KVR Audio

GrokSynth · Post by **GrokSynth** » Fri Apr 03, 2015 7:18 pm

spidergod wrote:Ok this is just a demo track, non downloadable at present. It is an ambient track created using ableton, 3 instances of Dexed, Abletons Random Note Midi thing, Abletons Scale Midi, Ping Pong Delay and Reverb.

Um, actually, I kind of love this.

It reminds me of some of the music I got really into a while back. That goth-ambient stuff that always seemed like they were more influenced by Steve Reich or Gorecki than Bauhaus.

There is likely more to discover in this synth, of course, but this is quite impressive for what may have been only a couple of hours.

ImNotDedYet · Post by **ImNotDedYet** » Fri Apr 03, 2015 7:21 pm

spidergod wrote:Brian Enos DX7 Patch Programming notes - ok I am confused

http://www.electronicsound.co.uk/wp-con ... atches.jpg

Take the Kalimba patch.

He's using Algorithm 19. No feedback. (taking an operator/carrier and feeding back its output back into itself) Keys 9 - 16 have to do with LFO affects on Pitch (PMD and Pitch Mod Sensitivity) and Amplitude. (AMD and AM Sesns for each of the operator amplitudes) The old Yamaha synths didn't have attack, decay, sustain and release but rather Envelope's 1 - 4 in this case. (don't remember which equates to which) One cool thing is you can modify the levels with levels of these envelope settings, which isn't typical in subtractive synths with the exception of sustain. Rate is obviously the amount of time to reach the level. 18-19 have to do with the frequency of the sign wave for each operator, detune has to do with you know...detuning that operator. Again envelope levels and rates. the rest is stuff I don't know until we get to Output and Velocity Sensitivity whereas output is the amplitude of the wav into either the output or carrier and the sensitivity to velocity of the note.

wagtunes gave a nice introductory explanation of FM, but keep in mind that operator envelope rates affect the amount of modulation (amplitude of the modulator) of the carrier signal. so you could have one modulator with a short overall envelope and another modulator with a longer envelope such that early on in the note, you get the combination modulation whereas later in the note you get only the longer envelope modulation.

It's a bit confusing at first, but if you can find the right starting points and tweak from there with a bit of understanding, you can really get into some sonic territory you wouldn't be able to with simple, subtractive synthesis. I'd recommend if you're starting from scratch, just start with one modulator and one carrier.

mehum · Post by **mehum** » Fri Apr 03, 2015 7:34 pm

GrokSynth wrote:Well, in order to start learning this thing, I made a bank of initialized patches. It took me a minute to figure out how to save patches to begin with...

In-case anyone finds this useful, I was going to attach it (a bank of sine waves) here. But, it seems I can't upload a file with the .syx extension (or no extension or .jpg without dimensions, etc.).

If you want this, it is easy enough to make ->

1. Create a new bank by pressing SAVE and making a name for the new bank.
2. Go to the first patch and click on the INIT button.
3. Click STORE and typing 'Init' into the first text box, and select the slot you want the initialized patch to go in. Then save the file (click ok on the popup on a mac, not sure about windows but likely the same).
4. Click STORE again, and continue choosing new slots and saving until you have a complete bank of sine waves.
5. Program whatever it is that you can. At this point, I am able to make a sine wave, a louder sine wave, and a sawtooth.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/ayg97l7etojiq ... t.zip?dl=0

Saving this to your plugin folder should make this INIT cartridge appear under CART/User.

GrokSynth · Post by **GrokSynth** » Fri Apr 03, 2015 7:46 pm

Thanks mehum.

It appears I need a dropbox account at some point...

mehum · Post by **mehum** » Fri Apr 03, 2015 7:47 pm

H-man wrote:
mehum wrote:
spidergod wrote:Ok will try this out, latest computer music magazine has a section on FM synthesis this month.
Yeah, I saw this... Has anyone used the Zinio service to get the digital issue? It seems to be the only option for me but I see so many bad reviews for their apps so I'm a bit hesitant...
I get it through Google Play store sometimes. Seems to all work as intended. Zinio should be fine ...right?

I bought it through Zinio yesterday. No magazines available from G-Play in Sweden for some reason...

The FM article I guess is a decent primer but not very meaty... One page history, one page (basic) theory. They have some tips for making specific sounds with specific FM synths but do not go deep into details or analysis. Some of these tips would probably work well for Dexed as well with some adjustments. I'll experiment a bit.

LunaTech · Post by **LunaTech** » Fri Apr 03, 2015 8:32 pm

This is an awesome synth. Hey fese, before you bow out, take a gander at this. I think this would help out everyone for this challenge.

Cheers,
LunaTech out

spidergod · Post by **spidergod** » Fri Apr 03, 2015 8:59 pm

GrokSynth wrote:
spidergod wrote:Ok this is just a demo track, non downloadable at present. It is an ambient track created using ableton, 3 instances of Dexed, Abletons Random Note Midi thing, Abletons Scale Midi, Ping Pong Delay and Reverb.
Um, actually, I kind of love this.

