Is it GAS or pragmatism?

[David Emm]

 

I'm familiar with my four main softsynths on a grab-&-go basis, so I don't have any serious lacks, but I was amused to be drooling over the recent EM review of u-he's Hive 2. I've been enjoying the various demos; the thing has a tone I like quite a bit and the GUI is a winner. I keep sniffing around for a new VA, so Arturia's Pigments also intrigues me, especially the central graphic strip that visually displays real-time modulations. Wavetables have become so sophisticated that they're often a different form of sample, far above single-cycle waves alone.

 

I've remained reluctant because I plan for at least a five year commitment and the first six months of that is learning where the knobs are. What's your tip-over point for adding another instrument to the pile?

 

[MikeT156]

Does a new synth sound different that other synths I already own? Or does it have a sound or instrument that my other keyboards don't adequately cover?

 

My main KB's for my live rig is a Yamaha Motif ES8, and an Alesis Ion VA. I also have a Rhodes Mark 1 Suitcase piano, an Arp Odyssey MK III. and a Prophet 5 Rev 3.2 in my music room.

 

The instrument that have attracted me that sounds different than what I already have is the Novation Summit. A KB that would cover sounds that are not adequately covered is Hammond Organ.

 

The Hammond organ sounds in the ES8 are not very good, the Leslie Simm is basically vibrator. Of course, the ES8 is a date KB, but as a workstation it still gets the job done. I can get a Roland VR-09 cheap, and that would cover my organ sounds much better than the ES8, and it has other sounds it could make that would be useful.

 

I don't gig anymore, too old, so I'm not in the position to spend very much money. THAT is the most important criteria, can I afford it.

 

 

 

Mike T.

[ElmerJFudd]

Do we buy synths for the presets or do we learn to program all those GUIs?

[RandyFF]

I'm familiar with my four main softsynths on a grab-&-go basis, so I don't have any serious lacks, but I was amused to be drooling over the recent EM review of u-he's Hive 2. I've been enjoying the various demos; the thing has a tone I like quite a bit and the GUI is a winner. I keep sniffing around for a new VA, so Arturia's Pigments also intrigues me, especially the central graphic strip that visually displays real-time modulations. Wavetables have become so sophisticated that they're often a different form of sample, far above single-cycle waves alone.

 

I've remained reluctant because I plan for at least a five year commitment and the first six months of that is learning where the knobs are. What's your tip-over point for adding another instrument to the pile?

Hmmm... so does that mean you've already put the 6 month learning into your 4 main softsynths? You already said you're pretty well covered for sounds, so this falls under curiosity and keeping fresh, which is understandable given how fast softsynths have grown.

 

What's your controller and lap top setup that you're ready to take your show on the road?

 

I'd be very curious to hear from someone like you who obviously goes indepth with your synths, a review of how one of these new soft synths further stimulates your music!

 

Randy

[Song80s]

I suppose this is boring, but I go by goals and requirements.

 

There is no money fretting involved. Whatever I buy has fit in to the above.

I am referring to major purchases, lets say over $500

 

Maybe this is a business like approach. I am having a great time with my somewhat minimal setup.

 

[David Emm]

Do we buy synths for the presets or do we learn to program all those GUIs?

 

For me, they live in an unnatural embrace forbidden by law in Texas and Wisconsin. Presets tend to tell you what the GUI can do, but the sound means much less if the interface is a ring-tailed bitch, as some have been. Its symbiotic, because in reviewing a new instrument, I set up a Best Of file and a Start Here file. The former is sounds that immediately spark a song or riveting solo/break idea. The latter contains the basic-to-Nice sounds I tweak for slotting into a piece, such as mutant dulcimers, chromatic percussion or a unique organ that has some real sauce baked in. Even allowing for opinion, WE all generally know when an instrument hits the sweet spot. Good example: the Korg Minilogue, which is smartly open-ended, with room for added oscillator models. The presets are winners, but you can also play the knobs readily.

[David Emm]

 

>> Hmmm... so does that mean you've already put the 6 month learning into your 4 main softsynths? You already said you're pretty well covered for sounds, so this falls under curiosity and keeping fresh, which is understandable given how fast softsynths have grown.

 

I have between one and ten years with the other three, but I'm nearing 6 months with Chromaphone, which has been a pleasant surprise. Its much broader than I had expected.

 

>> What's your controller and lap top setup that you're ready to take your show on the road?

 

Oh, I'm well off the road now. My venerable Korg workstations finally went to Synth Heaven, but I came across a TR61 cheap and I like having that Triton DNA around. I also prefer a joystick over anything else when I need precision. I'm so in-the-box with Logic now that I largely stick with a pair of XKeys. They're very flat with iffy buttons, but I find the keys to be a breeze. Its one of those happy-accident gear finds. I used to have two Invisible Support stands full of hardware and MIDI madness. Having it all front and center on a table is vastly better. I'll make an exception if anyone wants to give me a Prophet X just because I'm a great human being.

 

>> I'd be very curious to hear from someone like you who obviously goes in depth with your synths, a review of how one of these new soft synths further stimulates your music!

