One Synth Challenge #155: Any One Synth (Photonic Wins!)

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MilksterX wrote: Thu Jan 27, 2022 10:51 pm Hi All

Here's my submission for this month. I made another song with the Minibrute. I still really like the last one but i will update my other post to avoid confusion. This one was a bit more fun to work on. Hope you enjoy!

https://soundcloud.com/milksterx/mini-brut-by-milkster

28 instances of Minibrute 2S in Bitwig 4.1
Very nice electro piece you got there. I am a bit curious about your workflow. If I am not mistaken sampling is not allowed even for hardware synths and the Minibrute is monophonic so how did make the whole thing.

Did you record let's say first the kick, then the snare, then the bass etc. or am I completely missing something because you obviously don't have 28 Minibrutes :D.

Genuinely asking because next time hardware is allowed I could use my Modal Electronics CRAFTsynth 2.0 to make a track.

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When I did my track using my DX-11, I recorded all my MIDI tracks. I then passed them in turn to the DX-11 and recorded the audio to a track below the MIDI track. I did this for all the tracks. So, e.g. a kick drum track would be recorded in full (sort of following the rules about freezing, where you have to freeze a whole track).

As an "extra" for that round, I also used outboard FX. So, each audio track was played back through a mixer so I could use the EQ section, and re-recorded that. If a track needed reverb, then that track was also played back to a reverb unit and re-recorded! Also, that printed reverb track would be passed back out again to be EQ'd!

From one MIDI track I could end up with 4 or more full length audio tracks to then be mixed.

No software FX were used at all. Limiting was controlled by careful mixing. I would have used my compressor on some tracks and master, but it stopped working!

... just how I did mine, for reference.

dB

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Here is my submission.

https://soundcloud.com/treeheated/channel-changer

And here is some waffle that you can safely skip.

Kontour is a Reaktor instrument included in Native Instruments' Komplete. It is centered around a pair of FM operators with sine shapers; you can mix the operators with their shaped versions before feeding them into each other. There is a comb filter, a low/band/high pass filter and a suite of effects.

Every knob does something interesting - that's the selling point made in the manual, and I'm convinced. You don't have to change the numbers much to get an interestingly different sound. The cabinet and gap filter effects have a nice and unusual sound. Though there are shortcomings that limit its versatility:
- No porta
- High CPU usage. (True of all Reaktor instruments?) This is the first time I have had to render individual tracks while working on the project.
- The built-in modulation system is restrictive. There are four macro controls, each connected to a different subset of the parameters. The macros can be set to play back some knob wiggling that you record (I didn't use that feature) or you can choose from some preset signals. Getting a simple sine wave LFO on some of the parameters takes more steps than it does on general purpose synths. I understand that these restrictions are meant to inspire creativity; I didn't feel that way when I was butting up against them, but maybe I approached it too narrow-mindedly.
- Bug(?) where for one of my instruments, the macro playback is set to play but doesn't start playing when I open the project. Simple solution: automate the play button off and on again at the start of the song.
- No stereo unison; I had trouble making wide sounds with this, though the gap filter helped.
- No noise oscillator, though you can make noise by being silly with the FM. (As a result, my snare takes up two Kontours.)
Because of these issues I would not use it as my main synth. I might turn to it if I need something a little unusual to inspire new ideas. The standalone price on the NI website seems a little rich for something not fully general purpose. But I suppose most people are getting it bundled.

The last few months, I've been circling chillout, trying to figure out my own take on it. That's the eventual goal, but this time around I felt the need to get something more assertive out of my system. Couldn't decide on a tempo so I used all the ones I know. In retrospect it was a lot of work for what sounds like a bit of a gimmick. The melodies I was coming up with didn't really work at different tempos - which was an interesting realization - so different sections have different melodies and maybe the song isn't as well tied together as I was hoping. I feel happier with the individual sections than the song as a whole.

