cherry audio gx-80 Team Test: Cherry Audio GX-80

[mate stubb]

Makes one wish for a hardware controller that was just a narrow long strip with paddles. Hmmm, I'd hate to cannibalize a working YC-45, but if one could find some carcasses...

[Al Coda]

15 hours ago, GabrielPas64 said:

you  must load it into the ReaJS VST plugin (which is part of the ReaPlugs free package: https://www.reaper.fm/reaplugs/)

 

well,- these aren´t available anymore ... ... and IIRC, these were 32Bit only too,- no ?

 

thx nonetheless,- I´ll try to find a solution.

 

 

A.C.

[GabrielPas64]

 

Sorry...they are available...it's just that, when I pasted the text into my reply, the closing parenthesis was wrongly included in the link. The correct link is https://www.reaper.fm/reaplugs/ . A 64 bit version is also available. Sorry for the inconvenience.

 

gabriel

[Tusker]

So I don't really know how to ask this odd question, and it's more out of curiosity than anything else, but what did you differently to handle analog pitch variability? It's really quite remarkable. And I am hoping you won't share trade secrets but maybe your philosophy?

 

To try to explain my question, we are all synth geeks. We know the oscillator detune feature in a synth is help to make things bigger but there is a sameness to periodic chorusing so you want some "analog" drift and unpredictability. For this reason, many synths have a generic "analog" or "slop" setting which allows pitch to drift. The trouble with many of these slop settings are that they seem to drift in a very homogeneous way, so that as you add more slop, it gets buzzier in order to get bigger if you know what I mean.

 

By contrast, the pitch variation in the GX80 seems so modest and yet targeted to where it can make a huge difference. You can pile on notes and ranks and layers and it doesn't get buzzier. It gets sweeter and it gets bigger. Sure, I can hear detuning between ranks but there is also this really finely controlled instability within a rank. It's delicate but it's huge, just like the CS and GX recordings I have listened to a million times.

 

This is a uniquely beautiful sound to me. Is there a story about how you chose to go about embedding the pitch variability into the design? Thanks in advance.

[KJX]

When everyone dumped their analog synths to go digital in the early '80s, I swept up Moogs and ARPs and two (2) Yamaha CS-80s for under $2,000 (for both).

I literally had one for my left hand and one for my right hand and they became so much a part of my musical expression, part of my musical being.

After falling on harder times at the end of the '90s and liquidating my analog gear, I set about recreating the magic lifeforce of the CS-80. This lead me into exploring the history of the GX-1 and where that went, which was also into the Yamaha E-70 from the same year as the CS-80. Fast forward to pursuing and finding E-70 Electones (for about $150 each) and again, one for left-hand and one for right-hand. Following the quest of  expressive control, I delved into other Electones with MIDI and dual manuals, then connected those to rack synths. I got closer.

Long story short, I am here and have purchased GX-80 after watching all the YouTube videos I could (especially Tim Shoebridge's excellent video) ~ and I am absolutely stunned at the GX-80. Truly magical expression right there under my fingertips. The sound is spot on.

One thing that (I think) I am hearing is individual idiosyncrasies where one voice will be slightly out of tune, or that the 8 LFO's have slightly different speeds. I think? 

Only thing I need now is that magical physical controller keyboard with dual 61-note keyboards. That is the goal, that is now the central preoccupation of my life. Where to start?

Because just as important as the synth engine, the CS-80 console was equally (if not more) a part of the transcendent magic. A keyboard you could lean into. Ribbon controller. Interrelated control sliders to bring out and tame wild expression on the fly.

The GX-80 is sublime.

Thank you, Cherry Audio! 

 

 

[SKentish]

18 hours ago, MRBarton said:

 

Hi Steve,

 

You might have gotten a tear in your eye playing the Pirates preset, but I also got a tear in my eye reading your wonderful comments.  It's feedback like yours that makes this monumental effort we all went through worthwhile.

 

As is my bent, a tiny correction here.  The modulation is not accomplished with the RING MODULATOR.  It is the SUB OSCILLATOR working the voice filters with TOUCH RESPONSE -- SUB OSC AFTER increasing the SPEED and VCF depth.

 

The Pirates intro that uses this sound is easy enough to figure out and the rest of the intro is just a repeated (and slightly arpeggiated) C F Bb C chord (top note is middle-C).  I used to play Pirates all the way through pretty well, but I've forgotten practically all of it and my chops have kinda fallen away too.  Too much typing and not enough playing.  I can still manage a pretty mean Tarkus though.

 

I've attached all the presets I used to make my demo recording which is among the others at the bottom of https://cherryaudio.com/products/gx-80

 

Once again, thanks for your great feedback and rock on!

