One Synth Challenge #72: Eclipsis by VSTZONE (Richard Semper Wins!)

[Parduz]

Or I could keep creating nice hat sounds

This actually reminded me of one of the high points of my work on this competition.

I ended up making my own hi hat patch for my track. It's nothing special, but I discovered a new technique that I think I'll use in the future. Rather than using two separate patches for closed and open, I just wrote 1 patch with a high sustain level and short decay & release times. To make the closed hi hats, I just painted in some really short notes, and for each hit of the open hi hat, I extended the note length a little longer. This way, I could program closed and open sounds on the same channel, with the same instance of eclipsis. Not only was it a little more efficient on CPU, but I also found it was so much more expressive in terms of groove. I could get a really nice push/pull feeling by selectively extending some open hi hat notes longer than others.

I used to achieve a similar effect by automating the decay times of my samples, but since i couldn't use samples this time... Plus I think that editing the MIDI notes not only makes it easier, but it gives you a visual cue that corresponds to the sound. IE you can actually hear what that longer-looking note sounds like.

Granted, there was still some "meat" missing from the sound of the Hi Hat, but I think if I used a synth with better envelopes and more ability to route velocity to various parameters, i could create a very tough sounding hi hat track.

-Steve

I've done the same with the snare, getting a "per-hit-tweakable-gate-effect".
I also agree that being able to use velocity (as well as aftertouch, modwheel or other common MIDI CC) as source modulation for the filters, release, cutoff etc. will make you able to make a very expressive track by just drawing notes and few related parameters, bypassing the whole automation stuffs.
Is pretty old-school (Cubase 2.0 anyone? ), but it works (i'm doing it every time i can) and there's the added advantage that you can export the song as midifile for whatever reason and it still plays right as long you're using the same presets.

[ontrackp]

For synth hi hats I like to use velocity to control the amount of sustain. Just set velocity to modulate the sustain amount (in either direction). This allows for very expressive playing and a lot of variety in the sound. You can have the velocity control other "humanizing" parameters as well -- decay, filter cutoff, even triggering another layer.

[fese]

For example, this year my goal is to learn to play the piano in some reasonable manner. I can make some nice sounds with it, but really don't have a firm grasp on the chords I'm playing and the number of keys I can play in is very limited (maybe 4, poorly?) and my accuracy is very poor and I'm very slow at it.

If that is really true, you hide that very well!

[fese]

@fese: I guess you can dare a look

yeah, and find out who dared to give me less than five points and hold a lifelong grudge against them!
Oh, boy, the fame is already getting to my head, the unexpected overnight success is too much for me at the tender age of 41, I'm turning into an arrogant pig with a deep contempt for all who dare to critizise me. The pressure of making a similar successful follow-up is slowly driving me insane and I seek solace in several non-prescription drugs. See me in rehab soon...

[Mojo42]

@fese: I guess you can dare a look

yeah, and find out who dared to give me less than five points and hold a lifelong grudge against them!
Oh, boy, the fame is already getting to my head, the unexpected overnight success is too much for me at the tender age of 41, I'm turning into an arrogant pig with a deep contempt for all who dare to critizise me. The pressure of making a similar successful follow-up is slowly driving me insane and I seek solace in several non-prescription drugs. See me in rehab soon...

But on the plus side: Self reflection still works and so it is not too late for to get back on the path of virtue and righteousness

[bjporter]

Curious. What was the "light bulb" moment for you

I suppose I've had a few about different areas of production along the way but if anything, the biggest was probably the first OSC I entered. I finished in the middle somewhere, a lot lower than my expectations probably were at the time... and I realized these guys were making some awesome music which put mine to shame. The production levels were so much better than mine. The sounds they got out of these synths were incredible by comparison to what I achieved. The music itself was much more interesting than mine. Everything was better than I was able to accomplish. I don't remember if I was disparaged by this - probably to some degree. But rather than dwell on it I realized the only way for me to improve was to keep doing it - learn the techniques people used to get different sounds, to get a better mix. The a-ha bit was simply a realignment with reality that I wouldn't have had otherwise.

It definitely took a while to get some of the techniques down (and it _is_ more challenging with free plugins). Without getting too detailed, I had produced music for a while but screwed around for a long time not doing it and then really only got into preset flipping and piddling around, rarely completing tracks... rarely getting past the 8 bar loop of something that I thought sounded cool, really. I eventually got a few things done and probably had some people I knew say things like "that sounds good" about the music I was making, spewing pleasantries rather than truth.

