Aftertouchus Polyphonicus

I know I wrote last month my home studio is ready. Well it wasn’t back then but now it might be. Since that post I got Make Noise 0-CTRL which I have used all videos since getting it. Latest addition is Native Instrument’s Kontrol S61 mk3. Both have one thing in common. Both let me get more out of gear I already have. You could say they were studio upgrades. 0-CTRL gives touch control to eurorack and Kontrol polyphonic aftertouch to everything else.

Polyphonic aftertouch is mostly talked with Yamaha CS-80 and Vangelis. If you want to know which synths implement it you usually get CS-80 and not much else. Lately Hydrasynth and Waldorf Iridium have been added to list. Keyboards with polyphonic aftertouch are rare but synths capable of handling polyphonic aftertouch are not. Synth manufacturers don’t tell their synth can handle polyphonic aftertouch. You just have to test if it works. I read one manual of synth which can handle polyphonic aftertouch but manual mentioned only channel aftertouch.

This is weird because I have been looking for synths which can do polyphonic aftertouch. Didn’t find any analog polysynths besides Deckard’s Dream but that counts as CS-80 and was too expensive. When I got keyboard with polyphonic aftertouch I learned all analog polysynths in current setup can handle it. Haven’t tested it with Analog Four but I don’t consider it as polysynth. I use it as four monosynths like it was when it was released. I have other synths with more voices when I want polyphony.

So why I am excited about polyphonic aftertouch. It is because it gives you ability to change each note’s sound individually after you have hit the key. With channel aftertouch only way to change individual note’s sound is velocity and it happens when you hit the key. After that everything affects every note. MPE gives addition to polyphonic aftertouch pitch and mod wheels for each notes. But for that you need synth that works with MPE. Those are rarer than synths that work with polyphonic aftertouch. However it is easier to find synths with MPE because there are lists of those synths and everything that works with MPE. There is nothing like that with polyphonic aftertouch.

Polyphonic aftertouch gave new life to synths I had almost given up on. It makes huge difference when you can open filter or add more modulation for individual notes. You can have chords with less modulation and melody with more modulation. You can do that without polyphonic aftertouch but you have to record those parts separately or have two synths if you do it live.

I have this weird feeling

I have this weird feeling I don’t need any more gear. Getting Moog Subsequent 25 wasn’t as mind blowing as I hoped. Getting OB-6 and Prophet Rev 2 felt like doors to other world were opened. Subsequent 25 felt like it is ok synth. Don’t think Subsequent 37 would have felt too different. Having all those knobs and buttons would be nice but I don’t have room for it at the moment. Problem isn’t I need to use shift functions. It has more to do with having too much gear and Subsequent 25 not adding anything significant to set up. It just does basic thing better. It would have been same with Subsequent 37.

It is almost like with Les Paul. I thought I needed one. When I got one I didn’t like it that much. I had other guitars which gave the sound I wanted and felt better. To be exact Les Paul sound was in between two other guitars I had. When I played with Les Paul I felt I should rather pick one of the other guitars depending on which direction I wanted to go.

Subsequent 25 isn’t exactly like that. It only makes me wonder why I got it. Presets I came with doesn’t help. It has sixteen presets. Those seem to show capabilities of the synth without being too useful. I need to have more time with it but at the moment I feel SE-02 would be better for “Moog sound” I was looking for. Even with its flaws. I am glad I didn’t get Subsequent 37 to find this out. Might change my mind when I learned to use the synth. Maybe it starts to shine when getting deeper into velocity and keyboard tracking. Will keep it in setup and give it proper change. After all it sounds good on Youtube.

Getting Subsequent 25 seem to have cured my gear acquisition syndrome. I don’t feel I need new gear. It could be because I have got nearly everything I have dreamed during last few years. Have dreamed about massive eurorack system and Deckard’s Dream but those aren’t realistic dreams. It could also be because I am running out of room. If I had more room I wouldn’t need to buy anything new to expand setup. Just add my Minibrute 2 based eurorack system to it. Which is what I probably next change to system in future.

Thoughts about plugin setup continue

This continues series of long post where I tell my current thoughts about music making set up. Previous plugin setup post got so long I divided into two. I almost got through effects.

