Razmo's Gear Rant Thread...

latoxine · « **Reply #840 on:** July 31, 2018, 01:13:10 PM »

Excellent ! I thought about angelo badalamenti, david lynch universe when I've listen to it.

Shaw · « **Reply #841 on:** July 31, 2018, 01:45:44 PM »

Quote from: Razmo on July 30, 2018, 07:27:43 AM

http://razmo.ziphoid.com/CelestialChoir.mp3
........100% REV2 by the way... no external FX

I like it a lot -- seems to sound like it should be a part of a sci-fi sound track.
These really are commercial quality programming. Keep up the good work!

Razmo · « **Reply #842 on:** August 01, 2018, 04:05:00 AM »

Thanx for the compliments

... here are a few tests i did with some bass sounds I'm working on... Basses specifically for ambient music is a bit difficult because you usually do not use basses in the normal way we think of a "bass sound"... many times it's just low rumblings or pads... even other synth sounds... but i do want some bass programs as well, as they may prove useful...

I'm often hearing people complain about the Curtis filter that DSI use is too thin sounding... to a degree I agree that it could present more lowend automatically... it does sound kind of bland to be honest, so my goal is of course to make people wonder how I got that sound out of the REV2's "puny filters"... to be honest, it's not easy... getting a really fat and juicy resonating bass sound needs some serious tweaking in my opinion... otherwise they always sound a bit "velvet'ish" and polished... further we have to understand that the Curtis chip does not give you any means of overdriving the oscillators when they enter the filter, or even the Amp stages... you can only add the usual DSI analog distortion AFTER the chip, like on the Prophet 12, so getting really gritty and gnarly basstones is hard with the REV2... i really wish DSI had given the REV2 the analog feedback option that they gave their Mopho and Tetra synths... for some strange reason DSI decided to omit this on the REV2... big mistake in my opinion... it would also have made the REV2 into a Tetra compatible synth.

The following demo have a few presets I'm pleased with... especially the first two, where I really think I got a lot of bottom end and bubly resonance out of the Curtis chip... it's not just a simple manipulation of the filter... the RingMod FX actually play a part in obtaining this almost "MOOG'ish gut" like sound... but I'm perfectly satisfied with these sounds when it comes to bass on REV2.

The live playing is nothing special... just a few notes to show the sounds...

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

Razmo · « **Reply #843 on:** August 01, 2018, 07:52:50 AM »

Another bass program made... rather 90's techno bass I'd say... still an ok bass sound out of the REV2 i think

http://razmo.ziphoid.com/BassTest2.mp3

Razmo · « **Reply #844 on:** August 04, 2018, 03:33:14 PM »

Another attempt at creating a pad sound that has a certain choral tone to it... creating realistic vocal tones with a simple analog subtractive synth is not the easiest, and at best it sounds "voice like"... better at certain parts of the keyboard as well...

I'm not going to try and create anything realistic though... just trying to get a tonal character that sound vocal like to boost pad sounds into sounding a bit more organic... thus the sound in this demo also seems to shift in and out of sounding voice.like, and then suddenly sounding more synth/organ like at times... that's just the nature of it I guess... true choral sounds will have to wait for when I get a Prophet X

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

All is 100% REV2...

Razmo · « **Reply #845 on:** August 09, 2018, 03:15:14 PM »

I've been doing a lot af touch up on the current programs for my REV2 bank for a while... they are getting more and more polished... I think they are actually better now, but I'm a long way from having a bank of programs... a few programs have been deleted since I did not find that they lived up to the quality i want, so right now I'm at 37 programs.

The latest addition is a program called "Avian Forest"... demo here: http://razmo.ziphoid.com/AvianForest.mp3

There have been used a Valhalla - VintageVerb plugin on top... not that it does not sound good without, it just give that little extra "fairy tale sound"

I feel i get better and better at sound design, especially pad sounds that I've not really specialized in... I've done a lot of sound design over the years, but never something as focused as I'm doing now... that was mostly kick drums and basses plus a few lead sounds.

