v-synth patches
 

hey, Ive had a v-synth for ages, yet I can't get the thing to sound really as good as my virus can... I hear that good patches exist for the v-synth, but I have yet to hear any which make me say, "wow, that kicks serious ass" as opposed to my usual reaction of, "thats a nice effect but not good tone." Dont get me wrong the side band filters rock, but... in all honesty, I can't figure out how to pump out bass sounds or leads which have a tenth the intensity of my virus patches... any help would be appreciated!

-BlakeLight

Thats quite funny - I tend to use the V-Synth more for bass than my TI because it manages to easily deliver so much hard hitting energy into bass sounds without having to involve heavy compression.

Try http://v-tribe.info/.

First off, I'm no expert as I don't even own a V-synth, but I did spend a fair few hours demoing one...

The side band filters are interesting, but I'd be staying clear of them if bass is what you're after. They're better for noise, or FX samples in my opinon (the Roland guys always show them on drums though).

As far as Bass goes...
I agree with Khazul there. I've never been a fan of the Virus bass (as many guys that have been here a while know) and the V-synth is much more capable in this area. Layering two good bass samples onto each PCM OSC, then by using the matrix and the cosm stuff to bring them alive, you can create very nice low down patches.

The V-synth needs a fair chunk of imagination behind it when you create sounds, which in some ways is a drawback I guess. For a start you have to start with good samples, then you have to make the samples "encode" friendly, then you have to start tweaking. But the user interface is second to none, and after you get the samples in, it's so quick and fun to use.

My advice would be empty the preset waves and patches, then find your self some good dry samples and start from there.

Until you are familar with it - maybe try loading you own samples into existing presets that have character similar to that which you after.

I found the best use for most of the presets was as how-to templates.

It also well worth getting a big memory card for it - I use a 1GB card with mine, so I have left all the presets intact (as reference material) and work off my memory card instead.

Having a huge card means plenty of room for long samples that you might want to process with it instead.

i got to admit,i was rather impressed by the sonic charectoristics of the XT after listening to the mp3s demo on the site listed above.

Yup, definitely a must. Specially with the crap memory situation of the V-synth.

I still say get rid of the presets though. Disecting the presets that have many TT/XY matrix options is more complicated than building them from the ground up. Although having said that, it is sooo easy to just switch PCM waves.

Which OS version are you running Blakelight?

I agree with you Hollowcell when you mention you need alot of imagination on the v-synth when you program it. The only ways that I have gotten sounds which are close enough to something I find acceptable is by keymapping 15 similar samples (such as samples from a fender rhodes, or different dry sampled notes from my virus). Otherwise the ways which the v-synth compresses the sounds tends to stretch my samples too much to use those sounds across the entirety of my keyboard.

To be honest, I think this is way too much more effort than its worth to make a good sound on a synthesizer. In the most basic terms possible, all you should need to do to get a very good basic sound is layer it by detuning a second oscillator, adding unisons and, adjusting the filter resonance to about 1/3 of the way up, and running a manual filter sweep through a little reverb or delay. Though I know the v-synth is a pcm versus a dedicated VA, I dont see why an approach like this shouldnt work... sadly I havent had much success with my samples on this instrument - I mostly use dnb style bass samples and drum and bass samples on the vsynth and the only thing I find to have a rich tone is using the sideband filters on rhythmic samples.

Im curious what is it that you dont like about the virus' bass sounds? I love using the subs on it (especially the triangle suboscillator which I use to create a clear bass sound underneath overtones that I layer on top of it, usually a harmony of a tenth). The EQ on the virus is marvelous for getting a punchiness to the tone which I cant get on the v-synth. And for all the programming Ive tried, I cant get much out of those COSM effects, they dont affect the sound much appreciably.

About the gig card, how long does it take you to load your samples everytime you boot up? I need to use it live, but I know the v-synth has a habit of randomly rebooting, its done that on me several times and IVe read about it on harmony central a bit)... how is it that you use your card on the vsynth?

As for my initial question, I'd appreciate some examples of patches which you guys use your v-synths, Id glady return the favor.

-BlakeLight


PS - Im running OS 2.

It certainly aint that I *dont like* bass sound I get from the virus, is more that I find I can more easily achive deep clean chunky bass sounds on the v-synth that need less post production work on them.

I think the virus really shines for mid bass, but for clean deep base with alot of impact, the v-synth wins IMHO for the kind of stuff I do (and thats true so far whether just using the V-Synth VA capabilities alone, or sample based sounds).

It could also be that I've had the v-synth for *alot* longer than the TI, so I know how to abuse it better and in time I'll find suitable techniques on the virus.

Also the V-Synth is probably also the best digital synth for simulating a TB303 through a guitar pedal and amp :)

thats an interesting take on the v-synth... I actually run my v-synth through an old fender combo amp... sounds awful with my guitar, but for some reason it has decent response to effects heavy signals (like my keyboards)... I had thought of buying a filterbank to give it some character, but Ive never had the experience to actually mess with one first hand... though Id imagine that too would allow the v-synth to get some killer sounds. I can see how you'd imitate a tb-303 by setting up the arpeggiator and step sequencer in verson 2... but what type of guitar effects do you use on the signal? Also, what type of samples do you use to get clear bass sounds out of the v-synth, Id be really interested to see how you program your bass sounds on there?

Admittantly Ive owned my virus' (a TI and a KC) longer than my v-synth so I havent really explored it as much as I could have, its just been discouraging because I have a philosophy which I realized after I bought the v-synth, any piece of kit I should be able to get sounding kick-ace within 30 minutes of first using it (regardless of whether Ive ever touched that gear before) I bought the v-synth because of the incredible sonic acrobatics it can do, but I have yet to get sounds which can really mesh well with the tones I have on my virus... in other words, the tones I get on the v-synth has this digital hue that is sorta two dimensional in comparison to the brilliance of a virus patch.

cheers :)

BlakeLight

This is a downfall of the V-synth for sure. I managed to get nice results on most sounds within an octave or two though. Some sounds worked well over quite a large range (bass guitar was one). Playing around with the formant key-follow parameter seemed to help in a few cases.

I think it's hard to look at it like an analogue or VA substitue though.

You can take this approach to it with PCM samples. Offsetting the start time and playing with the time knob of the second OSC helps with phasing issues - detuning is just a matter of playing with the pitch. Still though, it isn't as easy as doing it on a dedicated VA, as you have to deal with encoding and some samples just don't work easily.

There's nothing wrong with the bass on the Virus, but it does need a lot of processing is all. If I put it next to my CS-10 (single OSC mono synth), it fails in comparison.

Well my patches are on the XT at the shop. If nothing better comes out at Namm, I'll be taking samples that I have pre-prepared to try with the V. If I get good results from them I'll be buying. I'll be happy to share a few patches then.

It may just not be the synth for you Blakelight. It's not a machine for everyone I rekon.