One Synth Challenge #160: ADLplug / OPNplug by jpcima (ZioMau Wins!)

[zachy9]

I searched in vain for an in-synth way to do pitch glides, what did you find that let you do that? EDIT: Oh yours is OPN, I was using ADL so never mind on this question.

That's just MIDI pitch bend which is possible in either plug.

[silverpants]

my entry:
https://soundcloud.com/zachy9/kvr-osc-opn

The theme for an imaginary DOS game, written in 7/8 meter.

I used a single instance of the OPN plug in reaper with stock plugs reacomp, realimit & de-esser plus TAL reverb. Could only use them on the master since with one instance of the plug, you only get one audio out. Even with the multiple channels available within the plug, this creates a lot of mixing challenges since you can't automate volume on a per-channel basis so you have to rely on MIDI velocity to create dynamic variation.

Cool song. Great to hear an odd meter. Why would you use a de-esser on a synth? Just curious.

[zachy9]

Cool song. Great to hear an odd meter. Why would you use a de-esser on a synth? Just curious.

can be good for taming harshness (snares and such) on a master

[] Peter:H []

+++ Submission +++
https://soundcloud.com/p-e-t-e-r-h/conf ... gn=asocial
--
Henry Kane.png
Confess! The End is near!

--
Details will follow

I like this, I'm seeing a late 80's early 90's cop thriller. This is the music used over the stakeout montage.

Thanks AmoralAudio,

I hope the track is dark enough and though you get a 90ties feel not to mainstream and stuck in a have-heard-thousands-of-times aesthetics. the fun part this time was not nerding around with sounds, but it was actually developing my own Chord-Splitter-Arp-Pattern generator with Portoplug (https://www.osar.fr/protoplug/)
It splits a incoming 4 note chord into individual notes, assigns a different midi channel to each note and creates a individual pattern for each note. Assigning midi channels helps with VSTs at hand: It allows me to choose different instruments in the plugin for the generated notes. In the animated gif you can see the visual of the 4 patterns ... yes one is even longer than the others

ArpKarate_003.gif

You can see the 4 lines here which accurately sync to the timeline. The lengths and velocities follow given values, but are "humanized" by a certain percantage of randomnes.
And on top - for the sack of fun - there's a panner running in the background which pans one of the lines based on a patttern as well ... but this pattern is not yet visualized on the gui.

Don't forget: Confess! The End Is Near!

[ChristopherWD]

https://soundcloud.com/christopher_dorg ... g-fm-synth

Here's my first entry into this competition. It's a little out there but I did enjoy making it, and it's actually one of the first pieces of music I've done in a veeeeery long time, so thank you for giving me inspiration to actually start working again. I hope it isn't too weird!

I used 52 instances of OPN... A lot of those are just clones of channels with slight variation because I'm still new to Reaper and having trouble with automation. I really need to sit down and be more efficient with it.

I had some trouble with this VST as it tends to crash and can also change some parameters at random. I also could never get mono to work which is a huge shame since I wanted that for arps and leads...

Almost every channel has ReaControlMIDI on it just in the event I need to alter CC's, I think I only messed with pitch bend range and brightness on a small few. Each sound tends to rely on some layering with some sound differences (either timbre or mod) to give it that unison sound.

Free FX Plugins used:

1x Buttercomp2 (airwindows)
1x ToVinyl4 (airwindows)
6x Point (airwindows)
1x BassDrive (airwindows)
5x MackEQ (airwindows)
8x Verbity (airwindows)

16x ReaEQ (stock)
2x ReaComp (stock)
1x ReaLimit (stock)

4x Analog Rack Delay (Nembrini)
1x Analog Rack Cleaner (Nembrini)

[MyLoFy]

Hi there fellow FM lovers!

Here's my submission:

https://soundcloud.com/mylofymusic/mylo ... ily-lesson

Since I've already used OPNplug for OSC #155, this time I went for ADLplug. Hadn't expected to find much time, but many sittings can also result into something (hence the witty title of the track ).
To give the sound a bit more life I automated several filter and eq parameters. All patches I made myself from scratch.
If someone is interested in the project files, they're here (Composition/Music CC-BY, Presets CC0):
https://mark.nl.tab.digital/s/bzyDAXB2zmWNDFp

DAW: Ardour 6.9 on ArchLinux

31 instances of ADLplug, some of them multi-layered per Carla-Patchbay.

