Soft Synths - Songwriting Place

feature | soft synths 

SOFT 

SYNTHS 

Mark Jenkins enters the world of software sound creation 

and recommends some top techniques and buys 

GET- 

STARTED 

GUIDE 

n the space of just a few years, software sound synthesis has reached 

a level which threatens to make the entire field of hardware 

instruments redundant. Granted, keyboard players still need some 

kind of instrument to take on stage (though many, from Asia’s 

Geoff Downes to musical directors with big name pop acts like 

Mariah Carey, are now happily using master keyboards and soft 

synths), but in the studio, the familiar racks of keyboards and 

modules are increasingly becoming a thing of the past. 

Current software synthesizers are capable of almost any type of 

sound creation you wish. Look at acts from The Stranglers, whose 

keyboardist, Dave Greenfield, now uses Native Instruments’ B4 software 

in the studio rather than a Hammond organ, to Klaus Schulze, the pioneer 

of giant synthesizers, whose latest CDs are covered with the sounds of 

virtual instruments. 

So if the sounds are there, the other advantages of software synthesizers 

become obvious enough. Assuming you already have a computer (and most 

musicians have been using one for sequencing for years), then integrating 

your synthesizers in software saves space, cabling, power supplies and 

problems with MIDI chaining, saving sounds to disk and so on. There’s a 

huge cost saving too – although some software synthesizers are expensive, 

many are very affordable or even free, and none are as expensive as buying 

a huge old Moog Modular system, one of the many classic synths now very 

effectively imitated in software. 

New synthesis software now appears on an almost daily basis and 

software companies are becoming centres for innovation in a way which 

hardware manufacturers can no longer hope to match. Hardware 

synthesizers are at heart microprocessors running a batch of digital signal 

processing chips, but after developing an interesting new routine for these, 

the costs of marketing them in hardware form, perhaps in very limited 

numbers, can be enormous. Much easier, then, to be creative with the 

software, but rely on hardware already owned by your target market in the 

form of their existing computer. The new synthesizer product reduces from a 

four foot long chunk of plastic and metal to an easily mass produced CD- 

ROM in a cardboard box. 

Many soft synths imitate specific classic hardware models, but those 

which don’t can be an even more useful source of new sounds and 

synthesis techniques. With no limitation on the number of knobs, sockets 

and interconnections which can be made, the software writers can have 

their head and create routines impossible to realise in hardware. Soft synths 

like Steinberg’s Plex and the Malstrom module within Propellerheads Reason 

offer sounds and techniques which have never even become available in a 

hardware instrument. This round-up of software synthesizers gives a guide 

to what’s currently available, with some hints and tips for use. 

Soft synths in Logic 

Like many sequencer packages, E-Magic (now Apple) Logic 6 comes 

equipped with a strong selection of software instruments. From a 

General MIDI source, through analog and powerful formant synths, 

there’s a huge variety of sound creation techniques available 

ES1 

ES1 is Logic’s basic analog synth. With a GUI 

looking like something straight out of Alien, 

its simple mix of oscillators, overdriven filter 

and single LFO should meet all your basic 

analog needs. There’s just chorus in the way of 

effects, but you can always add more in Logic 

if you feel the need. 

ES2 

ES2 goes beyond simple analog. It offers a 

three-way mix of oscillators, two blendable 

filters, effects and X-Y vector control of 

sound blending. A bit more processor-hungry 

than some other synths perhaps, but 

certainly worth it – even for the extra sonic 

possibilities alone. 

EVOC 20 & ESP 

EVOC 20 is a formant synthesizer, creating 

basic tones from detuned, filtered waves but 

then shifting their overall tone under the 

control of an LFO. Some weird sounds are 

available. ESP, in contrast, is a very simple 

analog-style synth with chorus and overdrive 

for heavy bass sounds. 

Imitative synths in Logic 

As well as coming up with new and innovative synth formats, 

software synthesis can also handle specific imitations of classic 

instruments. Back to Logic... 

