One Synth Challenge #76: Mantra Evo (Syntax Project Wins!)

[bjporter]

Hi, i have been listening to a lot of great entries for this OSC from the guys at the Renoise forum and i have considered for a long time to join in on the fun.
Now i think i understood the rules, but just to make it clear: I can not use external fx like chorus VSTs etc., but if the DAW i'm using has a chorus DSP i can use that?

You can only use chorus / flanger / phaser, etc (modulation based effects) if it is built into the synth.

You may use external plugins, or daw plugins freely as long as they are not pitch shifting / modulation effects. If you need to use heavy effects like distortion, you can only use a tiny bit. Don't destroy the original sound. Use your best judgement.

[Taron]

ok ok ok ok ok ok....now, I have to say something weird as I've accidentally (half accidentally) created one of the coolest lead sounds I've ever created, really...hahahaha...it's so freaking bizarre cool, just lovely! I will give you a small hint, in case you haven't discovered that, yet. I think, most of you might have already, though.
- Turn the Chorus wetness All the way up and you'll get only the modulated signal!
- Turn the Rate up to like 70 to 90 or what ever you like!
- Turn the Depth almost all the way down (or even control it via midi)!
And you'll have a decent vibrato that can work wonders on Leads!

The distortion hides the totally rotten, ridiculously bad, horribly lousy written oscillators (no AA, no nothin', it sounds like a first attempt at making the computer go beep, haha, no offense(?!))...and the distortion can turn it into something outstanding, like...ah...totally amazingly weird and beautiful. Carefully control the pitch and you can almost literally make this synth sing (probably japanese? Haha )...but quite awesome!!!

PS: I challenge you not to laugh, when the sound comes or at least smile it's like, I might just be in love with this goofy sound.

[TheBellows]

You can only use chorus / flanger / phaser, etc (modulation based effects) if it is built into the synth.

You may use external plugins, or daw plugins freely as long as they are not pitch shifting / modulation effects. If you need to use heavy effects like distortion, you can only use a tiny bit. Don't destroy the original sound. Use your best judgement.

So far i have used only fx like static filters, EQs and compressors. I hope it's ok to use normal inautomated HP, BP, LP filters? I mean i could do the same with EQ so my judgement tells me it's ok.

About the synth:
You can make a great variety of sounds, but i don't like the GUI very much to be honest. The knobs won't slide the way you want and dropdown menus that hides the values behind the slider. It looks kind of ugly and the way it's layed out is clumsy and weird. The primitive delay is not very useful as it has no way to adjust the volume of the delays. There also seem to be a bug there somewhere, my bassline suddenly went crazy and started to produce a looping sequence on top of everything.
Not trying to be negative or anything, it's just my honest impression.

[Taron]

sorry!
Yeah, and that hardly sums it up!

There's an emoticon here made for this synth:

