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Free VSTs I like/Use Occasionally: Camelcrusher: http://www.camelaudio.com/camelcrusher.php Distortion plugin, very versatile, big sound but limited options. Fairly light on CPU. Chip32: http://www.kvraudio.com/product/229 8-Bit Synth - for vintage video game sounds. I can't work the damned thing but some people swear by it. Definitely worth a look. LiveCut: mdsp.smartelectronix.com/livecut/ Stutter/Glitch effects. Hard to use, but can lead to interesting results. Fairly unpredictable, but that might be the idea. Native Instruments Free Players: http://www.native-instruments.com/#/en/products/?category=1339 Reaktor/Kontakt have free versions (and some ensembles [instruments, basically]) for free on their site. You definitely want these. TAL Audio Synths: http://kunz.corrupt.ch/products Some are paid, but there's a few synths available on their site for free. Apparently popular amongst techno & acid producers. All of these have mac versions! Neat!
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Jan 13, 2012 11:20
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Paid VSTs I Use A Lot LFO Tool: http://xferrecords.com/products/lfo-tool Filter/LFO tool. Good for trancegates, sidechain eq, risers/faders etc. Very flexible and easy to automate. Probably worth it if you find yourself making electro/house etc. NI Massive http://www.native-instruments.com/#/en/products/producer/massive/ I probably don't need to write up on this. It's (subjectively) the best soft synth available. I feel that if I had no other synths, I'd still do OK, because MASSIVE is that flexible. There's very little it can't do. Completely 100% worth the money (particularly for electronic artists. this makes dubstep, basically). NI RAZOR: http://www.native-instruments.com/en/products/producer/powered-by-reaktor/razor/ Technically not a VST! Runs in the REAKTOR player. It synthesizes sounds by blasting some 300 oscilaltors (as opposed to other synths <4) into some 'filters' which shape the sound and make a very cool visualization. Good interface as well. Animated dials are very cool. Worth it? For 80 bucks, probably. MASSIVE is more flexible, but this is a good companion. If this video : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gbuZVcw3ZiM touches you in a deep place, get it. Silverline Series Effects: http://d16.pl/index.php?menu=212 These are very cool. They emulate old-timey rackmounted effect units. I don't know too much about these effects (there's six in total) but they work pretty much as you'd expect and sound great. A good amount of presets (for example, Decimort, their bitcrusher includes a good-sounding MPC preset as well as Acid settings and some really crunched 90's video game settings.) They also play nice with directlink for Live users. Worth it: If you can get in on a group buy, like I did (40~ bucks for all six) definitely worth it. Novation Bass Station: http://uk.novationmusic.com/products/software/bass_station/ This thing is pretty OK. Came with my Launchpad on a disk. Wasn't sure about it, but it comes with a few good, fairly natural sounding patches. It's quite easy to program, but I think most people would just use it as a fake moog and go do all their work in something more flexible like MASSIVE. Worth it: if it's included, install it. Otherwise, meh.
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Jan 27, 2012 11:57
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I use Ableton, what's the best bet for getting a really simple waveshaper, like the one SeamlessR uses in FL Studio?
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Feb 6, 2016 03:39
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Have we ever talked about DDLY? I got it for free in february and it is ridiculously fun to use. https://www.izotope.com/en/products/create-and-design/ddly-dynamic-delay.html You can basically slap it on to any track and automate one or two parameters and you're in full-on delay madness mode. More than anything I've used, it's an 'instant interesting' button. It's also possible to use with some restraint, if you're a total coward.
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Jul 2, 2016 08:13
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how does one actually use Absynth? I have it installed but it's pretty much indecipherable as my 'Decoding WinAmp 2 Skins' skills have atrophied.
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Nov 16, 2016 14:40
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FM or Wavetable, usually using Operator or Serum/Massive. Absynth just feels like a weirdo early 2000s relic, but I'm aware it can do some cool stuff.
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Nov 26, 2016 19:49
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I got the Waves Gold bundle about 2 years ago and have only recently reinstalled it - their service centre isn't amazing - and have been pretty satisfied. Having access to C1, L1 and Vitamin is probably worth the $200 alone.