Here's the long list of (entirely free and open source) plugins, but really there are mostly compressors, filters, saturation/distortion and reverb:

Internal:
-ACE Compressor
-ACE Filter

LSP:
-Parametric EQ
-Slapback
-Sidechain Compressor

airwindows:
-BitGlitter
-Galactic
-Texturize
-Cojones
-Air2
-ToTape5
-ToTape6 (no flutter, saturation only)

Calf:
-Compressor
-Envelope Filter
-Bass Enhancer
-Exciter
-Vintage GxDelay

B.Music:
-B.Schaffl (this is gold on hihats)
-B.Shapr (transients only, no pitch shifting)

Guitarix:
-GxDelay-Stereo
-GxCabinet
-GxDelay

TAP:
-TAP Scaling Limiter
-TAP Tubewarmth

X42:
-MIDI Strum
-Parametric EQ

and...
-ZaMultiCompX2
-Dragonfly Hall Reverb
-Foldover Distortion by Steve Harris
-Wolf Shaper

Master Chain:
-LSP Parametric EQ
-ToTape5
-LSP Multiband Compressor
-ReFine
-LSP Stereo Limiter
-x42-Digital Peak Limiter

Hope you enjoy it, for me it was a lot of fun and many lessons learned in FM synthesis.

Cheers!

[Rahodees]

Can someone clarify for me, are we allowed to use filter plugins external to the synth? I had refrained, thinking that is the kind of "alteration of the sound of the synth" that the rules proscribe. But I see some people are using them here, so I'm wondering if I misunderstood!

[ELEX]

Can someone clarify for me, are we allowed to use filter plugins external to the synth? I had refrained, thinking that is the kind of "alteration of the sound of the synth" that the rules proscribe. But I see some people are using them here, so I'm wondering if I misunderstood!

IMO you understood perfectly fine and external filters should indeed not be used for sound design purposes at all, let alone be heavily modulated.

... https://soundcloud.com/mylofymusic/mylo ... ily-lesson ...
To give the sound a bit more life I automated several filter and eq parameters ...

If applied as in the above track, things are taken well into 'unrecognizable as coming from the synth'-territory, imo.

@MyLoFi: no offense intended ; it's lovely music you made, but I genuinely believe it's taking modulated filter use way too far. Unless, of course, I've got the wrong end of the stick entirely and what sounds like modulated filters to me is actually somehow nifty operator level automation. Please do not hesitate to correct me if that is the case !

[L-EctroBit]

Can someone clarify for me, are we allowed to use filter plugins external to the synth? I had refrained, thinking that is the kind of "alteration of the sound of the synth" that the rules proscribe. But I see some people are using them here, so I'm wondering if I misunderstood!

Of course you can use external filters. In fact in the OSC rules there is a list of valid free plugins and there you have several recommended filters:

bx_cleansweep
FilterJam
Filtr
GBand, GHi, GLow
HY-Filter3_free
MBandPass
Niveau filter
TAL-Filter

https://sites.google.com/site/kvrosc/free-plugins

Also here you have part of the rules in which filters are not mentioned at all:

Effects - what is NOT allowed:

- No commercial (paid for) plugin fx may be used, unless a special exception is made that month.

- Chorus, flanger, phaser, rotary, or related modular effects.

- Any type of modulation effect (e.g. chorus, phaser, flanger, rotary etc.). (Please note that effects like reverb or delays that perform modulation to achieve their sound are ALLOWED, but the modulation usage must be minimal.)

- Tapestops, Granular delays, pitching, or related sampling effects.

- Effects that pitch the sound (e.g. pitched / granular delays, tapestops etc.

- Turning up the effect too much where it transforms the nature of the synth (Heavy overdrive / distortion, etc)

- Any effect that transforms the sound to make them unrecognizable as being from the synth (Overdrive, heavy distortion, bit crushing, or related). Never go full 11

https://sites.google.com/site/kvrosc/rules

[MyLoFy]

@MyLoFi: no offense intended ; it's lovely music you made, but I genuinely believe it's taking modulated filter use way too far. Unless, of course, I've got the wrong end of the stick entirely and what sounds like modulated filters to me is actually somehow nifty operator level automation. Please do not hesitate to correct me if that is the case !

