KVR Audio

kevin brown · Post by **kevin brown** » Wed Apr 10, 2019 9:10 pm

The .osm files are the Synthmaker project schematics, which can be opened with Synthmaker or it's replacement, Flowstone. They are provided for folks that have either of those programs to be able improve/change/customize the plugins as they wish. One reason I did this was the hope that someone with greater skills than I would run with one or more of them and apply their expertise to produce an improved version and make it available to all - sadly this has only happened with one of them. Flowstone master Rex Basterfield (under the forum moniker, 'Spogg') did an upgrade of minDy that's been named minDy S. His website is called 'Flowstoners'.

functionform · Post by **functionform** » Wed Apr 10, 2019 10:03 pm

Yes, Quilcom synthys by Spogg. His plugins are great, but they slow down my Reaper instance occasionally for some reason. As he got better at Flowstone they are less of a CPU hit.

yobare · Post by **yobare** » Thu Apr 11, 2019 7:52 pm

K Brown ur work is inzane. Its Amazing doing all this. You should make more presets Mybe? And sell them? Ur awesome k Brown. Checked some of your synths and its alot of work put in there.

Choogster · Post by **Choogster** » Sun May 12, 2019 5:48 am

Excellent work Kevin (tried to send you a private message by you've disabled it). I've made some amazing patches with the synths, these have far more character than a lot of commercial soft synths out there. I was wondering if there is a way of transferring patches freely available on the net to these synths? Some of them are so close to the originals...

fmr · Post by **fmr** » Sun May 12, 2019 9:14 am

Choogster wrote: ↑Sun May 12, 2019 5:48 am Excellent work Kevin (tried to send you a private message by you've disabled it). I've made some amazing patches with the synths, these have far more character than a lot of commercial soft synths out there. I was wondering if there is a way of transferring patches freely available on the net to these synths? Some of them are so close to the originals...

Some (most?) of them have their own preset manager. Otherwise, you could save them in FXP (for single preset) or FXB (for whole Bank) format. This format can be used inside Cubase, and also several other hosts.

In what host did you create them?

Choogster · Post by **Choogster** » Mon May 13, 2019 3:21 am

fmr wrote: ↑Sun May 12, 2019 9:14 am
Choogster wrote: ↑Sun May 12, 2019 5:48 am Excellent work Kevin (tried to send you a private message by you've disabled it). I've made some amazing patches with the synths, these have far more character than a lot of commercial soft synths out there. I was wondering if there is a way of transferring patches freely available on the net to these synths? Some of them are so close to the originals...
Some (most?) of them have their own preset manager. Otherwise, you could save them in FXP (for single preset) or FXB (for whole Bank) format. This format can be used inside Cubase, and also several other hosts.

In what host did you create them?

I meant the patch banks you can find for the actual hardware versions of the synths.

fmr · Post by **fmr** » Mon May 13, 2019 2:42 pm

Choogster wrote: ↑Mon May 13, 2019 3:21 am
fmr wrote: ↑Sun May 12, 2019 9:14 am
Choogster wrote: ↑Sun May 12, 2019 5:48 am Excellent work Kevin (tried to send you a private message by you've disabled it). I've made some amazing patches with the synths, these have far more character than a lot of commercial soft synths out there. I was wondering if there is a way of transferring patches freely available on the net to these synths? Some of them are so close to the originals...
Some (most?) of them have their own preset manager. Otherwise, you could save them in FXP (for single preset) or FXB (for whole Bank) format. This format can be used inside Cubase, and also several other hosts.

In what host did you create them?
I meant the patch banks you can find for the actual hardware versions of the synths.

I doubt that would ever be possible, since these aren't "real" emulations. Even for the vast majority of "real" emulations, the import of sys-ex data is not possible.

kevin brown · Post by **kevin brown** » Sat May 25, 2019 5:27 pm

Choogster wrote: ↑Sun May 12, 2019 5:48 am Excellent work Kevin (tried to send you a private message by you've disabled it). I've made some amazing patches with the synths, these have far more character than a lot of commercial soft synths out there. I was wondering if there is a way of transferring patches freely available on the net to these synths? Some of them are so close to the originals...

The best way to communicate with me is the e-mail button on my website.

If you e-mail a Zip file with .fxp/.fxb patches, I can upload them to a Sync folder and have a link to that on my website - that would terrific! I'd love to start a 'Second Party Presets' page on my website for hosting user-contributed presets.

overhishead · Post by **overhishead** » Sun May 26, 2019 6:26 pm

Hey K Brown, a chap over at this thread viewtopic.php?f=74&t=522834 says there's a 64 bit version of Flowstone and he's tried porting one of your synths. Do you have any faves you'd like to try converting to 64?

kevin brown · Post by **kevin brown** » Sun May 26, 2019 7:30 pm

As I understand it, it's still pretty beta at this point and not fully stable. Patchmeister Kujashi is apparently mulling over some presets for a couple of my plugs; I'd probably wait to see if he releases anything so they can be incorporated into something ported to 64. Someone else over at the DSPR forum would probably have to volunteer to do it - I don't have a 64 machine to do it/test it.

