A good free soft synth

[doppelkorn]

Can anyone recommend me a good free soft synth? Does such a thing exist? I'm messing about with the Puredata programming environment thingie and the guy in some of the tutorials uses FM8 which costs money. I just want it to be able to make some cool sounds using Pd as a midi source.

[x2k]

There's hundreds out there, check the KVR website. A couple which spring mind are

 

Crystal http://www.native-instruments.com/en/products/producer/powered-by-kore/massive-threat/?content=1106

 

and

 

TAL Elektro http://kunz.corrupt.ch/?Products:VST_TAL-Elek7ro

 

But there in an endless list.

[kut_class]

google " NI massive torrent " ;-)

[Jon]

*slaps kutklass on the wrist *

[doppelkorn]

Cheers fellas.

 

The Crystal link wasn't working x2k and I'm going to confess I've never really used torrents (not cos of the legality just never really done it) so I DL'd TAL. Now I need a DAW or some sort of host. I used to have Reaper at my folks house but I've got nothing here. Need some kind of ability to have the synth working...help a brother out?

[x2k]

Cheers fellas.

 

The Crystal link wasn't working x2k and I'm going to confess I've never really used torrents (not cos of the legality just never really done it) so I DL'd TAL. Now I need a DAW or some sort of host. I used to have Reaper at my folks house but I've got nothing here. Need some kind of ability to have the synth working...help a brother out?

 

Why not just get reaper again?

[doppelkorn]

Can you DL reaper for free? I just got a standalone one in the end. It looks like it's from Win95 but it's apparently based on a Moog. It'll do the job I hope. Now the video tutorials have all the midi setup info for a Mac and I never really got midi so now I've got to try and decipher it for Windows.

 

What I don't get mainly is why you need a kind of central patching bay thing for all your midi apps. Isn't the point of midi that it's a standard?

[snuff]

The Itchy synths are amazing

[doppelkorn]

^ cheers I'll check that out. Are they standalone btw?

[snuff]

VSTi

[x2k]

Reaper is free (well it's shareware, you're supposed to pay $30 or $50 or something if you actually use it).

 

MIDI is a standard but it's normally a means to talk between different physical units...(i.e you're computer to a synth, you sequencer to a sampler, etc). You normally connect a midi interface to your computer providing 1 or more mini inputs and outputs. What you are trying to do (I think) is use midi to talk between applications on a single computer, this could be done by wiring the output on your midi interface into the input but is seems a bit over the top, that's what this "patch bay" is about, there are some pieces of software out there (like Midi Yoke) which create drivers for virtual midi ports which you can route into each other, this works as a "fix" to let you route midi between software. I'm not sure if that answered your question but hopefully it will make things a little more clearer (or more confusing lol).

[doppelkorn]

Yeah mate that's helpful thanks. I ended up DLing midi yoke but I was well sketchy because the webstie looks about 10 years old. It worked a treat though providing 8 midi posts and instantly recognized! I don't get what Midi OX is but I DL'd that as well for good measure but I have no clue if it's even doing anything...

[x2k]

If I remember right MIDI-OX is a tool which lets you debug midi (i.e. see whats going in and out as well as get it to send and filter certain messages & sequences), save & send sysex dumps (dumps of settings sent via midi, this use to be how you would update patch banks, settings & operating systems on hardware before the days of usb) & I think you can get it to do translations too (i.e when it receives a specific message it sends a different message on).

 

It may or may not be something you need with regards to what you are doing but if you're getting into programming midi stuff it could be very hand. Just out of interest what are you actually trying to learn to do with Max?

[doppelkorn]

Cheers, I guess it's a bit like Jack for Linux if you're familiar with that then? I've no immediate cause to use it but I've just bought a nanopad off mattnice so might come in handy.

 

I'm using Puredata which is like the open source version of Max (developed by the same guy originally) and I'm not really trying to do anything specific. My ultimate goal might be some DJ software that works exactly how I want it (type in DJ64 on Vimeo for an idea, even tho that was done in Max) but at the moment I'm just learning and it's proper difficult.

[Face Melt]

just crack something until you start making money.

[x2k]

just crack something until you start making money.

 

As much as I know this is common practice and we've done it and I wouldn't be making music now if I hadn't done it this is a fucking shit attitude...I say this because I'm a software programmer and you would've believe how fucking much effort it is to make this stuff, the programmers literally dedicate their lives to it and sure some of the companies are big cooperations but 99% of the softsynth & effect programmers are a small group of individuals trying to make a living doing the things they love.

 

If you really can't afford it or you're looking for the right tools for you by all means try different things out but don't sit around waiting until you're going to make money from music before buying it because lets face it that's never really gonna happen unless you're one of the lucky few or really do give it your all, if you can afford it then buy it. Back in the day making music wasn't restricted to people who could afford a massive recording studio, it was restricted to the people who had enough drive to save all their pocket money until they could afford a sampler and as a result the people who made the music had such a drive to do so that decent music was made rather that all this fucking mediocre bullshit you get now (self included).

 

I know it's totally cliche you wouldn't steal cars until you we're a professional racing driver, you'd save your money until you have enough to get something then test drive what is available in your price range.