What I've learned is that the most important to get really nice moving pad sounds is not really the FX or even the polyphony... the most important is to get the raw oscillator and panning right... the more motion you can get into the oscillators the better, and the more you can control this movement with physical controls, the more your sound will come alive as it will not be static... you can constantly evolve the sound with modwheel and pedal controls... velocity and aftertouch as well... One thing I also realised is, that in many cases you don't even need the second oscillator... in many cases it's actually better to just use one, and modulate the hell out of it... the tone gets much cleaner... i think this is because, in real life, many acoustic instrument also use only ONE sound source... even if a guitar has six strings, they play harmonies, not the same pitch... if you have too many soundsources in a single voice, then playing it polyphonically can easily start mudding the sound... the program comes to life anyway as soon as you start playing more notes together... at least with pad sounds as they usually take up a great deal of space in the frequency spectrum... also, if you only have a single pitch on a voice, then you can choose to play only on high notes, and then bass and midtone sill still be free for other sounds... these programs can really be many different types of sound... if they are played very low, they can sound dark and moody, in the highs they are fine and unobtrusive, in the middle they fill out a melody nicely but will leave the bass and trebble areas alone... and if you play them all over, they can take over the whole stage almost doing the whole show on its own.

well... just a bit of rambling... i like the REV2 as a pad machine... seriously!

Gomjab · « **Reply #846 on:** August 09, 2018, 04:30:23 PM »

This pad is gorgeous. Both the patch and the playing. I’m a huge fan of evolving pads.

Razmo · « **Reply #847 on:** August 14, 2018, 03:07:17 AM »

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

Today I tried to make some sort of flutesound... I think it went quite well, but I still need to solve a few problems with some clicky sound that can be heard from time to time... still i feel the sound is quite convincing... I'm not trying to create or imitate a real flute, just giving the impression of a blown instrument of sorts.

The big problem is the wind-noise, and getting it to sound like real flute-wind-noise, and not just some noise thru an envelope... the trick lies in the resonance of the filter and the HiPass filter i combination.

Razmo · « **Reply #848 on:** August 15, 2018, 03:11:04 AM »

A little demo of a few of the sounds I've created during the last few days... wanted to try and hear some of them together... still need to make final adjustments to them... It's all REV2, except that all was run thru a new purchase of mine: Valhalla DSP - ÜberMod... In fact I've bought two plugins from Valahalla DSP, ÜberMod and VintageVerb... I really like these plugins as they are dead simple to use, and sound absolutely amazing... I'll certainly buy Valhalla Plate as well soon... I have actually decided to stick with Valhalla plugins for external FX, as they are top notch, and I can do what I want to do with them, plus they are priced rather well too.

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

Gomjab · « **Reply #849 on:** August 15, 2018, 05:43:14 AM »

Quote from: Razmo on August 15, 2018, 03:11:04 AM

A little demo of a few of the sounds I've created during the last few days... wanted to try and hear some of them together... still need to make final adjustments to them... It's all REV2, except that all was run thru a new purchase of mine: Valhalla DSP - ÜberMod... In fact I've bought two plugins from Valahalla DSP, ÜberMod and VintageVerb... I really like these plugins as they are dead simple to use, and sound absolutely amazing... I'll certainly buy Valhalla Plate as well soon... I have actually decided to stick with Valhalla plugins for external FX, as they are top notch, and I can do what I want to do with them, plus they are priced rather well too.

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

Sean kept posting fantastic demos of the Moog Grandmother on another website. Every day a new awesome demo. I’m sure he sold quite a few Moog Grandmothers. I had already preordered one so he didn’t sell me. However many of his demos featured VintageVerb. Needless to say he DID sell me on that!!

Razmo · « **Reply #850 on:** August 15, 2018, 08:06:33 AM »

Quote from: Gomjab on August 15, 2018, 05:43:14 AM

Quote from: Razmo on August 15, 2018, 03:11:04 AM
A little demo of a few of the sounds I've created during the last few days... wanted to try and hear some of them together... still need to make final adjustments to them... It's all REV2, except that all was run thru a new purchase of mine: Valhalla DSP - ÜberMod... In fact I've bought two plugins from Valahalla DSP, ÜberMod and VintageVerb... I really like these plugins as they are dead simple to use, and sound absolutely amazing... I'll certainly buy Valhalla Plate as well soon... I have actually decided to stick with Valhalla plugins for external FX, as they are top notch, and I can do what I want to do with them, plus they are priced rather well too.

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

Sean kept posting fantastic demos of the Moog Grandmother on another website. Every day a new awesome demo. I’m sure he sold quite a few Moog Grandmothers. I had already preordered one so he didn’t sell me. However many of his demos featured VintageVerb. Needless to say he DID sell me on that!!

