RAPID Synthesizer | Rapid 1.8.0 released | Free "SP - Granular Elements"

[recursive one]

I don't see much point in having 8 layers, TBH. For real-life tasks I think max 3 of them will be used, nobody will be making a full track within the synth. Also it's good that you may control all layers with one macro, but more advanced master contol section would be much more handy, e.g., the whole set of envelopes/LFOs/step-sequencers on a separate page which could be freely assigned to any number of parameters from any layer, this is what would really bring the usability on a new level.

But all in all, the synth soudns really good. The wavetables, filters, envelopes, effects - all of it is of very high quality, I'd say the synth sounds way better than Dune, Zebra, Icarus or the likes, some really pelasant character here.

[pepelogu]

Is it really wise to have to startup patch being a maxed out saw wave which distorts like crazy?

huh? The starting patch is just like a buzzing sound, I hear nothing distorting. Sounds like any other starting patch to me.

Really? I'm a Cubase user, maybe it's only me?

[recursive one]

Iirc, the init patch is a pure saw wave with no filters or fx, may be your output volume is set too hot?

[pepelogu]

Iirc, the init pact is a pure saw wave with no filters or fx, may be your output volume is set too hot?

No, i'd say normal output volume. No other vst does this. Also, no other vst has volume ramped up to max on init apart from Rapid.

No big deal of course but not the best first contact...

[recursive one]

Will check this out when I'll be at my DAW. But I've never noticed anything weird with the init patch, despite I've loaded it at least 20 times this week.

[sacer]

I don't see much point in having 8 layers, TBH. For real-life tasks I think max 3 of them will be used, nobody will be making a full track within the synth. Also it's good that you may control all layers with one macro, but more advanced master contol section would be much more handy, e.g., the whole set of envelopes/LFOs/step-sequencers on a separate page which could be freely assigned to any number of parameters from any layer, this is what would really bring the usability on a new level.

But all in all, the synth soudns really good. The wavetables, filters, envelopes, effects - all of it is of very high quality, I'd say the synth sounds way better than Dune, Zebra, Icarus or the likes, some really pelasant character here.

The quality depends on the presets and kind of sound: dune2, spire and serum are very comparable in the quality of sounding but are more specialized and they aren't 8-layered.
For analog sounding basses and brasses i would also prefer the legend, strobe2 and diva, which sound much more bether than rapid or avenger in this kind of sound.
8 Layers aren't to much, i realy like the 8 layerd sounds of 8 * sh-101 from d16 lush and the presets are realy playable like nexus or electra. I think the quality of mirkos presets makes this synth so special or good sounding.
It's the same with nexus, there are a lot more bether samplers like alchemy, kontakt, falcon or omnisphere. Rapid delivers a lot of inspiring and ready to go presets in a modern sounding synth. But I am not blown away of this synth, especialy not in the workflow to tweak and bend these presets. For me it's a modern nexus, which will see a lot of expansions, but not so many libraries from outstanding sounddesigner, therfore this synth is to limited to import own wavetables and with this price, I think the userbase will never reach nexus, silenth, serum or spire. But that are only my thoughts, a lot of people will be very happy with this secret weapon for out of the box EDM.

[recursive one]

It's all highly subjective but I was talking about the synth itself, not the presets. I only have a demo, so 20 minutes max for making patches from init, but it seems that good sounds are made easier than in the other synths I've mentioned. As for the presets I've quickly browsed them, they are mostly not my cup of tea.

For the classic analogue sounds I agree it maybe not the best, but I'm not much for this kind of sounds.

Btw, Dune2 has exactly 8 layers

[Mirko R.]

I don't see much point in having 8 layers, TBH.

I do! Here is a preset I made these days and it is a complete track. Just needed one RAPID instance. Hope You like it.

[frizzbee]

I don't see much point in having 8 layers, TBH.

I do! Here is a preset I made these days and it is a complete track. Just needed one RAPID instance. Hope You like it.

great demo! but don't you think this is exactly what the host has to do? why do we have to have a daw in a daw in a daw in a daw in... and tbh i can't reuse these layers for other projects since there are melodies in it and they are already "mixed" to sound great with the 7 layers left.
if i layered sounds with multiple instances the mixing is part of the daw, so i can reuse these sound patches really easy.

[Mirko R.]

I don't see much point in having 8 layers, TBH.

