One Synth Challenge #129: Lith by Soda Devices (TheNeverScene Wins!)

[] Peter:H []

] Off:Topic [
@OSC Team
Please contact Matt Tytel ... I want to do a round with his amazing beast Vital. Watch the following first public appearance on Sonoj Convention: IT'S SIMPLY AMAZING!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O5YAEiOt3Ic

[] Peter:H []

Uploaded some of my patches. Find them at my submission post here: viewtopic.php?p=7576569#p7576569

[exponent1]

Hey Everyone!
Here's my my 1st anniversary submission for KVR OSC using Soda Devices Lith . I missed entering last month but I hope you enjoy my anniversary submission Lith was a treat to use, apart from some performance niggles which are expected for a synth in beta, it is an amazing synth overall!

https://soundcloud.com/theexponent/lights

DAW: Reaper
Lith : ~50 instances
Native DAW FX: ReaComp, JS: MDA Pseudo Stereo, ReaEQ, ReaControlMIDI, Ping Pong Pan, ReaGate
3rd Party FX: Kirnu, Cocoa Delay, Dragonfly Room/Hall Reverb, Oril River, OTT, Rescue, GClip, TDR Nova, DD Tremolo, Leveling Tool, LoudMax, W1 Limiter
Mastering: JS: DC Filter, TDR Nova, TDR Kotelnikov, Rescue, GClip, LoudMax
Metering: SPAN, Youlean Loudness Meter 2

[Leonard Bowman]

"Anything looked at closely becomes wonderful."
-A.R. Ammons

I had several ideas that I wanted to carry out with this synth; it's quite powerful but simple to wrap one's head around. In the end, this idea won. This synth allows very flexible tuning of a patch, which enabled me to build large Just-Intonation chords with one instance per note.
I then used MIDI to move the Control parameters for all of the instances, and added an EQ on the master track in an attempt to make the result less harsh.

Introducing "Small Cities"
https://soundcloud.com/anotherbenjamin/small-cities

Made in Reaper 5.987 with
6 instances of Lith 2.0.6
2 instances of ReaControlMIDI for master parameter and pitchbend automation
1 instance of ReaEQ for reducing some harsh high frequencies
2 automation lanes per instance, setting the tuning for each chord
3 MIDI notes, sent to all of the instances

Here's my Lith preset as well as the Reaper project for the song.

Small Cities.zip

Finally: my thoughts on Lith as a synth.
I like Lith. the waveshaping options are really excellent and I was able to make all sorts of sounds. The ability to change reference frequency is greatly appreciated, too.
I don't like the interface yet, because it feels "unbalanced" to me. Most controls seem too sensitive, and even with the fine-tuning modifier it was hard to dial in the value I wanted.
I want microtuning. I want it in every synth i use, because it really does allow for different harmonies and means of expression. Some means of loading and using .scl/.kbm or .tun files would set Lith above most other free synths for me.
Summary: Good sounds, user interface needs fine-tuning, and I want microtuning.

I'm excited to see what this synth inspired in others!

[Lotiano]

"Anything looked at closely becomes wonderful."
-A.R. Ammons

I had several ideas that I wanted to carry out with this synth; it's quite powerful but simple to wrap one's head around. In the end, this idea won. This synth allows very flexible tuning of a patch, which enabled me to build large Just-Intonation chords with one instance per note.
I then used MIDI to move the Control parameters for all of the instances, and added an EQ on the master track in an attempt to make the result less harsh.

Introducing "Small Cities"
https://soundcloud.com/anotherbenjamin/small-cities

Made in Reaper 5.987 with
6 instances of Lith 2.0.6
2 instances of ReaControlMIDI for master parameter and pitchbend automation
1 instance of ReaEQ for reducing some harsh high frequencies
2 automation lanes per instance, setting the tuning for each chord
3 MIDI notes, sent to all of the instances

Here's my Lith preset as well as the Reaper project for the song.
Small Cities.zip

Finally: my thoughts on Lith as a synth.
I like Lith. the waveshaping options are really excellent and I was able to make all sorts of sounds. The ability to change reference frequency is greatly appreciated, too.
I don't like the interface yet, because it feels "unbalanced" to me. Most controls seem too sensitive, and even with the fine-tuning modifier it was hard to dial in the value I wanted.
I want microtuning. I want it in every synth i use, because it really does allow for different harmonies and means of expression. Some means of loading and using .scl/.kbm or .tun files would set Lith above most other free synths for me.
Summary: Good sounds, user interface needs fine-tuning, and I want microtuning.

I'm excited to see what this synth inspired in others!

I really liked to walk through these small cities!

[Oorlab]

Summary: Good sounds, user interface needs fine-tuning, and I want microtuning.

I'm excited to see what this synth inspired in others!

Wonderful entry , much enjoyed. I have read a bit about microtuning here & there throughout the years, but never really grasped the idea. Do you have an example of a music piece in which I could hear it's effect? (apart from your entry, in which I think I can hear some tuning happening throughout)...

[Medniex]

Just found a little bit of time for OSC, but looks like my PC is too weak for this synth. I have crackles even with one instance of Lith. But since I already hook up my recently acquired midi keyboard I think I'll have some doodling time tonight with the previous-one (OB-Xd) BTW, that Vital synth looks cool.

