Visco sample-modeling drum machine by Forever 89
-
- KVRAF
- 1867 posts since 8 Jan, 2022
I'm not sure what the synthesis is doing but you have some basic oscillator shapes but they also incorporate the resynthesis.
i think it might be some kind of spectral filtering. The master contrast knob at the bottom seems to bias the synth towards the oscillator or resynthesis. Oscillator to the left and resynthesis to the right.
Visco has always been one of those synths where I'm never fully sure what's happening but it's never really difficult to get it to sound good.
I've been trying various samples in the slots in Tonal mode and they pretty much do what you expect them to do. e.g An electric piano sample will impart that timbre on the sound or using a cymbal is an easy way to brighten up a sound.
You can set up an envelope to modulate the transform slider so you can move between one source and another so you could have a cymbal moving towards an electric piano. Very cool.
Then you have the whole blob interaction which is even weirder and more wonderful with the Tonal part. One particularly cool function is dragging in the "frame" around the central blob area to quickly hone in on various aspects of the sound. The X axis for frequencies and Y axis for timing
The modulation system comes into its own with the synth allowing for all kinds of weird evolving sounds.
One weird aspect is the sequencer is confined to 8 semitones and each track in Tonal mode is its own individual synth but it's not multitimbral/multichannel like the drum synth is. So sequencing internally is confined to 8 semitones on one synth.
Despite its eccentricities it's a pretty compelling package. You still have a fantastic drum machine which now has midi export and now a very interesting and pretty unique synth.
i think it might be some kind of spectral filtering. The master contrast knob at the bottom seems to bias the synth towards the oscillator or resynthesis. Oscillator to the left and resynthesis to the right.
Visco has always been one of those synths where I'm never fully sure what's happening but it's never really difficult to get it to sound good.
I've been trying various samples in the slots in Tonal mode and they pretty much do what you expect them to do. e.g An electric piano sample will impart that timbre on the sound or using a cymbal is an easy way to brighten up a sound.
You can set up an envelope to modulate the transform slider so you can move between one source and another so you could have a cymbal moving towards an electric piano. Very cool.
Then you have the whole blob interaction which is even weirder and more wonderful with the Tonal part. One particularly cool function is dragging in the "frame" around the central blob area to quickly hone in on various aspects of the sound. The X axis for frequencies and Y axis for timing
The modulation system comes into its own with the synth allowing for all kinds of weird evolving sounds.
One weird aspect is the sequencer is confined to 8 semitones and each track in Tonal mode is its own individual synth but it's not multitimbral/multichannel like the drum synth is. So sequencing internally is confined to 8 semitones on one synth.
Despite its eccentricities it's a pretty compelling package. You still have a fantastic drum machine which now has midi export and now a very interesting and pretty unique synth.
-
- KVRAF
- 43897 posts since 11 Aug, 2008 from clown world
It would be nice if there was an on-screen keyboard. Does it have one already?
Anyone who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities.
-
- KVRAF
- 1867 posts since 8 Jan, 2022
This is one of my favourite synth releases of the year.
I've been using it a good bit and have a few more insights if anyone's interested.
For all intents and purposes the Global setting in Tonal mode are the same as the individual track settings.
As I said before one the Tonal mode's quirks is that it uses the same format as the drum mode (multiple tracks) but you can only address one track at a time so while Global mode will still adjust all the parameters on all tracks most of the time you're just focused on one track.
As mentioned before the Contrast parameter in Tonal mode adjust the balance between the raw oscillator and the resynthesis.
As far as the type of synthesis being used I think it's something like using the amplitude information of the resynthesised samples to the oscillator. So some manner of spectral filtering.
Because of this one of the coolest things is that no matter what sample you use it's always in key.
The Density knob in Tonal mode controls the balance of the Unison. All the way to the left and it's no unison and going to the right increases it. The unison detune is controlled in the sidebar and the overall width is controlled in the mixer page.
One thing I didn't know before is that if you select a folder in the import Audio it will recurse into sub directories so you can batch import samples. I had a 3.3gb sample library of instruments and after import it's 6 MB! It's very quick to scan too.
