Human Voices Redux for Omnisphere 2.6
Human Voices Redux is a soundset for Spectrasonics’ software synth Omnisphere. There are 120 patches, and all exclusively about voices: Big choirs, little choirs, lead vocal keys, human beatbox drums, wistful calls and effects, all made with human vocal samples and vox waveforms. Of course there are many beautiful pads, but many phrases have been retuned and granularized, and others turned into rich and unusual drum and percussion patches.
Latest videos:
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Turn orphan DB-01 patterns into full themes
If you have any sort of sequencer then chances are you have banks full of orphan patterns, promising 16 or 32-step riffs that turned into dead ends. For DB-01 owners, here's one (pretty obvious) way of reviving them and hopefully making them into something more useful: MIDI them up to a polyphonic synth. Here the DB-01 is MIDIed to a DSi Prophet Rev-2.
Not only is it fun just to flip through presets on your poly synth looking for 'matches', but they can turn into things which are completely different from the source mono sequence. A dirty bass pattern can sometimes even become a delicate polyphonic high melody.
By also combining these experiments with some manual playing and arpegiator fun the theme can thicken out into something which sounds like it's been multi-tracked.
Record all this into your DAW in one long take, align it to the grid, then use 'snap to grid' and chop out loads of new loops. Now your orphan pattern has now produced a big family ready to arrange. I think this is one of the most entertaining ways to create longer themes.
No other effects, layers or tweaks used here except what you see.
0:00 Intro blather and setup
0:48 The awful starter pattern
1:20 The arp on top
2:18 Gate length quirks
3:50 Playing over the top
4:38 Add Space Echo
5:20 DB-01 off
6:20 Scale problem?
8:10 Pattern 2 - DB-01 only
8:35 Pattern 2 - Rev2 only
9:07 Added arp
10:22 Filthy original
10:50 Sweet new version
11:00 No more talk
My site: https://richarddehove.com/
Lots of downloads for supporters on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/richarddehove -
Strymon phaser shootout: Zelzah vs Mobius (no talk)
The Strymon Zelzah phaser vs the Strymon Mobius is a music-only comparison for hardcore phaser fans!
There aren't too many true stereo in and out phasers and Strymon have two of them. I bought the Zelzah first and have been very happy with it, but after buying the Mobius I've begun to question whether I really need the Zelzah as well. But can the multi-effect Mobius do as well as a dedicated phaser? Here I've tried to match the sounds reasonably closely and mainly stick to 4 and six stage examples. The Zelzah can also do chorus and flanging but it seemed to be stretching things a bit to go there as well so I've stuck with the phaser. Both units were set to maximum stereo width for the entire demo.
Conclusions are up to the listener but to my ears they sound very similar. The Zelzah at times had a brighter and cleaner edge that I couldn't get on the Mobius, but the Mobius was able to get a much deeper effect which I often had to dial back to match the Zelzah. The synth used for the demo is the Rev2 8-voice.
0:00 Six stages pad
1:40 Six stages pluck
2:30 Barber pole
3:35 Four stages notes
4:14 Four stages pad
5:10 Six stage warbles
5:40 16-stages vs Zelzah 4+6 mode
6:57 Six stages - no feedback
My site: https://richarddehove.com/
Lots of downloads for supporters on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/richarddehove -
The Roland E-4 as a lowfi synth glitch machine
Roland calls the E-4 the "Voice Tweaker" but here I use it exclusively as a glitch effect on the DB-01 synth. The DB-01's output is split with the dry sound going direct to the DAW and the other going to the E-4 mic input (which is overloading of course). The DB-01 is also providing a clock for the E-4 "scatter" effects. The result is a bit like the Fabikat Pladask pedal and some other grain and glitch processors.
After a bit of talking at the start I just twiddle the knobs and run through a few of the scatter programs. Each one has a slightly different combination of short stutters, reverse effects, delay and lowfi bitcrushed processing. As there are about 200 scatter programs this is just a short taste of what's on offer. You can also change the clock rate per beat from 1 to 24 and this also has a huge effect on the sound. Here I stay at 4.
In future I'll explore more complex setups with the harmonizer, autotune, vocoder and clock rates but hopefully this gives a little taste of the unit outside of its "voice tweaker" role.
Probably also worth mentioning that - unlike most other E-4 demos - I actually bought this machine and paid full price.
0:00 Intro blather
1:22 Setup and routing
4:05 Music starts, no more talking
My site: https://richarddehove.com/
Lots of downloads for supporters on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/richarddehove -
Five ways to make patterns with the DB-01
Starting with the bleedin' obvious and moving through to the "sounds bad now but wait a minute" method, here's five pattern creation techniques. Along the way there's a few extra tips and tricks including the rare "zero gate" option.
