A Few of My Favorite Things: Synth Plug-in Edition - Part 3

11. Spectrasonics Omnisphere ($499)
In my opinion, this is one of the best-sounding synths I've ever used.  Yes, it comes at a hefty price, but I've never regretted my purchase once since I got it.  Omnisphere is essentially a ROMpler on steroids(although there is also a Virtual Analog section, too).  While you'll find standard sampled source material like beautiful guitars, choirs, and sampled synths, what makes Omnisphere stand out are some of the more unusual sample sources, such as the infamous piano on fire.  Omnisphere offers a ton of programming depth and has one of the most pleasant to use interfaces I've used.  Perfectly blurs the lines between acoustic and electronic instruments in a way few other synths have.  It should be noted that Stylus RMX and Trilian are no slouches either.

12. Synapse Audio DUNE ($139)  [Read the Waveformless Review]
Nowadays, a synth with a Unison function is pretty standard.  But Synapse Audio decided to expand on what Unison does and bring it into the 21st Century.  While most Unison modes simply detune and pan multiple voices for fatter sounds, DUNE allows you to adjust pretty much ALL the parameters on a per voice basis.  This means, each voice in your Unison part can have different filter settings, different envelopes, or even be entirely different sounds if you so choose.  DUNE offers a great balance of simplicity and depth and has a very nice, modern sound.  (Buy my patches for DUNE)

13. TAL Bassline 101 ($40 introductory price, $60 regular price)
If you're looking for a Roland SH-101 emulator that is faithful to the original architecture, you really owe it to yourself to check out TAL's Bassline 101.  The original, free version (called simply "Bassline") really only shared the architecture with the synth it emulated, as it didn't really sound very 101ish at all.  But for the commercial version, the synth got a ground-up reboot and is now virtually indistinguishable from the real deal.  Even better, even though it's only been out a short time, TAL has already started adding new features such as Filter FM like you would find on the SH-101 Novamod modifcation.  If you're looking for extras like polyphony, layering, effects, and the like, you might want to check out D16 Group's LuSH-101 instead, but if you just want the sound and simplicity that make the SH-101 great, you should definitely give this one a listen!

14. Tone2 Saurus ($119)  [Read the Waveformless Review]
I happen to be a fan of pretty much all the synths Tone2 has released from Gladiator 2 on up, and Saurus is no exception.  Although this is one of the new generations of "almost analog" sounding software synths, Tone2 took a different direction that many companies and instead of trying to emulate a specific vintage synth, created their own.  2 oscillators (each with subs), beautiful sounding multimode filters with saturation and filter FM, an Arp/Gater, simple effects and easy programability combine for a really great vintage-sounding synth.  The presets don't always demonstrate this well (many coming across as too modern sounding), but even some cursory messing around reveals this is a synth capable of very convincing vintage tones if programmed accordingly.

15. u-he DIVA ($179)
Germany's u-he are no slouches when it comes to synth design, so when I heard they were working on a synth that allowed you to combine oscillators, filters, and envelopes modeled on famous synths from Moog, Roland, and Korg, I definitely took notice.  And they didn't disappoint at all.  This was one of the first vintage synth emulations I heard that convinced me we are not far away from having plug-ins that are indistinguishable from the real thing.  DIVA sounds incredibly warm and alive, and the ability to mix and match modules from different famous synths is every bit as fun as it sounds.  Even as we speak, u-he are working on new modules for the next version, so this is a synth that will grow significantly with each major revision.  It's worth noting that the CPU usage can be pretty brutal on this one, but fortunately, multiple quality modes are available, allowing you to sketch out ideas at a lower resolution and CPU load than when you finally render the sounds to disk.  An absolute essential.   (Buy my patches for DIVA)

A Few of My Favorite Things: Synth Plug-in Edition - Part 2

6. KV331 Audio Synthmaster ($99)  [Read the Waveformless Review]
If you're looking for some serious bang for your buck, it's hard to go wrong with KV331's excellent Synthmaster.  Essentially a synth Swiss Army knife, Synthmaster is a massively detailed semi-modular synth that allows Virtual Analog, Additive, Sample Playback, Vector, Wavetable and more sounds to be programmed with a great deal of depth.  A lot of care obviously went into the design of this synth as they seemingly have thought of everything.  A synth-programmer's synth.  And did I mention is sounds amazing, too?

