Bazille 1.0

[jsp1979]

Hehe, what amazes me the most is that after two weeks of release we had sold more Bazilles than we had sold Divas in a year. For some reason, "awkward for some" is the new analogue. We hadn't expected this, but one can imagine that we're very happy - it's our most successful product release, by far.

That is an interesting tidbit of info. Perhaps with Diva, people felt that had similar bases covered with other synths (even though obviously Diva has great sound and some tricks up it's sleeve).

With Bazille, there's not much out there like it.

[BBFG#]

Hehe, what amazes me the most is that after two weeks of release we had sold more Bazilles than we had sold Divas in a year. For some reason, "awkward for some" is the new analogue. We hadn't expected this, but one can imagine that we're very happy - it's our most successful product release, by far.

If people are afraid that their favorite artist will be going all bleep and bloop, the probability has just risen indefinitely. Therefore I can totally understand that some people are a bit in awe - it's a sign of music moving on, on a larger scale, just like the renaissance of analogue modular is. I don't think though that dissing the product will reverse the motion. Instead, maybe they should put hope in our next synth - it might balance things out, for a while.

No worries here, this is the first modular that has interested me enough to take the time in learning it.
(And as soon as you send those coupons out, I'll finally being making the jump in being a DIVA owner too!)

Now where's Zebra 3?

[tedlogan]

I think the main reasons why I love Bazille so much is that I feel right at home. I've always been an admirer of unique textures, especially organic ones, and Bazille can provide this for me. Some sounds emerging from it also often resemble in one way or another something Mr Reznor would come out with (ala Girl with the dragon tattoo score; Ghosts; Quake etc), and NIN being my all-time favourite music, is a huge plus.

It's not the sounds that are necessarily new (of course many are!) to me - it's that this synth really speaks to me in workflow and overall design. I come up with stuff I've always wanted to come up with, but struggled to with other synths.

[basslinemaster]

Seems a couple of dudes in this thread need to move along now.

If you don't 'get' Bazille then accept it's just not your thing and move on. Don't knock what you don't understand.
Constructive queries as to what IS so great about it will however be tolerated and explained with great enthusiasm, no doubt. Don't confuse 'quality' with 'appeal'.
(Note to self: don't feed the trolls.)

But just in case that all sounded negative, you two guys are absolutely right, we've all been so wrong, silly us. Now we'll never be able to make any music again. Ever.

So you only want to hear praise for it? So nobody is allowed to say what they feel about it? Seems like many of you are very defensive about it. I wonder why. Emperor's new clothes, perhaps?

I have a better idea; how about everybody who thinks it sounds GOOD no longer post on this thread? Or does it only work one way for you... LOL

I have never heard a VST that sounds like this, because normally when making presets, almost everybody who makes them, tries to make them sound good. And musical. I was amazed at many of the presets that came with the demo. What you're saying is that we have to like them, or stay silent. WTF?

What interests me is - can Bazille make 'nice' sounds or not? Is it destined to have endless 'unmusical' presets made for it, like poor Massive ended up having scores of 'dubstep' preset packs made for it? (Which I also hate, and regard as 'not very useful for making music with', since I don't like dubstep.)

[pdxindy]

Hehe, what amazes me the most is that after two weeks of release we had sold more Bazilles than we had sold Divas in a year. For some reason, "awkward for some" is the new analogue. We hadn't expected this, but one can imagine that we're very happy - it's our most successful product release, by far.

As much as I love Bazille, that is surprising... but deserved. Bazille is an incredible synth!

[justin3am]

Hehe, what amazes me the most is that after two weeks of release we had sold more Bazilles than we had sold Divas in a year. For some reason, "awkward for some" is the new analogue. We hadn't expected this, but one can imagine that we're very happy - it's our most successful product release, by far.

Congratulations!

