I know the feeling - sometimes locking in and getting something done for yourself can be obscenely difficult. Thankfully jams and the likes give you a good reason to just go for it and not get too caught up in what you're doing or how you feel about a piece.
No need to apologize! Genuinely made for a fantastic listen, especially as the first submission I've heard for this jam. What was your go-to synthesizer for these tracks?
My synths for this album were various.
On the hardware side, I employed the Behringer Neutron for most bass and some melodies, with MI Plaits resonator module blended prominently in the bassline from Trencalòs, and used in the pad in Fredrik with some granular effects from my Monsoon type module. I used a combination of analog sequencer and MIDI control. The modular synth output is always put through the RNLA compressor.
A washy patch for the DeepMind 6 polyphonic synth was gradually adapted across the tracks, and mostly controlled via MIDI. This conforms the chords in Trencalòs, the manually played pads on Sombra, and the base arpeggio on Balena™.
On the VST side, the freeware Sinc/Virt vereor by Noise Engineering are used for the bright chords in Sombra and Balena™. Kick2 is used for the kickdrums.
In terms of effects and processing, here's a rundown:
The sound design of the kick and overall character of the mix is developed with a parallel, layered structure of clean kick+bass, sub, overdrive and high-end presence, each one its own bus, with mid and side chains (except sub). There are also rhythms and melody+athmosphere buses which don't have the kick in them, also with mid/side stuff.
Some love-deserving effects used are Klanghelm MJUC (less than 30€) for dynamics, and Softube Saturation Knob (free with extremely annoying registration and activation) and Noise Engineering Ruina (simply free) for distortion.
For echo, Valhalla Supermassive (also free) and Fruity Convolver (built into FL Studio) used for massive washes or subtle context in almost all buses.
Some less accessible stuff - Fabfilter Pro-c2 compressor and Pro-L limiter on some buses for squashing and limiting. Pro-G gate and LFOTool (and manual automation) used to empty up parts, especially sub.
Fabfilter Saturn has some of the most pleasant and varied saturation out there . These could be substituted by other compressors and chains. Or, you know, just save up☠️⚓.
In mastering, also Fabfilter Pro-L, and MJUC gentle master preset as starting point - PLEASE EVERYONE THROW MONEY AT MJUC NOW, IT'S 30 FREAKING BUCKS! In its base form it's just a compress knob, a speed dial, and a post-gain knob. Helped me to lose fear of using compression.
A bit of a full guide, I kept the actual synths on the top, but the secret sauce is in the herbs and spices of the digital processing chains.
Hot damn, appreciate the detailed response! I have a Neutron myself but don't use it nearly enough, in all honesty. I've been wanting to get involved with modular synthesizing for a while now but my wallet is terrified of committing, lmao. It has always looked so relaxing and just.. I'm not sure - the analog nature of getting involved and having direct control over signal flows just hits the spot, you know? Similar to how turning a knob on an actual piece of hardware will always outmatch the feeling of using a mouse to tweak a virtual knob.
The care in which you put into you post-prod is really admirable and inspires me to knuckle down more and actually experiment with the process instead of just slapping on the classics and leaving it at that. I'm going to need to give the Klanghelm a look as I can't say I've come across that myself. I do have some tube sats in my arsenal already, but the GAS can be overpowering and sometimes you just need more of the same to really feel awful about yourself for spending more money you could have saved add some more variety.
Agreed with your takes on Fabfilter - their stuff is pretty expensive but worth it if you can push the envelope with them. I've only got two of their products myself and was lusting after their Volcano filter for a while, but have since substituted it with some others (Soundtoy's Filter Freak was a really fun one). Their Black Friday sales are pretty good honestly, so I should really look to set aside some cash to capitalize on that.
I kept the actual synths on the top, but the secret sauce is in the herbs and spices of the digital processing chains.
I love this, and I agree entirely with you. I've been picking up some Chase Bliss pedals for a little while now, and while they're not to everyone's tastes (and rather expensive at times, unless you snag Used or B-Stock) I have to say that they have been an absolute delight to play around with. Digital processing chains can give you so much control over your sound that it feels criminal to overlook it simply for not being "analog enough".
Thank you for the deep rundown - very considerate of you and I will be revisiting this post to see what other bits and pieces I should be looking to pick up and invest in. Your submission was a blast to listen to, and the passion you have for your art is genuinely amazing. Keep up the great work, man!
Actually I think if you organize well your mix you don't even need good plugins, it's all about cutting and keeping lows and highs under control. The mid/side stuff starts to step into overproducing.
also interpret how you would but I might allegedly not have payed for the Fabfilter plugins I use. (I'll say it was a gift of the entire catalog from a facebook friend, just to be safe 👀) and the Volcano is handy but it's not all that. I prefer VCV Rack's enormous free selection of user-submitted plugins, ripe for complex modulation (the vcv vst still runs you a 150ish payment). The Fabfilter desert island plugins to me are Saturn and Pro-MB, maybe pro-G. All the rest I could easily give up and replace. I can replace Pro-MB and Pro-G with FL's Maximus in a pinch.
My modular journey began just making all sorts of fart noises and experiments on the Neutron, then adding the SQ-1 sequencer, then adding accidentally two volca modulars borrowing my friend's mixer, and occasionally borrowing my friend's DrumBrute. That quartet is the OG Jon Patch sound, if you dig into my soundcloud's depths. That and VCV Rack. I love the feel of playing analog stuff, but my favourite module ever is Monsoon and that's digital. I love digital.
