I'm hoping to make some relaxation music with ambient, pads, soundscape type musical noise, I wondered what the best VST instruments would be, what do people think ? Really looking for mellow sounds.
Hope that's not too vague/general, I'm just doing it for fun !
Best VST instrument for relaxation, Ambient, sounds
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- KVRian
- Topic Starter
- 838 posts since 27 Nov, 2003 from UK, Polegate
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- KVRAF
- 2772 posts since 22 May, 2017
Check out the new Aparillo by Sugar Bytes: https://sugar-bytes.de/aparillo
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- KVRAF
- 25421 posts since 3 Feb, 2005 from in the wilds
sorry, but the cacophonous noise that thing makes is anything but relaxingRussell Grand wrote:Check out the new Aparillo by Sugar Bytes: https://sugar-bytes.de/aparillo
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- KVRAF
- 25421 posts since 3 Feb, 2005 from in the wilds
Zebratimfarman wrote:I'm hoping to make some relaxation music with ambient, pads, soundscape type musical noise, I wondered what the best VST instruments would be, what do people think ? Really looking for mellow sounds.
Hope that's not too vague/general, I'm just doing it for fun !
Icarus
Phonem
Those are 3 of my favorites
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- KVRian
- Topic Starter
- 838 posts since 27 Nov, 2003 from UK, Polegate
Thanks Russell Grand, I'll check it out - certainly looks the part !Russell Grand wrote:Check out the new Aparillo by Sugar Bytes: https://sugar-bytes.de/aparillo
Last edited by hotmitts on Sun Dec 17, 2017 9:29 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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- KVRian
- Topic Starter
- 838 posts since 27 Nov, 2003 from UK, Polegate
Great stuff thanks pdxindy , I'll look into those.pdxindy wrote:
Zebra
Icarus
Phonem
Those are 3 of my favorites
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- KVRAF
- 2772 posts since 22 May, 2017
pdxindy wrote:sorry, but the cacophonous noise that thing makes is anything but relaxingRussell Grand wrote:Check out the new Aparillo by Sugar Bytes: https://sugar-bytes.de/aparillo
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- KVRAF
- 5818 posts since 9 Jul, 2002 from Helsinki
Creating soundscapes and interesting pads is more about the sound design and personal style than what plugins are used. Some synths may come with suitable presets, but really pretty much any synth can work as a source. Layering synths and samples is a great way to craft evolving and complex pads. There is a long learning curve, but designing sounds yourself can be as rewarding as composing.
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- KVRAF
- 21196 posts since 8 Oct, 2014
There are 3 ways to go about doing this.
1) Buy a dedicated synth with tons of presets strictly for ambient if you're not interested in creating your own sounds from scratch.
2) Buy a synth that has enough built in requirements that will enable you to make any presets you want. For example, something like Synth1 by itself isn't going to cut it. It doesn't have enough built in capability.
3) Buy any synth at all and then purchase all the necessary FX that will enable you to basically turn any patch into an ambient one. With the right FX, even something like Synth1, which is absolutely free, will do the trick.
So, for number 1, I'd get Omnisphere. You can't beat it. It's also $500. Absynth is fine too and a lot less money but it doesn't have the sound quality of Omnisphere.
For number 2, lots of synths will work. Just look for synths that have lots of built in FX, especially reverb and delay.
For number 3, Synth1, which is free, is fine. Get Valhalla FX. They're about the best out there, especially the reverbs.
My 2 cents, but there are many ways to skin this cat and ultimately, almost every synth in existence is going to get named here as well as a good handful of FX. Hopefully, you won't suffer from information overload.
1) Buy a dedicated synth with tons of presets strictly for ambient if you're not interested in creating your own sounds from scratch.
2) Buy a synth that has enough built in requirements that will enable you to make any presets you want. For example, something like Synth1 by itself isn't going to cut it. It doesn't have enough built in capability.
3) Buy any synth at all and then purchase all the necessary FX that will enable you to basically turn any patch into an ambient one. With the right FX, even something like Synth1, which is absolutely free, will do the trick.
So, for number 1, I'd get Omnisphere. You can't beat it. It's also $500. Absynth is fine too and a lot less money but it doesn't have the sound quality of Omnisphere.
For number 2, lots of synths will work. Just look for synths that have lots of built in FX, especially reverb and delay.
For number 3, Synth1, which is free, is fine. Get Valhalla FX. They're about the best out there, especially the reverbs.
My 2 cents, but there are many ways to skin this cat and ultimately, almost every synth in existence is going to get named here as well as a good handful of FX. Hopefully, you won't suffer from information overload.
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- KVRAF
- 35294 posts since 14 Sep, 2002 from In teh net
It's not about the synth, it's about the person programming the sounds. 2 of my favourite sound designers for that sort of softer relaxing ambient are Yuroun (which has mainly done banks for Alchemy) and Julian Ray (whose Kobold bank for PolyKobol is full of beautiful warm ambient sounds). Others I'd mention are Luftrum and Joseph Hollo.
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- KVRAF
- 15517 posts since 13 Oct, 2009
Reaktor is, without a doubt, your best "bang for buck" because there is so much interest in ambient within the community. Consequently, there are numerous ensembles that cost nothing that express some aspect of ambient or soundscape. You could create entire albums with Reaktor and, literally, nothing else. You could construct the entire project directly in Reaktor, including sequencing, and record the whole thing with the output recorder.
There are multiple ensembles that come with it to get you started and beyond that there are hundreds of ensembles within the library and even quite a few outside of the library such as the excellent Boscomac stuff.
That said, as .jon pointed out, it's much more about style than it is any particular instrument. You can create ambient and pads with anything, or even nothing. I have some tracks that are little more than some field recordings and effects.
What usually helps people get better advice is to post some examples of the kinds of things that you're looking to create.
There are multiple ensembles that come with it to get you started and beyond that there are hundreds of ensembles within the library and even quite a few outside of the library such as the excellent Boscomac stuff.
That said, as .jon pointed out, it's much more about style than it is any particular instrument. You can create ambient and pads with anything, or even nothing. I have some tracks that are little more than some field recordings and effects.
What usually helps people get better advice is to post some examples of the kinds of things that you're looking to create.
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- KVRAF
- 21196 posts since 8 Oct, 2014
No, it's not the synth. But you still need the tools. You're not going to take something like Charlatan, which has no built in FX, and make ambient music with it. You need the tools.aMUSEd wrote:It's not about the synth, it's about the person programming the sounds. 2 of my favourite sound designers for that sort of softer relaxing ambient are Yuroun (which has mainly done banks for Alchemy) and Julian Ray (whose Kobold bank for PolyKobol is full of beautiful warm ambient sounds). Others I'd mention are Luftrum and Joseph Hollo.
