Lord of the Springs is a VSTi for Windows (64/32) featuring 88 voices in form of active spring systems, which a key hit stimulates as well as modwheel scrubbing.
Lord of the Springs V2 overview on YOUTUBE
As one might imagine, springs will generally create rather metallic sounds, which makes it ideal for complex glockenspiel sounds, xylophones, marimbas and so on, but the freedom granted by the features allows for a much greater variety of sounds from soft, dreamy pads to harsh percussion and other percussive sounds.
Beware, though, because it truly is procedural sound creation, potentially creating spikes when you line up the spring frequencies. I advice the use of a limiter to avoid possible heart-attacks or damage to equipment.
It also features a unique pitchbend implementation that allows only held down keys to be pitched, while sustained keys (via sustain pedal) won't be affected by it. Once a key is released, a pitch relax value controls how quickly it will return to the original pitch of the key. Once the bend key is struck again without any pitch bending, it will be tuned back to normal instantly.
Tip:
The probably most outlandish feature is the BODY or ONE SPRING TO RULE THEM ALL, which is kind of why I ended up calling it Lord of the Springs. This one spring sits underneath all springs and stimulates all of them by what ever sound they produce. It creates an almost plate reverb like effect, which can be modified in a variety of ways, including its own tuning, decay, diffusion and- what I call- "sharpness". On top of that it has its own phaser effect with a tremolo that can go stereo and can have its rate synced not just to BPM but to actual song position for a perfect lineup with a beat, if so desired. Subtle use of the phaser can create compelling room impressions as well, which is the original reason for why I implemented it to begin with. The BODY also features a blendable SOLO mode, again increasing the amount of sound creation possibilities somewhat substantially, though, mostly in the realm of special effects.
The entire GUI design is completely procedural without the use of any images, which allows the small file size, but also allows me to go crazy with weird ideas on the fly. If only I had more time to reduce the chaos, but...
I sincerely hope you will enjoy using it, while I had to rush to get it done in time for the challenge. Once voting is over and my hopes and dreams won't be smashed to pieces (haha), I will happily resume developing further versions. Come to think of it, even with shattered dreams I will continue, because it's tremendous fun for me.
Best of luck to everyone,
Taron.
License
This virtual instrument is free of charge. KVR is permitted to do with it as they please, of course. All other restrictions of commercial and copyrighted software apply.
Copyright 2016 by Timur "Taron" Baysal (www.taron.de)
Reviewed By elviecho [all]
November 11th, 2021
Version reviewed: 1 on Windows
It is really a nice synth, capable of interesting, sometimes very harsh sounds.
I've used it in a few tracks but no longer. Just for one reason, the GUI is one of the ugliest things I've seen in my hole life. Sorry.
Reviewed By BlackWinny [all]
January 1st, 2017
Version reviewed: 1.0.2 on Windows
Oh My God ! At last a true original synth ! A fabulous instrument to imagine a totally new genre of music.
The last demo "Lordofthesprings Demo02", much more of a Theremine, makes me think of the Vietnamese Dan Bau as you can hear it played by the famous virtuoso Pham Duc Thanh here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x1LkoG449Yc
or here in a rock style: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xAhUMkpY9_8
But the possibilities of Lord of the Springs go way beyond and let a huge freedom to create a totally new genre of music. Being a Franco-Chinese musician always looking for new paths mixing Asian music and occidental "new age" music with totally original modern sounds inspired by ethnic traditions (bowed strings, plucked strings, winds, bowls, mallets...) throughout the world, this new synth is now definitively one of y favorites. The only other one which is really excellent for that kind of totally new sounds inspired by acoustic instruments being for the moment Modelonia from NuSofting.
Lord of the Springs... Wonderful ! Definitively one of my favorites.
The GUI could be corrected to stay more "tranquil" and not disturbing the mind, but musically I give this instrument a rate of 10/10.
Read ReviewWow, these demos sound amazing.
Uh, comments, didn't even notice?
THANKS, Vospi! I've just added another little test, trying to do an OSC style track by making drums and all. I was worried about snare and hihat, but they worked out just fine, though I needed a highpass for the hihats.
Again, thanks! 8)
I still never got to test it, but I know this is my number one pick for now. I'm a sucker for "real/not real" type of sounds, like you can find in romplers or in physical modelling, and my music suggests it, so no surprise here :)
Awww, Cheers, mate, that's awesome! 8D.
I always, always, always loved the idea of physical modeling and did a number of little experiments over the years, but just recently started looking at VST development. Now that I'm gaining a handle on it, I will surely continue to explore possibilities. There's some real magic in this and I just can't let go! 8)
I love synths, for sure, but they so often tread in circles for some reason. I'd like to break free from that. We shall see! 8}.
Oh, and I really hope you'll enjoy testing around with it AND I can't wait to hear what you'll do with it, when you're ready to share some. 8D.
