Would really like to get a hold of Alchemy

[Teksonik]

Alchemy has a signal flow that enables a lot of creative thinking

Yes it does but even if you recreate the signal flow you won't end up with Alchemy's exact sound.

If someone is looking for an alternative that's under constant development I'd recommend Parawave's Rapid.

Doesn't sound exactly like Alchemy but it could make you forget about wanting Alchemy since it has a similar feature set. I still prefer Alchemy's Granular synthesis and some of its Filters but Rapid is quickly becoming one of my favorite synths.

[dune_rave]

I've also sold my license around the time when CamelAudio stopped existing.
Why not get something that's currently not dead and supported?

[LeVzi]

Surely it's abandonware by now. The company are no longer trading under Camel Audio, and they are not supporting the synth, not selling it, and basically washed their hands of it.

They should release the installers as freeware, as a gesture of goodwill for those windows users and non logic users that they smited.

[revvy]

"Forward ever, backward never"

OP: we all had months to sell it back at the time if we wished. I sold all my Camel stuff, would'a sold it to you if you'd been around

[nusound mind]

I bought Alchemy from the buy & sell section right here at kvr. It does show the guy's name when you first open it up in the daw, but works well for me here, both on windows 8.1 on my old cpu and on windows 10 on my new one. I'd try a "WTB" thread, and do some research on prospective sellers.

Found mine at a good price although I don't notice many people selling copies generally so wtb may be your best (only?) bet.

[mladi]

They should release the installers as freeware, as a gesture of goodwill for those windows users and non logic users that they smited.

Apple bought them up so it's more then dead on windows just what happened with Logic decades ago.

[LeVzi]

They should release the installers as freeware, as a gesture of goodwill for those windows users and non logic users that they smited.

Apple bought them up so it's more then dead on windows just what happened with Logic decades ago.

Apple would block them releasing the Windows versions for free. That's how sh!t apple are. As their version still exists in logic. But to me, its all abandonware and I own both camelphat and space and i'm pissed off they won't get any updates, I still use them.

[bmanic]

If someone is looking for an alternative that's under constant development I'd recommend Parawave's Rapid.

Unfortunately Rapid is nowhere near as flexible as Alchemy.

The real star of the show in Alchemy, in my opinion, is the MOD MAPPER and 3 levels deep modulation section, meaning you can modulate an LFO, which has it's modulation amount modulated with an LFO, which again has it's modulation amount modulated with an LFO.. and all of these can go through the modulation mapper. So yeah, 3 levels deep in terms of what is modulating and how much.

Also, Alchemy has something that is _incredibly useful_, 3 polyphonic per oscillator extra filters/effects.. the most useful of these being the single band parametric EQ. This means that together with keyfollow + modulation mapper you can get that EQ to shape individual oscillators voices exactly as you want.

It also has built in envelope followers that can tap into the signal at various points. These can then be used as compressors or expanders or anything in between (again, using the modulation mapper) for any gain control. Or use them to modulate cutoff, resonance or whatever you want.

I don't think people actually realize just how capable Alchemy is. On a purely modulation matrix + modulators level, it is in a league of it's own when it comes to standard synths (that is, not counting things like Reaktor or other complex modular systems). It's one of the very few synths where I can confidently say that only your imagination is the limit.

Want every 3rd voice of your oscillator to pan right while the rest pan center and left? Yes.. that's possible. What a drum loop modulate the size and density of the granular section while it in turn modulates the drum loop tempo? Yup.. possible.

Alchemy is God when it comes to synthesis. Unfortunately, it's main weakness in my opinion is actual sound quality itself. Individual oscillators and filters do not sound all that good, especially if you compare to recently released synths. Still, it has it's own unique sound and you can create some pretty incredible sounding things.

It's literally the only software synthesizer that persuaded me to purchase specific hardware for it (a Mac mini) and using it as a hardware synth.

[Halonmusic]

Computer Music did have a copy of Alchemy years ago. It might still be in their catalog

[bmanic]

That was just the Alchemy Player.. a far cry from the full synth, unless you want to use presets only.

[Gribs]

I would just get UVI Falcon or Steinberg Halion 6 and be done with it Alchemy, which is exactly what I did. I have Falcon and Halion 5 and haven’t upgraded... thinking about it though.