It's a bit long but I thought it was worthwhile to show the full process rather than just cut in all the bits that worked on the first attempt. Watching videos where everything works perfectly and then not being able to instantly replicate that success can be a bit disheartening so there's quite a bit of tweaking and deleting.
Hopefully here the joy of just experimenting, looping, randomly deleting and poking comes through. Just delete the crap and keep going 😀
0:00 1) The slow and obvious way
0:47 2) Real-time record with fake metronome
2:10 Second bar in real time
3:50 Using an external keyboard
6:05 3) The randomizer
6:30 The dog's breakfast
7:10 Random steps
8:20 Rotate start
8:45 Force to scale
10:55 Gate length
12:05 Hearing the gate length
12:50 The zero gate
13:45 Gates with filter mod
15:00 LFO on note reset
16:10 Pitch envelope
17:28 Fast random example 1
18:45 Fast random example 2
20:47 4) The internal arpegiator
26:45 5) Using an external arpegiator
My site: https://richarddehove.com/
Lots of downloads for supporters on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/richarddehove -
Two DB-01s play "gentle" stereo (no talk)
With identical machines it's tempting to play them as a stereo pair. Hard panning left and right with different sounds gives an interesting 1960s-style separation, although it can be offputting in headphones without a little stereo field "smoothing". For that I used the Zen delay in tape ping-pong mode and the Boss RV-6 stereo reverb. I was also keen to show the DB-01s playing "nice" lead sounds.
Starts off with both DB-01s on 32-step patterns. I then play the right-side unit in arp mode 1-octave with 90% gate. By not holding the notes down the entire time you allow the underlaying pattern to poke through every now and then which can add variation (nad in this case some percussive effect) depending on how each section is played. The DB-01s percussion sounds also appear to sound almost uniterupted because of the delay, despite playing the arp and overriding the pattern.
The second time around both units are in arp mode, with the left-side unit on a 10% gate. I also switch on the Zen's overdrive. I took down the volume of the overdrive section in the DAW since it adds a big boost. But there are absolutely no effects on the sound other than what you see.
The patterns include quite a lot of pitchmod notes, accents and a little filter mod - almost a "Perkons-lite" style. (I'm really looking forward to that machine - even if it is blue. I'm convinced it shares quite a bit of sound-engine design with the DB-01).
You can hear the uneffected "dry" sound at the very end.
0:00 Patterns + 1 arp
1:00 Patterns + 2 arps
2:10 Dry sound
My site: https://richarddehove.com/
Lots of downloads for supporters on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/richarddehove -
DB-01 does acid (no talking)
I love reading comments and on a recent video "Alfie John" commented on the lack of 303-style Acid demos for the DB-01. That sounded like a challenge to me so here's my attempt. The title of this video "DB-01 does acid" is very definite but whether the sound is really acid I leave up tp you. There's also the question of whether the DB-01, with its Polvoks filter, can achieve an "authentic" acid sound in place of the 24db LPF on the 303. And of course someone who actually composes acid music would surely get closer than I have here.
Assuming that you've got past all these excuses and actually like the sound, here are a few relevant points on recreating it:
- Both envelopes are on zero. This is especially important for the Amp envelope.
- The LFO is on S&H tempo sync on and set to 1 (for slight variation on every hit)
- The pattern itself has various gate times from 20 to 100
- The Env amount must be low otherwise it'll overwhelm the bandpass filter
- The Arp control that I manually change is the gate length
Other settings should be reasonably clear from the video.
Another recent comment (on the One pattern, 20 sounds video) said that all the DB-01 sounds were terrible because they were distorted. In that case I can expect an even more disappointed comment here 😀
And another recent comment said they preferred the sounds without effects - but here I've added delay to almost the whole thing :/ My excuse for that is I just bought the DM-2W delay and I love it! It takes line level beautifully.
Finally, there is absolutely no further processing than what you see here, not even a master limiter.
My site: https://richarddehove.com/
Lots of downloads for supporters on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/richarddehove -
RE-202 Space Echo on the LXR-02 drum machine
In earlier tests the space echo seemed to be a little lacking in level on synth - not so on drums. The different modes change the whole feel quite dramatically. It's even better if you take it off a MIDI clock and allow a little 'slop' into the timing - it suddenly sounds a lot more spacey. And like the Zen delay, it can easily create the illusion of reverb without reverb. OTOH the space echo does have built-in reverb which I switch in and out here. I have it on the plate setting. I've also pushed up the maximum delay time to 2 seconds which you need to enable.
