KVR Audio

chk071 · Post by **chk071** » Sat Dec 03, 2022 5:02 am

I think the OP should be pretty much set by now.

Oh wait, lemme find my list...

tehlord · Post by **tehlord** » Sat Dec 03, 2022 5:41 am

LFO8 wrote: ↑Sat Dec 03, 2022 4:31 am Love it. Cheers. One of my regrets to not start piano at an early age.

Nothing at all stopping you now tbh. My current keyboard skills probably sit at grade 3-5, so nothing spectacular at all. If you put a bit of practice in every day, that's achievable in a relatively short space of time.

LFO8 · Post by **LFO8** » Sat Dec 03, 2022 7:24 am

True. I'm ok doing my scales on the keyboard. Som basic triads also, but not enough muscle memory to naturally let a whole piece flow. What's your take on apps like FlowKey? Or best to have a teacher sit with you?

wagtunes · Post by **wagtunes** » Sat Dec 03, 2022 10:08 am

An interesting read for anybody who really wants to dive into ambient music. Tons of sub genres. Honestly, IMO, defining ambient music, today, is meaningless, as it has expanded to the point where almost anything goes. I'm sure a number of my pieces could be considered a sub genre of traditional ambient, though I never personally looked at them that way.

Here are a few.

https://soundcloud.com/steven-wagenheim/libra

https://soundcloud.com/steven-wagenheim/sagittarius

https://soundcloud.com/steven-wagenheim/aquarius

https://soundcloud.com/steven-wagenheim/pisces

These are all from my CD The Zodiac Crimes. Now we could argue all day about whether or not these are "classic" ambient pieces (they are not, trust me) but they certainly have many elements of the genre and are difficult in their own right to pigeon hole them anywhere. But a lot of my music is like that.

You'd be hard pressed to guess what synths/instruments I was using for these pieces. You might be surprised to discover that many of them aren't associated with traditional ambient. And that's kind of the point. Asking what synth is good for ambient is kind of like asking what kind of food is good for staying healthy. It would be easier to list the foods that AREN'T healthy.

martinjuenke · Post by **martinjuenke** » Sat Dec 03, 2022 11:16 am

wagtunes wrote: ↑Sat Dec 03, 2022 10:08 am An interesting read for anybody who really wants to dive into ambient music. Tons of sub genres. Honestly, IMO, defining ambient music, today, is meaningless, as it has expanded to the point where almost anything goes. I'm sure a number of my pieces could be considered a sub genre of traditional ambient, though I never personally looked at them that way.

Here are a few.

https://soundcloud.com/steven-wagenheim/libra

https://soundcloud.com/steven-wagenheim/sagittarius

https://soundcloud.com/steven-wagenheim/aquarius

https://soundcloud.com/steven-wagenheim/pisces

These are all from my CD The Zodiac Crimes. Now we could argue all day about whether or not these are "classic" ambient pieces (they are not, trust me) but they certainly have many elements of the genre and are difficult in their own right to pigeon hole them anywhere. But a lot of my music is like that.

You'd be hard pressed to guess what synths/instruments I was using for these pieces. You might be surprised to discover that many of them aren't associated with traditional ambient. And that's kind of the point. Asking what synth is good for ambient is kind of like asking what kind of food is good for staying healthy. It would be easier to list the foods that AREN'T healthy.

Your Soundcloud avatar looks far better than the KVR one!

wagtunes · Post by **wagtunes** » Sat Dec 03, 2022 11:50 am

martinjuenke wrote: ↑Sat Dec 03, 2022 11:16 am
wagtunes wrote: ↑Sat Dec 03, 2022 10:08 am An interesting read for anybody who really wants to dive into ambient music. Tons of sub genres. Honestly, IMO, defining ambient music, today, is meaningless, as it has expanded to the point where almost anything goes. I'm sure a number of my pieces could be considered a sub genre of traditional ambient, though I never personally looked at them that way.

Here are a few.

https://soundcloud.com/steven-wagenheim/libra

https://soundcloud.com/steven-wagenheim/sagittarius

https://soundcloud.com/steven-wagenheim/aquarius

https://soundcloud.com/steven-wagenheim/pisces

These are all from my CD The Zodiac Crimes. Now we could argue all day about whether or not these are "classic" ambient pieces (they are not, trust me) but they certainly have many elements of the genre and are difficult in their own right to pigeon hole them anywhere. But a lot of my music is like that.

