Best Ambient Synth Shootout #77: Korg M1R - Song 3

Published on Feb 2, 2020 Christian's Sonic Spaces

"After moving to another city my studio is (at least partially) ready, so that after 6 months I can start to do music again, yeah :-D

This is the third song with the M1R. It's a 16 voice 8-part multitimbral synthesizer based on PCM waveforms. This time the outcome of the session was a minimal soundscape track.

I used for the recording the following FX:
Pigtronix Echolution 2 Deluxe, GFI System Specular Reverb 2

The signal went through a Presonus StudioLive 16.0.2 into the PC for recording. To create the complete song I created and recorded consecutively several stereo tracks. The final song was then mastered with a bit EQ and compression on some tracks and some limiting on the master track.

Well, I decided to go back to the basics, but at the same time make something useful for the synth community and do a kind of competition (I like competitions;-). What's my best synth for ambient music :-)"

Best Ambient Synth Shootout #46: Waldorf Blofeld - Song 2

Published on Dec 28, 2017 Christian's Sonic Spaces

"This is the second song with the Waldorf Blofeld. It's a table-top 25-voice polyphonic, 16-part multitimbral, digital synthesizer capable of wavetable synthesis and analogue modelling.

I used for the recording the following FX chain:
Waldorf Blofeld - GFI System Specular Reverb 2 - Alesis 3630

The signal goes via a small Behringer mixer straight into the pc.

To create the complete song I recorded consecutively several stereo tracks. The final song was then mastered with just a bit EQ and compression on some tracks and some limiting on the master track.

Well, I decided to go back to the basics, but at the same time make something useful for the synth community and do a kind of competition (I like competitions;-). What's my best synth for ambient music :-)"

Song 1 here.

Best Ambient Synth Shootout #118: Roland V-Synth - Song 1

video upload by Christian's Sonic Spaces

"This is the first (minimalist, spherical) song with the V-Synth. The V-Synth was Rolands flagship synthesizer released in 2003. It is 16-part multitimbral with up to 24-voices polyphony, featuring analog modeling and PCM waveforms with user sampling that can independently manipulate pitch, time and formant thanks to Rolands VariPhrase technology.

I used for the recording the following FX chain:
V-Synth - Digitech Obscura - Pigtronix Echolution 2 Deluxe - GFI System Specular Reverb 2. Depending on the recorded track some FX are deactivated.

The signal went through a Presonus StudioLive 16.0.2 into the PC via USB for recording. To create the complete song I recorded consecutively several stereo tracks. The final song was then mastered with a bit EQ and compression on some tracks and some limiting on the master track."

Best Ambient Synth Shootout #91: MEGA MIDI - Song 1

Published on May 23, 2020 Christian's Sonic Spaces

I believe tis is the first post to feature the MEGA MIDI by Aidan Lawrence.

"This is the first song with the MEGA MIDI by Aidan Lawrence. It's an FM synthesizer based on either the YM2612 yamaha chip (used here and in SEGA Genesis / Megadrive home consoles and various SEGA arcade game systems, including the Mega-Play, System 18, and System 32) or the cleaner sounding YM3438 chip without the crossover distortion in the output. Both sound chips has six channels with four operators per channel.

In contradiction to the Kasser DAFM Synth you can't program the sounds but just load via SD card opm-file game sounds from the SEGA Genesis / Megadrive games (currently more than 9500 opm-files available). The game music composers did a great job to programming the best out of the 4 OP FM synth. So it's a lot of fun to dive through all the game sounds.

I used for the recording the following FX chain:
MEGA MIDI - DigiTech Obscura - Pigtronix Echolution 2 Deluxe - GFI System Specular Reverb 2. Depending on the recorded track some FX are deactivated

The signal went through a Presonus StudioLive 16.0.2 into the PC for recording. To create the complete song I recorded consecutively several stereo tracks. The final song was then mastered with a bit EQ and compression on some tracks and some limiting on the master track."

Best Ambient Synth Shootout #56: Evolution Synthesis EVS-1 - Song 1

Published on Sep 23, 2018 Christian's Sonic Spaces

Here's something you don't get to hear often. The EVS-1 rackmount synthesizer by Evolution Synthesis. There have only been two previous posts featuring the EVS-1, one, an auction with some pics, and the other a link to Rolamtech featuring various synth demos.

