Phaseplant

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kraster wrote: Mon Apr 22, 2024 10:37 am I think the lack of any kind of arp/sequencer (without the hacks) hurts Phase Plant as a synth.

It's a strange omission after this long.
Yes. Generally I am not fond of arpegiators in soft synths because I consider that I prefere to master the one of my DAW.

BUT

For phase plant, an arpegiator mixed with a glitch sequencer could be nice.
It can be somehow emulated, but a dedicated one would be nice.

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Jac459 wrote: Mon Apr 22, 2024 11:09 am
kraster wrote: Mon Apr 22, 2024 10:37 am I think the lack of any kind of arp/sequencer (without the hacks) hurts Phase Plant as a synth.

It's a strange omission after this long.
Yes. Generally I am not fond of arpegiators in soft synths because I consider that I prefere to master the one of my DAW.

BUT

For phase plant, an arpegiator mixed with a glitch sequencer could be nice.
It can be somehow emulated, but a dedicated one would be nice.
I think it's just odd that Phase Plant just doesn't have any at all. For such a feature rich synth it's a baffling omission.

It's not like arepggiators are some crazy exotic feature. They've been around since RMI Harmonic Synth and the Jupiter 4

I have all kinds of external arps and sequencers but just like hardware devices it's nice to have them in situ so it's part of the actual sound.

Also rather than thinking of it as something that just auto plays notes I find arps very handy as sound design options.

Very fast arps with a long release sound, for example or using them for controlled glisssando effects.

One of the things I like most about Avenger are the arps.

Their addition certainly wouldn't hurt Phase Plant.

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kraster wrote: Mon Apr 22, 2024 1:39 pm
Jac459 wrote: Mon Apr 22, 2024 11:09 am
kraster wrote: Mon Apr 22, 2024 10:37 am I think the lack of any kind of arp/sequencer (without the hacks) hurts Phase Plant as a synth.

It's a strange omission after this long.
Yes. Generally I am not fond of arpegiators in soft synths because I consider that I prefere to master the one of my DAW.

BUT

For phase plant, an arpegiator mixed with a glitch sequencer could be nice.
It can be somehow emulated, but a dedicated one would be nice.
I think it's just odd that Phase Plant just doesn't have any at all. For such a feature rich synth it's a baffling omission.

It's not like arepggiators are some crazy exotic feature. They've been around since RMI Harmonic Synth and the Jupiter 4

I have all kinds of external arps and sequencers but just like hardware devices it's nice to have them in situ so it's part of the actual sound.

Also rather than thinking of it as something that just auto plays notes I find arps very handy as sound design options.

Very fast arps with a long release sound, for example or using them for controlled glisssando effects.

One of the things I like most about Avenger are the arps.

Their addition certainly wouldn't hurt Phase Plant.
Agreed.

This is the strange design choice.

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IIRC there is something about Phase Plant's design that makes implementing arp or sequencer problematic.
Doing nothing is only fun when you have something you are supposed to do.

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Dirtgrain wrote: Mon Apr 22, 2024 3:48 pm IIRC there is something about Phase Plant's design that makes implementing arp or sequencer problematic.
There are two ways of how to do this. The most obvious is a module in osc section. It can be bigger, than with the second way - in the modulation section.

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Ya, I don't recall the hangup--just that there was one, based on choices they had made in how Phase Plant works. I think it was in their picnic video--or some Q and A video.
Doing nothing is only fun when you have something you are supposed to do.

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Jac459 wrote: Mon Apr 22, 2024 11:09 am
kraster wrote: Mon Apr 22, 2024 10:37 am I think the lack of any kind of arp/sequencer (without the hacks) hurts Phase Plant as a synth.

It's a strange omission after this long.
Yes. Generally I am not fond of arpegiators in soft synths because I consider that I prefere to master the one of my DAW.

BUT

For phase plant, an arpegiator mixed with a glitch sequencer could be nice.
It can be somehow emulated, but a dedicated one would be nice.
Interesting - I prefer to do things the other way around, and use the arpeggiator in the softsynth/synth itself where possible. idk why.

It would probably make more sense to use the one in my DAW since I can use that with everything but eh.

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harddaysnight wrote: Tue Apr 23, 2024 4:35 am
Jac459 wrote: Mon Apr 22, 2024 11:09 am
kraster wrote: Mon Apr 22, 2024 10:37 am I think the lack of any kind of arp/sequencer (without the hacks) hurts Phase Plant as a synth.

It's a strange omission after this long.
Yes. Generally I am not fond of arpegiators in soft synths because I consider that I prefere to master the one of my DAW.

BUT

For phase plant, an arpegiator mixed with a glitch sequencer could be nice.
It can be somehow emulated, but a dedicated one would be nice.
Interesting - I prefer to do things the other way around, and use the arpeggiator in the softsynth/synth itself where possible. idk why.

It would probably make more sense to use the one in my DAW since I can use that with everything but eh.
Well I think it is quite normal and expected that we all have different workflows... I think that if you feel very comfortable with one tool you will try to stick with this tool.
For me, Bitwig is rl where I feel at home so I am even doing it for modulations that could arguably be at synths level.
But it is just me. Not trying to convince anybody.

But regardless of that, arpegiators remain a standard feature naturally expected in a "rich" synth.

