Michael Kastrup - Sound Synthesis & Studio Tips

Plans for 2011

2011-04-16T00:39:00.005+02:00

I had lots of plans for 2011 but fate wanted it otherwise, in short 2011 started with complete meltdown in my life.

In January my Mother was diagnosed with brain tumor and over 3 months i saw how the tumor ate my mothers sanity away day by day. She died on March 25, 2011 and i have a very hard time coping with this. She was the most decent person i've ever known. Imagine a person who cant lie, never do anything selfish, always willing to give a helping hand, live a life without any debt, never loose selfcontrol, always caring, well it may sound crazy to have all these virtues but my Mother was such a person. Her only concern was for our little family and whats left of it.

I am soooo pi.... that she didnt get to live the life as older people usually do, something came along and snuffed away her retirement with equals. That woman raised me and my sister single handed, worked very hard and never left us kids with a feeling of something was missing. Of all people she didnt deserve this. I will never forgive whom ever is in charge of it all, never!

Shortly before she went sick other disasters decided to knock on my door, my DAW (Digital Audio Workstation) caved in and could not be fixed without loss of all data. Yes, i DO have backups but putting together a DAW over 3 years accumulate something like 300+ plugins and 100+ audio apps which need to be re-installed, this WILL take some time, usually it takes me around 6 months to get around to all plugins. In January i thought i might aswell take the leap and go for Win 7 64bit on a new DAW since i have to start from scratch again. Its April and that friggin new DAW still wont work, it has all kinds of errors popping up all the time, so now i've given up and returned to the old DAW which is empty and trying to figure out what the hell i'm supposed to do.

I'll resurface at some point but right now its pretty hopeless and i feel like smashing things.

So, plans for 2011 are to survive and keep breathing.

/Michael

Yamaha Motif XF Review

2011-01-15T09:40:00.002+01:00

This is a very subjective review of Yamaha Motif XF from a sound designer/synthesist view.

Normally all my work is done using s DAW (Digital Audio Workstation) meaning a PC and some various software with endless possibilities. So how exciting is a hardware workstation for a person like me, in this case Motif XF, well let me put it this way, i feel like i've been pushed back 20 years in time. They call it a Music Production Synthesizer but the is not a shred of synthesis in this thing. Motif XF is a huge sample player, thats it. It has a very limited synth section, in short it has 1 VCF 1 VCA and 1 LFO which equals to a tad better than a Sound Font player.

When used as a preset player for live situations, then it shines with its 4 assignable effects and many on the fly knobs to use in VOICE mode.

When used as a sequencer it is crippled by the fact that you can only use insert effects on 8 out of 16 channels. I bet if you planned to sequence a song using 16 very nice sounding VOICE presets then you will be dissapointed to know that only 8 of these preset will include the insert fx like they are supposed to and the rest must live without the insertion effects. This is very annoying. So i tend to call the seuqence an 8 channel sequencer.

A look into the stock samples in the synth section reveals lack of many things, first of all in total there are ONLY 3 modulated stereo waveforms for use in broad pads, the mono noise sample is so short that you can hear the loop unless you plan to use it for a closed hihat. The synthetic bell waveforms are very thin and many waveforms are pretty useless as building blocks, however the P5 waveforms are clearly ment for serious sound design, each of these waveforms are phase locked and precise over the entire keyboard range. These are the waveforms you should use to create other waveforms, eg mix the 0 Degree Saw with a 180 Degree Saw and you get a pulse waveform. Thats how most samples should work in the synth section, but only a few do it. There is a complete lack of smart additive waveforms, harmonics you use to create physical model instruments. Sure you could use a sine wave to build up the harmonics but then it would eat away polyphony which we always try to preserve.

The handling of actual NEW waveforms are a nightmare from a sound designers view, you cant save individual waveforms but have to save the whole lot, which also means whenever you need to load a waveform then you have to import all again. In this case the machine adds the loaded waveforms to the existing waveforms so you end up with tons of duplicates in Flash Memory.
Anyways, you will need some kind of software to handle this proper.

The Arpeggio functions, yeah its super great when working in VOICE mode but when working in SONG and PATTERN mode the ARP settings will reset, so you have to find the original arp setting by browsing 7000 arps on each arp'ed preset. Dohhh

As you can guess, I am not super thrilled about Motif XF but I am a stubborn type of guy with a mission, the mission is simple, to improve Motif XF. I will start by making some of the sound designer samples which are missing and to make a point i will make these samples take ONLY 1 MB of the 128 MB free assignable ram in Motif XF.

177 KB is reserved for a useful 2 second NOISE sample. This gives me 823 KB to play with.

Wish me good luck ;)

/Michael

Slow Tunes album out on Magnatune

2010-09-26T23:34:00.009+02:00

Slow Tunes is my first album in many years.

Its about minimalistic synthesis which is supposed to put you into an relaxing state. First i used it for my self to fall asleep at night, the tones and harmonics distracted me so i would loose interest in deeper thoughts. It worked for me so it might work for others aswell and thats the sole reason behind Slow Tunes.

Each track repeats certain tones in an random order so you never know what to expect coming next and thats what distracts you. In my bedroom i have a small speaker set with a subwoofer, i never listen to it at high volume but at very low volume, just enough so i can hear all harmonics, and low enough so i can shut it out.

The album can also be used for quiet passages in movies or other visual stuff which needs a calm background.

Been wondering what behavior it would have on babies, but it might be an idea to try out if one should need a helping hand keeping babies calm. Just remember, small speakers can only reproduce the high harmonics and hearing the high harmonics only will be annoying, it needs to be a speaker set which covers the low-middle and highs evenly.

My speaker system in the bedroom is very like this type of speaker set:

Visit Magnatune http://www.magnatune.com/ and look me up if your interested in how Slow Tunes affects you :)

/Michael

XSynth and Youtube

2010-07-03T18:01:00.002+02:00

There is nothing much going on with this blog lately and thats because i'm posting most material on the youtube channel. So head over to my youtube channel to catch up ;)

http://www.youtube.com/user/michaelkastrup

Btw. www.synthtronic.com got snatched so i'm no longer using that url.

/Michael

Tips for creating a playable synth patch part 2

2009-08-22T11:19:00.003+02:00

Last time we talked about using Keyfollow for various synthesis function, this time we will look at using Velocity.

Velocity - Volume

Try hit a tone on any physical instrument with various strength and it will make a tone no matter how soft you hit it. This is the reason why i only have Velocity control Volume to a certain degree. Typical it will control 30-60% of the Volume but never 100%.

Velocity - Filter

Imagine the tone from a piano, when played soft its a kinda round smooth sound it produce. Play it hard and more brightness is added to the sound. The tricky part is to make that transition using Velocity, add too much Velocity to the filter and it will sound like the strings are about to break, add too little and it will sound muddy. Usually i find my self using a Velocity - Filter setting of max 25%.

Velocity - VCA-Decay

Imagine you hit a piano key soft and notice how long a decay it got, then hit i hard and notice the longer sustained note. To emulate this kind of behaviour we use Velocity - VCA-Decay. The correct setting for this depends on the instrument familie, drums need only a subtle change, pianos a bit more and guitars can go from a very short muted pluck sound to a very long sustained note. Velocity - VCA-Decay is often used along with a seperate Velocity - VCF-Decay to give the same feel to the filters, meaning the filter will open up as you play harder.

Velocity - Waveform

A classic Velocity - Waveform setting is when using Velocity to control the Pulse Width on a Square waveform. When emulating a jazz guitar sound i will often use Velocity to control the Pulse Width from a 40% position to a 30% position. This gives the waveform a little life on its own when playing at various strenght. Doing the same with Sync can also add a spark of life to the tone of a sound.

If you are working with Additive or Wavetable you can have the Velocity control the waveform in a more drastic way. Imagine a wavetable of nine pipes on a organ, have Velocity control the transition between those nine pipes going from 1 pipe to two pipes to three pipes etc. This will give you a very dynamic organ patch suited for soft to hard playing style.

This was some of the most obvious uses of Velocity within a synth.

/Michael

Tips for creating a playable synth patch part 1

2009-08-18T17:44:00.003+02:00

Whats the big difference between playing a sample and a synthesized sound ?

Its the expression of the sound.

A sample is static whereas a synththesized sound can be much more.

To help us making a playable sound we have the following:

1. Velocity (Mapped to Volume,Filter and Waveform)
2. Aftertouch (Mapped to Vibrato)
3. Modwheel (Mapped to anything interesting)
4. Keyfollow (Volume compensation, Filter balance, Modulation (LFO) and Envelope spread)
5. (LFO) Modulation of the waveform (PWM, Wavetable, FM, Additive etc..)

Keyfollow example:

Pulse Width Modulation

A PWM waveform modulated by LFO will usually sound nice at the key we used to set the speed of LFO but if we play a much higher key it wont have the same modulation effect and if we play a very low key the effect will be way to much. This is where keyfollow comes in. We have to control the amount of LFO signal sent to the waveform by using keyfollow. In this case the keyfollow must be set to a positive amount around 50%+.

