One Synth Challenge #138: Surge (MrKarolus Wins!)

[fyrebreak]

DAW: Reaper v6.13, Windows x64
19 x Surge
26 x ReaEQ
5 x RoughRider
4 x OTT
1 x Poise
...

Sorry for asking you but is Poise an effect or is it the drum sampler?

Poise is a drum sampler with some effects like pitchbend/distortion that I didn’t use.

About samples the rules say:

Samples:

No use of samples, sample libraries or live sounds (like voice, guitar etc allowed).
However, for convenience or CPU saving, synth bouncing are allowed but only where the EXACT same result could have been achieved using the original synth: - This means that for example pitching and reversing is not allowed; sampling a bass drum in order to get a consistent sound is not allowed either.
Samplers used must be host samplers or freeware and easily available.

More Clarification: Audio must not be touched at all once it leaves the DAW (i.e. after bouncing a track or a stem). For example: One cannot master the audio in another software or service. Also, If you need more performance / CPU a workaround is to freeze all the tracks.

As you can see, for example, you cannot create a kick (or snare, HHs) with Surge, make a bounce of several hits and cut one that sounds consistent and then open it in a sampler. You can only bounce the entire track to save CPU.

Alright then, shouldn’t be too hard to fix. I’ll work on it.

[nineofkings]

Two, count em, two submissions, in pretty disparate styles. EDIT: Now there is only one.

https://soundcloud.com/nine-of-kings/ni ... s-blowback
DAW: Reaper 6
FX: Surge x16
ReaEQ x7
ReaComp x2
SurgeEffectsBank x1
ToTape6 x1 (on master)
ClipShifter x1 (on master)
Unlimited x1 (on master)

[nineofkings]

Doing this challenge has really made me realize how amazingly versatile this synth is. It takes a second to wrap your head around its quirks, but once you understand the flow it's so fun to play with all the wild sounds you can get.

[MalToné]

++ Submission ++

https://soundcloud.com/chavapoulos/malt ... -the-clone

The best time I've had doing the OSC! A new computer and Surge synth--It's a different universe: I can just be creative without my machine crashing, dropping out and generally glitching.

And for extra fun, there are four (that I know of) movie references in the title...

Surge Synth x 27
Custom patches and 2 presets

DAW: Ableton Live 10 Suite

Stock Ableton Effects:
EQ8 x 16
Convolution Reverb x 6
Utility x 6
Auto Pan x 2
Compressor x 2
Multiband compression x 2
Saturator x 1
Reverb x 1
Delay x 2
Limiter x 1

3rd Party Plugins:
Youlean Loudness Meter Free

[L-EctroBit]

Two, count em, two submissions, in pretty disparate styles.

I know that at the beginning of OSC there was no limit of tracks per participant, but the rules currently state that there can only be one per participant. So I'm afraid you'll have to choose between one of the two.

Rules

General:

- Challenge to run from the 1st to the end of the last day, every month (Timezone: UTC-8 time )

- Unless specifically announced before the competition, you must use only one virtual synthesizer for all sounds including percussion. Layering several instances of the synth is allowed.

- Your entry must be composed specifically for this contest. Cover tracks are not permitted.

- Collaborations are allowed. The collaborators do not need to be KVR members.

- Max 1 submission per entrant (person or team)

[MalToné]

Two, count em, two submissions, in pretty disparate styles.

Both are pretty nice tracks, but since only one can be entered I vote for the first one, Blowback.

[fyrebreak]

An amendment to my previous submission, featuring live synthesized drums. Probably will be my final submission.
https://soundcloud.com/fyrebreak/sky-demo-2

DAW: Reaper v6.13
Surge x 24
Reaeq x 30
Roughrider x 7
OTT x 4
JS Exciter x 5
Reacomp x 1
SurgeEffectsBank x 5
GGain x 1
TDR Nova x 1
Limiter No. 6 x 1
YouLean Loudness Meter x 1
Sanford Bass Tightener x 1
Loudmax x 2

[doctorbob]

Oh my gosh Doctor Bob! I downloaded the midi played by your daughter, and it sounded so awesome with the different synth settings on Surge. Super fun and inspiring!