The Valhalla verbs remind me a lot of the Lexicon character that I actually like... i believe the Valhalla dude also worked for them once, i believe I read that somewhere once, which might explain it... but his plugins are much easier to use than the Lexicon PCM plugins... he is dedicated to having all parameters on one screen which I like... it's very intuitive to use these plugins...

The ÜberMod to me, comes out as a sort of delay like plugin when you read about it, and that was actually also what i bought it for... but I quickly found out that it can do just as lush reverbs as the other plugins... some of them sounding really unique... it's capable of timbres you only realize when you try out the demo... I have no regrets of now owning both Shimmer, VintageVerb and Übermod... I only need the two last ones: Room and Plate... sure i can find a use for them too

... and they have two free plugins as well, the latest being a chorus/flanger like plugin, the earlier being a spectral delay...

Razmo · « **Reply #851 on:** August 22, 2018, 07:51:35 AM »

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

A new program I made today... I wanted something that sounded like a weird piano/keys-like toy with some mechanic background noise like if each keys sound was driven by mechanical gears or similar.

I came up with the above... still working on it... played very low it has a strange ambient and mysterious sound about it... a really weird preset to be honest...

maxter · « **Reply #852 on:** August 25, 2018, 02:39:16 PM »

Hey Razmo!
So I found your Gear Rant Thread!

I wanted to share a patch with you by PM, but that wasn't possible, so for a lack of options I thought I'd put it here. No intention of hijacking your thread or anything, I hope you don't mind. Otherwise just let me know and I'll remove this post. Just get the patch first!

It's just a soft lead, making use of most of the modulation matrix for some subtle changes. The modwheel detunes the patch by 2 octaves, and doing so combined with 1 octave+ transposition I think hits the sweet spot for this patch. I tried getting the same result by just detuning at first, but since there is some modulation with note as source, it didn't end up as good. This patch benefits from a varying play-style, for example staccato, or soft/hard velocity strikes, which brings out the expressiveness of it. There's more sub in the lower octaves, and more delay feedback in the higher.

Please feel free to use this however and in any way you like, if you like, and that goes for anyone else interested. I bet you'll tweak it for the better

Razmo · « **Reply #853 on:** October 01, 2018, 08:42:14 AM »

Been some time since I wrote anything here... I've just decided to start saving for a Prophet X now... it'll take quite some time before I've got the money, but it'll only give me a lot more time to befriend my REV2 until then, which is good I think.

If everything goes the way I expect, I should be getting an X about may or june next year... that'll leave me with loads of time to create more sounds for the REV2... maybe I'll be able to do two banks before that date.

Also, all that is earned by selling my first bank that I'm working on right now will go to this purchase as well... and when I get the X, I count on the user sample feature to be available and well tested, and I'll be working on creating a bank for the X as well..

I've already begun creating the samples I'll be using for this bank... it will be especially focused on stuff that the REV2 cannot do, or that will take too long time to create on the REV2... and that is; Drones, Ambiences & Effects... the idea is to create a bunch of samples that is basically sustained loops with a lot of motion in them so that they can be seen as "evolving oscillators"... then create a preset bank full of "templates" where the sound can be very easily changed into something else, simply by changing the sample used on instrument 1 & 2... this way you got an immense number of sound possibilities when it comes to drones, effects and ambiences from even just a few template programs... the trick is that most of the modulation is in the samples themselves, leaving the synthesis engine to do the filter and amp enveloping, and other strange modulation things.

I've created more than 800 such samples already... they are generated synthetically and are very rich in variety, harmonics and motion which makes them perfect for these types of sounds, not to speak of the added ability to mangle them further via granular synthesis...

I also thought thru very carefully if I was to get the X or Quantum, but there are some major things that made me decide on the X... first and foremost, the polyphony... but also because i feel more at home with DSI/SCI SysEx specs in contrast to Waldorf's...

Razmo · « **Reply #854 on:** November 25, 2018, 12:36:48 PM »

OK... I did it... again... the old love/hate relationship always end with me running back to her: Tempest...

I found a good deal on a used specimen, like new for almost half the price of a new one, so I'm happy with that.