 

--mb

 

 

MRB.zip 19.49 kB · 4 downloads

MB

 

I am so happy my feedback struck a chord and touched you - you and the whole CA team deserve so much credit and thanks for this work of synth art. I think that the general reaction to this is coming over on this forum and elsewhere. This is a wonderful instrument.

 

Thanks for correcting me - as I typed it last last night sitting in bed I did wonder if I was making an error (and could not take a look and check) and thanks for explaining it more clearly for me.

 

I am also so grateful for your other patches from your superb demo - you are so kind and generous to share these. I will download and try now.

 

Best wishes and thank you

Steve

[Adrian Lee]

2 hours ago, KJX said:

two (2) Yamaha CS-80s for under $2,000 (for both).

Feel sick

[KJX]

4 hours ago, Adrian Lee said:

Feel sick

Not as sick as I feel everytime I look on Reverb . . . 🤕

[MRBarton]

9 minutes ago, KJX said:

Not as sick as I feel everytime I look on Reverb . . . 🤕

 

Oh everybody's got a story like that if you're old enough.  Heck, about 30 years ago I traded an ARP2500 (that's 2500) for a DX-7.  In my defense, it had a lot of blanks and the matrix switches were in poor shape, but still..

 

On a happier note, attached here is a hints & kinks (old ham radio term) document that went out to the sound designers before the GX-80 was released to give them a boost when starting to program all our wonderful presets.  It doesn't cover everything, so for that you should look at the documentation here: https://docs.cherryaudio.com/cherry-audio/instruments/gx-80/getting-started, but it does cover what is unconventional and weird about the instrument and those things I thought required clarification.

 

AND HAVE YOU GUYS SEEN THIS?  https://www.musicradar.com/news/best-new-plugins-2022

It's barely been out a few weeks and we came in 2nd for best plugin of 2022!!  I like to think we came in 1st among instrument plugins because the thing that came in 1st is an effects processor.  Thanks to everyone who voted.

 

--mb

GX-80-Programming.docx

[mate stubb]

59 minutes ago, MRBarton said:

 

 Heck, about 30 years ago I traded an ARP2500 (that's 2500) for a DX-7.  In my defense, it had a lot of blanks and the matrix switches were in poor shape, but still..

 

Nooooooooo!

 

I had the giant 2500 poster taped above my bed for years. Still have that, need to frame it! A desert island synth for me.

[MRBarton]

45 minutes ago, mate stubb said:

I had the giant 2500 poster taped above my bed for years.

 

Wow, me too.  I wonder where that poster went.  If you want one, just get the Voltage Modular version on sale now for a mere $25 (shameless plug -- I wrote those modules too).  Sounds the same, works better, can have as much of any of it as you want = no brainer.    https://store.cherryaudio.com/bundles/vm2500-collection#description

Besides, it's really fun to mix and match it with the Moog 900 stuff.  https://store.cherryaudio.com/bundles/vm900-collection.

But the smartest move is to get it all right now (with the Oberheim stuff) in the Year Three Collection for only $65.  The value for money is insane.  I wish I was younger.

 

Sorry for the commercial and going off topic, but we always get requests asking for the Moog and ARP stuff to be made into plugins.  I don't think people realize that Voltage Modular is a plugin and making those synth systems into plugins would just put limitations on them.

 

Attached is the poster I had (have).  Same as yours?

 

--mb

 

[mate stubb]

No, my poster has individual module pics and descriptions in the borders and it's black and white.

 

 

[KJX]

I feel like I have found my people

people that understand the central preoccupation of my life

[GabrielPas64]

On 12/11/2022 at 9:00 PM, GabrielPas64 said:

 

Hi A.C.,

 

thank you for your interest in my little script. In the meantime I have included a txt file with some explanation in the zip archive (attached here). In short, to use the script you  must load it into the ReaJS VST plugin (which is part of the ReaPlugs free package: https://www.reaper.fm/reaplugs/) and you have to route the MIDI output from your controller through ReaJS into the VST Instrument, which in turn should be able to use poly-AT. The script "tells" ReaJS how to behave with the incoming MIDI messages.

 

 

midipressuretopoly3.zip 2.18 kB · 5 downloads

 

Please be aware that the above link is broken. The correct one is https://www.reaper.fm/reaplugs/ , without the final ")". Sorry for that.

Gabriel

[KJX]

What would make for good controllers for the GX-80? 

Seems like the ASM Hydrasynth Deluxe makes for a very good pairing. What are some other options? 