I do! Here is a preset I made these days and it is a complete track. Just needed one RAPID instance. Hope You like it.

great demo! but don't you think this is exactly what the host has to do? why do we have to have a daw in a daw in a daw in a daw in... and tbh i can't reuse these layers for other projects since there are melodies in it and they are already "mixed" to sound great with the 7 layers left.
if i layered sounds with multiple instances the mixing is part of the daw, so i can reuse these sound patches really easy.

Hey and thx for your reply. Of course, that is not the case to use it everyday, but you can do it, save it as preset and send it to your friends.
The layer have another big advantage. You can use the layer for fx and send one layer to the others. Sometimes it is a lot of fun to create a sound with two layer, send layer 1 to 3, and layer 2 to 4 and give layer 3 and 4 different effects. than you merge them to layer 5 and make some other effects. it could be very complex. so I remember many people here said "hmm, this looks too easy, not enough complexity" and now others said "hmm too much layer, for what do we need it". now merge those quotes and you know why 8 layers could be very necessary.

[frizzbee]

Hey and thx for your reply. Of course, that is not the case to use it everyday, but you can do it, save it as preset and send it to your friends.
The layer have another big advantage. You can use the layer for fx and send one layer to the others. Sometimes it is a lot of fun to create a sound with two layer, send layer 1 to 3, and layer 2 to 4 and give layer 3 and 4 different effects. than you merge them to layer 5 and make some other effects. it could be very complex. so I remember many people here said "hmm, this looks too easy, not enough complexity" and now others said "hmm too much layer, for what do we need it". now merge those quotes and you know why 8 layers could be very necessary.

[recursive one]

I don't see much point in having 8 layers, TBH.

I do! Here is a preset I made these days and it is a complete track. Just needed one RAPID instance. Hope You like it.

That's definitely a great sounding track, but making a whole track within one instance of one VSTi is not what people normally do, there is a thing called DAW where people do their sequencing and mixing

I don't want to say that the layered structure is to complicated for me, it isn't. I can't see myself making a patch of all 8 layers (I mean for use it an actual track) but using 2-3 of them for oscillators and one for sends seems realistic. But in this scenario the master control section (envs, LFOs etc, as I wrote above) should be essential.

Tl;dr: the layered structure is potentially a great thing but in its current state it is more useful for making presets of the kind "look, mom, I've pressed one key and it plays a song", but for making sounds for use in tracks - not so much.

[Gosh]

Since there is no sample and wavetable import i would appreciate a list with the available resources of the full version. Thanks in advance

[parawave]

Tl;dr: the layered structure is potentially a great thing but in its current state it is more useful for making presets of the kind "look, mom, I've pressed one key and it plays a song", but for making sounds for use in tracks - not so much.

Not very far sighted. Of course you can build arps and lead sequences with one layer of Massive, Serum, Hive, Sylenth1 or whatever. But than don't wonder why it sounds powerless and thin, or sometimes just boring. If you watch some tutorials or track arrangements of professional musicians you see one common thing, a musical element within a track (lets say a background arp melody) is NEVER a single synth instance. It's mixture of 3-4 synth instances with slight differences in their mixing or fx-chain (layers). So let's say you have created a cool 4-synth sequences. Now you have to adjust a small thing, or want to reuse it in another project - bothersome. Very few DAWs have a good workflow in terms of storing internal chains in a quick and reusable way. With RAPID it's just one patch.

When I read stuff like that it seems to me that you never really build and played a patch with 4 layers. I think, at leas 4 layers are necessary to create a good sounding and dynamic arp patch that really stands out. In terms of layer naming at least I would use the following:
1. Bass Arp | 2. Mid Arp | 3. High Arp |4. Mid Pad
use an additional shared fx-chain in Layer 8 and build some cool dry/wet macros. The thing is, after I invest 20 minutes on a really complex patch I can just save it as preset and reuse it everywhere. May swap and change a few things, but it's way more efficient for your production time, so you can invest more time in the creative process and composing. It's also alot easiert to play, and many people like to perform with complex patches. Same for splitted sequences.
It's absolutely not true that layers are an unnecessary thing. They give you so much.

[Orbit-50]

Great video Mirko! You could do so much with this one plugin. The CPU hit is awesome also. I'm totally shocked at how little it uses. So with this plugin you can actually use the 8 layers and create some dynamite stuff. It's a throwback to my Roland hardware module days. The difference with Rapid is the fact that it has so many features inside of each layer. I love working inside of one box and being able to create anything I want without having to step outside of it. I'm really loving this.