One Synth Challenge #187: ExtraBold by Nakst (Jasinski Wins!)

[ZioMau]

LO-FI Chain (temporary @ 2:28)
1x VST: TAL-DUB-II (x86) (TAL - Togu Audio Line)
1x VST: HY-Filter (hyakken)
1x VST: Lo-Fizer (x86) (Eugeny Danchenko)

I would recommend to check whether all of these Plugins are covered by the allowed Plugins rule.

Hi Peter! They were used for few seconds. I used tal dub and hy-filter in other past entries. No modulations, saturations or distortions used with them ( do same thing with a bandpass eq and a delay. I used those just to fasten the process). Lo fizer is used to monoize(i could do with A1Stereo control or others) and...yes there is a wow'n flutter modulation on it that i could do with a pitch lfo, on all the tracks...too complicated. I eventually skip that "old cassette" effect. No problem. I think the rule could be broken only with Lo-Fizer's wow'n flutter effect(that modulates the pitch). If someone confirm me this thing, i will edit the song.

i.e. i sometimes use MAutopan that is a modulation fx but the same effect could be obtained manually or with an internal lfo on the Reaper's pan automation lane. In situations like this i think you can use a mod fx...
Ciaoooo

[FrogsInPants]

Hi Peter! They were used for few seconds. I used tal dub and hy-filter in other past entries. No modulations, saturations or distortions used with them ( do same thing with a bandpass eq and a delay. I used those just to fasten the process). Lo fizer is used to monoize(i could do with A1Stereo control or others) and...yes there is a wow'n flutter modulation on it that i could do with a pitch lfo, on all the tracks...too complicated. I eventually skip that "old cassette" effect. No problem. I think the rule could be broken only with Lo-Fizer's wow'n flutter effect. If someone confirm me this thing, i will edit the song.
Ciaoooo

I believe wow and flutter fall in the forbidden class of pitch shifting effects. The rest of what you describe sounds legal.

[ZioMau]

...being in the doubt i re-uploaded the song without Lo-Fizer vst, replaced by A1StereoControl vst. No more wow'n flutter effect in the track

(can i be included once again in the empphryio pre-playlist, please? Thanks)

ciaoooo

[violator_alba]

I find myself in the odd position of having a track completed almost a week in advance. And here it is:

https://soundcloud.com/violator-alba-99 ... al_sharing

Any and all feedback welcome. Hell, I've got almost a week to fix it...

As usual, the title bears no connection to the content. Good advice though: don't lick the tortoise. Anyhoo, with ExtraBold being Clap only, my DAW of choice this month is Bitwig Studio and here we are with 23 instances of ExtraBold. In passing I note that it barley tickles the CPU meter...

The following plugins were also used:

- dpMeter5, Blue Cat Gain 3 and KClip Zero on Clip To Zero duty
- xfer OTT
- NI Raum
- Valhallasupermassive
- kHs Trance Gate
- TDR Nova
- TDR Kotelnikov
- Bitwig EQ+
- Bitwig Compressor+
- Bitwig Drum Machine containing six ExtraBold instances
- Bitwig Arpeggiator
- SPAN
- Youlean Loudness meter

All patches from init as usual and a return to using Scaler 2 to generate the various MIDI tracks, many of which were subsequently edited quite heavily.

For anyone who might be interested, one of my slightly quieter tracks:

Integrated LUFS: -13.5 LUFS
Short Term LUFS: -11.5 LUFS

Of course a bonus of completing with plenty of time is getting to seek early feedback and thanks to the advice of folks on Discord, this one might not suck as hard as usual!

[3lu5iv3]

is it possible to get a white noise out of ExtraBold?

It has a noise source there in the middle of the gui. Though it's not great. Or you can go heavy on the fm/ring mod to get harsher noise.

thanks.

[liqih]

...

Fantastic depth in your mix and really delicate choices! Love the composition, too! I think the subtle kick is a brilliant decision that adds excellently to the character of this. It feels deliberate and full of well deserved confidence! ...my kind of jam!

Thanks Taron! We'll get in touch

[doctorbob]

Hiya folks. I have taken on board the comments by Taron and others - thanks. I have replaced my clarinet sound with a modified version of the one posted by Mr. T. Hope you think it sounds better. I have also re-programmed my baritone sax, so again, I hope you think it's better. Also, added Hi freqs to the percussion elements and re-mixed the whole thing keeping the solos further back in the mix. A few days left if there's anything too wrong. I did start putting in a drum+bass solo in the middle of the last section (there's a natural break!), however, not got far enough to publish it this time (sorry).

New version below:

https://soundcloud.com/doctorbob/extra-bold-jazz

[Taron]

That clarinet sounds really amazingly better now! I think there's some stuff in the arrangement that masks the frequencies of the clarinet. Can't even tell what it is, but it's playing chords. I'd recommend filtering this thing down and pushing it off to the side. Also, you took the clarinet downa little much, I believe, but it could also appear that way because of the conflicting chord player (a little like a harmonica or accordion, not sure). SO.... still time to get it to shine even brighter!
Love the new clarinet, though!
Sax is AWESOME, too, much, much nicer sounding now! Again, there's this curiously offending accordion type of guy!?
The e-piano may also push a little far forward with the heavy chorus on strong stereo spread it gets because of the chorus. Here, too, the sax feels like it's too quiet now and gets drowned the same way as the clarinet, but again I imagine it could well be because of those offending guys. Possibly take down a bit the mids to high mids of those chords, possibly try dropping the epiano high registers of the epiano sound instead of filtering it down? Just to make room for the leads.

