What should I pair with my Virus

[BlakeLight]

hey all... Ive got a Virus KC, and I bought a Roland V-synth to play alongside it, the trouble is, is the virus has so much more depth and tonal character. So yah, Im disappointed in my V-synth, and Im looking to buy another keyboard that has enough tone, character, and reliability for me to perform with it onstage alongside my Virus...

any suggestions on what I should invest in?

[Timo]

I'm sure there's more to the VSynth than a little. Factory presets are always shitty.
I'd probably say try using the PCM modelling features of the VSynth to import and warp your own samples more, not just the factory PCMs. Sampling the Virus and shoving that through the VSynth is a dead cert'.

I wish the Virus had more warping tools like the VSynth has.

Maybe also get some tonally colourful outboard or plugins to process the VSynth (and Virus) with.

[Kraku]

Originally Posted by BlakeLight

hey all... Ive got a Virus KC, and I bought a Roland V-synth to play alongside it, the trouble is, is the virus has so much more depth and tonal character. So yah, Im disappointed in my V-synth, and Im looking to buy another keyboard that has enough tone, character, and reliability for me to perform with it onstage alongside my Virus...

any suggestions on what I should invest in?

Depends completely on what kind of sound you need:

* If you're in need of non VA sounds, try Kurzweil K2x00 series. They sound REALLY good.

* If you want the analog sound, why not try Alesis Andromeda, or Dave Smith's Poly Evolver?

* If you're fine with software instruments, I can very warmly recommend GMedia's impOSCar and Korg Legacy Collection which has MS-20 emulation in it. Both of them have fantastic character and quality to them.

[AlexHall74]

I have a Virus KC also and love it to death but am about to add a Motif ES Rack to the rig as it is source of many great sounds that are very non-VA.

I figure the two together are a very robust sonic palette...

...then what?



-Alex

[Hollowcell]

I wish I was over there to get that V-synth off ya (for a nice price of course ).

Have you tried sampling waveforms from the Virus into the V?
Infact what material have you sampled?

I've heard some amazing patches from the V-synth, but none are tweaked presets.

I'm going in this week (hopefully) with my mini disk full of samples to demo one. I'm hoping they'll let me take one home for a period of time.

[jasedee]

The V-Synth sounds awesome! I would say it is the perfect companion to the Virus.

How cool is the COSM modelling?????? Then run through the filters. Why not add a D-50 board to it????

[BlakeLight]

personally I find the stretching on alot of the samples Ive messed with to not have the richness that the virus has... maybe Im not exploring the instrument like I should, I initially bought it because it could do UNBELIEVABLE sonic acrobatics... the trouble is the samples seem to lose alot of their fidelity when warped to extremes.

I found that I could just dial up two sine waves on the virus, throw a little detune, full subosc triangle wave, some rectifying distortion, resonance around 50-65, and I could wonders with crazy bass lines and cutoff patched to the modwheel or aftertouch. The Vsynth doesnt seem that simple to program. Perhaps I am just approaching it in the wrong way.

Is there any place you could recommend me to that would give good pointers on programming the V-synth. I havent found the VTribe site to be that informative. Maybe I should just sample my virus at 15 different positions and keymap that on my V-synth?

Are there any places to find good patches that I could dissect? Or are there any ways which you guys have found that you could program the V-synth and get pleasing results? Any advice would really be appreciated, because, trust me, I paid a decent amount for this puppy, I BETTER DAMN USE IT!

Oh, and Hollowcell, Ive used most drum and bass samples... I honestly dont know what I should use to sample if I wanted to do Lead sounds or other more traditional things. Im fairly new at the sampling thing, though Im fairly versed in using the Virus, I just find the V-synth to be a frustrating beast to get rich sounds that I can integrate alongside the more dark and thick sounds I get out of the Virus.

[Hollowcell]

Originally Posted by BlakeLight

I initially bought it because it could do UNBELIEVABLE sonic acrobatics... the trouble is the samples seem to lose alot of their fidelity when warped to extremes.

Yup, this is one problem with the V-synth. Pushing it really hard introduces artifacts. Also certain types of samples will encode better than others. But I've read there are many ways to get the most out of your sounds - encoding depth, formant key tracking, slightly compressing or limiting the samples on the way in. Plus lots more.

