One Synth Challenge #201: Kontrast by Dawesome (eraze the borders Wins!)

[z.prime]

visualisation are nice but , a picture of flower do not say for me what sound i am making.

For what it's worth, the graphic actually does inform you about the sound, it's just quite different than most other wavetable synths in it's capabilities. Instead of just playing through a wavetable straight, you can curve the playback "head" in different shapes such as the "flower" or others which indicate what parts of the wavetables it is actually reading. It may read parts across multiple single-cycle tables, as soon as it's not a straight up/down line, some of which may be curved in reverse from normal, for example. It's quite intuitive for what it is, although I will say to me It's maybe difficult for some of us to grasp what this really means for the sound, on that point, I will agree with you. You CAN completely avoid many of the controls and just get plain wavetable playback by keeping all the controls at 0, and only modulating the X position, as soon as you start using the other controls you're in playback territory unique to this synth.

[exit-eternity]

that is very very good explanation of how synth works. I look forward to hearing what music will come from this !! i wish i was smart enough to use him properly.

[IV!]

hos is that graphic animation tutorial?? it confuse me even more with it main screen of synth be a graphic. Why? it synth, it make sound, i dont need graphic? visualisation are nice but , a picture of flower do not say for me what sound i am making.
synth is for alien, no for me
thanks you for reply. to all other, good luck have fun!!

This just shows how you can "recognize" a classic wavetable in the synthesizer window. Then, if you are familiar with wavetable synthesis and do not want to delve into another dimension of Kontrast, you can use this as a regular wavetable synthesizer. With an additional permission this month, you can upload samples to Kontrast and conditionally use it as a sampler. If this also seems complicated or not in your style, you can disable the first oscillator and use only the second one, turning Kontrast into a subtractive synthesizer. Even in this case, a powerful sequencer, a rich set of filters and distortions, a large number of amazing effects and comprehensive modulation make Kontrast an absolutely outstanding synthesizer, and the system of wide range randomization of general and particulars provides an additional opportunity to find inspiration. With so many possibilities, you have no excuses before the main question to yourself: do you want to make music with this or not.

[NeuKatalYst]

hos is that graphic animation tutorial?? it confuse me even more with it main screen of synth be a graphic. Why? it synth, it make sound, i dont need graphic? visualisation are nice but , a picture of flower do not say for me what sound i am making.
synth is for alien, no for me
thanks you for reply. to all other, good luck have fun!!

For your consideration: you don't even have to use any graphics at all. The synth also accepts any audio, especially any already existing wavetables. With a perfect vertical line, it becomes no different than any other wavetable synth in that regard.

Hope this helps make it more approachable~

[] Peter:H []

visualisation are nice but , a picture of flower do not say for me what sound i am making.

For what it's worth, the graphic actually does inform you about the sound, it's just quite different than most other wavetable synths in it's capabilities

Think about what an Audio-Range LFO in Vital does, when you modulate the WT position with it.
You can set an LFO in Vital to follow key, transpose it up +24, give it any weird shape you like, map it to wt position and off you go. You could even use perline noise that way ... So scaning through a wavetable within one single cycle is possible as soon as you have audiorate modulation. That way you could for instance create a wave form where a single cycle consists of 1/4 sine, 1/4 saw, 1/4 square, 1/4 triangle. Combine that method with phase modulation and I think you can get close to what this synth does.

Speaking about phase modulation: If you love to nerd out, in the following link I show how you can split a single sine cycle in 5 parts and rearrange the order ... done in bitwigs grid with help of clever phase manipulation within one single cycle viewtopic.php?t=614560

My Conclusion: With audio-rate modulation of wt position and phase you can do lot's ot things Kontakt can do. may be not all. Audio-rate modulation is afaik not in every synth, but vital and bitwig grid offer it.

[Polynik77]

Wow! It would take months to fully explore this synth properly. I am enjoying exploring right now but I don't think I want to waist time making presets with it. Especially since I might not want to buy it. At least there's a huge amount of presets to fiddle around with because I just want to get straight into composing.

[The Sound Of Merlin]

+++++SUBMISSION+++++

https://soundcloud.com/thesoundofmerlin ... ad-osc-201

I am submitting this without competing in OSC #201 and will ensure that I am ultimately disqualified. I collaborated on the factory soundbank and have therefore known Kontrast for a few months rather than just a few weeks like most of us. However, I still wanted to participate because I think Kontrast is a great synthesiser and I would like to share my enthusiasm for it with you. Most of the presets in this song can be found in the factory presets. The harp, guitar and bells are new.