"This is the first song with my latest addition, the Evolution Synthesis EVS-1. It's a 16-voice polyphonic, 8-part multitimbral, digital synthesizer featuring 4OP FM, 4OP Phase Distortion, Ringmodulation, Waveshaping, etc. It wasn't very successful when it came out in the early 90s. The reasons might be that one need a computer software to programm this synth, the sounds contain significant digital artefacts and it hasn't any filter and effects. But thanks to the 4 6-stage envelopes and 2 LFOs which all can be freely routed to each control two different parameters of the synth engine including LFOs themselves AND the "wavetable", it's a beast to create crispy, wobbling, glitchy, drony, weired, industrial-like soundscapes. The aliasing is here a significant part of the sound design ;-) I'm really impressed how versatile and "freshh" it still can sound.

BTW, all sounds I used for this song I've created myself ;-)

I used for the recording the following FX chain:
Evolution Synthesis EVS-1 - Alesis Ampliton - Pigtronix Echolution 2 Deluxe - GFI System Specular Reverb 2 - Alesis 3630

The signal goes via a small Behringer mixer straight into the pc.

To create the complete song I recorded consecutively several stereo tracks. The final song was then mastered with just a bit compression on some tracks and some limiting on the master track. Please note that I didn't use any filter and EQ for this song."

Best Ambient Synth Shootout #101: Kasser DAFM Synth - Song 2

Christian's Sonic Spaces

"This is the second song with the DAFM Synth. It's an FM synthesizer based on either the YM2612 yamaha chip (used in SEGA Genesis / Megadrive home consoles and various SEGA arcade game systems, including the Mega-Play, System 18, and System 32) or the cleaner sounding YM3438 chip (as in my DAFM) without the crossover distortion in the output. Both sound chips has six channels with four operators per channel.

I used for the recording the following FX chain:
DAFM - DigiTech Obscura - Pigtronix Echolution 2 Deluxe - GFI System Specular Reverb 2. Depending on the recorded track some FX are deactivated

The signal went through a Presonus StudioLive 16.0.2 into the PC for recording. To create the complete song I recorded consecutively several stereo tracks. The final song was then mastered with a bit EQ and compression on some tracks and some limiting on the master track."

You can find aditional DAFM posts here.

Best Ambient Synth Shootout #65: Modal Craft Synth - Song 3

Published on Mar 17, 2019 Christian's Sonic Spaces

"This is the third song with the Modal Electronics Craft Synth. This time I did a minimal drony/noisy/soundscapish one with this little beast.

I used it for the recording together with the following FX pedals:
4ms Dual Looping Delay, Alesis Ampliton, GFI System Specular Reverb 2, Roland TR-8 (for sidechaining).

The signal went then via a Presonus StudioLive 16.0.2 mixer straight into the pc.

To create the complete song I recorded several stereo audio tracks, each played live. The final song was then mastered with just a bit EQ and compression on some tracks."

Best Ambient Synth Shootout #59: Evolution Synthesis EVS-1 - Song 3

Published on Oct 14, 2018 Christian's Sonic Spaces

"This is the third song with my latest addition, the Evolution Synthesis EVS-1. It's a 16-voice polyphonic, 8-part multitimbral, digital synthesizer featuring 4OP FM, 4OP Phase Distortion, Ringmodulation, Waveshaping, etc. It wasn't very successful when it came out in the early 90s. The reasons might be that one need a computer software to programm this synth, the sounds contain significant digital artefacts and it hasn't any filter and effects. But thanks to the 4 6-stage envelopes and 2 LFOs which all can be freely routed to each control two different parameters of the synth engine including LFOs themselves AND the "wavetable", it's a beast to create crispy, wobbling, glitchy, drony, weird, industrial-like soundscapes. The aliasing is here a significant part of the sound design ;-) I'm really impressed how versatile and "fresh" it still can sound.

BTW, all sounds I used for this song I've created myself ;-)

I used for the recording the following FX chain:
Evolution Synthesis EVS-1 - Alesis Philtre - Alesis Ampliton - Pigtronix Echolution 2 Deluxe - GFI System Specular Reverb 2 - Alesis 3630. Depending on the recorded track some FX are deactivated.

The signal goes via a small Behringer mixer straight into the pc.

To create the complete song I recorded consecutively several stereo tracks. The final song was then mastered with just a bit compression on some tracks and some limiting on the master track."

Best Ambient Synth Shootout #57: Evolution Synthesis EVS-1 - Song 2

Published on Sep 29, 2018 Christian's Sonic Spaces

"This is the second song with my latest addition, the Evolution Synthesis EVS-1. It's a 16-voice polyphonic, 8-part multitimbral, digital synthesizer featuring 4OP FM, 4OP Phase Distortion, Ringmodulation, Waveshaping, etc. It wasn't very successful when it came out in the early 90s. The reasons might be that one need a computer software to programm this synth, the sounds contain significant digital artefacts and it hasn't any filter and effects. But thanks to the 4 6-stage envelopes and 2 LFOs which all can be freely routed to each control two different parameters of the synth engine including LFOs themselves AND the "wavetable", it's a beast to create crispy, wobbling, glitchy, drony, weird, industrial-like soundscapes. The aliasing is here a significant part of the sound design ;-) I'm really impressed how versatile and "fresh" it still can sound.