Thanks. She's quite a good pianist, but even better on flute/sax and clarinet. I'll PM you a version of "Empty Chairs" she multitracked a few days ago ...

dB

[simanus]

Here is mine submission
https://soundcloud.com/user-253743970/s ... ne-osc-138

Surge x 38

FX used

Delay (Kilohearts), Oril River, SPAN, MIDI Note Filter, CamelCrusher, ReaEQ, OTT, JS:Transient Controler, Gclip, ConvologyXT,
Wider, ReaComp, Dragonfly Hall, ReaGate, Kotelnikov, Limiter No6, Boogex, Leveling Tool, Tube Saturator Vintage.

[EscapeControl]

Whoa simanus, your track sounds like something out of one of those animusic videos. Good stuff

[manthosdm]

Hey people! Here is my submission. It's a drum and bass track, using Surge, and only a few other plugins for mixing.

https://soundcloud.com/manthos-damigos/ ... IQzc7VRn2O

My DAW of choise is Reaper. Here is the plugin list:

Surge: 16 Instances (4 for pads, 2 for arps, 3 for percussive or transitional sounds, 4 for basses, 3 for drums)
ReaEQ: 6 Instances
ReaComp: 2 instances (one for sidechaining the non drum buss to the kick and snare)
ReaXComp [multiband compressor]: 2 instances
Event Horizon Limiter: 1 instance (included in reaper)
SN03-G Tape Recordger: 1 instance (the only non-native reaper plugin, it's a tape saturator with it's own eq - I used it on the master buss for tightening and color)
The reverbs, delays, and every other spacial effect from Surge's built in reverb.

The track was made mostly by messing around with sound design in the beginning - to get the drums and the bass ready, since these where my weak spots - make a rough arrangement, and I created patches as I moved forward arranging. There was a lot of automation involved, thus the title lines in lines. I hope people like it, I'm looking forward spending the next days listening to other peoples submissions!

[simanus]

Whoa simanus, your track sounds like something out of one of those animusic videos. Good stuff

Ty bro, I'm just checking that ,just watched animusic for the first time, some really weird and cool things are happening in that videos. I like it

[nineofkings]

Two, count em, two submissions, in pretty disparate styles.

I know that at the beginning of OSC there was no limit of tracks per participant, but the rules currently state that there can only be one per participant. So I'm afraid you'll have to choose between one of the two.

Rules

General:

- Challenge to run from the 1st to the end of the last day, every month (Timezone: UTC-8 time )

- Unless specifically announced before the competition, you must use only one virtual synthesizer for all sounds including percussion. Layering several instances of the synth is allowed.

- Your entry must be composed specifically for this contest. Cover tracks are not permitted.

- Collaborations are allowed. The collaborators do not need to be KVR members.

- Max 1 submission per entrant (person or team)

Agh! Thank you for pointing that out. Edited.

[EvilDragon]

Here is mine submission
https://soundcloud.com/user-253743970/s ... ne-osc-138

Surge x 38

FX used

Delay (Kilohearts), Oril River, SPAN, MIDI Note Filter, CamelCrusher, ReaEQ, OTT, JS:Transient Controler, Gclip, ConvologyXT,
Wider, ReaComp, Dragonfly Hall, ReaGate, Kotelnikov, Limiter No6, Boogex, Leveling Tool, Tube Saturator Vintage.

How the hell did you get that snare with Surge?


(As a small comment there - the snare is a bit too wide in the stereo image so it sticks out maybe too much compared to other drums.)

[simanus]

Here is mine submission
https://soundcloud.com/user-253743970/s ... ne-osc-138

Surge x 38

FX used

Delay (Kilohearts), Oril River, SPAN, MIDI Note Filter, CamelCrusher, ReaEQ, OTT, JS:Transient Controler, Gclip, ConvologyXT,
Wider, ReaComp, Dragonfly Hall, ReaGate, Kotelnikov, Limiter No6, Boogex, Leveling Tool, Tube Saturator Vintage.

How the hell did you get that snare with Surge?


(As a small comment there - the snare is a bit too wide in the stereo image so it sticks out maybe too much compared to other drums.)

Well I'm sucker for snares it is so obvious:D There is some layering involved, 5 layers to be clear some saturation, transient control,plate reverb send, gating...here is my Reaper snare template so any1 who wants can check https://www.dropbox.com/sh/ynlj71ehae3m ... ugD9a?dl=0