Almost 400 presets that will bring a new life to the Novation V-Station synth Visit |
155 Synth / lead and bass presets inspired by many modern electronica genres. Visit |
97 lead / synth presets suited for modern pop, dance, electronic music genres. Visit |
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Interesting videos related with music, synthesizers etc. Read more |
Massively underrated, affordable drum sampler Read more |
Another free samples, but this time from SampleOddity. Peculiar Percussion is a collection of random objects with "untapped musical potential". It weights 83 mb, which translates into 10 instruments. 
Goldbaby is a sound designer who loves vintage drum machines, synths and studio gear. He offers nice amount of commercial sample libraries but his website is also a nice resource of free samples :) 
A free, starter edition of EastWest / Quantum Leap Symphonic Orchestra is available for those who'll answer the short survey. 
It's a wonderful, first year for Vst Cafe and I would like to thank you for all kind of support, all visits and comments :) 
Kreativt Darhus Dimensional Vector Spider is a Midi transmitting vector sequencer which means that it's doesn't output any sound by itself but thanks to Midi CC events, it can control other plugins. The dimensional vector spider is likely the most user demanding plugin in this (KVK Developers Challenge) contest. Mainly because you need to know how your DAWs midi and automation is laid out, you need to have a bunch of cool synths to apply the vector spider on and lastly you will probably need some time to understand how the vector spider operates.
BUT(!), if you got the patience, are serious about sound sculpting and get a kick out of spending some time watching a texture grow, rather than trying out 10 different "unison-trance-leads", you might end up finding a little gem here. At least thats my intention.
I was wondering if I should write about it or not ;) Image-Line Harmless is newly released "additive synthesizer doing subtractive synthesis. Or if you prefer, a subtractive synthesizer powered by an additive synthesis engine".
Armin Van Buuren - everyone interested in EDM knows this guy for sure ;) - the third consecutive year world best DJ in the world by DJmag.com. Sound on Sound asked Armin to talk them through the production of a top-notch trance anthem and the result is a very nice, informative article about music production, about Armin. Some examples below:One of my biggest tips would be to restrict your gear choice, because there’s so much out there; restriction is good! If I really look at the essential stuff that we use, it’s all about ES1, ES2 and EXS24, and that’s it!
Trance used to be very much about the sound of Roland’s JP8080 — the very clean Super Saw, a little detune, a little delay, that was it. Right now it’s all about distortion and the harmonics you create when you distort something. We use Logic’s Guitar Amp a lot for that, even on bass lines.
I get sent lots of promos, and now all these kids are using multi-band compression to get their music to sound like my radio show. But that goes through a broadcast compressor, and if you heard it that way in a club you’d walk out of the club a half hour later screaming because there’s no dynamics in there. It’s really important to have some dynamics left.
So we don’t really use compression in that way. If we use a compressor we use it for sound design rather than for the overall mix. ... We do a lot of side-chaining.
If we’re making a track or a remix, we listen to the current sound a lot. You have to go on iTunes and listen to a lot of other records. That’s really, really essential. ... DJs won’t play your record if it doesn’t sound enough like the other records, because they’re building a set and they’ve got to rock the crowd. So no matter how many hours of production you put into it, if it doesn’t sound a little like the previous record or the record after it, then it’s not going to fit, and they’re not going to play it because it’ll make their set sound really weird. So doing research is extremely important.”
Almost forgot about this amazing deal, both for existing users and a new ones :) Wusik.com has announced (almost a month ago) a new group buy - Get-Ready-For-2010 Group Buy. Just like before, it's packed with great stuff. So, what's included ?
This Group-Buy Ends on: January 2nd 2010. By entering this Group-Buy you agree to wait until 100 users will be reached, or until the dead-line. What about the price ? 69 users have joined this group buy so the current discount level is 3 but I'm sure that it'll reach at least level 4.