[MRBarton]

I have also picked up a Hydrasynth Deluxe.  They should really thank us for boosting their sales.  Anyway, I know folks have gotten it working with keyboard and pressure, but are having problems getting the ribbon to send messages or respond correctly with the GX-80.  If anyone has gotten all that squared away, it would be great if you could fill us all in regarding settings, etc.  Thanks.

 

--mb

 

[Al Coda]

18 hours ago, GabrielPas64 said:

 

Sorry...they are available...it's just that, when I pasted the text into my reply, the closing parenthesis was wrongly included in the link. The correct link is https://www.reaper.fm/reaplugs/ . A 64 bit version is also available. Sorry for the inconvenience.

 

gabriel

 

 

thx a lot,- that will work !

 

 

A.C.

 

[Al Coda]

7 hours ago, MRBarton said:

the Moog 900 stuff.  https://store.cherryaudio.com/bundles/vm900-collection.

 

 

I really love using these modules !

 

 

A.C.

[Anderton]

I'm finding the GX-80 in its "pad zone" is pretty amazing with MIDI guitar. MIDI guitar doesn't like percussive presets, because they pick up on every little false trigger, whereas those short triggers get glossed over by sounds with attack times. Of course, you can always edit out the false triggers and such later, but for real-time playing, pads are best suited to MIDI guitar. 

 

I'm finding that the guitar voicings give a very different flavor compared to what I would normally play on keyboards. I thought the channelization aspect would be a problem with MIDI guitars in Mono mode, but that's easy enough to take care of at the DAW itself. 

[SKentish]

10 hours ago, MRBarton said:

I have also picked up a Hydrasynth Deluxe.  They should really thank us for boosting their sales.  Anyway, I know folks have gotten it working with keyboard and pressure, but are having problems getting the ribbon to send messages or respond correctly with the GX-80.  If anyone has gotten all that squared away, it would be great if you could fill us all in regarding settings, etc.  Thanks.

 

--mb

 

Mark

I got mine to work by going to System Setup menus (button access on main panel) then page 6 and the RbnPB TX option which I changed to ON and then it worked fine. I think that is all I did

 

Best wishes

Steve

[Dave Bryce]

2 hours ago, SKentish said:

I got mine to work by going to System Setup menus (button access on main panel) then page 6 and the RbnPB TX option which I changed to ON and then it worked fine. I think that is all I did

 

Same with me and my Hydrasynth.

 

dB

[Al Coda]

18 hours ago, GabrielPas64 said:

Please be aware that the above link is broken. The correct one is https://www.reaper.fm/reaplugs/ , without the final ")". Sorry for that.

Gabriel

 

Gabriel,- unfortunately I don´t see a chance to just only installing THAT ReaJS plugin into acurrent Reaper version which is what I´m using.

ALL the ReaPlugs are already included in Reaper, except ReaJS !

But, when selectiong ReaJS only for installation from the v2.3.6 pack, there will be "many" plugins including, older versions possibly overwriting younger versions.

Not enough, scripts seem to be meant to run from action list in latest Reaper, which might be the reason the older ReaJS plugin doesn´t exsist in Reaper anymore.

 

So, WHEN you have any advise "how to" use your script in latest Reaper x64 version, plz let me know.

I´m interested to try w/ Memorymoon "ME80" CS 80 clone ...

 

Is there another  way creating a ready to use JS plugin from your script, maybe by using another/older host (on a different machine) ?

 

 

A.C.

 

[GabrielPas64]

9 hours ago, Al Coda said:

 

Gabriel,- unfortunately I don´t see a chance to just only installing THAT ReaJS plugin into acurrent Reaper version which is what I´m using.

ALL the ReaPlugs are already included in Reaper, except ReaJS !

But, when selectiong ReaJS only for installation from the v2.3.6 pack, there will be "many" plugins including, older versions possibly overwriting younger versions.

Not enough, scripts seem to be meant to run from action list in latest Reaper, which might be the reason the older ReaJS plugin doesn´t exsist in Reaper anymore.

 

So, WHEN you have any advise "how to" use your script in latest Reaper x64 version, plz let me know.

I´m interested to try w/ Memorymoon "ME80" CS 80 clone ...

 

Is there another  way creating a ready to use JS plugin from your script, maybe by using another/older host (on a different machine) ?

 

 

A.C.

 

 

Hi A.C.!

 

I am not using Reaper, so take this info with a grain of salt. Maybe some Reaper expert here can confirm...anyway, it seems that in order to use my script in Reaper you just have to do as follows:

 

Open Reaper.

Go to Options->Show REAPER resource path in explorer/finder

Navigate to the ‘Effects’ folder.