ESM & Klopfgeist 

Though it doesn’t look much like it, ESM is 

Logic’s tribute to the old Roland Bassline – a 

simple monophonic synth with glide, a 

resonant filter and a bit of overdrive perfect for 

all those squirty acid sounds. And Klofpgeist? 

He’s just the little ‘knocking ghost’ who plays 

Logic’s metronome for you. 

EVB3 

Soft synthesis can handle the Hammond organ 

too, and EVB3 in Logic does a great job of 

replicating its dual sets of drawbars, pedal 

sounds, and vital elements such as key click, 

overdrive and rotary speaker simulation. Other 

Hammond imitators are available, though. 

EVD6 

EVD6 is Logic’s spookily authentic recreation 

of the old Hohner Clavinet, beloved of 

Stevie Wonder and many other funkmeisters. 

The pickup selection switches and tone control 

are all there, but you can also add distortion, 

modulation and wah, which in the old days 

were popular additions to the clavinet only as 

external pedals.

The V-Station 

NOVATION’S V-STATION IS ONE 

OF THE MOST CHARMING OF THE 

ANALOG SOFT SYNTHS AND, 

UNUSUALLY, IT’S EXACTLY PATCH- 

COMPATIBLE WITH CURRENT 

HARDWARE SYNTHS, THE 

A-STATION AND K-STATION 

Novation V-Station’s main page has 

all the (virtual) knobs and sliders you 

expect on a polyphonic analog 

synthesizer – including three 

oscillators, two envelopes, effects 

like delay and reverb, a powerful 

arpeggiator, and options like ring 

modulation and noise. Here it’s on 

the startup Bass sound, but it’s easy 

to tweak the controls around to edit 

and save your own sound. 

On V-Station’s second Extras page 

some more detailed settings are 

made. You can decide the 

arpeggiator synchronization and 

resolution and latch it on, set the 

polyphony mode, synchronize the 

LFO’s to MIDI and so on. 

V-Station’s third page is for 

Controller settings. These are 

important to get an expressive 

performance out of your soft synth - 

you can make the bend wheel work 

on all or just some of the oscillators, 

set the mod wheel to introduce 

effects, and regulate levels of 

aftertouch. It’s great to see all these 

in the soft version of the synth just 

as in the hardware version. 

Soft synthesis types 

THERE ARE MANY types of software synthesis, ranging from 

imitations of classic analog instruments to more openly digital 

techniques and those based on sampled sounds or on looping and 

slicing sounds. Below, some of the currently available software 

instruments are arranged by synthesis type. There are even more on 

the next page. 

ANALOG & modular analog 

Beginning the process of 

imitating analog synthesizers in 

software is simply a matter of 

creating simple waves – such 

as sines, sawtooths and squares 

– although filtering and 

processing them in a way which 

sounds as smooth as a genuine 

analog instrument can be a 

real challenge. 

Since many of the classic 

synths of yesterday were analog, 

specific software imitations of 

hardware instruments are 

common (some such as those 

from Novation and Access exist 

in both software and hardware 

form, and sound patches are 

often compatible). Some 

software imitations are more 

true to the original than 

others, sometimes simply for 

copyright reasons. 

KORG 

◆ Legacy MS-20 – Korg MS-20 

emulation, but polyphonic 

◆ Legacy Polysix – Korg Poly 6 

emulation 

STEINBERG 

◆ Model E – MiniMoog-a-like 

◆ JX16, supplied within Cubase 

E-MAGIC 

◆ ES1 & ES2, supplied within Logic 6 

REFX 

◆ Vanguard – replaces Juno X2, a 

Roland Juno 106 imitator 

DISCODSP 

◆ Discovery V2.1 – Clavia Nord 

Lead, roughly 

LINPLUG 

◆ Albino 2 

TC WORKS 

◆ Mercury 1 

NUSOFTING 

◆ Mothership Astrobelt 

SAMPLOID 

The trend among keyboards 

and modules over the last few 

years has been towards 

samploid designs – in other 

words, sounds are based on 

sampled waveforms which are 

then processed. So far, there 

are relatively few samploid 

software packages, but numbers 

are increasing. 

