The REV2 is a deep and VERY capable synth

[Razmo]

http://razmo.ziphoid.com/PlanetRings.mp3

New program: "Planet Rings"

This one was an imitation of a program I once had on a Waldorf Microwave synth... trying to simulate it as much as possible... I always imagined deep space when I listened to that sound, so that's the reason for the name here.

Just REV2... nothing else.

Another good one Razmo. Love that the patch-bank is going in an ambient direction.

Thanks ... well, the ambient approach was the whole idea to begin with because i need those sounds myself ... my newly purchased Tempest will also be my focus for a more ambient style kind of soundbank ... I might be trying out some Tribal Ambient in the future, so I'll need some percussion of sorts...

[eagleman]

Thanks ... well, the ambient approach was the whole idea to begin with because i need those sounds myself ... my newly purchased Tempest will also be my focus for a more ambient style kind of soundbank ... I might be trying out some Tribal Ambient in the future, so I'll need some percussion of sorts...

Tribal Ambient is a great idea.

[Razmo]

This one is not yet finished, but I'm already rather impressed with it... I think this is the closest I've heard a bowed instrument synthesized on an analog synth... it's 100% REV2 and funnily enough, it was an older preset i simply changed the attack and release times on, and unexpetedly this bowed sound came forth... it's originally the preset i called "Golden Dragon" and was a simulation of a koto like plucked string... so I'm going to go thru all of my recent plucked string instruments now and see how many new bowed sounds i can get...

this sound is just so extremely organic and VERY dynamic to play with... i did a few changes like making the attack speed up the harder you hit the keys to simulate faster playing of a bowed instrument and it worked absolutely amazing... pressure and footpedal assigned to introduce vibrato and you got one hell of an expressive sound here

http://razmo.ziphoid.com/SilverDragon.mp3

I'm not sure about the name "Silver Dragon" yet, it's just a temporary name.

I can also see now, that with all those plucked string sounds i already have that sound different, I'll probably have to include a new sound category; Bowed Instruments

[maxter]

Wow, that was REALLY amazing, you've reached yet another dimension on the Rev2! I'm very much impressed with everything you've done previously as well, but this one is just beyond anything I've ever heard from an analog synth. Is it a stacked program, or only a single patch? I think this could be one of few instances where patches on an 8-voice Rev2 could be advantageous, as the note stealing could potentially simulate the authenticity of having a 4-stringed instrument.

[Razmo]

Wow, that was REALLY amazing, you've reached yet another dimension on the Rev2! I'm very much impressed with everything you've done previously as well, but this one is just beyond anything I've ever heard from an analog synth. Is it a stacked program, or only a single patch? I think this could be one of few instances where patches on an 8-voice Rev2 could be advantageous, as the note stealing could potentially simulate the authenticity of having a 4-stringed instrument.

It's just a single layer ... But I have plans on trying to create a monophonic version too that could utilize portamento to maybe make it even more expressive... On a normal bowed instrument you can play only one string at a time anyway... I just chose this one to be polyphonic so you could play a little ensemble if you wanted

[Razmo]

The demo above "Silver Dragon" has been updated... i did quite some changes to the program

[maxter]

It's just a single layer ... But I have plans on trying to create a monophonic version too that could utilize portamento to maybe make it even more expressive... On a normal bowed instrument you can play only one string at a time anyway... I just chose this one to be polyphonic so you could play a little ensemble if you wanted

"Normal" bowed instruments, yes. This made me think of an instrument I really enjoyed playing a couple of years ago, the Psaltery, which produces a slightly haunting, ambient sound. I used to sample it as well, to be able to play chords and such. But either way the instrument has such a long sustain/release, that even if just using a single bow, the notes linger some time after release, so that each note and their various harmonics blend together nicely. As you seem to know how to simulate the bowing of strings well on the Rev2, the Psaltery may be interesting for further patch inspiration, perhaps?

[Razmo]

It's just a single layer ... But I have plans on trying to create a monophonic version too that could utilize portamento to maybe make it even more expressive... On a normal bowed instrument you can play only one string at a time anyway... I just chose this one to be polyphonic so you could play a little ensemble if you wanted

"Normal" bowed instruments, yes. This made me think of an instrument I really enjoyed playing a couple of years ago, the Psaltery, which produces a slightly haunting, ambient sound. I used to sample it as well, to be able to play chords and such. But either way the instrument has such a long sustain/release, that even if just using a single bow, the notes linger some time after release, so that each note and their various harmonics blend together nicely. As you seem to know how to simulate the bowing of strings well on the Rev2, the Psaltery may be interesting for further patch inspiration, perhaps?