This should produce an overall nice modulation to the entire keyboard range.

Volume Balance

Next thing to consider using keyfollow is for Volume. High notes will alway be percieved at a higher volume than lower notes since high pitch sound travel faster thru air than lower pitch sounds. In this cast we have to use keyfollow with a negative setting thus making the lower notes play louder than the high notes. This is done by having keyfollow control the Volume with a 50%- setting.

This should produce an overall Volume balance to the entire keyboard range.

Filter Balance

Next thing to do with Keyfollow is balance filter offset for the entire keyboard range. Do we want it to play with a more open filter when playing high notes or do we wish to have the same strength of filter apply to the entire keyboard range. Remember IF you choose to have more open filter with high notes then the percieved Volume will be higher on high notes aswell so you need to adjust the Keyfollow->Volume balance.

Waveform Balance

The finishing touch using keyfollow goes to the Pulse Width waveform offset. When playing very high notes we all have a hard time hearing if its a Saw, Square or Sine waveform we hear. This is much more obvious when we play low key notes. To compensate for this loss of definition we have to strengthen the high keys towards a more Square'ish sound. In this case we use keyfollow to alter Pulse Width a small bit making high notes play with a wider Pulse Width and low notes play with a more narrow Pulse Width. Usually you would have to make the low notes be the offset and then have keyfollow increase the width as you play higher notes.

This concludes the typical use of Keyfollow.

/Michael

XSynth Beatbox

2009-03-31T02:13:00.004+02:00

Been awhile since my last post but i've been pretty busy. One of my lastest projects is a synthesized beatbox designed from scratch with each sound. The end result is a mix between the beatbox you would find in old organs and a TR 808, so the sound nature is more leaned towards a soft beatbox for old school synth arrangements and 80's pop arrangements.

Here is a snippet with some patterns:

http://www.xsynth.com/demos/XS_Beatbox_B.mp3

Here is an example of the beatbox used in an arrangement i made in Reason:

http://www.xsynth.com/demos/SugarPop.mp3

Besides that i'm more or less working towards creating a sampled synth setup for use with Reason.

/Michael

AFTERskool for Zebra2 VST released

2008-12-05T15:06:00.003+01:00

Zebra AFTERskool Soundset is complete. At first this was ment to be a release with focus on drums but the workflow with tons of Zebra's used for drums is not that smart after all so drums will be released as a sampled kit later on. However the Zebra AFTERskool Soundset includes 3 drum preset, the White Kit, The Tomblas and the Native War Drums.

The Zebra AFTERskool Soundset is mixed bag of 128 Presets which is fully capable of producing music on its own.

PDF file can be found here:
http://www.zebrasynth.com/downloads/ZebraAFTERskoolSoundset.pdf

Here is the official AFTERskool demo (No External FX used):
http://www.synthtronic.com/demos/Z2_AFTERskool_DEMO.mp3

AFTERskool is available here:
http://www.zebrasynth.com/index.php?item=afterskool

/Michael

ST Chorus released

2008-10-24T00:22:00.009+02:00

Guess no one saw this coming being me releasing a chorus but this chorus is from a SE project i stopped working on 2 years ago. The chorus was finished back then but i didn't bother to finish a gui since i only planed on using it myself. Eventually i figured someone was bound to put a chorus on the market that i liked but that did happen in this 2 year time so i decided to wrap this one up and make it available for all.

My reference for this chorus was my work with various Roland chorus over time like Re-301, Jazz Chorus Amp, Dimension D, Juno 60, Boss Pedal etc... I was raised listening to those chorus so that type of chorus is stuck in my head.

Here is a demo where i use the ST Chorus on the following instruments:

Lounge Lizzard Piano, Zebra 2 DX E Piano, ARP Omni, NI Pro 53 Brass, Zebra 2 PWM Pad, RealGuitar Steel Picked, ABL 2 Bassline and Zeta+ Trance Pattern

http://www.synthtronic.com/demos/ST_Chorus_DEMO2.mp3

A limited demo is available here, give it a spin:

http://www.synthtronic.com/stchdemo.zip

You can pick it up for €19 over at

www.synthtronic.com/stchorus.html

/Michael

Zebra 2 After Skool Soundset

2008-09-02T17:05:00.003+02:00

Here is a little update on the next soundset for Zebra 2 VST from me. First of all i changed the working title to "Zebra After Skool Soundset", this makes more sense to me since "Zebra Oldskool Soundset" was the name of the previous soundset.

Zebra 2 After Skool Soundset will be a mixed bag of 128 presets.

Here are some demos of the work so far:

(Some Ethnic + Slooow Emo Pads)
http://www.synthtronic.com/demos/Z2_MK_Soundset4_03.mp3

(Let's make some Noise, Despite what you might think, this IS Zebra.) http://www.synthtronic.com/demos/Z2_MK_Soundset4_02.mp3

(Rhythmbox + Various)
http://www.synthtronic.com/demos/Z2_MK_Soundset4_01.mp3

(Various Presets)
http://www.synthtronic.com/demos/Z2_MK_Aug08.mp3

/Michael

Zebra 2 Soundset 4 Progress

2008-08-11T19:00:00.003+02:00

A little update on Soundset 4 progress: I've used an insane amount of time on making a rhythmbox kit to my taste. I wanted the set to sound like all coming from the same rhythmbox. Why go thru so much bother for something which is around free all over the net as samples. Well the word samples is the reason. Ever tried EQ'ing a sampled TR 808 or the likes BD just to find that the sample isnt clean. The typical situation is you put more top on a drum and then reveals some unwanted high freq noise/tones. So this in basics is the reason why i sat down and created a rhythmebox from scratch, now i'm 100 % sure no artifacts will appear no matter how hard i boost any frequency because the drum sounds are super clear and pure.

Ok besides the rhythmebox the work has been around a bleeding trumpet. This has taken forever and the outcome is more like a trombone heh heh but i'll settle for a trombone for now ;) Now when making an emulation like a trombone you cant possibly cover all aspect of the sound but what you can do is create something which is GOOD enough for most performances.

Here is a demo snippet of some new sounds, no EQ only limiter and a stereo enhancing thingy on the mix:

http://www.synthtronic.com/demos/Z2_MK_Soundset4_01.mp3

First of all its a journey with the rhythmbox thru various arrangements.

First we hear a nice square/piano like pad then its the phaser string, the Ride Cymbal and Thee Trombone after that a spacey dark pad with some echo key hits and last its some reggeaton with a synth preset sounding like a sample from an old Mirage Sampler with lots of grittyness and the 8 bit flavour all over it.

Ohh and dont mind my lousy Trombone solo play

I'm going to give the rhythmbox hihat a closer look later on and will create a few other sounding cymbals, ohh and a NEW clap.

Btw, now that i think of it the box sounds somewhat like the mix done for Rock Your Baby by George McCray, in my head that is. I dont dare listen that title now, what if i'm all wrong heh heh.

Thats about it

/Michael

A day with Purity Software Sound Module

2008-08-09T04:36:00.004+02:00

Purity is among the (oldies) and is a General Midi software sound module like Roland counterparts such as SC 55 but with its own approach and unique features. With the initial release of Purity it was an expensive investment but now you can pick it up for $99 USD which is cheap compared to what you get. Sure there is noew things on the market which do GM sounds with better quality but if you take another approach and consider Purity as a device for getting ideas down quick then you cant go wrong. My interest is in the build in sequencer which can be used to create ideas for sequences and arpeggios. The fun part is when you combine several phrases, multis, loops etc... into a 1 finger preset sounding like a full orchestra or any kind of arrangement. When doing this you will instantly do a timewarp back to the late 80's synth pop.

I had a little trouble with the install because Cubase forced Purity to look for the sound library in c:\Program Files\LUXONIX\Purity\ but it was installed elsewhere on a extern harddrive but i just copied the files from the extern into the C:\Program Files\......

Now when fooling around with this kind of PCM sound generator you need to think creative. Dont like the drum sounds ? well try turn up or down in pitch and see what comes out.

To get the most from Purity i think you would need to setup your own drumkits using the PCM sounds included. Drums are always a matter of taste.

Anyways, i played around with Purity for several hours to get the grand picture and ended up with a little fun preset. Everything in the following demo is controlled by key note, how long i hold the key and how hard i hit the key. I added some comp and reverb on the total mix.

http://www.synthtronic.com/demos/MK_Purity_Fun_01.mp3

http://www.synthtronic.com/demos/MK_Purity_Fun_02.mp3

You can find more information about Purity at http://www.luxonix.com/

Thats about it for today...