But I just want to make "awesome" music... can't really explain it... it's just in my DNA, I guess. It's really an unhealthy obsession. I say "awesome" because obviously it will only appeal to certain people. My ideal reaction at the moment is: "oh my God what did he do?". So I just kept doing OSC to iterate and learn more each time around, trying to focus on different aspects along the way: sometimes sound design, sometimes mixing, sometimes mastering. I can honestly say I am nowhere near the production capabilities I want to be, but the effort I've put in has made tremendous improvements. As with anything, practice makes perfect... anyone would improve using this method!

I think one of the biggest hurdles is just being able to critically assess your own music: grounding yourself in reality and maintaining humility. Once you get to the point that you understand and are fine with lots of people not liking it for whatever reason, then you can more easily try to find out why or what to improve rather than getting defensive or hurt. For example, I know most people don't like the loud obnoxious noise I come up with... but really, I'm totally fine with that. My real reason isn't to win the contest but rather figure out the techniques to achieve sounds like the "pros" that I like.

For example, this year my goal is to learn to play the piano in some reasonable manner. I can make some nice sounds with it, but really don't have a firm grasp on the chords I'm playing and the number of keys I can play in is very limited (maybe 4, poorly?) and my accuracy is very poor and I'm very slow at it. And I've been running low on creativity lately (lots of different things going on in my life)... But still I'm trying to figure out how to make better compositions... need to start somewhere. All the skills you use to make tracks in the OSC are valuable if you intend on doing electronic music. The sound design is great to know - it makes some things much faster than flipping through presets or samples. The mixing and mastering techniques obviously can translate to about any genre, even. And general musical composition and such can influence you anywhere.

Anyway, too much rambling, sorry... as has been said, not sure what your motives may be, but if you are interested in getting better one of the best ways is just entering the OSC every month (or perhaps other competitions). It forces you to finish. It gives you a deadline. For me, this is invaluable. And to top it off, the OSC is a great, helpful community though. Well, all except me, I just ramble on.

Excellently said Practice and learning is power.

[mehum]

Congratulations everyone for a great contest and the winners for winning!

And many thanks to all the people who listened, commented and rated my track. Especially thanks for the fives

[MTLE]

Little supplement for Eclipsis



Enjoyed this sunlight-moonshadow-bath to relax from the scores

[bjporter]

Little supplement for Eclipsis



Enjoyed this sunlight-moonshadow-bath to relax from the scores

[actioncat]

Congrats to all the winners and everyone involved for making awesome music and being a really cool group of people.

I had a pretty good idea of how things would turn out here, but there were some surprises and a few tracks I thought were really good not ranking nearly as high as I thought.

I'm def happy with my results, thanks to all who voted kindly towards my track (wans't expecting any 5s) and I hope to learn more and get better in the future.

@Mojo42: Oh and I finally posted my patches, that "guitar" sound you wanted is just called Dist Lead, I really wasn't intending for it to be a guitar lol

[fese]

Little supplement for Eclipsis

...

Enjoyed this sunlight-moonshadow-bath to relax from the scores

Everything that I had from the eclipse was a dark gray sky that got slightly darker between 9:30 and 11:00 or so... bummer!

[bjporter]

The eclipsis looks good today!

[MTLE]

Little supplement for Eclipsis

...

Enjoyed this sunlight-moonshadow-bath to relax from the scores

Everything that I had from the eclipse was a dark gray sky that got slightly darker between 9:30 and 11:00 or so... bummer!

From weather forecast there should not have been many places with clouds. The last one 2011 was same here. First half I saw a light grey point in dark gray sky. 2nd half clouds became fluffy which was nice mood on the pictures.

Whats on the picture is almost everything you could have seen. Made about 400 pics over the time, all looking similar like this.

[MTLE]

The eclipse looks good today!

[Mojo42]

@Mojo42: Oh and I finally posted my patches, that "guitar" sound you wanted is just called Dist Lead, I really wasn't intending for it to be a guitar lol

Thank you very much

I downloaded them and listen them already.
1st: They are all amazing.
2nd: Wow that are many.
3rd: Everyone who wishes to learn something about sound design should download this bank too, because there is a lot to learn from.

Congrats: You are not only a great musician and composer, you are also a great sound designer

What a pity that you didn`t join OSC #73, could need 50 or better 100 of your patches for Synthmaster too