Just listened to a bowed Psalter i youtube, and making the notes linger is not a problem at all, it's just the release times that need to be longer... maybe a bit of modulating the AMp envelope back into itself to get the right curve (I can hear that the lingering sounds a bit like a lingering reverb)... it's easy to do ... the problem would be to get that tinny timbre the Psalter has, but I'll give it a shot.

You have to remember though, that a REV2 analog synth is not a proper device to emulate acoustic instruments, it's better aimed at making "acoustic like" sounds... or more organic sounding emulations... none of the emulations I've done is 100% correct... they resemble some of the acoustic character, so hitting the exact tone of a Psalter may not be possible... but maybe i can get close

Anyway this was my intention from the beginning... not to make my sounds a mission in recreating a particular acoustic instrument, but rather induce some organic timbres into my programs... much of what makes a good acoustic representation is to emulate an acoustic instruments inaccuracy... but also induce some of the resonant characteristiscs (probably even more important)... so even if i do a Psalter, then it might very well have different resonant characteristics, simply because of the REV2's limitations.

[creativespiral]

Wow.  Silver Dragon sounds amazing!

[maxter]

My thoughts exactly, I only meant as a possible source of inspiration for sound design.

Routing an envelope to the audio mod, with fast decay and faster attack, could perhaps provide for emulating the quite harsh attack portion of the bowing. I found it best playing with headphones and the psaltery mic'd up through an LPF (and some reverb of course), so making a psaltery patch sound "authentic" in this regard would not be something to strive for anyhow! 
Nevertheless, with the high frequencies rolled off, the onset attack is quite interesting, the tone is quite flat for a couple ms, like minus 30 cents or so I believe, and unstable like an lfo to the slop parameter. This portion gets longer, the softer you use the bow. And you kind of have to start bowing every tone gently, otherwise the high frequencies (it has REALLY high harmonic overtones) stabs you in the ears. Like a knife grinding a plate, that kind.
Quite interesting instrument actually, not "hard" to play in the typical sense, but yet really hard to play well, and very sensitive.

[Razmo]

A bunch of new programs today... I'm now at 96 programs, so I'm exactly 3/4 done with the bank

http://razmo.ziphoid.com/VariousStringed.mp3

There are four programs in the demo:

1. "Hobbit Piano" ... my try at getting something that resembles a "piano"... don't sound like it at all in the lower register... it's more like a hybrid Piano-Harp, whatever that is, but it's organic enough to be a fantasy instrument

2. "Fast Bow" ... a weird bowed sound that is rather aggressive... still organic and unique enough.

3. "Princess' Bow" .. a simulation of a simple violin.

4. "Dark Bow" .. a darker version of the above, with more resemblance of a cello.

These programs are some of my better at organic sounds, giving accoustic "touches" in timbre... I'm still perplexed that the REV2 can fire these off... 100% REV2, nothing else.

[Razmo]

Still perfecting the piano/harp like sound "Hobbit Piano":

http://razmo.ziphoid.com/HobbitPiano.mp3

[Razmo]

A new sound today... I wanted as close to a Guitar sound as possible, and this will be as close as i can get I think.

"Horizon Guitar"

http://razmo.ziphoid.com/HorizonGuitar.mp3

This time I've added some external reverb (Übermod) ... I wanted all 16 voices of polyphony for this one, and one of the secrets to sounds that has a "boxed resonant character" to them is in fact the Hipass Filter FX, as it allows to somehow magically enhance some frequencies when it is mixed with the original sound... I use this on both plucked, bowed and chromatic sounds (bells)... it makes one hell of a difference.

So there is no way to put any reverb on this program except for externally.

[eagleman]

A new sound today... I wanted as close to a Guitar sound as possible, and this will be as close as i can get I think.

