There are so many plugins available on the web that I can’t see the wood for the trees…
Which plugins could be deemed essential? (and worth paying some money for?)
I believe the Sylenth1 belongs to this category… anything else?
And what about effects? For example is a multiband compressor essential?
What are the effects or instruments you can’t live without??
This way we can maybe make a list of good plugins worth our money!
What DAW are you using?
Essential for me is the NI Komplete Package, as I use Kontakt, Battery, and Massive in all my productions.
But I have also bought things like Korg electronic and Analogue Collections and Arturia V collection, but hadley use them now if ever.
I try to keep my vst to a minimum, but these are what I rate:
PSP Vintage warmer: http://www.pspaudioware.com/ on all bass and drums and some other stuff. I also use the Mixpack and the Xeon limiter which I love but wouldn’t call essential.
I use Komplete, massive is my go to synth.
For free vst I use bootsie: http://varietyofsound.wordpress.com/ I use Ableton and prefer his reverb and I use the eq quite a lot.
Ant
I have Kore 6, and I can live without it. Waste of money IMO.
I couldn’t live without PSP Vintage Warmer, FXpansion DCAM Synth Squad, and Soundtoys bundle. Thats really all I can think about for now.
I’m using Ableton
My essentials were Sylenth, Synth Squad and Massive and I would highly recommend all of these to anyone. I’ve just bought Xfer Record’s ‘Nerve,’ however, and it has re-energised me. I’ve been experiencing a bit of a stagnation of late (everything I’ve been writing just sounded lame when I returned to it), but Nerve is one of those super easy but incredibly powerful plugins with a lot of depth. Give the demo a go - I’m sure you’ll like it!
IMO you got all the essentials in Live, but if I was starting from scratch than a good synth (or bundle) would make it to my list, followed by Vintage Warmer
but again its not really essential to produce quality stuff in Ableton,
[quote]howiegroove (22/06/2010)[hr]I have Kore 6, and I can live without it. Waste of money IMO.
I couldn’t live without PSP Vintage Warmer, FXpansion DCAM Synth Squad, and Soundtoys bundle. Thats really all I can think about for now.[/quote]
Just demoed the Soundtoys bundle they are fab - bit pricey for my pocket atm
I find less is more with VSTs. Its better to be an expert on a few, than familiar with many.
For Synths I like:
Sylenth - Leads, FX, Pads
Waldorf Largo - Pads, FX, Huge Saws
MiniMonsta - Leads, Bass
Nexus - Everything from drums to gated effects
For FX I stick to:
Waves SSL Compressor
PSP Vintage Warmer
FabFilter Suite
Arts Acoustic Reverb
I tend to use hardware more these days but could easily get by with just Sylenth, Minimonsta, and a bunch of drum samples.
i believe it really depends on the sound you are after… certain synths and FX are more influential to/define different genres. of course, there are no rules and you can always mix and match, but when people ask these questions - i think the most important factor is the result you are looking to achieve… aka the music you are wanting to make and how easily your tools can assist in achieving your goals.
once you have that defined, ask yourself how much actual sound design you’d like to do… or would you rather have a synth/effect come loaded with useable presets / or an easy to understand GUI, etc… next you can ask yourself how much you are willing to spend, etc…
focus on and define your desired results, this will allow you to fine tune your queries which will bring those results faster.
: : : i’m not writing this in attempt to be a smart ***; just hoping to give some shortcuts and insight which i’ve (and i’m sure many others) taken the long route to understand, while spending more money and wasting more time than necessary.
knowledge will always be the best tool… because if you don’t know why you’re using a specific tool to begin with, you’ve already set yourself up for potential failure/frustration.
[quote]slender (22/06/2010)[hr][quote]howiegroove (22/06/2010)[hr]I have Kore 6, and I can live without it. Waste of money IMO.
I couldn’t live without PSP Vintage Warmer, FXpansion DCAM Synth Squad, and Soundtoys bundle. Thats really all I can think about for now.[/quote]
Just demoed the Soundtoys bundle they are fab - bit pricey for my pocket atm[/quote]
Dude, its so worth it. The possibilities are endless with these. I would even say that you dont need vintage warmer with them. You can drive the input and scale back the output so that your volume levels arent louder, but you get that analog drive. similar to what vinage warmer does. although not a compressor, still amazing sounding.