/Michael

A day with CS-80 V

2008-08-06T00:08:00.003+02:00

One of the most famous synth of all time has to be the Yamaha CS-80. Funny how things turn up, CS-80 sold around 2000 whereas Minimoog sold 15.000 (i think). Anyway, CS-80 was popular but with a price tag beyond any avarage musicians budget. So i settled for visiting my friend at the Yamaha store quite often just to put my hands on this huge monster. Sooo, we now have 2008 and i've had Arturia's CS-80 V lying around my harddisk for 2 years without some serious use. I find the CS-80 V somewhat hard to work with because some parameters dont behave like i thought they would, mainly the modulation section. Setting a nice smooth velocity transition was so hard i gave up several times.

K, so i played around with the ARP feature which is very cool and simple. Then i moved onto making a split preset with bass in the left and arps in the right. Now since this machinery can be programed to act like 8 mono synths in one preset i decided to make the ultimative CS-80 V single preset. ;)

The preset has 4 oscillators runing the ARP from C#3 and up, each of these oscillators are programed with a different sounds like pure square, brass, etc... This leaves us with 4 osc's left for bass and a 3 osc lead-brass. The bass covers from C3 and lower and the lead-brass covers the whole range but without being assigned to the ARP feature.

It looks a bit like this:

<---1 osc--------bass-><---4 osc----arp------------------->
<---3 osc-------------------lead-brass--------------------->

This gives us a max use of the 8 osc's and can sound like this when played live using this single preset:

http://www.synthtronic.com/demos/MK_CS80_ARPSplit2.mp3

or

http://www.synthtronic.com/demos/MK_CS80_ARPSplit.mp3

For a non-live performance i would probably turn the preset into 2 presets having the lead-brass stacked with the bass and arp on another instance to avoid tones getting clipped.

Thats about it :)

/Michael

Zebra 2 Summer Presets

2008-07-29T16:25:00.002+02:00

Been awhile, summer, being lazy all and that, and for some reason unknown i started to look at some of the presets ideas that has popped with the new Zebra 2 beta. Its not much because official i'm on vacation but it might be fun to listen too:

http://www.synthtronic.com/demos/Z2_MK_Aug08.mp3

/Michael

Zebra 2 and Smooth Jazz

2008-07-13T15:46:00.002+02:00

I'm working on various setups for certain styles. A few weeks ago it was about about Smooth Jazz. My first attemt at this setup consisted of acoustic/real instruments all over but i had a hard time blending Zebra into the arrangements, something just didnt sound right so i started over by keeping the drums and then have Zebra do the all instruments.

The drums are a mix of several libraries, my aim was to have a very dry and tight kit. So here we are, sampled real drums and Z2 having a smooth time:

http://www.synthtronic.com/demos/Z2_SmoothJazzKit_01.mp3

/Michael

Zebra Oldskool Released (Vol 1+2+3)

2008-05-14T17:38:00.009+02:00

Zebra Oldskool Soundset is available now. This is the third Volume added and its the last in this series. In short its my work on Zebra 2 VST for 1 year. Volume 1 was released June 2007, Volume 2 was released September 2007 and now (May 2008) we have the last Volume 3 added.

Zebra Oldskool Soundset comes with 512 patches or presets if you prefer and is a walk down olds school lane in terms of various synthesis methods used the last 20 years. You will find that Subtractive, Additive, Waveshaping, Wavetable and much more was used in creating this soundset so it could be a good place to start exploring synthesis secrets.

Zebra has its own page on my synthesis site http://www.synthtronic.com/zebra.html where i usually update with new clips of music made using Zebra on a regular basis.

Zebra Oldskool Soundset is available from http://www.zebrasynth.com/

/Michael

Competition fun with Zebra VST

2008-04-25T22:52:00.002+02:00

I've started a competition over at KVR forums. In short you can win a copy of the upcoming Zebra soundset by creating something with a demo bank. Competition ends by May 11 2008

Visit KVR for the competition rules and files:

http://www.kvraudio.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=214084

/Michael

Zebra 2 Oldskool Vol 3 Jazz Preview

2008-04-06T04:47:00.002+02:00

This little preview is Jazz inspired, the main focus is a brass section and some jazz guitar like patches. Its a medley of some of the arrangements i played with while making the patches. All is Zebra 2 playing except for first clip which is also using True Pianos and Stylus RMX.

http://www.synthtronic.com/demos/Z2_Oldskool_Vol3_Jazz.mp3

Thats about it for now.

/Michael

A tiny Easter Egg for your Zebra 2 VST

2008-03-22T13:46:00.003+01:00

Hmmm what to say, its easter and i got a little egg for your Zebra 2 VST.

Its a split patch with 1(2) finger chords from C1-C3 and a lead from C#3-C6

This is what it sound like:

http://www.synthtronic.com/demos/Z2_Oldskool_Vol3_EasterPatch.mp3

and the patch can be downloaded here:

http://www.synthtronic.com/demos/MK3_Magic_Jazz_Split.zip

Unzip and put in your Zebra 2 VST preset folder.

Happy Easter :)

/Michael

Zebra 2 Oldskool Vol 3 SFX Preview

2008-03-21T17:11:00.003+01:00

Time for another Zebra 2 Oldskool Volume 3 demo. This time its based around SFX but you will also hear sounds used in the other previews. The track is build up around a slow 4 on 4 basic groove arrangement using Stylus RMX. Besides that i've made use of heavy limiter and a 3db EQ boost to high mids.

Most SFX generators i created use random generation with in a certain limit. So in this case identical tracks never happens unless i choose to sample the SFX and use it that way.

http://www.synthtronic.com/demos/Z2_Oldskool_Vol3_SFX.mp3

/Michael

Zebra 2 Oldskool Vol 3 Keys Preview

2008-03-15T16:59:00.002+01:00

Ok time for last preview in awhile. This time its Keys and a few other things which i hope you can identify ;) There is nothing much to say about these patches other than they are the ones that takes forever to come up with because you have to compromise on lots of factors.

http://www.synthtronic.com/demos/Z2_Oldskool_Vol3_Keys.mp3

/Michael

Zebra 2 Oldskool Vol 3 Pads Preview

2008-03-14T17:10:00.002+01:00

Here is the snippet preview of Pads category from Oldskool Volume 3 for Zebra 2. Some of the patches resembles ambient patches but can be used more broadly. Like all the other categories i tried to fit in sounds which was not present in Oldskool Vol 1+2, so most of these are symphonic big patches which is suitable for film score and old school symphonic arrangements.'

This preview features 11 patches:

http://www.synthtronic.com/demos/Z2_Oldskool_Vol3_Pads.mp3

/Michael

Zebra 2 Oldskool Vol 3 PolySeq Preview

2008-03-14T14:30:00.002+01:00

Here is a snippet of 13 new patches from the category Poly Sequenced coming in Oldskool Vol 3 for Zebra 2. These patches are under the control of Arppegio or MSEG based patterns. I've added a few of the new drum and perc sounds to the track so you can get a feeling of how the beat and patterns mix together. On the final output i have put a good portion of limiter to bring the overall volume up, but besides limiter its all Zebra 2.

http://www.synthtronic.com/demos/Z2_Oldskool_Vol3_PolySeq.mp3

/Michael

Zebra 2 Oldskool Vol 3 Ambient Preview

2008-03-13T22:54:00.002+01:00

I'm starting to tie up the loose ends for Oldskool Volume 3 for Zebra 2 and made a status of the progress. So now i can say that Oldskool Volume 3 will be at around 128+ new patches.

I've started to put the finishing touch to each category and the first category is Ambient where i made a preview of 6 patches included in the Oldskool Volume 3.

The preview i fairly long due to the nature of ambient patches with all kinds of movement. I've used no automation for XY controls cause then the preview would be like 10 times longer so just play the standard setup on each patch.

This preview is about 5 mins long:

http://www.synthtronic.com/demos/Z2_Oldskool_Vol3_Ambient.mp3

/Michael

Zebra 2 Electric Forest Part 1

2008-03-07T10:24:00.003+01:00

Time to make some noise again and this time something organic.

In basic its my first try to create something organic using Zebra 2 synth only.
By organic i dont mean 100% replica of natural sounds but sounds which kinda takes you the same place in mind. To create the organic life in the arrangement i made a sort of tropical patch which spits out random sounds which are (similar) to sounds i would expect to hear in a real world enviroment.

The main goal is to fool the mind into a tropical feeling but on closer look you will notice its all synthetic sounds. For me, thats the fun part.

Anyways, here goes, part 1 of Electric Forest:

http://www.synthtronic.com/demos/Z2_Electric_Forest_01.mp3

This is the initial idea, and there will probably be a part 2 and 3 before i'm finished. In part 2 i plan to focus on the theme and chords.

The technical side:

Cubase SX
Zebra 2
Sonalksis EQ and Comp
Kjærhus Limiter
Artsacoustic Reverb on a few things.

Hope you enjoy this as much as i enjoy making it.

Cheers

/Michael

Zebra 2 Morphing Voice

2008-02-20T17:44:00.003+01:00

One of my big passions is synthetic choir's and voices. By chance i found a new waveform which could be used for a morphed ooh-aah voice but as always with voices you have to compromise between getting as much notes covered compared to avoiding chip monk effect. With 2 waveforms i make the transition between the Ooh and the Aah using velocity to control the crossover.