"Horizon Guitar"

http://razmo.ziphoid.com/HorizonGuitar.mp3

This time I've added some external reverb (Übermod) ... I wanted all 16 voices of polyphony for this one, and one of the secrets to sounds that has a "boxed resonant character" to them is in fact the Hipass Filter FX, as it allows to somehow magically enhance some frequencies when it is mixed with the original sound... I use this on both plucked, bowed and chromatic sounds (bells)... it makes one hell of a difference.

So there is no way to put any reverb on this program except for externally.

Lovely sound. As I’m playing guitar myself, one thought would be to have a little more sustain whilst the key is pressed so that some tones could ring out more as in real playing. Vibrato could be engaged by pressure with intensity through the mod wheel. This is really a killer sound. Maybe a tiny bit to harsh on the hi frequencies. The lows are wonderful and very precis soundvise.  God work razmo as always 😊

[Razmo]

A new sound today... I wanted as close to a Guitar sound as possible, and this will be as close as i can get I think.

"Horizon Guitar"

http://razmo.ziphoid.com/HorizonGuitar.mp3

This time I've added some external reverb (Übermod) ... I wanted all 16 voices of polyphony for this one, and one of the secrets to sounds that has a "boxed resonant character" to them is in fact the Hipass Filter FX, as it allows to somehow magically enhance some frequencies when it is mixed with the original sound... I use this on both plucked, bowed and chromatic sounds (bells)... it makes one hell of a difference.

So there is no way to put any reverb on this program except for externally.

Lovely sound. As I’m playing guitar myself, one thought would be to have a little more sustain whilst the key is pressed so that some tones could ring out more as in real playing. Vibrato could be engaged by pressure with intensity through the mod wheel. This is really a killer sound. Maybe a tiny bit to harsh on the hi frequencies. The lows are wonderful and very precis soundvise.  God work razmo as always 😊

Funny you mention this because I just had a conversation with someone who found it would be better if I dropped the reference to actual instruments in my program names, simply because people will start to try and hear for something that is not there... and i think that is exactly what you did too

I actually never intended to make a bank of acoustic simulations... I like the place "in between" synthetic and acoustic in my sounds... like if it was non-real instruments from another world for example... i just like to have that organic "plucked" or "bowed" feeling in the sounds... sort of "hybrid".

Actually the sound was sounding more "perfect" to me when I had been sitting for two hours programming it... but now that I'm listening after a break, I can hear all the small details that make it not sound "real"... or as I'd like to put it: "different"... and that is actually fine with me, because it does not HAVE to sound like a guitar... it's a fantasy plucked instrument from another world to me

I hear you when it comes to the "sustained notes"... I'll try and look into that at some point, if not just on another program later on... sometimes it's a choice about what settings to use since more than one can be useful in different situations.

Also about the vibrato... that is something I'll look into (the sounds was in fact not 100% finished)... I already have vibrato routed to pressure, but the second half of the demo introduce it by foot pedal, and that was what was used, and I know it sounds unnatural as this usually sets in after the note is plucked... but I'll look into that when I run over the whole lot of programs later... a lot of my sounds currently lack controller assignments.

hope that clarifies a bit

[Razmo]

Also, most of these hybrid sounds has no way of being able to mimic the real instruments... the "body" of a stringed instrument's cabinet is a complex resonator with lots of "formant like" qualities, and simulating these on a REV2 is being a bit too enthusiastic really... no matter what hybrid sound I've made, they always seem to sit best at certain ranges of the keys, while the other ranges sound anything from slightly unrealistic to outright wrong... the later especially on choir imitations... but all sounds more or less suffer from this... and the REV2 simply do not have the sound sculpting capability to do it properly... so they will always end up being "hybrid sounds".

[Razmo]

A new sound today... I wanted as close to a Guitar sound as possible, and this will be as close as i can get I think.

"Horizon Guitar"

http://razmo.ziphoid.com/HorizonGuitar.mp3

This time I've added some external reverb (Übermod) ... I wanted all 16 voices of polyphony for this one, and one of the secrets to sounds that has a "boxed resonant character" to them is in fact the Hipass Filter FX, as it allows to somehow magically enhance some frequencies when it is mixed with the original sound... I use this on both plucked, bowed and chromatic sounds (bells)... it makes one hell of a difference.

So there is no way to put any reverb on this program except for externally.