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Igro wrote: Mon Apr 22, 2024 7:41 pm
Dirtgrain wrote: Mon Apr 22, 2024 3:48 pm IIRC there is something about Phase Plant's design that makes implementing arp or sequencer problematic.
There are two ways of how to do this. The most obvious is a module in osc section. It can be bigger, than with the second way - in the modulation section.
Arps/sequencers are strange in that they are external to the sound and modulation architecture but also a kind of modulator themselves.

They're usually triggers for modulation. ie. A note one (gate event) for an envelope but also modulate (control voltage) the pitch. The latter can kind of be done with what's already there but it's clunky.

Arps are essentially an external controller like a keyboard.

I think that might be the issue with Phase Plant since it would require them to design something that sits externally (to some extent) to the rest of the synth. ie. Before the modulators and oscillators.

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harddaysnight wrote: Tue Apr 23, 2024 4:35 am
Jac459 wrote: Mon Apr 22, 2024 11:09 am
kraster wrote: Mon Apr 22, 2024 10:37 am I think the lack of any kind of arp/sequencer (without the hacks) hurts Phase Plant as a synth.

It's a strange omission after this long.
Yes. Generally I am not fond of arpegiators in soft synths because I consider that I prefere to master the one of my DAW.

BUT

For phase plant, an arpegiator mixed with a glitch sequencer could be nice.
It can be somehow emulated, but a dedicated one would be nice.
Interesting - I prefer to do things the other way around, and use the arpeggiator in the softsynth/synth itself where possible. idk why.
It's really about integration for me.

I have a bunch of external arps like animation station, seqund, HY sequencers, stepic etc. and they're all great but there's a lot to be said about an arp that's just integrated into a synth.

Avenger's arps are amazing. They are essentially mini sequencers and their parameters can be used as modulation sources for other things. There's also five of them.

As I said above it's not just the classic arpeggiated chord usage but also as a part of the design of a sound. In synths like Avenger you can assign the arp to just one layer so it becomes part of an overall sound. You can get some lovely movement with this approach.

That kind of integration just helps with the workflow for me and would be way more convoluted using external arps.

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kraster wrote: Tue Apr 23, 2024 10:16 am
harddaysnight wrote: Tue Apr 23, 2024 4:35 am
Jac459 wrote: Mon Apr 22, 2024 11:09 am
kraster wrote: Mon Apr 22, 2024 10:37 am I think the lack of any kind of arp/sequencer (without the hacks) hurts Phase Plant as a synth.

It's a strange omission after this long.
Yes. Generally I am not fond of arpegiators in soft synths because I consider that I prefere to master the one of my DAW.

BUT

For phase plant, an arpegiator mixed with a glitch sequencer could be nice.
It can be somehow emulated, but a dedicated one would be nice.
Interesting - I prefer to do things the other way around, and use the arpeggiator in the softsynth/synth itself where possible. idk why.
It's really about integration for me.

I have a bunch of external arps like animation station, seqund, HY sequencers, stepic etc. and they're all great but there's a lot to be said about an arp that's just integrated into a synth.

Avenger's arps are amazing. They are essentially mini sequencers and their parameters can be used as modulation sources for other things. There's also five of them.

As I said above it's not just the classic arpeggiated chord usage but also as a part of the design of a sound. In synths like Avenger you can assign the arp to just one layer so it becomes part of an overall sound. You can get some lovely movement with this approach.

That kind of integration just helps with the workflow for me and would be way more convoluted using external arps.
That's why phase plant is my ex-favourite synth. Avenger 2 being my new confortable number 1...

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Jac459 wrote: Tue Apr 23, 2024 10:31 am
That's why phase plant is my ex-favourite synth. Avenger 2 being my new confortable number 1...
It did take me a while to warm to it but holy shit it's a phenomenal piece of work.

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kraster wrote: Tue Apr 23, 2024 10:40 am
Jac459 wrote: Tue Apr 23, 2024 10:31 am
That's why phase plant is my ex-favourite synth. Avenger 2 being my new confortable number 1...
It did take me a while to warm to it but holy shit it's a phenomenal piece of work.
Same. I had avenger 1 underutilized for a while.
But this v2 is a killer.
I mean phase plant is awesome. But Avenger is a little bit better at the end for me.

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yhvh wrote: Sun Apr 21, 2024 6:43 am also i’ll echo the sentiment of getting the ultimate package. if you demo the synth and find it’s for you, the tools you’ll get with the ultimate package are well worth the cost.
The tools in Ultimate are nice to have, but are they really well worth the cost? I'm not sure about that. If Snap Heap and Multipass would support VST plugins, I would agree but as it is now I think the Ultimate package is a bit overpriced.

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omnitron wrote: Wed Apr 24, 2024 9:11 am
yhvh wrote: Sun Apr 21, 2024 6:43 am also i’ll echo the sentiment of getting the ultimate package. if you demo the synth and find it’s for you, the tools you’ll get with the ultimate package are well worth the cost.
The tools in Ultimate are nice to have, but are they really well worth the cost? I'm not sure about that. If Snap Heap and Multipass would support VST plugins, I would agree but as it is now I think the Ultimate package is a bit overpriced.
How much is it today ?

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