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Nov 28, 2016 13:58
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Yeah agreed that this sounds like a task for Reaktor. Seeing as you don't know what exactly you want to make, you should experiment in Reaktor and when you know what you want to make into a real plugin, get into the AU/VST side of things. MUCH easier said than done, of course, but it's kind of what Reaktor is for. I mean, really, you could probably just leave it in Reaktor. Lots of good stuff on that platform.
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Nov 30, 2016 10:34
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Splinter posted:I believe some of the synths NI sells are just skinned Reaktor patches, so you can definitely go a long way with Reaktor (or Max). Razor & The Finger aren't even reskinned, they just run in Reaktor ala Kontakt libraries. You install Reaktor Player with them. Can't be mad, Reaktor is powerful as gently caress and I'd have it installed either way. Rupert Buttermilk posted:Oooh, I just learned of NI's Form, which is what I've sort of been looking for (a sample-based synth that's not Alchemy, because I don't have Logic X.... yet). Anyone use it? I haven't but if you're in Ableton look into getting the Max4Live Granulator, it's not exactly what you're after but still provides lots of soundfuckery.
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Dec 1, 2016 11:01
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I'm actually super jealous of Harmor, but I'm in Ableton on Mac OS. Is there a valid alternative, or any chance they'd port it over?
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Dec 2, 2016 13:42
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that looks fun as hell ... interesting you can load your own VST into it. I'll mess around with it and report back. report : it crashed upon opening well why not fucked around with this message at 18:55 on Dec 13, 2016 |
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Dec 13, 2016 18:03
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Just had a play with it, it's super fun. even basic sweeps sound more interesting than a stock plug. Pretty good emulation of analog ''''fatness''' to my ear
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Dec 23, 2016 21:42
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Rupert Buttermilk posted:This sounds like a really great deal, and got me to take a serious look at Serum. Wow! Any goon reviews of it? I've used SERUM as my main synth since basically the minute I got it. There's a clear comparison to be made to MASSIVE, but the things MASSIVE does better are pretty rare. Modulation is faster and easier in SERUM, there's more options over all and the UI is extremely data-dense and well thought out. There's a clear difference between Synth and FX pages but it totally works out. Older versions didn't really have a preset browser, but now they've added it in and it's world-class. I use it for really basic sounds because it's so much easier to use than most synths. Soundwise, it can make a lot of variety. There's people using it to make very convincing snares, kicks etc. It can do the gnarliest dubstep sounds, really lush chords, arps, sequences, 8bit stuff, anything. Limitless. The sequencer / LFO hybrids are the next evolution for soft synths and make everything else look archaic. There's dozens of free banks of wavetables available, and you can make your own pretty easily. Once a wavetable is loaded there's dozens of ways to affect it via automation, keytracking, envelopes or the LFOs. You can map almost anything, it's amazing. The FX module (available as a free plugin for owners) is comparable to NI stuff that'd cost hundreds. It can use a lot of CPU (particularly when using a lot of voices) but nothing too over the top. This thing can do everything and it's the best synth you can buy for the money, bar none. I'd recommend it over MASSIVE any day of the week. It's #1 and makes everything else look 10 years old.
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Jan 30, 2017 11:31
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SERUM does use much CPU and I find it easier to modulate pitch in MASSIVE - SERUM is fiddly in this aspect. MASSIVE even comes with a Vibrato option out of the box. The intention behind MASSIVE is that it's not a precise tool - there's minimal numbers anywhere, it's all about spinning dials and seeing what you get. SERUM is more focussed.
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Jan 30, 2017 17:05
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Steve is super cool. He's known for responding to emails, reddit posts, tweets etc and just being super gracious. He'll probably show up in this thread with like, a 2001 reg date and answer some fringe technical questions without making a fuss.
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Feb 2, 2017 12:57
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Your Computer posted:After spending a bunch of time playing around with the demo I decided to go for the rent-to-own on Serum. Thread please, I have more synths than money I didn't need this.. but I needed this! Cymatics youtube page has a bit more variety : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-HU3Ec2qho4&t=929s most are gonna be bass though. What would a VST be without 100k wobble bass tutorial vids?