EXAMPLES 

SPECTRASONICS 

◆ Atmosphere 

STEINBERG 

◆ Hypersonic 

ROLAND 

TB-303 STYLE 

The Roland TB-303 Bassline was 

one of the first synths to be 

imitated in software, probably 

because it made a fairly simple 

sound, but the hardware version 

has become much sought-after 

Classic synths gone soft 

Imitating classic synthesizers in software is a cross between art and science, since getting 

authentic audio response becomes almost secondary to recapturing the spirit and feel of 

the original machine. Here are just a few of the success stories... 

IMPOSCAR 

The Oxford Synthesizer Company’s 

OSCar was great – at least Jean- 

Michel Jarre, Ultravox and the handful 

of others who could get hold of one 

thought so. It offered simple harmonic 

synthesis and an arpeggiator, as does 

this version – but it’s polyphonic! 

and expensive on the secondhand 

market. There are many 

shareware and even freeware 

imitators in addition to the 

examples mentioned below. 

EXAMPLES 

PROPELLERHEAD 

◆ ReBirth RB338 

STEINBERG 

◆ Neon, within Cubase 

MODULAR 

These synths allow virtual 

patching of different elements, 

so the user can create a unique 

voice in software – not to be 

confused with modular analog 

systems, which offer patchable 

alignments of relatively simple 

modules. One other software 

modular, the powerful Clavia 

Nord Modular and Micro 

Modular, runs only on its own 

associated hardware. 

EXAMPLES 

SOFTWARE TECHNOLOGY 

◆ Vaz Modular 

RGC AUDIO 

◆ z3+at 

VIRSYN 

◆ Tera 2 

FM 

Frequency Modulation synthesis 

was the method developed by 

Yamaha for its DX range of 

keyboards and modules. Several 

software packages offer a limited 

2 

ARTURIA CS-80V 

2 

ARTURIA MOOG 

MODULAR V 

3 

GFORCE 

4 

GFORCE ODDITY 

Another triumph from G- 

This is the big one – the Moog 

Force, re-packaging the ARP Odyssey 

Modular system used by George 

beloved of Chick Corea, Klaus Schulze 

Harrison, the Rolling Stones and 

and others. Complex settings use the 

many others. Huge and vastly 

sample and hold running from several 

expensive now, it has been 

mixed inputs, with a lag in its output, 

authentically captured by Arturia’s 

routed to the filter and the hard 

cunning software engineers. 

synchronized second oscillator. 

This beautiful imitation of 

Yamaha’s CS80 captures the spirit of 

an instrument which remains a 

favourite of Vangelis and Klaus 

Schulze, without the backbreaking size 

and tuning problems. Of note is the 

pitch strip for long bends and glides 

and the clanging ringmod settings. 

EXAMPLES 

NOVATION 

◆ V-Station, compatible with 

A-Station and K-Station 

◆ Virtual Bass Station, compatible 

with Bass Station 

ACCESS 

◆ Virus Indigo TDM for TC 

Powercore hardware, compatible 

with Access Virus 

ARTURIA 

◆ CS-80V – Yamaha CS-80 

emulation 

◆ Moog Modular V – Moog 

Modular System emulation 

◆ Minimoog V – MiniMoog 

emulation 

G-FORCE 

◆ ImpOSCar – OSC OSCar 

emulation, but polyphonic 

◆ Oddity – ARP Odyssey emulation 

NATIVE INSTRUMENTS 

◆ Pro-53 – Sequential Prophet 5 

emulation 

PRO-53 

VAZ MODULAR 

form of FM synthesis, but there 

seems to be only one licenced 

imitation of the actual algorithms 

which make FM controllable and 

musically meaningful. 

