Hot answers tagged synthesizer
12
The short answer: yes.
Softsynths, general CPU power and D/A hardware has come a long way in 15 years. It is completely possible to run a softsynth setup in a live performance situation. The latency issues are all but gone when using modern hardware. You don't need to blow the bank on a computer but something modern running a stable OS is required if you ...
10
A sequencer is a tool where you can record and edit the "definition" of music. Think of a sheet of music - It tells you what notes to play, how long each note is, and how loud or soft to play. Now imagine that you can specify each of these parameters very precisely for each note. That is what a sequencer does.
A synthesizer generates audio (sound). You ...
10
The major difference between the two is that Analog is a virtual analog synthesizer and is subtractive, while Operator is primarily an FM synthesizer so the approaches to using them are fairly different. Analog tries to model the circuitry and characteristics of classic analog synthesizers, including their quirks. Operator is unashamedly digital, like many ...
8
You could start out with a powerful "Analog" style or FM style synth like Native Instruments' Massive or FM8.
If you are really focused on additive synthesis or you'd just like something more flexible, consider the following modular environments:
Linux Friendly:
CSound - text mode synthesis and composition language. Extremely powerful, moderately steep ...
6
I love FM synthesis, but it is generally a bit on the esoteric side. FM8 is probably one of the easier FM synths to learn. But even after mastering it, you will still have a hard time achieving a particular sound that you want. FM8 is great for making weird bloopy, bleepy, buzzy, metallic sounds. And basses.
If you don't have it already, I'd recommend ...
5
Sounds to me like just one sawtooth with a lowpass, cut-off frequency set relatively high (900? 2k? 5k? experiment. Find the sweet spot) with some Q to taste. There might be a bit of bit crushing going on too, I hear some of that typical ringing (could just be the Youtube compression though lol). You can mess around with some filters. You can bring up the ...
5
If you find getting a good mix difficult under live conditions, the problem might be stage volume. If the instruments are too loud on stage, it can become difficult to control the overall sound through the mains, because you are also fighting the sound that is coming off the stage.
I would try having the musicians dial back their stage amps a bit. I think ...
5
I don't have any of those synths so I can't give you anything exact. (I'm using a Nord Modular, mainly).
Anyway, the sound I get in my head when you say "glassy" would be a sine or triangle wave with either ring of FM modulation to give it some "metallic" overtones. To make the pitch falling you would have to use an envelope to modulate the oscillator ...
5
The last time I was involved with a similar situation (the show was Disney's Aida--3 keyboard parts), we rigged all three keyboards on different MIDI interfaces to one laptop running Reason, and then had some custom software that one of the keyboardists used to change all 3 keyboards' channel assignments in sequence (each channel in each Reason bus was ...
5
The basic idea
The characteristic "wobble" bass popular in mid-late 2000s dubstep is frequently (but not always) created by sweeping a lowpass filter over a harmonically-rich sound of some kind, usually some oscillators. The filter cuts out the higher harmonics, creating an effect similar to closing your lips while saying "ahhhhh. By moving the filter ...
5
First, the D-20 isn't a piano. It is a synthesizer, which is a type of instrument that allows you to create a wide variety of sounds. The good news is that the D-20 was intended for creating realistic instrument sounds rather than just sci-fi bleeps and bloops. The bad news is that by 2013 standards, the D-20 is going to sound a lot less realistic than ...
4
Given the new information you provided, my new suggestion is to thin out the synths. You can keep one as stereo (presumably you have some sort of pad sound that needs to stay stereo), but the rest of them should be mono, and you can scatter them throughout the sound field with pans. That should leave enough room for the guitar.
I didn't mention stereo ...
4
A circuit board cleaner/degreaser may do the trick and it shouldn't damage any of the electronics. Just make sure the equipment is unplugged when spraying it and let it dry thoroughly before plugging it back in.
4
The entire clip you provided is performed on a synthesizer which begins with a bowed cello like setting in the lower register accenting the first beat while a pizzicato double bass plays the next 7 beats. This repeats, so by the 3rd time the cello like instrument sounds at 0:15 a melodic element is introduced which might be best described as a combination of ...
3
SuperCollider is a softsynth. CSound has a soft synth as well as a scoring system.
You can also use CSound as a VST instrument or effect. I'm not aware of a VST wrapper for SuperCollider, but SC can respond to both MIDI and OSC data, so it shouldn't be too hard to hook up with your DAW.