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Feb 3, 2017 15:18
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This thing is cool :  $9 is a steal. I think the one I (apparently) got in Komplete is a bit fuller-featured, however.
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Feb 20, 2017 11:16
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I bought it on sale, for Grandeur and a couple other bigger-ticket things. There's stuff like compressors, supercharger and transient stuff just hanging out on my computer, it's pretty fun to discover.
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Feb 21, 2017 11:04
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I really like izotope DDLY but it's pretty hard to wrangle
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Feb 21, 2017 18:18
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NonzeroCircle posted:It would benefit from having a handful presets I feel, some jumping off points. The GUI is a bit of an eyesore too. I won't bitch too much cos it was free but I don't find myself reaching for it as often as I would if it was a bit easier on the eyes to figure out what's going on- even a palette swap would help. You're 100% right, but honestly I kinda love how lovely and busted it looks. When I think 'time to gently caress this sound up!' izotope is the brand I reach for. Presets would be great but most of the time I use it just by spinning the wheels wildly and seeing what happens.
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Feb 22, 2017 11:10
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=89EeLeSWo5E can someone do the same as with Sausage Fattener and just make an Ableton rack which does exactly the same thing for free?
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May 16, 2017 11:33
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Their entire youtube channel is a good time. You'd think two bald swedish dudes talking about music production while seemingly never blinking would be boring but it's really just a fun channel to check out every now and then.
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May 17, 2017 10:04
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the big 'secret' of Musician's Lounge is that we're all terminally fiscally irresponsible
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Jun 2, 2017 13:07
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Serum 1.2 is dropping today and apparently it's the resizable UI version. Also has some CPU usage improvements under-the-hood.
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Jun 14, 2017 11:17
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resizable UI is the best thing that Steve coulda added. It's like a whole new synth. I use a 4k monitor and not having to squint to read the tiny numbers is a real pleasure.
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Jun 15, 2017 09:18
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Rupert Buttermilk posted:For people on regular displays, will this really affect us? Also, is there a full changelog somewhere? Probably less so, but it's nice as an option. really depends on screen size and position. if you sit way back it'd be good to scale it up.
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Jun 15, 2017 12:27
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Trig Discipline posted:Is this a free update for those of us using Slice? Every time I try to update I get "download failed". https://www.xferrecords.com/forums/general/splice-rent-to-own Best thing to do in these cases is to check xfer's forum. Steve is very active and candid on there so there's usually some info on what's going on.
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Jun 16, 2017 08:45
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https://twitter.com/unofficialreach/status/893241230729019392
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Aug 4, 2017 11:08
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https://twitter.com/OfficialEntity/status/893330608293896192
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Aug 4, 2017 16:06
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someone use this NI voucher for a chunk off : PF93A62K
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Nov 22, 2017 11:06
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The problem i have with NI stuff, and most VSTs is that i just want everything to work more like Serum.
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Nov 29, 2017 12:17
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DreadCthulhu posted:Anything worth using from the NI Komplete Start? blocks base is fun, supercharger is cool and guitar rig is always handy. it really, truly depends on what you have already. the price is right.
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Jun 3, 2020 12:09
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i wanted one or two things from NI and was able to get an upgrade to Komplete 12 for the same price. feels very good
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Jun 10, 2020 06:30
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Ruffian Price posted:
this is also super true for REAKTOR - the user library is stocked full of emulated retro synths, weird experiments and combinations of the two
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Jun 16, 2020 05:23
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MASSIVE X sucks, right? It sounds good but that interface sucks and it's slow even on a powerful machine.
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Jun 30, 2020 01:51
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Once or twice a year, usually the end and middle of the year. Unfortunate timing on your part, sorry to say.
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Jul 23, 2020 07:55
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| # ¿ Apr 29, 2024 13:07 |
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In Ableton I'd just use a gate sidechained to an instance of operator doing blips (with the track output off). That way you get all the attack, hold, release, floor settings natively in the DAW, no wonky winamp skin plugin windows.
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Jul 28, 2020 00:22
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