If it's not already there, create a "midi" folder in the Effects folder and put the file "midipressuretopoly" into it.

 

At this point, I don't know if you have to quit and restart Reaper in order to make it "seeing" the new effect. I would do it, just to be sure.

After restarting Reaper, create a track and open the FX browser. There, in the JS folder, you should find my plugin.

 

Another possible way to obtain the same result could be (taken from this site: https://www.admiralbumblebee.com/music/2018/02/08/Write-a-Reaper-MIDI-JSFX-from-scratch.html )

 

Create a track

Open the FX browser (click the FX button on the track)

Navigate to the JS folder

Right click the JS folder and select Create New JS FX...

Enter the name: "midipressuretopoly"

 

Now open Reaper. Add a track then click the FX button. Find the JS plugin that you just created. 

You will see the window on the left in the image above (see image on the site I have linked above).

Click that button that says ‘Edit’ and a text editor will open up in Reaper with our file.

Now you just have to copy and paste the whole content of my file "midipressuretopoly" in the Reaper text editor and save it.

 

Unfortunately, I have not Reaper installed on my PC, so I can't check all of this myself. Wishing you the best of luck...I am thankful that you are still trying to use my plugin in spite of all these stumbling blocks! 

 

Gabriel

 

 

[Adrian Lee]

There is no shortage of Electone organs sporting panels like this on the used market. There's 15 paddles on this old guy, plus switches which could be repurposed. There are midi retrofit companies who take tech as old as, and older than, this and midify it.
Can't help but wonder what it would take to bolt a couple of these panels together and yammify control for the GX-80?

[KuruPrionz]

2 minutes ago, Adrian Lee said:

There is no shortage of Electone organs sporting panels like this on the used market. There's 15 paddles on this old guy, plus switches which could be repurposed. There are midi retrofit companies who take tech as old as, and older than, this and midify it.
Can't help but wonder what it would take to bolt a couple of these panels together and yammify control for the GX-80?

I see stuff like this all the time at thrift stores. 

At this point, I need another project like a sledgehammer to the forehead!!! 😘

[Adrian Lee]

11 minutes ago, KuruPrionz said:

I see stuff like this all the time at thrift stores. 

At this point, I need another project like a sledgehammer to the forehead!!! 😘

What I'm really hoping for, ultimately, is a 600lb remote control

[Al Coda]

10 hours ago, GabrielPas64 said:

Hi A.C.!

 

I am not using Reaper, so take this info with a grain of salt. Maybe some Reaper expert here can confirm...anyway, it seems that in order to use my script in Reaper you just have to do as follows: ...

 

 

 

Thank you Gabriel,- I´ll follow your advise and try that ASAP.

 

 

A.C.

 

 

[Al Coda]

On 12/14/2022 at 12:59 PM, GabrielPas64 said:

Another possible way to obtain the same result could be (taken from this site: https://www.admiralbumblebee.com/music/2018/02/08/Write-a-Reaper-MIDI-JSFX-from-scratch.html )

 

Create a track

Open the FX browser (click the FX button on the track)

Navigate to the JS folder

Right click the JS folder and select Create New JS FX...

Enter the name: "midipressuretopoly"

 

Now open Reaper. Add a track then click the FX button. Find the JS plugin that you just created. 

You will see the window on the left in the image above (see image on the site I have linked above).

Click that button that says ‘Edit’ and a text editor will open up in Reaper with our file.

Now you just have to copy and paste the whole content of my file "midipressuretopoly" in the Reaper text editor and save it.

 

 

Well,- after I was unable to get your JS plugin recognized in Reaper, the above did it,- almost,- so thx a lot !

Important:

The resulting JS plugin should NOT go into a/the "MIDI"-folder you mentioned above.

Instead I placed it into the "Effects" root-folder once Reaper showed it´s ressouces path and voilà,- it got recognized then.

 

Works pretty well w/ ME80 !

 

Now it would be interesting to create a VST plugin from JS code plugin,- just only to use it in other hosts too.

I googled already but haven´t found yet ...

 

As an alternative I´ll try to install the "ReaPlugs" you mentioned above into a seperate vstplugins folder not being scanned by Reaper, then try using ReaJS w/ your code in other hosts.

 

we´ll see,-

 

 

A.C.

[JB Sherry]

On 12/14/2022 at 12:48 PM, Adrian Lee said:

What I'm really hoping for, ultimately, is a 600lb remote control

You’ll never lose that remote!😜

[mate stubb]

I'm interested in the approach to modelling a particular instrument. Does one model at the component level down to resistors and caps or just model the behavior of a particular subcircuit?