KVR Audio

Taron · Post by **Taron** » Thu Jul 20, 2017 7:49 am

Boy, you're squeezing us through the ringer there, Arch!? I can't get your back anymore on these matters...I just can't.

...think it's kinda off topic, though, that's about as much as I can possible help.

Architeuthis · Post by **Architeuthis** » Thu Jul 20, 2017 10:47 am

Taron wrote:I can't get your back anymore on these matters...

I appreciate the effort, but don't worry about my back.

I got this.

Taron · Post by **Taron** » Thu Jul 20, 2017 11:06 am

Goody! I always think that we indi developers really should stick together, but then I think we all should anyway, regardless as to what we do. It's just sometimes a philosophical discrepancy that makes it challenging.
Eventually we'll all sync up again, I have no doubt about that, because we really have to. I just hope what ever will come will allow us to provide and receive with the freedom it takes to do so with health, love and more of our potential.

doctorbob · Post by **doctorbob** » Fri Jul 21, 2017 10:35 pm

Hi all,

Here's DoctorBob's submission for Spiral Generator. Such a fun synth - great sounds when you tinker at the edges of the parameter ranges. Modulation mapping is your key to success!

DAW:Reaper

Track Details
27 * Spiral Generator
20 * ReaEQ
7 * TAL Reverb 4
3 * TAL Reverb II
3 * LFX-1310
1 * Classic Compressor
2 * JS Bass manager/Booster
1 * Twin Delay
10 * Midi Note Filter
3 * Midi Polyphony

Master
TDR VOS Slickeq
Ferric TDS
Limiter No. 6

DR: 6

Enjoy the Ride ...

https://soundcloud.com/doctorbob/doctor ... -genarator

Mechanought · Post by **Mechanought** » Sat Jul 22, 2017 3:22 am

Here's My Entry:
https://soundcloud.com/mechanought/mech ... gue-cannon
(Soundcloud transcoding really did a number on my high-end)

It's an odd one, but I put a lot of time into it. Well as much as I can working 50+ hours a week currently. An hour or two every night after I get home. In the DAW the time signature is set to 17/8, but that's just to make notation easier so I don't have to constantly make time signature changes. Basically, every 3rd measure is in 5/4 which while not immensely noticeable, will cause any head bobbing to alternate between the 1st and 3rd beat, and the 2nd and fourth beat. Hopefully creating a light sensation of confusion or uneasiness. I found Spiral Generator to be a ton of fun to work with and was able to get some really great sounds out of it without too much hassle. The worst part is getting the phase right. The kick sounds great but the initial hit is in the left ear, and the sub-bass is in the right ear, that sort of thing. Didn't cause me too many headaches. Mixing the track as a whole was pretty interesting though, all the slightly off phase made it, well, I did my best. The composition has elements of fugue and canon style composition, and is very contrapuntal.

I tried to use as little effects and automation as possible, because I just like to do it that way.

Effects used:

24 x Spiral Generator
3 x Rescure MK2
2 x ReaEQ
13 x NastyVCS
2 X NastyDLA mkII
3 x FerricTDS (very lightly used)
8 x EqicVerb (to give sense of space, wetness generally in the 20-30% range or less)

Master Track Effects:
Stereo Enhancer (Reaper JS)
SlickHDR
ReaXcomp
Master Limiter (Reaper JS)
Frequency Spectrum Analyzer Meter (Reaper JS)

Tell me what you think!

bh9090 · Post by **bh9090** » Sat Jul 22, 2017 11:54 am

Entry:

https://soundcloud.com/hennessey/bh9090 ... -mechanics

9 instances in Live 9 with:
EQ8, Delays, Compressor, Limiter, Saturator, Overdrive, Reverb, MaxForLive Polymind
3rd Party: TAL Reverb 4

] Peter:H [ · Post by **] Peter:H [** » Sat Jul 22, 2017 12:29 pm

Mechanought wrote: (Soundcloud transcoding really did a number on my high-end)

For my last entry I have spent some time experimenting with different formats because I have had often the same issue with top end frequencies cut away it seems or respectively the freq spectrum somehow getting out of balance.
I ended up using flac format, i.e. loseless compression with KHz and Bit depth parameters as used by soundcloud. Because I internally work with much "higher" settings (usually, 32bit float and 96 KHz) I have also experimented with the Dither plugin that comes with cubase 9 as last plugin in the master chain and it feels it sounds better than uploading mp3 with 320 Khz that I used before.