I really need a performance.minded drummachine these days after I decided to go non-MIDI with my synths... i was thinking about using a Prophet X for this earlier, but I realized it would be a pain in the neck to reord in full percussion tracks in one go, and as it probably do not have an overdub function, it will not work like I intended... i simply need a drummachine with good performance control, where I can fire off single patterns of grooves, and shift between these "beats" on the fly while I tweak parameters live.

I believe that Tempest is the best solution because I cannot live without an editor for creating the kit sounds, and I already have that for SoundDiver from last time I had it, so i can get right on it when it's here one of the next days.

So my next project will be creating kits for it for the next 6 months while i save up for a Prophet X.... I'll be making a separate thread in the Tempest forum on that topic, with demo's just like with my REV2 bank, and when it's done it'll be up for sale as well...

My plans for my studio is to have three synths connected to my soundcard at once... one with keys, and via a MIDI split cable connect this to two modules to be located right behind the keyboard... this MIDI cable will only serve as a clock output for the two modules so that I can sync these three machines up to each other... one such machine is now Tempest, but I'll probably get more synths in the future, but there will only be three connected at any given time to have a better overview of the stuff that i make, so that it does not get too complicated...

So yes... I'm back in the Tempest game again, with all the quirks and stuff... but at least I know what I'm going into...

dslsynth · « **Reply #855 on:** November 25, 2018, 02:33:43 PM »

Quote from: Razmo on November 25, 2018, 12:36:48 PM

OK... I did it... again... the old love/hate relationship always end with me running back to her: Tempest...

Oh wow! Hope you will like it and keep it this time around. Somehow your decision made me remember this somewhat off topic video about user experiences:

Thinking about alternative solutions could you see yourself synthesize percussion sounds on analog drum modules and interface these with your DAW or perhaps an external sequencer?

Razmo · « **Reply #856 on:** November 25, 2018, 03:31:22 PM »

Quote from: dslsynth on November 25, 2018, 02:33:43 PM

Quote from: Razmo on November 25, 2018, 12:36:48 PM
OK... I did it... again... the old love/hate relationship always end with me running back to her: Tempest...

Oh wow! Hope you will like it and keep it this time around. Somehow your decision made me remember this somewhat off topic video about user experiences:

Thinking about alternative solutions could you see yourself synthesize percussion sounds on analog drum modules and interface these with your DAW or perhaps an external sequencer?

I believe I will this time... sure it is a machine so convoluted, that even bugs are being left in with the last OS beta... but I lived with bugs on Tempest from each and every new beta that came out back then... figuring out how to get around some of the nasty ones... I guess that the reason I sold it the last time was that I could not get MIDI DIN to work with editing from SoundDiver... but USB worked fine back then, and I intend on using it with only USB (in regards to SoundDiver)... it's only for editing the sounds... I do not even use SoundDiver when composing anymore, only editing sounds in advance... this is the same with my REV2 and any other synth I'll get in the future.

As long as Tempest can fire off singe beats reliably when synced to my REV2, then I'll be fine... It did last time I had it, so unless another bug has been introduced in the latest OS'es, then i believe I'll be completely fine.

One of my complaints earlier was about the inconsistency... but I found solutions for that, and as my main interest today is weird ambient noises, the percussion I'll be doing is not that demanding in consistency... in fact a bit of inconsistency might be good on a lot of sounds since it makes it feel more "human".

Another complaint was the glitchy single cycle samples... but honestly... I will not really need them, and they just sound the way they do... it's fine... I have no intention to create any synth sounds even though it's capable of a synth channel... i have the REV2 for that task... in fact the Tempest has got a lot of features that really should not have been in there... I'm with Roger Linn on that one... I'd rather have seen less features to make it more simple, and less bug prone to be honest... that synth channel is just overkill really. If they took out a lot of that excess feature stuff, then they would make the code less complex, and also get space free for what really matters.

I'm definitely looking forward to creating kits for the Tempest... before I only did Sounds... this time I want to focus on whole kits that fit together between the sounds. Back then my main focus was on kicks and snares... while they are still needed, I'll be focusing much more on other types of percussion where these transient inconsistencies are not important at all... I know how to fix the kicks, so I'm fine.

All i need to experience is how well the Tempest will sync up to my REV2 because I've not done that before... if I do not trigger sounds anymore via DAW and MIDI, then the only way i can sync three machines together will be via MIDI DIN and that is crucial! ... I want to be able to press "play" on my REV2, and then have the Tempest and one synth module more play along with their sequencers/arpeggiators... this is because the most important sounds to have quantized are of course percussion, but also a bass and maybe an arpeggiator running at the same speed... these three i will be sequencing when recording to my DAW, while I turn knobs on the REV2 to make the sound evolve, and change beats on the fly on Tempest in addition to beat wide control parameters... so I hope that the sync will not give me any problems.