The patch uses 1 OSC with 2 wavetable waveforms.

Here is an example with some soft background:

http://www.synthtronic.com/demos/Z2_Morphing_Voice.mp3

and here is a Jazzy example of use:

http://www.synthtronic.com/demos/Z2_Jazzy_Oohs.mp3

Both demos is straight out of Zebra 2 and nothing added.

/Michael

Glass Viper first try

2008-02-16T02:40:00.000+01:00

Glass Viper is a relative new synth from QuikQuak which is mostly known for the RaySpace reverb. Anyway, Glass Viper is a weird looking synth, doesn't look like much but is full of surprises.
The most important feature have to be the waveform modulation which is kinda unique but also the filters are worth looking at because its extreme in a good way. I dont remember hearing this kind of filter on a virtual synth before so i simply had to have that synth and see what its about.

I did the usual stuff, made an arrangement, rule was like always, only this synth plays whatever you hear. I had a really really hard time coming up with convincing drums, mostly because the pitch modulation isnt fast and high enough. So kick and snare is off limit on this synth atleast for now or until i find a workaround. Besides making various synth sounds i managed to make a roomy tom, hihat, snap and a weak kick.

I havnt even started on the possibilities with the waveform modulation, i just kept to standard synthesis for the following little demo. The demo is 14 instances of Glass Viper playing everything you hear and nothing else added, not even EQ, limiter or anything. I think this little green monster got much more to show and i'm looking forward to explore it.

My wishlist for this synth so far is:

Synced LFO,s Pan modulation and higher delay output.

http://www.synthtronic.com/demos/gv_80jam.mp3

/Michael

Fabfilter Twin first try

2008-02-13T17:31:00.000+01:00

Yesterday i played around with Fabfilter Twin synth. Twin is a great sounding synth but lack a EQ feature. Normally lacking EQ wont stop people from getting a synth but as a sound designer you want to make sure that people get the sound as its ment to be and not how it could sound with eq settings.

In short if Twin was to hang on the wall in my Synth Hall of Fame then it would need 2 things:

EQ and a Delay.

When i fool around with synths i really dont care what the outcome is music wise but i do care about the authentic analog touch. I think its fair to say that Twin DO live up to its claim of being authentic sounding as i'll demonstrate in this little 80's pop theme:

The overall mix went thru EQ, comp and limiter:

http://www.synthtronic.com/demos/twin_80jam.mp3

and here is a picture of the overall EQ setting:

/Michael

Zebra Guitar Flavour

2008-02-08T03:52:00.000+01:00

I've been playing a bit with creating Zebra guitar like patches, my hope is to come up with an El-Guitar, a Western Guitar, a Spanish Guitar and a 12 String Western Guitar.

I found a MIDI file of Cavatina (Deer Hunter Theme) on the net and had it play the patches as they are atm. I try to keep things simple so each patch is 1 OSC and 1 VCF using additive waveforms and OSC FX to alter the body.

Left side is El-Guitar, Middle is Western and Right side is Spanish. The spanish one will be the hardest to get right.

http://www.michaelkastrup.com/synthdemos/Z2_Cavatina.mp3

Besides that i'm working on a Wurlitzer/Rhodes thing but its a tough one :)

/Michael

Machine Creator VST Released

2008-01-09T18:44:00.000+01:00

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To celebrate launch of my new site http://www.synthtronic.com i'm releasing a FREE little fun piece of machinery based on the Maizesoft Sampler.

Machine Creator:

http://www.synthtronic.com/demos/ST_Machine_Creato r_01.mp3

In basic its a rompler with 166 (45 MB) sci-fi sounds split up into 7 categories, each category with its own MIDI channel.

These are the categories:

CH 1. Bright sounds
CH 2. Deep sounds
CH 3. Medium sounds
CH 4. Scanner sounds
CH 5. Static sounds
CH 6. Various Tones
CH 7. Utility sounds

The general idea is you mix some sounds to create a certain type of atmosphere. Want spaceship deep hum, then look in CH 2. Deep sounds, want electric current sounds then look in CH 5. Static etc....

All sounds are looped 16 bit 44.1 kHz Mono and unprocessed.

Many sounds can also be used for weird beats if used with low decay settings and also make sure to try it with delays and reverbs.

Pick it up over at www.synthtronic.com

Hope you like the color RED

/Michael

Zebra JazzGuitar Part 1

2008-01-05T02:01:00.000+01:00

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I had a feeble attempt at a Jazz Guitar in a Bossa Nova like arrangement, i didnt get far thou because when i wanted to create a string for this piece and came up with a waveform suitable for Jupiter Brass sounds and that kinda stopped me but i'll pick up the the Jazz Guitar again when my ideas for the Jupiter thing is done.

Here is the little Bossa Nova tune with a Jazz Guitar like patch:

http://www.michaelkastrup.com/synthdemos/Z2_JazzGuitar_01.mp3

/Michael

Zebra 2 on Yamaha HS 50M Test

2007-12-31T20:15:00.000+01:00

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Ok for 3 days i've been playing with the new monitors Yamaha HS 50M

Time for testing

To see how well they translate to various other speaker system i decided to create a track medley of sounds from Zebra 2 which i'm working on.

Every Zebra patch is EQ'ed and adjusted to the lows and highs i prefer by using the 2 EQ Modules in Zebra. My biggest concern was getting a broad stereo image without the help from external tools but staying within the Zebra architecture.

Now this MP3 file is not abused by limiter, EQ or automation or anything, its just a raw mix with sounds coming out of Zebra 2.

So dont expect a high output, but expect a very clean mix straight out of the box. (MP3 format kills quite a bit of the dynamic, but still...)

If any are interested in the WAV (48 MB) version let me know.

Take the MP3 for a ride on your speaker systems and let me know how the balance turns out. By balance i mean, is there too much high frequency or too much lows or perhaps missing the middle. The HS 50M goes down to 55Hz so there might be a problem in the very lows.

http://www.michaelkastrup.com/synthdemos/Zebra2_YamahaHS50M_Final.mp3 (256bit)

Track length 4:39 min.

1. Intro

The wobble rythm effect (Low Mids bending up)
The most annoying sawing sound on earth (Low Highs)

2. Kick, Hihat and formant sequence with high crickets effect.
This track gives you an instant idea of the max low and max high.

3. The acoustic part with choirs and guitar like things and fretless bas
Good for checking the mids

4. Trance part with stressed highs in the begining which settles down to some percussive noise.
This is the volume check part regarding highs.

5. The crazy organ part for very low check (the kick bomb)

6. Old RnB, The dry and tight test.

7. Mr. Briefcase, Upper mids check via the Hohner clav like thing.

8. Boogie rock, Distortion check, the organ should be percieved gritty with normal distortion.

9. Pink Floyd-Alan Parsons, Sustaining midrange check with added highs in the last part.

Cheers

/Michael

Shopping for new monitors

2007-12-29T13:34:00.000+01:00

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Many times i played with the thought of getting new speakers for monitoring. The old ones i use when mixing at home is an old HiFi set which have been used for more than 20 years!!! No wonder i'm used to these speakers heh heh

Well this night i couldnt fall asleep because my head was spinning around getting new speakers. So i did some monitor checking on the net by reading reviews and viewing data sheets.

My pref. of reference when working in studio is some large speakers and then Yamaha NS10 or Genelec. I know many new brands have showed on the monitor scene and things to look for was among others Adam and KRK speakers. In my mind i had set myself up for a pair of KRK RP 5 or Adam A7 but when i got to the store they only had KRK RP 6 and the new KRK VXT Series.

Anyways the KRK speakers had to much bass for my taste but they were very musical. The Adam A7 was like cutting thru a mix for spotting the tinyest detail. Not very musical but very very natural without any sense of colour. The Adam A7 seemed a tad to big for my desk so i started to look at the small Genelec 8020A, and they sounded damn nice for a speaker of that size. The lows where better than expected but ofcause not great but the rest of the range came out pretty clear so i decided to go for the Genelec. 15 mins later i'm told the shop dont have more in stock.....grrrrr hmmm i want some damn speaker with me today so give me the Adam A7 then..... and 10 mins later....sorry out of stock... lol you gotta be kidding. Ok, i was starting to get annoyed but then noticed a small set of Yamaha HS 50M, now since i'm familiar with the Yamaha sound i thought hmmm why not.... so i took a quick listen and they sounded just as i expected neutral and linear. Funny how things turn out when you out shopping lol

Just as a footnote, i WILL get the Adam A7 at some point. Those speaker are incredibly revealing but for now i settle with my new Yamaha set which i'm sure will cover many needs :)

So in the future i hope to produce a tad more clear sounding synth patches.

/Michael

Zebra Choir Wavetable

2007-12-28T19:57:00.000+01:00

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Ok being the geek i am i tried to see just how far i could take the 2 choir oscillators and avoid using more osc's but see if i could paint some waveforms that could fit the original setup. So i ended up with very soft uhh to more airy uhh to more ahh to more ooh using all 16 wavetable slots. In all 4 specific waveforms which blends into eachother.

