Synth Guitars...?

andrushkiwt

andrushkiwt

Well-known member
I'm wanting to occasionally use a synth-type sound for a lead in my tracks, but it's over a wall of guitars (something like The Killers would do). The stock instrument, Mojito, in Studio One 2 Pro is decent, but the sounds are very 8-bit-like and dull/boring for me. Sure, there are countless parameters to mess with (wave, width, LFO, envelope, pitch, attack/release, sustain, resonance, drive, depth, etc...), but i just can't find something i like out of the 30 or so options they have! I guess the sound is very specific and it has to sound good within a particular octave as well, to be able to cut through the guitars. I've tried using the stock autofilter VST, running the instrument through an amp sim, etc...

I'm sure a sample would help, but unfortunately the time has elapsed at work to get on YT :cursing:

Anyone have success with any free (or cheap) synth type sounds for alternative music? I have nothing other than the laptop keyboard or guitar to interact with, FYI.

hope there's enough info here for some suggestions.
 
andrushkiwt said:
I'm wanting to occasionally use a synth-type sound for a lead in my tracks, but it's over a wall of guitars (something like The Killers would do). The stock instrument, Mojito, in Studio One 2 Pro is decent, but the sounds are very 8-bit-like and dull/boring for me. Sure, there are countless parameters to mess with (wave, width, LFO, envelope, pitch, attack/release, sustain, resonance, drive, depth, etc...), but i just can't find something i like out of the 30 or so options they have! I guess the sound is very specific and it has to sound good within a particular octave as well, to be able to cut through the guitars. I've tried using the stock autofilter VST, running the instrument through an amp sim, etc...

I'm sure a sample would help, but unfortunately the time has elapsed at work to get on YT :cursing:

Anyone have success with any free (or cheap) synth type sounds for alternative music? I have nothing other than the laptop keyboard or guitar to interact with, FYI.

hope there's enough info here for some suggestions.
Click to expand...

Are you looking for vst synths/organs or a synth that has a good guitar tone (never found this, guitars sound awful on every synth I've used, real or software).
I really love the ComboV (a vox continental that is well done) and ComboF (this one is awesome). They used to be free when I got them, but I think they might charge for them now.
 
does it only sound like an organ??? It's close, i think, but i'm looking for more electronic sounding...like a bridge between techno leads (think the lead part in Sandstorm. oh come on, everyone knows that song) and The Killers.
 
Maybe give a try to Sampletank 3 Free. It only has a few synth lead sounds, but maybe one of them will suit your needs. They released several free sample packs for it. Things like synth bass, upright bass, guitar, piano, and drums. It's a little tricky to find all of the downloads on their site, but they're there.
 
andrushkiwt said:
does it only sound like an organ??? It's close, i think, but i'm looking for more electronic sounding...like a bridge between techno leads (think the lead part in Sandstorm. oh come on, everyone knows that song) and The Killers.
Click to expand...

Korgs and Moogs are good for electronica sounds. I used to own a Korg Z1 hardware version, and it was awesome. If you can find a vst of something like that you'd be set. I don't know of any vsts for that off hand. Obviously there are a lot of Moog vsts out there.

But I'm still not sure if you want to use the actual guitar sounds from a keyboard. They are always bad, no matter how long you play with the envelopes or oscillators. You can turn them into something completely different and possibly interesting, but if you want a guitar sound I don't think it will happen.
 
There are plenty of free soft synth VSTs available, and there used to be free VST versions of classic analog synths, but some of them seem to have either disappeared (e.g., Minimogue), or must be purchased (e.g., Memorymoon, ME80, and Messiah). However, Arppe2600va is still available and still free:

Glen Stegner - Free VSTi Software Synthesizers

EDIT: I may have misunderstood the OP, but I thought he was looking for synth sounds that can cut through a bunch of guitars, not guitar sounds from a synth?
 
Yeah, so, google searches bring up plenty results about "synths cutting through guitars". apparently it's not just me having this problem - in the mid 2000's, i remember a ton of alternative music coming out that had synth parts, sometimes leads, sometimes as backing (the killers, franz ferdinand, mgmt). the problem i'm having is that the freq ranges are similar for the synth over top the gee-tars. the synths can't cut through enough.

there's lots of good recommendations here..thanks everyone. i'll sort through and download some stuff this weekend. thnx!
 
If you are having a problem with a sound you like cutting through the mix, double the part an octave up and tuck it behind the main part.
 
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