Synthscape – Here Comes Christmas
Synthscape – No Suppression
Synthscape – Melodic Distortion
Melodic Distortion
Melodic Distortion is a synergy synthscape of synth, drums and percussion. I started it by accident as I was making mixes for my Soundcloud page and this website when it came out all weird and mangled only one luckily and I managed to fix the problem but I had this idea of making a long soundscape or synthscape. I used a lot of plugins from Artuia and one from Roland I would have liked to add more synth stuff in there but I was worried about my CPU and I was recording at the time as I recorded the whole making of which can also be found on my YouTube Channel where I post frequent feel free to subscribe if you want. I do enjoy experimenting with sound and I have dedicated a few pages right here on my website which can be found in the main menu in Videos and Music Creations. I added more sounds to the hour-long file I had of the mangled audio, but I couldn’t resist making something out of it as I heard it playing it back and thinking I could use this for something and I’m glad I did now as I had so much fun making the audio and the visual which I did after making the audio. I always wanted to do a soundscape never thought about synthscape before but I always wanted to make something long and changes a lot and coming across this audio I made I found just the thing I hope to see if I can make another one following the steps I did when I was making the mixes. I hope it comes out the same as I do intend on doing another one soon as this turned out quite good and I enjoy listening to it and I hope you do too. I would describe the synth as a 70’s to early 80s synthscape throwback mixed with Hip Hop beats and lots of different patterns and twists and turns to keep you entertained for a while. I am a bit of a synthesizer addict and I have quite a few plugins now some I use more than others but I do try and make use of all of them including the ones that I don’t really like but my favourite plugins are from Artuia the V Collection they are replicas of old synthesizer hardware including the Fairlight CMI one of the oldest synthesizers out there and used a lot by artists like Kate Bush. I also like Diva, Replica and Repro from U-He which are all out of bounds at the moment I swapped computers and can’t get them to work on my new computer but I will have to get in touch with them so I can start using them again as I do like the U-He products, especially Repro which is one of my favourites to use for synthy stuff but other stuff as well. I like to experiment with sound and when I can be bothered I like to record sounds on my recorder and see what kind of patterns I can make and luckily I have a few filters which help with the job but I didn’t use one filter on this synthscape the parts that sounded like that came out like that already but I’m happy with it and didn’t mind the hours spent on it. Below are some fun things I put together including the making of the video and the actual final video itself. The making of videos is a bit long so you don’t have to watch them all but there are there if you want anyway enjoy. Â
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The Making Of Music Distortion (Part 1)
The Making Of Music Distortion (Part 2)
The Making Of Music Distortion (Part 3)
The Making Of Music Distortion (Part 4)
The Making Of Music Distortion (Part 5)
Synergy Synths – Harmony VST Plugin
I made another plugin and this one is going to be a series called Synergy trying to get that synth word in there somehow lol. The VST is for Windows and Mac and I made the sounds myself using Serum, I also made the GUI too which I’m now happy with. I had quite a few sounds already from what I had over the years of making sounds but I did add 20 more which I made from scratch. Once again some I am happy with and some I’m not but it is a free VST and I’m still a beginner so not all the sounds are perfect. I did add extra knobs like a filter, delay, reverb, chorus and some other knobs as I found some of the sounds were a bit dry but there are always knobs in the synth anyway. This VST was going to be a sampler from one of my old keyboards that aren’t midi and is a Yamaha but I am not sure if they would be happy if I resampled the whole collection on the keyboard and gave it away for free and I think is copyright infringement so I decided to make the sounds myself which I will be doing plenty more of in the future with various of plugins that you can make sounds from scratch with, with the right guide that is. My favourite part of making the plugin was doing the GUI and making the sounds which took some hours but is fun doing and as I said, lucky I had a bag full of sounds already which I tried to make better and upgrade a little. I tested it on Windows and it works on Windows but I haven’t got a Mac computer so I’m not sure if it will work on Mac also I used FL Studio as my DAW so it works in FL but I’m not sure if it works on other DAW so please respond and let me know if it works on your DAW and computer. This is a free download and feedback will be appreciated it’s partly what I like about synths dark, melodic and light and thick and comes with synths and basses. Â
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Cassette Tape Keys VST Plugin
I made my first VST plugin all thanks to software called Romplur which is how I made the interface and the actual plugin itself. The sounds I got from my loops I made I once again got my cassette player out and recorded the loops onto the tape and then onto my Tascam which is how I managed to get the sound out of the cassette onto my computer I used male to male jack to connect the two for sound. Some I’m happy with and some I’m not, but I’m giving it away as a free download as this is my first and not my last making of plugins, which I look forward to doing in the future. There are some things to be aware of it might need a stereo balance plugin like the one in FL Studio for the balance of sound as it has been recorded on cassette tape so it is a little muffled but with stereo balance you be able to make it a lot cleaner sounding, also a limiter would also be needed. As mentioned before I designed the GUI from scratch and used Gimp and the Rompur website for the artwork as me and Adobe photoshop don’t get along but I will keep trying lol. I decided to make a plugin and find something suitable as I was bored and looking for something to do but as always something that would hopefully come into use I thought a plugin maker would be great. Romplur is a drag-and-drop base software for that non-coder like me who rather design than code and have more fun as the trial and error isn’t for me but it’s a great software I suggest you should check it out if designing and music-making is your thing or you like the sound of it. It’s very easy to use and works a treat inside FL Studio the DAW I’m using I’m not sure about any other as I only use one but hopefully, it should work. Please let me know if it works in any other DAW and for anything else I would love to hear your feedback.
