Trance Lead

[harrystainer]

pro-53? thats interesting. I find the filters on that very thin I'm actually quite impressed with the quality of that sound!

[Wandering Kid]

The clip is actually pro53 with a preset designed by Icone

can we have the uhhhh patch? or at least could you dissect it?

perty please

it sounded lush.

[DJ REMIDI]

Everybody guessed it correctly - #2 is the Virus|PowerCore! I personally prefer the first clip as well - it just has more clarity, crispness and is much brighter than the sound coming out of the Virus. Does anybody know why Virus sounds so dull compared to other synths like ES2 and V-Station? It sounds like it's missing some high frequencies.

I really love the ES2, I just wish they made it into a VST plug-in since I'm not using Logic that much anymore. ES2 is an extremely flexible synth - I can create almost any kind of sound with it; and I just love its transparency! APPLE MAKE ES2 VST PLEASE!!

Wandering Kid, I tried using same exact settings for both patches - so no dual filters for ES2 or the Virus (both use a 2-pole LP filter, btw). Envelope settings were also pretty much the same. I'll play around with detune settings though, see if that makes the patch a little better. Unfortunately, there's nothing I can do to add that brightness without using an EQ. Damn it. Is it Virus' filters or Oscillators that lack the brightness?

MADSTATION, nice patch there! PRO-53 is a great synth, I just don't use it that much for some unexplained reason.

I really want the Virus to be my main synth (like ES2 used to be - I literally used it for everything from acid sounds to FX), but I feel like it's a bit lacking when it comes to trance leads. Maybe I should spend more time with it... You think the TI's HyperSaw will be brighter sounding?

Thanks,

REMIDI

[Wandering Kid]

Unfortunately, there's nothing I can do to add that brightness without using an EQ. Damn it. Is it Virus' filters or Oscillators that lack the brightness?

im not sure exactly but everything i program on virus has a kind of darkness to it. if you cut out the sub oscillator by turning it off it'll brighten up a lead (and you can put the volume up higher. changing one of the filters to band pass will also do this too or changing the filter routing. parallel routing and split routing have a much more separate bass and treble presence but i sometimes dont like the sound of them). cutting out the sub osc however loses this massive sub presence behind your leads. and i think thats what makes my virus b so fat - having that sheer weight of bass behind every fecking note you play. i guess i you want brighter, harsher leads a more suitable synth would a nord lead or a jp or a v-synth xt. that said, your ES2 patches are sick :O makes me want one. shame i dont have logic and think it should be renamed to illogical.

[harrystainer]

DJ REMIDI, my opinion about the brightness of the Ti Hypersaw is that it will probably sound more aggressive and harsh than a brighter synth like the JP8000 or V-Synth for instance. It will definately keep that traditional "darkness" virus sound, I think.

[Timo]

hehe, remidi...

http://www2.tranceaddict.com/forums/.../240584-1.html

Indeed "DC"s version on that thread sounded excellent.

http://eightwonders.djeso.com/my_religion.mp3

...using a V-Station.

Personally, though, I think he's been adding some extra processing onto that as opposed to the V-Station dry. Something like one of the popular enhancers/exciters. The delay has been filtered too, to get rid of the muddy, lower end. Still sounds fantastic.

[DIGITAL SCREAMS]

Ive commented a few times on the inherent Virus dull/dark sonic character. Its not something that can be changed without a total reprogramming I guess.

Thats why its pretty hard to make convincing 80's happy synth pop sounds on the Virus.......but in its favour....thats why the Virus is so good at darker styles of music.

DS

[DIGITAL SCREAMS]

THis is just a guess.....but i think the inherent darkness exists because Access (back in '97) couldnt find a way to eliminate audiable aliasing. I suspect by supressing certain frequencies and boosting others they....to a certain extent minimised the effect.

A guess?

DS

[Wandering Kid]

a good one too. the fact that the hard dance scene emerged shortly afterwards to fill the niche synths like this made is testament to just how much more natural dark synth hooks work on a virus. what with the sub oscillator, the FM capabilities of the synth and the variety of saturation curves on the filter, its setup in such a way that you can very easily turn most patches into a very dark and aggressive sound. just listening to lab4's evilution, the whole record just oozes virus b. its quite hard to achieve that sound with any other synth. the candyman lead in particular is an absolute monster of a virus patch that you would be hard pressed to recreate with any other peice of hardware.

if you wanna make supersaws though thats a unique characteristic of the JP80X0 and you'd be hard pressed to get *that* sound from any other synth.

i only recently began to notice the nuances of all these peices of hardware. whilst with most VAs you can approximate 90% of the stock sounds in modern dance music, the more you play around and experiment with these synths you the more you become aware of their uniqueness in relation to each other.

i think thats the greatest achievement you could make in designing a synth - one that has a characteristic sound. its amazing how many records i can listen to and just recognise certain peices of kit just by their signiture sound.

which makes mad station's pro 53 wonder patch all the more interesting - i reiterate! please tell us how you managed to achieve this and whether you can load that patch into the demo version! thanks in advance!

[Wandering Kid]

DS have you ever listened to skinny puppy? their earlier stuff is very 80s. but its dark. very dark. a virus would be very suitable for building skuppy type sounds - which is probably why it gets so much use in the EBM scene that sprung up around bands like them.