 

I'm eyeballing Pigments and Hive 2 because nothing I have really delves into the recently much-improved world of wavetables. I'm drawn to the clarity and the option of dropping my own WAV files in as oscillator food.

 

New synths... I took up Applied Acoustic Systems' guitar modeler Strum because the guitars I had were pretty lifeless. I liked it so well that I bought their more general modeler Chromaphone. It handles the expected bells and oddball percussion well, but it goes far deeper, delivering synths, strings and more. It offers an amp ADSR, which is a godsend. I bought it on sale with the full library and its a major ear-opener. Because they employ physical modeling rather than stacks of WAV files, both are very CPU-friendly. I usually have to go elsewhere for more serious grit, as these are about clarity. They layer like champs. PM is one of the major synth food groups, but the AAS take on it makes it easy to embrace. For example, additive can be a daunting mess, but NI's Razor brings its best aspects to the surface in a very usable form. Chromaphone does that for modeling. I prefer PM to additive or FM; very similar results, far easier approach. BTW, Strum can deliver an electric guitar that will melt your old Whitesnake albums in the basement. You might need an outside fuzz/distortion unit or two to reach a certain subjective chaos level, but its an expressive piece right out of the box.

 

[Dr Mike Metlay]

For macOS, I am pretty much committed to an Ableton Live workflow. That means a DAW setup that lives in my studio with all my Live-dedicated controllers and is used for album work and my live radio improvs once a week. No MPE, tight focus on a specific template that gets modified for each project. (I do have an Ableton-ready laptop for live gigs, but if you see me show up at a festival with it and my Launchpad Pro, you can bet that I panicked and brought it as a backup because I haven't had time to get my iOS live rig dialed in yet.)

 

That means my tool set is fairly restricted and I rarely add new synths or plug-ins; I have what I like and what works well, and I try to delve into my existing tools before I shell out for new ones.

 

This approach was beaten into me, because I've just come off a 20-plus-year career as a music magazine editor, where literally every plug-in and virtual instrument since software music tools were invented has been thrown at me for free for review purposes.

 

Literally. Every. ONE.

 

Before you think that's the greatest thing ever, stop and consider what it means for a creative type. Constant learning curves, no time to just plain play and enjoy the tools after you've learned them, on to the next pile to review or at least evaluate FOR review... over and over and over again, literally hundreds of times, learning as many as 40 new products per year to the point where you can intelligently inform readers about them... only to have them shoved aside so you can learn new ones...

 

It's like having a sweet tooth and being force-fed chocolate until you puke, every day for 20 years.

 

I still do product reviews for RECORDING, but I am down to like two products a year at this point, which is a huge freakin' relief. As for all those plug-ins and VIs I've reviewed, I have uninstalled nearly all of them, and I have a tight focus on a small (but probably still larger than it should be) number of them that I love and rely on.

 

As my computers age out in terms of CPU power and OS support, the latest and greatest will gradually lose its appeal; my last few reviews before leaving the magazine were all in the vein of "wow this thing sounds great and offers a lot of possibilities, but if I run it on my main music Mac, one instance eats 30% of my CPU". I am re-evaluating what's important to me and very carefully considering where my money goes where software is concerned, and my burnout means I don't have a knee-jerk reaction to buy what seems cool at first.

 

iOS is a totally different story. For five or ten bucks, you can try pretty much anything you want, support a developer that has promise, and you don't feel like you've been screwed if you don't like it. The App Store isn't perfect, but for 99% of what's out there, it lets you delete what you're not using and download it again later for another try if your criteria change. It does add up over time, but it's taken me nine years to spend as much money on apps as I've spent on my one big Mac DAW with all the trimmings, so...

 

mike

 

 

 

[David Emm]

Mike sez: Before you think that's the greatest thing ever, stop and consider what it means for a creative type. Constant learning curves, no time to just plain play and enjoy the tools after you've learned them, on to the next pile to review or at least evaluate FOR review... over and over and over again, literally hundreds of times, learning as many as 40 new products per year to the point where you can intelligently inform readers about them... only to have them shoved aside so you can learn new ones... It's like having a sweet tooth and being force-fed chocolate until you puke, every day for 20 years.

 

Ouch. Behold "GAS Gone Wild." Then someone has a moment of Tiny Outrage because you missed the one obscure feature that most obsessed them personally, right? The likely learning curve is half of my consideration, because that rarely dovetails evenly with getting to Play. I'm with you in holding back on overload so that I don't undermine what I can already do. That's why I'm eyeballing a new synth with great care.

 

The small iPad form factor keeps me away from iOS; I have an octave-&-a-half reach on a grand piano. With an iPad, that kind of 'bigger' is not better. I'm drawn to the idea of one as a very flexible module, but that money seems better spent on storage and my kitty for the next-gen move than a platform that really does seem to change substantially every 18 months. Being orphaned that often... no thanks, not yet anyway. An iPad large enough to meet my personal workspace terms is basically an iMac with no aluminum foot! No problem. I never really wanted one of the Patrick Moraz-sized 3-keyboard Orchestrons, either.

 

I nod to your choice of Ableton. Its a smart DAW and improving steadily. I prefer Logic, but IMO, those two show more functionality and greater longevity than the rest of the field.