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Rocko Bonaparte posted:I've been leery of looking into VST synths because I'd want to get into a thousand-knob monster and just make noises, but I'm meanwhile trying to do music theory stuff and learn how to actually use notes. Nobody better recommend me some subtractive, FM, and additive VSTs like that, no-sir-ee. idk if you ever mentioned which daw you're using but chances are it has perfectly fine synths built in
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Jul 7, 2022 10:45
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watho posted:after a few years of collecting tons of random free vsts the only issue i’ve run into is that i didn’t use most of them Lmao thread title
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Jul 7, 2022 11:32
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A long time ago, after installing a free VST, my browser got hijacked such that, every 10 clicks or so, instead of going to that link, I was redirected to some weird game's website. So who knows, maybe you too can go on an adventure. Had to reformat the computer after that. I will no longer will use any free VST unless they are from a big name VST publisher (such as Valhalla Supermassive). Hell, I won't even use VCV Rack because just anyone can contribute a module to the library and who knows how well vetted that code is, or what that module might do besides beeping and booping.
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Jul 7, 2022 16:11
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Flinger posted:idk if you ever mentioned which daw you're using but chances are it has perfectly fine synths built in Just Cakewalk. Last time before this that I used a DAW was a :files: Cubase VST over 20 years ago. So far, I don't feel lacking for anything but I haven't been doing anything particularly interesting.
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Jul 7, 2022 20:27
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there’s a ton of reputable free synths. the big ones being Vital (there are paid versions but you’re only really paying for presets and wavetables) and Surge XT (fully open source) not as well known but an honorable mention is Odin 2 which also is open source and has some very cool oscillator and filter options. doesn’t get as wild as the other two mentioned but very good for bread and butter sounds. also let’s you do global unison on a patch that uses a unison oscillator which will kill your cpu but sounds incredible
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Jul 7, 2022 20:38
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watho posted:there’s a ton of reputable free synths. the big ones being Vital (there are paid versions but you’re only really paying for presets and wavetables) and Surge XT (fully open source) Yeah Surge is a good one, and being open source you have some level of confidence that it isn't trying to collect your data or install malware. It is full of knobs, though, which OP was trying to avoid. But it also has a ton of presets, so might work in that way as a general learning tool?
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Jul 7, 2022 21:02
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I should clarify my position on synth VSTs. If I were looking for them, I'd want all the fun knobs, controls, and flexibility. However, I'm not looking for them because if I had them, I'd be making all these bleeps and bloops instead of working on the music theory stuff right now. I'll accept the recommendations so far but I have to watch myself with them. I had a Kurzweil K2000 when I was younger and instead of learning to play on it, I just programmed the poo poo out it.
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Jul 7, 2022 21:44
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Yeah if you're just trying to learn music theory, Spitfire's free BBC Orchestra is probably your best bet. (Requires making an account and downloading their plugin and plugin manager, but is worth it.)
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Jul 7, 2022 21:53
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watho posted:after a few years of collecting tons of random free vsts the only issue i’ve run into is that i didn’t use most of them Ding ding ding. It’s honestly not worth it to get someone’s SynthEdit take on “I want a Minimoog but in BLUE” and it’s worse because it’s Windows only and 32-bit. Surge and Vital easily kick the snot out of lots of built in synths from DAWs as well. Most of the time having competently genre-specific presets is the whole draw of them. This is heavily based on taste and preset design costs effort and time. watho posted:there’s a ton of reputable free synths. the big ones being Vital (there are paid versions but you’re only really paying for presets and wavetables) and Surge XT (fully open source) To add to this; both of these can easily be called semimodular because you can route anything to anything. Surge also has a variety of oscillator models so you could use a noise impulse and a filter for Karplus Strong and you’d let another oscillator play a sample and yet another oscillator contains a 2-op FM patch all by itself. That is ridiculously versatile. Vital needs your email for the text to wavetable function because that is using a (paid) Google API. Vitalium is the open source version of Vital so you can run it on a beefy Pi. Rocko Bonaparte posted:I had a Kurzweil K2000 when I was younger and instead of learning to play on it, I just programmed the poo poo out it. There is no equivalent of V.A.S.T. in the plugin world. The closest is probably Reaktor but you have to build your own shapers and formula generators.