7. Madrona Labs Aalto ($99)  [Read the Waveformless Review]
This one is definitely not for everyone, but those of you knob-twiddlers out there who love getting lost inside a Buchla-like modular synth unlike anything else you've used will find a lot to love here.  It is based around what is essentially a 2-oscillator FM set-up fed through a Waveguide/Delay and Multimode Filter (based on the Oberheim SEM) into a nicely old-school sounding Reverb.  Two envelopes, and LFO, a Sequencer and other modulators can be routed just about anywhere for all sorts of modular insanity.  If you're looking for trance leads, move along, but if you love weird, unpredictable synths, don't miss this one!

8. Plogue Chipsounds ($95)  [Read the Waveformless Review]
If the 8-bit sounds of yesteryear are your thing, you absolutely have to check out Plogue's Chipsounds. This synth emulates 15 different 8-bit sound chips from popular home computers, home video game consoles, and arcade games and lets you use them to sculpt your own new sounds.  You can mix and match up to 8 different layers, each with their own type of chip, if you so desire, so the ability to make thick sounds out of traditionally thin-sounding oscillators opens up.  It sounds amazingly authentic and is tons of fun to play around with, especially if you're a fan of unusual sounds.

9. Sonic Academy A.N.A. (£49)
Here's one that has slipped through a lot of people's radar.  Sonic Academy is a website that musicians can subscribe to in order to access a generous and ever-expanding selection of video tutorials covering different aspects and tools of various electronic music genres.  However, they also created their own software synth.  A.N.A. (short for Analog Noise Attack) combines 3 virtual analog oscillators, 2 "noise "oscillators" that play back a variety of different inharmonic samples, and a 6th "attack" oscillator which plays back sampled attack transients.  If that sounds a little bit like an updated version of 80's synths like the Ensoniq SQ-80 or Roland D-50, thats because the concept isn't that far off.    A.N.A. brings that synthesis concept and gives it more flexibility and improved sound quality and marries it with some excellent presets in the house/techno/trance/EDM style.  And as if the price wasn't already cheap enough, if you are already a subscriber to Sonic Academy, you can pick it up for only £29.

10. Sonic Charge Microtonic ($99)
Now in its 3rd version, Sonic Charge's Microtonic is a fantastic little analog-style drum box.  Use the oscillator, noise, and filter to build a kit of up to 8 different sounds and program your own vintage-sounding beats with the built-in step sequencer.    While the sounds it produces are generally unapologetically old-school, by layering several sounds at once, more complex and modern drum sounds become possible.  And in one of the coolest innovations I've seen in awhile, Sonic Charge created the Sonic Charge Patternarium which generates new, "genetically mutated" patterns based on user feedback.  Hear a beat you like?  Simply download the preset and load it right into Microtonic!

A Few of My Favorite Things: Synth Plug-in Edition - Part 01

Back in July, I made a series of posts about some of my favorite effects plug-ins.  I promised to do the same for synth plug-ins, and that is what we start with this morning.  Let's get started, shall we?

1. Arturia SEM-V ($99)  
Arturia's previous products have often been accused of having a somewhat "samey" sound to them, and while I am not sure that is entirely fair, I can say that they really upped their game with SEM-V, their simulation of the Oberheim SEM synth.  To me, this is one of a handful of software synths that has that indefinable "it" that usually defines vintage hardware.  It's a synth that sounds alive and organic and is amazingly flexible for how relatively simple the architecture is.  Brilliant for basses and leads, and thanks to the "8-Voice Programmer" (a step-sequencer/modulator), arps and steppy sequences and modulated sounds.  In addition to the 8-Voice Programmer, there is also a full mod matrix, and very basic Overdrive, Chorus, and Delay effects.  If there is one area that lets this synth down, it's the effects - they sound pretty lousy.  But switch them off and process through your own choice of effects, and it sounds brilliant.  Bit of a CPU hog, but this is a case where it is worth the heavy processor load.  (Buy my presets for SEM-V)

2. Camel Audio Alchemy ($249)  [Read the Waveformless Review]
Camel Audio's Alchemy is a few years old and probably due for a version 2, but that doesn't mean this super-deep synth isn't still great.  With Additive, Spectral, Granular, Sample Playback, and Virtual Analog modes, there is a wide variety of methods to sculpt sounds with right out of the gate.  But add to that dozens of filter types, extensive modulation abilities, great performance controls, multiple sequencers, envelopes, LFOs, mult-stage envelopes, and some very nice sounding effects, this is a synth that is easy to get lost in.  I do think the sequencer could be made a bit more user-friendly, and some of the factory samples are not that inspiring, but this is a synth with serious abilities if you want to build complex and unusual sounds.

