Desert Island Synths

hairbrain · Post by **hairbrain** » Wed Oct 31, 2001 9:57 am

Hi fellow Pulsarians,

Glancing at the fantabulous `device` page I am continually flooded by the tremendous amount of synth emulations on offer. But surely they're all kinda the same. They seem to all be virtual analogs with perhaps a reverb or delay added. So I wanted to ask this question to help seperate the wheat from the chaff.....

If you were stranded on a desert island with only a dual p4 2ghz with 1gb of ram a couple of 100gb ATA100 disk drives and a single pulsar card..... which 3 synths would you choose to make music with?

Think wisely. If you pick 3 synths which produce similar sounds you'll soon grow bored with them. You'll need a synth for punch, a synth for textures, and one last synth just cos you love it or because it makes silly noises. I don't mind it if you include pay-for synths but it would be good to try and pick out the best of the freebies. I'm particularly interested in variety.... i.e. what sounds can one synth produce better than another. Could be interesting?

I hope for some interesting response.... thanks

algorhythm · Post by **algorhythm** » Wed Oct 31, 2001 10:40 am

Modular II wins hands down. Probably not what you are looking for because it is hundreds of synths and not just one.

FreeBees
1. Saturn. VA Monster - Very Powerful
2. Transplanet. Morphable
3. PXR5. FM and cool filters.
SHOUTS OUT TO DEFEX @ http://www.NEUTRON7.com !!!

Great $$$ synth: Rotor48 by Zarg. Nothing quite like it. *Anywhere*.

kensuguro · Post by **kensuguro** » Wed Oct 31, 2001 9:31 pm

haha, modular would sort of be cheating..
I'd say modular+sts5000 though, to keep polyphony up.
Anyway, mine would be
1. Bluesynth cuz that's what I use the most and pretty much covers all of subtractive synthesis
2. Poison cuz it does FM and keeps a good level of plyphony..
3. ED8 (was it?) for percussion.. I'm too lazy to make individual samples within bluesynth or poison.. I would prefer modular for this purpose though..
4. STS5000 to do all the sampling. You can keep adding, and adding, and adding... Pretty soon new life forms that know how to party and dance will start appearing near the shores of the deserted island. Wish I had a mic to go with the STS5000 though.. the pitch shifting thing is pretty cool on the voice. And also to get samples of wild life forms.

It is a tough choice to make between a percussion synth and a wavetable synth.. but since I like percussion, I dropped vectron and the likes. I'm not really familiar with all the third party synths though... still haven't had the time to check them out. I'll update when I find one that deserves to be on this.. digital "noah's ark".

And I totally missed the rule... chuck out bluesynth.. I'll compensate for it with FM.

[ This Message was edited by: kensuguro on 2001-10-31 21:33 ]

Micha · Post by **Micha** » Thu Nov 01, 2001 2:46 am

Only three? Well, then
Free:
1. Transplanet (for the leads).
2. Saturn (for the meat).
3. SDS (for the beat).

$€:
1. Pro One (for the lines).
2. Rotor48 (for the unexpected).
3. STS4000 (for the mood = piano, strings etc.).

Happy pulsaring
Micha

marcuspocus · Post by **marcuspocus** » Thu Nov 01, 2001 4:43 am

1 - The DubSub (not a single synth can have all that PHAT SubBass the DubSub have)

2 - Mod2, yeah, obviously

3 - And any STS

algorhythm · Post by **algorhythm** » Thu Nov 01, 2001 8:32 am

i suspect that SDS and STS do not count here. i share kensuguro's sympathies about drums, but the ed8 is just too weak. the mod is better anyday for this (with distortion, of course!)

kensuguro · Post by **kensuguro** » Thu Nov 01, 2001 8:59 am

oohhh man. No STS.. I'm in trouble.
Well, I guess I'd end up with
1. Poison (man why do I keep saying poison.. I've only used it once in a song.. but it IS versatile)
2. Vectron
3. Celmo's subbass

And I'll build me a set of percussion from seashells and coconuts.. I'll also find some fruits to make some liquer. ahh, paradise. Too bad I can't build myself a gal to party with. haha.

Oh, and by the way, Ken's my first name, Suguro's my last name.. So ken's just fine. :>

[ This Message was edited by: kensuguro on 2001-11-01 09:01 ]

hairbrain · Post by **hairbrain** » Thu Nov 01, 2001 10:36 am

Great feedback guys!!! I'm particularly amused by the toss up between the EDi8 (or whatever its called) and a couple of coconuts. Being a purist I'd have to admit that the STS stuff is not really what I got Pulsar for... after all I've already got GigaStudio. But if I was stranded on the periculous shores off some tropical island only to see my lovely GigaStudio CD drifting relentlessly into the eye of a whirlpool I'd be the first reaching for an STS.

Just from my vague initial use I'd say I've liked what I've heard from the Mod2, the Vectron Player, The Saturn, and the CombPlus.

