Bazille 2

[Garzita]

Well, Bazille is marketed more as a "digital" style synth... So ACE would probably fit the bill better. So would DIVA, at least for earlier Moroder stuff?

Yep, but it so much fun programming those basslines in Bazille!!!
I dont know why I find the layout so inspiring, the GearPorn one

[nilhartman]

@Garzita : Thank you !

Just in case : have you tried to "under-drive" the filters? Or not to turn PD all the way up on your OSCs ? The enveloppes can also help a ton taming the beast, many tricks to try there I can go on and on (here or in another topic) if you want ?

The OSCs are unapologetically digital, but you can make them sound like electricity rather than 0 and 1s if you need. For instance, I've patched the lushest sawtooth I've heard using a blend of feedback FM and PD, the one I'd reach for a huge bassline rather than Diva's (which I own and love) when I need something "analogue".

Bazille is an incredibly rewarding synth, it's well worth the learning curve.

[Ploki]

Well, Bazille is marketed more as a "digital" style synth... So ACE would probably fit the bill better. So would DIVA, at least for earlier Moroder stuff?

Yep, but it so much fun programming those basslines in Bazille!!!
I dont know why I find the layout so inspiring, the GearPorn one

can't argue with that

[mholloway]

I can actually explain it and provide examples but it seems to me that you are more interested in arguing than hearing someone else's opinion and proof.
You come across quite on the aggressive side and I tend to not engage in arguments on the internet so... I already dont feel like contributing

I spent most of my post presenting my argument of why I find the claim that any given synth "sits well (or not) in a mix" is dubious. I guess the aggro part was that I suggested such claims were BS? That was too extreme a stance, I guess?

In any case, I genuinely would like to hear explanations / evidence from the folks who make these assertions, if they have them.

[pdxindy]

I also hate to admit that it is quite hard to make it sit nicely in a mix

For you... just cause it is that way for you, does not say something about someone else.

[pdxindy]

Again, I am a big fan of Bazille and I can lose myself for hours playing it but there are reasons why it is not a top seller from the u-he family of synths

Lots of people do not like the wires... and it is a synth that uses lots of tools that most people are not used to. There is a learning curve... and not much immediate gratification.

Still, for lots of people it is one of their favorite synths... because it is unique.

[pdxindy]

@Garzita : Thank you !

Just in case : have you tried to "under-drive" the filters? Or not to turn PD all the way up on your OSCs ? The enveloppes can also help a ton taming the beast, many tricks to try there I can go on and on (here or in another topic) if you want ?

It is so hard to know what someone means when describing sound. It is possible to get rounder less biting sounds with Bazille. Of course it is easy to chase that sound that Bazille has of electricity sparking off of wires

[Garzita]

In any case, I genuinely would like to hear explanations / evidence from the folks who make these assertions, if they have them.

OK so lets start with the explanations on what is meant when people use the expression "it does not sit well in the mix". I want to first start with the definition, with varied sources so we delimit and specify quite early what we are talking about and trying to understand.

so link #1 from https://www.musicianonamission.com/make ... n-the-mix/
Definition of Not Sitting Well in the Mix:

• It sounds like it was recorded in another room

• It’s distracting. It obliterates the ‘togetherness’ of the track.

• We want our mixes to sound ‘balanced’, ‘natural’ and ‘even’.

• We don’t want our mixes to sound ‘disjointed’, ‘broken’ or ‘unnatural’.

• When one part doesn’t gel with the rest of the track, it pops out at us and ruins the listening experience.

------
My experience working with Bazille in relation to the points above:

Point 1: Not applicable, and avoiding using the Spring Reverb truly helps
Point 2: Yes, this one is quite noticeable, and I can be at fault on this one as when programming patches in Bazille, well, I almost never do it with the backing track in contrast to the patch I am trying to program, instead I try to use a pre-existing patch that I cooked up at home in a song and that is when you really have to make a big effort to tame Bazille.
Point 3: This one goes back to the "digital" sound from Bazille, as it truly makes it sound unnatural in contrast to real instruments, it sounds like a "Re-edit" of an 80s song when a Producer tries too hard to make an extended version and they add synth parts that truly sound unnatural to the track.
A great example of this phenomenom is this extended version of Bruce Springsteen's Dancing in the Dark with some obvious DX7 xylophones popping in quite early in the song. I apologize for the example, as it is not how you want to remember that song at all, or remember it altogether.
Point 4: I think it should have been lumped with Point #3
Point 5: This one is very similar to Point #2, but I want to emphasize the "gel" part, more like an instrument that does not sound like it belongs in the genre of the song nor in the band altogether. Like a bagpipe in a Mariachi song, or a banjo in a tango, I sometimes program basslines in Bazille that for all intent and purposes are "disco" inspired but once you play it next to a real guitar going along a disco groove on a real drumset, it sounds off, it sounds like instruments truly from a different era.

... Continues 1/2

[Garzita]

Now the next definitions come of how to properly make an instrument sit in a Mix but with the opposite effect, meaning when you want that instrument/vocals to be the focal point of the track but not being unnaturally positioned in the track itself.

Minimalistic songs and tracks with a "slow" bpm count are more likely to have its parts sit well with each other in the structure of the mix. The first case is obvious, the less instruments in a song equals more sonic space that they are not fighting over, think of a kindergarten classroom with only 3 kids screaming, you are more likely to hear each of them, but if you have 20 kids all screaming over each other, chances are you will not make out what they are saying. And the latter, well, our brains can process more information better when it is presented slowly. Now mix the two of them together and you dont have to do much; the perfect example of this is Mazzy Star's Fade into You, where she is literally talking rather than singing.

So back to some resources/links
... Continues 2/3

[pdxindy]

OK so lets start with the explanations on what is meant when people use the expression "it does not sit well in the mix".

I think most people know what it means... yet you still regularly hear where one person says "this synth does not sit well in the mix" and another person says "this synth sits well in the mix". It is subjective.

[JHernandez]

That xylophone sounds awesome. Actually, it's great idea for a track I'm working on tonight. It'll sound haunting, disjointed even. Thanks!

[Garzita]

That xylophone sounds awesome. Actually, it's great idea for a track I'm working on tonight. It'll sound haunting, disjointed even. Thanks!

HAHAHAHAHA whatever gets the creative juices going, my friend.

and I have run out of steam, I had all these tabs open in Chrome with references and examples of what "sitting well in a mix" means and stuff but now I am not interested anymore.

Bazille is amazing, if Urs adds the EQ section from Filterscape VA i would never, ever get another synth in my life.
Bye, off to lurking and barely posting again for me

[pdxindy]

Bazille is amazing, if Urs adds the EQ section from Filterscape VA i would never, ever get another synth in my life.

That is not good motivation for Urs to add it then... cause it means you will never buy another u-he synth!



Thanks for your contributions!

[Ploki]

i finally broke it

[krans]

As it seems to be time for feature requests, I'll throw in this darling of mine from another thread:

The one thing I miss: An audio input.
When dealing with hardware, let's say in a Eurorack, I love to put a recording of some voice or whatever into an input and get it mixed into the synthieness.
As far as I can think of, this would actually be my only wish for Bazille. It's really such a lovely synth.

And to think. . . with an audio input, you could actually route a different synth into Bazille and play around with it in this amazing sound machine.