DAW: Reaper 7.52
Kontrast: 10 instances
plugins: Sparkverb, Body and Soul Intro, Nasty DLA m3, Shade, Frank CS
Mastering: smartLimit and smart EQ4 by Sonible

[aarongrooves]

I am submitting this without competing in OSC #201 and will ensure that I am ultimately disqualified. I collaborated on the factory soundbank and have therefore known Kontrast for a few months rather than just a few weeks like most of us.

Still fairly new (my 2nd month here), so in no way making a decision or even a suggestion, just offering my two cents as a newbie...

I am positive that the day will come when I'm super familiar with a synth and have a dozen tabled compositional ideas, and it'll be so easy to assemble something I'm proud of, it'll feel like cheating. When that happens, I will remember your post and say to myself, "Merlin totally should've submitted!"

Unless you genuinely don't want to compete and would rather just share your enthusiasm; which I also understand. But I really like the idea of someone intimately familiar with the synth submitting for OSC. It raises the bar and elevates the competition. It's like being in a duel with Yoda. Which I would definitely lose

Also, the idea of you listening to someone else's track with factory presets that you designed is like...can I have your autograph? lol

All that to say, I don't think it would be unfair at all. I think it would be fun. But no pressure!

[aarongrooves]

Oh! And with the additional permission to upload custom samples into Kontrast, I feel like an entire universe is opened up for this month.

[The Sound Of Merlin]

I am submitting this without competing in OSC #201 and will ensure that I am ultimately disqualified. I collaborated on the factory soundbank and have therefore known Kontrast for a few months rather than just a few weeks like most of us.

Still fairly new (my 2nd month here), so in no way making a decision or even a suggestion, just offering my two cents as a newbie...

I am positive that the day will come when I'm super familiar with a synth and have a dozen tabled compositional ideas, and it'll be so easy to assemble something I'm proud of, it'll feel like cheating. When that happens, I will remember your post and say to myself, "Merlin totally should've submitted!"

Unless you genuinely don't want to compete and would rather just share your enthusiasm; which I also understand. But I really like the idea of someone intimately familiar with the synth submitting for OSC. It raises the bar and elevates the competition. It's like being in a duel with Yoda. Which I would definitely lose

Also, the idea of you listening to someone else's track with factory presets that you designed is like...can I have your autograph? lol

All that to say, I don't think it would be unfair at all. I think it would be fun. But no pressure!

Those are very kind words! Thank you. It would be great to hear some of my presets in the tracks.

[doctorbob]

... It would be great to hear some of my presets in the tracks.

You will hear your female choir preset (with some slight mods) in my track. I'll post a little bit on the discord feedback soon ... hope you approve!

Btw - your track is beautiful, but I do understand why you are a little hesitant to submit as an entry. I am sure many OSC-ers would be happy for it to stand - you could always dq yourself by not voting (hehe). At least you would get to see what people thought of it - glowing comments I am sure.

dB

[NeuKatalYst]

I am sure many OSC-ers would be happy for it to stand - you could always dq yourself by not voting (hehe). At least you would get to see what people thought of it - glowing comments I am sure.

dB

By my understanding, I think he wants to be among the entries, but plans on disqualifying himself during voting (probably by not voting at all, like you said). I like that idea: you can see what people think and receive comments all the same

[doctorbob]

^^^
yes, simply that

dB

[aarongrooves]

Ohhh, THAT makes sense!

[The Sound Of Merlin]

I am sure many OSC-ers would be happy for it to stand - you could always dq yourself by not voting (hehe). At least you would get to see what people thought of it - glowing comments I am sure.

dB

By my understanding, I think he wants to be among the entries, but plans on disqualifying himself during voting (probably by not voting at all, like you said). I like that idea: you can see what people think and receive comments all the same

Interesting theories! Of course I will vote as I am always interested and eager to hear everyone's entries. I would find myself silly and egoistic to only participate for the comments and not vote. When I rate myself with 2 points I should be able to get a DQ

It's very heartwarming to read that others think I should just join in. But it feels a bit awkward because I've been working with Kontrast for quite a long time. Originally, I hadn't planned to participate in October because I was going to be very busy. But I got sick and postponed the work and just quietly started working on a track with Kontrast.

I felt that there was still a lot to discover because I hadn't really made a full track with Kontrast yet. I also wanted to appease the angry voices in the outside world, where many people claim that Kontrast is only capable of producing hard, sharp sounds and that it's more of a gimmick than a fully-fledged instrument. And that's bloody nonsense. Of course, it is a unique tool and it takes time and attention to become familiar with it. It may be that Kontrast and a user do not become friends. But that is NOT because of Kontrast. Kontrast has become one of my favourite synths and it is perfect as it is. Although nothing is really perfectly perfect of course