BTW, all sounds I used for this song I've created myself ;-)

I used for the recording the following FX chain:
Evolution Synthesis EVS-1 - Alesis Philtre - Alesis Ampliton - Pigtronix Echolution 2 Deluxe - GFI System Specular Reverb 2 - Alesis 3630. Depending on the recorded track some FX are deactivated.

The signal goes via a small Behringer mixer straight into the pc.

To create the complete song I recorded consecutively several stereo tracks. The final song was then mastered with just a bit compression on some tracks and some limiting on the master track."

Song 1 here.

Best Ambient Synth Shootout #106​: Casio CZ-1 - Song 2

video by Christian's Sonic Spaces

Song 1 here

"This is the second song with the CZ-1. It's a 16 voice Phase Distortion synthesizer from the mid 80s. The only Casio Synth from the CZ series that featured velocity and aftertouch sensitivity.

I used for the recording the following FX chain: CZ-1 - Alesis Philtre - Digitech Obscura - Pigtronix Echolution 2 Deluxe - GFI System Specular Reverb 2. Depending on the recorded track some FX are deactivated

The signal went through a Presonus StudioLive 16.0.2 into the PC via USB for recording. To create the complete song I recorded consecutively several stereo tracks. The final song was then mastered with a bit EQ and compression on some tracks and some limiting on the master track."

Best Ambient Synth Shootout #32: E-MU Morpheus - Song 3

Christian's Sonic Spaces
Published on Aug 10, 2017

"Another E-MU Morpheus song ;-) It's a Z-Plane Synthesizer which has an unique filter morphing technology that can create organic spacy sounds. So it's good for ambient too ;-)"

Best Ambient Synth Shootout #74: Access Virus A - Song 3

Published on Jul 11, 2019 Christian's Sonic Spaces

"This is the third song with the Access Virus A. It's a 12 voice polyphonic virtual analog synth with two OSC per voice and two independent resonant filters.

I used for the recording the following FX:
Alesis Ampliton, Pigtronix Echolution 2 Deluxe, GFI System Specular Reverb 2. Depending on the recorded track some FX are deactivated

The signal went through a Presonus StudioLive 16.0.2 into the PC via USB for recording. To create the complete song I recorded consecutively several stereo tracks. The final song was then mastered with a bit EQ and compression on some tracks and some limiting on the master track."

Best Ambient Synth Shootout #58: Access Virus A - Song 2

Published on Oct 12, 2018 Christian's Sonic Spaces

"This is the second song with the Access Virus A. It's a 12 voice polyphonic virtual analog synth with two OSC per voice and two independent resonant filters.

I used for the recording the following FX chain:
Access Virus A - Alesis Ampliton - Sony Sony DPS-V77 - Pigtronix Echolution 2 Deluxe - GFI System Specular Reverb 2 - Alesis 3630 (bassdrum on sidechains). Depending on the recorded track some FX are deactivated

The signal went through a small Behringer mixer into the pc for recording. To create the complete song I recorded consecutively several stereo tracks. The final song was then mastered with a bit EQ and compression on some tracks and some limiting on the master track."

Best Ambient Synth Shootout #96: Casio CZ-1 - Song 1

Christian's Sonic Spaces

"This is the first song with the CZ-1. It's a 16 voice Phase Distortion synthesizer from the mid 80s. The only Casio Synth from the CZ series that featured velocity and aftertouch sensitivity.

I used for the recording the following FX chain:
CZ-1 - Pigtronix Quantum - Digitech Obscura - Pigtronix Echolution 2 Deluxe - GFI System Specular Reverb 2. Depending on the recorded track some FX are deactivated

The signal went through a Presonus StudioLive 16.0.2 into the PC via USB for recording. To create the complete song I recorded consecutively several stereo tracks. The final song was then mastered with a bit EQ and compression on some tracks and some limiting on the master track."

Best Ambient Synth Shootout #70: JVC KB-500 - Song 1

Published on Jun 12, 2019 Christian's Sonic Spaces

"This is the first song with the KB-500. You might ask now, what the heck is a JVC KB-500? Well, it's a stereo keyboard from the early 80s. But the sound section seems to be fully analog. And it sounds surprisingly beautiful. Just that it's not possible make any changes to the preset sounds. But that hasn't stoped me to do some ambient with it ;-)

I used for the recording the following FX chain:
KB-500 - Zoom MS-70CDR - Alesis Ampliton - Alesis Philtre - Pigtronix Echolution 2 Deluxe - GFI System Specular Reverb 2. Depending on the recorded track some FX are deactivated.