Lovely sound. As I’m playing guitar myself, one thought would be to have a little more sustain whilst the key is pressed so that some tones could ring out more as in real playing. Vibrato could be engaged by pressure with intensity through the mod wheel. This is really a killer sound. Maybe a tiny bit to harsh on the hi frequencies. The lows are wonderful and very precis soundvise.  God work razmo as always 😊

I have revised the sound a bit according to the sustain and other things... put a tiny bit of phaser on the sound on Layer B as well to simulate the very delicate motion that always seem to be on a real string when the different modes of vibration fluctuate up and down the string (a completely static tone in the decay makes it a bit unnatural, especially when the sound is played dry)... I had to find a compromise between the sustain and more plucked tone, and this is what I thought sounded the best when playing (I'm really picky when it comes to playability). Also, the name has now changed to "Horizon String", as to not induce in anyone to listen for a true guitar

http://razmo.ziphoid.com/HorizonString.mp3

[eagleman]

Funny you mention this because I just had a conversation with someone who found it would be better if I dropped the reference to actual instruments in my program names, simply because people will start to try and hear for something that is not there... and i think that is exactly what you did too

I actually never intended to make a bank of acoustic simulations... I like the place "in between" synthetic and acoustic in my sounds... like if it was non-real instruments from another world for example... i just like to have that organic "plucked" or "bowed" feeling in the sounds... sort of "hybrid".

Actually the sound was sounding more "perfect" to me when I had been sitting for two hours programming it... but now that I'm listening after a break, I can hear all the small details that make it not sound "real"... or as I'd like to put it: "different"... and that is actually fine with me, because it does not HAVE to sound like a guitar... it's a fantasy plucked instrument from another world to me

I hear you when it comes to the "sustained notes"... I'll try and look into that at some point, if not just on another program later on... sometimes it's a choice about what settings to use since more than one can be useful in different situations.

Also about the vibrato... that is something I'll look into (the sounds was in fact not 100% finished)... I already have vibrato routed to pressure, but the second half of the demo introduce it by foot pedal, and that was what was used, and I know it sounds unnatural as this usually sets in after the note is plucked... but I'll look into that when I run over the whole lot of programs later... a lot of my sounds currently lack controller assignments.

hope that clarifies a bit

I was just taken of the organic sound that in my ears really sounded like a guitar and that you were able to accomplice these kinds of sounds on a REV 2. I really respect that these sounds not are simulations and that it’s not your intention. You were just so spot on this time I really have a hard time to get my own patches to sound right sometimes and here you come and program sounds on this synth I just couldn’t imagine. It just inspires!

[OneLittleFonzie]

A new sound today... I wanted as close to a Guitar sound as possible, and this will be as close as i can get I think.

"Horizon Guitar"

http://razmo.ziphoid.com/HorizonGuitar.mp3

This time I've added some external reverb (Übermod) ... I wanted all 16 voices of polyphony for this one, and one of the secrets to sounds that has a "boxed resonant character" to them is in fact the Hipass Filter FX, as it allows to somehow magically enhance some frequencies when it is mixed with the original sound... I use this on both plucked, bowed and chromatic sounds (bells)... it makes one hell of a difference.

So there is no way to put any reverb on this program except for externally.

Lovely sound. As I’m playing guitar myself, one thought would be to have a little more sustain whilst the key is pressed so that some tones could ring out more as in real playing. Vibrato could be engaged by pressure with intensity through the mod wheel. This is really a killer sound. Maybe a tiny bit to harsh on the hi frequencies. The lows are wonderful and very precis soundvise.  God work razmo as always 😊

I have revised the sound a bit according to the sustain and other things... put a tiny bit of phaser on the sound on Layer B as well to simulate the very delicate motion that always seem to be on a real string when the different modes of vibration fluctuate up and down the string (a completely static tone in the decay makes it a bit unnatural, especially when the sound is played dry)... I had to find a compromise between the sustain and more plucked tone, and this is what I thought sounded the best when playing (I'm really picky when it comes to playability). Also, the name has now changed to "Horizon String", as to not induce in anyone to listen for a true guitar

http://razmo.ziphoid.com/HorizonString.mp3

Nobody will believe that this sound came from a rev2. No idea how you did that.

[Fragileback]

Outstanding!  For me, this is one of your best.  Checkbook standing by...