Soft Synth Recomendations

[Rabbit]

I know it's been a while - but I just came across some really fun VSTi that are free and are really fun to play with. If you are in to Vintage clone-style VSTi's, get these!

Go here: www.elektrostudio.ovh.org and download the free 10-pak.

These are 'vintage' style synths that really seem to have some character to them. I've been having a blast with the rythm box VSTi - 'Rythmus'...if you ever heard early Jean Michael Jarre's work on Oxygene and Equinox - sounds like the percussion machine used on those albums. The 'hidden' (behind the panel) features allow you change the tuning, panning and such of the different components. He also has a Mellotron simulation - 'Tapeotronic' which is really cool.

I've been running these in SAC 2.0 - and I would think that they would have no issues in SawStudio either. (I was going to ad these to the VST list that was going - couldn't find it though...)

Oh - one other thing - most of these have a panel or door that can open to allow you to set midi channel, etc. Tapeotronic allows you to change the bias which affects the sound....

Enjoy!

Thanks Dave. This looks pretty cool; a nice Polish company too apparently.

I'm new to soft synths and did get the Wusik Station under the group buy but just haven't had the time to play with it beyond getting it installed.

[DaveS]

I used to have a lot of hardware synths (still have an ARP 2600 sitting on the work bench...needs a bit of work on it now...) but over the years have sold off most of them and replaced them with software counterparts. You do still need a controller keyboard unless you plan on sequencing everything (I kept two of my keyboards just for this reason...a Kurzweil K2000 and a Roland XP80)

Yes it's true that a software minimoog will not sound as good as the real thing - but if you have a good sound card and monitoring system - they will sound really close. And, I don't have to worry about repairs, tuning, etc... Plus, with the right hosting software you can have mulitple instances of the the soft-synth. Can't do that with hardware wihtout a major investment.

Most people will just be interested in what I call the bread-and-butter instruments - pianos, organs, string machines perhaps. There are a lot of good ones out there both in the commercial market and to a lesser extent in the free market. When you start looking for more synth style VSTi's, the market really starts to expand - both in free and commercial product. Also, a lot of the Freebies sound as good if not better then some commercial instruments. Native Instruments just had a major blowout sale on Komplete 5 - for $400 I would think it would qualify as one of the best commercial VSTi investments around if you can still find it. The Akoustic Piano in it is really top notch as is their B3 organ simulation. The rest of the synths and such just add to the value. Native Instruments however is officially out of stock with Komplete 5 (I guess Komplete 6 is coming out soon) however local stores may still have stock.

So, if I could pick one package for general use, which one? Commercially it would have been Komplete 5. For the best value though (i.e. FREE), I would probably lean towards the Proteus VX package. It's a bit of a resource hog - BUT it has all kinds of instruments in it - pianos, organs, synths, drums, etc. They are not neccessarily the best ones out there - but for FREE - they do quite well. Emu want's you to upgrade to their Pro version which is a commercial product...it might also be something worth considering though I have not used it. It has certain features (GM mode for instance) that the free version doesn't have.

So, when you are working on that new song and think 'hmm - sure would be nice if there was an organ or string pad in the background' you can fire up one of the VSTi's and you will have it. And remember - they are not just for the studio -many people are using them in live performances...

[Tim Miskimon]

I don't know anything about this stuff, though it is something I'd like to explore.

Doesn't Yellow Tools Independence have a free version? And in terms of Proteus, back when I did use MIDI instruments, the Proteus modules were my favorites. If their software is anything like their modules, I'd be happy with them.

Where does one start? With a bigger, more full-featured product, or one of the smaller, simpler options? In some circumstances, bigger software packages are easier to use than smaller ones, other times the sheer weight of the features makes them incomprehensible to the novice.

Bill,
The free Proteus would be a good place to start. It's easy to install. It's pretty straight forward to use and it sounds really good.
I have a lot of nice VSTI's but I was really impressed with how nice this one sounds. http://www.emu.com/welcome.asp
Have fun!

[Dave Labrecque]

I don't know anything about this stuff, though it is something I'd like to explore.

Doesn't Yellow Tools Independence have a free version? And in terms of Proteus, back when I did use MIDI instruments, the Proteus modules were my favorites. If their software is anything like their modules, I'd be happy with them.