This is all controlled by Velocity so if i play soft i get the very soft uhh and if i play max hard i get the canned ooh sound and if i play somewhere between i get the airy uhh and the ahh's.

The ahh and ooh sounds have to much can sound over it but i cant change that without affecting the uhhs.. sooo :o)

Here goes a little christmas tune:

http://www.michaelkastrup.com/synthdemos/Z2_Choir_Wavetable.mp3

/Michael

Zebra Choir Patch

2007-12-28T04:12:00.000+01:00

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One of the things i also want to get right is a decent choir thing for Zebra. While its fairly easy to come up with a few voice like notes in an isolated place its another ballgame when you want the entire keyrange to produce a choir. You often end up with chipmonk voices in the upper register of the keyboard. So the trick is to come up with something that avoid the chipmonk thing and have close to a full keyboard range.

Here is a try for a Uhh Choir:

http://www.michaelkastrup.com/synthdemos/Z2_Choir_Uhh_01.mp3

For this patch i'm using 2 OSC and i hope i can come up with a Ahh Choir with the remaining OSC's so i can make a crossfade patch between Uhh and Ahh.

/Michael

Zebra Zymbells Soundscapes

2007-12-27T06:26:00.000+01:00

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Today i had fun with a patch which turned out to be brilliant for dark ambient and misc bell/cymbal soundscapes.

The patch consist of the 4 OSC producing random sample & hold sine notes, 2 FM modules used for Ring Modulation and a COMB module. After roughly 4 hours i took the patch for a spin and this is what came out. First i play the patch dry with various timbres and then i move on to the more ambient soundscapes using delay and reverb:

The hard part was getting that certain cymbal/bell sound without it sounding to FM'ish.

http://www.michaelkastrup.com/synthdemos/Zebra_Zymbells_01.mp3

/Michael

Happy Holidays & Oldskool Vol 3 Sneak Peek

2007-12-22T05:07:00.000+01:00

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I wish all Oldskool friends and XSynth Library users happy holidays and best wishes for 2008.

What could possibly happen in 2008, well it COULD be something like a Oldskool Volume 3 for Zebra VST but its too early to tell yet. I dont want to rush things, i just want time to be creative and enjoy myself and hopefully something pops up someday which i can share.

Here is a sneak peek of 19 maybe Oldskool Volume 3 patches:

http://www.michaelkastrup.com/synthdemos/Zebra_Oldskool3_Preview1.mp3

Lots of great synths saw the light in 2007 and i want to explore them all. I highly recommend Atlantis VST by Jeremy Evers which is a free synth for people who like to experiment with soundshaping.

/Michael

Weird Ambient Granulator

2007-12-11T02:03:00.001+01:00

Today i came up with an idea to create 16 waveforms which would create a clean rhythmic pattern at very low keys when combined with FM modulation. Then everything went into a COMB module and weird stuff startet to come out. A patch like this is best suited for ambient tracks i guess. I have a feeling that something is hidden within the patch which is still to be figured out. Anyways, here goes something weaird and ambient with a tad of Granular to it:

http://www.michaelkastrup.com/synthdemos/Z2_Granulator.mp3

/Michael

Emulating a guitar

2007-12-10T04:20:00.000+01:00

I'm almost fully recharged by now so i'm starting to pick up on new ideas.

Today i sat down with Zebra VST and created some additive waveforms with a typical digital flavour with pluck instruments in mind. I ended up with a project patch called E-Deck which is supposed to have the same feel as an acoustic guitar and with some luck also electric guitar.

As it is now there are 3 parameters which can change the overall sound slightly. It can go from very metalic to very soft.

5 examples of different body parameters:

http://www.michaelkastrup.com/synthdemos/Z2_E-Deck.mp3

and just for fun, Deer Hunter midi theme exposed to the patch:

http://www.michaelkastrup.com/synthdemos/Z2_E-Deck_Cavatina.mp3

Its far from finished because i can go in many directions and i need to try all of them out. In this demo i'm using SYNC as a vital ingredient. The patch itself consist of 1 OSC and 1 VCF so i still got 3 OSC and 3 VCF free which means it could end up as a 12 string guitar or a combined guitar-string etc.. patch.

/Michael

XSynth Reason products discontinued

2007-09-27T01:23:00.000+02:00

Building and associating the XSynth name with quality products have had a side effect which i didnt see coming. For some odd reason people in the pirate business have started to use the name XSynth as a kinda stamp for quality products.

I guess it all started with a person made a pirated version of XSynth Library and included another sample library with it and kept the XSynth name for the bundle. This has turned into a trend and now you can find tons of various XSynth bundles on torrents and pirate sites. None of these bundles have the full version of XSynth Library or at least i have not found any version 1.11 out there yet.

Take a look at this picture which includes the latest 100 versions out there:

http://www.xsynth.com/xsynth_lastest_100.png

What i'm going to do is put XSynth on ice for awhile and surface again when things have settled down and meanwhile i will continue my work over at www.synthtronic.com which will function as a hub for things i work with.

For now my work on the Zebra platform is finished and i'm recharging for a new project. I have no idea of where or what the next project will be until i'm buried deep into something.

So until then.... :o)

/Michael

Zebra Oldskool Vol 1 + 2 Released

2007-09-24T16:18:00.000+02:00

Dont care about details then jump over to Urs at www.u-he.com

My 6 months exploration of Zebra2 Softsynth ends today with the release of Zebra Oldskool Soundset Volume 1+2. The Volume 1 which was released in July has merged with Volume 2 into one single entity called Zebra Oldskool Volume 1+2.

Let me put it this way, if was to be stranded on an island with 1 instrument, it would be Zebra2 from Urs Heckmann. I have managed to make this softsynth come up with just about anything worth using for music and sound production. Pads, Leads, Bass, Keys, Synths, Drums & Percussion, FX, SFX and pretty good emulations of acoustic instruments.

My first encounter with Urs and his ideas was 4-5 years ago when i learned about Zoyd. I thought, damn this guy is on to something but Zoyd was not for my platform. Then a bit later i learned that Urs had begun a new project named Zebra. When Zebra was announced for Windows PC i was glued to the news from Urs for a long time. Time went by and i forgot about Zebra and moved on to other things. Then about 2 years later the Zebra popped on the scene. At that time i was commited elsewhere so i didnt pay much attention to it but i bought it, played a bit with it and then put it away because i had other stuff to do.

My work on another platform ended and i started to look for a new project. Then out of the blue Howard Scarr dumps in on the Zebra and shows some controlled versions of Zebra, by control i mean classical sound synthesis. He showed he could tame the Zebra into an instrument you can actually play. So i gave it a go, my first goal was to see if Zebra could sound nice and warm and thus this little famous MP3 " Zebra Jazzy " showed its way to the public.

Well after the creation of Zebra Jazzy i thought i better go deeper and see what this synth is really about. After creating 17-18 patches i realized that the synth engine was ideal for just about any kind of sound design. 2 Months (July 2007) later the Zebra Oldskool Volume 1 was released. I had made a promise to put out the soundset just before summer, well i delivered but i wasnt finished. There was still much to be explored so during the summer i decided to make a follow up to Volume 1. This particular summer was VERY wet so i had no problems with staying indoors commited to sound design. The purpose with Volume 2 was to turn Zebra into a workstation with all needed instruments for putting down a basic track. The first challenge was to come up with drums, after a few weeks i had the basic recipe for making drums on Zebra and thus this MP3 " Zebra Drums " hit the public. This was later refined into " Zebra Drums & Percussion ".

Once drums & percussion passed the exam it was time for some fun like in this example " Zebra Boogie Down " and this " Zebra Kool " , now while these demos are more like oldschool disco there is tons of other demos ranging from ambient to rock and new age to minimalism over at " KVR Zebra Oldskool thread " .

I could go on and on with praise about Zebra, if its not in your arsenal of VSTs you are going to miss the train. The train i talk about is the train that reclaim its throne at sound making, synthesis and NOT some 50 GB synth sample library where you never get full control anyway.

I dont think i been this excited since i got my first real synth Yamaha CS-30 in year Gods knows when.

Take the full step, learn synthesis and you will be rewarded with the ultimative sound, the sound of you!

Thats it, over and out!