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Jul 7, 2022 23:43
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It's probably hard to beat TAL Noisemaker for a free simple synth, and it's by a commercial developer so presumably low risk of anything sketchy getting mixed in. U-He has some simplified free synths too. Although as someone on a similar journey to you, I found all this VST poo poo to be too distracting. It felt like I was obsessing over what brand of oil paint I should buy, when the truth is I'm still chewing on crayons. So I got a couple good piano VSTs to supplement my cheap Yamaha digital piano and decided to ignore the rest for now.
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Jul 8, 2022 00:22
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if you want sampled instruments Pianobook has you covered. there’s way more than anyone could reasonably use in a lifetime and a good chunk of them have versions for the free Decent Sampler vst. if you’re mostly looking to practice playing/writing music i’d definitely recommend getting decent sampler and downloading a couple of sampled pianos off of there. some of the stuff on there is definitely on par with hundred dollar kontakt libraries and it’s all vetted so it won’t wreck your computer
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Jul 8, 2022 00:37
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also consider this a supplemental recommendation for now because i’m not gonna dig up a link now but the mda epiano is despite originally being probably 20 years old on par with modern paid epiano plugins. i was using it prominently in songs as late as 2018
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Jul 8, 2022 01:03
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Discussion Quorum posted:It's probably hard to beat TAL Noisemaker for a free simple synth, and it's by a commercial developer so presumably low risk of anything sketchy getting mixed in. U-He has some simplified free synths too. TAL's free vocoder is fantastic as well. Very simple compared to a lot of the non-free options, without a lot of frills, but it sounds great and is super easy to use.
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Jul 8, 2022 01:45
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DammitJanet posted:Mostly rock in various forms, but I also love to do stuff with soft synths that evokes an '80s/'90s pop/new wave vibe. I also make backing music for my youtube videos and I do voice over work from home as well. Cinematic sound-design type stuff on occasion too. The Kurt Ballou Signature Series Drums is a great drum lib for heavy punk type stuff, and the Scarbee Rickenbacker Bass is an awesome funk/rock bass
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Jul 8, 2022 02:08
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Just wanted to share that Igor Nembrini, maker of very nice sounding amp sims and useful effects, has a 80% off sale going on that stacks with the coupon code Plugin60 to get some really deep discounts. Very much worth picking up his stuff if you have not, check out some demos and see what you like.
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Jul 8, 2022 16:24
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FYI Spitfire BBC Orchestra Intro is now free free, rather than requiring a survey and a wait. I paid for it and don't regret it.
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Jul 14, 2022 19:55
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havelock posted:FYI Spitfire BBC Orchestra Intro is now free free, rather than requiring a survey and a wait. I paid for it and don't regret it. Yoink! Thanks for the heads up
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Jul 18, 2022 10:47
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Hey VST thread, been wondering if there is some sort of VSTI that can compose MIDI based on some kind of looping, patterns, anything? Just kinda wondering what is out there. TIA
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Jul 23, 2022 02:48
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petit choux posted:Hey VST thread, been wondering if there is some sort of VSTI that can compose MIDI based on some kind of looping, patterns, anything? Just kinda wondering what is out there. TIA Something like Instacomposer? Or am I misunderstanding the question? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t-AyoEZCW2Q&t=1s
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Jul 23, 2022 04:23
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Trig Discipline posted:Something like Instacomposer? Or am I misunderstanding the question? No, not really. (ED: wait a minute, Imma watch this whole video, maybe I'm wrong on this) Well, since I remember you in the hardware synth thread and we've both been watching user so math with his Euclidean composing algos or whatever, it put me in mind of things from days past that could use some algos. I think there were a couple kinda cool programs, way back in the early days of freeware and such. It was completely non-musician oriented, that were designed for doing polyrhythms, and I was wondering if there are VSTs in popular use nowadays that generate progressions or just harmonies algorithmically, and if there were any that did it with just MIDI notes, as well. Does this help expand on my question for you? Also, any good VSTs or VSTIs aimed at polyrhythms specifically, maybe more percussion oriented? Here is another Q that will probably get some answers. Is $100 good for Pigments?
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Jul 23, 2022 16:59
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I'm noticing the people who made Instacomposer also have several other plugins available that sort of match my request, and I am eager to hear about any more. I just got sucked into ADSR/Sweetwater sales and I'm trying to have some self restraint. ED: still haven't made it through the whole video, but it does sound good. I notice these guys are on sale a lot over at ADSR right now, anybody familiar with this software? petit choux fucked around with this message at 17:46 on Jul 23, 2022 |
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Jul 23, 2022 17:36
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There's also this stuff: https://magenta.tensorflow.org/midi-me Different kinda algorithms though.