3. D16 Audio Group LuSH-101 ($249)  [Read the Waveformless Review]
When this was first released, I got the impression that a lot of people missed the point of this synth.  While it does indeed take its inspiration from the venerable Roland SH-101, D16's LuSH-101 uses that as a mere starting point and builds on it from there adding significant new abilities such as polyphony, unison and Supersaw modes, additional envelopes and LFOs, a mod matrix, extensive effects, and the abilities to layer or split up to 8 instances of the synth engine for incredibly thick and intricate sounds.  While it certainly does a great job of emulating the 101 if you stick to the parameters that were available in the real thing, that really misses the point, as you can go so much further.  A nice, modern update to the 101 that even in its more "modern" settings, still has the sound and spirit of Roland.

4. FXPansion DCAM SynthSquad ($249) [Read the Waveformless Review]
This 2009 collection of synths was one of the first to make me sit up and say "whoa" in the analog-sounding plug-ins world.  Consisting of Strobe (a monosynth with a character similar to an SH-101 crossed with a Pro One), Amber (an emulation of divide-down string machines), Cypher (an "Analog FM" type synth), and Fusor (a plug-in that lets you combine multiple layers of Strobe, Cypher, and Amber, process them through effects, and sequence them).  Even four years later, these sound fantastic and are a ton of fun to program.

5. GForce Oddity (£99)
Although it was released way back in 2003, GForce's Oddity is still an impressive emulation of the ARP Odyssey.  This is mostly a straight-up emulation with no additional features like built-in effects, but it doesn't suffer because of that.  Authentic-sounding and very full of analog character, the only thing that really lets this synth down is the absolutely horrible preset management.  How about an update with a decent patch management system, Gforce?

A Few of My Favorite Things: Effects Edition - Part 3

And we close out the effects edition of A Few of My Favorite Things...

11.  Sonic Charge Bitspeek ($29)
A specific effect to be sure, but one that I have had a stupid amount of fun messing around with.  Quite simply, Bitspeek makes anything you send through it sound like it's coming from a Speak and Spell.

12. Studio Devil Virtual Tube Preamp ($129)
Of all the effects I've plugged on these posts, this is probably the one I've been getting the most use out of lately.  As the name alludes, this is a software recreation of a tube preamp.  For me, although software synths are getting better all the time, there is still a certain character missing from them.  Virtual Tube Preamp is a great solution to that problem.  This does an amazing job of adding warmth and weight to software synths, especially bass sounds and drums.  And if you push it into the read, it can add some "grr" to your sounds for a more aggressive feel.  Just buy it.

13. Valhalla Room ($50)
If you've done any poking around online, you've probably seen people raving about Valhalla's Shimmer plug-in.  Don't get me wrong, it's an awesome sounding effect, but also quite a specific one.  For my money, Vahalla Room is much more useful in a general sense.  And don't let the name fool you, you can actually get into hall territory with the right settings.  A nice, clean, present-sounding reverb.

14. Waves Vocal Rider ($300)
Like most Waves products, this is comically overpriced, but since they seem to be having sales every other week, chances are you can pick this up for cheaper if you play your cards right.  The concept here is pretty simple... a "robot assistant" that rides the volume level of a vocal track to be as even as possible.  This works nicely in front of a compressor and allows you to get away with more subtle compression settings and still have the vocal cut through.

A Few of My Favorite Things - Effects Edition - Part 2

Picking up where we left off yesterday...

6. iZotope BT Stutter Edit ($249)
I'll say right off the bat, I think this plug-in is over-priced.  A $150 price point seems much more reasonable.  That said, this is an amazing tool for creating all manner of complex glitches, transitions, and warps to your audio.  What makes it especially cool is that you play it like a MIDI instrument, playing notes to mess up the incoming audio in different ways.  You can map an entire keyboard with different settings for tons of options whether you're auditioning effects or triggering the effect live in performance.  An enormous amount of fun to screw around with.  For those who have already graduated from Ill-formed's Glitch 2.

