Just wanted to agree with the philosophy set by you Bryan, Phil and the rest of the SA for choosing Ableton and Sylenth as the standard DAW and VSTI to work with in your videos. It simply takes the focus of what you are using to produce and onto how to produce. I used to spend HOURS on going through sounds from a myriad of different VSTI’s and not end up getting any work done. Sure there are differences of opinion on which DAW is best or which VSTI’s sound better… but do we all really want to learn every DAW and collect every VSTI out there so that we can take full advantage of every tuturial? Doing so would be expensive, time consuming and simply unpractical.
Keep up the amazing work SA, I still cant believe this site exists!!
Eddy
One month ago I would have agreed with you whole heartedly.
However…
As with the other post I started, I honestly feel like the DCAM would be the go to synth for the tutorials. I know it won’t happen, but thats my opinion. There is so much that DCAM can do that Sylenth cant even touch, like strings, FM, and Wave Modulation. I hope SA is taking a serious look at this.
Did I mention that the sound is 10 fold over Sylenth?
The problem is that no synth or DAW is going to be THE one to use for everyone across the board. Howiegroove has obviously found a great soft synth that he is over the moon with, and so naturally wants Sonic to transfer its focus over to it so others can see what a great product it is. Likewise, those who already own Ableton and Sylenth want things to stay the way they are. But what happens in a few months down the line when Sugar Bytes, or Native Instruments, or Propellerheads, or whoever releases the next must have killer product?
Sonic Academy is unique on the web because it is the only place specifically aimed at attracting musicians from a radically diverse range of backgrounds. Such a characteristic is, in a way, both the source of its strength and its problems. Nowhere else offers the depth and breadth of guidance you get here, but likewise, it has no ‘official’ affiliation with any particular brand or company. Because of this, there is a problem in that it is difficult for SA to develop tutorials with a ‘standard’ set of tools that all of its audience automatically have access to. It seems to be more by chance than planning that the most common ones have gradually emerged as Ableton and Sylenth. But don’t forget that they have already done lengthy guides to Logic and Reason, not to mention the tech tips…
As far as I can see, there are three ways that SA can move forward in this regard:
- Stick with Ableton and Sylenth as the ‘staples’ for tutorials.
- Offer more group discounts for soft synths where interest is generated in the community. This could actually be a unique selling point for SA that could be a regular feature, and draw more members in.
- Expansion. Employ more people to offer a wider range of tutorials on more diverse topics. Of course, this would probably increase membership costs.
SA is a young business that has already created an amazing community. It seems to be in a crucial phase of its development. Those running it consistently show they listen to and take the comments of its users seriously, which is why I wanted to think carefully about what to put down. I don’t know what the ‘right’ answer is to this, or indeed if there is a ‘right’ one to find. I do, however, think that good choices have been made so far, and can’t wait to see how the site develops.
Hope I’ve not bored you - I’ve just seen how long this post is! (Sorry!)
Hey Wicked… You’re right, I am head over heals for the DCAM. It sounds absolutely amazing and its the best sounding soft synth out there period. I have sylenth too and it is very easy to program. Perhaps SA should stay with Sylenth as a default, but it would be great to have a few tech tips/tutorials on how to program it, especially the trans mod system portion of it. But Sylenth is a great sounding synth and it is extremely easy to program, which makes it ideal for Sonic Academy.
Possibly they could work in a few of their sounds with the DCAM too. We all know that Bryan already has it and is using it, so maybe it might make its way in the tutorials.
Maybe a group buy could be organised…? (I realise of course I am totally pushing my luck here, but hey!) 
I already purchased it 
[quote]howiegroove (8/24/2009)[hr]Hey Wicked… You’re right, I am head over heals for the DCAM. It sounds absolutely amazing and its the best sounding soft synth out there period. I have sylenth too and it is very easy to program. Perhaps SA should stay with Sylenth as a default, but it would be great to have a few tech tips/tutorials on how to program it, especially the trans mod system portion of it. But Sylenth is a great sounding synth and it is extremely easy to program, which makes it ideal for Sonic Academy. [/quote]
Do you work for FXpansion by anychance?
i’ve got the Dcam and can’t say enough about them, however i think as the group buy was organized by the members and SA team the videos should at least for the time being stick with Sylenth, until the members as a group ask for other softsynth to be used. i can understand howard wanting to know everything about this synth because i feel that way to. maybe bry could help us out, i know bry was talking about having these synths and maybe he could do a few tech tips on the dcam modulation in the future, for the time being at least though i don’t think its fair to ask when only a handful of us own them
+1
It makes no sense at all getting people to buy another synth just after they’ve bought sylenth. The synth squad is apparently mega cpu instensive also which might prove a problem for certain people. From what I can tell also, FXpansion dont do group-buys for there products.
Making a d.cam tech tip video would be great idea though
Cant wait till the damn thing arrives tomorrow.
I think I have to agree - I’ve certainly got more than enough to be getting along with using Sylenth. Yes its a simple interface, but it has a depth of use that certainly can’t be exhausted in a few short months of using it.
All you swines on here have got me lusting after DCAM now though. Damn you all. :hehe:
No…but I wish.
[quote]jon_fisher (8/24/2009)[hr]i’ve got the Dcam and can’t say enough about them, however i think as the group buy was organized by the members and SA team the videos should at least for the time being stick with Sylenth, until the members as a group ask for other softsynth to be used. i can understand howard wanting to know everything about this synth because i feel that way to. maybe bry could help us out, i know bry was talking about having these synths and maybe he could do a few tech tips on the dcam modulation in the future, for the time being at least though i don’t think its fair to ask when only a handful of us own them :)[/quote]
AMEN!!!
[quote]wickedged (8/24/2009)[hr]I think I have to agree - I’ve certainly got more than enough to be getting along with using Sylenth. Yes its a simple interface, but it has a depth of use that certainly can’t be exhausted in a few short months of using it.
[/quote]
I agree, not to mention that if you practice enough with your synth, anything that is done on Sylenth should be able to be recreated with any other soft synth by the user. Its all the same parameters (for the most part)
That’s interesting - I didn’t know that. That’s exactly the kind of thing I was thinking about on another post here when I suggested the possibility of a sound design course. There is so much I don’t know yet about sound creation in soft synths.