One Synth Challenge #75: PG-8X (Jasinski Wins!)

[bjporter]

Guys, don't sweat it too much. Distortion is fine as long as it's minimal. The key here is "unrecognizable as being from the synth".

Well stated. I accepted the track earlier today having looked at the effects and song.

My thoughts on filters: 100 filters = 100 EQs to me. I use filters as EQ quite a bit, and usually a few on every channel, so can add up fast.

[wagtunes]

Duplicate

[wagtunes]

Removed

[bjporter]

Okay, I've decided to just put this thing to bed. Because of all the comments I've gotten about my off tempo playing, I've completely automated this track, thus the title. And I think the difference is quite noticeable.

Here's the stats. Not much to this one.

PG8X OSC Track Overview

DAW – Cubase 7.07

16 instances of PG8X

All sounds programmed from scratch.

FX used

Tracks 9,13,14 and 16 – NI Reptika free delay
Output buss – Vladg/Sound's Limiter6, a free 3rd party plugin.

Track Length: 3:04

Sequencer used to program parts was Reaktor's VSS 2.6. Came in real handy. Couldn't have made this without it. Well, could have. But it would have taken 3 months to do.

Anyway, here's what it sounds like. All comments are welcome.

https://soundcloud.com/steven-wagenheim ... ack-osc-75

Waiting for reply via PM, Thanks.

[wagtunes]

Okay, I've decided to just put this thing to bed. Because of all the comments I've gotten about my off tempo playing, I've completely automated this track, thus the title. And I think the difference is quite noticeable.

Here's the stats. Not much to this one.

PG8X OSC Track Overview

DAW – Cubase 7.07

16 instances of PG8X

All sounds programmed from scratch.

FX used

Tracks 9,13,14 and 16 – NI Reptika free delay
Output buss – Vladg/Sound's Limiter6, a free 3rd party plugin.

Track Length: 3:04

Sequencer used to program parts was Reaktor's VSS 2.6. Came in real handy. Couldn't have made this without it. Well, could have. But it would have taken 3 months to do.

Anyway, here's what it sounds like. All comments are welcome.

https://soundcloud.com/steven-wagenheim ... ack-osc-75

Waiting for reply via PM, Thanks.

Replied...Delete track.

[wagtunes]

I want to apologize for my cranky behavior above. It came from pure frustration of obviously not understanding the "spirit" of the rules of this competition.

In the meantime, I have to redo my track because the delay I was using is no longer free (didn't know that) and thus not allowed for this competition. Somehow I can't help but find that at least slightly amusing.

I will be staying out of this thread until I resubmit my entry.

Again, I apologize for my behavior.

[davetbass]

Hi,

This is my track Older, and I shared it to the group in the rules:

https://soundcloud.com/looklookbb/davetbass-kvr-older



I used LMMS, plate reverb on "strings", hard limiter on kick and hard limiter and EQ on master

5 instances of PG-8X

Sorry I realized my soundcloud name is different from my name here (darn EDM aliases haha), is this message enough to avoid confusion, and stay within the rules?

Thanks!

[Reefius]

If distortion and filters are not allowed, then my acid track from last month is already disqualified.

If you want to be very strict about the rules, then delay and reverb should also be forbidden, because these effects use samples

[bjporter]

If distortion and filters are not allowed, then my acid track from last month is already disqualified.

If you want to be very strict about the rules, then delay and reverb should also be forbidden, because these effects use samples

Hey there... distortion and filters are absolutely allowed, the later more encouraged than the former of course (Use distortion lightly to not totally morph the original sound, and use your best judgement).

[stardustmedia]

I'd say that distortion is allowed unless it doesn't make the sound unrecognizable. So heavy distortion of all kinds. But adding some flavor aka a little bit of grit, amping (would be like EQing), or saturation might be ok (this would be then more of a compressing effect).

EQ and compressing must be allowed. Here is a similar open question. What when EQ/comp is used heavily? I mean you can use a comp to distort the signal.

I think basic lo and hi cuts should be allowed no matter what.

The hard thing is to know where to draw the line. Maybe all participants should also upload their session, so voters can download and also rate the project itself? Although that seems to be a lot of work for the voters then

Finally it's all about trust. Respectively envy may lead to false assumptions. I'm not (yet) very good at sound design, and when I heard some competitors with an amazing set of sounds from one synth, I also first thought: "Is this really just that one synth? Cheating?" But that's my problem. I just have to get better at sound design, because I somehow believe that most of the participants are really doing a great job at sound design

[bjporter]

Finally it's all about trust. Respectively envy may lead to false assumptions. I'm not (yet) very good at sound design, and when I heard some competitors with an amazing set of sounds from one synth, I also first thought: "Is this really just that one synth? Cheating?" But that's my problem. I just have to get better at sound design, because I somehow believe that most of the participants are really doing a great job at sound design

Well stated! BTW, look out for project files. Some people (Jasinski, Richard Semper I think, me and some others) sometimes release their project file, and you can see what's going on under the hood.

[stardustmedia]

That's a good idea to upload the project file anyway.


BTW:
In this case, with the PG8X, my Mac is really hitting fast and hard the CPU-limit. As others also stated. Terrible to work, but that's what you get, when you try to work with an abandoned beta version. So no side blow to the developer here

So my question is: Is it okay to bounce the tracks, after arranging and sound designing, and then to mix? Even freezing didn't help. For me freezing or bouncing is the same.

[bjporter]

That's a good idea to upload the project file anyway.


BTW:
In this case, with the PG8X, my Mac is really hitting fast and hard the CPU-limit. As others also stated. Terrible to work, but that's what you get, when you try to work with an abandoned beta version. So no side blow to the developer here

So my question is: Is it okay to bounce the tracks, after arranging and sound designing, and then to mix? Even freezing didn't help. For me freezing or bouncing is the same.

Yes, bounce the whole track, and treat it as you would coming from the synth: aka no editing of the bounced file, like pitching, slicing, etc.

[stardustmedia]

In this case, with the PG8X, my Mac is really hitting fast and hard the CPU-limit. As others also stated. Terrible to work, but that's what you get, when you try to work with an abandoned beta version. So no side blow to the developer here

So my question is: Is it okay to bounce the tracks, after arranging and sound designing, and then to mix? Even freezing didn't help. For me freezing or bouncing is the same.

Yes, bounce the whole track, and treat it as you would coming from the synth: aka no editing of the bounced file, like pitching, slicing, etc.

Cool, that's what I thought and now actually did. When I realize I want to change something in the arrangement, I do it so with the instrument track, rebounce it and use the new file in the audio track.

[mcaitch]

That's a good idea to upload the project file anyway.


BTW:
In this case, with the PG8X, my Mac is really hitting fast and hard the CPU-limit. As others also stated. Terrible to work, but that's what you get, when you try to work with an abandoned beta version. So no side blow to the developer here

So my question is: Is it okay to bounce the tracks, after arranging and sound designing, and then to mix? Even freezing didn't help. For me freezing or bouncing is the same.

@deft_bonz: Have you ever tried the latest AU version? This should fix the CPU overloading issue (see below and posts on page 7).

For the Logic users amongst you:

I just compiled the latest version as AU. However, it is not working properly. When a project is opened again, the bank is not recovered. The current patch is, but the name is lost.

The name also gets lost when exporting to and importing from .aupreset.

I still have to figure out how to solve that.

A workaround is to export the patch (or bank) as sysex file, and place that into your MIDI events at the beginning of each track. (I hope Logic allows to import sysex into the MIDI track...)

Here is the link:

https://www.dropbox.com/s/ausc3sl98cgue ... t.zip?dl=0


Cheers,
Martin