One Synth Challenge #68: Synth1 by Ichiro Toda

[ballacr75]

[quote="Chris-S"][quote]where I can find this "sy1lst.bat"? [/quote]
The original website by Zorniko is no longer available.
Here is a copy of the windows script:
[url=http://chris-s.bplaced.net/div/SY1LST.bat]SY1LST.bat[/url]

Usage: Copy to a bank folder and double click.

Eventually you have to enable your bank folders for indexing.

I'm using this with success on Win7, dunno if it works on XP, Win8 or Win10.[/quote]

Hey, great tool, watch at these bank patch list:
[attachment=1]SYNTH1-PATCH-XLS.zip[/attachment]
[attachment=0]SYNTH1-PATCH-TXT.zip[/attachment]
thanks very much!

[doctorbob]

I too see you like BootEQMKII . . ., hehehehe.

Yeah, I like it for tweaking the "fuller sound" tracks. It just seems to have the response curves my ears like! Although, I really had to use ReaEQ on one track to do real surgical work (some HF was ringing and did nasty things in the mix).
Some tracks are fully native, nude, nada, direct from the synth - only the master EQ and Limit doing anything to them! The track was sounding quite nice without any FX or mastering - just a little flat and lacking dynamics.

Anyway, man you've got some great sounds in here. Great texture and layers. Not sure what I was expecting but some of these sounds are simply brilliant. Vocal-esque? Nice hard 303-ish (kind of reminds me of Exploration of Space tbh).

Thanks. I built the tracks in MIDI using pretty default style instruments, then I had in mind what I really wanted and hunted down a preset close to that and then tweaked it a little. I could put up a list of presets I used if folk are interested???

What actually sounds like a good piano? My piano kinda sucks in comparison.

The piano again, a preset with tweakaboos! Appears 3 times, once in the early phase with the lush whitenoisey pads (but is providing some bass lines and harmonies), then hits in the middle uplift.

Beautiful arps, a nice little Psytrance like kick, wonderful strings & pads, you really must have had some fun with this!

Quite proud of the arps, and near the end I really like the bubbles sounds, which then drop to low bass. And yes, had a lot of fun doing it. May tweak the mix a little, but often the first mix/take can be the best as it very much is an expression of what you are thinking both emotionally and musically.

I think this is just a great example to show just how versatile the synth really is. Deceivingly simple interface for the sounds that lie underneath.

Thanks, praise indeed from someone with a fabulous track and who beat me into the fray!

Best of luck in the competition!

And you too - will make some comments to the track when I have a few moments.

dB

PS I didn't copy your track image - been working on the Zooinverse projects at https://www.zooniverse.org/projects so it seemed appropriate!

[doctorbob]

Saw doctorbob's song go by on my SC feed and gave it a quick listen...though "wow, this is different for doctorbob" then realized most of his stuff is really different from month to month. Well done doc. Very musical as always and sound design is good as well. You did that in the better part of a day? Holy hell!

Thanks man, yes, it was THAT quick, but when ideas flow you just have to go with it. Added the final 6 tracks last night, basically all the stuff at the beginning backing up the bouncing plucked sound (which was all there was to start) until it dropped into the kick/snares and distorted lead sound (and NOT fx distorted at all, pure synth1). Then did a final mix and pushed it up.

Might do a few tweaks yet, still a couple of transitions where I'm maybe not 100% happy - but if I am dithering about that, then it may be because actually, they ARE OK, just that I don't know it yet.

I agree, 'tis a bit different this time. Still the basic theme of a (well??) crafted harmonic structure, but psytrance style-ish.

I do like the little clavinet-like motifs, which "boing" like a spring here and there. The last time the last note is deliberately missed out (a bit like when in the Big Bang Theory, Amy stopped playing the last note etc to Sheldon to wind up his OCD!). So you "expect it" but it's missing, and hopefully kicks the brain into re-foucsing on the music again! Well, that's the theory, whether it works or people even notice, time will tell!

Maybe I should stick the missing note on the end of the piece - haha!

Cheers,

dB

[doctorbob]

Yep, I've been blown away by how versatile and great Synth1 sounds and the CPU usage (or lack thereof) is great.

I agree, I am amazed at how little cpu it uses. In REAPER a basic sound uses 0.1%-0.4%, big poly pads/strings might just go over 1%. Crazy stuff when you see BootEQMKII taking up to 3% at times. You could probably run 150 instances or more, then freeze them down and then add track FX's and mix. As I said before, the built in synth1 FX make good sounds as well before any track FX.

But darn if I'm not slow at actually putting a track together... always wanted to be first, but never can come close...

Take it as it comes, you always come up with the goods in the end. My track had been bouncing around my head for a few weeks (whilst you all were still doing Digits!!!) and it was simply a matter of writing the midi clips to realise the musical structure, thinking about how some solo might fit in (hence the vocal-esque thingy), sticking it altogether and then making the soundscape with the synth.

No rocket-science in it at all - apart from the inspiration from the Zooinverse project I've been doing for quite some time.

As usual, looking forward to your track.

All the best,

dB

[H-man]

I have to say I really appreciate the opportunity to have a go with this classic synth. Having been in OSC for only 1 year I had not encountered it yet.

Yeah I'm in the same bucket really. I also appreciate the chance to do an OSC with such a full-featured synth. VOPM etc were fun but this thing is something else entirely.

I'm rockin a 200% GUI and #cccccc on the panel. ...that's bone

[photonic]

Synth1 - for me "the classic" free synth!

I used it some years ago for some tracks as one of the first free VSTi. Now, after almost 3 years of joining OSC I can recognize Synth1 as one of the best free synths available. I am happy to work with this synth again.

The only problem is, what kind of genre should I choose. I could make an acoustic classic track, a Vangelis-like track, a rock track, a funk track, a TD track ... all possible with this goody!

[RichardSemper]

...what kind of genre should I choose. I could make an acoustic classic track, a Vangelis-like track, a rock track, a funk track, a TD track ... all possible with this goody!

how about a funky acoustic vangelis-like rock crossover track with TD overtones?

[keith303]

too bad... synth1 is causing me real trouble when automating the cutoff of a rhythmically played plug-like synth sound:
whilst automating the cutoff, the filter envelope amount (which is set to something like 30-40) sporadically seems to be triggered with a value near or equal to zero, which leads into a totally different (not-so-plug'ish) sound, as the entire filter envelope with its settings is simply not "happening".

it's not always occuring at the same spot of the note pattern, but it will happen with around every 5th or 6th triggered note of the automated instrument.

this at least applies to the most recent v1.13beta3.
i'll give v1.12 a try instead of 1.13beta, but don't have much hope...

anyone else experienced this?
host is renoise v3.

[Jared Juntunen]

LMMS is getting buggy, and so am I. I figure it's probably best to upload this, flaws-and-all, before I go nuts. I think I'll try Reaper next month.
I dig Synth1 though.

https://soundcloud.com/jared-juntunen/osc68



DAW

LMMS for Windows v1.0.3

20 instances of Synth1

Plugins:
Freeverb x21
Multiband EQ x17
BassBooster x3
CalfCompressor x2

[H-man]

too bad... synth1 is causing me real trouble when automating the cutoff of a rhythmically played plug-like synth sound:
whilst automating the cutoff, the filter envelope amount (which is set to something like 30-40) sporadically seems to be triggered with a value near or equal to zero, which leads into a totally different (not-so-plug'ish) sound, as the entire filter envelope with its settings is simply not "happening".

it's not always occuring at the same spot of the note pattern, but it will happen with around every 5th or 6th triggered note of the automated instrument.

this at least applies to the most recent v1.13beta3.
i'll give v1.12 a try instead of 1.13beta, but don't have much hope...

anyone else experienced this?
host is renoise v3.

No I haven't but have you noticed how the Filter Frequency and Resonance appear in the parameter list with an asterisk beside them Maybe some unfinished business?

As a suggestion on the off chance you have not checked this already, have a look at Velocity on both the filter and the Amp. IMHO they are rather sensitive compared to some other vsti's ....which to me is a good thing.

[Saukar30]

Does anyone know where I can find a good Crash cymbal patch? I really stink at my Crash cymbal patch making skills.

[RuediRena]

We just submitted as first rough draft of our track Hopfen und Malz to SoundCloud.

https://soundcloud.com/ruedirena/ruedir ... ough-draft


Can't see the player above? Listen/download here!

DAW: Reaper
Synth1: 13 instances
Track FX: none (Who needs them with such a fantastic synth?)
Master FX: A tiny bit of space added by TAL Reverb III as if this was recorded in a medium sized room.

[keith303]

No I haven't but have you noticed how the Filter Frequency and Resonance appear in the parameter list with an asterisk beside them Maybe some unfinished business?

As a suggestion on the off chance you have not checked this already, have a look at Velocity on both the filter and the Amp. IMHO they are rather sensitive compared to some other vsti's ....which to me is a good thing.

i also wondered about the asterisks and first thing that came to mind was: "nice, that dev is so obliging to tag the most popular parameters with an asterisk for a more convenient search experience !"
but whatever it actually stands for, the whole filter envelope and even LFO activity (when routed to the filter) is set out of order as soon as you start automating the cutoff or the amount controls of filter EG or LFO.

it's quite a drawback if you're creating stuff that relies more on sound design than on actual music.. but well.. my current approach to workaround is to change the whole concept of the tune and its arrangement.. guess it'll work out in one way or another...

[doctorbob]

Hey all,

Just a quick update to my track. The download will now be a FLAC - the 320kbs mp3 still doesn't really kick it. Some of the HF is still knocked back and to my ears these are quite an important part of this track.

Also altered some of the panning fx (just too much in places), and added a little movement to some other parts.

FYI: 10 tracks had NO fx at all. 12 tracks had just BootEQMkII to help the track sounds fit into the frequency space. The other 10 tracks had a mixture of EQ, comp, verb and autopan. (and again the EQ was used to slot the sounds into the sound space!).

I simply have to admire this synth for it's versatility as a one size fits all thing. Of course, when you have gazillions of tracks and sounds to mix, the usual EQ stuff comes into play.

Enjoy,

dB

PS Lots of plays (133) and not a comment - has DoctorBob confused everyone this time??????

[z.prime]

has DoctorBob confused everyone this time??????

db confuses everyone every time.