[quote]s3android (22/06/2010)[hr]
: : : i’m not writing this in attempt to be a smart ***; just hoping to give some shortcuts and insight which i’ve (and i’m sure many others) taken the long route to understand, while spending more money and wasting more time than necessary. [/quote]
However, I think you do come across that way. I think the OP wants to know the opinions of others of what their bread and butter VSTs are. There is nothing wrong about that. Who cares about price. Plus, my bread and butter synths are capable of making just about any sound and the group of my list has a ridiculous sonic palate. So instead of criticizing others, why dont you take part in the discussion and list the tools you think are the best in your arsenal.
well… given that i specifically said i am not writing in a tone of being a smart-***… it shouldn’t come across that way.
you use the word criticize way too much and out of context… but given my last message directed to you, i’m sure you are looking for reasons to respond to me, personally, in a negative way. so be it.
who cares about price? apparently the OP did…
that said, my whole point was to say … what does it matter what you or i are using if we are looking to achieve different results? sure, almost anything now of days can make anything else… but based on different algorithms they don’t all : sound the same, work the same (GUI’s ease of use), require the same CPU power, cater to the sounds specifically required for certain types of synthesis. i guarantee those making trance aren’t using the same go-to plugs as those making dubstep, which aren’t using the same as those making ambient, which aren’t using the same as those making electro, which aren’t the same as those making techno/minimal, etc.
it’s apparent that d.jayme is new(er) to production… so why not first see what his objective is and desired results are before spitting out a bunch of arbitrary plugins based on a question’s face value? call me crazy… but i like to ask myself what my goal is prior to starting any task… otherwise, what is the point?
[quote]s3android (23/06/2010)[hr]well… given that i specifically said i am not writing in a tone of being a smart-***… it shouldn’t come across that way. [/quote]
It does
[quote]s3android (23/06/2010)[hr]you use the word criticize way too much and out of context… but given my last message directed to you, i’m sure you are looking for reasons to respond to me, personally, in a negative way. so be it. [/quote]
I’m not negative at all. I dont put people down. I truly try to help. Tough love goes a long way and I am sure that many on here will tell you, I have helped them out, as they have me.
[quote]s3android (23/06/2010)[hr]that said, my whole point was to say … what does it matter what you or i are using if we are looking to achieve different results? sure, almost anything now of days can make anything else… [/quote]
Thats incorrect. There really is not one solution for every sound.
[quote]s3android (23/06/2010)[hr]but based on different algorithms they don’t all : sound the same, work the same (GUI’s ease of use), require the same CPU power, cater to the sounds specifically required for certain types of synthesis. i guarantee those making trance aren’t using the same go-to plugs as those making dubstep, which aren’t using the same as those making ambient, which aren’t using the same as those making electro, which aren’t the same as those making techno/minimal, etc.
it’s apparent that d.jayme is new(er) to production… so why not first see what his objective is and desired results are before spitting out a bunch of arbitrary plugins based on a question’s face value? call me crazy… but i like to ask myself what my goal is prior to starting any task… otherwise, what is the point?
[/quote]
Dude, what do I care what he is trying to make? I am telling him what I use. That was his question. Others have chimed in. You have yet to give any advice, other then to criticize others. Answer the question and move on. Its not a “he should have asked it this way” conversation. Tell the man what you use. Then, he can go get a demo and try it out for himself. If you feel compelled to tell him why you use it, then do so. No biggie, but dont continue this. Its not helping out anyone.
Try the synth1 out its free, just click download, its a jap site http://www.geocities.jp/daichi1969/softsynth/#down
see what it can do on utube [url]Rank1 Strings / SuperSaw Tutorial - YouTube
I also use a Gladiator, Nexus, Sylenth, Vangard, V-station & Omnisphere. I have more but these are the main ones.
I also mda fx which again is free and has a number of great tools. I love the Stereo image adjustment and M-S matrix. [url]http://mda.smartelectronix.com/[/url]
Hope this helps!
so guys what would soft synth would you recommend for trance and really electronic sounds??
list some synths
[quote]georgekadar (24/06/2010)[hr]so guys what would soft synth would you recommend for trance and really electronic sounds??
list some synths[/quote]
Not that I use them myself but Nexus and Vanguard seem to be the trance producers favorite weapon - the presets alone are very trance oriantated - but both rather pricey and if your new I would go with sylynth learn it then invest in the ones I have mentioned.
Also there are plenty of trance sample packs out there which you could twiddle and manipulate for a chaeper way
Hope that helps a bit I listen to a lot of trance but never had the desire to produce
yeah ive almost mastered sylenth… itl probably be my al time fav since its my 1st soft synth!!
what sample packs do you mean??
you got any links??
http://www.loopmasters.com/genre/show/41/Trance
But without being funny just google - there are so many out there
cheers