Synth's

[BobF]

Hello gang,
1. What are your top 5 favorite Flowstone Synth's and why?

2. Also what are your top 5 vst Synth's not from Flowstone and why?

Thanks, BobF.....

[Phil Thalasso]

Hi Bob,

I can't name you five truely favourite flowstone synths, but let me state the following:
Kevin's Buchla emulations sound good and look good. I like to work with them because they
offer what I can't find anywhere else. Arturia has a Music Easel emulation, but apart from
that I don't know of anything else comparable.

I like both the audio results of Spogg's synths and your's. During the past weeks I made heavy
use of your Logic Gated Synth (LGS). It offers interesting and not often heard sounds. Spogg's ASS
just simply sounds great. I did hook up both LGS and ASS in a utility called random preset
generator to explore the instruments. Amazing.

I openly admit that looks count a lot when I choose a vst to work with. There are really good synths
out there that hurt my eyes. As this is a very much personal thing, my choices for the vsts I actually
use are made at least half on what they look like. Synth1 by Ichiro Toda is frequently listed
as one of the best free vst-plugins. Dune (1+2) from Synapse are two commercial products with an
excellent reputation for their sound-capabilities. I will not use either one of them because of their
design.

That said, I like working with the KORG Legacy collection for sentimental reasons and often use some
products by u-he and full-bucket.

Regards
Phil

[Halon]

All of Kevin Brown's synths and Adam Szabo's JP6K

[k brown]

High praise Halon, thanks!

I'd say one of my top non-FS synths is Majken's Chimera https://www.majken.se/ - an absolutely brilliant execution of a relatively simple but ingenious idea of using only heavily-filtered noise as pitch sources in lieu of oscillators. Terrific presets that really show the range of sounds it's capable of. Makes one wonder if some of Martin's filter creations could make for something that sounds even better.

[tulamide]

Hello gang,
1. What are your top 5 favorite Flowstone Synth's and why?

2. Also what are your top 5 vst Synth's not from Flowstone and why?

Thanks, BobF.....

1) I don't have a top 5 of Flowstone synths. That's because I judge synths from a musician/producer point of view. Let's just say, a user's pov. For us a synth is not just a nice technical idea, like a new oscillation algorithm or filter concept, but the integration of said idea in a usable tool during production. Since the workflow matters much, so does the user guidance. And here, most Flowstone synths lack functionality. Just taking a bunch of knobs and sliders and calling it a synth doesn't make it a synth. A clear structure and intelligent arrangement are just as important as the algorithm itself. That's why I like some of Kevin's work. Those synths may not have new ideas algorithmically, but the GUIs are often modelled after their role model, and therefore inherit their thoughtful layout of functionality. I also like the first tool of Spogg's SIM series, because it combines intelligent algorithmic design with a clear GUI structure and easy use of the properties. But the only Flowstone synth that really stands out, for me is Adam's Viper. Well thought out and both, technical and GUI side, got the same attention to detail.

2) I have 260 plugins in my DAWs, approx. half of them synths. That tells you that I don't really have a top 5 here either. I use what's appropriate for the task. There's no jack of all trades device. I certainly prefer working with synths that have a well thought out GUI, and am willing to refrain from one if it's only good on the technical side (I never used Synth1 for example, although it is one of the most popular, because the GUI is horrible)

Often, Flowstoners here excuse themselves with "I'm not a graphic designer". I find that arrogant. A GUI is the most important part of a synth, as it connects the user to your technical idea. Anyone who states to have created a synth, while not taking care of a useful GUI is wrong. He/she created a prototype at most. And graphic designer? Either find a talent on the internet (there are so many) and do teamwork, or use the tools there are thoughtfully. An example for the latter are Martin's prototypes. They always come with a minimal set of standard stock modules, but he arranges them on a clear layout that makes it easy to follow his thoughts of how to use the synth.

UX, user experience, is the number one topic nowadays for a reason. If a user needs to read your manual to understand at least the basics of your GUI, you've done a bad job. That's especially true for synths, as most elements of a synth are well known to users. They don't care how smart you implemented the algorithm for the filter, they care for a quick and easy way to modulate the filter for their riser. They don't care how you implemented a complex multi-mode oscillator in your schematic, they care for intuitive access to the manifold waveforms. Etc.

Ok, this might be considered a rant. Which I hereby end

[k brown]

Thanks for the kind words. Some of the most fun I have with FS is making pleasant, knob-per-function interfaces for emulations of synths from the horrid early days of digital, with their tiny readout windows and data entry sliders (or any synth with a really ugly panel or confusing controls layout).

I was always puzzled why none of the folks that specialize in making alternate skins for others' synths, did any for Synth1, which does have a fabulous sound (and all those Banks that are available!). Is it because that synth's code doesn't allow alternate skins? I assumed it was made with SynthEdit and SE allows that; maybe built with something else?

[Halon]

High praise Halon, thanks!

I'd say one of my top non-FS synths is Majken's Chimera https://www.majken.se/ - an absolutely brilliant execution of a relatively simple but ingenious idea of using only heavily-filtered noise as pitch sources in lieu of oscillators. Terrific presets that really show the range of sounds it's capable of. Makes one wonder if some of Martin's filter creations could make for something that sounds even better.

Hey no problem.