Sonik Synth 2...!!

[snowman]

Hey Squids,

Merry Christmas! Thanks for all the hard work putting together these fantastic packages.

I now own Sampletank 2, Sonik Synth 2, Squids Tron Collection, and the Drum Combis, as well as some more Sonic Reality stuff. My Christmas is kicking the ass of Scrooge up and down the block.

Can't wait to put this all together into some twisted version of my own "sonic reality". Sorry about that....Anyway, a heartfelt thank you once again. I hope your holidays are enjoyable.

>>>snowman

[harmony gardens]

I got SS2 loaded without any problems, and have been playing with it for hours. I just love it!! I have been anticipating it's arrival with high expectations, and it's everything I had hoped and more. You have a hit on your hands, Squids! This is by far the best Christmas present I've ever gotten.

[midinut]

Okay, up for air for a moment .... whew! I've been through all the sounds and am beyond amazed ... now it's time for the Combis! Take a deep breath, hold it in, and here we go again. Fa la la la la ...la la la lah!

[Frunobulax]

Allow me to join in the chorus of praise. I received mine a couple of days ago, and I'm having a great time creating my own combi's from the wealth of material at my disposal in SS2. Lots of great pads and basses, enough drums and percussion to shake a stick at ( ), and the elements ( ).

It's great to have all of these sounds under one VST roof. It's a lot of fun to layer instruments and elements, slap different effects on, then save as a combi to load up later.

This thing has definitely upped the ante when it comes to workstation-type instruments.

[Kim Lajoie]

Any SS2 users come up for air yet?

I got mine two days ago. Words cannot describe just how HUGE it is! HUGE! HUGE HUGE HUGE HUGE HUGE!

Seriously - it's got everything[1]. I could do twelve megaposts about it, but I'd rather spend the time making music with it.

Forever,





Kim.

[1] Except awesome modern pop/hiphop/R&B kicks and snares... but hey - they're not from reality anyway!

[Kim Lajoie]

While we're here... I've got a question:

How do I get the instrument images to work in SampleTank2?

I prefer to use the SonikSynth2 instrument in SampleTank2 because that's where I've got all my other ST2 instruments, and ST2 also has a few features not in SS2 (such as effects lock/bypass, and loop sync).

Forever,




Kim.

[Meffy]

Here's how I did it. Drag the main directory of the SS2 samples over to become a subfolder of my ST2 sample folder -- as in this directory listing:

Code: Select all

 Directory of C:\my_samples\SampleTank

12/22/2004  10:10 PM    <DIR>          .
12/22/2004  10:10 PM    <DIR>          ..
08/21/2004  04:26 PM    <DIR>          eRoms
12/22/2004  09:46 PM    <DIR>          Holiday Capsule 2004
08/20/2004  08:30 PM    <DIR>          OmniSynth
08/20/2004  08:29 PM    <DIR>          Sonic Synth
12/22/2004  10:16 PM    <DIR>          Sonik Synth 2
08/20/2004  09:19 PM    <DIR>          STInstruments

Under the "Sonik Synth 2" directory are these subdirectories:

Code: Select all

12/22/2004  10:16 PM    <DIR>          A Synths
12/22/2004  08:10 PM    <DIR>          B Keyboards
12/22/2004  08:40 PM    <DIR>          C Guitar+Bass
12/22/2004  09:07 PM    <DIR>          D Drums+Perc
12/22/2004  08:34 PM    <DIR>          E Brass+Winds
12/22/2004  09:13 PM    <DIR>          F Orch Textures
12/22/2004  09:15 PM    <DIR>          G Vocal Textures
12/22/2004  09:16 PM    <DIR>          H SFX
12/22/2004  08:13 PM    <DIR>          I Elements A
12/22/2004  10:16 PM    <DIR>          I Elements B

You'll have to point both SS2 and ST2 at the directory I called "C:\my_samples\SampleTank," then re-scan your samples, which could take a while. :-D

Hey, did you notice it's huge?

Meffy

[Frunobulax]

Hey, did you notice it's huge?
Meffy

It's colossal, gigantean, enormous, immense, whopping, vast, monumental, gargantuan, behemothic, prodigious, massive and Brobdingnagian!

The more I dig into it the more impressed I become, because the possibilities are really endless. I spent an hour or so today creating African percussion combi's. I would add a low drone to some layers of percussion sounds and throw in one of the groove elements and end up with some really evocative sounds that are just begging to form the basis of a future project.

I've also been creating some really beautiful sounding pads. It's just so easy to come up with something that sounds great in a couple of minutes.

It will be interesting when we start sharing combi patches, because the breadth of SS2 will allow for an almost infinite variety of sounds.

SS2 has officially usurped Atmosphere as my favorite plug.