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Jul 23, 2022 18:52
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Reason has some good generative stuff in their shop. The electric panda stuff is good.
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Jul 23, 2022 21:31
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petit choux posted:I'm noticing the people who made Instacomposer also have several other plugins available that sort of match my request, and I am eager to hear about any more. I just got sucked into ADSR/Sweetwater sales and I'm trying to have some self restraint. I got Instacomposer on sale and it does a decent job of what it says on the tin. I mostly use it for generating arrangements for very slow ambient stuff - just hit "go" on the progression and then concentrate on the sound design. In Bitwig the easiest way I've found to do it is put a note receiver on each track followed by a channel filter so that each track is only playing one part of the arrangement. As for generative rhythmic stuff I typically just bash together something weird using Bitwig devices and the piano roll. I use the hell out of the note probabilities for generative stuff - it's very cool to set up a lot of little weird noises or syncopated bits that only pop up 1% of the time. Trig Discipline fucked around with this message at 23:12 on Jul 23, 2022 |
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Jul 23, 2022 23:09
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Not a VST exactly but I think this is a good thread for it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hYJ57K_lLjA Free spatial mixer software for Mac, produced by a team of academics from UCSB. I only have a regular-rear end stereo setup but it seems super cool for people who have more elaborate speaker systems.
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Jul 24, 2022 01:53
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Okay, did a little searching, here's one of the leading candidates so far: https://intermorphic.com/wotja/tutorials/item/_old/video-jadito.html
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Jul 25, 2022 14:56
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Somewhat related to the above, anybody know of something that can dynamically reallocate midi input within scales? When I'm stuck with 16 pads or 2 octaves for input, chromatic input doesn't have enough room but using one scale note per pad means the range changes way too much when I use the octave up/down buttons. Would be cool if I could allocate some rotary CC encoders to move the starting step up/down chromatically, up/down within the scale by scale step, between scales, that kind of thing. Seems like the kind of thing that would be a feature in some DAWs maybe? Haven't been able to find a VST for it at all. Gets to the point where I don't know if I'm searching wrong or if it'll just be simpler to build it in pd or whatever...
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Jul 25, 2022 16:52
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free Trapt CD posted:Somewhat related to the above, anybody know of something that can dynamically reallocate midi input within scales? While searching I came across a couple programs that called themselves scalers that may suit your needs? I believe there also used to be such things in REAPER scripts, but those aren't VSTs. And IIRC, way back in the day, both Asseca and Nicfit made VSTs that did nothing but various operations on MIDI. I think some of these may suit your needs. You should be able to find them on KVR and stuff. petit choux fucked around with this message at 17:05 on Jul 25, 2022 |
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Jul 25, 2022 17:00
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petit choux posted:While searching I came across a couple programs that called themselves scalers that may suit your needs? I believe there also used to be such things in REAPER scripts, but those aren't VSTs. Hmm. Thank you, this was a good lead. Searching for 'scaler' just leads to, well, Scaler. Capital-S. (They really locked down the market on that one huh?) But following up on your 'back in the day' suggestion led me to midiplugins.com, which revealed both that this has been a problem for 15+ years, and that the operative word I'm looking for here is 'remapper'. Still searching, but this is some progress! Thank you.
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Jul 26, 2022 18:05
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what DAW are you using? many have built in solutions for that type of stuff
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Jul 26, 2022 19:09
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Wow, it's so weird realizing I'm old this way. It looks like Asseca's plugins are pretty hard to find RN. I'll have to look into this, I still have them and one of his VSTs is pretty much in every project, his MIDI monitor.
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Jul 26, 2022 21:41
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watho posted:what DAW are you using? many have built in solutions for that type of stuff I'm most familiar with Pro Tools, which probably doesn't help! But recently got a hold of Cubase 12, so if that's got the necessary stuff it's a fine excuse to finally learn how to work the drat thing properly. Also have 7 copies of Ableton Live Lite, but who doesn't these days? petit choux posted:Wow, it's so weird realizing I'm old this way. It looks like Asseca's plugins are pretty hard to find RN. I'll have to look into this, I still have them and one of his VSTs is pretty much in every project, his MIDI monitor. In fairness, it's not like you're out here advising which hardware MIDI box from '87 will do the job! Bet there's someone out there with a .rar full of the plugins you're looking for...