Where does one start? With a bigger, more full-featured product, or one of the smaller, simpler options? In some circumstances, bigger software packages are easier to use than smaller ones, other times the sheer weight of the features makes them incomprehensible to the novice.

Bill -- yes, google "independence free". I have it, but haven't tried it yet. Someone else here said it was a bit buggy. I dunno.

[txshonk]

Bill -- yes, google "independence free". I have it, but haven't tried it yet. Someone else here said it was a bit buggy. I dunno.

I got it in and up and running - for free I cant complain.

I eventually ended up finding some good deals and am running other VSTis. So I didnt even keep it installed.

Since I startred this thread I guess I should chare where I landed:

IK Multimedia - Sample Tank. Philharmonik Miroslav, and Sonik Synth 2 - GC had the old version of the Workstation bundle for $99. This got me all these current synths with updates. FYI IK stuff acts funny in SAW when u try to have 2 of the same plugs active (settings dont save with the edl). Strings were a diaappointment in my Motif so I am loving Miroslav.

Toontrack - Super Drummer 2.0 - GC knocked $50 off - so I paid $249 - only complaint here is lacking percussion - GC and toontracks have a special this month where etxra sample/expansion libraries are only $45 - so I figure Ill be adding the Latin Percussion Module.

Spectrasonics - Trilogy - GC knocked $50 off - so I paid $229 - Stiricly a Bass synth an I love it - cant wait to the for the October successors release, Tillian. It has a free upgrade for those who bought Tilogy in 2009.

Native Instruments Bundle - Komplete 5 - took advantage of last months $399 special with a 10% coupon from GC - so $360

Thats more then I wanted to spend - but I am more then satisfied (still havent gotten to play with everything in depth) - but I got rid of my old Yamaha Motif Rack

Now I just need more RAM - my 2GB is defintely taxed.

Dave

[Bill Park]

Re:Toontracks... what bull. I bought EZDrummer a year ago or so, installed it, registered it, checked that it worked,and then never used it.

A couple of weeks ago I attempted to use it, and got an error message "this software not registered to work on this machine". I have not changed the computer, but to update Sequoia, The Sequoia dongle, SAWStudio, RMEs DigiCheck, and the software for the DVD burner.

So I go to Toontrack to see what the problem might be, re-register to generate a new number (and there are a limited number of these that you can perform before you loose the use of the software...), insert the number, and IT does not work either.

Go to their support site? HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!! it is a total pain in the A@#. NO HELP. Left a message. NO RESPONSE. Sent to a paid support site.... if I want help with their fu$kup, -I- have to pay? JUst to have it decide to crap on me again later, whenever it feels like it? No thanks. Word to the wise..... yeah, the Tooktracks stuff sounds nice, but if they sh!t on me, they'll eventually sh!t on you.

[txshonk]

yeah, the Tooktracks stuff sounds nice, but if they sh!t on me, they'll eventually sh!t on you.

Bill - I can hear the frustration in your post - Superior loaded and works fine for me. So I'll keep my fingers crossed that it continues to, because I have really grown to like it.

Only complaint I can really make is not be able to use their EZPlayer plug to drop and drag their mid tracks to would send the Midi feed into SD 2.0 doesnt work as you cant put a plug on a midi track in MWS nor can you have a Plug Send a Midi out from the Multi Track. But thats a SAW limitation that I live with by creating a Midi file to blend into the track and then cut and pasting while I sample the midi samples.

[DominicPerry]

Same here with EZDrummer and EZPlayer - endless problems with activation, a website with bad attitude - I no longer use it.
My present approach is to use Battery3's samples in SAW libraries and build stuff in the MT.

Dominic

[John Ludlow]

You have to wonder what these software companies are thinking. I know that developers primarily want to create the stuff and, after the new wears off selling it and talking to customers for awhile, lose interest in those parts of the business (our Bob is a freak). But - that's where sales, marketing, and support are supposed to come in. Software businesses are usually deliberately not staffed and run by developers. If you don't please your customers - they won't come back and they'll tell others. The easiest way to screw that dynamic up with musicians is not letting them play the instruments they bought from you.