Ok, just to follow-up: I've tried, I'm really sure this scores 5 for me. ;)
To balance the review: It's a bit frustrating that I can't figure out all the possibilities just by tweaking the knobs (I'm pretty well with synths usually), probably because I'm looking for some kind of "groups" and can't figure them out (for example, knobs to sculpt tone length, knobs to sculpt harmonic content over time — the most crucial things); it's obvious that they're grouped by springs, but I think that "signal" routing is not obvious at all. Maybe elaborate on that a little bit for us geeks? Also, some stats in the left windows seem unreachable with knobs, at least at a first glance; I've tried to tweak them with the mouse but to no effect of course. Also, DefaultBank.fxb won't load in FL Studio 11 without me pointing at it; that's really unusual, plugins pretty much get to load their default banks all the time :)
Demo: I never do such stuff, but this time I felt like it; Lord of the Springs was used for "prog chords" and a bit of melodic riffs; threw some dressing on top of it. Not really a usual demo for a plugin, because there's a lot added and the timbre itself is processed (compressed and reverbed, at least), but still.
https://yadi.sk/d/n8nAgW3I33pDbk
I have a favourite japanese artist, goes by name Nekomata Master — he uses this kind of sound (mallet-like with inherent 5th) all the time :) With Lord of the Springs, I was able to do such patch in seconds.
Hey Vospi, I somehow don't get the option to reply to your larger post down there. I hope, this works...
THANK YOU, first of all! 8D.
The GUI is really in a temporary state and I vow to rework it when this is over. Currently, though, except for two extra parameter, you can access all others. Initially I wanted to actually make an illustration-based interface, which would make "the physics of it" a lot more clear, hehe. One main spring, which has a x- and y component, stimulating a second spring with the same set (x, y). You could then visually control their interaction, decay or dampening and diffusion.
I will also most certainly implement a proper preset management. Short on time a lot of things went out unpolished, but the core technology and experience got to have their introduction, I think. I'm super excited about where it will evolve to, for sure.
Thanks again for the feedback and I hope you will keep it coming as LotS keeps growing.
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cool, i like it but the max output volume is very weak compared to the average plugin.
also, the color cycling is kind of annoying. it would be better user selected and it stay that way.
Hey Layzer, danged, I'm sorry the colors annoy you. It was just a temporary thing, but I liked it, plus I learned to enjoy color coding instrument groups and thought it could work for that perfectly, too.
As for the volume, yeah, I was really worried, because line up the frequencies and you can get massive spikes. I need to write a little limiter, I'm afraid, but it was too late for the DC16. Will add it later, though. Good call.
I might make the color solution optional, though, I enjoy it.
I can't wait for a complete version of this, with the limiter and whatever else you have planned. This is a great (and unique) synth, and I already love using it.
Such a brilliant message, h, thanks a lot! I'm brewing on a number of additions that should rather dramatically increase the spectrum it can cover. I'm definitely excited.
Again, thank you very much.
You're welcome, and I can't wait.
very organic, can really sound like a steel drum with some settings.
Thanks, Arch, it's totally made for those, hehe! Well, it's kind of amazing, the amount of sounds you can squeeze out of LotS. After my little fix, the diffusion of Spring 2 boosted itself dramatically, also increasing the spectrum of sounds massively. But when DC is over, I will go at more experiments to see how far I can stretch some springs! 8)))
Cheers.
Please also label your knobs.
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Absolutely. It needs proper arrangement, it will also get fine tuning and mouse wheel support. I just ran out of time, but it also made the GUI really rather organic, hehe. I hope, I will manage to keep the good parts of that spirit! Good call, though.
Hi Taron, you are truly renaissance man! artist, programmer and musician, what else?
AH, you're here, too, master of the arts! I sure hope, you're a musician, too, it would absolutely fit the bill! 8)
...well, I do dabble in philosophy and cats and dogs seem to like me, too, hahaha! ;o)
Thanks, my friend, I'm happy to see you here.
Um, hi, hello again... :)
I really like theremin sounds!
Hope you will win.
I wouldn't say that i'm musician. I've got education in music school. I graduated trumpet and piano class, but that was years ago. Now i'm playing on jew's-harp and really enjoy it (and cannot say the same about my n-w).
It's fascinating that you're doing things that seem to be distant. But they are not, and it's cool.
c:!
Ahahaha, I'm likely one of the few people, who understand c:!, hahaha! Thanks! ;o)
Yep, got a jew's harp right in front of me above my monitor, hehe, along with a bunch of flutes and a Tibetan singing bowl. 8D.
As for things being "distant", well, at the end it's all connected, just that one has to be arrogant enough to keep looking up, even when having to focus on something in his hands, hehehe. My abstract goal has been to find out what I can do as a human being, sort of like studying myself as a proxy, so to say. I just keep revolving around art, but my eyes are still up, seeing what else might matter to what I can do. I'm pretty sure I won't stray far, though. ;o)
Oh My God ! At last a true original synth ! A fabulous instrument to imagine a totally new genre of music.
