What's the ultimate Electronica toolkit?

[kevinmathie]

If you could have any plug-ins/loop libraries/etc. you want, to use in composing Electronica music, what would they be?So far, the electronica-/synth-type sounds/loops I have (i.e., excluding my orchestral libraries, like EW Symphonic Gold library) are:The basic bundled Logic soft-synths (EFM1, ES E, ES M, etc., etc.).EastWest's "Ministry of Rock"Kontakt 2 & 3, with the basic sounds that come with each plug-inSylus RMX with the following Expansion libraries: BackBeat, Burning Grooves, and MetamorphosisModern Beats' "Platinum Rhythmz - Vol. 1" loop libraryNeedless to say, the above is probably not a bad start, but is far from a "killer" toolkit for electronica music.Any suggestions for my next few purchases?

[mazz]

I would look at the Ilio expanders for Stylus as well, particularly Noizbox and Big Bad Beats. Also the Nine Volt Audio stuff is really nice, it's REX files optimized for Stylus, just convert them.Reason has a lot of great stuff for doing Electronica.I like the OhmForce synths, I'll probably get the ImpOscar soon, it has a really squanky filter sound.I've heard great things about the Rob Papen stuff for electronica as well. One of those is really set up for that, I can't remember which one. Someone will chime in on that, I'm sure.If you are inclined at all to go with hardware, I highly recommend the Dave Smith Evolver tabletop synth. It's a very unique sounding synth with some awesome, mean sounding patches along with sounds you won't hear anywhere else. He also just came out with a new tabletop synth, the Mopho http://www.davesmithinstruments.com/products/mopho/ which is one voice of the Prophet 08 (droolage alert!!). Both synths have analog inputs so you could run other stuff through their filters.Arturia just came out with a hardware synth, the Origin. I heard it at the AES show. It's really got some great sounds. It's all modeled (not like the Dave Smith stuff which is all analog), but you can combine parts from different synths like run an Arp oscillator through a Moog filter and so on. It's way expensive, though, like 3500.00 or something.A lot of electronica is about cool filters. You could run just about anything through an esoteric filter plug in and tweak the crap out of it and turn it in to something else. I'd be on the lookout for that type of stuff too because that's where you can take a sound that everybody has and turn it in to your own thing.Oh, and it goes without saying: Omnisphere!!!!!!!!!!Mazz

[mojobone]

Let me just expand on that last thing mazz said. I don't believe in buying loops (other than drum loops, but even then, there are software beatboxes that'll do as well or better) for electronica; I think it leads to sounding generic, which to my ear is the kiss of death for dance and electronic styles. I'm by no means an expert on what's considered "commercial" in that arena, and loops can be a wonderful shortcut to making electronica sounds without understanding how the sounds are made, but wouldn't you rather know?The whole genre is IMO, about doing a very great deal with very little audio material; a holdover from the days when MIDI and FX were cheap and audio was expensive in terms of computer resources. And I think most of the best and most interesting stuff is being made on the cheap, using Reaper and a bunch of free sound-mangling plugins, such as Frohmage's filter and DBlue's Glitch. I guess what I'm getting at here, is that the ultimate tool is between your ears.

[mrsunshine]

Oct 6, 2008, 3:50pm, mojobone wrote:...I don't believe in buying loops......if loops work for ya, use 'em. I've got bucket loads and use 'em all the time. Why reinvent the wheel !! Chuck

[mojobone]

I never said I didn't believe in usin' 'em, I just prefer to make my own.

[kevinmathie]

Oct 6, 2008, 3:50pm, mojobone wrote:...using Reaper and a bunch of free sound-mangling plugins, such as Frohmage's filter and DBlue's Glitch.Interesting! I like "free"! How reliable are these free plug-ins? By that, I mean if I install them, should I start expecting my computer to do weird things or freeze up or something? Or are they pretty reliable and safe?

[kevinmathie]

Oct 6, 2008, 2:23pm, mazz wrote:A lot of electronica is about cool filters. You could run just about anything through an esoteric filter plug in and tweak the crap out of it and turn it in to something else. I'd be on the lookout for that type of stuff too because that's where you can take a sound that everybody has and turn it in to your own thing.I've been listening a lot to my Electronica radio station on Comcast (see my recent thread on Comcast and tax deductions ), and have noticed this very thing. All that filter stuff is very intriguing.Do you have some filter plug-ins that you'd recommend? I'll have to check YouTube and see if there are any tutorials out there showing some tips on effective ways to use these plug-ins...Thanks!Kevin

[mazz]

I don't use too many free plug ins but I think it would be pretty easy to set up some knobs and switches and sliders on your controller if it has them, to control the parameters of the plug-ins.I know a lot of DJs use EQs with bands that can be brought in or out with switches so you could, for instance, immediately cut out all the highs or lows of a loop just with EQ (which is just a filter anyway, right?). Sometimes they'll do that rhythmically which has the effect of altering the loop.I'll often automate the cutoff and resonance controls and sweep them manually with a knob or slider in time (or out of time) with the music. This works well for sweeps and transitions.A lot of this stuff is created by people using DJ mixers so see what kinds of functions they have and emulate that. A lot of things are done by the crossfaders and kill switches, etc.I've heard great stuff about the Kaoss Pad from Korg, lots of people use that as a tactile way to "play" the filters.It's pretty endless, actually. The styles sometimes seem a bit narrow but what people can do within them is pretty amazing sometimes.Have fun,Mazz

[louis2012]

I make a lot of electronica and i can't live without Antares Filter VST and Arturia minimoogV, Spectrasonics Atmosphere is also a wonderful soft synth.

[mojobone]

My three favorite free loop manglers are DBlue's Glitch, Phutboy Slim and Ohmforce's Frohmage filter. There's a few dead links in this thread, but a little diligence will pay big dividends for the DIY-minded. best free plugs thread