3
I think there are a few reasons why the NI demo material sounds so good, and it's not just because of the reverb. Let me explain:
First, the demos on the NI site are very, very well produced, in every way. What you're hearing is not any one particular effect that "makes it". We're talking world-class engineers carefully producing a world-class demo for a ...
3
Usually the approach that will get you the most realistic results will be to use sampled instruments. You can buy an all-in-one sampler with a wide variety of bundled sounds, or if you are willing to spend more, you can buy sets of samples on an instrument by instrument basis (e.g. piano, strings, drums are often sold separately).
For example, Native ...
3
If you need the factory patches, they exist as .MID files here:
http://www.rolandus.com/support/downloads_updates/eula.php?FileName=factorypatches.zip
You can dump them into your D20 with any freeware MIDI sequencer and a MIDI interface.
3
I used to get great results with the right type of side-chain compression. If the entrance of the guitar sound dims the synth sound just a bit (really, just a few dBs can make a huge difference) it will most likely solve your problem. Keep the attack time short, especially when the room you perform in is reverberant - so you deal appropriately with the ...
3
Check out programs like Nanoloop or LSDJ on a Gameboy or emulator to get a feel for how the limits of the chip shape the way people write for it. You have amplitude and filter envelopes ranging from instant to a few seconds. I believe the hardware enables pitch bending as well if the software supports it.
For me personally the biggest feature of the "NES ...
3
I recommend checking out FamiTracker, for a much more raw, and direct method of programming the NES. Using that for a bit will give you a better idea.
It is my understanding that each game production company made their own tools and assemblers so they weren't bashing out raw bytes in memory to achieve what they wanted. I'd imagine this is why certain ...
3
It should be easy enough to find a SoundFont that contains what you want, like this one.
Note that most SoundFonts bend each sample a few notes each way to cover the entire keyboard. If you want one .WAV for each note on the piano, the Fruity Loops Studio demo allows you to make the files by just opening the piano roll, making the note then saving it in ...
3
Here are some techniques and things I used improperly for a long time that I think will help you. Luckily for you, I've researched a lot of techniques for dubstep and EDM in general. And I have a lot of experience with NI Massive.
What I did for a long time was use the EQ too boost the loudness of my instruments which is NOT what you want to do. Using the ...
3
Unfortunately this will not work. Or more specifically, it will not work well. The problem is that the signal sent to the speakers is very different than the line level signal expected by the amps.
There are speaker level to line level converters (most often used in car audio), but the resulting signal often leaves something to be desired.
If you are ...
3
While you could create a wobble in Audacity, you might go insane trying.
Instead, download pure data, and work through the tutorials. You don't need to get into much advanced stuff, just learn how to create an OSC~ and a DAC~ and a bit on filtering and FM. Then you can hook up as many oscillators as you want and modulate them and the filters. That's pretty ...
3
Definition of vibrato I'm using is a periodic change in the pitch of a note. What happens when a musical note consisting of a multiple of pure tones is subject to vibrato? I'm answering this way because the perceptual effect of what happens may vary between different listeners.
Listener 'A' may hear something gliding back and forth whereas Listener 'B' may ...
2
"faux delay" is pretty simple, you can just repeat the notes at whatever delay interval you want with descending velocity.
Pulse waves and a noise source are really where it's at if you're looking for "video gamey" sounds in my opinion. Playing around with the pulse width will give you many timbres.
It's very fun and inspirational to limit yourself like ...
2
It smelled so bad I couldn't wait for answers so I cracked it open.
Here's what I did:
Removed all knobs and placed in hot soapy water for over an hour
Removed screws and opened her up. Got a vacuum in there to pick up any dust and other accumulated stuff
While knobs were removed, vigorously cleaned the front panel and keys
This reduced the smell, but ...
2
I would happily trade you for a synth with a piano mode. :-D
I don't have one of these, but the nature of this synth is a bit different than a sampler with basic envelope. If there is a piano sample on there, I suspect the reason that it won't go on the full keyboard is because it would sound terrible! You would be loading one "piano" sample for the ...
2
I don't know for ES2 in particular (as I've not used it), but in other synthesizers this can mean that an oscillator waveform is not starting on a zero-crossing when the key is depressed. If this is the case, you have one of two immediate options:
Adjust the phase of the oscillator, or alternately, force the oscillator to always begin on a zero-crossing. ...
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