Virtual Instruments magazine annnouncement

Archived from groups: rec.audio.pro (More info?)

If you don't mind, I'd like to indulge you with an announcement about a
new magazine that may interest many of you: Virtual Instruments magazine
("the world of softsynths and samplers" ).

As most of you know, software-based musical instruments - virtual
instruments - have been having a huge effect on the way music is
created. That's especially true at the commercial level, but nowadays
everyone with a computer has access to some pretty serious tools.

There's a vibrant sub-culture of musicians and developers all over the
world who are way into V.I.s. (and sample libraries, of course).
Scandinavia and the Netherlands are hotbeds of V.I. activity, there's a
lot going on in Australia - it's all over. Even Russia. And it's growing
quickly.

A while ago it occurred to me that this exciting new musical medium
deserves its own magazine. Being an ardent user myself, as well as
knowing a little bit about putting a magazine together (I was the editor
of Recording magazine for over a decade), I felt qualified to be the guy
to spearhead it.

And the rest is turning into history. Our first issue is due out in
April. Virtual Instruments magazine's mission is pretty simple: to help
musicians get the most from their V.I.-based rigs, whether they're
high-end users with multiple computers or newcomers who are just getting
into Apple GarageBand.

I've managed to put together a world-class team of writers, who are
turning in really great articles - and I say that as an enthusiast as
well as a man with an ax to grind. You'll recognize some of their names
from here and elsewhere, in fact the people working on the magazine (and
not writing) are pretty impressive too.

Please visit www.Virtualinstrumentsmag.com for more information. Check
out the cover and table of contents, and hopefully you'll like what you
see.

Many thanks, NB

Archived from groups: rec.audio.pro (More info?)

Nick,

> Virtual Instruments magazine <

Congratulations. This sounds like a great idea.

--Ethan

Archived from groups: rec.audio.pro (More info?)

Hi Nick,

Congratulations for your idea. Why are you making it available only in
the U.S. though?

Regards,

Evangelos


%
Evangelos Himonides
IoE, University of London
tel: +44 2076126599
fax: +44 2076126741

"Allas to those who never sing but die with all their music in them..."

Oliver Wendell Holmes
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"Nick Batzdorf" <recording@earthlink.net> wrote in message
news:recording-AD77C1.10461502032005@news1.west.earthlink.net...
>
>
> And we have nothing against free/shareware. Can you give me some
> examples of stuff that's every bit as good as any commercial product?
>

Boy are you in luck. I just compiled a list of freeware VST softsynths for
some friends last week. They are no particular order whatsoever (and only
represents about 1/3 of what I have but a lot aren't worth downloading). A
great place to look is www.kvraudio.com. Below is my list along with notes
about each one (I know it's a large list but it really is worth downloading
them (most very small) ):

*** GOOD, FREE SOFTSYNTHS ***

I'll start the ball rolling with some great little free VSTi's for analog
freaks. I've tried to keep this to
freeware/fully-functional-no-timelimit and analog (since I've been on
'65-'75 jag lately) but a few others slipped in. A bunch I could no longer
locate the source. Others are great but just don't come with good patches
but are great if you can program. Some are multi-purpose while others only
do one thing but do it well. Some are so good (in fact I'd say better than
the original) that I'm convinced with a "pro" looking GUI (which many of
these have) most wouldn't know them from the expensive commercial products
or even the real thing. (These are all VSTi but I can name a handfull of
VSTi's and VST effects that make getting a wrapper, if you're DXi only,
worth the price).