I also made a new blue theme with a more monochromatic blob.
I've been using it a good bit and have a few more insights if anyone's interested.
For all intents and purposes the Global setting in Tonal mode are the same as the individual track settings.
As I said before one the Tonal mode's quirks is that it uses the same format as the drum mode (multiple tracks) but you can only address one track at a time so while Global mode will still adjust all the parameters on all tracks most of the time you're just focused on one track.
As mentioned before the Contrast parameter in Tonal mode adjust the balance between the raw oscillator and the resynthesis.
As far as the type of synthesis being used I think it's something like using the amplitude information of the resynthesised samples to the oscillator. So some manner of spectral filtering.
Because of this one of the coolest things is that no matter what sample you use it's always in key.
The Density knob in Tonal mode controls the balance of the Unison. All the way to the left and it's no unison and going to the right increases it. The unison detune is controlled in the sidebar and the overall width is controlled in the mixer page.
One thing I didn't know before is that if you select a folder in the import Audio it will recurse into sub directories so you can batch import samples. I had a 3.3gb sample library of instruments and after import it's 6 MB! It's very quick to scan too.
I also made a new blue theme with a more monochromatic blob.
You do not have the required permissions to view the files attached to this post.
-
- KVRAF
- 9578 posts since 5 Aug, 2009
i need to test this further, the resynthesis is really great but somehow it looses weight and oomph! e.g. imorphed some kicks and snares and imported some from my libraries and it suddenly lost lowend and oomph + i had to turn the signal to mono a lot of times to get back some consistent kick sound as it sounded a bit chorused.
DAW FL Studio Audio Interface Focusrite Scarlett 1st Gen 2i2 CPU Intel i7-7700K 4.20 GHz, RAM 32 GB Dual-Channel DDR4 @2400MHz Corsair Vengeance. MB Asus Prime Z270-K, GPU Gainward 1070 GTX GS 8GB NT Be Quiet DP 550W OS Win10 64Bit
-
- KVRAF
- 1867 posts since 8 Jan, 2022
One thing you can try is to set the Variation to Freeze in the sound control on the right.Caine123 wrote: Sun Jul 13, 2025 2:14 pm i need to test this further, the resynthesis is really great but somehow it looses weight and oomph! e.g. imorphed some kicks and snares and imported some from my libraries and it suddenly lost lowend and oomph + i had to turn the signal to mono a lot of times to get back some consistent kick sound as it sounded a bit chorused.
This controls the noise component in the sound and adds variation on every note on.
By setting it to freeze it uses the same value for every note on.
It's more noticeable on things like hats and snares but it can affect other sounds.
You can always add as much bottom end as you want by drawing it in the blob.
X axis for frequency and Y axis for time.
Another thing to note is that when using the internal sequencer what looks like the same velocity on different steps often isn't. There seems to be some variability. You can monitor that in the velocity graph in the main sound page.
If you have any model set in the velocity menu it will alter the sound based on velocity.
-
- KVRAF
- 43897 posts since 11 Aug, 2008 from clown world
I'd love to see a little keyboard at the bottom of the plugin. Otherwise, I'm having great fun with this release. It's incredibly fast and I like the sound. SonicCharge Synplant 2 upgrade tried to murder my CPU and cost me a lot (Sales Tax / VAT 9,35 EUR Grand Total 50,00 EUR). It didn't last very long on my system.
Anyone who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities.
-
- KVRist
- 210 posts since 1 Jul, 2008
Does the nag screen get longer after some time? Mine is 5 seconds. Odd complaint, but I feel like there should be more nag to incentivize purchase/support!! I do own Topos at least.
-
- KVRian
- 860 posts since 30 May, 2019
You find Synplant 2 to be CPU hungry? I don't know what to say other than perhaps it may be time to consider upgrading your current device?Aloysius wrote: Sun Jul 13, 2025 6:34 pm SonicCharge Synplant 2 upgrade tried to murder my CPU and cost me a lot (Sales Tax / VAT 9,35 EUR Grand Total 50,00 EUR). It didn't last very long on my system.
