Synths and Synths and Synths

[Acsii]

Well basically the midi in your DAW is converted into a frequency for the soft synth to create with it's OSCs after this the signal undergoes modulation, filters, ADSR, then the signal is sent to your audio out bus for that channel. This is quite a basic description but it's all you really need unless you're programming midi or making soft synths

[simonli2575]

What about hardware synths (I should have specified that)?

[Acsii]

Like how would you connect it up to the DAW?

[the4thImpulse]

What about hardware synths (I should have specified that)?

Much like software does, except with a bunch more physical wires and actions on your part. Your DAW sends midi out of the computer to the synth (through a hardware midi interface rather internally to a software synth), your synth reads it and then you have your computer record the audio through an audio interface.

[Acsii]

I give you the PSD Droner. :3 I'll be building this synth soon and will post a video/song of it once finished.
Mod edit (page stretching): http://i.imgur.com/WNSUT3y.png

[Acsii]

Just purchased 800 resistors, 300 capacitors, and got some diodes given to by a friend who somehow got a reel of 10,000

[Facade]

woah nice!

so what is that diagram for?

[Acsii]

The drone synth I'm making

[Acsii]

Make that 900 Resistors

[Acsii]

And now 10 NAND chips

[Acsii]

I posted a thread for my DIY synths so I don't fill this thread up with them viewtopic.php?f=21&t=8372

[Facade]

i wish i knew how to read diagrams sadly i would need a reason to first but i dont even have that yet lol

[Acsii]

So now there's a big red line through the Bass Station 2 because it doesn't have CV out

[the4thImpulse]

So now there's a big red line through the Bass Station 2 because it doesn't have CV out

Little phatty has cv in's, it's also possible to get outs if you buy the moog from their moog store and order a cv out mod.

Minibrute has cv in and out (pitch, gate, filter, and amp)

[ChocolateChicken]

So I've been using Sylenth a lot more after HMage pointed out some interesting facts about the synth and I definitely see more regular uses for it, including supersaws, pads, plucks, and some leads. I think Sylenth is especially superior for anything that requires multiple voices, seeing as each oscillator has its own voicing and the synth itself is very cpu friendly. However, I still believe Massive or FM8 is the way to go for any unconventional or particularly complex sounds, such as wobbles, screaming basses, growls, atmospheric effects, and leads in many cases; sometimes plain filters and ordinary waveforms like saws and squares just don't cut it.

[HMage]

So I've been using Sylenth a lot more after HMage pointed out some interesting facts about the synth and I definitely see more regular uses for it, including supersaws, pads, plucks, and some leads. I think Sylenth is especially superior for anything that requires multiple voices, seeing as each oscillator has its own voicing and the synth itself is very cpu friendly. However, I still believe Massive or FM8 is the way to go for any unconventional or particularly complex sounds, such as wobbles, screaming basses, growls, atmospheric effects, and leads in many cases; sometimes plain filters and ordinary waveforms like saws and squares just don't cut it.

You'd be surprised how scary complex Sylenth can sound.

Here's an example -- http://www.freshlysqueezedsamples.com/u ... 848CD4.mp3 -- except drums everything is sylenth there and undressed. I have this soundbank and can confirm these are the sounds dry.

[Facade]

^ yup

sylenth is like my go to synth for leads, sometimes plucks and sometimes pads

[GCKrastin]

Can I just go ahead and make a quick interjection here and say that Harmor is the best thing ever?


whoops pagestrech a little
Like seriously this thing can do anything. (Additive synthesis ftw)

That being said if you stuck any other additive synth in my hands I probably wouldn't be able to do squat with it because Harmor has a subtractive-style GUI, which makes it super easy to use.
It can do image resynthesis which means not only can you resample sounds easily, but you can use it to convert an actual image file into additive harmonics.
It has this thing called "harmonic unison pitch thickness" which allows you to change the amount of unison applied to each individual harmonic.
It has built-in effects like chorus, distortion, multiband compression, reverb, and delay. (And the distortion is really cool)
I use it for basses, leads, pads, FX, everything.
Literally the only thing it can't do is FM, but for that we have Sytrus/FM8.

[Symphon]

Krastin knows what's up.

Quick heads up to anyone that buys their digital synths: Guitar Center is currently selling a very wide selection of digital synths for just $30. I got Drumazon just the other day, and it's definitely worth it. But yeah, just need everyone to know that since you can save, like, $150 or more. Sick deal.

[Alycs]

@Krastin: I know, I bought FL Studio 11 recently and was really confused with all the synths except 3xOsc and Sytrus, and then I read the manual for Harmor and watched some tutorials and holy cow can that thing do cool shit.

Also, thanks for the head up Symphon

[Captain Ironhelm]

. . .
Literally the only thing it can't do is FM, but for that we have Sytrus/FM8.

I don't understand the point of FM if you've got talent in subtractive, with which you can get nearly the same sounds perhaps with a little effort. Could someone enlighten me to why many find FM attractive?

[Alycs]

Really the thing I find FM really useful for is for making self-morphing pads. Seeing as with FM synthesis everything can be self/inner-modulated, if you use it correctly you can create just about any soundscape you please without the use of automation or extra effects.

It also takes less time than subtractive synthesis (at least it does for me)

[ChocolateChicken]

The appeal of FM synthesis mostly comes from the fact that the results always sound ALOT different than other means of synthesis. The harmonics that can be generated are very unpredictable. It's it pretty hard to nail a lot of the sounds FM can make with subtractive synthesizers.

Another perk of FM synthesis is that it is the best tool available for emulating real instruments - anything from drums, pianos, strings, and basses can be emulated with proper FM synthesis. I worked with a really good FM synthesizer in Pro Tools before that had every single instrument nailed down perfectly. I was very impressed.

[Mr. Bigglesworth]

I did a crappy phone recording of a patch on my Minibrute.

https://soundcloud.com/testsubject72/minibrute-demo-crappy

[Acsii]

woo