bringin it back to production.......favorite synths/tricks?
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bringin it back to production.......favorite synths/tricks?
since people are pissed all the posts are "check out my tune" let's play a game................
what is your favorite synth for each job when making dubstep? sampler? what do you use them for? any cool tricks?
here's a little bit on mine.
atmospherics
i always go to my z1, fm7, or absynth for getting those spooky pads
bass
i'm feeling the novation v-station vsti, along with my se1x. a lot of times i'll sample the se1x, throw it into the FL sampler, then tweak it out from there. there's lots of stuff you can do with the internal LFOs routed to filter cutoff, or envelopes attached to pitch.
is anyone layering bass like the dnb heads do? a lot of times i'll grab a semi-bassy patch from something like fm7, highpass it, then layer a real bass patch from my se1x underneath it playing the same line (lowpassed)
leads
albino and plasticZ seem to be my go-to for leads these days
what is your favorite synth for each job when making dubstep? sampler? what do you use them for? any cool tricks?
here's a little bit on mine.
atmospherics
i always go to my z1, fm7, or absynth for getting those spooky pads
bass
i'm feeling the novation v-station vsti, along with my se1x. a lot of times i'll sample the se1x, throw it into the FL sampler, then tweak it out from there. there's lots of stuff you can do with the internal LFOs routed to filter cutoff, or envelopes attached to pitch.
is anyone layering bass like the dnb heads do? a lot of times i'll grab a semi-bassy patch from something like fm7, highpass it, then layer a real bass patch from my se1x underneath it playing the same line (lowpassed)
leads
albino and plasticZ seem to be my go-to for leads these days
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*glork*
i bin ill... done nothing for weeks... Temporary deafness, followed by bronchitis and doing me back. Oh, and PES 6 came out.
but i'm jumping in on this coz I love tip-swaps!
bass presha
Nothing - but nothing - in software touches the sheer feral weirdness of the Korg MS-20. Take a simple tone and then use that patch panel to route signal everywhere for seriously bizarre blaaaaaaart-wapwapwap noises. Syncing LFO to tempo is fun - mainly because you can force it wildly out of sync by tweaking the 'Analog' knob, which messes with your head!
If you just want straight, grimey subs then Novation's BassStation plugin is pretty wild (but it sounds a little flat compared to the Korg) which has a really easy-to-use envelope section that you can use for the VCF. Great for that slow-attack junglistic fwarp bassline.
Hardware... well, I've only got an SH101. An SH-101, motherf***er. Squibbly acid CHAOS.
atmosph3Ar
Crystal VST is pretty cool, but mostly I love taking anything I damn well please and routing through multiple complex-filter LFOs, ring modulation, reverb, delay, distortion.. basically piling up massive amounts of effects and cross-routing until something happens. You'll need limiters, though - be careful, because you might end up squeezing all the goodness out!
i bin ill... done nothing for weeks... Temporary deafness, followed by bronchitis and doing me back. Oh, and PES 6 came out.
but i'm jumping in on this coz I love tip-swaps!
bass presha
Nothing - but nothing - in software touches the sheer feral weirdness of the Korg MS-20. Take a simple tone and then use that patch panel to route signal everywhere for seriously bizarre blaaaaaaart-wapwapwap noises. Syncing LFO to tempo is fun - mainly because you can force it wildly out of sync by tweaking the 'Analog' knob, which messes with your head!
If you just want straight, grimey subs then Novation's BassStation plugin is pretty wild (but it sounds a little flat compared to the Korg) which has a really easy-to-use envelope section that you can use for the VCF. Great for that slow-attack junglistic fwarp bassline.
Hardware... well, I've only got an SH101. An SH-101, motherf***er. Squibbly acid CHAOS.
atmosph3Ar
Crystal VST is pretty cool, but mostly I love taking anything I damn well please and routing through multiple complex-filter LFOs, ring modulation, reverb, delay, distortion.. basically piling up massive amounts of effects and cross-routing until something happens. You'll need limiters, though - be careful, because you might end up squeezing all the goodness out!

