FX synth vst and techniques

[gillpatrick1221]

Im in search for a soft synth that can make sweet ass sounds like Quanta makes in his tunes. The cool ascending/descending grainy sweeps. Here's a link to a track:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j3vqhuzy ... 8462992417



I stumbled on this vst plugin called VSTron, but I cant get it to work, and Im sure there's other vst plugins that can make these sounds. Here's the link to the VSTron:

http://www.myvst.com/vst-instruments/am ... stron-free

I cant get it to work on 64 bit and 32 bit Cubase 6.


Hopefully there's a sweet synth out there that can make these sounds with ease...

[Electric_Head]

That seems like a fairly generic synth.
Something like Tal Noisemaker or Tal Elek7o should be fine.

[gillpatrick1221]

I bought Komplete 8 not long ago, anything in there that would do the trick? Ive played around with Absynth, FM8, Massive, Reaktor, and samples in Kontakt and cant seem to make these sounds.

I also downloaded the Tal Noisemaker but couldnt get it to work on 64bit cubase. I never tried it on 32bit though.

But yeah, if Komplete can make these sounds, then I totally need help with synthesis

[Electric_Head]

Komplete can literally make anything you want.
Just go to the NI komplete library and see if there are any ens files for subtractive synthesis.
The concept is very simple in that you are using lfos to effect simple saw, sine, square, etc.
By changing the pitch of the note, reducing the lfo speed, etc.
All creates different sounds.

Almost every supplied instrument in Komplete can make those sounds.
Massive for example is a similar vst to the one you posted except with waaaay more possibilities,
FM8 should be mooooore than capable of producing this and more.
and so forth

[KoenDercksen]

Keep experimenting with fast gating, fast LFO modulation, and step away from "nice sounding" synth patches. There's nothing wrong with tuning one oscillator to +1.45, one to +5.23 and one to -3.78 or whatever and modulating the pitch as well.

Basically modulate everything Massive will do this easily and Absynth as well, although Absynth is a lot harder to learn. You can totally do it though. Even just using Kontakt with a fast looping sample with a lowcut on it will get you somewhere really fast.

[gillpatrick1221]

Alright cool, I think I know more about massive so ill mess around with that. I was hoping Komplete would be able to make these sounds. I guess ill just have to dedicate some time specifically to sound engineering until I make the sounds in question.

Thanks guys!

[Electric_Head]

Alright cool, I think I know more about massive so ill mess around with that. I was hoping Komplete would be able to make these sounds. I guess ill just have to dedicate some time specifically to sound engineering until I make the sounds in question.

Thanks guys!

Try to understand what the vst you posted was doing.
Translate that into Massive.
Open a patch that is similar and reverse engineer it.

[gillpatrick1221]

Here's a really good starting point for anyone who's interested in a tutorial for these kinds of sounds:

http://www.massivesynth.com/tutorials/r ... i-massive/


Its really basic, but definitely something I needed help to figure out. Using this technique and some more modulation should do the trick for me. WOOOT!

[nowaysj]

Honestly, you should be learning subtractive synthesis.

What the four waveforms sound like: sine, triangle, square, saw.

How modulators work: LFO's and envelopes.

What the various filters do: low pass, band pass, high pass, notch.

That's it. If you can understand and manipulate those above ... you're on your way to understanding sound creation.

It's fun.

[gillpatrick1221]

Honestly, you should be learning subtractive synthesis.

What the four waveforms sound like: sine, triangle, square, saw.

How modulators work: LFO's and envelopes.

What the various filters do: low pass, band pass, high pass, notch.

That's it. If you can understand and manipulate those above ... you're on your way to understanding sound creation.

It's fun.

Thanks, i do know what a sine triangle swaure and saw wave sounds like. I definately know how lfo's and env's work. I DJ and def know how low, high, band and notch pass work.

But there's a whole lot more than just learning what they are and what they do. I havent really experimented a ton on synths, but i have a solid understanding of all of those. I think tutorials can be a lifesaver to get new ideas from. I would have never thought of enveloping an lfo's rate thats modulating the pitch at 48. After watching the video and playing around a bit with the sound, I can only now understand what's going on and why it makes sense.

Now, subtractive, additive, and stuff like that, I have little knowledge of, and nowhere near a solid understanding of the different types of synthesis. Maybe knowing the differences and such would help me a great deal?

[Turnipish_Thoughts]

Best advise i could give you on sound in general is most of those really stand out sounds that tend to stick in your mind are seldom simply clever synth patches. Most of the time the producer has taken a sound source, be it from a synth or any other random sample or whatever and literally fucked it around in any number of different processes. Re-sampled it and spent a lot of time listening to the outcome while thinking about where the sound seems to be taking him/her and trying new stuff.

So the big point here is to get hands on with sound design. Don't just stick to synthesis and don't always try and get a 'finished' sound out of a synth. Try all kinds of things like filter and EQ peak/notch automation, pitching, time stretching, clever use of FX chains with parameter automation. Just go crazy and record your output then go through the process again with the sample.

It's not until you realize just how many different ways you can alter sound that you give yourself enough room to develop an awareness of how sounds you like are put together and to do that you need to get stuck in, so get to it!

[Lucifa]

Disagree with the other above. Resampling is overkill for most sounds. Its less about the processing and more about how it plays-off other elements and fits in the mix. I only realised this after downloading multi-tracks of music I like. Once you reduce everything to stems, most individual parts are fairly basic and thin.