Elektron-Users

hey all. it looks like i'm going to be traveling a little this summer and will only have space for my laptop and a ultrathin/light midi controller (pcr-1). so for that time, i will be without elektron goodies.

can anyone suggest some good software (synths especially) to use in this situation? i'm currently using ableton live 5 for multitracking and vst host.

i'm also kinda poor right now (bought an sps-1), so the more freeware, the better. there's just so much to sort through, i thought a 'best of' thread might be handy...

yeh, some of the best vst's are free. Ive got a pretty good list for free ones.

Tweakbench
Lots of good effects, NES synths etc.

ymVST
a great Atari St VST plugin

Meddle & Oscilloscope synths.
Less game sounding synths

E-phonic
some cool drum synth vst's here. Also snag Invader here.

Beta-bugs
various effects

Grainz
free granular synth

Cockaigne
amazing synths here. Quantum 64, Oberon etc.

Free mnimoog and arp2600 plugins

Smartelectronix
all sorts of cool plugs here, check each developer. Most are effects, glitch/stutter etc.

Phadiz
cool phase distortion(casio cz-101) synth

These are all free, theres many more but these are the ones I tend to use most often. Have fun

Check out reFX stuff, I've played around some with their FM-based PlastiCZ and I really like the sharp and piercing sound that is hard to get out of soft synths. I haven't tried the new Vanguard but I have the feeling you get a lot of synth for $90...

http://www.refx.net


Also try this site if you haven't already:

http://www.kvraudio.com/

syrusate wrote:


Tweakbench
Lots of good effects, NES synths etc.



Damn, no mac version of the NES synth.

jsrockit wrote:


Damn, no mac version of the NES synth.


No, you cant get that one, but.. you can get the Magical 8bit Plug

Its only mac, and as far as ive heard, its one of the best nes/game style synths. I want this plugin bad, but its only mac.

Oh I also forgot. For both Mac and PC guys, you can find all sorts of chip sounding vst's here. Atari, NEs, Colecovision, etc.

Its all vst, pluggo, max/msp and pure data.

Mmonoplayer

I haven't tried any of the VSTs mentioned here, but I do know that Reaktor alone will probably last you for the next 6 or 7 years.

thanks syrusate, that's the sort of list i was hoping for. tweakbench is awesome- i downloaded them many months ago- i've had a hard time finding a better vst bass synth than the monomate. (i forgot to mention that i am using a winXP)

refx looks interesting- i'll have to see how crippled the demos are.. i have been to KVR, but there is just so much to wade through... i could spend weeks there.

reaktor looks like the ultimate, but also very $$$ and complex learning curve.

Yeh Reaktor is good. Ive had that one for a while, and barely use it due to the learning curve.

If anyone is a student, you can get all these apps real cheap.
$213.00 for Reaktor 5.