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deathadder
Starting Member
United States
3 posts
Joined: Jan, 2004
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 Posted - 2004/01/20 : 08:01:23
Hi,
I have long sought after than sound found in much of the rave music I hear - for example on the Happy 2B Hardcore cds. I am trying to find the equipment to get me there, and this is what I gather from posts I've read:
SoftSynths: I see Reason, Project5, and FM7 a lot. Of these three, FM7 sounds the best to my ear in my use, but all of them sound thin. All of the drums don't sound powerful enough, especially when trying to distort... maybe I'm just not good enough at processing/mixing yet, but it seems very hard to get what I want with these products...
VAs: I've only heard mp3's... The Novation and Nord stuff doesn't seem much better than the softsynths for what I want... well, the supernova is cool... the Waldorf Q and Access Virus both seem pretty good, especially the virus! ... however, I am weary of making purchases based only on mp3's... also, even the virus seems like it could benefit from some tender care...
"Real" Analogs: I don't know anything at all in this category...
So.. I'm just hoping for some advice... I want a setup I can use live in a rock context, but that I can also make great sounding rave music with... if it's really just processing, compressors, preamps, etc. that make a great sound, I shouldn't waste money on a Virus if it's not that much better than FM7, and I could get a cheap synth for the rock stuff? ...or maybe it takes real analogs to truly get this sound? ...or maybe the virus or waldorf is just what I want? ...or maybe there is some product I've overlooked?
Thanks in advance for any replies!!! :)
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djtommyrenegade
Advanced Member
United Kingdom
1,311 posts
Joined: Oct, 2002
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 Posted - 2004/01/20 : 20:35:21
i think for the best sound u want u wud need to invest in hardware, but i dunno i'm not big into producin, i only do it for fun so i just use vst's
http://www.djtommyrenegade.tk
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StrifeII
Advanced Member
United Kingdom
2,143 posts
Joined: Mar, 2001
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Posted - 2004/01/20 : 20:56:20
Definates are the pro 53, z3ta+ and V-station. Make sure you have a decent computer and a good soundcard, aswell as a lot of HD space. Reason is a 'host' for these and basically lets you input notes from any VST and also has samplers, effects units etc, like one big studio. I recommend cubase sx for this as it's the industry standard. Good luck on learning.
- Robbie Jay
http://www.soundclick.com/robbiejay
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http://www.myspace.com/strifeii
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Underloop
Advanced Member
United Kingdom
3,895 posts
Joined: Mar, 2002
91 hardcore releases
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Posted - 2004/01/21 : 09:47:50
A quick correction to Robbie Jay Blasphemy's post:
Reason IS NOT a host for VSTs (unfortunately). Reason has built in synths and samplers etc, itis effectively a studio in a box, but there are no expansion capabilities at the moment, except for additional sounds for each intrument. Cubase SX is however a host for VSTs.
IMO you can easily get a sound as good (if not better at times) with many VSTs. Ones that I use regularly are the Pro-53 and the Novation V-Station. You'll also need a sampler of some sort (I use the EXS24 which is a Logic only sampler)
To make the sound even better sounding then yes you will need to add processing. In particular reverb and delay, but then theres all sorts of other effects that make sounds interesting (Phase distortion, flanging etc)
Hardware-wise, the Supernova is sweet as ****. That is very high on my wishlist, but tbh, going down the software route is cheaper and alot easier in the long run, and can anybody seriously tell the difference between the software and hardware synths? I know in the recent Future Music comparison I actually preferred the sound of most of the software synths to their hardware equivalents!
Matthew aka DJ Underloop
__________________________________
"We don't stop playing because we grow old;
we grow old because we stop playing."
- George Bernard Shaw
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StrifeII
Advanced Member
United Kingdom
2,143 posts
Joined: Mar, 2001
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Posted - 2004/01/21 : 12:59:50
well i havnt used reason but im sure it has VST capabilites. sorry for false information.