Here's a question for those of you who also have ST 2XL: do the sounds that come with that add something on top of what comes with SS2, or is the overlap such that you would not miss the ST 2XL sounds that much now that you have SS2?

[Kim Lajoie]

Here's how I did it. Drag the main directory of the SS2 samples over to become a subfolder of my ST2 sample folder

You'll have to point both SS2 and ST2 at the directory I called "C:\my_samples\SampleTank," then re-scan your samples, which could take a while.

Is that in response to my question? I think I've done that, but the images are still not showing up.

Hey, did you notice it's huge?

It's bigger than huge. I've been auditioning sounds for two days and I still haven't fully grasped the size of this thing. I suspect there will be sounds in there that I'll never hear!

Forever,




Kim.

[Meffy]

Jeez, yeah -- that was for you. :-) Strange, after shuffling directories around, setting the sample root directory in the Preferences dialogs of both plug-ins, and letting them re-scan, everything worked fine for me. IIRC, I had to tell ST2 to rescan by clicking its "RELIST" button (over in the upper right part of the display, over UNDO, NET, and PREFS).

And Frunobulax, you've got to be an expert on giant stuff. We're all in agreement on the biggitude of this thing.

What do y'all think of this match-up... SS2 vs. sasquatch AND chupacabra? Tag team? Or is that unfair to cryptozoonts?

HTH,

Meffy

[Meffy]

Oh, right -- I wouldn't want to give up the ST2XL samples. There's a good deal of overlap but not all that much. SS2 is synth-strong, with lots of eccentric extras (I am myself an ecc. ext., so like those in a sample library too); ST2XL has a more conventional line-up.

Only bad part: that's a heck of a lot of material to rescan! *yawn* *jeopardy theme* *checks watch* I'll just have to suffer with that... hem...

Meff

[Squids]

Allow me to join in the chorus of praise. I received mine a couple of days ago, and I'm having a great time creating my own combi's from the wealth of material at my disposal in SS2. Lots of great pads and basses, enough drums and percussion to shake a stick at ( ), and the elements ( ).

It's great to have all of these sounds under one VST roof. It's a lot of fun to layer instruments and elements, slap different effects on, then save as a combi to load up later.

This thing has definitely upped the ante when it comes to workstation-type instruments.

That is an awesome quote. Can we use it on the site? I want to start quoting users from our forum when it captures a certain connection we're going for. This is how we hope the product is perceived and used for. When you want to do just what you described Sonik Synth 2 is so convenient and fun for that type of sound creating. I too have been waiting a long time to have all of those elements under one roof as well. I make music so much faster now. But, see, I can't quote myself! Who CARES what I think? SURE I like it! I'm selling it. But, I like to put myself in your shoes and think of things that would be great to have in an all around workstation synth to write with and to create sounds with. When I hear people describe how they are using it and it connects with what we intended... well, it is a good feeling of accomplishment. Ironically we go for THAT first and then if it sells a lot because of it (word of mouth etc) then that is the bonus (of course that bonus supports us doing it again and again, but that's just reality).

[Squids]

While we're here... I've got a question:

How do I get the instrument images to work in SampleTank2?

I prefer to use the SonikSynth2 instrument in SampleTank2 because that's where I've got all my other ST2 instruments, and ST2 also has a few features not in SS2 (such as effects lock/bypass, and loop sync).

Forever,

Kim.

Actually, loop sync is default ON in SS2.

If you have ST2.0.8 it should be finding the images. But, if not there's another thing you can do. In the elements folder (I think Elements A) there are bitmap files (bmp) and you can copy and paste them into your ST2Images folder inside your SampleTank 2 app folder (where there are the ST2Presets for the combis). Then try relisting and see if they show up.

[Kim Lajoie]

If you have ST2.0.8 it should be finding the images. But, if not there's another thing you can do. In the elements folder (I think Elements A) there are bitmap files (bmp) and you can copy and paste them into your ST2Images folder inside your SampleTank 2 app folder (where there are the ST2Presets for the combis). Then try relisting and see if they show up.

Hmm... that didn't work. I might have to finally upgrade to 2.0.8!

Ok, upgrading did the trick. Now I get cool pics of synths. And PsTs doesn't kill the CPU anymore.

Forever,




Kim.

[Frunobulax]

What do y'all think of this match-up... SS2 vs. sasquatch AND chupacabra? Tag team? Or is that unfair to cryptozoonts?
Meffy

Or how about a steel cage death match between SS2 and a giant sea squid? It would be a spectacle that would make Richard Basehart proud.

Thanks for the opinion on the ST 2XL sounds. From looking at its soundlist, it looks like it has a great variety of ethnic and other acoustic instruments, although SS2 has a really good selection as well. I'm sure it will join SS2 in my plugin corral one of these days.