To avoid my blatherings start at 5:02 - there's no more taling after that.
0:00 Intro blather
0:48 Double the delay time
2:40 Manual rate adjust
3:20 Gentle examples
5:02 -- No more talking --
7:00 Dark
8:25 Mids
9:00 Bright
9:40 New pattern & kit
11:15 Max reverb
12:00 New kit
13:50 New kit
14:20 Sloppy tap tempo
16:30 Maxxed out
17:02 Wow & flutter test
18:12 New kit
19:27 New kit
My site: https://richarddehove.com/
Lots of downloads for supporters on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/richarddehove
Or maybe just try the 'Thanks' button - you'll be the first! -
DB-01 Bassline: One pattern, 20 sounds (no talking)
On a recent video one comment said "Cool machine, but it only has one sound". The truth or otherwise of that here is in the ear of the beholder. With the very distinctive Polivoks filter and a single oscillator maybe every sound does sound a bit the same? And this is a bass synth after all. But to my ears there is a lot of difference. At the very least the different settings emphasize different parts of the pattern, in this case the pitchmod drum-like thumps and the noisy highs.
If you want to replicate any of these sounds make sure to connect the CV out to the filter CV in for the classic filter tracking effect. Without it the settings here will sound very different.
And yes, the Space Echo does add a whole extra layer on top, but it's reasonably subtle and the settings remains unchanged the whole way through. Am also thinking I should give the Space Echo a try on the LXR-02 - any votes for that?
0:00 One - Square
0:47 Two - Shakey
1:02 Three - Ramp
1:52 Four - Skinny
2:03 Five - Drive
2:23 Six - Harsh
2:43 Seven - Squelch
2:56 Eight - Poke
3:26 Nine - Noise
3:38 Ten - Dirt
3:56 Eleven - Discord
4:10 Twelve - Noise
5:00 Thirteen - Filth
5:38 Fourteen - S&H
6:13 Fifteen - Bandpass
7:10 Sixteen - Vocal
8:13 Seventeen - Zap
8:26 Eighteen - Unison
8:40 Ninteen - Smooth
8:50 Twenty - Grit
9:07 Twenty-one - Hollow
My site: https://richarddehove.com/
Lots of downloads for supporters on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/richarddehove
Altair-4 soundset for ArcSyn
“Altair-4” is a soundset for SPC ArcSyn. It contains 100 patches widely varied between synchronized bass, leads and percussion; characterful drones; long self-generating textures and ambiences; special effects; stingers; drums and sci-fi leads. Every patch has a variation on the modwheel – be sure to try it! Celebrating five years of ArcSyn.
Metal clunks from the song "Fear"
In my dark-ambient song “Fear Has Brought You Here” I use a lot of hard metal clanks and clunks. They were recorded by me hitting a big empty metal skip with other bits of metal and a hammer. In this sample set you’ll find 60 metal hits and scrapes, including all the sounds used in the song. You can download the first 16 samples as a free taster.
Drum samples from the DB-01
Erica Synths DB-01 is primarily a bass synth but can also double as a heavy hitting drum machine. In this sample set you’ll find 78 kicks, zaps, thumps, noise hits and distorted growls suitable for heavy electronica or further mangling into deeper weirdness. You can download the first 16 samples as a free taster.
Dystopia soundset for ArcSyn
“Dystopia” is a soundset for SPC ArcSyn. It contains 101 patches of horror, tension, torment and sci-fi textures designed for cinematic, space music, ambient, gaming, sampling and horror. Rich intersection modulations are heavily randomized for constantly shifting texture. You’ll also find related keys, pads and special effects. It’s the deepest dive yet into the complex beauty of ArcSyn.
Sputnik soundset for ArcSyn
ArcSyn by SPC software is an incredibly deep VST synthesizer. Its combination of unusual oscillators, filters, noise sources and LFO sequencer makes it capable of some unique sounds. “Sputnik” is a collectioon of 100 sounds from subtle keys and pads to complex textures and syncronized basses.
Get both albums on CD
There's nothing like real-world physical media. Sure you can listen to the tracks on Youtube (or Bitchute), and download high-quality MP3s from any of the major music stores, or from this site direct, but if you're a collector then you'll want actual CDs.
I still have a small number of CDs of my first and second albums available. Click the button below to get both CDs for US$20. The price includes both albums and delivery anywhere on the planet. When ordering don't forget to include your preferred name and address! After ordering you'll receive an email confirmation. The CDs will be sent within 48 hours.
Both albums (including delivery) for $20: