One-Synth-Challenge 29: String Theory - Submissions and gossip

[V'ger]

ONE-SYNTH-CHALLENGE WEBSITE

• String Theory by Ugo:

RULES:
Create a track using only Farbrausch V2 for all sounds, including percussion.

The song must comply with the rules HERE!

Upload to SoundCloud only.

Songs must be submitted before 1st July (KVR time)

NOTE:
1. A reminder to both name and tag the file properly, they should both be the same like this: Artist - Song Name.mp3 where artist name is your KVR nick.

2. Also remember that ALL effects must be free and available to all. That means NO host effects are allowed. Exception is host EQ.

PRIZES:

Ugo :
Bundle 1: M-theory, Dualism, Metallurgy, Disturbance, Ironhead, Tunguska, and the Spawn collection
Bundle 2: Ironhead, Tunguska, and the Spawn collection
Bundle 3: Disturbance, Metallurgy, Tunguska
Bundle 4: M-theory + Dualism

Wusik : Wusik Station V6 Full + Wusik EVE V2 Full

GSI : Free choice of one plugin
[url=hhttp://www.genuinesoundware.com][/url]
MaxSynths : Free choice of either Cryologic, Teutonic Tension or aPiano

Frantic Records : Free choice of 2 soundsets: Sylenth1, Predator, Largo, Blofeld, PPGV3 or Dune

Electric Himalaya : Free choice of one soundset (as sold directly via the website)

Luftrum : Luftrum5 - a ReFill for Reason

EDT Audio : Zebrosis soundbank


Any other offers of prizes will be greatly appreciated.

[IrionDaRonin]

V'ger, cheers for your great work, you always making posts, organizing, counting votes, etc...
Some people must be thinking all this hard work is automatic or something, so cheers and thanks for your time.
You already know, if you need help, just tell me.

Lovely contest.
This will sound completelly different to the previous challenges.
Also, the drum kit part will be difficult to make this time, but i love challenges.
I made some drum kits yesterday.

Have a good day

[V'ger]

Cheers Yes this will definitely be different to the last 2 synths, looking forward to the mellow strings.

[Doc Jon]

Just started playing with this today, very interesting. Quite pleased this won as it will make for some very different contributions this month, I'm sure

I would definitely recommend reading the manual which is most informative - and before you do anything else, put a limiter on your master channel because it can deliver massive sound spikes VERY easily!!

[V'ger]

Ugo has generously contributed these 4 nice prizes to the pool, thx a lot :

- The Big Bundle (x1) - Includes M-theory, Dualism, Metallurgy, Disturbance, Ironhead, Tunguska, and the Spawn collection.

- Ironhead Suite (x1) - Includes Ironhead, Tunguska, and the Spawn collection.

- Sound Mangling Bundle (x1) - Disturbance, Metallurgy, Tunguska (This bundle isn't on my site. I just made it up.)

- M-theory + Dualism Bundle (x1)

[IrionDaRonin]

UGO, we love you

This is starting warm, hehe.
Nice prizes.

[JoeCat]

Great - now I'm hooked on OSC!

Got lucky that I started with the awesome Tyrell N6, which is available for Mac in AU format. For this contest, I'll run Reaper on Win7 in Bootcamp/VMWare.

Which brings to to this post - just wanted to share a few tidbits and my humble recommendations for the Mac guys who may not already know, and save you the trouble of sorting things out if your are thinking about installing Windows so as not to be left out of the VST OSCs

OS:
Windows: XP if you have it. It as MUCH better support for audio drivers then Windows 7.
If you must run WIndows 7, ASIO4All solves a lot of the issues - google and download the dlls, etc.

DAW:
Cucko's Reaper is an awesome DAW for the money (and has an unlimited demo mode if you want to try) - that makes it a great choice for us Logic users who don't want to pony up big bucks for a DAW just to run some VSTs.

Setup
Bootcamp. You can run the partition virtualized now also (in the past I think that was not an option) and have the best of both worlds. However, you want the Bootcamp option available, because the virtualized world has its problems.

If you are trying to run Windows 7 virtualized on a Mac, you'll appreciated the rest and hopefully avoid :
I run three OSs on my Mac (!) because of work, with an XP partition virtualized (using VMWare Fusion) and Win 7 in Bootcamp (which means I can run it both standalone in Bootcamp and virtualized). In Bootcamp, your ASIO4ALL drivers should take care of things quite nicely. When running virtualized, expect issues with sound quality and latency. VMWare Fusion, and VMWare has hinted at some unreleased fixes; not sure about Parallels).

Virtualized, it takes great pains to get audio working. Here's the solution:

Connect your USB MIDI device to the Windows side. Do NOT connect your audio device. USB audio on WIndows7 does not work well (to say the least) in a virtualized environment. Instead, leave it connected to the Mac side, and run your virtual machine (Windows) audio through Mac's core audio (you'll know if this is working if you can hear audio from an app, website, Windows sounds, etc.)

