Voting thread
https://www.thefretboard.co.uk/discussion/184704/voting-for-softsynth-challenge-1?new=1I often don't get a chance to really learn a certain sound library or softsynth before I get distracted and move onto something else. This is the unfortunate result of option overload, i.e. having too much software. So I've set myself the challenge over the next 3 weeks to work with one synth, and one synth only to compose the majority of my music. This month's candidate is the CMI V, Arturia's simulation of the CMI Fairchild.
https://i.postimg.cc/QCX4jX9X/cmi-v-image.pngYour challenge, should you choose to accept: choose one softsynth or sound library. You don't have to stick to just that instrument, but it should form the core sound of your song. Explore every function, and automate the parameters in a musical way. Ideally choose something quite complex (incidentally the CMI seems quite straightforward but i'm going to challenge myself further with Zebra next month.)
Even if what you produce is shite it doesn't matter - just get to know how it all works. Then on the 1st July, post one of your tracks to this thread.
Comments
During lockdown I've been going through Groove 3 synth tutorials including Synths Explained, NI Monark (analogue) , NI FM8 (FM) , uhe Diva (analogue), NI Razor (additive), plus a couple of Massive X tutorials.
I've come to the come to the conclusion that Massive X can do anything that other analogue and FM synths can do plus some additive sounds , apart from some of the NI Razor additive and vocoder stuff. Although Massive X is billed as Wavetable, it's even more powerful than Diva (analogue) and FM8 for FM (well strictly PM) synthesis.
In addition to a couple of Groove 3 Massive X tutorials, I also had to go through the Groove 3 FM8 tutorial on FM (strictly PM) synthesis, then translate that to the PM aspects of Massive X. Massive X has actually got more oscillator/operators than FM8.
I'm broadly OK with the analogue and PM aspects of Massive X, but the Wavetable mode settings are still something of a mystery and more trial and error for me. When I was going through the Uhe Diva tutorial I discovered the oscillator sync sound and it took a bit of googling to find out how to do it in Massive X, until I discovered it was in one of the Wavetable settings.
I can put entries up on SoundCloud btw.
I've almost used only Omnisphere 2 and nothing else. I'll try to get a track sorted. Got something half done already. Are drums and guitar and bass allowed though?
Fairlight CM1 - last year at Synthfest, I went to a seminar on the CM1. It was fascinating. The guy who did it was a Fairlight nut, really well informed, and he had Steve Levine as a guest. That was so interesting, he had some amazing stories, especially talking about production wars with Trevor Horn in the 80s, battling the Fairlight vs the Synclavier. They were so massively expensive.
And he had a Fairlight on the stage - it seemed so old fashioned! Very nostalgic hearing these iconic patches being played. Stuff from so many big hits from ages ago.
@Snap it's a fascinating bit of gear - I have been tempted many times to buy an original off ebay but I feel it's not worth it due to maintenance costs - there aren't many people in the world who specialise in CMI maintenance. The first version cost 18 grand... same as what it cost to buy a house during that time!
regarding guitar and bass - sure you could incorporate those so long as Omnisphere forms the core basis of the track
I can recommend these two tutorials for Massive X.
Then I'll upload them to theFretboard soundcloud account and post a playlist.
I’ll send you a wav rather than an MP3 as that’s twice they’re being compressed - by the MP3 export + soundcloud servers! As someone who’s a novice mixer I could do with all the help I can get in getting a decent sounding track and I find uploading MP3s just turns everything to shit
I wouldn't fancy buying one these days, I think it would be pretty full on keeping one going and you'd have to be really into it. Quite a temperamental bit of kit. And bulky.
In the meantime here's my entry in the playlist below. I'll add the other entries as they arrive.
https://soundcloud.com/thefretboard/sets/synth-challenge-1
I'll get back to you on the CPU usage tomorrow as I'm not on my music computer, which I've shut down for the night.
It's all Massive X including the drums and all the FX. The only other VST I used was Voxengo Elephant as a master limiter. Plus there was a bit of automation (just panning) in Reaper.
I'm not sure that it is compared to other synths.
The CPU usage is obviously dependent the synth patch and the computer. The following figures are taken from the Reaper Performance Meter.
I did a crude comparison with u-he Diva set to 'divine' accuracy (i.e. the highest CPU load). For Diva and Massive X, I used three Saw oscillators, a polyphony of 16 and a stack of 6 voices. The CPU load of both synths was about 2.5% on my computer.