The signal went through a Presonus StudioLive 16.0.2 into the PC via USB for recording. To create the complete song I recorded consecutively several stereo tracks. The final song was then mastered with a bit EQ and compression on some tracks and some limiting on the master track."

Best Ambient Synth Shootout #52: Access Virus A - Song 1

Published on Aug 17, 2018 Christian's Sonic Spaces

"This is the first song with the Access Virus A. It's a 12 voice polyphonic virtual analog synth with two OSC per voice and two independent resonant filters.

I used for the recording the following FX chain:
Access Virus A - Pigtronix Echolution 2 Deluxe - GFI System Specular Reverb 2 - Alesis 3630 (bassdrum on sidechains). Depending on the recorded track some FX are deactivated

The signal went through a small Behringer mixer into the pc for recording. To create the complete song I recorded consecutively several stereo tracks. The final song was then mastered with a bit EQ and compression on some tracks and some limiting on the master track."

Best Ambient Synth Shootout #41: Yamaha VL7 - Song 3

Published on Oct 29, 2017 Christian's Sonic Spaces

"This is the third song with the Yamaha VL7 Version 2. It's a monophonic synthesizer based on physical modelling algorithms. The song is a kind of deep ambient without drums ;-)

I used for the recording the following FX chain:
VL7 - TC Electronic Mimiq - DigiTech Obscura- DigiTech Polara. The used fx varied depending on the recorded track.

The signal goes via a small Behringer mixer straight into the pc.

To create the complete song I recorded consecutively several stereo tracks. The final song was then mastered with just a bit EQ and compression on some tracks and some limiting on the master track."

Best Ambient Synth Shootout #112: Alesis Fusion 8HD - Song 1

video upload by Christian's Sonic Spaces

"This is the first song with the Alesis Fusion 8HD. It's a synthesizer workstation (up to 190 voices per engine, 16 parts multitimbral) that offers several different synthesis types: AWM (sample playback), FM (freely configurable 6-operators engine), Virtual Analog (VA) and Physical Modeling (Wind and Reed models). There are three oscillators per voice that can be any of the above mentioned synthesis types and 20 different filter types including low-pass, band-pass, high-pass and a 4-band EQ for every patch.

I used for the recording the following FX chain:
Fusion 8HD - Digitech Obscura - Pigtronix Echolution 2 Deluxe - GFI System Specular Reverb 2. Depending on the recorded track some FX are deactivated

The signal went through a Presonus StudioLive 16.0.2 into the PC via USB for recording. To create the complete song I recorded consecutively several stereo tracks. The final song was then mastered with a bit EQ and compression on some tracks and some limiting on the master track."

Best Ambient Synth Shootout #81: Böhm Dynamic 4x9 - Song 2

Published on Mar 1, 2020 Christian's Sonic Spaces

"This is the second song with the Boehm Dynamic 4x9. It's a German FM-synthesizer from mid-80s that were only available as DIY project. It uses 12(!) Yamaha ICs of the type YM2203, which were commonly used in home computers from NEC as well as in arcade games until the early 90s. Each of the ICs has 3 FM-voices for an overall 36 voices 4-part polyphony.

I used for the recording the following FX for the song:

T-Rex Twister, DigiTech Obscura, Alesis Ampliton, Pigtronix Echolution 2 Deluxe, GFI System Specular Reverb 2.

Depending on the recorded track some FX are deactivated.The signal went through a Presonus StudioLive 16.0.2 into the PC for recording. To create the complete song I recorded consecutively several stereo tracks. The final song was then mastered with a bit EQ and compression on some tracks and some limiting on the master track."

Additional Böhm Dynamic 4x9 posts

Best Ambient Synth Shootout #128: SammichSID - Song 1

video upload by Christian's Sonic Spaces

"This is the first song with the SammichSID. It was designed to be a streamlined, compact version of the MIDIbox SID synthesizer DIY kit. Designed around two SID chips, it is two-voice multitimbral with a total of six oscillators.

I used for the recording the following FX chain:
SammichSID - Zoom MS-70CDR - Pigtronix Echolution 2 Deluxe - GFI System Specular Reverb 2. Depending on the recorded track some FX are deactivated

The signal went through a Presonus StudioLive 16.0.2 into the PC via USB for recording. To create the complete song I recorded consecutively several stereo tracks. The final song was then mastered with a bit EQ and compression on some tracks and some limiting on the master track."