Yeah, could be a little EQing to ensure instruments won't rival each other too much, but possibly also try to let that accordion play with more attention not to blast over the lead. They have a pretty good dynamic range at their exposal and you should try to make use of it, I think... bit of automation, I suppose, or maybe you can map the mod-wheel to control its power.

Anyway, anyway, anyway... fantastic sound improvement on the leads and the drums! Leads could go a little more forward again and the chord players could be a little more conscious of the lead. Fascinating stuff!

[doctorbob]

Thanks Taron, all noted, will re-mix tomorrow. I do understand what you mean, and, of course, I know who is playing what!!! Some volume automation and EQ will probably do it. I might re-program the e-piano and guitar (the instrument which come in with strums in the more upbeat sections). I like the bass though, good and strong across all it's register!

Laters ... I used your modified clari + my original with a bit more attack, but lower in volume to bulk out the sound in the hold phase to create a sort of "hollow" body sound characteristic of the clari!

dB

[Cyber Samurai]

Hey all,

SO here is my track for OSC#187. IMO I think EXTRABOLD is an amazing synth with great sound capabilities. I honestly think it may be one i invest more time into and will get some use from it in my upcoming production projects. This challenge was fun and I think I am improving. The clap this time sound much better and the kick is more solid and has presence, Bassline is working well for me and in general, I feel the overall sounds compliment each other. The Snare once again let me down and sounds crappy at best. So there is a definite need to learn more there.

Well I hope you enjoy my submissions. I hope that I did not use any VST Plugins that are not allowed. If there are any please let me know so I can fix and remove them before closing of subs. Thank you. They are all free and available. (Side Note - removed all distortion plugins and supplemented with OTT and KHS Transient Shaper) Think my snare is sounding better....

https://soundcloud.com/feefifofum-56754 ... al_sharing

Cyber Samurai - FONT in Extrabold - OSC#187 Extrabold Synth by Naskt

15 x Extrabold Instances

11 x FL Multiband Compressor
12 x FL Limiter
20 x FL Panometric EQ 2
1 x FL Fast Distortion
3 x FL Soft Clipper
8 x FL Peak Controller
9 x FL Reverb 2
1 x FL Stereo Enhancer
3 x FL Stereo Shaper

6 x TDR Nova
1 x TDR Nova Slick EQ
1 x Flux Mini 2
11 x KHS Transient Shaper
2 x KHS Trance Gate
10 x Trasient
2 x Le Phonk
2 x Fuzz Pluss 3
3 x OTT
1x LA Petite Excite
5 x Thrill seeker XYC mkII
1 x Pancake 2
1 x Dominion v1.2
1 x Span
1 x Wave Candy

Thank you for the opportunity and enjoy!

[doctorbob]

Yeah, could be a little EQing to ensure instruments won't rival each other too much, but possibly also try to let that accordion play with more attention not to blast over the lead.

Anyway, anyway, anyway... fantastic sound improvement on the leads and the drums! Leads could go a little more forward again and the chord players could be a little more conscious of the lead. Fascinating stuff!

Ok. I have tweaked the e-piano and guitar to have a little less sustain and scooped the mid/high a little for them. Also, when the guitar strums come in on the faster sections I have boosted the clarinet volume a little so it doesn't compete! A few volume automations on the baritone to push a few short notes which don't come through as much as they should (they need to be short for the phrasing!).

Track replaced on Soundcloud, so you can listen and hopefully it's more improved.

dB

[Taron]

Before I check it out, here's a cheesy little test I started last night, trying to figure out how to avoid frequency masking for the clarinet, even if some instruments overlap with their notes. It's just a little doodle:
https://soundcloud.com/taronium/extrasc ... al_sharing

[Taron]

Yeah, could be a little EQing to ensure instruments won't rival each other too much, but possibly also try to let that accordion play with more attention not to blast over the lead.

Anyway, anyway, anyway... fantastic sound improvement on the leads and the drums! Leads could go a little more forward again and the chord players could be a little more conscious of the lead. Fascinating stuff!

Ok. I have tweaked the e-piano and guitar to have a little less sustain and scooped the mid/high a little for them. Also, when the guitar strums come in on the faster sections I have boosted the clarinet volume a little so it doesn't compete! A few volume automations on the baritone to push a few short notes which don't come through as much as they should (they need to be short for the phrasing!).

Track replaced on Soundcloud, so you can listen and hopefully it's more improved.

dB

EXCELLENT, A LOT better! Really, this is great! Now it feels like you're in perfect control. Sounds pretty much official!

[doctorbob]

Before I check it out, here's a cheesy little test I started last night, trying to figure out how to avoid frequency masking for the clarinet, even if some instruments overlap with their notes. It's just a little doodle:

Thanks for this and all your help. I do feel however that your track has a lot more flute-like feel to the instrument, has a "metallic" feel rather than "wood", a clarinet rarely (but sometimes can) sound flute like in the upper register. Hope you hear/see what I mean.

I am guilty of over exposing my solos, but then, it's because I like (and am proud) of them! However, getting them to sit in a mix is quite tricky, versus how these solos would sound with a live band on stage, maybe without much amplification.

One CD I recorded of a Big Band had my daughter playing the clarinet part for Moonlight Serenade (something you must not get wrong or fluff notes in public, everyone listening is like to know the notes perfectly!). In the final mix, I decided to mix it according the Glenn Miller releases, which, interestingly, has the clarinet part way way back in the mix.

rB

[Taron]

Oh, in my little track there's the clarinet AND a flute (ocarina like). They swap measures and sometimes play together, just to clarify.