Very small and very quick VstCafe's Christmas competition is over :) The question was:How to make Prodigy's legendary track "Smack My Bitch Up" in Ableton. Video describes, which samples were used by Liam in this wonderful track. Reworked by Jim Pavloff.Amazing video with tons of tricks :)
It's just a small, Christmas competition ;) I have one Ableton license (serial code) - Ableton Live Lite 4 E-MU Edition, never registered, never used and it's waiting for new owner :) This version can be freely upgraded to Ableton Live Lite 8 E-MU Edition (at least it worked for another copy I had), which can be upgraded to Ableton 8.If you're starting with Ableton Live, then MusicRadar.com has pretty nice article available. It's 28, rather basic, tricks for Ableton Live 8. More advanced users probably know most of these tricks but who knows ? ;)
Does it look like VstCafe is turning into some kind of promotion website ? Well, it's (almost) Christmas - good time to buy some plugins cheaper than normally :) Audiomidi.com has announced another "no-brainer" deal. This time it's a Vintage Digital Reverb unit from Nomad Factory - Blueverb DRV-2080. Official online store sells it for 179 $ but with this no-brainer deal it's just ... 15 $. I admit, I don't know much about Blueverb but I have previously offered Nomad Factory Blue Tube Trackbox plugin and i'm very satisfied with it. Even if I use some other reverbs (Ableton reverb, freeware Jeroen Breebart Omniverb), I'll buy Blueverb for sure. It's just worth to have Nomad Factory plugins in your arsenal :)The Nomad Factory BlueVerb DRV-2080 is a vintage-style world-class recording studio reverb. This “must-have” reverb plug-in includes individual two-band equalization, as well as ambiance, decay RT60 and pre-delay controls.More info: AudioMidi.com - Nomad Factory BlueVerb DRV-2080
Whether sweetening mono or stereo tracks, or simply adding dimension to an entire mix, the BlueVerb DRV-2080 has all the flexibility you’ll need to custom craft your sound. Intended to recreate the qualities of vintage-style digital reverbs from the 80’, the BlueVerb is nothing short of amazing. Impressive for tracking, mixing or mastering, the BlueVerb DRV-2080 is a well-designed, superb-sounding effects processor with a unique and attractive sound character .
Admiral Quality has announced a very nice promotion - all of their products are available (till the end of the year) at 50 % reduced price. What does it mean ? It means that their flagship Poly-Ana, analog model synthesizer plug-in, is cheaper than ever and costs $89.98 USD instead of $179.95. Poly-Ana Vst instrument has been reviewed, probably in every music production related magazine such as Computer Music, Future Music etc. so feel free to read the reviews :) Here's a small part from Computer Music's review:There are a lot of VAs out there but Admiral Quality's has the advantage of offering stellar quality at a reasonable price. If you love your analogues, it would be a crime not to experience what it has to offer.
I guess it's worth to write something about old and forgotten Novation Bass Station soft synth. At Phatsobrown.wordpress.com you can find a nice review about it with few nice demo examples. Why bother if you have for example Novation V-Station ? 
"There has been a great debate taking place in forums around the digital DJ web. What is the best way to mix songs while DJing: externally on an analog mixer or inside your DJ software? Many DJs — myself included — have always assumed that mixing on an analog hardware mixer is the best option if you have the choice. To put that subjective assumption to the test, DJ TechTools interviewed numerous experts in the industry, including audio engineers, software developers and mixer manufacturers to get down to the bottom of this important question."
I've been watching this deal pretty carefully and I guess it's finally worth mentioning :) There's a group buy option available at Don't Crack store (nice name btw ;) ). At the moment there's 45 % discount but I'm sure that it'll end up (deadline is Sunday December 13th) with 50 % discount on amazing quality audio plugins developed by Sonnox Oxford Plugins.As I was producing this morning, I took a quick step back to look at some of the simple techniques I use subconsciously that I consider to be very important. No matter what level you're at, I suggest learning these tips inside out to speed up the creative process! I will add more parts as I think of them.