Asynth: http://antti.smartelectronix.com/. Then head over to
http://www.patcharena.com for some good patch banks for it and other
softsynths.
FMHeaven: http://loftsoft.co.uk/ - nice little DX7 clone.
daHornet:
http://www.macmusic.org/softs/view [...] AznOhMaS=1 -
was commercial but offered for free. Nice fat little basslines.
http://www.e-phonic.com/ - FANTASTIC fat little drum machines (get version 2
and 3). All should be this easy to program.
http://www.tweakbench.com/instruments.php - a bunch of quirky lo-fi stuff
that's nice.
EVM P600 http://www.ele4music.com/vst/p-600.zip - a great Prophet 600, which
I had, which was recreated right down to the factory patches.
http://www.greenoak.com/crystal/ - soundfont based synth good for anything
from meat-and-potatoes sound through long, evolving ambient soundscapes.
JXSynth - http://www.jxplugins.co.uk/index.php3?p=2
Nanotron http://www.dreamvortexstudio.co.uk/ - fun little 3 patch Mellotron
recreation. But I will list a better sample only version later.
Superwave P8 http://home.btconnect.com/christopherg/main.htm - an oldie but
goodie most of you probably already have.
Plugsound Free - http://www.ultimatesoundbank.com/usb/exec/demo - just a few
instruments but nice, useable, and no restrictions.
Claw http://www.refx.net/products.htm?lang=eng - wonderfully fat.
Synth1 - http://www.geocities.jp/daichi1969/softsynth/. Manual is Japanese
but the GUI isn't. Nice and programmable. Extra soundsets available for
free.
rgc Triangle II http://www.rgcaudio.com/products.htm - another I'm sure most
have. VERY nice. The Fagen-esque patch is dead on.
4front http://www.yohng.com/ - fantastic piano, epiano, bass plugins in the
process of becoming commercial. Grab them while you can. You WILL NOT be
sorry. Small size and uses very little resources.
Lazysnake http://www.bostreammail.net/ers/lazysnake.html - lovely little EP.
Polyblit http://www.bostreammail.net/ers/polyiblit.html - from same guy as
Lazysnake. Nice GUI for those learning what all the parameters do. He also
makes what sounds like a nice little drum machine but I haven't tried it.
See his homepage.
Big Tick http://bigtick.pastnotecut.org/ind [...] &pcode=120 -
Cheeze Machine, nice little Arp-y string machine. Ticky Clav, another
popular entry.
Impulse http://www.bojo.dk/
Multiple synths http://www.cortidesign.com/ugo/ - too complex for what I
like to do but nice sounding and a programmers dream.
EVM (multiple) http://www.sinte-virtual.com/evmsynths/free.htm - a bunch of
very useable (some very efficient) plugins. Nice little piano and bass too.
GTG http://miksybrandt.panicnow.net/downloads.htm - this guy churns out a
huge number which I believe each one to be an extension of the one before so
probably just try some of the latest.
MrRay and Organized Trio http://www.soundfonts.it/ - these are two of the
best plugins (EP and B3, respectively) that you will find anywhere at any
price. Considering they are free (or nag ware) and that some consider them
to the THE BEST (yes, even above NI's B4 to some) these should be a
no-brainer.
Morphiza http://www.krakli.co.uk/ - when no other cheezy tran organ will do.
Lots of other cheap and nasties on this website too.
Klangformer http://klangformer.de/ - long and complicated multi-install
process (project still in development) but this one could truly reach
workstation-level sounds. Get it while it's free.
Cockaigne (multiple) http://www.funkelectric.com/%7Ecockaigne/ - Poly-8 -
nice little analog with a panel that looks like it was pulled off
Electro-Harmonix. Panzer - nice little 4-op FM sounding synth. Satyr8 -
looks to be based on Sequential Circuits. Patches not that great but
probably good when programmed right.
mda plugins http://mda.smartelectronix.com/ - their apiano and epiano
plugins are GREAT.
ZR-3 http://rumpelrausch.ru.funpic.de/plugins_e.html - another nice B3
simulation.
Simple Media http://www.simple-media.co.uk/music/vsti/vsti.htm - I love the
idea of physical modeling but I was never blown away with the results but
some of this stuff is getting pretty amazing. Clavia Lab will probably be
useful. And I could play for hours with Spook Keys ( a virtual Theremin) and
so will you. TRUST ME.
JM-1 http://www.aaa-int.or.jp/jfactory/ [...] index.html - fun little
Linn based unit. Prince anyone?

*NOTE* I've noticed a lot of these put out really low levels probably since
you could easily blow your setup with the sounds these are capable of
producing. So you may have to get the level up for the "wow" factor to take
hold.

*WARNING* As with a lot of plugins whatever tweaking you do to the patches
gets written to disk whether you want it to or not. So either save off the
factory patches (if you like them) the first time you open the plugin or
copy the patch to an empty location first. (BTW, I use Directixer as a VST
wrapper and have no idea how to copy or create a blank patch with it.
Anyone?) Also, remember many of these recreate the original synth EXACTLY.
So they don't have a lot of the extras such as delay/chorus/reverb that the
commercial ones usually put in. So put an effect in your effects bin and I
believe you'll find these every bit as exciting as the commercial ones.

Also look here: http://www.synthedit.com/ A lot freeware/shareware synths
are made with this incredible tool but a lot of the synths I like creator's
pages have disappeared (including ) so check early and often.

Lastly, for those who have something like Vsampler that can import WAV or
Akai here is a virtual GOLDMINE: http://www.hollowsun.com/vintage/. Be sure
to look in the Vintage as well as Contributions area. This could keep you
busy for days and most samples are outstanding in quality. Most of these
eventually end up in his commercial volumes so grab them NOW. Some of the
envelopes aren't working right in Vsampler though. Some of the ones I
downloaded months ago when I first found this place work great. Later ones
work but fade too abruptly. You can drag out the envelopes by hand to make
them work but this could be a huge amount of work. I wrote the guy and asked
him if he was doing something different and he said he wasn't and that maybe
Vsampler just has trouble interpreting Akai programs with a long decay.
Sounds possible. If anyone runs across the answer as to what Vsampler is
doing wrong and what I can do to fix it I would LOVE to know. Thanks.

--
Ricky Hunt