7. Smart Electronix Ambience (Free)
This plug-in is actually pretty old, but it is still one of my favorite reverbs for snare drums.  Lots of tweakability, a really nice sound, and it's FREE.  Why aren't you already downloading it?

8. Ohm Force Ohmicide Multi-band Distortion ($128)
This is the distortion equivalent to a Swiss Army Knife.  An insane amount of programming depth and options make this a plug-in anyone who uses distortion has no excuse not to own.  Audio can be split into up to 4 different frequency bands, each with not only its own settings, but its own type of distortion.  And there are a TON of these.  From analog overdrives, to digital waveshapers, there is plenty here to put a hurting on your sounds.

9. PSP Audioware N20 ($149)
Filter plug-ins are a dime a dozen these days, so when a unique filter plug-in comes along, it really stands out. PSP Audioware's N20 is a semi-modular effects system with up to 4 different effect blocks, which can be routed in virtually any way you care to.  You not only get some great sounding filters to play with, but also reverb, pitch shifting, distortion, delay, lofi effects, and more.  What makes it even cooler is that you have 4 modulators to play with, so you can create some really organic, evolving effects chains.  Although filtering is clearly the main focus here, this is more like a sound design toolkit.

10. Sonic Charge Permut8 ($66)
If you're into glitchy sounds, circuit-bending can provide an endless array of digitally tortured sounds.  The problem, though, is that circuit bent devices tend to be very unpredictable, so it can be hard to hone in on the sound you want, and even harder to sequence it rhythmically in a useful way.  Sonic Charge comes to the rescue with Permut8, a fantastically weird plug-in for punishing audio in rhythmic ways.  A full explanation of how it works is beyond the scope of an article like this (you can check out my full review here), but the basic idea is you flip switches to turn virtual bits on and off, which effects the way the incoming audio is played back from the built-in memory.  Chaos controlled in a really fun way.  Noise lovers will lose themselves for hours in this one.

A Few of My Favorite Things: Effects Edition - Part 1

Like most musicians, I have a lot of musician friends.  And aside from the regular friend things, we often discuss what new bits of gear or software are rocking our respective worlds at the time.  So, I thought this might be a cool topic for the blog.  This will be split into categories and will not immediately follow each other, but hopefully you'll find it interesting anyway.  Today, I'll focus on some of my favorite effects plug-ins.

1.) Aradaz Maximizer (Free - donations accepted)
Aradaz Maximizer is a free brickwall limiter for both Mac and PC.  As you might guess, this isn't a subtle limiter, this is for slamming the ever-loving crap out of your tracks.  As such, I wouldn't personally use it strapped across a buss for mastering duties, but if you want to angry up a bassline or drum loop, this is your weapon.  Also includes a "Character" parameter that adds harmonics and brings out the highs in an interesting way.

2. Audio Damage Rough Rider (Free - Commercial version available)
Another great free, characterful plug-in.  This is another effect I tend to reach for when I want more aggressive dynamics.  Although they apparently didn't intend for it to be used for parallel/NYC style compression, that's exactly what I find myself using it for the most.  It really excels at toughening up drums.

3. D16 Group Toraverb ($39)
This isn't a reverb you'll use every day, but for certain things, it sounds amazing.  Toraverb is a modulated reverb, which isn't based on any existing hardware unit.  Aside from being a nicely featured reverb in its own right, what makes it special is the modulation of the diffusing filters.  This opens the door to all sorts of warm, almost chorused sounds that wouldn't be out of place on some of Brian Eno's ambient work.  Brilliant on pads and vocals.

4.  Dada Life Sausage Fattener ($29)
Released by the band Dada Life, the Sausage Fattener is yet another aggressive dynamics effect, this one combining compression and a tube overdrive kind of effect.  At the low range, it will lightly effect the dynamics, and if you crank it up all the way, it turns anything into a nail-spitting distorted monster.  (And the sausage in the GUI looks progressively angry as you do so, which never ceases to put a smile on my face.)

5. Ill-formed Glitch 2 ($59)
While Glitch is a bit long in the tooth to most of you, for Mac users like myself, seeing a Mac version released was pretty cool.  Mess up your sounds in rhythmic, glitchy ways with tools including retrigger, reverse, time stretch, lofi, distortion, and more.  Overused?  Maybe.  But it's undeniably fun to play with.