I found that I could just dial up two sine waves on the virus, throw a little detune, full subosc triangle wave, some rectifying distortion, resonance around 50-65, and I could wonders with crazy bass lines and cutoff patched to the modwheel or aftertouch. The Vsynth doesnt seem that simple to program. Perhaps I am just approaching it in the wrong way.

The V-synth is probably easier to program than the Virus as far as interfacing goes, but having to sample the waveforms first is where the problems lie. It's more like sound design rather than synth programming.

But....Imagine taking those 2 detuned Virus waves and layering them with another even more detuned copy in the Vsynth, then resample and do it again...Then if you want to, route that sound back into Virus's rectifier (which I use a fair bit too actually).

Is there any place you could recommend me to that would give good pointers on programming the V-synth. I havent found the VTribe site to be that informative.

I'm not so sure either really. My sugestion is read the manual a few times - specially the create a patch from scratch sections. Make sure you have OS2.0 or higher, and if your manual doesn't have the details about OS2.0 then DL the one that does. Version 2 has the 4trackModulator which would be fucking cool for DnB (or many other genres I guess).

Maybe I should just sample my virus at 15 different positions and keymap that on my V-synth?

Always an option. I've heard an amazing guitar patch that someone has made which sounds as if he'd done just that.

Are there any places to find good patches that I could dissect? Or are there any ways which you guys have found that you could program the V-synth and get pleasing results? Any advice would really be appreciated, because, trust me, I paid a decent amount for this puppy, I BETTER DAMN USE IT!

Take a listen to user tracks. There are some good demos on the Vtribe forum that show off some of the sounds. Most you can pick (kind of) what they've done. Chris Vrenna (former drummer and programmer for nine inch nails) has some good mp3s for free on his site too in which you can hear some very dark V-synth sounds.

Basicly though, you'd have to pull them appart by ear unfortunately. Some are easy to tell what they've done, but others are near impossible. I don't know anywhere that they give patches away - I think it's because each patch is almost like an actual recording rather than just a synth patch.

Oh, and Hollowcell, Ive used most drum and bass samples... I honestly dont know what I should use to sample if I wanted to do Lead sounds or other more traditional things. Im fairly new at the sampling thing, though Im fairly versed in using the Virus, I just find the V-synth to be a frustrating beast to get rich sounds that I can integrate alongside the more dark and thick sounds I get out of the Virus.

Well for DnB the V-synth would be nice indeed. Specially the 4trackMod and LFO stuff. Not to mention the appegiator which can handle user progs with control data.

The Vsynth isn't really a standard sampler though. I haven't had any hands on experience with sampling on the V either. I have just wanted one for so long that I've read everything I can find (including the manuals) about them. Also listening to all the demos I can too. But I've used samplers (in the normal form) for years.

Anyway...
I called the shop today and they are getting in an XT for me to play with!
So I have started getting samples recorded already. I'll be putting in pre-created sounds like "heavy electronic" (on my soundclick site), plus raw waves from my analgues. Hopefully I'll have more of a hands on idea of what it takes for sampling after I do more than just tweak patches.

I'll let you know how it goes.

[gdh]

I borrowed a KC and paired it with my Voyager - I have now sold off most of my Emu gear and will buy a KC soon as a result.

[MonkeyMan]

Blakelight. You have the Virus KC and the V-synth which is always a good start. Consider getting some new patch banks - even if you have to pay. You would be amazed how different and amazing the kit you have can sound in the hands of a top programmer.

I would advise you to consider having a look at some of the Virtual Software Synth's available. Here are a few of my favourites: -

GForce Oddity - (ARP Odyssey simulation)
GForce impOSCar (OSCar simulation)
GForce Minimonsta (Classic Moog simulation)
GForce M-Tron (Mellotron and much more)
www.gforcesoftware.com

reFX Vanguard - (Very nice Virtual analogue poly synth)
reFX QuadraSID - (C64 sid chip emulation! fucking great)
www.refx.net/products.htm

When you consider what you would have to pay to pick up an original hardware unit, find the space to set it up, hassle of cables and have the limitations of polyphony - you will realise just how much of a bargain this software is. And it does sound fantastic.

It wouldn't even cost you half of what you paid for your V-Synth!