I'm a subtractive kinda guy. How 'bout you?

[Andywanders]

Subtractive suits me. There's something quite satisfying about wading through all those frequencies and filtering out all the crap I just don't need. Whether I start at the top and keep all the shit at the bottom, or do it the other way round, I love it. Sometimes I just wanna dig a big hole in the middle and pile all that rubbish around the edges or use it to make weapons to destroy my imaginary enemies. Whereas occasionally I revert to my childhood and make a big sandcastle of frequencies right in the middle of the beach which is guaranteed to annoy the other kids.

I know subtractive isn't the only option and I've tried others. As for FM, well I quickly discovered I'm simply nor qualified, and besides that, it just sounds like the crap that I had just subtracted. Who needs leftovers? Then there's additive. Fine if you're a Hammond player, otherwise there really isn't any point. And as for wavetable... Well I've never been very good at tables.

Please don't misunderstand me. I have bucket-loads of respect for everyone out there in KVR-land and whatever rocks your boat is fine by me, but these days, for me subtractive rules.

So what's you're preferred sonic strategy in this multiverse of noise?

Love ya all

[vurt]

chaos.

[himalaya]

Subaddresynthesiseanalysegranulatemodelacousticsampleexplode.

Something like that.

[Andywanders]

chaos.

Noted.

[vurt]

Subaddresynthesiseanalysegranulatemodelacousticsampleexplode.

Something like that.

is that a welsh village?

[Andywanders]

Subaddresynthesiseanalysegranulatemodelacousticsampleexplode.

Something like that.

Needs an acronym methinks. Otherwise, good effort.

[Forgotten]

Subaddresynthesiseanalysegranulatemodelacousticsampleexplode.

Something like that.

is that a welsh village?

No, it’s too short for a Welsh village name

[himalaya]

Subaddresynthesiseanalysegranulatemodelacousticsampleexplode.

Something like that.

is that a welsh village?

It's the sound of a whale, using a vocoder.

[himalaya]

The problem is, I can start with subtractive, but sooner or later I end up stacking 3 sine-waves together which teleports me to the additive planes of existence, then I find a comb filter (who put the comb filter there?) and enter a pseudo-world of acoustic modelling, which confuses me as I am a hermit, not really up for any modelling...since I don't have a good physique, I've been prescribed Physical Modelling, which restores my mental balance after getting too airy fairy with sample playback, too much sugar coating...but then, adding some Waveshaping brings me back to earth me even more. Still, that never lasts as the single-cycle waves get out of control and start sweeping like mad making Waves on my Table, further stimulating all the granules in my Granular pot...it's a troubled existence. Although I keep faith in Resynthesis, maybe this is the way out: you get what you put in. Very spiritual, no? Still, that spiritual balance is destroyed by special agent Fox Moulder and his Scanned synthesis. Did he get it from them aliens? Undiscovered is the Spectral realm. Scary stuff thou...

[Forgotten]

Can’t really say I have a preference. Half the time I’m playing piano rather than any other kind of keyboard, and would rather spend time playing over tweaking sounds.

[Distorted Horizon]

I love to subtract clothes off from women.

[vurt]

I love to subtract clothes off from women.

that's called "theft"

[foosnark]

For me it's FM (and phase modulation, AM etc.), wavefolding ("distortion synthesis"), resonator/feedback stuff, wavetables, and a litlte additive or phase distortion on the side. I do like lowpass gates, but really am not that much into typical resonant filter subtractive stuff -- maybe once in a while on the side.

For FM I prefer modular-style over DX7-style. Nobody needs 6 "operators" in modular... two or three oscillators will do the trick. They're not phase aligned or in perfect sync and that adds a third dimension of variation. Or they've got wildly inharmonic ratios or dynamic exponential FM, but are forced into hard sync or PLL-controlled...

That said, I do love my Akemie's Castle. 4OP Yamaha FM with new old stock OPL3 chips... lots of artifacts, grit, crosstalk and distortion going on and not entirely stable. All controlled with knobs and CV. With that one I don't miss having freer tuning ratios or a more open architecture because it has its own charm.

Plus there's fun stuff like using a wavefolder for phase modulation or using an oscillator as a wavefolder...

A filter, to me, is mainly a thing to use mostly in a feedback loop with delays, or to highpass a modulation signal, or a target for FM, or a sine oscillator, or a cool thing to throw at an envelope to give it a bipolar "bouncing ball" wobble...

[el-bo (formerly ebow)]

I'm a 'Whatever the talented sound-designers want to use when designing lovely sounds for my music' kind of guy

[ariston]

Not specifically, but I was weaned on the sound of 70s synths, and thus prefer subtractive. The beautiful simplicity of it. I hated the DX7 sounds of the 80s, and the digital grittiness of samplers. That hate has dissipated and given way to acceptance, but I still tend to use subtractive most of all.