Synth Sounds different depending...

[Mark LaCoste]

How good a sound is depends on how you play it. An example: Lets say I am checkin out the horn sounds on some synth. I am thinking "This sounds lame. Why can't they include a decent horn section?". Then I play the demo sequence that came with the synth and am blown away by how good the horn section sounds! Same with accoustic piano sounds. Heck, on certain songs even the Sound Blaster piano sounds good to me! Of course, when I try to use that sound it will sound like a whoopie cushion with gastrointestinal distress. Is there no hope fo me? -mark

[koolkid]

i noticed that also,i think with the demos the piece moves by so quickly you dont have a chance to hear an individual note or maybe the resonance from previous notes adds to the overall sound,then when you play individual notes they sound like crap thats probably more true with horns,when you here a good horn player play a single note it usually sounds weird but then when the groove starts it sounds much better, i dont know,does that make any sense

[Mark LaCoste]

I aggree. A piano sample with an unnatural decay might sound okay in a group, especially on an uptempo tune. Music mags I have read provide clues, like a recent article on creating convincing string sections. Chord voicings, not doing things that couldn't really be done with a string section, etc. But I record fairly sparse stuff. The instruments are all pretty hearable. Do you (or anyone) think that the new crop of physical modeling synths (like Tassman/lounge lizard) might help make more realistic midi tracks? I know we were saying "it's how you play it", but if it acts like the real thing that's gotta help! -mark