One-Synth-Challenge: General discussion thread

[SamDi]

I plan since months if not years to join once an OSC, but there are 2 obstacles for me.

-Lack of time - OK, I have to solve it
-Lack if ability to generate good druns/percussion. I tried already but it is a whole fail-story

So my question is, does anybody have some nice links to tutorials which show how to programm modern drums? I mean not this overused 808/909 pitch-a-sine-wave+noise stuff but rather modern sounding punchy stuff for dubstep, psytrance, etc.
I thought already, I got it, but then I counterchecked on my studio headphones and it sounded again like shit

Who can help an old poor OSC drum failer?

most useful I found was this one : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ra-mZivYchk

But also the other fellow OSCers are helpful, and sometimes post tips & tricks in the forum.
And we have also a OSC slack group, where people hang out and share wips and feedback.

Amazing tutorial. And this guy is pretty fast on Ableton. Thanks.

[SamDi]

I plan since months if not years to join once an OSC, but there are 2 obstacles for me.

-Lack of time - OK, I have to solve it
-Lack if ability to generate good druns/percussion. I tried already but it is a whole fail-story

In General, after listening to a sufficient number of works in OSC, you will find many that sound great without drums! But this is a lyrical digression... All the best that OSC members have collected is available here:
https://sites.google.com/site/kvrosc/faq
P.S. See the last point

Oh wow, I didn'T knew that such a FAQ exists. I will suck this suff the next days, thanks.

[MilksterX]

I plan since months if not years to join once an OSC, but there are 2 obstacles for me.

-Lack of time - OK, I have to solve it
-Lack if ability to generate good druns/percussion. I tried already but it is a whole fail-story

In General, after listening to a sufficient number of works in OSC, you will find many that sound great without drums! But this is a lyrical digression... All the best that OSC members have collected is available here:
https://sites.google.com/site/kvrosc/faq
P.S. See the last point

Oh wow, I didn'T knew that such a FAQ exists. I will suck this suff the next days, thanks.

Thanks also for this. Will have a read through this weekend. I'm loving vital for its intuitive UI and the ability to modulate anything. Percussion is a breeze with this compared to with Monique

[Lint_Huffer7]

The past few OSC's haven't been uploaded to the Archive yet - is this just an oversight? Or is it a conscious decision going forward?

I know they're on Soundcloud, but I hate the Soundcloud player every bit as much as it loves to suddenly start playing a random Popular Track™ as soon as a playlist ends, and in general I prefer to download for offline listening - easy on the Archive, a pain in the butt on Soundcloud. Already a few of the previous months' tracks have become stream-only

[functionform]

New surge update is fire. Queue that up for an OSC before mid year 2021?

[haslo]

playing a random Popular Track™

That is really really annoying - the solution I found to that is a TamperMonkey script: https://greasyfork.org/en/scripts/38842 ... ay-station

[schiing]

With the occasional branching out into hardware and stuff, I was thinking about - and I'm not sure if it's a good idea, or even really in the spirit of OSC - whether Spitfire's LABS could be an alternative for a future entry.

It's sampled content, of course, not synthesis - but, to me at least, the lines seem to blur between synthesis, wavetables and samples, and as such, LABS is just another tool at the fringe of what I consider to be "synth" these days (or at least "synth-related").

What I like about the idea, is that it would force a lot of us to step out of our comfort zones and abandon all plans for whopping four-on-the-floor bangers (it's also what worries me! )

[Eauson]

With the occasional branching out into hardware and stuff, I was thinking about - and I'm not sure if it's a good idea, or even really in the spirit of OSC - whether Spitfire's LABS could be an alternative for a future entry.

It's sampled content, of course, not synthesis - but, to me at least, the lines seem to blur between synthesis, wavetables and samples, and as such, LABS is just another tool at the fringe of what I consider to be "synth" these days (or at least "synth-related").