As far a 'fav', I'd have to say the one I just finished, because has a brilliant Karplus-Strong string filter in it that was designed by Martin Vicanek. The plug's called 'Throttle'; it's an approximation of the Radikal Accelerator
https://ln.sync.com/dl/e9900ba80/4b9n4x ... b-g2gx92h4

Update May 29 - If you downloaded it before this date, replace with v1.01 - added a pair of modulation inputs for the String Filter's Resonator section, plus added several nice presets for the String Filter by 'Spogg' over at the DSPR forum.

VSTj · Post by **VSTj** » Sat Sep 14, 2019 9:32 am

Sorry for missing these last posts: I had retired very far from KVR. I come back with a new track dedicated to Rolend SH-3p: Melancholy on planetoid SH-3p. I hope you will hear sounds that will make you want to (re) discover this amazing synth!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SzvHX3mknwI

kevin brown · Post by **kevin brown** » Mon Sep 16, 2019 12:17 am

Very nice track - thanks for sharing this.

VSTj · Post by **VSTj** » Tue Sep 17, 2019 1:02 pm

Thank you for this nice feedback!

VSTj · Post by **VSTj** » Sun Dec 29, 2019 4:46 pm

Review of the virtual Roland SH-3A from K Brown Synth Plugins (KB Plugs)

Kevin Brown, painter and landscape photographer from San Francisco, spends his spare time compiling legendary synthesizer manuals and technical diagrams that he tries to reproduce (or even improve or hybridize) in SynthMaker. His ambition is not to perfectly imitate these machines but rather to explore how they work, the absence of presets leading the adventurous user to roll up his sleeves and "get his hands dirty". The community already owes him a hundred of these free re-creations in 32-bit VSTi format for Windows.

Roland SH-3A 1.jpg

Roland SH-3A 2.jpg

The plug-in we are interested in is inspired by the Roland SH-3A (which Rick Jelliffe's Ricko-3A was already trying to resurrect in 2004), a synth-organ from the mid-70's. This Rolend SH-3p (probably for "Panel" or "Polyphonic") reproduces the control panel with an appealing clarity.

Roland SH-3A 3.jpg

Rolend SH-3p large.png

Ricko-3A.jpg

Featuring an unusual VCO, an elegant hybrid of additive and subtractive synthesis that invites you to mix - as on a combo drawbar organ - 10 fundamental and harmonic pitches (32' / 22' / 16' / 11' / 8' / 5.5' / 4' / 2.5' / 2' / 1.5' - the original did not offer the fifths) of 4 waveforms (square / pulse / saw, to which the triangle has been added), this replica offers a palette of timbres definitely richer than that of a standard synthesizer.

The 8' Chorus is also enhanced by polyphony and the possibility of slightly detuning and spatializing the harmonics (Detune and Panning functions, the latter taking the place of the VCA's Hold potentiometer), which gives a nice depth and amplitude to the sounds. The white and pink noise generator that can be routed to the VCA or the VCF (4-pole LPF) has been reproduced identically.

The upper part of the instrument displays the modulation options, again multiplied by a clever system of selectors that determine which effect to assign to the slider of each of the Vibrato, Tremolo and Growl (wah-wah) sections: saw from LFO1 or square / sine with adjustable delay from LFO2.

The Sampler module (Sample & Hold), which, in addition to the noise generator, uses waveforms produced by the LFOs (triangle / ramp / sawtooth), is capable of generating, as on an ARP 2600, strange random arpeggios that are shaped via the dedicated Level and Sample Time parameters, while playing with the speed of the LFO involved: amazing!

Also worth noting: the envelope presets of the VCF (soft / pluck) and VCA (soft / pluck / gate), which are convenient, allowing you to free up the unique ADSR available for custom contours; the Pitch Bend interval (ex-Glide), now adjustable (± 1-3-5-7-12 tones), and a small ModWheel section (assignable to cutoff or/and pitch) replacing the original pedal inputs. Nothing has been forgotten, up to the Portamento's momentary switch-off button during solos.

Roland SH-3A 4.jpg

Shimmering and bewitching, the synthetic tones typical of this cleverly sophisticated emulation will delight those who will appreciate its retro charm, especially fans of horror and sci-fi movie soundtracks from the early 80s. In the same family as this Rolend SH-3p, let's finally mention two interesting variations on the no less mythical Roland SH-5 and SH-7: the Rolend SH-57 and SH-75.

Rolend SH-57.jpg

Rolend SH-75.jpg

Note: In this review, we're focusing on the "large" version of the plug-in, which we think is the most successful. The last one, SH-3p_k, adds (in a badly dimensioned interface with truncated screen printing) a preset manager (incompatible with the previous programs), an alternative filter and 50% keyboard tracking, as well as the setting of MIDI CCs assigned to the wheels.

Rolend SH-3p k.png

iuyj · Post by **iuyj** » Wed Feb 05, 2020 10:20 am

Which synth can you advice for rock music?

K Brown Synth Bundle