I have always been too poor to fall fully into GAS. I have been growing my synth for 4-5 years on dish-washing salary, my modules are mostly under 150€ each, my guitar pedals rarely exceed 30€. I got the Deep Mind used for under 400€.
On this soundtrack the Neutron does the heavy lifting, sequenced by the affordable Korg SQ-1 and the older model Doepfer MIDI module I got for 60 bucks.
If you haven't, get your hands on the Zoom Multistomp CDR pedal!!! It's less than 100 bucks NEW, and you can change its list of effects from the other Multistomp pedals with a particular PC software. I have imitations of guitar amps, insane reverbs, compressors, distortions... Punches too far above its weight. You can build an ambient career with that pedal's reverbs and anything that makes sound! (not a salesman I swear). Best compulsive buy of my life. I sold my actual crappy guitar amp to save space since I use the pedal's amps instead.
I did get me a JHS 3 series fuzz to feel the authentic analog fuzz - awesome pedal, playing guitar into it is lovely. It is very cool for distortion send on analog tekno jams, the way it crunches and gates when bias is tweaked.
Okay sorry!! I am the kind of person to drop walls of text when I get into it. The quiet and lonely, waiting to burst out type. the point is, don't spend unless you really want to. Use the shittiest EQ and compressor in well-organized buses, and cut the lows by default. My biggest breakthroughs were glue compression (MJUC is great), the compressed and gated sub bus, and the parallel distortion bus with high and low cuts. And keeping reference peak levels at each stage. You can do very silly stuff on a good bus structure. Also try VCV Rack!
For sure, I agree with you. There's no real need for anything too fancy, but it can be fun and more-often-than-not inspiring to have some stuff that, while maybe not entirely unique in what they do, just have that sauce in them that motivates you to play with them and see how you can push and modulate ideas.
That's fair - I contemplated something similar with Fabfilter before but I didn't come across any particularly viable solutions for it so I kind of dropped the idea, lol. I did end up losing interest in Volcano but it was what originally caught my attention and really put them in the sights for me. I might have to give the VCV a look-see as I'm not familiar with it off the bat.
Regarding the modular stuff - that's really cool! Probably the best way to get into it, honestly. I'm realizing that I need to plug my Neutron back in and actually start playing around more as I was quick to phase it out for no real reason. Admittedly a bit of a sucker for the ease-of-access you get with VSTs and the likes and the lack of memory on the Neutron had me feeling a bit iffy. Of course the upside to that is that it really does require you to lock in and learn about not only how to make a sound but what makes a sound, if that makes any sense at all. Shout-out the DrumBrute also - I've always wanted one of those but never committed. Arturia are another brand I own surprisingly little of despite them being right up my alley.
GAS is a killer, lmao. I kept to the lower end of things years ago but once I started earning decent money at my last job I started to put aside money for musical gear without anything in particular in mind. From there I started sniping deals whenever I saw them and started to amass a small collection. Nothing as impressive as most but my "home" territory in a way. I need to use them more in general and get a proper Send/Return set-up going on this PC as I never really bothered to properly wire everything together this time around. I tend to stay too in-the-box digitally as of late and I've been really wanting to break out of that and embrace the analog side more again.
Never apologize for being passionate man - all of this is important to you for varying reasons and getting to share in that love of art is what really drives us forward. You're knowledgeable in the field and have plenty to say on the topic, with a profound respect for the creative process and making things work irrespective of the cost. I respect that immensely.
VCV Rack is a virtual modular system with user-submitted modules, I was just being a bit edgy posing it as alternative to Volcano. Please don't get the OG Drumbrute it's huge and unusable hahahah but I love it all the same.
I do agree, it is inspiring to have real instruments. I have blown cash on them at times, instead of like getting new trousers and stuff. Eurocrack is one hell of a drug. And getting a setup plugged is its own dark art.
The thing about the Neutron's rawness and lack of memory, to me that is actually a strength - it IS a modular synth after all, if a basic one. Throughout the jam it was my main track starter alongside the SQ-1.
I actually also was too much in-the-box these days, this jam brought me back to cables and hands-on performance.
No I get you! I loved the Volcano initially but kind of came off of it after a while, then went looking for alternatives (and found FilterFreak). That's a shame to hear about the Drumbrute - it has always remained my "get this some day" list. Something about it just has that charm for me, but admittedly I haven't spent actual time with it to say whether that's valid or not, lmao.
I agree with you when it comes to the Neutron - while that initially put me off I could see the benefit to it, and that was solely because I was coming from a fairly digital place to begin with so I was far too used to the convenience of endless preset and saving potential. You've inspired me to dig mine out; I've got it on the desk with me at the moment, just need to wire it up and figure out how best I to implement it into the workflow.
anyways, this has been a nice conversation, I hope someone will stumble upon it and learn a couple tricks and gear/software reccommendations.
I'll emphasize once more the freebies:
MJUC jr compressor (full version is $30ish and drm-free)
VCV Rack eurorack simulator (standalone)
Valhalla Supermassive reverb/delay (also space modulator, freq echo)
Saturation Knob (DRM on a free plugin? dear god Softube, whyyyy)