This exercise made me learn more about what I have. I created one category which I didn’t think I had. I could have more similar effects and still have low number of effects in category if I create many categories. That would defeat the point on having limited setup. When I want modulation I pick something from modulation category. When I want delay I pick something from delay category. I keep categories on this level. I realized I have category for lofi effects. In this case I mean effects that sounds like playing really old worn out recording machines. Can see few situation where those would be useful.

I won’t go through every category. I think you have got the point by now. Then to instruments. I keep only one analog modelling synth on list because I have good analog synths for analog sounds. That one is there because of Blade Runner, Vangelis and polyphonic aftertouch. Want to limit options and have those option offer something others don’t. That said I have three wavetable synths with extensive capabilities on list. One is really good getting something fast. One is really good when you want to fine-tune how your playing affects the sound. Last one is really good on long evolving sounds. First two have MPE support and last has polyphonic aftertouch. Each takes time to learn. If only one of them was really good on everything. At least I know these synths already after spending some time learning them. Don’t master any of them but not starting from zero.

Fifth synth is physical modelling synth. Not sure if it should be on synth category. These five should do synths with analog gear I have. No FM synth because two of those wavetable synths can do FM on level I can understand it. And no other types of synths with huge learning curves. Point is to have something I can get good sounds fast without spending time on learning.

One category is for pianos and organs with one electric piano, one piano and one organ. These are all algorithmic. I like algorithmic better than sampled. Haven’t thought too much about sample libraries yet. Sample libraries are more complicated because they come most of the time from one plugin and often need performance mappings on track. I think about that when it is time to set templates on DAW.

This approach has made everything easier. I haven’t uninstalled anything. I just have categories on favorites list with few plugins. Others are on sub folder under category in case I might need them. Won’t be opening subfolder unless I really need something from there. When I get new computer in future I don’t install all plugins I currently have but they can stay on current computer.

Thoughts about plugin setup

This is continuation of synth setup post. It got bit long as it is. If you don’t want to read it it basically says I will limit the number of hardware synths in setup to learn ones that are in setup. Post tells more about the reasons why I want to do it. One reason why I do it is mess that is my plugin favorites. It takes long time to find plugins I want to use and I don’t know any of them really well. I have tried to separate favorites from rest but favorites still have too many plugins.

I am trying to apply three effects of a type in favorites folder and have those three be ones which all have different purpose for being there. So I can easily pick one I need in each specific case without thinking which one to choose. Not going to put three effects there if I have one which can done everything I want. Also not limiting number to three if there are more than three plugins of a type which each to something useful other plugins don’t do but fourth and fifth really need to bring something extra.

This should help with gear acquisition syndrome. It helped with guitar and bass. Maybe I develop own sound when I use same gear all the time. When ever I get to releasing something all guitars will come through same pedalboard and amp. All basses come through same pedalboard. There will be limited number of synths and effects to use.

Did first iteration of sorting. Some effects were quite easy. I can do saturation and distortion with two plugins. I can add subtle saturation with mixing and mastering plugins. Those two can do everything else. One can do normal saturation and distortion with quite extensive modulation. Another can go more lofi and trashy. Delays were other easy selection. One plugin which do many different styles and two which can do more specific and extreme delays. There was other good candidate for generic review with basic delay models but I don’t want too many options. One I selected can do little bit more.

There were couple surprises. Delays and saturation plugins I pretty much knew before testing. Testing just conformed what I knew. I tried which plugins gave good sounds easiest and fastest. Modulation plugins gave biggest surprise. I have some modulation effects based on vintage gear and thought that is the way to go. Native Instruments Mod Pack plugins gave me best results and did it fastest. I didn’t expect that. I had kind of given up with Native Instruments’ plugins. So modulation will be handled by Mod Pack in future. Added Arturia’s Juno chorus there incase I want chorus quickly because it sounded so good on every setting I tested. Four modulation effect but I don’t need to think too much which one to pick.

Reverbs are really hard to limit to three. I don’t know what I want or have any reverbs I can use really well. Not well enough to know if I can get everything from ones I own. Tested them but couldn’t get all sounds I wanted fast enough. Went to Youtube to watch tutorials. Try to figure out what I really want. Which is basically really good plate and spring reverbs. After getting real spring reverb plugins haven’t sounded that good. Convolution would be nice to get sound of real spaces. Something for generic use and something to drown sound into. How ever I tried to approach this setup would include four or five reverb plugins.