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Jul 27, 2022 14:30
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Yeah cubase has the input transformer.
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Jul 27, 2022 14:50
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free Trapt CD posted:I'm most familiar with Pro Tools, which probably doesn't help! But recently got a hold of Cubase 12, so if that's got the necessary stuff it's a fine excuse to finally learn how to work the drat thing properly. Also have 7 copies of Ableton Live Lite, but who doesn't these days? And Im one of those someones but I'm in the middle of a move right now and everything is terribly disorganized right now. I'm sure I'll find it sometime soon. ED: Currently extracting all my nicfit dll's from an old dvd. petit choux fucked around with this message at 05:38 on Jul 31, 2022 |
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Jul 28, 2022 23:09
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Okay, stayed up late rummaging through crates and finally found a dvd with a large collection of my old VSTs, probably mostly junk but including Nicfit's collection of MIDI utilities. It took a long time to decompress, it's a pretty large zip. Anybody interested PM me. Oh, also got my copy of Energy XT still! Hope Machine is doing all right.
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Jul 31, 2022 14:13
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https://twitter.com/directofficial/status/1555618856995094529?s=21&t=kwWMH_ISz6vkEG2h6fv9sA
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Aug 5, 2022 23:53
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Here is a link to my zip of Nicfit's MIDI tools. Actually I think they're there in duplicate, sorry. There are lots of other great ones and since there's been a request I'm going to try to set up hosting for all my antique VSTs. https://drive.google.com/file/d/1j78DXltLmg4Rgf5Y6FEb8WC-lCLas0yp/view?usp=sharing
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Aug 7, 2022 06:52
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And I don't plan on uploading all my old VSTs tonight but here, this is all the Kjaerhaus "Classic" plugins, IIRC some of these were really good https://drive.google.com/file/d/1nl0mmWY3cdY0_AFbaZXJzpK3mf3Dl76l/view?usp=sharing
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Aug 7, 2022 06:56
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It turns out that the dude who did the kjaerhaus plugins was a complete piece of poo poo scumbag guilty of the international crimes against children - maybe consider checking out Tokyo Dawn's freeware for some great and still supported alternatives to some of the things he used to put out, as well as Igor Nembrini's free effects. I've done some beta testing for Nembrini plugins lately, nabbed pretty much everything I didn't have in the last sale as well when he had a coupon that layered with the sale, really dig what he's up to today and many of his amp models for Brainworx are nice also on the commercial side of things. I don't know if they have been linked here, but Chow DSP has some great stuff also for free. Not at all trying to take a shot at you petit, please don't misinterpret, a lot of people don't seem to know how those became abandonware in the first place. Agreed fucked around with this message at 07:28 on Aug 7, 2022 |
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Aug 7, 2022 07:26
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Agreed posted:It turns out that the dude who did the kjaerhaus plugins was a complete piece of poo poo scumbag guilty of the international crimes against children - maybe consider checking out Tokyo Dawn's freeware for some great and still supported alternatives to some of the things he used to put out, as well as Igor Nembrini's free effects. I've done some beta testing for Nembrini plugins lately, nabbed pretty much everything I didn't have in the last sale as well when he had a coupon that layered with the sale, really dig what he's up to today and many of his amp models for Brainworx are nice also on the commercial side of things. I don't know if they have been linked here, but Chow DSP has some great stuff also for free. Oh wow. Well you can number me among them, then, and I'm sorry to hear that. Yeah, I put them up because I knew they'd been abandoned, but not anything else. It's too bad because I like them. I'm trying to sort out the payware from the freeware on this disc RN, found a lot of interesting stuff, like my Beatcreator folder. Anyways, regarding Nicfit, apparently Nicfit and Asseca are the same and most of what he did back then was make MIDI plugins. His Asseca Midimon is a really decent free monitor that I use to diagnose all kinds of MIDI stuff. I think there is likely to be a VST in there to solve OP's MIDI issue. And I imagine most of what I have here is still on an archive somewhere, but I was surprised to see how difficult it was to find the Nicfit VSTs. ED: Having a look at your link about Kjaerhaus guy, I see it's making references to a drama that apparently I missed at KVR back in those days. I feel like I should go ahead and use them, but I feel like a guy buying a house where there was a crime committed LOL. petit choux fucked around with this message at 16:35 on Aug 7, 2022 |
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Aug 7, 2022 14:40
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