/Michael

Spirit World Finished

2007-09-16T23:38:00.001+02:00

The idea of having this track run for 20 mins is a bit too much so i ended up with 12 mins. The mix is a bit dirty in some places and i could have used some EQ on various stuff but i need to let it go now before i get bored with it. Then hopefully i feel like mixing it another day when i have recharged my batteries ;o)

Hope you enjoy this full 12 mins track (MySpace Version is 10 mins)

http://www.michaelkastrup.com/MK_Spirit_World.mp3

/Michael

Spirit World Part 3

2007-09-15T04:06:00.000+02:00

Ok i think i need to sleep on it now and will give the new stuff a fresh listen in the morning. I kept the beat parts, made a theme and a ending. Dont think there is much more in this piece of music besides mixing so i'll let put it away for some time.

http://www.michaelkastrup.com/synthdemos/MK_SpiritWorld_Part3.mp3

/Michael

Spirit World Part 2

2007-09-15T00:53:00.000+02:00

I think i got the descend into Spirit World covered but i'm not sure if the next part should be with any beats but i have come up with something as a base for diving into part 2. My basic idea for part 2 is something melodic and perhaps minimal beat like but also with unusual sounds here and there. As it is now the drums which pops up seems natural to me and not disturbing the mood. The trick now will be to keep the mood and add more rhythmic stuff without creating stress.

http://www.michaelkastrup.com/synthdemos/MK_SpiritWorld_Part2.mp3

/Michael

Spirit World Part 1

2007-09-13T02:53:00.000+02:00

Today i felt like making something very different, my initial plan is to make a 15-20 mins piece of music which is a blend of sound fx and chill/relax. I want it to be something that place the listener in another (world) so lets call it spirit world. It starts of a bit spookey but that is just to sharpen your attention. This first part i would like to think of as a descend into that world. Once there new stuff will happen (part 2 i suppose).

http://www.michaelkastrup.com/synthdemos/MK_SpiritWorld_Part1.mp3

/Michael

Inspirational Mega Patches

2007-09-11T02:15:00.000+02:00

Last night i tried build a mega patch with the following ingredients:

Zebra = Low end string, Violins, Flute
Sampler = Cellos ensemble
Sampler = 7 Sweet Ann vowel samples controlled by crossfade velocity.

The harder i played the brighter vowels and more strings and flute would come in.

It turned out to be something i jammed with all night and couldnt stop, so today i decided to post one of the examples i came up with last night:

http://www.michaelkastrup.com/synthdemos/v2_sweetann_05.mp3

/Michael

Fourth encounter with Sweet Ann

2007-09-08T21:29:00.000+02:00

After some hours i managed to put together some samples of various vowels. Now we are begining to see the possibility for choir stuff and i left out the initial backing choir which was not Sweet Ann. So this time its all Sweet Ann but sampled versions of her which is kinda cheat but its the only way to get the job done in my eyes. The drawback now is that voices come out like samples but i'd rather go with that than take the fight using Vocaloid2 and Cubase in Rewire mode.

Damn b#3?+ cant say You or Who, she says Yu and Hy and happely forgets about the bleeding O.

http://www.michaelkastrup.com/synthdemos/v2_sweetann_04.mp3

EDIT: By watching a tutorial i could see a method to get the "You" done, seems like i only need a very tiny part of the actual You word placed 2 semitones below a longer U word so the first You word kinda bends up to form a U.

/Michael

Third encounter with Sweet Ann

2007-09-08T17:22:00.000+02:00

Ok, the pitch thing is due to several things in the way she is ment to sing and this makes it VERY difficult. The main problem is i cant compensate for the pitch when i have nothing to hold it up against like a rewire track (we tried that and it didnt work). So what happens is i find a phrase i like but when i have exported the singing to a wave file and want to try it out in my host it turns out that some part of the phrase is out of pitch, yikes. So now i'm trying to see if i can create a choir with various vowels by sampling each damn note and then fine correct for pitch on each note.

Then a new problem came up, it turns out that what you hear when you audition a phrase it might not come out the exact same way when rendered it to a wav file. For some odd reason Vocaloid2 decides to pick another of the singers basic samplings as a starting point for a word. A typical setup for a vowel is that its made up of 2 samples of the original singer. So you have a bright sample for the natural registers and another sample for the low registers.

In the following music piece Sweet Ann do the ae--ee--uu and another choir sample set do the intro choir. Infact Sweet Ann was supposed to sing ae--ee--uu--ahh--oh but the ahh and the oh came out dead wrong in pitch so i only kept the first parts.

http://www.michaelkastrup.com/synthdemos/v2_sweetann_03.mp3

/Michael

Second encounter with Sweet Ann

2007-09-07T00:06:00.000+02:00

Ok i managed to find a pitch which had an overall good feel by using pitch bend in Vocaloid2. There is no overall pitch control in Vocaloid2 so using pitch bend was my only choice.

Now that the pitch problem is (solved) i can lessen the harmonizer effect to bring out the voice more clearly. I tried to put in some nonsense word just to get a feel of other things coming from her voice. I think the real hard work is making her sign the words in a correct manner and avoiding the weird articulations which is bound to happen on some words.

Here is a snippet of step 2 with Sweet Ann:

http://www.michaelkastrup.com/synthdemos/v2_sweetann_02.mp3

/Michael

First encounter with Vocaloid2 Sweet Ann

2007-09-06T17:36:00.001+02:00

A while ago i picked up Vocaloid2 Sweet Ann and yesterday i decided to give it a spin.

One cool features is supposed to be the Vocaloid2 Realtime module which is quite handy but what ever you do with the realtime module cannot be rendered to audio. What a bummer, i thought i was on to something and wanted a snippet of the mix in Cubase with the Vocaloid2 Realtime thing. It turns out that the realtime module dosnt output anything when rendering even if you use realtime rendering.

Ohh well perhaps the rewire mode can be used to something then, and oops what a bummer. Having Cubase and Vocaloid2 setup for rewire mode made it impossible to record anything following a beat. I looks like the Vocaloid part is trying to compensate for voice intro and other stuff i dont know about yet.

Ok, how about i just used vocaloid2 and put in some hum and ohhs and THEN rendered that to a wav file. Ooops what a bummer, it turns out Sweet Ann comes out flat and out of pitch. Only way to get something useful of that was to have the rendered wav track run thru a harmonizer with lots of detuned voices as backup.

So is Vocaloid2 Sweet Ann worth it ? Are you kidding lol nopes unless you have way to much money on your hands. I do hope they will correct these bugs or what ever it is because as it is right now i could have more fun sampling a speaking doll.

IF i get something useful out of Sweet Ann i'll post it but that chance is pretty slim atm.

Ohh well, in all fairness here is a snippet where i'm making heavy use of harmonizer and delay effect because of the out of pitch voice:

http://www.michaelkastrup.com/synthdemos/v2_sweetann_01.mp3

/Michael

Chill track with a message

2007-09-05T14:20:00.000+02:00

I hate using my own voice in tracks because all my focus goes into that voice instead of the arrangement. So i tend to use synthesized voices, that way i can stay objective and not get carried away by my own lousy voice. In this cases i have written down some words that made sense to me and had a synthesized female voice read it. I pitched the voice up a few notch to get a little girls voice. Childrens voices have a greater impact on the actual words than using an adult voice maybe it has something to do with we see children as the innocence and non corrupted part of our civilization.

The message of the track is quite clear and is one of those things that cant be said enough times.

http://www.michaelkastrup.com/synthdemos/MK_a_message.mp3

Instruments used: Zebra, Truepiano and Stylus RMX

EDIT: Ok i've been listening to this some hours later and its difficult to understand the voice without it being edited with pauses and stuff. Nice try thou heh heh, back to the drawing board.

/Michael

Zebra Brass Creation Part 2

2007-09-02T16:57:00.000+02:00

Today i gave the Zebrass a shot again and this time i dared to put them a bit more infront without the cover up of delay and reverb. All instruments,drums etc.. are played by Zebra

Its still pretty static sax you will hear but these demos give me a hint on what to focus on.

http://www.michaelkastrup.com/synthdemos/Z2_Zebrass_Part_02.mp3

/Michael

Song for Doru 2007 Version

2007-09-01T15:30:00.000+02:00

Some might know who Doru was and some might not, i knew him because he was the one who inspired me to pick up music making again. In november 2005 i decided to pay my dues by sending Doru a song dedicated to him and the reply i got back was heartbreaking knowing that Doru had very little time left because of cancer (He died on Feb. 10 2006). Doru was one of those people who believed in the best of man and acted unselfish in everything he did. Knowing that he was sick some people started to speculate in his death by overtaking his original domain because of the high traffic he generated. So those of you who wonders why the domain is named http://www.dorumalaia2.com/ and not simply http://www.dorumalaia.com/ is because some low life spotted profit.

Ohh well, the world is what we make of it and Doru was one of the good guys. Not all the gold in the world can stop the fact that we are all going the same way, what we do in between is what matters. Some choose to spend their life taking while others spend their life giving.

To put this into some perspective try visit http://www.breathingearth.net/

Here is the 2007 Version of Song for Doru:

http://www.michaelkastrup.com/synthdemos/Song_for_Doru_v2007.mp3

EDIT: Speaking of taking and giving, watch out for www.domainrenewalonline.com its a domain SCAM asking you to pay for domain renewal while they have absolutely nothing to do with yours, mine or any others domains.