This is where things went of the rail. After watching tutorials I was curious to check if there was really good plate reverb. Ones I have sound good but have limited control. Well there was one which could do mind blowing things. And it was on sale. Got two reverbs from that sale and one saturation plugin which can do what those two plugins I had already on list can’t do. Don’t know if other reverb gets use but it costed only few euros thanks to more you buy more discount you get thing.

Then I started to wonder if someone had made good spring reverb since I checked them last time. Well there was one on sale. Got demo of it and compared it against three spring reverbs and spring reverb on convolution reverb. Now I have four spring reverbs. It looks like you have to use impulse responses to get really good sounding spring reverb plugin. Convolution reverb and the new one which uses impulse responses sounded best. Don’t know why I have bought all those algorithmic spring reverbs. New reverb isn’t as good as real thing but it is good enough until someone makes better and sells it on reasonable price.

Three plugin limit was broken and I bought first music related gear this year. Those synths were bought and paid last year. Reverb plugin list will have plate, spring, shimmer, room/hall/cathedral, convolution and one general purpose reverb. That is more than three but I shouldn’t have to be thinking too much which to pick. One reverb having most of those would have reduced number but the number isn’t the thing. Not having too much redundancies on list is. These six don’t have redundancies unless you count convolution reverb can do some of things others can do. Not as good.

This got quite long already. I will continue this later. Didn’t get to synths yet. To be honest I am not yet sure what software synth setup I will have. Don’t need to buy any more of those but have to decide which to have on setup and which not to have.

Thoughts about synth setup

First you should watch these two videos.

I saw these videos when I thinking about similar things. I have told about my previous setup and how much room I still have in it. I wrote more about it to new year’s resolution post but deleted it before posting it. I left part where I said I didn’t want to buy everything at once to have new year’s resolution of not buying new music gear 2022. Well that actually happened without me planning it. Two synths I planned to buy were on sale and I had some extra money.

Got Prophet Rev 2 for second more that four voice analog polyphonic synth. I had not got it before because I had Tetra which is almost same synth with only four voices. Considered different options but Rev 2 was best option. I know how it works because I have Tetra. I knew it would be best option but having Tetra stopped me getting it. Until now. It was much cheaper in one place than anywhere else and there was only one unit. Same thing which made me get OB-6 desktop. Oh. I have that too if I haven’t mentioned it before.

After getting OB-6 and Rev 2 I don’t feel I need another analog polyphonic synth. OB-6 can sound like nothing else. Rev 2 is there when I want more modulation. Having anything more just adds more options. I feel I can get everything I want from polyphonic analog synths from these two synths. I had dreamed about both for years. Would have been cheaper to get them earlier. Don’t feel I need four analog polyphonic synths in set up when two can give me all I need.

Moog Subsequent 25 was on sale. I was almost ready to get Subsequent 37. Planned how to get room for it. But then saw Subsequent 25 on sale. After serious comparison online it looked like 25 would give me 90% of what I would get from 37. Maybe more. I don’t need bigger keyboard. It would be connected to computer and DAW all the time. So arpeggiator, sequencer and extra knobs and buttons don’t give much extra value. Basically only added value from 37 would be mod sections. 37 has two and have more options on them. That gives it finer control over your sound.

In the end it was about was getting extra 10% worth bigger size and price. 25 was on sale. 37 was not. I didn’t feel 37 was worth of extra money and size. 25 has everything why I have wanted Moog and why I almost bought Sub Phatty some time ago. So I got 25. With editor always open fewer knobs and buttons shouldn’t be issue. If I want more control from playing I have other synths which give of that than 37.

Getting to point of those videos. I think I will also limit number of monophonic synths in setup in order to really learn them. Subsequent 25 is good characterful synth with limited modulation options. Like OB-6 on polyphonic side. With same idea Waldorf Pulse 2 would be good synth when I want more modulation and versatility. Like Rev 2 on polyphonic side. These four will be basis of the setup. Three of them give hands on control which I have learned to like after finding vsts which allow that. Pulse 2 is just so good I can use it as VST controlled sound module.

This should make the setup cleaner and simpler. I am not sure what to do with other synths. If I really want setup cleaner I should remove other synths. I will probably keep 2600 in setup since I just got it. But other synths will probably leave. I will probably keep Tetra too because from learning point of view it is same as Rev 2 but could work as extra monophonic/polyphonic synth.

