One Synth Challenge #188: Six-Traq by Full Bucket Music (Taron Won!)

[Full Bucket]

Works fine in Reaper. Do you have the MIDI Channels set right?

[bzz]

Works fine in Reaper. Do you have the MIDI Channels set right?

I believe so. I'm atatching the test project again, if it helps. Anyways, I tested the VST2 version and it seems to work alright.

Additional observation: It seems to have something to do with Cakewalk's "instrument tracks". MIDI CC is only received for the first instrument track with the combined mix audio output. It doesn't work for the six instrument tracks that correspond to the individual track audio outputs. With VST2 it works as expected.

Edit 3: Not ideal with VST2 either... Switching programs with track automation with VST2 requires doing so a bit in advance (i.e. not exactly on the beat of the required change).

Edit 4: Another nuisance. For some reason it doesn't react to pitch bend wheel.

[] Peter:H []

Just because I went into mixing and referencing hell a few hours go ... I want to share a little insights. Nothing special, nothing new. It's just some of my tools and my recently updated workflow.
And it's something you can easily recreate as well.
I built me a free multi-band referencing thingy of TBProAudio plugins

• Isol8 - a up to 5-band splitter
• dpMeter5 - a verstile metering tool per band I plug into Isol8

As of today I use only 3 bands ... seems enough.. 20Hz - 150Hz, 150Hz - 4100Hz, 4100Hz - rest
It looks like the following picture

ReferenceMeasurement 001.png

I go for round about 6db difference in rms integrated from band to band. As you see in the picture: bass is -15, mid is -21, high is -29 is almost this. The picture was taken from a reference track.
And here's something I found important with respect for reference tracks - There are plugin companies that promise you you can recreate the sound of a reference track by simply letting their EQ analyse the reference track and apply a correction curve on top ouf yours ... I don't think it works this way. Most work has to be done already in the individual channels/groups, I'm afraid.
Interesting is the Crest factor as well. Crest is the difference between peak level and integrated level, i.e. kind of a "dynamic range" but not exactly. For Crest the situation is different in my genre. Bass is little crest up to more crest in the higher bands ... Have fun!

[Taron]

Just in case... here's my potential submission:
https://soundcloud.com/taronium/wip-six ... al_sharing

Instances: 30
DAW: MuLab (www.mutools.com)
FX: Panagement 2, Loudmax, OTT, Frontier, A1StereoControl, TDR-Nova,-SlickEQ, Deelay, RoomReverb, Supermassive, OvertoneEQ

I may be jumping the gun here, but I'm not sure how much time I'll find. Plus there's the danger that I'd want to make this track twice as long, which is awful during voting time, I know... so... it's basically just "foreplay", so to say.

[bzz]

This is becoming quite a frustrating experience... Maybe it's because I'm using only one instance and pushing it to its limits, but the synth is behaving unpredictably and missing some control data and notes. I feel like giving up this month's round again

[Taron]

Yeah, nah, you wouldn't want to get too experimental with the technicalities of it. I've had to reload occasionally, because voice slots wouldn't play. Also, occasionally, when adding a new instance (in MuLab) it wouldn't play at all. I'd have to delete it, add a new one and it would work fine. It's a fickle one for sure, but it can sound absolutely beautiful! Haven't tried 1.0.4, though!

[bzz]

Actually, it looks I may be hitting the 96 voices polyphony. I will try turning off unison on some of the chord programs, but it sounds quite bleak without it.

[IV!]

This is becoming quite a frustrating experience... Maybe it's because I'm using only one instance and pushing it to its limits, but the synth is behaving unpredictably and missing some control data and notes. I feel like giving up this month's round again

There are indeed some difficulties with this synthesizer. I can give you two tips:

1) Try to be simpler and not lean on it to the limits. One instance can be a daunting task.

2) If you are on Windows, try version N, it has a fixed GUI size, but is more stable in some aspects.

3) It turns out that I lied about two tips! But the letter C in OSC does not mean Challenge for nothing! Sometimes it's difficult. But think about the possible joy of overcoming these difficulties!

Although who am I to talk about it, because I myself often refuse too capricious synthesizers! Anyway, it's up to you)

[doctorbob]

I see one of my Sax players has moved into your studio Taron!
Very nice sax sound and playing ... maybe the rest of the band will move in???
haha!
dB

[bzz]

Although who am I to talk about it, because I myself often refuse too capricious synthesizers! Anyway, it's up to you)

I've already spent a few hours on the one-instance concept and don't want to start over, so I'll try to finish it somehow. The process brings back memories and techniques from my old tracker days But the result will not be as good sounding and elaborate as I imagined because of the bugs.

[Taron]

I see one of my Sax players has moved into your studio Taron!
Very nice sax sound and playing ... maybe the rest of the band will move in???
haha!
dB

You certainly are an inspiration, Rob, and I'm thrilled I get to show it a bit! (dang it, there's no sax playing emoji)
...the rest of the band is still working on getting groupies!

[doctorbob]

You certainly are an inspiration, Rob, and I'm thrilled I get to show it a bit

Thanks Taron, don't think you need my inspiration! The main thing with sax riffs is to get the phrasing right, bends where needed (not too many), and also because it's "jazz man", some pushing and pulling of the timing. I suppose not being afraid to have breaks in the soloing is also something to think about.

Just wondered where the clarinet got to in this piece.

dB

[Taron]

I'm probably still rather tame about the sax. Something I'd want to explore more. In this thing, as TSOM puts it, those melodic moments are rather ornamental and sort of avoid pushing forward too much. But I can imagine I could get it a bit sexier with your suggestion to do a bit more pushing and pulling... ...sounds right on topic!

[doctorbob]

But I can imagine I could get it a bit sexier with your suggestion to do a bit more pushing and pulling...

The trick is to lull the listener into "knowing" what the next note/phrase is likely to be, but to hold off playing just a little bit of time. The listener "likes" it when they are "right". Of course, modern jazz tends to break that rule.

Maybe add in a bit of muted trumpet around the 3 min or so mark ... that sound would fit well, and also complement the earlier sax? Just a suggestion.

dB

PS Have the cats settled in now?

[Taron]

Oh yeah, cats are happier than ever! It's a wonderful life for all of us. Thanks for asking!
Eh, Muted Trumpet sounds really challenging with this synth, though. With only a low-pass and a pretty fat one at that, it's super hard to get thin sounds like that, I think.
Nice idea, though!