I don't even have a top of the line modern CPU, just a 12th gen i7, but Synplant rarely goes above a couple of % CPU.
I guess you must only be referring to the Genopatch sample conversion feature, right? Since by design, that is intended to use whatever maximum CPU your system can manage, as expected. But the actual playback performance of patches in Synplant 2 itself is very light on CPU in my experience.
As for the upgrade pricing. I paid a similar amount (£43.31) and in doing so, I felt like it was me who was robbing Sonic Charge for that paltry sum, for all the improvements and new features, they provided for v2 over v1 and for all the years of R&D they put into developing the new features.
I'm genuinely not trying to be antagonistic here. I'm honestly just bewildered by those two critiques of that plugin, which I would never expect to have read.
-
- KVRAF
- 43897 posts since 11 Aug, 2008 from clown world
I would not consider upgrading my current device for a plugin that doesn't do it for me. No.
I have many plugins and rarely have I seen such insane CPU usage.
If you look back through some of the old threads you'll notice that others experienced this problem too.
You sound like the perfect customer.
You'll find this in a lot of situations in life. People have different experiences. There's no need to feel bewildered.
I have many plugins and rarely have I seen such insane CPU usage.
If you look back through some of the old threads you'll notice that others experienced this problem too.
You sound like the perfect customer.
You'll find this in a lot of situations in life. People have different experiences. There's no need to feel bewildered.
Anyone who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities.
-
- KVRist
- 276 posts since 21 May, 2014 from USA
I've had it go as high as 30 seconds.Phil B wrote: Sun Jul 13, 2025 6:57 pm Does the nag screen get longer after some time? Mine is 5 seconds. Odd complaint, but I feel like there should be more nag to incentivize purchase/support!! I do own Topos at least.
-
- KVRian
- 1204 posts since 14 Oct, 2002 from Germany
When I do the same as in the video, deleting the main samples/blobs and importing my own, Visco crashes on my Mac. Does anyone have the same problem?
Frank
Frank
-
- KVRian
- 860 posts since 30 May, 2019
Unless yourself and other users are talking strictly about the "Genopatch" feature of Synplant 2, which as previously mentioned, is "by design" intended to specifically max out the CPU capacity of whatever device it is running on until the user stops generating patches. Then, that claim about the synth's "insane CPU usage" still doesn't make sense to me. And I believe it to be a false claim about the synth.Aloysius wrote: Mon Jul 14, 2025 8:31 am I have many plugins and rarely have I seen such insane CPU usage.
If you look back through some of the old threads you'll notice that others experienced this problem too.
Even the playback of most presets for a synth such as "Zebra 2", which is already a very resource-friendly plugin, uses more CPU than most "Synplant 2" patches in my experience. That's how CPU-friendly the synth is and that's why I said I found the claim "bewildering." Just as I would if somebody said the same about "Zebra 2", or (to keep it on topic), "Visco." In fact, both Visco and Synplant are very comparable resource wise, when in use.
And you never clarified whether you were ONLY referring to the "by design" CPU-hungry GenoPatch feature. Which, is an entirely optional extra, and the synth itself can be used without ever touching that feature, if desired.
And as for GenoPatch, personally, I have never experienced any problems using GenoPatch either. It runs very well and only uses all the CPU cores at full power while generating (i.e. until the user decides to stop it, or until it completes a full cycle of all generated variations, which generally takes less that a minute to complete all the variants - or even faster on a more modern/powerful CPU.)
SynPlant 2, when used as a synth, uses around the same resources as Visco 2, when used as a synth/drum machine. Neither are "insane CPU usage" hogs.
-
- KVRist
- 329 posts since 15 Jul, 2007
Yeah, I use both on some ultra-portable netbook-quality toy I picked up a few years back. Amazingly powerful tools for how light they are.MrJubbly wrote: Mon Jul 28, 2025 12:39 am SynPlant 2, when used as a synth, uses around the same resources as Visco 2, when used as a synth/drum machine. Neither are "insane CPU usage" hogs.