One Synth Challenge #142: Vital by Matt Tytel (Jasinski Wins!)

[Tucky]

Do you guys think the release of Vital will have impact on synths (like Serum) prices?

That's a really good question! My 2 cents is that: all companies are greedy and this will do nothing to change the current status quo of overpriced software (I say this, because I believe when compared to hardware, software devalues much more quickly, and when you look at prices of hardware vs. software, there isn't a huge disparity -- e.g. $400 for omnisphere vs $600 for a low end Korg workstation?) Surely there is development cost, but that's true for both HW and SW, and SW has a nearly free subsequent "manufacturing" cost. But similarly, things can be priced fairly and making them cheaper just won't be a sustainable business model (e.g. Valhalla plugins). Truly, my fear is that when free software gets to be so good that people begin to use it instead of paying for software, it has the potential to make the industry stagnate because no one can spend time developing new things... I'm very curious to hear other opinions, though!

That's a good point.

[jasinski]

Inspired by Photonics modeled piano, here's a staccato chamber strings preset. Enjoy if you want?

https://www.dropbox.com/s/wnglosj1chjv6 ... l.zip?dl=0

[Spring Goose]

I was waiting for this synth since first time I heard about it and was very pleased to hear it finally came out! I bow to you, Matt Tytel! Such a masterpiece. Do you guys think the release of Vital will have impact on synths (like Serum) prices?

If it doesn't effect their prices it will surely effect their sales

People on KVR are going crazy about Vital but weren't very enthusiastic about Serum, it's apparently a KVR thing. Is it just about price?

[Spring Goose]

OK, i have a serious question about the competition.

Assuming, we are allowed to use Helm as an alternative to Vital, if Vital won't work on your computer because of an OpenGL problem.
I have Helm working with Mesa3d on Maschine 2 software but it doesn't work on my usual DAW Bitwig.
Am i allowed to start the song with Maschine then bounce my long tracks to audio then finish the song with Bitwig? I won't be doing anything i couldn't do with Bitwig on its own with Helm if Helm could work on Bitwig.

[z.prime]

Am i allowed to start the song with Maschine then bounce my long tracks to audio then finish the song with Bitwig?

I believe this is explicitly disallowed, much like exporting a render and mastering in other software (from the rules):
Audio must not be touched at all once it leaves the DAW (i.e. after bouncing a track or a stem). For example: One cannot master the audio in another software or service.

[tomx2188]

Truly, my fear is that when free software gets to be so good that people begin to use it instead of paying for software, it has the potential to make the industry stagnate because no one can spend time developing new things... I'm very curious to hear other opinions, though!

I think the industry would simply adapt or change if required.
To stay competitive with more and more high quality free stuff, it would certainly have to come up with something .. innovation and other improvements on the positive side, or questionable sales and marketing strategies on the other ..

Maybe it's a bit like automation in the industry. It may scare those who depend on the status quo, but usually offers interesting opportunities for the future. Worth it, but there can be friction during the transition.

I haven't tried other paid synths similar to Vital, but from what I've read so far my gut feeling says the industry won't be affected a lot by Vital

[ahanysz]

@ Hanz Meyzer: Just draw with mouse in the row beneath the waveform. The bottom row represents the phase of the partial. Sometimes these rows appear greyed out. I've no clue whatsoever yet as to why..

I'm guessing a bit here, hanging out for the promised manual, but:

You have a choice of "wave source" or "line source" for drawing your own waves. For wave source, the interpolation between keyframes is based on either the spectrum or the sample-by-sample value of the waveform, so it's OK to edit the spectrum and make weird squiggly shapes. For line source, the interpolation is based on the location of the control points (like Zebra's "geomorph"), so the shape of the wave needs to stay "geometric" and editing the spectrum would mess things up, so the rows are greyed out.

The line source is good for things like pulse width modulation, if you want all your in-between shapes to be perfectly square pulses. If you try drawing two different width pulses in the wave source, you'll find the in-between shapes may not be what you expect.

[ELEX]

@ahanysz : Ah...I see. You're absolutely right. That's it. Thanks !

[Spring Goose]

Am i allowed to start the song with Maschine then bounce my long tracks to audio then finish the song with Bitwig?

I believe this is explicitly disallowed, much like exporting a render and mastering in other software (from the rules):
Audio must not be touched at all once it leaves the DAW (i.e. after bouncing a track or a stem). For example: One cannot master the audio in another software or service.

OK, thanks, Maschine won't work for me then, i'll try Reason 10 with Mesa3d.

