Mark LaCoste Posted April 5, 2003 Share Posted April 5, 2003 I've been playing with soft synths now for a while and I've got a question for the group. Now, if you are into techno-hippy-hop-acid-loopfest with analog-wayback-nostalgia then this must be great stuff, and cheaper than collecting all the cool analog synths (not to mention the s/n is better) but my studio is centered on singer-songwriter stuff, so most often I need pretty organic sounds (hey, this is Ashland!). You know, Fender Rhodes, B3 organ, decent acoustic piano. It has occurred to me that I could blow a huge budget trying to get just a few good instruments! I'm happy with the drum samples I've collected and the DR-08 thingie in SONAR, but do I really have to buy Lounge Lizard and Native Instruments to get EP and B3? Ostensibly, sound fonts are the answer for someone who needs to cheap out like I need to cheap out - I'm not selling studio time here - Still, the fonts I've sampled seem static and stale compared to the physical modeling programs. Can anybody recommend good sound fonts for these two instruments? A good set of horn section sounds would be usefull, too, but I can't pay $500 for something like ilio entertainment puts out. Help me find cheapskate B3 heaven and Electric Piano nirvana! Rubber Lizard Studio Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark LaCoste Posted April 5, 2003 Author Share Posted April 5, 2003 I mean, why do all the organ patches on my Alesis QS-8 sound like a farfisa in the throes of gastric distress? Should I buy more crap or learn to program the crap I have? (okay, bump. I admit it). Rubber Lizard Studio Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alndln Posted April 5, 2003 Share Posted April 5, 2003 I think your best bet is something like Kontakt and a good sample disk for meat&potato staples like Rhodes,B3 ect.I personally didn't like Lounge Lizard at all and have soured on N.I.'s B4,especially since my old Korg still does those things a zillion times better.In fact I like the free MDA E-Piano VST for the 1 Wurly-Rhodes like Emu to Lounge Lizard(hated it).Although it's not exactly Hammond,the free Z-3 organ is pretty cool.You can probably find both somewhere here. [url=http://www.databaseaudio.co.uk/plugins.php]www.databaseaudio.co.uk/plugins.php[/url] "A Robot Playing Trumpet Blows" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alndln Posted April 5, 2003 Share Posted April 5, 2003 Oh,Sampletank free and the free downloadable Hammond patch is pretty cool.The reason I haven't mentioned any pay VSTi's besides Kontakt is than I haven't heard any that are worth a damm for staple sounds. "A Robot Playing Trumpet Blows" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sylver Posted April 5, 2003 Share Posted April 5, 2003 I have Vsampler and though it's a cpu hog(pentium 1Gh bogs down with large samples), it's great. I found some great EP, B3 and Piano sounds(among thousands of others), and it's only like $50 for cakewalk customers. Oh, one of the best things is that it can use a variety of different formats, Wavs, Akai, and best of all ... SoundFonts. There are lots of free high qaulity soundfonts floating around, not to mention the large quantity of banks that vsampler has on thier website. I really don't know what to put here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gus Lozada Posted April 5, 2003 Share Posted April 5, 2003 You may download all them as DEMOS... try: * FM7 - Native Instruments. Virtual DX7 * B4 - Native Instruments. Virtual Hammond B3. :thu: * Lounge Lizard (sorry but it sounds just great). * REASON 2.0 and try the NN-XT sampler. It is just so cool to have such a sample reader like this one. I produce lots of non-electronic music a 100% done in soft synths. Músico, Productor, Ingeniero, Tecnólogo Senior Product Manager, América Latina y Caribe - PreSonus at Fender Musical Instruments Company Instagram: guslozada Facebook: Lozada - Música y Tecnología www.guslozada.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark LaCoste Posted April 5, 2003 Author Share Posted April 5, 2003 Hmmm, good suggestions. Hadn't considered Kontact or VSampler. I was going to get livesynth Pro, but couldn't get inspired based on soundfonts I tried with the demo. Nothing to loose by trying Sampletank! I'm with Gus on the Lounge Lizard, love it, but the version I got with Computers and Music magazine doesn't work through my hammerfall card(?!!). Plays great through my piece-o-crapp onboard sound card. In the end I may just have to save pennies for the B4. Damn. I wanted a new microphone instead. Rubber Lizard Studio Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rog Posted April 6, 2003 Share Posted April 6, 2003 Ditto the MDA piano :) "That's what the internet is for. Slandering others anonymously." - Banky Edwards. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boosh Posted April 6, 2003 Share Posted April 6, 2003 [quote]Originally posted by Gus Lozada: [b]You may download all them as DEMOS... try: * FM7 - Native Instruments. Virtual DX7 * B4 - Native Instruments. Virtual Hammond B3. :thu: * Lounge Lizard (sorry but it sounds just great). * REASON 2.0 and try the NN-XT sampler. It is just so cool to have such a sample reader like this one. I produce lots of non-electronic music a 100% done in soft synths.[/b][/quote]EXCELLENT CHOICES!! Fan, nu pissar jag taggtråd igen. Jag skulle inte satt på räpan. http://www.bushcollectors.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anderton Posted April 6, 2003 Share Posted April 6, 2003 The Sonic Reality CDs are a fine GM-type set for not much. They come with a version of SampleTank so you can play them in any VSTi host. Their GM-type refill for Reason is also very good. The Spectrasonics Trilogy for bass is pretty much all the bass you'll ever need. And I agree with what's been said about the FM7 and Kontakt,which are both fine instruments. I also give thumbs up on the Lounge Lizard because of what you can do with it outside the normal electric piano boundaries. And not to sound like a broken record, but the CreamWare synths are really pretty amazing. Six-String in particular is outstanding. Too bad they're not available as VSTi devices... Craig Anderton Educational site: http://www.craiganderton.org Music: http://www.youtube.com/thecraiganderton Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/craig_anderton Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G. Ratte Posted April 6, 2003 Share Posted April 6, 2003 Yo, I second Alndln Hoo's mda E-piano and the Z-3 organ VSTi's. Those are really nice and free. Very tweakable too. Somebody's got a clavinet too, can't remember which. Also good. kvr-vst.com! G. Ratte' http://www.cultdeadcow.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alfonso Posted April 6, 2003 Share Posted April 6, 2003 [quote]Originally posted by Anderton: [b]And not to sound like a broken record, but the CreamWare synths are really pretty amazing. Six-String in particular is outstanding. Too bad they're not available as VSTi devices...[/b][/quote]I agree (my thoughts are known...), but "that" outstanding sound wouldn't be possible without the "sharc" coding, or to say better the CW cards...that's the sound of a hardware... Guess the Amp .... now it's finished... Here it is! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark LaCoste Posted April 7, 2003 Author Share Posted April 7, 2003 Pardon my density, but 3 why have 3 people mentioned a softsynth that emulates the DX-7? Interesting that despite all the choices available today, 2003, we mostly wanna emulate the groundbreaking synthisizers of the 1970's. Of course, I'd be happy with a good piano and a B3, both even older than DX's or Moogs. It'll be many gigs before I can afford all this techno-retro-crap-on-a-CD. Rubber Lizard Studio Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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