My own preference is UVI Falcon, mostly due to the way it handles library locations, including the “factory” library and any UVI Workstation libraries.

[Teksonik]

If someone is looking for an alternative that's under constant development I'd recommend Parawave's Rapid.

Unfortunately Rapid is nowhere near as flexible as Alchemy.

Depends on your definition of "flexible". I'm not part of the Modulation Madness crowd so I don't need modulators modulating modulators with modulation.

To me Rapid is far more feature rich than Alchemy. To me Alchemy's charm to this day is the quality of its sound, granular synthesis, and filters etc.

Rapid's 8 Layers each with 3 Osc, multiple synthesis techniques, etc makes it far more flexible to me.

I still love Alchemy and have no plans on letting it go but if I had to choose one it would be Rapid without any hesitation.

[Gribs]

Okay I just took another look at Halion 6 and the new Steinberg library manager. The upgrade is on sale for $50 right now. It is sort of a no-brainer for me given content can now be downloaded and installed easily on external drives. Similar for the Padshop Pro to Padshop 2 upgrade ($30). Happy belated birthday to me.

[bmanic]

If someone is looking for an alternative that's under constant development I'd recommend Parawave's Rapid.

Unfortunately Rapid is nowhere near as flexible as Alchemy.

Depends on your definition of "flexible". I'm not part of the Modulation Madness crowd so I don't need modulators modulating modulators with modulation.

I do.. and you probably do too but you just don't realize it.

The point with the capable modulation system is that it works on ALL levels. You don't need it just for crazy blip blop silly modular like synth madness.

It actually helps you create sounds that sit in the mix much better and don't need as much further processing. You already have a built in "dynamic EQ" simply by mapping the keyboard range of a sound in such a way that you get equal loudness (or whatever you desire) per note that you are triggering in your sequence.

Same with amplitude.. you already can have a super stable sound that isn't all over the place dynamically, without using any kind of compressor. Again, simply by using the modulation mapper and a few levels of modulation depth.

That simple little polyphonic parametric EQ, per voice, per oscillator is extremely useful. Found a really nice oscillator that just happens to have a single frequency range that annoys you, or gets too much emphasized by the resonance? Easy to solve in just 15 seconds with that little EQ.. simply keymap it to the frequency you want to remove (or one you want to emphasize). Done.

Does a preset sound really good from C2 to about C4 but then gradually gets more shrill the higher up the keyboard you play it? No problem.. simply map the main amplitude control (or an additional EQ/filter) to the offending keyrange and solve it right there at the core.. instead of relying on EQ in the mix (though to be fair, this simple example actually ends up sounding pretty much the same.. still, the sound designer should have done this from the get-go).

Finally, this depth of modulation can help achieve extremely dynamic and nice to play sounds. It can be very subtle but still make sounds more organic and alive when playing. Multiple levels of subtle changes to timbre, pitch and amplitude can really help a sound to inspire people to come up with awesome music.

Unfortunately I just think there doesn't seem to be enough people who understand these things when it comes to synthesis. It's a similar trend in the current crop of home recording. Semi-randomly point a less than capable microphone at an audio source and hope for the best.. then "fix" it in the mix with tons of effects, praying you can solve all the problems that should have been solved already at the very start. The depth of synthesis is not just about filters, synthesis method or the sound of the oscillators. In my opinion, the way something actually PLAYS from the keyboard, is a large part in what makes something inspiring. This is where the multi layered modulation system comes to it's own.

In short: These functions are not just there to say "look how complex my synth is!!", they are actually useful for the sound designers to get YOU, the end user, higher quality sounds that are easier to mix.

[bmanic]

Addendum: One reason I think Alchemy had all that control, especially on the modulation side of things, is because of biomechanoid, aka Colin Fraser who worked at Camel Audio. He is an exceptionally talented sound designer and has a real knack for details.

I'm pretty sure Nico, aka BigTone would agree with me here. A properly deep level of modulation is a true blessing for the sound designers and definitely something most companies seem not to understand. As most people are preset users/minor tweakers, this is still a win/win situation. Unless of course development time for such a layered system becomes a problem (which it very well might!).