[L-EctroBit]

Am i allowed to start the song with Maschine then bounce my long tracks to audio then finish the song with Bitwig?

I believe this is explicitly disallowed, much like exporting a render and mastering in other software (from the rules):
Audio must not be touched at all once it leaves the DAW (i.e. after bouncing a track or a stem). For example: One cannot master the audio in another software or service.

I must say in this regard that I have a distant memory that someone has been allowed to use two different DAWs in the past, long ago.

Do any of you, especially the contestants who have participated in OSC for several years, remember if someone participated with a DAW for sequencing and bouncing, and a different one for mixing? Or something similar?
Or is it that I have imagined it?

Anyway, I think that if someone uses a DAW to make the tracks, including the use of effects plugins and bounces each track, and in a different DAW he or she do the mix that would include only volume and pan, and use audio effects only on the master channel, it wouldn't break the spirit of the contest rules at all. In practice it is like using a single DAW. But this is just a personal opinion.

[z.prime]

I think that if someone uses a DAW to make the tracks, including the use of effects plugins and bounces each track, and in a different DAW he or she do the mix that would include only volume and pan, and use audio effects only on the master channel, it wouldn't break the spirit of the contest rules at all. In practice it is like using a single DAW. But this is just a personal opinion.

I believe the main driving factors here are: 1) reproducibility / verifiability and 2) using more "commercial" effects. While the latter isn't so pertinent this round, it is most rounds: mixing/mastering on a second daw gives you access to a whole suite of additional "commercial" plugins. What if I decided to master on a super expensive ProTools version and it happened to have the Ozone mastering tools (or the mega-FL Studio or UA Luna)? That would put me at quite a bit of a theoretical advantage from a plugin / DSP standpoint. As for the verifiability: most people don't have multiple DAWs they can use to do each step of the process to actually recreate the track (and even less likely to have a specific combination of two DAWs): who's to say the provided audio actually came from the first DAW according to the rules? And that would probably be a pain in the butt to do, to boot...

Personally, I don't have much of a problem with this myself, but I do see some valid reasons to prohibit it.

[Spring Goose]

Reason 10 doesn't work with Mesa3d.

[Sleepwalker]

Im thinking to join this for the first time after hanging here for 15+ years hehe. Im going 10 days in carantene before xmas so its a good time to learn this new synth, and its convenient and great fun that there is a sound design competition for it at the same time! <:-)

I will donate all the presets to the community when im done. They all will take full use of the macros and mod wheel in musicaly usable and fun ways.


Some basic questions:

Do we post our soundcloud link right here in the thread to enter the competition and it will be picket up by the judges? Or somewhere else?

Will there be a post with all the soundcloud links gathered at the end to make it easier for us to vote?

This was not clear to me on the provided long list of rules and guidelines, but othervice it seems pretty straight forward.

[Spring Goose]

Am i allowed to start the song with Maschine then bounce my long tracks to audio then finish the song with Bitwig?

I believe this is explicitly disallowed, much like exporting a render and mastering in other software (from the rules):
Audio must not be touched at all once it leaves the DAW (i.e. after bouncing a track or a stem). For example: One cannot master the audio in another software or service.

I must say in this regard that I have a distant memory that someone has been allowed to use two different DAWs in the past, long ago.

Do any of you, especially the contestants who have participated in OSC for several years, remember if someone participated with a DAW for sequencing and bouncing, and a different one for mixing? Or something similar?
Or is it that I have imagined it?

Anyway, I think that if someone uses a DAW to make the tracks, including the use of effects plugins and bounces each track, and in a different DAW he or she do the mix that would include only volume and pan, and use audio effects only on the master channel, it wouldn't break the spirit of the contest rules at all. In practice it is like using a single DAW. But this is just a personal opinion.

My computer is on its knees with 10 tracks of Helm in Maschine (it hangs when i try to arrange it!), and that's without any of the necessary eq, compression, and reverb (per track). I'm really not getting on with Cakewalk.

[ELEX]

Do we post our soundcloud link right here in the thread to enter the competition and it will be picket up by the judges? Or somewhere else?

Yes. Right here, In this thread

Will there be a post with all the soundcloud links gathered at the end to make it easier for us to vote?

There's a dedicated voting page to log in to . A link to which will be at the top of the OP after the deadline ( may take a little while ). There you'll find SoundCloud-links to all tracks and 5 boxes to grade the tracks. Easy as can be, you'll see . You'll have to create a separate password for it, though. That's all.

Welcome !