Work time: 38h
DAW: Reaper

Plugin counts:
- JS: 8x Mono to 1x Stereo Mixer x1
- JS: Frequency Spectrum Analyzer Meter (Cockos) x1
- JS: Oscilloscope Meter (Cockos) x1
- JS: Spectrograph Spectrogram Meter (Cockos) x1
- JS: SwixMitch (4x Stereo In, 2 Bus X-Fader) x1
- VST3: OrilRiver (Denis Tihanov) x2
- VST3: SPAN (Voxengo) x1
- VST3: TDR Nova (Tokyo Dawn Labs) x1
- VST: ReaComp (Cockos) x1
- VST: ReaControlMIDI (Cockos) x2
- VST: ReaEQ (Cockos) x3
- VST: ReaLimit (Cockos) x2
- VSTi: Reaktor 6 (Native Instruments GmbH) (2->16ch) x34 [<--- Kontour]

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phankiejankie303 wrote: Fri Jan 28, 2022 12:38 pm
MilksterX wrote: Thu Jan 27, 2022 10:51 pm Hi All

Here's my submission for this month. I made another song with the Minibrute. I still really like the last one but i will update my other post to avoid confusion. This one was a bit more fun to work on. Hope you enjoy!

https://soundcloud.com/milksterx/mini-brut-by-milkster

28 instances of Minibrute 2S in Bitwig 4.1
Very nice electro piece you got there. I am a bit curious about your workflow. If I am not mistaken sampling is not allowed even for hardware synths and the Minibrute is monophonic so how did make the whole thing.

Did you record let's say first the kick, then the snare, then the bass etc. or am I completely missing something because you obviously don't have 28 Minibrutes :D.

Genuinely asking because next time hardware is allowed I could use my Modal Electronics CRAFTsynth 2.0 to make a track.
Thanks, I didn't record any one shots the shortest bits recorded were probably the drum fills which I added in and didn't see the need to record 32 bars of silence. There was some copy and pasting of 16 bar parts e g. Shakers and hi hats but all of it was sequenced either in the minibrute or via midi and recorded on separate channels so one day I work on the kick patch then record that in. Next day I would do the snares, maybe have to go back and redo the kicks again. Lots of photos on my phone of all the various patches!!

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Taron wrote: Thu Jan 27, 2022 8:39 pm Alright, here's my first test with this setup... pretty cool that it works in the first place:
https://soundcloud.com/taronium/harmles ... al_sharing

I will let this one be my submission after all.
FullBucket's FB-7999

DAW: MuLab
FX: OTT, LoudMax, Valhalla Supermassive, Dynamic Expander
I've decided to let this just be my submission before I forget it... still trying other things, but I'd want to be a bit more relaxed about it.
Here's the original post:
viewtopic.php?p=8337233#p8337233

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Hi everyone! Here is my first ever OSC submission!
I chose my favourite vst synth: Surge. But I didn't use the wavetable stuff (are they samples or not?)
It's called "Twisted Knickers" - because I got my knickers in a twist about it all! :D

DAW: Reaper
Synth: Surge x 16 Instances
FX: OrilRiver Reverb, Ambient Reverb, Dead Duck Filter, Dead Duck Mono Delay, Dead Duck Limiter, Reaper ReaXComp, Voxengo Span.

https://soundcloud.com/slugnest/silverp ... al_sharing

That's all I need to do yeah? Just post the link here? Then vote before 15th Feb?
Captain Silverpants

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I forgot to say - all home-made patches on Surge - from init.
Captain Silverpants

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Updated my submission: New Version of the track on SC and added the production facts to the KVR post. Please check out the original submission post: viewtopic.php?p=8324005#p8324005

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doctorbob wrote: Fri Jan 28, 2022 1:00 pm When I did my track using my DX-11, I recorded all my MIDI tracks...

