Soft synths that really sound 'alive'

[ATS]

Russians love trance.

They are amazing at it too from what I have heard.

[acYm]

Not until they sort the crippled patch management that makes it a pain to use in some hosts if you want to be able to share patches between them.

Get out of the stone age and get Ableton Live and whats wrong with saving fxp?

Live may be the best host for Kore 2 (imo), but Kore 2 is the best host full stop.

[fischkopf]

I would say Imposcar 2 sounds pretty alive.

[killmaster]

couple that come to mind

the Mangle
Form
ArcSyn
Synplant
Enzyme

[Cinebient]

I forgot Alchemy...the remix pads bring really life into it.
Every synth should have it

[lolilol1975]

Absolutely! All about the expression imparted by the musician via available controllers.

Unfortunately, I don't have the kind of money for a Linnstrument, or a Rise. However, 30€ got me one of these:

How did you get it for 30€ ? Second hand ?

[.jon]

I have had very little time to set it up properly, but the few experiments I have done have really impressed me. I think it will take a while to get used to, but it's something that will be a game-changer for my little set-up. I'd imagine it being useful even for those who have one of these hot, new-fangled, keyboards. Twenty mappable gestures, per hand, is nothing to be sneezed at

I'd be very interested in your experiences, got my eyes on a Leap Motion as well. It's reasonably priced and those videos look really inspiring.

[x2mirko]

I have had very little time to set it up properly, but the few experiments I have done have really impressed me. I think it will take a while to get used to, but it's something that will be a game-changer for my little set-up. I'd imagine it being useful even for those who have one of these hot, new-fangled, keyboards. Twenty mappable gestures, per hand, is nothing to be sneezed at

I'd be very interested in your experiences, got my eyes on a Leap Motion as well. It's reasonably priced and those videos look really inspiring.

I also have a Leap Motion which and I have found it to be very accurate. It is however a very weird feeling to work with it in a musical context, as you're basically grasping air and don't have much of a frame of reference for any of your gestures. The biggest issue i've run into so far is the entry/exit out of the field of vision of the leap motion. It's very hard to not produce parameter-jumps with unintended gestures, especially if you have mapped a lot of parameters. I have not yet come anywhere close to mastering it and so far my efforts feel very amateurish. From my experiences, it seems possible that one could use it as a tool in a real performance, but it would take a lot of effort in implementing good smoothing and mapping the parameters very well.

I have to say that from the technical side, the leap motion is very impressive. Just doing the tutorial-games on it was a really cool experience, as you can see how well the motion detection of every single finger in the hand works. I think it's really not so much a technical hurdle as one of performance.

[.jon]

Thanks! Couldn't the parameter jump issue be solved at host/plugin level with "soft takeover"? That should make the change take effect only when it passes the current value. Anyway, this is not particular to Leap, normal MIDI potentiometer knobs and faders have the same issue.

[x2mirko]

Thanks! Couldn't the parameter jump issue be solved at host/plugin level with "soft takeover"? That should make the change take effect only when it passes the current value. Anyway, this is not particular to Leap, normal MIDI potentiometer knobs and faders have the same issue.

Yes, it could. I used it with hardware that didn't have such settings. Of course this is also an issue with midi, but I felt it was worth mentioning simply because you have so many gestures and many will activate to some extend without you making a conscious decision (e.g. your hand simply being there will result in some value being send about the distance of your hand from the camera, the tilt of your hand, the way you hold your fingers, etc.).

[el-bo (formerly ebow)]

Absolutely! All about the expression imparted by the musician via available controllers.

Unfortunately, I don't have the kind of money for a Linnstrument, or a Rise. However, 30€ got me one of these:

How did you get it for 30€ ? Second hand ?

Loaded a few units from different vendors, into my Amazon basket. Prices keep fluctuating, and I took a punt when it got that low.

You just have to make sure the vendor has some selling reputation

[el-bo (formerly ebow)]

I have had very little time to set it up properly, but the few experiments I have done have really impressed me. I think it will take a while to get used to, but it's something that will be a game-changer for my little set-up. I'd imagine it being useful even for those who have one of these hot, new-fangled, keyboards. Twenty mappable gestures, per hand, is nothing to be sneezed at

I'd be very interested in your experiences, got my eyes on a Leap Motion as well. It's reasonably priced and those videos look really inspiring.

It will take a while to get used to it, as it can be a little flitty. I do think much of that is down to my error, both in configuration, and my 'playing' accuracy (It is an instrument, after all)

I will have more time next month, so will practice more

[el-bo (formerly ebow)]

I have had very little time to set it up properly, but the few experiments I have done have really impressed me. I think it will take a while to get used to, but it's something that will be a game-changer for my little set-up. I'd imagine it being useful even for those who have one of these hot, new-fangled, keyboards. Twenty mappable gestures, per hand, is nothing to be sneezed at

I'd be very interested in your experiences, got my eyes on a Leap Motion as well. It's reasonably priced and those videos look really inspiring.

I also have a Leap Motion which and I have found it to be very accurate. It is however a very weird feeling to work with it in a musical context, as you're basically grasping air and don't have much of a frame of reference for any of your gestures. The biggest issue i've run into so far is the entry/exit out of the field of vision of the leap motion. It's very hard to not produce parameter-jumps with unintended gestures, especially if you have mapped a lot of parameters. I have not yet come anywhere close to mastering it and so far my efforts feel very amateurish. From my experiences, it seems possible that one could use it as a tool in a real performance, but it would take a lot of effort in implementing good smoothing and mapping the parameters very well.

I have to say that from the technical side, the leap motion is very impressive. Just doing the tutorial-games on it was a really cool experience, as you can see how well the motion detection of every single finger in the hand works. I think it's really not so much a technical hurdle as one of performance.

I imagine that the best way of using it is to not go overboard with the gestures. Although 40 are available, perhaps it is better to cap that just to avoid gestures that are less distinguishable from others. Perhaps the first ones to nix are those that involve just entering the field, as this is more likely to be triggered as you enter to make other movements

There are also 'advanced' settings that might help to offset these issues. However, you have more experience with this than I, so maybe you have already explored thiese

[.jon]

Yeah, I can see this requiring hours and hours of practice, just like any instrument... the question is it worth the effort. And I don't think I have much options than to try it myself

[el-bo (formerly ebow)]

Yeah, I can see this requiring hours and hours of practice, just like any instrument... the question is it worth the effort. And I don't think I have much options than to try it myself

I bet you get the hang of it quicker than me