I was thinking something like this even before seeing those videos. I was looking for something to replace Tetra after getting Rev 2. I started to question why I was doing it. There wasn’t really anything which would add anything reasonable for the money. I went to check digital synth because they had MPE support. If digital is ok I could get MPE support from plugins and those do more than digital hardware synths. It went so bad I was seriously considering getting digital hardware synth only because it had MPE support. It sounded worse than synths I had and was too limited in every way.

Watching those videos cleared idea of having simpler setup. Before this I had problem of finding room for synths and then selecting correct one when I wanted to do something. Many of them could do same thing plus little extra but most were almost interchangeable. Having less synths continue trend I started with pedalboards. Having simpler setups which don’t change that much. I don’t promise I won’t buy more music gear or synths this year but this feels way to go for now. At least until someone releases good sounding analog synth with MPE support and extensive modulation on reasonable price.

Setting up Cubase

I told in previous post setting up Cubase to work with hardware synths have taken lot of time. Some of that time was wasted trying to work with device panels. Good idea I know because I have used Ableton Live and Max for Live devices. After that I even considered getting back to Live. Live had Black Friday sales. Haven’t updated to Live 11. Still have Push 2. Monetary investment to get back wouldn’t have been huge. Time investment would have been. I have learned how to do things in Cubase. Getting back Live requires learning same things in another DAW. I don’t spend so much time making music having two DAWs makes sense.

Well I have two now since I haven’t uninstalled Live 10 but I only use Cubase. Cubase has few feature I don’t want to give up. Live doesn’t have similar features I want but can’t get in Cubase. Push and session view are nice but I get similar results in Cubase different way. Cubase has arranger track which gives what I used Live’s session view for. Live is better for jamming and playing live but I don’t want to learn two DAWs just to have one which is better for jamming and another which is better for everything else.

I started to use VSTs to control hardware synth after I learned device panels didn’t work way I wanted. Managed to get VSTs from Black Friday sales. I should have gone VST route earlier. I though it was harder. After learning to use macros setting instrument and audio track has become easy. Not as easy as using VSTs but quite easy. Best thing is I can automate using synths’ controls. That wasn’t possible with device panels. Max for Live devices can do that. Max for Live device can save settings to project and sent those to synth when ever you want. With VSTs you need to save presets to synth and load correct preset. How easy this is depends on VST. Some VSTs let you save to synth. With some you need to do the saving on synth.

One reason why I wanted to use device panels is I wouldn’t have to rely on someone else to make VST controller. For example there is no VST controller for Bass Station 2 with latest features for Windows. There is one with previous firmware’s features. I had device panel which had all features I wanted. Please let me know if there is relatively easy way to make own VST controllers. It doesn’t have to be pretty. Just that I can send and receive midi messages with it and automate it in DAW. I have done these with Cubase’s device panels and Max for Live. I want something which isn’t connected to specific DAW.

Checked what I can still connect to music PC. I should still have one free USB port and six audio channels. Not sure which ports are free because all USB ports have something and there is only one free slot in audio interface. I could free couple USB ports easily. But I think I don’t do that. I am going to something goes out when something comes in mode for USB devices. Don’t have room for tons of gear and want to keep setup somewhat limited. Don’t think I need more than four analog polyphonic synths in set up. One or maybe two of those will change in near future. Out of three midi controlled monophonic analog synth one will change. 2600 will make number of analog monophonic synths to four. I think four polyphonic and four monophonic is good size of setup for now.

Those six free slots on audio interface. Now that I know there are that many empty slots using OB-6 and Tetra stereo sounds like good idea. 2600 is also stereo. And maybe I could add Lyra 8 there too. Yes. I have Lyra 8 and I have actually used it for something. It is just hard to figure out how to use it in musical context. It is fun to play with but hard to have something useful from it. Maybe I just need more practice.

I have other synths I could add to those six audio slots without buying anything new. But for now I plan to go with eight synths and software. Synths change but number should be same. I know quite well which synths will change. After learning need of VST control that has become key criteria selecting synths. But maybe I shouldn’t think about buying new synths right after buying most expensive instrument I have ever bought. It is just that I want setup “ready”.

If you wonder why Cubase has weird colors in picture it is because I tried custom colors with it. Not sure if I keep it looking like that. Just wanted to try when I learned it is possible. Colors will probably change after I figure out what makes most sense. Considering making new template with all analog synths routed to project with required instrument, midi and audio tracks. Have to figure out how to deal with over twenty tracks which I don’t want to use that time.