Thanks @ELEX very glad you liked my track! No offense taken, quite the opposite, since it's an important discussion and perhaps not completely clear. Also, IMO this is part of the challenge, isn't it?

I read the rules very thoroughly every time before starting to work on a track to avoid disqualifications. In my interpretation EQ and filter automation is not part of the forbidden techniques and not mentioned in the rules (thanks @L-EctroBit for jumping in). As I understand it "modulation" refers to modulating effects like eg. chorus/flangers, otherwise all Bitwig users would have problems staying in the challenge. Bear in mind that many winning tracks probably went much heavier on effects than I did.

However, if the opinion should arise that I'm wrong about this I'm absolutely ok with being disqualified; wouldn't make much sense to rework the whole track and remove the automation.

And just to anticipate before this also comes up: BitGlitter is a (great) bit crusher I used at 12% wet, so it is not altering or distorting the synth sound beyond recognition.
All project files are free for anyone to inspect (or to reuse), download link is in my initial post.

Glad to discuss further!

[ELEX]

What this is really is about, AFIAC, is:

- Turning up the effect too much where it transforms the nature of the synth (Heavy overdrive / distortion, etc)

- Any effect that transforms the sound to make them unrecognizable as being from the synth (Overdrive, heavy distortion, bit crushing, or related). Never go full 11

https://sites.google.com/site/kvrosc/rules

The sonic nature of a synth like ADL/OPN is very much determined by the absence of ( modulated ) filters. IMO, applying these externally transforms the nature of the sounds as much to the point of being 'unrecognizable as being from the synth' as any overdrive would. Hence my earlier writing. Isn't the point of the modulation effects rule to prevent just such character changes ?

And in addition to that:

Also here you have part of the rules in which filters are not mentioned at all:

Effects - what is NOT allowed:
- Chorus, flanger, phaser, rotary, or related modular effects.
- Any type of modulation effect (e.g. chorus, phaser, flanger, rotary etc.). (Please note that effects like reverb or delays that perform modulation to achieve their sound are ALLOWED, but the modulation usage must be minimal.)

That's not really true, is it ? Phasers are very much filter based. And modulating a notch filter creates a very similar effect, which then would be OK to use, because filters are not mentioned explicitly ? If it would be, just about anything goes and the rule concerned would become pointless.

[L-EctroBit]

Can someone clarify for me, are we allowed to use filter plugins external to the synth? ...

IMO you understood perfectly fine and external filters should indeed not be used for sound design purposes at all...

I really don't understand how you can conclude that "external filters should indeed not be used for sound design purposes at all", when the OSC organizers recommend using these filters:

bx_cleansweep
FilterJam
Filtr
GBand, GHi, GLow
HY-Filter3_free
MBandPass
Niveau filter
TAL-Filter

If not for use in sound design, then why might organizers be recommending their use?

The sonic nature of a synth like ADL/OPN is very much determined by the absence of ( modulated ) filters. IMO, applying these externally transforms the nature of the sounds as much to the point of being 'unrecognizable as being from the synth'

I think the problem with this reasoning is that if we look at many of the allowed effects they can drastically change the sound of a synth, such as compressors like OTT, or reverbs, equalizers and many others. If the use of filters for sound design is prohibited, we will soon be prohibiting the use of other effects for the same reason. For all these years, since 2009, OSC has been running smoothly with participants using the allowed effects very freely and I think this is one of the reasons for its success.

[silverpants]

My two pence on this is...

There is a big difference between using a filter in a static way for making a good mix - and a dynamic filter using the filter's controls or automation to sculpt a synths sound - beyond what it could do natively.

I would say automation needs to used cautiously. To alter the volumes in the mix is fine. But using automation to quickly or cyclically modulate an fx or synth parameter would be going against the spirit of OSC.
Eg If you insert a short delay and then modulate the delay time with automation - you've made a flanger.