For a sampler, get Native Instruments Kontakt - its the best :D
- Robbie Jay
http://www.soundclick.com/robbiejay
__________________________________
http://www.myspace.com/strifeii
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djtommyrenegade
Advanced Member
United Kingdom
1,311 posts
Joined: Oct, 2002
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Posted - 2004/01/21 : 13:36:44
reason doesnt have VST capibilities, u have to re-wire it with cubase :)
http://www.djtommyrenegade.tk
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deathadder
Starting Member
United States
3 posts
Joined: Jan, 2004
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 Posted - 2004/01/22 : 02:53:17
Thanks for the replies!
Well, I just checked out the waldorf q-plus mp3's... they compare the digital and analog filters(?) ... the digital sounded okay, but when the analog came on for the first time I almost fell out of my chair... it was SO good, imho...
at any rate, I am lost... I tried out the Pro53 demo and all the patches sounded computery and thin to me... no depth, no reality, and no life to the sounds... I tried messing with the settings for a while and still had the same experience... though it was better than most/all of the vst's I've messed with so far...
however, I checked out Blasphemy's music link and his tunes sounded better than any sounds I can get out of softsynths.. since I assume this is what he used (judging by this thread), it must be something I'm doing or not doing?
at any rate, I guess if my band needs a keyboard anytime soon, I'll go with something nice and cheap.... in the mean time, I'll just keep hacking away with the software I have....
Thanks again!
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Seany
Advanced Member
United Kingdom
1,906 posts
Joined: Aug, 2002
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Posted - 2004/01/22 : 03:32:40
^^ "I tried out the Pro53 demo and all the patches sounded computery and thin to me... no depth, no reality"
Chord the notes.You Dont really need hardware ,But it depends how serious you are.
http://www.acidplanet.com/artist.asp?AID=212846
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Underloop
Advanced Member
United Kingdom
3,895 posts
Joined: Mar, 2002
91 hardcore releases
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Posted - 2004/01/22 : 10:32:53
Thin is definitely not how I would describe the Pro-53!!!!
Try adding some effects to the sounds and stuff like that.
Also, I don't rate teh presets tht come with the Pro-53 (apart from the odd 1 or 2) have a play making your own.... you can get some really nice trancey "airwave style" pads out of it!
Matthew aka DJ Underloop
__________________________________
"We don't stop playing because we grow old;
we grow old because we stop playing."
- George Bernard Shaw
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Oli G
Advanced Member
United States
1,817 posts
Joined: Oct, 2001
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Posted - 2004/01/22 : 11:29:20
Right, ill skip the soft synths bit, they are all really good, and i know many producers who have releases who have made stuff with JUST softsynths, and with just reason too (Check Alek Szahala's stufF)
However as for hardware
Trance / Leads / Stabs : Roland Jp8080 - Beautiful trance banks, amazing sound
Trance / Filth / Pads / Weird stuff : Access Virus C - Fattest basslines EVER (cept for a moog)
Grind, Hoovers, Weird shit, bass : Nord Lead 1
Acid: Fat Freebass 303
I use all of those, except the virus, because i cant afford one, but thats what i recomend for hardware :)
Also been recently recomended the Alesis Andromeda A6 - Pure analouge beast
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deathadder
Starting Member
United States
3 posts
Joined: Jan, 2004
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Posted - 2004/01/24 : 20:23:53
Okay, you guys were right... I found out the culprit.
The last few weeks I haven't been using the same speakers I usually do... I swithced back yesterday and yeah, these VSTi's definately rock... they have a different sound than the virus and such (not as deep, more surfacey and defined), but they (especially the Pro53) are very usable... it's weird, the total mixes of happy hardcore sounded fine on the speakers I just ditched, as well as mp3's of the virus... but the VSTi's did not sound nearly as good as they do now (with some processing and tweaking)... maybe it's because I didn't know what they were supposed to sound like? ... I dunno... I'm embarassed now ;)
anyway, thanks a lot guys!
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mark-ireland
Advanced Member
Ireland
1,667 posts
Joined: Jan, 2004
17 hardcore releases
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Posted - 2004/01/24 : 23:35:12
Try fruity loops and go to www.sectionz.com
mark-ireland
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Oxygen Records Support Irish Hardcore Click Below
http://downloads.imorecords.com/label/?id=270
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