But I'll try out some of those others... and might even start saving my pennies for a Rotor48 thingummyjig

Spirit · Post by **Spirit** » Sun Nov 11, 2001 6:28 am

Well, they're not free, but my top three are:

Synchrotron (very nasty)
BassmanIII (great bass, leads and mood)
Z0405 (love that LFO)

In the freebies:
Goofey (got to have a Celmo device!)
ZS404 (more great LFO)
Saturn (I'll need something fat)

But like everyone else, the ModV2 would always be my first choice.

samplaire · Post by **samplaire** » Sun Nov 11, 2001 6:42 am

My favourities are:
Saturn (!!!!!!!!!!)
SB404
Rotor 48
Synchrotron
Vectron Player (just Vectron)
Transplanet

JoeKa · Post by **JoeKa** » Sun Nov 11, 2001 6:00 pm

I´d take the
Prisma (for the Mod Matrix)
Lightwave (for the nice Arpeggiators and the Wavetable OSCs)
and either the DubSub or the Hummel LoFi...

And of course everything for VST, whatever I could gather (Halion´s cool, and the Attack for Drums)

but I guess I´d rather try to trade one of the CPU´s for a second pulsarboard and a microphone before I have to leave, and one of the 100GB IDE drives for a 36GB 10k rpm U2W SCSI. That´s more what I would rely on...

Spirit · Post by **Spirit** » Mon Nov 12, 2001 12:37 am

So, take the 100Gb drive and forget about the signal mirror, matches, tent and hula-girls...?

JoeKa · Post by **JoeKa** » Mon Nov 12, 2001 8:01 am

Ah, right, where do we get the energy for the stuff? Dynamo attached to a fitness trainer bike? Solarpanels? Apples and Oranges used as galvanic batteries? Hm, don´t need no hulagirls around there, it´s supposed to be a completely desperate island, that´s what I need for work... just the tent thingie would be a good idea, I mean, computers and the monsune don´t go together too well.

paulrmartin · Post by **paulrmartin** » Mon Nov 12, 2001 10:57 am

I would bring a Synclavier, if i could find one...

kensuguro · Post by **kensuguro** » Mon Nov 12, 2001 1:07 pm

Now that's a synth I want to mess with. Heck I haven't even SEEN it.

JoeKa · Post by **JoeKa** » Mon Nov 12, 2001 8:01 pm

There you are!

http://www.vintagesynth.org/misc/synclav.shtml

Spirit · Post by **Spirit** » Tue Nov 13, 2001 12:04 am

How about a set of log drums, a conch and a bull-roarer ?

paulrmartin · Post by **paulrmartin** » Tue Nov 13, 2001 7:51 am

You`re on a desert island, Spirit.
I hope to make log drums out of emptied palm trees... anyone have a saw and a chisel?

JoeKa · Post by **JoeKa** » Tue Nov 13, 2001 10:20 am

Imagine, say, 50 of us pulsarians on an absolutely pure, natural island somewhere in the carribean sea, each one with it´s own pulsar-based machine and a pair of MIDI and optical cables for connecting all those machines to one single, absolutely ass-kicking audio environment. WoaaH, that would be a nice setup, and the most powerful audioengineering place in the whole world... F**k, I´d really like to see that vision come true!

[ This Message was edited by: JoeKa on 2001-11-13 10:22 ]

kensuguro · Post by **kensuguro** » Tue Nov 13, 2001 11:06 am

yeeeuppp, the only non-stop partying, raving, 'lectro pop-lockin', chillin' island on the planet!!!
"The native Puulsasaari island tribesmen were indeed, unbelievably talented with their traditional instruments.. Sometimes the entire island would shake for days, not because of the active volcano located at the center of the island but because all of the tribesmen had maxed out their cards with slightly detuned LFOs and played them back full blast. Terrifying.. even more terrifying than an actual volcano erruption!"

"Today the tribesmen did nothing at all... in fact they had done nothing this entire week. There was a strange sound the stood out from the ocean waves and wind breezes. It was something artificial about the sound... Theye were all... 'cheelliiin' to this peculiar sound as the natives said. I believe the natives call the sound 'nuuooiissee thru loowowow passss wit mumummmooduulatededed cut offffofifi" which seems to be some sort of noun but there is still much to learn about their complex language."

"Today, I will write about my new findings about their governing structure. The majority of the natives are referred to as 'Puulsasaari' which seems to point at a specific social status or a sort of proffession perhaps. The entire community is lead by ritually initiated members of the "scu-succo-omigosh it's so expensive-scope" members, who provide and nourish the generic tribesmen. Though this is what is seen by the eye, the imminent passive attitude of the natives seem to point to a heavenly force... called "I'd like some cream on my wares" as a kind Puuulsasaari elder tried to explain to me"

"Some newly learned vocabulary, used in daily dinner conversations-
'Be a man, distort the frickin' output'
translation-'there is never too much garlic in a food'
'Where are the wavetables for the Access Virus?'
translation-'Is there more where this came from?'
'If it ain't synced, it ain't tuff'
translation-'If it ain't hot, it ain't food'"

Oh well, sorry guys, I've been in a goofy mood this whole day.. dunno why.

[ This Message was edited by: kensuguro on 2001-11-13 15:29 ]