When I first got into Eurorack, I was mostly experienced with well behaved synths which would always perform as expected. Getting started with my first modular synth was frustrating because things didn't always work the way I'd expect and it was often difficult to get predictable results even with conservative settings and simple sounds. Rather than giving up on the modular, I ended up embracing the chaos. I found that when I couldn't predict the outcome of a patch I was more inspired and I thought less about the technical details. I forgot (or maybe just neglected) the notion of a "correct" patch.

Bazille is the first soft synth I've used that rewards that approach. I think it has as much to do with the limitations as with the deep flexibility. It's like any great set of tools, more than the sum of it's parts. I had hoped that Bazille's sound and features would appeal to others as it has to me. I'm glad to hear it's been successful.

[xalama qo]

xalama qo, Is that a factory patch?

I don't think so, but you'll have to ask pdxindy as the sound clip was in his post

[V0RT3X]

I think the beauty of modular anything is that once you understand how it works, you can control the chaos. I personally like Bazille because it's one of the better sounding FM & PD synthesizers that I've used so far and it works for me because I really needed a good digital synth. I think the fact that it's modular makes it that much cooler, because I've never seen this done before with patch cables.

[Echoes in the Attic]

Hehe, what amazes me the most is that after two weeks of release we had sold more Bazilles than we had sold Divas in a year. For some reason, "awkward for some" is the new analogue. We hadn't expected this, but one can imagine that we're very happy - it's our most successful product release, by far.

Maybe in this case the cheaper price did help? I know you've said the lower prices don't always sell more copies to make up for the price difference, but maybe. Not to detract form the synth, which is obviously very cool and powerful.

[justin3am]

So you only want to hear praise for it? So nobody is allowed to say what they feel about it? Seems like many of you are very defensive about it. I wonder why. Emperor's new clothes, perhaps?

Say what you like. You are entitled to your opinion and it may be valuable to others who feel the same way.

Just understand that the people who do enjoy the sound aren't pretending or imagining things. For certain styles of sound design, Bazille offers a lot. Perhaps not for everyone.

[tedlogan]

For those who don't "get" Bazille, I recommend watching this fantastic documentary:

http://www.idreamofwires.org/

It focuses on modular synthesis, from its genesis to its near-disappearance in the 70s, and to its revival in the 2000s.

You'll get insights from a wide variety of people who are very much into sound creation, whether it be musical or not. The point is not necessarily to make music, but purely the joy of SOUND.

Pretty cool soundtrack as well by Solvent.

If, after watching this film, anyone still does not "get" Bazille, then you never will, any I highly recommend you stop trying to "get" it and move on to something you like. Why spend time ignorantly pissing in other people's pool when you could happily be swimming in your own ? (pool, not piss)

[bftucker]

Joseph Hollo is probably the worlds greatest living sound designer, and he released a set of pads/horns/strings/etc for Spire that has since seen no competition.

I wonder if the very talented Mr. Hollo will make a soundset for U-He's Bazille since his three Padsheaven soundsets for U-He's Zebra were so successful. He might take it in a different direction.

[firepile]

Thanks for the sound examples. But how is Bazilles sound any better than the Windows synth, really? Is there a meaningful difference somewhere?

What "Windows synth"?

[pdxindy]

Hehe, what amazes me the most is that after two weeks of release we had sold more Bazilles than we had sold Divas in a year. For some reason, "awkward for some" is the new analogue. We hadn't expected this, but one can imagine that we're very happy - it's our most successful product release, by far.

Maybe in this case the cheaper price did help? I know you've said the lower prices don't always sell more copies to make up for the price difference, but maybe. Not to detract form the synth, which is obviously very cool and powerful.

Of course we can only speculate... but I think it is Bazille and how unique it is. If it was mainly about price, then Ace would have sold more.

[himalaya]

What interests me is - can Bazille make 'nice' sounds or not? Is it destined to have endless 'unmusical' presets made for it, like poor Massive ended up having scores of 'dubstep' preset packs made for it? (Which I also hate, and regard as 'not very useful for making music with', since I don't like dubstep.)

What would you like preset-wise? I haven't read this thread so if you have mentioned what it would be, I would have missed it. What type of music do you make?