 

Sorry for the early morning rant but software isn't this mysterious stuff which creates itself then floats around on the web, people create it and it's a very hard & taxing task, I've been doing it for about 10years now and it's driving me completely insane...if less people had the "until I make money from it" (which you're not gonna fucking do) attitude then it could all easily be half the price it is now. Also on a side note if you do go legit there's a whole load of additional services you get and support from the guys who made it.

 

I've spent thousands on software and so far I've made a grand total of £0.13 from my music on last.fm which I have to split with the guy I made the music with and I don't regret spending a single penny even though I could get it all for free, it's been worth every bit of it and I'm not rich in any way I just choose to spend my earnings on that rather that smoking.

[doppelkorn]

^ have to agree there x2k.

 

I am kind of loathe to crack something with the "I'll pay for it one day" attitude becasue realistically I wont.

 

This is one of the most intelligent things I've read for a looooooooooong time anywhere:

 

If you really can't afford it or you're looking for the right tools for you by all means try different things out but don't sit around waiting until you're going to make money from music before buying it because lets face it that's never really gonna happen unless you're one of the lucky few or really do give it your all, if you can afford it then buy it. Back in the day making music wasn't restricted to people who could afford a massive recording studio, it was restricted to the people who had enough drive to save all their pocket money until they could afford a sampler and as a result the people who made the music had such a drive to do so that decent music was made rather that all this fucking mediocre bullshit you get now (self included).

 

I know it's totally cliche you wouldn't steal cars until you we're a professional racing driver, you'd save your money until you have enough to get something then test drive what is available in your price range.

[x2k]

A pikey who doesn't use pikied software...love it haha!

 

In all seriousness though I'm very pleased you understand, I do by all means say try different things out because you can but at the end of the day when you chose you're tools of choice you should pay for them. It also gives you a massive incentive to learn, I know so many people who have every fucking plugin ever made and they know how to use exactly fuck all of them properly...if you can only afford 1 synth plugin for the next 6 month you're gonna know how to use it pretty well by the time you get your next one rather than just fishing though the presets which have been used 1000 times before.

 

(unless you make trance but there's a whole rant I'm not gonna go into right now...haha)

[Wax On]

I'd deffo buy some shit if i could afford. Starting with Cubase.

[Face Melt]

well i'm going to attempt to form a semi-serious argument here.

 

nowadays that group of people who is able to make music has widened again (from people in studios, to dedicated pocket money savers to anybody with a laptop).

 

the problem with comparing software with physical objects is kind of complicated. there is sometimes no potential loss to the developer if somebody pirates their stuff. people have to remember that not everything pirated was going to be bought. the waves plugins would be a great example. they were pirated to hell, simply because people thought they were the best plugins because they were the most expensive.

 

the majority of the people who pirated the plugs wouldn't have bought them if cracked copies weren't available. the reason being is that the majority of the people who pirated the software were bedroom musicians and the software ran into the thousands.

 

i can understand that it must be frustrating being a software developer when people talk about pirating software as if it weren't an offense but my previous comment was really just echoing what is already happening, and what will continue to happen.

 

and while it would be naive to say that pirates don't need commercial developers (the fact is that money equals more time and energy being spent on development which leads to a better product) it would be equally naive to think that software developers will only exist as long as somebody is buying their product.

 

there are a whole host of free plugins out there that are really high quality. while they may not be up to the overall standard and flexibility of paid plugs, this will obviously change as the years go by.

 

i really have no problem purchasing software if it's fairly priced (i've spent hundreds, not thousands, on software myself) but when you are living on very little a week and maybe have a family to support (not that i do) and if your music making is simply a nice hobby you have (which let's be honest it is for the overwhelming majority of people, wheter they like to admit it or not) it starts to become really hard to justify spending upwards of 150euro on a single plugin when you can as easily get it for free.

 

i really have no delusions about ever making money from music. i simply make music because i like to make it. i also have no delusions about how software is created. i know it just doesn't magically appear. unfortunately i also am aware of how business works and i know that if every company could charge 500euro for a single plugin and get away with it then they would. i hope that piracy will help drive the price of software down. because driving the price of software up sure as hell isn't going to curb the piracy problem.

 

as for extra incentives for purchasing the software. i personally believe there is little. i have cracked plugins and plugins i've paid for and i've never really had any problems with the software acting all crazy except in the case of plogue chipsounds which i had ironically paid for so i was able to email them for assistance.

 

i also believe that the argument that "if you buy a softsynth you will learn it. if you crack everything you will only skim the presets" to be unfounded as it really all is down to the individual.

 

for example i have no problem with downloading cracked software but that doesn't mean i'm going to go out and download every single crack of all time. no. i download a lot of demos and a lot of cracked software and i delete what i don't want. out of the softsynths i have the paid for synths (the native instruments komplete bundle) actually get less use than synths i've pirated (albino and circle).

 

remember this is just my personal point of view as a consumer and as an end user, you as a software developer, consumer and user (and obviously different brain) will obviously have a different view from me.

 

like i said i have no problem with paying for software if it's fairly priced (renoise and reaper being examples of sequencers which are extremely fairly priced IMO when compared to some of the bigger players) but i, like many others, sometimes want to use some tools that may be a little bit out of our price range.

[x2k]

How about this one?

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_VYtQ9jP73s

[Wax On]

Is that as good as Delay Lama?