To sweeten the work experience with this one, just imagine this:
You are lost on a hidden island somewhere near the arctic circle. It's bleak, desolate and there's little hope somebody will find you anytime soon. Oddly enough, there's an old make-shift laboratory in one of those research trailers, slowly falling apart. Someone was here, probably last time sometime in the early 1980s. He might've died here, because there's a piece of neck bones still dangling from a rope, wedged into the iced-up skylight. Who knows where there rest of him went?
Besides a bunch of lab stuff, tossed about tables and floor, there's a computer... seems to be a Commodore 64 and CRT monitor that looks remarkably unscathed, besides a minor crack across the whole screen.
Outside, under a heap of ice and snow, covering a blanket, you find an old generator, still fueled up. After you've somehow managed to make it work, the inside of the trailer becomes alive. The muffled gong from the old monitor shakes some of the snow loose from the roof and a blue glare flickers behind the windows.
As you go back inside, you notice that there's plenty of food in the cabinets, so you'll be fine for some time, but there's virtually nothing else you can do. Thankfully the monitor heats up the crammed space pretty quickly and you decide to explore what that machine has to offer. It has booted directly into one thing and one thing only: A weird ass signal generator. Seems like your predecessor here had reprogrammed and rewired the entire inside of the computer to only generate sounds.
As you try to figure out what this thing was for, you soon realize that this guy must've offed himself halfway through the development of it. It must've been groundbreaking at his time, you start to think.
Since he apparently was a scientist, you begin to wonder, if there were any notes somewhere. And as you brush aside some of the stuff piled up on the table, you find his notebook underneath.
- ground penetrating sonar concept
- heat generating sound waves
- polar bear repelling waveforms
- Most Annoying Nonsense Technological Research Achieves. Evokes Violent Outbursts. Still trying to find a name for it.
- anti depressant sonic stimulation
- hallucinogenic trum ttumm ummm ummmp mp mp Phhh (I want to say this out loud, so fun:" Umpet, Trrruummpet"...but who will hear me?)
- arrrifucial cOmplanion ...bleeedn eaarrs..ares..bleedin arse?
- nolonga 'n ctrl of miself, mast gettit rite
...
- slept for 3 days. Polar bears become increasingly aggressive. Appear to be determined to destroy the source of the sound. A pack of seals joined them. They seem to collaborate for some reason?
...
- Found the right sound to turn the seals against the polar bears. It's a massacre.
...
- After adding chorus effect, seals appear to attack themselves.
...
- A bunch of seagulls eating the carcases of the dead seals.
...
- Didn't have to change a thing for the seagulls to start killing themselves.
...
- further experimentation with hallucinogenic waveforms.
- Trruuummmmmp ummmppp PH ph umph... umph umph ump
...
- slept for a week. A boat got stranded nearby. Sole survivor is a beautiful woman, but she's in bad shape. I think her name is Brianna or Bridget..she kept saying:"Brrr...brrr". I must've left the sound on when I fell asleep. Found her half frozen 4 paces from the trailer outside.
...
- UPON FURTHER EXPERIMENTATION WITH THE ANIMAL DEFENSE SOUNDS, I DIDN'T NOTICE MONIKA WAS OUTSIDE!!! SHE HAS KILLED HERSELF! I DON'T KNOW WHAT TO DO!?!
...
- I've brought the speakers inside and turned them toward me. If you find this, DO NOT START UP THE COMPUTER!

And that was the last entry. You look around again, you suddenly recognize the speakers. Thankfully the suicide sound was not the Default. ...is it safe to keep playing with this thing? But what else is there to do?

[wagtunes]

Taron, you are one sick puppy. LOL.

[animehaus]

@Taron - Simply epic!

[TheBellows]

Haha, yeah that sums it up.
I think i'm finished with the track, though it's a bit stupid it goes along with the synth at least.

[Taron]

Thanks, guys, but wait until you hear the soundtrack for the story...

[wagtunes]

Thanks, guys, but wait until you hear the soundtrack for the story...

Will it sound something like this?

[TheBellows]

That sentence sounds a bit like Mr. Bungle when you say it out loud.

[Taron]

I SO want to hear you say this out loud!

[Taron]

Will it sound something like this?

Hmmmnaah, not quite. It's...hmmm...very different.
(But that's cool, too!)

[TheBellows]

I'm not shure if Patton wants to do it one more time i'm afraid, he seems a bit aggravated.

[stone1]

Thanks, guys, but wait until you hear the soundtrack for the story...

Will it sound something like this?

Wow! Amazing! Where did you hear about this band? Seem they have virtually no fans. Really remind me of Portishead.

[RichardSemper]

ok ok ok ok ok ok....now, I have to say something weird as I've accidentally (half accidentally) created one of the coolest lead sounds I've ever created, really...hahahaha...it's so freaking bizarre cool, just lovely! I will give you a small hint, in case you haven't discovered that, yet. I think, most of you might have already, though.
- Turn the Chorus wetness All the way up and you'll get only the modulated signal!
- Turn the Rate up to like 70 to 90 or what ever you like!
- Turn the Depth almost all the way down (or even control it via midi)!
And you'll have a decent vibrato that can work wonders on Leads!

The distortion hides the totally rotten, ridiculously bad, horribly lousy written oscillators (no AA, no nothin', it sounds like a first attempt at making the computer go beep, haha, no offense(?!))...and the distortion can turn it into something outstanding, like...ah...totally amazingly weird and beautiful. Carefully control the pitch and you can almost literally make this synth sing (probably japanese? Haha )...but quite awesome!!!

PS: I challenge you not to laugh, when the sound comes or at least smile it's like, I might just be in love with this goofy sound.

I doubt I got exactly what you did, but gave this a go and .... Wow! Awesome! this is cool sci-fi stuff. Thanks for the Tip

And I love the story btw, it fits