/Michael

Zebra Brass Creation Part 1

2007-08-31T01:16:00.000+02:00

I've been looking for a Alto and Tenor Sax so i tried sax lab from linplug but the overall feel i got was not what i was looking for. It felt too much like playing samples so i thought ok i'm never going to get the real thing so why not settle for synthesized brass and give it a try. So far i covered the low and mids but the highs sound way to synthetic and thin. I also need to come up with cool playing styles using aftertouch, velocity and modwheel. If it was only a matter of faking sax in an arrangement it wouldnt have been that hard because other instruments would take away the focus from the actual sound but if i want a sax for solo then its another game. I'm not a brass player so the emulation will stop where i think its good enough for a non-brass-playing guy.

Why do i have the feeling that this is NOT going to be easy heh heh ohh well...

Here is a snippet of the Zebra Brass Part 1 of god knows how many parts it will take to finish:

Brass Section and Tenor Sax

http://www.michaelkastrup.com/synthdemos/Z2_Zebrass_01.mp3

/Michael

Getting back into mixing

2007-08-29T17:16:00.000+02:00

Seems that i would need to work my way from the 80's to present time. Loudness control is my main issue because i cannot compete with todays music when mixing in 80's style. Today music is made to fit into a soundwall, meaning bass and kick and arrangement have been made to get very high loudness. As an example, the typical synco bass of Rick Astley wouldnt fit into todays music because it would kill the ability to make pumping loudness mixes. A bass today needs to be straight on the beat or on the offbeat to produce the pumping effect.

I'm starting to get more familiar with my compressors and started to see where they fit in. The Sonalksis compressor is the only comp/limiter which can tie bass/snare and kick together as a single entity, it produces a warm compression and is a sound i'm used to from the (old) days.

This is my main goto comp/limiter

Then there is Kjaerhus Comp/limiter, well this one is not so musical but its precise and precision is what you need on the overall master. I use it to take all peaks and keep output at zero.

Fabfilter Comp is a bit complicated but have tons of nice presets, i would say that this one is more a nice tools for todays pumping methods.

So a typical setup would be:

Sonalksis is first in line comp, then Fabfilter on the general mix and finally Kjaerhus to control the mix.

All this mixing is going to take quite awhile because i'm starting from scratch and need to get my head around all the aspects.

As usual Zebra is the instrument i use for dropping down mixing ideas, in this case i've added a piano and Stylus RMX. To show how much Zebra covers i made the start of the mix with only piano and stylus. Zebra kicks in after that in 80's Disco style.

http://www.michaelkastrup.com/synthdemos/Z2_Dubbing_DiscoA.mp3

Far from perfect as usual but at least i'm trying :)

/Michael

Zebra 2 Oldskool Project FINISHED

2007-08-27T16:53:00.000+02:00

Its been nearly 6 months since the first step into the fold of Zebras happend. Why carry on for so long ? Well the answer is that i am a persistant bastard who wont leave until i discovered whats to be found. If i cant share what i find it makes no meaning to me and it will be completely pointless. Some say that a painting tells you more than 1.000 words, i feel the same about music. So people, dont sit on it, let it out no matter what it is as long as it means something to you. Dont be scared of what people might say, fact is, theres ALWAYS one around who will appreciate what your doing. No person in the world is able to please everyone, remember that and stay focused :o)

To all of you who have been following this project, Thank you for keeping me alert and focused!!

Here is a link to the project on KVR forums:

http://www.kvraudio.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=177685

/Michael

Entering mixing phase with Zebra

2007-08-25T05:21:00.000+02:00

Its been like forever that i tried to mix in Cubase. Up until now i always made raw mix of synth presets but i feel i need to take Zebra a bit further by using it in proper mix situations. So this is kinda the good news, the bad news is i suck at mixing in Cubase, its been wayyy too long and just as an example i had to go thru 20 compressors just to narrow down what kind of compressor i want for the job. I like the sound of Sonalksis SV-315 MK2 but its costly so i need to be 100% before i take the jump at it.

In a way i feel like sitting at the big mixing desk again and have to start from scratch. I just hope i'm going to enjoy the learning process as much as i enjoy making preset and patches on synths. Now the really hard part is making Zebra not sound like Zebra, meaning its supposed to replace any kind of sound. Cymbals WILL be hell to reproduce but i'm not giving up.

Anyways, here are my first 3 Zebra Mix cases:

First one is speedy rock pop swing and second one is more old disco like and third is electronica.

http://www.michaelkastrup.com/synthdemos/Z2_MixCaseB.mp3

http://www.michaelkastrup.com/synthdemos/Z2_KoolZebra.mp3

http://www.michaelkastrup.com/synthdemos/Z2_Discover.mp3

/Michael

New Zebra demo snippet

2007-07-29T19:14:00.000+02:00

Made this little demo last night all you hear is straight out of Zebra, no automation no nothing just plain Zebra and a limiter on the final output. Yap Zebra do drums aswell ;)

http://www.michaelkastrup.com/synthdemos/Z2_BoogieDown.mp3

Damn i love where music software is going :)

/Michael

Found this (XSynth) tune on the net

2007-07-20T05:30:00.000+02:00

While browsing today i found a link to a guy called Stikman who made a song named Uncertainty using the XSynth Free Refill and i think he did a damn good job so i thought i'll mention it here.

http://www.dragon-realms.com/stik/songz/index.php?action=song&id=31

/Michael

Regarding Thor from Propellerheads

2007-07-19T20:16:00.000+02:00

Propellerheads has invited a big group of sound designers to come up with signature patches for Thor, this is great news, but i feel it would be a bit redundant if i was to start a Thor project now when so many sound designers have contributed to presets for Thor.

So the future is pretty unknown in the Propellerheads sphere but you can bet i'll be working on something. At the moment most of my time goes to Zebra (VSTi) http://www.u-he.com/zebra/
and judging by this synth i could stick around for a long time.

/Michael

Old Euro pop on Zebra

2007-07-14T05:18:00.000+02:00

Made a little Euro synth/pop track with Zebra, 17 instances of Zebra was used and no external fx except for limiter/EQ on the final output. Some say it had a little ABBA to it and the theme synths do sound a bit like that.

Anyway, enjoy the timewarp back in time ;)

http://www.michaelkastrup.com/synthdemos/Z2_HappyZebra.mp3

/Michael

Zebra Oldskool Volume 1 Available Now!

2007-06-26T15:05:00.000+02:00

The Zebra Oldskool Volume 1 Soundset is now available over at

http://www.zebrasynth.com

/Michael

Yay, Zebra Oldskool Soundset finished

2007-06-15T18:51:00.000+02:00

I didnt expect to finish this soon, and i didnt expect all those nice sounds to come out of Zebra but now its ready, The Zebra Oldskool Soundset.

To define what i mean by oldskool i have prepared 2 MP3 demos.

1. Music made with Zebra (and thats Zebra playing drums, bass, pad, birds or whatever)

http://www.michaelkastrup.com/synthdemos/Zebra_Oldskool_Music.mp3

2. Patches made with Zebra (me going nuts with some of the patches)

http://www.michaelkastrup.com/synthdemos/Zebra_Oldskool_Patches.mp3

Whats included in the soundset ?

128 Patches made by me and 8 Midi Files which covers the most popular MP3 demos.

I dont plan to make a manual since i've used the PERFORM page on Zebra for notes in most cases. It makes more sence to me to have the notes follow the patch rather than have to look it up somewhere else like a PDF document. Also the MIDI files are there as tutorials to see how things are done. The MIDI files also have the purpose of showing people that this is Zebra and not some super mix treated with super outboard fx's.

All demos used TL's Pocket Limiter in the total mix (Great little Freebie from TL) and music piece 2+3+4 used Artsacoustic Reverb. (I first started to use the internal Zebra Reverb later on)

The Zebra Oldskool Soundset Volume 1 can be yours for $30 US when i found a way to distribute it.

For those who want to taste a bit first i suggest you download the first 17 patches i made public in the start of the project. These patches have been reworked in the soundset but will give you an idea of how i do things:

http://www.xsynth.com/download/MKastrup_Zebra2_V1.zip

Have fun :)

/Michael

Update on the Zebra Oldskool patches

2007-06-09T23:09:00.000+02:00

I'm starting to getting fairly confident with Zebra which helps me to come up with what i feel is essential synth patches and there is about 20 to go for a full 128 patch bank. So far i'm very excited about the results and feel that i'm barely touching the surface. There's no doubt, Zebra will be one of my major workhorses on the VST platform.

There is one more synth out there which needs to be looked over and get some attention but for now i feel most for exploring Zebra fully.

Another thing, the whole oldskool synth concept is starting to more or less be my signature and i'm quite happy about that cause finally i can put a word on what i do. :)

Here are some of the latest patches classified as MOVIE type of sounds:

http://www.michaelkastrup.com/synthdemos/Zebra_Oldskool_08.mp3

/Michael

Oldskool Soundset for Zebra VSTi

2007-05-13T10:51:00.000+02:00

I've decided to make a soundset for Zebra VSTi by Urs Heckmann.

This soundset will have a kinda oldskool flavour to it and plan to have it ready before summer.