I'm not a OSC veteran, but I think the idea is to do the bulk of the sound design using the given synth for that month, not using effects or automation. I could imagine OSC being run with zero effects allowed. But without some basic compression/reverb/eq - the overall productions could be weak/dry/muddy. So I expect this is the reason they are allowed.

I imagine it's very hard to formulate this into exactly defined rules - which is why there are sometimes arguments. And im sure there have been many of these over the years.

[ELEX]

Can someone clarify for me, are we allowed to use filter plugins external to the synth? ...

IMO you understood perfectly fine and external filters should indeed not be used for sound design purposes at all...

I really don't understand how you can conclude that "external filters should indeed not be used for sound design purposes at all", when the OSC organizers recommend using these filters:

bx_cleansweep
FilterJam
Filtr
GBand, GHi, GLow
HY-Filter3_free
MBandPass
Niveau filter
TAL-Filter

If not for use in sound design, then why might organizers be recommending their use?

For general mix cleaning and polishing purposes, obviously.

The issue with using filters for sound design ( and modulated filters in particular ) is a simple one: if allowed, there is no need for OSC participants to use the filters of any given synth at all anymore. Don't like them ? No problem, just take another. And where would that leave the challenge ?

Btw, for anyone who only happens to read the above quote: I did not use that obnoxiously large fat print to make my point.

And in addition to that obvious problem:

The sonic nature of a synth like ADL/OPN is very much determined by the absence of ( modulated ) filters. IMO, applying these externally transforms the nature of the sounds as much to the point of being 'unrecognizable as being from the synth'

I think the problem with this reasoning is that if we look at many of the allowed effects they can drastically change the sound of a synth, such as compressors like OTT, or reverbs, equalizers and many others. If the use of filters for sound design is prohibited, we will soon be prohibiting the use of other effects for the same reason. For all these years, since 2009, OSC has been running smoothly with participants using the allowed effects very freely and I think this is one of the reasons for its success.

In fact, use of any effect for sound design purposes is essentially already prohibited by:

Effects - what is NOT allowed:
...
- Turning up the effect too much where it transforms the nature of the synth (Heavy overdrive / distortion, etc)
- Any effect that transforms the sound to make them unrecognizable as being from the synth (Overdrive, heavy distortion, bit crushing, or related). Never go full 11

The examples in the above rules do not make the rule: they are mere examples. Woefully incomplete and rather confusing matters. If we leave them out, the actual rules read:

Effects - what is NOT allowed:
...
- Turning up the effect too much where it transforms the nature of the synth.
- Any effect that transforms the sound to make them unrecognizable as being from the synth.

Smooth that out a bit, and we end up with:

Effects - what is NOT allowed:
...
- Turning up an effect to where it transforms the nature of the synth.
- Any effect that transforms sounds to make them unrecognizable as being from the synth.

Very simple and perfectly understandable. And applying to all types of effects. Very much including compressors, reverbs and equalizers. The fact that this has been ignored by many a competitor, and tolerated as well, does not change anything. These rules touch on the very essence of the challenge and should imo not be ignored, but embraced. They put the challenge in 'One Synth Challenge'.

[L-EctroBit]

It is always interesting to read the opinions of the participants about their interpretation of the OSC rules. When I see discussions about the spirit of the rules I usually read this thread, because that's where it all started:

viewtopic.php?t=245938

Here we can find that the creators of OSC were not initially clear about the rules to apply and from here, March 2009, they have been talking for years about the rules, modifying them, adjusting them. It is indeed a process that has no end.

What is certain is that what we have said lately about the rules has been said many times in the past. We haven't added anything new.

What I have noticed in recent months, and that's really the reason why I dared to make these recent comments, is the presence of relatively new participants to this challenge talking about restrictions on the use of allowed plugins or the fear of being disqualified for X or Z reason.

I may be wrong, but I think that when I started participating in this challenge the atmosphere was more relaxed and people didn't worry as much about being disqualified. The reality is that most of the disqualifications have to do with participants who did not vote. Also people who have been shown did a cover of a known song. That is the most common.

Finally, to the participants who are starting in OSCs, take all the opinions that are given here for what they are, opinions. You can find very valuable information here, but you will also find totally contradictory points of view. So that's why it's good to read the rules and form your own opinion.

And in extreme cases it is better to consult Brian and Richard who have the last word.