Reason4 is out :D

[trace]

Take a listen to theese Vengeance sounds by the might synth THOR

I need to work so I can buy the upgrade

http://www.vengeance-sound.com/eng/indexFLASH.html

[Analog-X64]

For those who dont use reason but like the sounds of Thor.

Check out the Vanguard Soundset Part II for reFX Vanguard by Vengeance, they sound very similar.

Thats assuming if you have Vanguard

[Razmo]

Sure some nice Trancey sounds there...

Being a sound designer myself, I'm just not so certain that it matters that much anymore what package you use... It seems like Vanguard and Thor are being thought of as some kind of "trance synths"... but if you know how to program other synths you could make something just as trancey... the most important with these two mentioned synths I believe is the person behind the actual patch creation... am I right? someone correct me if they know otherwise

[LMan]

Razmo: I agree. The good thing about Thor is the versatility because of its semi-modular concept.

[trace]

Razmo: I agree. The good thing about Thor is the versatility because of its semi-modular concept.

True Theese are patches of the Vanguard creator so they sounds trancy, I wonder how the other patches sounds of other creators

It truly is up the the patch creator himself how he want Thor to sound

I seriously need to work alot the comming weekends so I can buy R4

[Razmo]

LMan: Sure! ... now I don't know the architecture of Thor, but have dipped my nose i bit in Vanguard once... Now with Vanguard I could see, that the architecture was geared towards unison type voices, which is probably one of the most important things about trancy leads... so I can understand that it's easier maybe by using them for trance stuff, but in general I did not see anything revolutionary in sound synthesis compared to other synths not being categorised as trance synths.

Semi modular?... well that's good for almost any type of synth right? .. not just trancy stuff? ... I somehow never liked the term "Semi Modular"... what is that? now is it because some blocks in the architecture is moveable or? I've read that Absynth is called that too... even the Waldorf Micro Q has had that term put to it... In my world there are hardwired synths with a bit of flexibility sometimes, and then there are modulars like ... erm... Reaktor? that's the name right? (sorry but I'm into hardware hehe! don't remember the names well)

Funny sidenote by the way: I always find myself fiddling with old limited analog machines instead of hugely complex digital synths of today... and I don't really know why... maybe it's because I like working with limits, or just because I love to "squeeze the lemon"... I usually come up with some really strange sounds on these machines that it's virtually impossible to replicate on newer gear because they take use of the machine's quirks and drawbacks (Distorting filters, lousy oscillators etc. etc.)... and it's always those weird "dirty" sounds I return to.... yeah... I'm weird, I know!

The point of this is, that while I certainly like the sounds of those trancy new synths, they just sound... well... plain... sterile... I'm not sure what to call it... I don't like those terms I'm giving here, cause they sound negative, which is not the case... but many softsynths (and digi hardware) today have this "polished" and "soft" character... they sound sort of less organic... damn! I'm lost for words here!

[Razmo]

I might add, that one good aspect of digisynths when it comes to trance sounds is the polyphony... it's quite hard to find analog gear with so many voices that it can do an 8 voice unison, and at the same time play chords with it... but as for monophonic unison trancy stuff, old analog is quite good...

Here's a quick example i did of the KORG DSS-1 sampler keyboard from 1985... it has 8 voices unison and analog filters. Please forgive the bad drums... just added a bit to make it groove a little... fast...:

http://razmo.ziphoid.com/TrancyTo.mp3

[LMan]

Full modular means you can take elements like oscillators, filters, effects etc. and route and plug them together in whatever way seems fit. I've seen a software once where you could simply freely place the elements on a drawing board and connect them with virtual wires, but I forgot the name. There were also bulky hardware modular moog synths in the 70s I think.

Semi modular here means that while the basic synth layout and routes are fixed, you can still exchange and combine sound generators (analogue, FM etc) and filter types, enabling you to create a wide variety of sounds and styles.

[Razmo]

LMan: Aaahh! so Semi modular still use a hardwired signal-flow, but the modules themselves can be changed... One filter for another filter, one oscillator for another etc... now that makes good sense then.

And yes... there are modular synths as plugs... it IS Reaktor that is one such thing... SynthEdit is another, and I believe Creamware had a modular synth on their hardware soundcards as well... on the hardware platform the only digital modular is the Clavia Nord Modular, and Modular G2.

And yes... moog had some, but they are not the only ones... ARP and E-MU made modular analog systems as well... and LOTS of manufacturers does so today still (like Doepfer for example, and many other small unknown companies)... though I'd NEVER buy an analog modular... I simply don't have the patience for patchcords!!! ... A G2 would still be nice though... was close to getting one not so long ago, but redicided.

A modular must be the ultimate for a sound designer... period!