Would you buy a Surge sound bank? Now free!!

[Biome_Digital]

didn't it go open source rather than freeware? (i know it's free to the user but there is a difference...) because he saw the potential for a better synth but couldn't commit to support and future development?

I think so, good point.

[Biome_Digital]

I am aware Surge was a paid product at one point too. I wonder why it was made free. It's actually really powerful.

IIRC, the author joined Bitwig team and couldn't continue developing Surge, but didn't want it to simply die like many other abandoned pluugins.

Back on topic, I would love to get a preset bank for any synth if it came with a book "how and why I did this bank". Reverse engineering others' patches is a good way to get better at making your own. Btw, for educational purposes the free synths like Surge, Dexed etc. are arguably better.

Cool feedback - cheers!

[Teksonik]

So I wondered what people felt about paid presets for a free product?

My opinion is always quite unpopular but since you asked I'll give it then leave the thread.

I have a moral repulsion to people trying to sell banks for freeware synths. If the developers of the synths aren't making any money off of them then no one else should either. It goes against the sense of community.

If you can't afford to put the time in for free then spend that time making banks for paid synths, there are plenty of them.

Stop typing everyone I know you disagree and don't care one bit. Nothing you say will ever change my stance so don't waste your time.

I'm out and won't respond to any quotes.

[Biome_Digital]

So I wondered what people felt about paid presets for a free product?

My opinion is always quite unpopular but since you asked I'll give it then leave the thread.

I have a moral repulsion to people trying to sell banks for freeware synths. If the developers of the synths aren't making any money off of them then no one else should either. It goes against the sense of community.

If you can't afford to put the time in for free then spend that time making banks for paid synths, there are plenty of them.

Stop typing everyone I know you disagree and don't care one bit. Nothing you say will ever change my stance so don't waste your time.

I'm out and won't respond to any quotes.

Thanks for commenting. Appreciate the input.

[melomood]

Surge isn't just some toss off bit of freeware though. It regularly makes best lists and it was good enough to be picked up by other devs so it still has a future. I think it's worth a shot. Anyone can download a freeware synth but not everyone can sound design a top shelf bank

Maybe a portion of profit could go to donations to the devs working on it now

[AnX]

I've never seen a single dev, in 20 years, complain about ppl making commercial banks for free synths.....

[Biome_Digital]

Maybe a portion of profit could go to donations to the devs working on it now

I had considered that too.

[Biome_Digital]

I've never seen a single dev, in 20 years, complain about ppl making commercial banks for free synths.....

Me neither, come to think of it.

[vurt]

I've never seen a single dev, in 20 years, complain about ppl making commercial banks for free synths.....

probably because, they design the synths, and put them out there for people to use.
if people cant/dont design their own sounds, they will stop using the synth when something new comes along.
quality sounds, give the synth longevity with a wider audience.


aaaaand a different point

weve already seen one user ask about an accompanying book, a great idea for a sound designer imo (ive tried to encourage another to do an ebook...)
ill bet theres a good market with something like surge or vital in this regard, high quality free synths (ok vital has the paid versions, but anyone can get hold of it just without the extras) as these are likely to be used by beginners.
id go for it if i was you

[EvilDragon]

Maybe a portion of profit could go to donations to the devs working on it now

I had considered that too.

Surge Synth Team doesn't accept donations, though But thanks for consideration!

[Biome_Digital]

I've never seen a single dev, in 20 years, complain about ppl making commercial banks for free synths.....

probably because, they design the synths, and put them out there for people to use.
if people cant/dont design their own sounds, they will stop using the synth when something new comes along.
quality sounds, give the synth longevity with a wider audience.


aaaaand a different point

weve already seen one user ask about an accompanying book, a great idea for a sound designer imo (ive tried to encourage another to do an ebook...)
ill bet theres a good market with something like surge or vital in this regard, high quality free synths (ok vital has the paid versions, but anyone can get hold of it just without the extras) as these are likely to be used by beginners.
id go for it if i was you

A book would take months I reckon! Not that I would know how to make one! lol

[Biome_Digital]

Maybe a portion of profit could go to donations to the devs working on it now

I had considered that too.

Surge Synth Team doesn't accept donations, though But thanks for consideration!

Ok never mind. I guess I can offer user feedback and feature requests instead.

[izonin]

I'd personally only purchase a paid bank for a free synth, if it was sold by the developer. That would be a great way to encourage and support future updates/development.

But a third party selling presets for a free synth - no.

[baconpaul]

So I wondered what people felt about paid presets for a free product?

My opinion is always quite unpopular but since you asked I'll give it then leave the thread.

I have a moral repulsion to people trying to sell banks for freeware synths. If the developers of the synths aren't making any money off of them then no one else should either. It goes against the sense of community.

If you can't afford to put the time in for free then spend that time making banks for paid synths, there are plenty of them.

Stop typing everyone I know you disagree and don't care one bit. Nothing you say will ever change my stance so don't waste your time.

I'm out and won't respond to any quotes.

I understand this opinion. Would it change if I told you I don’t mind at all if op tries to sell patches for surge (but would also happily welcome them as free?). Just like I wouldn’t mind if someone sold synth sound design classes using the tool or sold a record where surge made all the sounds. In fact all of these could be accretive the community.

Even if I did mind the synth is licensed so op could do this (assuming they sell original content and not just rehashed factory library stuff).

And of course op has to make sure their patches are better than the factory patches. Some of the ones in 18 19 and upcoming xt are pretty amazing. But that’s just the invisible hand at play.

There are activities which would be objectionable mostly around violating gpl3 but creating and selling original content is not one of them.

(For context I am one of the maintainers of surge).

[baconpaul]

Surge Synth Team doesn't accept donations, though But thanks for consideration!

Ok never mind. I guess I can offer user feedback and feature requests instead.

Accurate and thoughtful Testing and user feedback is one of the key reasons the project works. Don’t dismiss it and you are always welcome.