Then, in your DAW, select DirectSound for audio output and the virtualized audio (for VMWare it's clearly labeled VMWare VMAudio). You may need to play with the buffer size (there's going to be some latency). My suggestion is to keep the buffers big when designing sound (poor latency, better quality), and smaller when recording/tracking. Just remember you may want to switch your preferences back to ASIO when running Windows from Bootcamp.

To sum it up: Bootcamp - ASIO, Virtualized - Host (Core) Audio with DirectSound

Of course, I'm speaking from my own experience; if anyone has anything to add or corrections please set me straight

Sorry for the length and the fact that it's a bit off-topic - just figured there were a few Mac guys like me who don't want to be left out of OSC when a VST comes along

[V'ger]

Excellent guide Should really be a sticky somewhere.

Further tips is that since String Theory is pre SynthEdit v2.0, it has the old multicore bug, but a solution for Reaper users is to right-click on load and selecting 'Buggy plugin compatibility mode' which should take care of it.

I don't know about other DAWs, but worst comes to worst, you have to make copies of the VST dll and rename each instance differently (well not really a big deal).

[evo2slo]

As a mac user who doesn't want the OSC fun to end I really appreciate those tips JoeCat! I think I'll try out that bootcamp/xp/reaper combo. Will be nice to have access to all those windows only fx too.

BTW, your Tyrell patches are awesome. I gave wakeupman my number one vote - and will definitely be using it for some epic soloing in the future. Already made use of cinematech, such a nice sound.

[JoeCat]

evo2slo:
Thanks! This will be my first time finishing a project with Reaper/Windows on a Mac, so I'll post any other technical issues, etc.
Thanks for the kudos to WakeupMan - it's kind-of a retro patch, but I did end up using it in the Tyrell OSC (after realizing how totally brassy it actually is). I've got a few other patches I'll probably post up to the "leftover patch" thread once I get around to tweaking them, but I don't think they're as good.
Good luck in OSC28 - I haven't listened to the tunes yet but finally have them all downloaded and queued up.

BTW, UGO's Rez synth is one of the VSTs that prompted me to setup a Windows config. That is an awesome and inventive free synth - thanks UGO, and shout-out to rsmus7 for the patches and demo songs.

[gorgorgathgorgorgor]

DAW:
Cucko's Reaper is an awesome DAW for the money (and has an unlimited demo mode if you want to try) - that makes it a great choice for us Logic users who don't want to pony up big bucks for a DAW just to run some VSTs.

I've been running the windows reaper at home and the mac reaper at work (Church audio, we multitrack the services for podcast and dvd re-mix when needed) and Reaper has replaced Logic at the church now. (the discounted licence for hobbyists and non-profits doesn't hurt) I particularly like it for sequencing, and being relatively new to midi, I think that speaks to it's ease of use. Big +1 for Reaper!

[V'ger]

Just a reminder of the point made in the first post that the rules have been updated to say that any sampler used must now be freeware and easily available to all.

But be careful if you decide to use a sampler not to get creative with, it's only to be used for CPU-saving purposes.

[V'ger]

Further tips is that since String Theory is pre SynthEdit v2.0, it has the old multicore bug, but a solution for Reaper users is to right-click on load and selecting 'Buggy plugin compatibility mode' which should take care of it.

I see from this thread there's a trick for FL users too:

open up the plugin, go into its individual settings (the cog in the corner) and select single thread (or something..) which solved my problems

[objectman]

Hey V'ger and other OSCers.

I've just submitted my track "Windmills & Tulips." It was made with 8 instances of String Theory (presets) and Live's Hall reverb and finished as mp3 with three band compression in Audition 3 (why the Hell can't Ableton give us an mp3 output option?).

This chuggy tune brought to mind an idyllic holiday to Holland. I've never actually been there. This tune just randomly happened as I was playing with some presets, opening new track after track while basically jamming to some of the initial chuggy-chug arpeggios.

I had a LOT of geeky fun making this. I have been working my guts out (80hrs per week teaching & web design). Then it all stopped when I quit several units. I started making this the moment I saw the synth vote.

If anyone thinks I can better it somehow before final submission date, please leave a critical comment on the Soundcloud track itself. I think I may have compressed it too much. But loud is in, right? I'm just not sure this needs to be a LOUD track. It feels a bit classical but the compressor classical preset sounded a bit naff.

Good luck to all of us!

[V'ger]

Hey what a schedule, are you even allowed to do those kind of hours in Auz? But can tell it's been a while since last OSC submissions as you've forgotten that effects should be free and available to all (except host eq which is ok), so you might wanna sort that before deadline..