For those of you who dont know about Zebra i can tell you its a Semi-Modular VSTi plugin instrument.

Here are some demos of sounds i have in mind, some are dry mix and others wet/dry meaning i've added some Reverb to the mix using Artsacoutstic Reverb, besides that its all Zebra generated sounds.

http://www.michaelkastrup.com/synthdemos/Zebra_Jazzy_01.mp3 Jazzy (WET/DRY) (01:10)

http://www.michaelkastrup.com/synthdemos/Zebra_ARP_Fun_01.mp3 Arp Fun (WET) (00:57)

http://www.michaelkastrup.com/synthdemos/Zebra_Oldskool_02.mp3 Oldskool Sequencing (WET/DRY) (01:36)

http://www.michaelkastrup.com/synthdemos/Zebra_Oldskool_04.mp3 8 Various Patches. (DRY) (03:43)

http://www.michaelkastrup.com/synthdemos/Zebra_Oldskool_05.mp3 9 Various Patches, mostly Organ Ambient. (DRY) (03:17)

/Michael

Additive Preview

2007-04-21T17:17:00.000+02:00

Here are some examples of very pure waveforms created using additive synthesis.

I've have sampled the waveforms very close within harmonics so they can complement each other when combined into a patch with alternate sample switch. Additive synthesis is a waveform galore when it comes to organ and bell sounds and there are tons of combinations within the harmonics.

I've done additive before but this time i'm using multiple samples pr. waveform. Waveforms are sampled at CO thru C7 with 1 octave apart. Its a bit overkill but i'd rather have the samples in placed all over the keyboard just in case. The bell samples would be doing aliasing after C4 if i didnt make some extreme high tone samples.

Here is a snippet of some additive waveforms used in raw form:

http://www.xsynth.com/demos/XSWS_Additive_01.mp3

I might go back and resynthesis some of the older additive waveforms i've created for XSynth Library and make them multisamples to cover the entire keyboard range.

/Michael

Brass Preview

2007-04-15T16:27:00.000+02:00

Here is 2 Brass patches build on the same principles as the Panorama Bass Preview. First example is typical brassy while the second is more bass powered brass and pretty big in sound. The bass brass was made by copying the the initial brass sample zone and add 1 octave plus adjusting the filters a bit.

http://www.xsynth.com/demos/XSWS_Brass_01.mp3

/Michael

Panorama Bass Preview

2007-04-15T04:05:00.000+02:00

I've talked about the broad stereo effect on patches before and normally you wouldnt do stuff like this on Bass patches but what if you liked to see how it could be with a broad stereo bass. Well the Bass patches i'm working on now give you the option to choose between plain mono and broad stereo effect. The following Bass patch demo has a Panorama Knob which can be used to spread out the signal:

http://www.xsynth.com/demos/XSWS_Panorama_Bass_01.mp3

So as you can hear my (must_put_stereo_on_everything) sickness is at its prime ;)

/Michael

XSynth FX Free Refill

2007-04-09T15:20:00.000+02:00

Whooops i did it again. Another free refill is on the horizon. It comes with 3000 Sampled waveforms from Access Virus and Korg OASYS. Nahhh theres too many of these kinda libraries.

How bout we took a DEEP dive into the Reason Subtractor and explored the machine as a pure FX synth. Well, thats what i did in this refill. Instead of having to manage hundreds of Subtractor with each its own sound i decided to sample the sounds and organize them into categories.

My first idea behind this project was to create a device which could generate the typical ambience you hear in SCI-FI movies/games but as i explored deeper i found that it could also produce a large vareity of other types of FX.

The material is based on looped and one-shot samples. Each sound is put into a category so you can find the type of sound your looking for fast. Each category has a NN19 and a Combinator patch.

The XSynth FX refill is 59 MB and that would prolly kill my bandwith so i have asked Ola (Propellerheads) if they would like to host it.

My hope with this refill is that people take some time of from making music and explore/play this refill like a toy. Have the Matrix devices come up with random patterns and see what pops up. If you learn to master it i'm sure you could produce background ambience and FX for many types of genres. The 3 included RNS song files shows how you COULD use this refill.

Here is some MP3 snippet:

The FX Generator

http://www.xsynth.com/demos/XSFX_FX_Generator_Demo.mp3

The Machine Creator

http://www.xsynth.com/demos/XSFX_Machine_Creator_Demo.mp3

The Gate Emulator

http://www.xsynth.com/demos/Night_Dweller.mp3

Anyways... Have fun :o)

XSynth FX Quick Guide:

XSynth FX Refill is build around 3 Combinator Patches which are explained below:

1. The FX Generator

The idea behind this Combi is to come up with random FX patterns using the Matrix. The mixer is your control-board for when to mute/unmute a category. Each Category is controlled by a Matrix device which plays a random made pattern. By randomizing, mute/unmute 1 or more categories you achive a rhytmic pattern. Load up the FX Generator Demo RNS song file from the XSynth FX Refill and watch how i mute/unmute randomized categories so they fit for the small demo song.

2. The Machine Creator

The idea behind this Combi is to make a device which can come up with engine/machine/ambience FX types of sounds. The mixer is your hub for mixing and blending these sounds into what your looking for. Again its about categories controlled by Matrix. In the Machine Creator Demo RNS song file you will see that i programmed Matrix for each category with different step lenght, this is to simulate engines running with their own individual cycle.

Try shift pattern up on each category and see what pops up.

3. The Gate Emulator

Load up the Gate emulator demo and watch how noise can put some life into your beats.

This Combi is your tool to put in some stereo gated drums effect on dull mono beats. What makes this tool unique is that it blends perfect with most drums and beats. Want a small room like gated ambience then just have the release turned down. Want long gated 80's drum effect, well just turn the release up. Amazing what noise can be used for, aint it :o)

/Michael Kastrup April 2007

Breathy Pad Preview

2007-04-08T14:55:00.000+02:00

Here is 1 NN-XT patch which consist of 4 elements (Sampled Waveforms). Each element covering its own place of the frequency and thus giving a great vareity in sound when using the filter and resonance knob.

The sound is PPG/D50 like and i added some delay to the patch. Besides that there is used no chorus, unison or anything. The whole point is to skip that step with these samples and have them fixed and ready for use.

http://www.xsynth.com/demos/XSWS_BreathyPad_01.mp3

Music for series

2007-04-08T13:35:00.000+02:00

I played around with a little theme which is supposed to act like a theme for a serie where the begining of the serie shows a slow flyby over NY at night. The closest i can get to place it with something is Miami Vice/ Nighthawk like.

In this piece of music i'm using a new contraption called the 80' gate drums faker. It can make very convincing gate drums effect on anything. Its one of those thing where people think.. wth, why didnt i think of that. The funny thing is, i dont use any kind of reverb or delay but something else which i'm keeping for myself for now ;)

Is it doable within the XSynth Library ? , yup.

Ohh well the track... here it is.

http://www.xsynth.com/demos/Night_Dweller.mp3

Organ Pads Preview

2007-04-07T18:43:00.000+02:00

As promised here is a small mp3 demo of some of the sounds i'm working on.

For these organ pads i used 2 small homemade VST plugins:

1. A harmonic generator (Kinda like a drawbar organ)
2. A chorus based on old Roland synths type of chorus.

This chorus can make a fart from hell sound like a gentle burp in heaven. ;)

The purpose with these pads are very smooth harmonic rich stereo chorus effect.

The first sampels you hear is ambient like and the rest more typical organ like.

http://www.xsynth.com/demos/XSWS_SoftOrganPads_01.mp3

Next preview will prolly be some breathy stereo pads.

/Michael

Lets try something new and different

2007-04-03T23:29:00.000+02:00

Well we used to have me posting about the progress over at xsynth.com and i kinda miss this thing. Now that i think of it it was more like a Blog on what was going on in the studio. So why not make a Blog then and see where it takes us.

Its been awhile since i made some noise.

I've been trying out tons of ways to improve the XSynth Library.

My main beef with sampling is how to obtain a crystal clear stereo sound without phasing. The kind of phasing im talking about is the one occuring when you take two mono signals and pan them extreme left and right and do the detune trick. This is ok when making pads that are supposed to be a bit blurry but what if you want a crystal clear bass to have the broad stereo effect and still be punchy.

Phasing have a negative effect on basses since it will make the deep end fade in and out and thats bad if you want the bass to work with a kick to produce a nice punch.

There are 3 types of bass that can go with phasing:

Freetless Bass (Jazz)
Sequencing Bass (Synth Pop)
PWM Bass (DnB)

All other kinds of bass should be mono and put in center to give the constant punch.

Anyway, its phasing i dont want but i like the movement between left and right. So i have come up with a way to produce a chorus like effect which adds life to samples but keep them clear and gives a nice random stereo placement. Now if i did the same thing to all the samples i would end up with one hell of a blurry soup. So i tend to think in 3 dimensions. The narrow approach, the wide approach and the center approach.

I'm gonna post some examples during the easter holidays.

Until then

/Michael