[zarf]

Just found a little bit of time for OSC, but looks like my PC is too weak for this synth. I have crackles even with one instance of Lith. But since I already hook up my recently acquired midi keyboard I think I'll have some doodling time tonight with the previous-one (OB-Xd) BTW, that Vital synth looks cool.

Have you tried it with 1/2 Quality setting? Still sounds interesting to me, I get a lot further with it, might be worth a try?

[Local Man]

Here is my entry for the month:
https://soundcloud.com/user-44872685/lo ... ts-will-go

I probably won't, but if I do find any time at the end of the month to obsess over this a little more then I might post an updated version. That's unlikely though since I will be traveling for the holiday over the next couple of days.

The stats for my project are below.
Lith x 173
Logic Stock Plugins:
Channel EQ x 158
Compressor x 25
Echo x 10
Arpeggiator x 9
Envelope x 6
Gain x 4
Tape Delay x 1
Multipressor x 1
Space Designer x 1
Chromaverb x 1
Vintage Console EQ x 1

3rd Party Free Plugins:
VladG Limiter No. 6 x 1
Airwindows ADClip7 x 1
I also used the Komplete Kontrol Plugin (a free download from Native Instruments) to assign the controls on my midi keyboard so there is one instance of that per Lith instance. It does not process the audio in any way, it is simply used to map the knobs on my Komplete Kontrol keyboard.

I managed to use an unreal number of instances of Lith just by being careful with the release time and voice count (oh and becoming best friends with the bounce in place function). The number of instances shown below is an overestimate for what I actually used on the track because I just counted the number of instances in my project (many of which are scratch ideas that ultimately were not used).
The number of instances is also quite high because of the way I like to arrange and mix tracks. I'll take one patch and copy it for different parts of the song (verse, chorus, bridge, etc...) so that I can more easily adjust the volume and little EQ moves.
Despite the large instance count, the layering of individual lines is actually pretty minimal in my piece and mostly just used for little arrangement flourishes here and there.

Anyway, I hope you all enjoy and thanks for listening.
-Daniel

[SodaDevices]

Finally: my thoughts on Lith as a synth.
I like Lith. the waveshaping options are really excellent and I was able to make all sorts of sounds. The ability to change reference frequency is greatly appreciated, too.
I don't like the interface yet, because it feels "unbalanced" to me. Most controls seem too sensitive, and even with the fine-tuning modifier it was hard to dial in the value I wanted.
I want microtuning. I want it in every synth i use, because it really does allow for different harmonies and means of expression. Some means of loading and using .scl/.kbm or .tun files would set Lith above most other free synths for me.
Summary: Good sounds, user interface needs fine-tuning, and I want microtuning.

I'm excited to see what this synth inspired in others!

The ability to more-fine-tuning the knob is a good idea.
I'm going to build it into a Lith.

I haven't collected any information about micro-tuning yet.
However, I'll add it in the future.
So I'll start as early as possible.

Your project file is very interesting, Thank you


It's almost time for the end of the month, but there are new features.
A "Random" function was added.
I think it is a little big extension, so the version is now 2.1.0.

I want you to try it.
I hope this helps with your sound creation and inspiration.

[Leonard Bowman]

Do you have an example of a music piece in which I could hear it's effect?

One good example & comparison would be Gleam, by Sevish. It's originally in 22edo, but he made a version in our standard 12edo. (Original Microtonal Version) (Not Microtonal Version)
It's not to everyone's liking, and certainly if this is your first experience with microtonality the original version may seem rather unpleasant and jarring. That goes away pretty quickly.
I like microtonality because there are lots of stable and consonant intervals and chords that fall between the keys of a standard piano. It's hard to explain briefly so I'm not going to try here. If you're interested in learning more, The Xenharmonic Wiki is a great place to start. Also, feel free to PM me on KVR. I'm happy to share my notes and resources from a year or so of exploring this territory.

I haven't collected any information about micro-tuning yet.
However, I'll add it in the future.

It's almost time for the end of the month, but there are new features.
A "Random" function was added.

Micro-tuning generally involves loading a .TUN or .SCL and .KBM file and mapping MIDI notes to the listed frequencies.
If you want to see it in a (free) VST, Surge has a pretty good implementation, as does Zyn.

also I LOOOOVE randomization in synths!

[Medniex]

Have you tried it with 1/2 Quality setting? Still sounds interesting to me, I get a lot further with it, might be worth a try?

Haha! Somehow missed the existence of that feature Don't know whether I'll finish it, but I started something already

[] Peter:H []

] Off:Topic [
Do you guys remember Waverazor? They've published an update to 2.1.3 ... including some of my patches
After the OSC round I have talked to Taiho of MOK whether he would like to get my patches as a little "thank you" for the chance to give Waverazor a ride ... and here they are.

[exponent1]

Maybe the off-topic stuff can go to the general OSC thread?

BTW, congrats Peter, your WR track was gorgeous and I thoroughly enjoyed it during the round! (I don't particularly like that synth and its UI however )

[Local Man]

] Off:Topic [
Do you guys remember Waverazor? They've published an update to 2.1.3 ... including some of my patches
After the OSC round I have talked to Taiho of MOK whether he would like to get my patches as a little "thank you" for the chance to give Waverazor a ride ... and here they are.

Nice job. Congrats!