Kara-Moon Forum

This is not so much a review (it would take hours!) but more a report on a new discovery I've made.

I am pretty good with handling AddSyth & SubSynth. PadSynth is harder to get your head round, but I'm getting there, and can sensibly manage all the filters LFOs and effects, so what more is there to say, you might ask?

The answer is kits - and I don't mean the 1970 Knight Rider, nor some obscure techie abbreviation.

The default set of instruments for Zyn. include a rudimentary drumkit. I've used it a bit and added a few effects, but not thought much about it.

Big mistake!

Zyn's kit feature puts this synth into a whole new dimension.

It's quite common to have synths manage a split keyboard where different patches cover different parts of the keyboard, and maybe overlap some. However Zyn goes quite a few steps further. In the first place it will allow you to have 15, yes FIFTEEN different patches to one 'instrument', all of which can cover any part, or the whole of the MIDI note range.

As well as this, each of these patches can be any combination of Add, Sub, Pad. That's right any one or all three! Each of these patches are new definitions too, they don't have to be anything like any existing ones (it is possible to cut and paste them in if you want to).

The pitch-related blend possibilities of this are just mind boggling.

Very interesting Will  8)
It's true it is a very big beast  :;

k

I've been following the "hardware synth versus software synth" controversy, and please, just jump all over me if I have it wrong... :D
A "controller" keyboard hooked up to your personal computer via MIDI will allow you to play (and sequence) an on-board softsynth like ZynAddSubFX just as if the whole rig (keyboard, PC, software, amp, and speakers), when operating as a unit, was like a big hardware  synthesizer... :o?

What I hear from Will and his MIDI controller keyboard coupled with Zyn ends up sounding suspiciously like some of the higher-featured hardware synths out there. Hmmm?

Yep... quiet true... although you'll have a lot of on-buttons, cables, installation and stability to worry about. When comparing soft versus hard, you shouldn't compare only the soundquality. Although I'm more a tech-wizard than a musician, I like both, but I do like hardware synths more since they act more music-friendly to me. But honestly, this is my opinion. Everybody will feel different about this and there is really no need for one to be better than the other since both hard or soft have pro's and con's...

Moon

I think the gap between soft and hard synths is steadily narrowing. There are already a number of hardware synths that are in reality only slightly specialised computers (mostly concerned with getting data in and out) anbd all the real work is done in applications that are little, if any, different from desktop computer versions.

They really aught to be more stable as they are working in a clearly defined hardware environment rather than a general purpose desktop computer.

i love this fantastic open source project  :-* ...nice complexed additive and subtractive soundsynthese  8) ...it's a vst monster ;) ...cya

<2°TRo²³