Please: I really know that this is a topic about sonic alchemy and subjectiv perception...Many hours of back and forth posting have been spent on numerous forums about sc quality or dithering and that stuff...I just wanted to tell Mechanought my subjectively best setup. And sorry, no, I cannot proof anything of it

Best Regards
] Peter:H [

Taron · Post by **Taron** » Sat Jul 22, 2017 1:32 pm

Funny, I'm such an imbecile, when it comes to these things with SC and quality and all that. Once upon a time I found an old cassette of mine, which was damn near dissolving, but I really loved listening to the songs. It made me realize back then already that hifi quality is really the last filing or polishing and nearly insignificant, if the music itself doesn't carry the interest.
You guys make such interesting tracks that without knowing any different I really couldn't recognize a loss of value or a gain, if it was any "better" in sound quality.
I'm just writing this to balance out the worries a little bit. But it's very cool to know how best to prepare uploads, of course, keeping most of your original vision!

generaldiomedes · Post by **generaldiomedes** » Sat Jul 22, 2017 2:52 pm

I also now upload the full wav file now rather than converting to MP3 first after discovering SoundCloud allowed it. If nothing else I feel better and it saves me from opening audacity.

doctorbob · Post by **doctorbob** » Sat Jul 22, 2017 3:37 pm

The problem is that they transcode it to a poorer quality mp3 for streaming. Of course, starting with an mp3 they decode and re-encode which always causes some issues. Starting with a flac or wav is probably the best way to get the absolute best streaming result from the transcoding. Not sure that everyone would be so keen though to download the bigger files on slow links - so they would still only hear the poorer transcoded version!

Just my few db's worth

dB

generaldiomedes · Post by **generaldiomedes** » Sat Jul 22, 2017 5:11 pm

doctorbob wrote:Of course, starting with an mp3 they decode and re-encode which always causes some issues.

That explains why the .WAV file seem to process much faster.

Local Man · Post by **Local Man** » Sat Jul 22, 2017 8:23 pm

Local Man wrote:Ok, so here is my submission.
Local Man - Spirit Machine
https://soundcloud.com/user-44872685/spirit-machine
This is my first time participating in this contest so please let me know if I am doing anything wrong. I did read and follow the rules very carefully though. This is also my first time using soundcloud so I apologize in advance for any technical difficulties that may result. My track is a pretty straight forward electro-pop piece. I used arpeggiation and layering to generate polyphony and I pretty much let my first interactions/inspirations with Spiral Generator guide the way for the composition.

My DAW is Logic Pro X (10.2.4)
All plugins used are stock Logic plugins with the exception of Limiter No.6 by Vladg.

The instances are as follows:

Spiral Generator x38

Logic:
Arpeggiator x6
Compressor x25
Adaptive Limiter x3
Channel EQ x37
Delay Designer x1
Echo x3
Gain x12
Space Designer x1 (send bus)
Enverb x1 (send bus)
Enveloper x7
Multipressor x3

Vladg:
Limiter No.6 x9

I hope you enjoy and please let me know what you think

I am re-submitting my track because after listening to it in the context of others I realized I am not even close in terms of loudness. Loudness is usually not a big priority for me and to be honest, mastering in general is not my strong suit in the music production game. This new version is really just a modest increase in terms of loudness so it's still a bit off. Maybe if I find the time I will work on it some more and re-submit again (time being an extremely scarce resource when you have a 2 year old and a 3 week old to look after!). If I do not manage to do that before the deadline I would kindly ask that you just turn it up a bit if it is not loud enough for you

Thanks.
https://soundcloud.com/user-44872685/sp ... hine-mix-2
(I quoted my first post because none of those stats have changed.)

HiEnergy · Post by **HiEnergy** » Sun Jul 23, 2017 4:40 pm

Here is my entry for One Synth Challenge 101 - Spiral Generator.
This track was prototyped with Cognitone Synfire Pro and produced in Ableton Live 9.7.

- about 20 instances of Spiral Generator
- only native effects of Live (mainly Utility, EQ8 and Glue Compressor)

https://soundcloud.com/hienergy/hienergy-inspirals

doctorbob · Post by **doctorbob** » Sun Jul 23, 2017 6:46 pm

Just a quick note ...

Track updated to have an extra instance of the bass ... felt it needed more ooooomph!!!

Enjoy ...

dB

HiEnergy · Post by **HiEnergy** » Sun Jul 23, 2017 6:48 pm

doctorbob wrote:...more ooooomph!!!

There's no such thing as "enough bass"...

One Synth Challenge #101: Spiral Generator (Taron Wins!)