It reminds me of some of the music I got really into a while back. That goth-ambient stuff that always seemed like they were more influenced by Steve Reich or Gorecki than Bauhaus.

There is likely more to discover in this synth, of course, but this is quite impressive for what may have been only a couple of hours.

Yep am going to see what I can do a bit more with this setup and tweak a few things.

spidergod · Post by **spidergod** » Fri Apr 03, 2015 9:39 pm

Ok my entry for the OSC

spidergod-Space Ghost-OSC 74

Ableton Random Note
Ableton Midi Scale
Ableton Velocity x 3
Dexed x 3
2 x Ableton Reverb
1 x Ableton Ping Pong Delay

Ableton Mastering Rack 1
Eq 8
Density Mk3
Limiter

https://soundcloud.com/spidergod/spider ... ost-osc-74

MTLE · Post by **MTLE** » Fri Apr 03, 2015 9:59 pm

spidergod wrote:Ok my entry for the OSC

Damn, was close to upload mine

Now I can take time.

PS: You forgot the drums. Would give your track bit more drama.

spidergod · Post by **spidergod** » Fri Apr 03, 2015 10:16 pm

MTLE wrote:
spidergod wrote:Ok my entry for the OSC
Damn, was close to upload mine
Now I can take time.

PS: You forgot the drums. Would give your track bit more drama.

I might add some drums, will wait for some drum presets from fellow oscers.

cheers

MTLE · Post by **MTLE** » Fri Apr 03, 2015 11:53 pm

spidergod wrote:
MTLE wrote:
spidergod wrote:Ok my entry for the OSC
Damn, was close to upload mine
Now I can take time.

PS: You forgot the drums. Would give your track bit more drama.
I might add some drums, will wait for some drum presets from fellow oscers.

cheers

Uploaded a DrumInit patch yesterday. Made all my drums from that. There are a lot in the banks you linked, too. So what are you waiting for???

z.prime · Post by **z.prime** » Sat Apr 04, 2015 3:23 am

For the life of me I can't figure out what the LFO does. Could somebody explain how I'm supposed to use it? I'll be in your debt

Side note: good info wag, thanks for that. I am very lost at FM synthesis...

asb2m10 · Post by **asb2m10** » Sat Apr 04, 2015 3:35 am

Parduz wrote: But: if the DX7 had the portamento, why Dexed don't have it? (not complaining at all, just for curiosity)

I did a quick implementation and it was far from what the DX7 does. So I postpone it for later. It will definitely be there in the 1.0 version.

MTLE wrote: Sometimes when have an instance in the background and bring back to front it changes desing completely. It has really coloful, with large 3D buttons and flat knobs. Reopen the instance fixes this. DAW is Reaper on XP.

Yep, that bug is already fixed in the current branch 0.8.1...

MTLE wrote: Question for loading DX7 syx. I tried some files downloaded over the years. Didn't get nice results. I have no DX7 to test them, but what could be wrong, except they are not for DX7.
Interesting that it loads all files, I put in. PDFs, RARs, ... Funny sounds . From my knowledge, users input should be always checked for security reasons and to avoid unstable configuration.

There probably not for the DX7: check if the file is exactly 4104 bytes. If it is for say a DX100 or DX11, there is an excellent tool that can convert them to DX7 sysex files : http://dxconvert.martintarenskeen.nl/ Dexed still loads the file even if the sysex checksum doesn't match. I made this possible so there is some kind of "randomize patch" feature. Each parameters are filtered so there is no "security" issue in that case.

mcaitch wrote: Good to have you here with your great synth! Since my DAW is Logic Pro X (10.1.1) running on OS X Yosemite (10.10.2) I downloaded the above mentioned au test version of DEXED (dexed-0.8.1-au_test.zip). Is the au support the only difference compared to the official VST 0.8.0 version? If not, I think me and others won't be allowed to use it for OSC#74. That would be too bad. I am new to the DAW field and think it is quite tricky to run VST plugins for free in Logic Pro X.

Thank you for your support and clarification!

The difference between 0.8.0 and the current branch 0.8.1 :

* Very basic UI theming
* Changed the Middle-C button so it shows the actual note detuned, not just the midi note number
* R Curve shows the right image (the text is still good in 0.8.0)
* Fixed the UI corruption when multiple Dexed instances are loaded

Soundwise nothing has changed. If people gets frustrated by the UI corruption bug, I can release a special OSC version that contains only those UI fixes.

z.prime · Post by **z.prime** » Sat Apr 04, 2015 3:42 am

Side, side note: thank you for making the pitch bend an octave!

LhaastDaiz · Post by **LhaastDaiz** » Sat Apr 04, 2015 5:04 am

LFO only does something if Pitch Mod or Amp Mod is turned to something more than 0. I believe it affects the whole device, all the carriers or however it works. Load the INIT patch, play a note, and then turn the PMD knob to hear the effect.

One Synth Challenge #74: DEXED (Jasinski Wins!)