You'd be hard pressed to guess what synths/instruments I was using for these pieces. You might be surprised to discover that many of them aren't associated with traditional ambient. And that's kind of the point. Asking what synth is good for ambient is kind of like asking what kind of food is good for staying healthy. It would be easier to list the foods that AREN'T healthy.
Your Soundcloud avatar looks far better than the KVR one!

Someone made that one for me as a joke so I kept it to show I have a sense of humor.

susquash · Post by **susquash** » Sat Dec 03, 2022 1:53 pm

Not really a synthesizer, but you should take a look as native instruments playbox.
You can create some amazing ambient tones from it.

trusampler · Post by **trusampler** » Sat Dec 03, 2022 3:24 pm

It’s not the synth. It’s how you evoke the emotion of sound in general. Start learning more about effects, shimmers and delays. Pitch shifting and transpose are your friends

ghettosynth · Post by **ghettosynth** » Sat Dec 03, 2022 3:49 pm

You need rocks. Well, really you only need rocks, and a good mic. No, make that any mic.

astralprojection · Post by **astralprojection** » Sat Dec 03, 2022 3:51 pm

wagtunes wrote: ↑Sat Dec 03, 2022 11:50 am Someone made that one for me as a joke so I kept it to show I have a sense of humor.

Yeah you're a funny ol guy

SantaClaus · Post by **SantaClaus** » Sat Dec 03, 2022 3:59 pm

You'd be surprised how little synths are used in today's ambient music.
It's often things like field recordings, noise generators, some VSTs like Cycles, Landforms or orchestral stuff, lots of granular and tape saturation, and then freeze your tracks plus EchoBoy on it.

People talk about reverb in ambient, but there is way less than what people imagine. It's just they're stuck 40 years ago where ambient meant pad + reverb and delay. Andrew Tasselmyer is the perfect example of how today's ambient/soundscape music can sound like.

astralprojection · Post by **astralprojection** » Sat Dec 03, 2022 4:10 pm

Damn that is indeed surprising

ghettosynth · Post by **ghettosynth** » Sat Dec 03, 2022 5:15 pm

SantaClaus wrote: ↑Sat Dec 03, 2022 3:59 pm You'd be surprised how little synths are used in today's ambient music.
It's often things like field recordings, noise generators, some VSTs like Cycles, Landforms or orchestral stuff, lots of granular and tape saturation, and then freeze your tracks plus EchoBoy on it.

People talk about reverb in ambient, but there is way less than what people imagine. It's just they're stuck 40 years ago where ambient meant pad + reverb and delay. Andrew Tasselmyer is the perfect example of how today's ambient/soundscape music can sound like.

Exactly. I know that it sounds like I was joking about the rock, but not really.

pdxindy · Post by **pdxindy** » Sat Dec 03, 2022 5:31 pm

SantaClaus wrote: ↑Sat Dec 03, 2022 3:59 pm You'd be surprised how little synths are used in today's ambient music.
It's often things like field recordings, noise generators, some VSTs like Cycles, Landforms or orchestral stuff, lots of granular and tape saturation, and then freeze your tracks plus EchoBoy on it.

People talk about reverb in ambient, but there is way less than what people imagine. It's just they're stuck 40 years ago where ambient meant pad + reverb and delay. Andrew Tasselmyer is the perfect example of how today's ambient/soundscape music can sound like.

I use field recordings, synths to make various inharmonic tones and noises, not so big on granular myself. I use my voice, manipulated recordings of some acoustic instruments. I don't use a ton of reverb and only on some sounds and not others.

Boy Wonder · Post by **Boy Wonder** » Sat Dec 03, 2022 5:47 pm

As an ambient musician, it's nice to see this thread is still running. I would've thought that the first page would've been the last.

Two months ago, I was soooooooooooo f**king frustrated with my noisy upstairs neighbour that I actually sat down and composed a piece that would bring calm my nerves. It worked.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0_Oboe_Payw

Which synthesizer is most suitable for ambient music?