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Top 5 Favourite Synth Plugins
Synth Heaven
I’ve got a few synthesizers plugins now and I thought I do my top five of the ones I use and really like. They are an arm and a leg some of them in fact nearly all but I do think they are worth it and when you have them you can get a lot of use out of them and can reuse parts if needed to but there is so much selection you never go back to the old sounds. I like the old synths myself the original hard hitters and even though they are replicated you can still get good sounds out of them depending on what genres you make you will find a lot of good sounds but I make mostly synthy stuff from synthwave to vaporwave to generally synthy music which hasn’t really got a genre but inspiration from other genres all mixed with a bit of what I call a Hip Hop drum beat but I do make normal patterns as well but I like to experiment with drums and the synths itself. As I said probably a million times before I love my synthesizers and have always been obsessed with them from an early age and like dark and light sounds but I do like thick basses and dark and moody basses I like those also subs obviously the sub is the easiest to work with. Anyway here’s my top five synths I use and really love with some tracks I made all used with the same plugin for each plugin I used and there are two tracks per plugin so ten altogether.Â
#5. Uhe - Diva/£179
Diva The is a good synth plugin and has some good sounds in there, especially the laid-back sounds similar to Omishphere but do the same job as in relaxing mellow vibes. It has dark and moody basses to which I love and also some edgy synth sounds which I also like about the synths as dark and edgy is what I like to make but as I said I like to make nice mellow soft beats too. The synth is a analogue synth and is an emulator of the analogue era and comes with loads of filters and knobs to turn to tweak the sounds which are also a good feature but I’m too impressed with the sounds and make them in the box. It does have a high CPU usage so a computer with good ram and hard drive space is needed it works better on a desktop computer rather than a laptop. Here are two tracks used with the synth plugin you can download the tracks for free the link with will at the bottom of this post or on the track itself in the player.
#4. Artuia - Vocoder V3/£199
The Vocoder V is a good synth plugin and though it doesn’t have the choices of different sounds and is minimal what it has is great for retro genres and can make some good tracks out of them, it does cost a bit on its own but if you head over to splice.com you can get a good price a rent to own system where you pay $24.99 a month until you pay it off you get the Vocoder V and also a whole bunch of other synths to put into your mixes. I mean the V collection from Arturia is one of my favourites and there is a lot to choose from and just what I look for as I make retro genres but also spice the synths up with some new flavors I just put together. I notice there was a unique sound used or was similar to something that was used in famous Jungle tracks in the 90s and I didn’t use it in the example I used it a few times and got a good result out of it but I didn’t release it as it sounded like the old stuff I love and heard from earlier artists. As I said it doesn’t have a lot of selection but what it does have is worth putting in and works well for Electro Funk and other genres like that.
#3. Artuia - Arp 2600 V3/£149
If you are looking for a dark and moody synth that is also light and warm the Arp 2600 is the one for you and has a good selection of both dark and light sounds I like to use or I used to use a lot in my tracks. It has a good selection of basses and sequencers that you will be lost in I know I was. It has a lot of knobs and things to tweak which I don’t like to use and also it has its own sequencer built-in which you can use on any sound you choose all the Arturia products have that feature built-in. Like all the products featured in this list they are great for other genres this one I noticed was good for Drum and Bass and Jungle which is surprising as it’s an old synth and is a replica of the original Arp 2600 which was out in the 70s. It has some really good thick basses that remind me of Progressive Rock Basses and G Funk which I always loved. The Arp 2600 comes with the V collection on Splice.com and can be rent to own like all of the Artuia products on here. I find this synth works well with retro genres but also Halloween projects which I like to do around that time of year and the most surprising it makes okay House tracks but not anything current these are retro synths.Â
#2. Uhe - Repro/£149
Repro is a great synth and comes in two Repro 1 and Repro 5 so two for one you know I love a good bargain. It has a lot of great choices and has everything from bass to strings like all the products listed here. The synth has knobs to turn to modify the sounds and also has its own built-in sequencer for those not listed under the sequencer page. The synth has some great sounds and I used it a lot in older works, especially an album called Racial Harmony but it was under a different title before I thought how special the plugin was and I used it a lot in some of the new works but gave it a rest for a while to give the other synths a chance. I like how there are two plugins to choose from and the amount of good sounds there were and also used it on Rebitten By The Lizard album I made quite a while ago now which can all be found on my Bandcamp page. The sounds you get I found were hard-hitting and edgy and I love that kind of thing but also it has some mellow strings and other mellow sounds for those downtempo tracks. It does have a retro feel to it and I’m not sure what else it is good for as I only use it for synthy stuff but I’m sure it’s good for other genres too.Â
#1 Artuia - Mini V3/£149
In at number one, my favourite synth plugin has to the Mini V3 and has a lot of thick basses and nice synths to put into your mix. I’ve made my best tracks with this synth and I think there is something special about it that brings something to the table or maybe it’s just my musical taste. My favourite parts are the basses and the synths which are thick dark and light which is an example on the first track of this section. It has a lot of Progressive Rock-like tones and also some weird and strange sounds that I think it’s appealing to the ear or again it could be my musical taste. It has a lot to choose from and I remember when I first got it I was lost on the number of basses or sounds that I would choose from and I tend to use this quite a lot or did in the past but again I retired it for a while to make way for some other sounds as it can sound a bit samey if you put too much in an album or EP or whatever. I like the whole sound of it and put this at number one as it’s my most used synth plugin and something I go back to even if it’s just for the bass or another part that I like, and it’s an old synth to the original Mini by Moog from the 70s and has been reincarnatedÂ