view "no-brainer" deal synths as "entertainment." If I get a few evenings of fun messing around with something I paid $50 or so for, I consider it money well spent even if I don't go back to it much.

You hit the nail on the head when you said. ' It feels more collaborative.." Thats the thing that I feel is missing wihen working on ones own... the collaboration, those moments when you are surprised by something a guitar player does or the drummer says something about his idea of a sound which was outside your own field of reference and which takes you down a different path than the one you had decided on. That's why I like tweaking a synth that I haven't used for a while or simply putting my hands anywhere on the keyboard to see if there's gonna be the 'serendipity moment' like in a rehearsal room with a bunch of people and you don't know what's gonna happen next.

[SuitcaseOfLizards]

I deleted a pile of VSTi that I don't use and I'm down to:

- Alchemy (full version)
- Tatoo
- Rapture
- Orion 8.5 Sampler
- Orion 8.5 Ultran
- Orion 8.5 drumrack

.. and that's IT! I used to have Korg M1, Korg Wavestation, Synthmaster, Dimension LE, Z3ta, Pentagon, and a few freebies - but either never used them or used them to jam once or twice but never in a composition.

Alchemy is my go-to instrument, with Orions Sampler and Ultran up second, and Tatoo when the Orion drumrack doesn't do it.

For me, less is more.. I've been a lot more productive lately.

Orions synths and FX are top quality, I find the reverbs are as good as any you can buy elsewhere. Ultran is one of my favorites as well as the wavefusion, they really do have a sound. At the minute Im into toxic 3, its what I used for the synth sounds on the track I did for soundcloud.

As I do more composition and less performing due to space limitations and such, I find myself more and more enamored of Orions native generators! If it weren't for the fact that I'm doing a lot of soundscape/ambient compositions right now, I could probably do everything inside Orion!

Still.. I love my Alchemy! Best investment I've made in YEARS.

[ErikH]

Long time ago, I played in a band. I had my guitars, an Elka Rhapsody string synth and a Roland System 100.
An aeon later I wanted something else than only my guitar. I saw someone using Absynth and thought: that's the Cynthiasizer I need!. So it started.
I sold the Roland System100 for a very good price and...

After Absynth came Guitar Rig Pro. Finally all guitar FX I wanted! And Kore Player, with the incredible sitar sounds from Northern India. And GForce's MTron Pro because I had always wanted a Mellowdrone. Then I needed a daw and chose a good one, but the wrong one for me. But it gave me Sytrus, Ogun, Drumaxx, Vocodex and Harmor. But I woke up, realising I was reviving the old days, and my musical intrest had evolved. I had to stop once again, to think it over. Nearly a year passed...

Wanting to do things thoroughly I thought very deeply on what I wanted. I read about synthesis and its various forms. I decided to try Cubase, and liked it. So I got the Artist version. Without expression maps (grumble! who needs movies mmm...?)
I got Soniccouture's Ondes, Glassworks and MBira, which allowed me to sidegrade to full Kontakt. This allowed me to add Ghuzeng.

Meanwhile the synthesis led me to Iris. From Iris came Alchemy. And New Sonic Arts Granite. Alicia's Keys and Vintage Organs were bargains, as were FM8 and Padshop Pro. Retrologue came with Cubase.
Needing some FX Redline Reverb came, then Melodyne, then the Soundtoys bundle.

And then I thought: stop! Compared with the old days, you have an incredible, sheer infinite richess of sounds at your disposal. And all this for far less than the price you once paid for that Roland System100. With two vco'. And crappy sliders. But before you go on, get to know them. Thoroughly. So they become real instruments, not a museum-collection.

So Zebra and Trilian are still on the list. Then I'll have everything. (yesss? that little inner voice says mockingly) . But not untill I have Absynth and Alchemy at my fingertips ( they are the most complex ) .

What I do have discovered is that it's o! so tempting and easy to get lost like a stoned alien in the creation of sound without ever starting to use it to create music with it. And that's the danger of sensory overload, a kind of mental and inspirational indigestion which comes, musically speaking, from having too many toys.

Yes. Tha's true. But childlike excitement is also necessary, no?

to be continued...

[hma]

One.

[tapper mike]

@Erik

I remember reading this interview with Steve Howe of Yes where he talked about all the guitars he owned. He said he came to a realization one day that regardless of which guitar he was playing he still sounded like himself and no guitar was going to change that. It didn't stop him from buying more oddly enough (or me)

I've got way to many plug ins to count and use practically none of them. The ones I use the most are the ones that take me to the sound I want to play the fastest (but not always the best) I'm less concerned with having a billion presets and more concerned about finding one I can use in the shortest time possible so I can play. Most days I just dream of having a Kurzweil PC3k all the famous sounds laid out in front of me so I can find the sound I want for the song I want to play. I'm less adventurous in tonal pallettes just give me something that works so I can focus on what I do best playing music.

[stratigos]

I have Dimension pro, Rapture, Z3ta+2 and Harmor. I work with Z3ta+2 and Harmor most of the time

[Arrested Developer]

From the softsynths i own, Zebra is for sure the most used one.

[drez]

I moved back to Reason from Live with the soul purpose of slimming down and just writing again. I started with Reason 1 and have circled the wagons back to 6.5. I got ReTron, PolySix and will definitely get Predator when it drops, but I'm looking forward to just using a few things and getting back to the fun of music and collaboration with some friends that all use Reason. Makes it easy.

I was writing with straight up Nanostudio on my iphone and that was really fun! Got me pining for my Reason days, so I turned around and am not looking back.

[robogone]

Varies I suppose. Sometimes I just don't use any as I get in the mood to play a non-keyboard instrument more than anything else.

[RunBeerRun]

Mostly just Syncersoft's Amusing sounds of the body and Synth100. I got so happy I went there.