Since 2002, Green Oak Crystal has been present in almost every "Top free synths" article. So, how does it look almost 8 years later ? It's still a very good synth, maybe even better than ever. Finally, I can say that it uses a moderate amount of Cpu instead of huge :)
| So it looks like eight years later, I still can't ignore it :) Maybe I'm not a huge fan of it (it's just there was always some another synth I had tons of fun with :) ) but even now it's packed with tons of features. It features subtractive and FM synthesis as well as wave sequencing, granular synthesis. There are built-in effects available such as chorus, flanger, delay unit. Program morphing is another great feature. One "breed" button clicked and you have a new sound. |
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Kx-Modulad is a free virtual analog modular synth. Even if all modulations are pre-connected (no cables on the GUI) it seems one of the most complex freeware synths available. Take a look at screenshot - it's packed with tons of knobs, buttons :) While almost everyone can use, for example, Crystal, the Kx-Modulad is definitely not for beginners.
| I won't go deeper into details - it's a very complex synth which requires bigger knowledge than usually. It's up to you to decide whether you're able to tame it or not. There are 128 patches available that cover 70', 80' sounds and I must say, I like these presets a lot. The synth has natural warm, "analog" feeling and it's capable of creating unique analogue-like sounds. |
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This may be a little surprise but it's more like a tribute to H.G. Fortune which offers commercial synths as well as "limited", free versions. AlioNoctis is another vst instrument which doesn't look like typical subtractive 3-osc synth. It's described as "Sounds from the other world" and ... that's a very good description :) If you're looking for "out of this world" atmospheres, soundscapes, textures or pads then there's actually just Green Oak Crystal and ... whole palette of H.G. Fortune's plugins.
| There are three banks, 64 presets each, available which is not much compared to ie. 2000 Synth1 presets ;) but on the other hand - there are mostly atmospheres, pads, soundscapes and PCM-waves oscillators can almost guarantee a fast creation of new presets. I like this synth since the first time I've tried it. It's indeed very easy to create nice evolving atmospheres, pads etc. and X-Y pads (used instead of standard modulation matrix for example) are giving a lot of fun. |
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I had a real problem here. Last slot but at least few plugins that deserve to be here :) This time I decided to forget about complexity, weirdness and focus more on just solid, quality stuff. As a result, I picked a successful analogue synth emulation attempt - Minimogue VA. It can be used, just like a real Minimoog, for leads, basses or fx sounds. Sure, it's not as perfect as Arturia Minimoog V plugin or GForce Minimonsta but still it's the best freeware minimoog emulation.
| MinimogueVA comes with 128 presets + there are few soundbanks available on official website. It also offers some additional features not presenent in the hardware, such as, five voice polyphony, an Arpeggiator, 16-note Step sequencer. |
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sfZed is a free visual editor dedicated to SFZ files 1.0 specification. The editor works with audio samples to map them to the keyboard, and shape them to create the sound you want. It can also convert SoundFont (SF2) format to SFZ, giving you the opportunity to change some settings, do some fixes etc. Sfz format contains over 200 settings like velocity sensitivity, loops, reverb, EQ and controller settings to create the sound you want for your music.
Looking for a free sampler that can load SFZ (not soundFont SF2) format samples ? discoDSP HighLife, a free sampler (well, at the end of 2006 it was retailed for 99 $), can do it pretty well :) It imports Akai S5000/S6000 programs, mp3, wav, raw and sfz files. It's "light", it has not overcrowded GUI, but at the same time it's a very solid plugin with all the basic tools available. HighLife has Amp Envelope, Filter, Filter Envelope, few effects (Delay, Chorus, Reverb) and up to 32 voices polyphony.
Audiomidi.com has announced new, amazing "no-brainer" deals. The XILS 3 is a virtual instrument based on the of the architecture of a classic 70's english VCS 3 - matrix based modular synthesizer. Standard pricing of this product is set to 139 EUR / 199 $ but with this great "No-brainer" deal, you'll pay only 20 $ !!! No-brainer version doesn't bring all the modules and modulation that "full" version provied but it's still a very good deal. XILS 3 is developed by Xavier Oudin (former Arturia) and (according to Computer Music review) "... is a terrific synthesizer that sound gorgeous and is great fun to program".
The second deal seems even better :) Nomad Factory Blue Tubes Analog TrackBox is high-end channel strip plug-in featuring a tube emulator, an expander/gate, vintage-style compressor and a two-band parametric EQ with low- and high-shelf filters. Normally priced at 189 $, costs now ... 15 $.