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junglist synth for really deep bass
albino 3 for pads and mids
battery2 for drums
have to say tho junglist gets a bad rep for some reason but its so easy to us and with waves r bass on top you can deep deep bass
albino has some wicked presets but the arpreg is my fave its so easy to use but everything ends up sounding like skream 808 request line lol
battery 2 is good for storing drum kits and messing around with hi hats and bongos etc
i would say tho i work mostly with audio in acid 5 so i can see what im doing rather than blocks on a midi page
sometimes use korg ms2000 hard synth but it takes hours to get anything out of it
albino 3 for pads and mids
battery2 for drums
have to say tho junglist gets a bad rep for some reason but its so easy to us and with waves r bass on top you can deep deep bass
albino has some wicked presets but the arpreg is my fave its so easy to use but everything ends up sounding like skream 808 request line lol
battery 2 is good for storing drum kits and messing around with hi hats and bongos etc
i would say tho i work mostly with audio in acid 5 so i can see what im doing rather than blocks on a midi page
sometimes use korg ms2000 hard synth but it takes hours to get anything out of it
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Bassline - Minimonsta, ES-1 - Both good for interesting LFO routings, especially the Minimonsta.
General synths - impOSCar, ARP Oddity - Two superb soft synths both capable of some neat sounds.
Drums - Guru, Korg ER-1.
Atmospherics - Tweaked and messed with field recordings, Randomized FM synths.
Effects - Trash, Spectron, PSP vintage warmer, PSP mixbass.
General synths - impOSCar, ARP Oddity - Two superb soft synths both capable of some neat sounds.
Drums - Guru, Korg ER-1.
Atmospherics - Tweaked and messed with field recordings, Randomized FM synths.
Effects - Trash, Spectron, PSP vintage warmer, PSP mixbass.
bass - i make all my basslines in reaktor, then i tend to bring em into my Korg ESX1 and fuck about with em even more, use the tube gain to give em crazy ass harmonics, and modulate them in real time via knob twistin' when im recording the already sequqnced bassline into cubase.
some times i make em with the EMX too... YOu can get the drrrrtiest bass out of that monster!
the key for me tho is that i always resample. its like, if you use a second generatin bassline instead of a first generation... they seem to degrade (esp. with hardware!) like tape copies, which kicks ass.
Pads/Atmospheres - i make something relatively cool in absynth, or reaktor and resample it with cubase and process it to death. Turn it into something way different that before. I also like to sample "atmosphere" from movies (kinda like the space between dialogue and music) and use as a basis for resampling as well -- thanks to burial for the idea!
Straight synth sounds can come from anywhere. I get a lot of arps from Albino 2, as well as absynth. really tho, reaktor allows me to do sooooo much, as long as i stay focused on the track and dont get lost in it!
this isnt really synths, but i've been using a lot of my old DnB breaks ive made (stacking,layering many breaks/hits etc.) to weave through the main kick and snare beat. i load em up in the ESX and pitch em down so their at the approx. tempo and go with em. Their pitch shifted effect makes em darker as well.
hmm, kinda went off there
some times i make em with the EMX too... YOu can get the drrrrtiest bass out of that monster!
the key for me tho is that i always resample. its like, if you use a second generatin bassline instead of a first generation... they seem to degrade (esp. with hardware!) like tape copies, which kicks ass.

Pads/Atmospheres - i make something relatively cool in absynth, or reaktor and resample it with cubase and process it to death. Turn it into something way different that before. I also like to sample "atmosphere" from movies (kinda like the space between dialogue and music) and use as a basis for resampling as well -- thanks to burial for the idea!
Straight synth sounds can come from anywhere. I get a lot of arps from Albino 2, as well as absynth. really tho, reaktor allows me to do sooooo much, as long as i stay focused on the track and dont get lost in it!
this isnt really synths, but i've been using a lot of my old DnB breaks ive made (stacking,layering many breaks/hits etc.) to weave through the main kick and snare beat. i load em up in the ESX and pitch em down so their at the approx. tempo and go with em. Their pitch shifted effect makes em darker as well.
hmm, kinda went off there

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i was considiring just about all those synths, the imposcar specifically. can i get some real nice tones out of them-not bass tones but real lush shit that sounds like summertime? i had ER hardware but traded them in. what the f* is this PSP you speak of? and finally, are you satisfied with trash and spectron? ive considered these as well.two oh one wrote:Bassline - Minimonsta, ES-1 - Both good for interesting LFO routings, especially the Minimonsta.
General synths - impOSCar, ARP Oddity - Two superb soft synths both capable of some neat sounds.
Drums - Guru, Korg ER-1.
Atmospherics - Tweaked and messed with field recordings, Randomized FM synths.
Effects - Trash, Spectron, PSP vintage warmer, PSP mixbass.
I AM NOT OK.
what ensembles are you using in reaktor to make your bass? just ones that ship with it - or you made your own?Misk wrote:bass - i make all my basslines in reaktor, then i tend to bring em into my Korg ESX1 and fuck about with em even more, use the tube gain to give em crazy ass harmonics, and modulate them in real time via knob twistin' when im recording the already sequqnced bassline into cubase.
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BLK PLAGUE wrote:i was considiring just about all those synths, the imposcar specifically. can i get some real nice tones out of them-not bass tones but real lush shit that sounds like summertime? i had ER hardware but traded them in. what the f* is this PSP you speak of? and finally, are you satisfied with trash and spectron? ive considered these as well.two oh one wrote:Bassline - Minimonsta, ES-1 - Both good for interesting LFO routings, especially the Minimonsta.
General synths - impOSCar, ARP Oddity - Two superb soft synths both capable of some neat sounds.
Drums - Guru, Korg ER-1.
Atmospherics - Tweaked and messed with field recordings, Randomized FM synths.
Effects - Trash, Spectron, PSP vintage warmer, PSP mixbass.
Yeah, the ImpOSCar is good for lush synthy lead and pad stuff, but it takes too much work getting a nice bass from it. If you want bass, MiniMonsta is fucking ace.
I like the ER-1 only. Great for Electro sounds and zaps and blips.
PSP is a great plugin company in Poland.
http://www.pspaudioware.com/
If you run your drum buss through vintage Warmer and your bass through Mix Bass, then you're all toasty.

Great plugs, great prices. Oh and the PSP 42 is great, too.
I'm loving Trash for just about everything. It's my favourite thing for messing sounds up with. I used to use Crunch before that and before that my Boss bass overdrive. Trash seems like it can do anything.
Spectron is great for making something a little more interesting out of your loop library. You could also look at PSP Nitro.
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