The last demo "Lordofthesprings Demo02", much more of a Theremine, makes me think of the vietnamese Dan Bau as you can hear it played by the famous virtuoso Pham Duc Thanh here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x1LkoG449Yc
or here in a rock style: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xAhUMkpY9_8
But the possibilities of Lotd of the Springs go way beyond and let a huge freedom to create a totally new genre of music. Being a Franco-Chinese musician always looking for new paths mixing Asian music and occidental "new age" music with totally original modern sounds inspired by ethnic traditions (bowed strings, plucked strings, winds, bowls, mallets...) throughout the world, this new synth is now definitively one of y favorites. The only other one which is really excellent for that kind of totally new sounds inspired by acoustic instruments being for the moment Modelonia from NuSofting.
Lord of the Springs... Wonderful ! Definitively one of my favorites.
More and more on board. :)
Happy New Year, BlackWinny! I can't thank you enough for your fantastic message, thank you countless times.
What makes me so incredibly happy about what you wrote, is that you really see what I felt and/or discovered during its development. There are aspects to its performance features that I can't remember ever having had under my fingers and I keep getting lost, playing with it, floating inside the music it makes me play, while likely looking frantic, when I bounce around keyboard, pitch bending, mod wheeling and playing the theremin like tuning sliders with my graphics tablet, hahaha.
One tiny tip before I upload the next version. In the current version the Spring 2 range dial for "low" is not all the way down by default. It's something I somehow forgot. If you turn it all the way down and high all the way up, spring 2 also tunes perfectly, just in case someone was a bit thrown off by that. But in the next version many things will be different, better sorted out and with additional options for the sound shaping and more.
Anyway, thank you so very much for your highly motivating and encouraging feedback! If you ever have some song or experiment you wouldn't mind sharing, I'd love to hear it, too.
Again, all the Best for 2017 and I'll have a new version soon.
Ah, I almost forgot, I was too excited already. I really enjoy Modelonia, too, aside from other excellent, inventive and very inspiring vsts from NuSofting like Sinnah, too! It's an honor for me to have LotS mentioned in the same context. Thank you for that, too! 8)
Yes its a fantastic sounding and versatile instrument...and all for free! It is a bit comparable with the AAS Chromaphone 2 which costs 100,00 $ (of course Chromaphone 2 has much more options for sound sculpting). What Taron is giving away for free is simply amazing.
Taron:
any news for further Updates? I would like to see a version with more modulation options and I am willing to pay for it :)
Best wishes.
AH, thank you very much! I am planning to create a commercial version of it, particularly adding more modulation options. What holds me back is that I still need to figure out how to do compiles for the remaining platforms (mac and AU). Once I have those down, I can't wait to take LotS to the next level. I have a number of exciting ideas for it, that's for sure. 8)
Messages like yours give me a great boost. Thanks, again, for that.
Hello Taron, .
If a future commercial version could make beautiful long evolving pads and with a kind of morphing from the beginning to the end of the pads (perhaps it may be a new idea for your mind), you can already consider me definitely as a purchaser.
Cheers
Jacques.
Oh, fantastic, thank you very much, Jacques! Yes, I was planning on working out the "bowing" section, to allow for a number of very novel effects, especially allowing for complex pads! 8D.
We shall see! 8)
Ha ha ! One might put it down to the old saying: Great minds think alike.
Fantastic plugin ! Just released a track using 8 instances of it at the same time without any probs. Endless possibilities.
An essential plugin for every composer.
Hi Taron, it's been long ago. Are you still planning on new features for this wonderful plugin or even a new plugin for some nice day? Would be amazing news. Hope you're fine. Stay safe and sound. Cheers.
Thanks, you're making me pretty happy! ☺.
Yes, one of these days I will post an update, because there were a bunch of ideas I still wanted to put in, but I need to try and go commercial at some point, if I still can... as much as I really prefer to just give it all away, but life has changed. I hope, people will still want and enjoy it then!?
But it will be some time until I get to it. It's still in my heart and on my mind, though.
Thanks again.
Hi Taron, .
I am excited that you are still so passionate with the classy plugin. I would love to spent money for an update version. I hope you're safe and sound and you can enjoy the things you're heart is beating for. Cheers.
Thanks, my friend, that's really great to hear and very encouraging.
"The only thing to fear, is fear itself"...remember that quote? Few people understood the true depth of that, but I'd rather say:"Believe those, who wish you to create!". Don't be afraid!;o) We are creators, we come here to make life come together.
Good morning my friend. You're philosophical today. Rainer Werner Fassbinder made a whine movie about fear with Angst essen Seele auf (Fear Of The Fear). Yeah, at least our gathering and sharing here is one occurrence of our current existence. Saying so I wish for you never to get disencouraged and always feeling the joy of being creative and sharing. Maybe not believing, what means to be focused on something from the outside, but just doing the things. Bringing the inside things to the outside without fear. Cheers.
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