... just how I did mine, for reference.

dB
Thanks for the info Doc.
MilksterX wrote: Fri Jan 28, 2022 3:47 pm
Thanks, I didn't record any one shots the shortest bits recorded were probably the drum fills... Lots of photos on my phone of all the various patches!!
Hehe kinda like I imagined, lot's of work. Worth it though the end result is really nice. Thanks for sharing.

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silverpants wrote: Fri Jan 28, 2022 5:12 pm That's all I need to do yeah? Just post the link here? Then vote before 15th Feb?
Yes. that's it ... One thing you could do is to set "download allowed" on your soundcloud track. It's required by the rules.

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] Peter:H [ wrote: Fri Jan 28, 2022 6:32 pm
silverpants wrote: Fri Jan 28, 2022 5:12 pm That's all I need to do yeah? Just post the link here? Then vote before 15th Feb?
Yes. that's it ... One thing you could do is to set "download allowed" on your soundcloud track. It's required by the rules.
Thanks Peter. I have already ticked "Enable Direct Downloads". Is that it?
Captain Silverpants

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Hi there,

I am new to this awesome competition. I am not completely sure if I am doing everything as it should be done but I trust I will get some notification if I am making mistakes. I'll make corrections right away. I used 18 instances of Europa in the Reason DAW.

Here's my track: https://soundcloud.com/thesoundofmerlin ... opa-osc155

PS: I have deleted the first version from SoundCloud and uploaded a new mix. It's a pity that I now lost all those wonderful comments some guys sent me. Sorry about that. The track now sounds better, warmer, less saturated and I tamed the low ends a bit.

Have a wonderful day!
Last edited by The Sound Of Merlin on Sat Jan 29, 2022 9:21 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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Hi all,

My first thought was again "Zebra, what else!". But wait, stop! I have another great synth from U-he, I never used before and I cannot remember, if anyone has ever used it here in the OSC. It is ACE!

A fantastic synth, very versatile. You can used it without patching any cords. But it has a lot of inputs and outputs in each module, so you can redirect the signal in so many ways that it nearly becomes a modular synth. Capable of FM, PM, feedback and multis and so on. If you do not know this synth, watch the tutorials from Dan Worrall on the U-he website.

This month I made a very acoustical track again. My goal was to make it sound like played by a real funk band. Fortunately ACE can make the best sax sounds I ever tried to emulate.

https://soundcloud.com/photonic-1/photonic-pocket-aces

I used 27x ACE by U-he in Reaper v5.99

Dynamics: Presswerk, Rea-Comp, Transpire, FerricTDS, TDR Nova
Filter: ReaEQ, TDR VOS Slick, ThrillseekerXTC
Satturation: FerricTDS, Green Eugen, BassProfessorII
Delay: NastyDLA
Reverb: TAL III, Verberate2, FreeVerbII

Master: MQ57, Presswerk, Youlen Loudness Meter, SPAN
soundcloud.com/photonic-1

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The Sound Of Merlin wrote: Sat Jan 29, 2022 12:45 pm Hi there,

I am new to this awesome competition. I am not completely sure if I am doing everything as it should be done but I trust I will get some notification if I am making mistakes. I'll make corrections right away. I used 18 instances of Europa in the Reason DAW.

Here's my track: https://soundcloud.com/thesoundofmerlin/europa

Have a wonderful day!
WELCOME ABOARD, Sound Of Merlin! :hyper: ...what a magical debut this is, too! An absolute delight! :clap:

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Spring Onion

This is for O.S.C. #155 Any Synth

I have used 12 instances of Spire, 7 PSP Saturator, 3 Devious Machines Infiltrator, 8 TDR Nova, 2 Gulfoss Live, 1 Liquidsonics Seventh Heaven, 1 Airwindows Acceleration2, 2 Gulfoss + on the master channel 2 Sonalksis FreeG, Kush Blyss, U-He Satin, Voxengo TEOTE, Softube Trident A Range, Softube Weiss MM-1, Voxengo Span.

https://soundcloud.com/springgoose/spri ... al_sharing

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