I actually want to control tempest and one other synth VIA REV2's MIDI out... at first I thought I'd need a MIDI THRU box for this, but since it's only the output, I found that yu can get a special MIDI Y-Cable that does just that... so it's a rather simple setup... REV2 MIDI OUT into MIDI IN on Tempest and one other synth... this way I'll also be able to play both Tempest and the other synth module from the REV2... i can even layer them and control which one i hear by just simply turning the main volume knobs... so it's a powerful little live-playing/sequencing setup that will still be easy to focus on.

Next synth will be Prophet X... when that happens I might have to sell the REV2 and get a module version... I want only ONE keyboard synth.

dslsynth · « **Reply #857 on:** November 25, 2018, 04:01:02 PM »

Sounds like a plan, Razmo. I would wait and see their next synth before deciding on the Prophet X though. Not that PX is not a fine machine but who knows if their next machine offers more value for your musical goals? Also, maybe a smaller and more affordable box could give you the stable clock source you need? Or maybe a Elektron Digitakt could be an option if you like their workflow as that offers both clock source, sequencing and sample playback?

Definitely looking forward to hear the sounds and tracks you make with Tempest.

Razmo · « **Reply #858 on:** November 25, 2018, 04:19:48 PM »

Quote from: dslsynth on November 25, 2018, 04:01:02 PM

Sounds like a plan, Razmo. I would wait and see their next synth before deciding on the Prophet X though. Not that PX is not a fine machine but who knows if their next machine offers more value for your musical goals? Also, maybe a smaller and more affordable box could give you the stable clock source you need? Or maybe a Elektron Digitakt could be an option if you like their workflow as that offers both clock source, sequencing and sample playback?

Definitely looking forward to hear the sounds and tracks you make with Tempest.

If the sync coming from the REV2 is not tight enough, then I may have to think about that yes... but I think it'll work fine using the REV2 clock... afterall, I'm not really going to send anything but start/stop and clock messages to the two machines since they will be sequenced, not played from the REV2 when recording it all

... and usually, MIDI DIN sync is fine on most hardware devices, when you do not include a DAW with MIDI in the equation being the master clock.

Regarding the PX, I'm actually pretty certain this is "the one"... I really do need a sampler thru analog filters, and the PX has features that matter to me more than the Quantum does... and I'd like to have that one as a master keyboard because of it's two sliders... those would be fun to utilize on some of the modules I think.

I'm not going to limit myself to just three machines though... I'm definitely looking forward to see what the new synth will be from Sequential, i also have plans on getting both P12 module and maybe even a Peak and DeepMind module at some point... I have no limits to the number of synths, just a limit of three machines on any given project I will be doing to keep complexity down... But I will stick to my new rule; buy a synth, and then wait 6 months before buying anything else, doing at least one sound bank for each in that period... otherwise I'll end up like before, having a lot of synths that I never really delved deep into.

But samples is what is drawing me the most right now because samples give a lot of flexibility in sound design... I already have great plans for the first sample pack... I've got a piece of software here that convert pictures into .wav files with a lot of options in it... it can create the most wild and weird sounds you just would not be capable of synthesizing on any synth... it even allow you to take control of harmonics and all... thus i can actually create samples for each and every key (deep sampling) which will completely eliminate the "chipmunk effect"... the sounds when transposed not even sound like simple down or up-pitching... it's almost like the harmonic content change instead... I can imagine these sounds as extremely versatile sound building blocks on the PX, making them sound a lot more like real synthesis, just with very complex harmonix and movement.

Any piece of software that can generate interesting wav files would be of use as well... so yes... Prophet X is next...

... anyway it'll be another 6 months before i can pay for it, so there is plenty of time to see what Sequential will deliver next time i think

... but from January and 6 months ahead, the Tempest will get all of my love

dslsynth · « **Reply #859 on:** November 25, 2018, 04:29:06 PM »

Now that sample generation program sounds very interesting. Can see what PX can do in such a case. Any data source can be used for making sounds as long as suitable wave shaping options exists. I have found myself another interesting data source that I plan use for this.