Off on exchange to Europe in a week and the question has arisen:

Shall one learn thy shed well (ie focus on learning ones existing synths inside out; in my case logic's softsynths and omnisphere) or seek further tools (buy a new bass softsynth for the trip)?

I have yet to discover how to make logic's softsynth sounds rival my friend's Virus Ti. I was thinking perhaps an 'analog' sounding softsynth such as the minimonsta might be beneficial addition to help create such sounds (especially bass - omni has some good bass but rapes cpu).

Then again, many artists seem to rate particular logic synths very highly (including AVB, O'Callaghan, & Pyrdz).

What say you?

Learn thy shed or seek new tools?

100% definately absolutely for sure learn what you have.

In the last 12 months i've bought (and I worked this out the other day) 22 softsynths. I've sold the lot apart from the 3-4 I use regularly and get far more out of them than I would have done out of all the others i've owned put together.

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The anwser is yes and no, know thy shed inside out but if you have progressed a long way already then no harm trying certain products for certain duties.

I'm a big believer in terms of a general ethos, in knowing what you've got inside out and I suspect a lot of pro's go very deep into certain products to find thier own particular edge and sound.

Scientists and surgeons afterall specialise and will always have an edge in thier field compared to say a general practice doc who dabbles in a bit of of everything.

Having said that I don't know what your motivation is here. If it is to get a really outstanding bass then it might be the case it's better to try a focused product such as trilogy or suboombass. Each bit of kit does have strong and weak points.

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quote:

Originally posted by Stevemarble learn thy shed or seek new tools?

Learn before you seek new tools.

That way, you're more than likely to learn what you actually need from a new tool. Which helps homing in on a specific one that you'll get the most out of.

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Normally, I'd agree that learning your existing tools is best, but if you are specifically interested in something for bass, there's something to be said for having a dedicated bass synth. It makes a lot more sense than buying something like Sylenth1 and Vanguard - i.e., two synths that essentially do the same thing (albeit with different character).

quote:

Originally posted by Richard Butler If it is to get a really outstanding bass then it might be the case it's better to try a focused product such as trilogy or suboombass. Each bit of kit does have strong and weak points.

I have both SubBoomBass and Trilian (Trilogy's successor) and I've been a bassist for 30 years, and I agree with this completely - both are outstanding for bass, each in its own way. For the OP, Trilian might make sense because it has the same engine as Omnisphere, essentially the same interface, and the Trilian library is usable in Omnisphere and vice-versa, so it's not like the OP would need to "learn" another synth - learning one would essentially be learning both. But, a large chunk of what you're paying for with Trilian is the incredible library of sampled electric and acoustic basses, which the OP may never need/use if he is strictly doing EDM. On the flip side, the synth bass samples and bass synthesis provided by Trilian are very good.

A similar case can be made for SubBoomBass - it's essentially just another subtractive synth, but with oscillators/waveforms and features that are primarily tweaked for bass/kick drums. So, learning subtractive synthesis in general would get him 3/4 of the way to learning SubBoomBass (or any other subtractive synth).

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A quality synth is always good, but get something that will last you like Massive. If your not making a lot of progress with what you've got, it might not be the right synth for you. Either way, it really depends if you feel like your still getting something out of the logic synth. I wouldn't recommend subboombass since it seems to be basically a preset machine. I also wouldn't recommend trillian if your trying to learn synthesis, since I don't think its a good learning tool. Its probably awesome for actually making music though.

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Originally posted by kitphillips I wouldn't recommend subboombass since it seems to be basically a preset machine.

Huh? I'll give you the benefit of the doubt kit and assume that you're going strictly by hearsay or have it confused with something else, because anybody who knows anything about synthesis could look at an image of the GUI and see that it's a pretty full-featured synth. I'd go so far as to say that its presets are its weakest selling point IMO - many of them are unusable and, of those that are, the majority are designed for hiphop. Its synth engine is based on Predator's and its feature set exceeds many synths on the market today - I've never seen a preset machine with a feature set approaching this:

http://www.robpapen.com/subboombass-features.html

(32 modulation sources/48 destinations!) All that, and yet it's a very intelligently designed synth that is a breeze to program/tweak. Definitely not a preset machine.

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i rekon get the minimonsta..
then give it to me. haha narrr

ps that mate of yours with the virus.. bet he makes awesome choons

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quote:

Originally posted by cryophonik Definitely not a preset machine.

+1

It's actually very heavily based on Predator which is a supremely powerful synth and one of my 'go to' VSTs

I did have SBB for about a week but ended up selling it on simply because I didn't see the need for it as I had Predator already, which can do similar noises.

Also I've just rediscovered Massive, which is properly huge for bass sounds.

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quote:

Originally posted by tehlord 100% definately absolutely for sure learn what you have. In the last 12 months i've bought (and I worked this out the other day) 22 softsynths.

God damm I must say tehlord thats incredible..

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quote:

Originally posted by Energy_3 God damm I must say tehlord thats incredible..

Now what were they :-

Predator
Massive
Sylenth
Ultra Analog
Vanguard
V-Station
Reaktor
SBB
Minimonsta
Albino
Synthsquad
FM8
Absynth
Minimoog V
FF Twin2
Imposcar
Poizone
Korg Legacy Collection


Plus one or two others I can't recall now. That's not including the Virus Ti, Novation KS and Korg MS2000 hardware synths I bought AND sold in the same year.

The point of this list is that I go back to the same 3-4 VSTs all the time as I'm getting to know them, I get more out of them. The one's I use regularly cover all my bases.

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quote:

Originally posted by tehlord The point of this list is that I go back to the same 3-4 VSTs all the time as I'm getting to know them, I get more out of them. The one's I use regularly cover all my bases.

Just for interests sake, which synth are you typically using for a thick analog bass sound?

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Originally posted by johncannons1 ps that mate of yours with the virus.. bet he makes awesome choons

He's working on something at the moment that goes all out. Looking forward to hearing a remix that uses the virus.



To reflect on this musical and partially philosophical question thus far, it seems from this thread that in the long run, its probably better to learn intimately what you have in your shed before you start searching for treasure elsewhere....

Do you think many current pros adopted this strategy?