What I like about the idea, is that it would force a lot of us to step out of our comfort zones and abandon all plans for whopping four-on-the-floor bangers (it's also what worries me! )

I like the idea,I think Labs needs internet connection to dL, I’ve tried before,maybe I’m wrong, so if this was used I’d be out others possibly as well
Possibly a solution, either Labs
Sforzando or another SF player & a combo of free SF could be used as an alternative for those without
Just throwing ideas out there, whether a selection of allowable orchestral instruments were collected together?

[schiing]

Yeah, and the total download size is pretty huge - that might make it a no-go for some as well.

I like the idea that LABS is a closed environment with a fairly singular vision, though. I fear that a general sample player would simply be too broad... almost like saying "this month we want you to make a track with... an instrument, any instrument!"

[schiing]

In fairness, you did, of course, suggest limitations! Sorry.

[Eauson]

@schiing
I do like the idea, to take people out of comfort zone
There’s a vast amount of SF that have been created,
https://github.com/IsaakCode/freeaudio/ ... samples.md

https://github.com/sfzinstruments

https://sfzinstruments.github.io/

There all pretty limited in that they have mainly limited fx
So, it’s possible to take a selection and be limited to just those

[Tj Shredder]

I do like the idea of a Labs OSC, though its not synthesis at all. Any of the packs is so limited in its parameters, that such a round would focus completely on composition and not sound design. Another plus could be the lack of drums for some packs... It would definitely hold back the usual EDM crowd... (though if you have tight automation in your DAW, you can create snappy short sounds...)
I could imagine that spitfire would be encouraged to donate one of the payed libraries, that would encourage some masters to jump in, as they get a real chance to compete with those masters who’s taste made them win already several rounds... If the idea finds enough who support it, I would setup the rule for either any single of the packs or all with exact one instance of each... If within that month another is published the “all” variant has to include that as well...; - )

[IV!]

Great idea, both about LABS and just sfz! One-month exceptions about synthesis really make the challenge more interesting) I think as long as we use the same instruments/constraints, it remains honest (although sometimes the opposite is true with any synth ).

[Spring Goose]

With the occasional branching out into hardware and stuff, I was thinking about - and I'm not sure if it's a good idea, or even really in the spirit of OSC - whether Spitfire's LABS could be an alternative for a future entry.

It's sampled content, of course, not synthesis - but, to me at least, the lines seem to blur between synthesis, wavetables and samples, and as such, LABS is just another tool at the fringe of what I consider to be "synth" these days (or at least "synth-related").

What I like about the idea, is that it would force a lot of us to step out of our comfort zones and abandon all plans for whopping four-on-the-floor bangers (it's also what worries me! )

We should force you to abandon your plans for not making whopping four-on-the-floor-bangers.

I've entered this competition 3 times, Pendulate, Monique, and any hardware synth, and i haven't noticed a disproportionate amount of club bangers. (although i haven't listened to this month songs yet)

We have to listen to all your different things and you don't have to suffer us moaning about it!

Already the rules of the competition are very strict, for example we can't use reverse, phaser, pitch-shifting. The rules already make it difficult for us.

Having said that. i'm not complaining about doing a different (limited) synth or whatever.

[schiing]

We should force you to abandon your plans for not making whopping four-on-the-floor-bangers.

I've entered this competition 3 times, Pendulate, Monique, and any hardware synth, and i haven't noticed a disproportionate amount of club bangers. (although i haven't listened to this month songs yet)

We have to listen to all your different things and you don't have to suffer us moaning about it!

Already the rules of the competition are very strict, for example we can't use reverse, phaser, pitch-shifting. The rules already make it difficult for us.

Having said that. i'm not complaining about doing a different (limited) synth or whatever.

I beg your pardon! I make big plans for whopping four-on-the-floor-bangers every month - it just so happens that it doesn't quite... end up... like... that...

And I'm sorry if I gave you the wrong idea: I'm all for them! You'll never hear me complain, much less moan, about any sort of music!