EXAMPLES 


◆ FM7 

FM7 

WAVETABLE 

This is one of the most 

interesting forms of synthesis, 

offering digital wave shapes 

(which can include simple 

imitations of analog waves) 

which can either be filtered, or 

stepped through in wavetables 

during the course of a note. 

This can create everything from 

simple analog imitations to 

complex cycling sounds. 

EXAMPLES 

STEINBERG 

◆ Waldorf PPG2V (PPG Wave 2), 

D’Cota 

SHINEN 

◆ SHN-1 

KORG 

◆ Legacy Wavestation 

GRANULAR 

Granular synthesis is a rarely 

found technique which can 

create anything from smooth to 

very gritty and distorted sounds. 

EXAMPLES 

PROPELLERHEADS 

◆ Malström in Reason 2.5 

OHMFORCE 

◆ Melohman Symptohm 

PLUGGO 

◆ Cycling ‘74 

ADDITIVE 

Another rarely seen form of 

synthesis which cropped up in 

hardware on the Kawai K5/K5R, 

the Kawai K5000S/W/M, the 

expensive NED Synclavier and 

Fairlight (both better known for 

their sound sampling abilities), 

and in limited form on the Korg 

DSS1/DSM1. Theoretically, it’s 

based on adding many sine 

waves at different pitches 

(usually 64 or 128) under the 

control of individual envelopes, 

though some software versions 

also bend their pitches, or like 

VirSyn Cube morph from one 

set of waves to another. 

EXAMPLES 

VIRSYN 

◆ Cube 

CAMEL AUDIO 

◆ Cameleon 5000 

DISCODSP 

◆ Vertigo 

CONCRETEFX 

◆ Adder 

SYMBOLIC SOUND 

◆ Kyma, an expensive 

hardware/software resynthesizer 

PHYSICAL 

MODELLING 

Seen in hardware on the 

Yamaha VL1 and VL70M, the 

Korg Prophecy and Z1 and the 

Technics WSA1, this processorhungry 

synthesis method holds 

mathematical models of the 

response of strings, pipes, 

drumheads and other instrument 

parts, and allows users to 

combine them, creating 

authentically acoustic-sounding 

hybrid instruments which have 

never existed before. Physical 

modelling can be complex – but 

Tassman 3 for instance holds 50 

different physical models and 

1,000 presets, just for starters! 

EXAMPLES 

STEINBERG 

◆ Flex 


◆ Reaktor 4 

APPLIED ACOUSTIC SYSTEMS 

◆ Tassman 3 

PERCUSSION 

There are many software 

drum machines available, some 

even offering enough 

variation of sound to qualify as 

percussion synthesizers. 

VirSyn Tera 2… cheats! 

Tera 2, on PC or Mac OS X from the German developer VirSyn, cheats by 

refusing to decide what synthesis method to use. Here, you’ll find everything 

from analog and FM to spectral synthesis and more... 

1 

ANATERA 

2 

SPECTERA 

3 

FMTERA 

4 

This is the most basic page in 

VirSyn 2, but the analog sounds it 

offers are strong and varied. There 

are two multimode filters and many 

effects options. 

This one’s really frightening – 

spectral synthesis sounds can be 

smooth and rich one moment, harsh 

and glassy the next. Within Spectera 

you can glide from one to the other 

during the course of a note – a very 

versatile synthesis method. 

MALSTRÖM BATTERY 

On this page Tera 2 gets into 

Yamaha DX7 territory. The layout’s 

not very similar, but the results can be 

– metallic and percussive sounds, bells 

and gongs or much more abstract 

digital sounds with looping and 

repeating elements are all here. 

EXAMPLES 


◆ Battery 

STEINBERG 

◆ Waldorf Attack 

SWAR SYSTEMS 

◆ SwarPlug – Indian percussion 

SONIC CHARGE 

◆ UTonic 

FXPANSION 

◆ DR008, and BFD acoustic 

drum module 

DR008 

LOOPING/ 

SLICING 

There’s a lot of software on the 

market dedicated to the creation 

of loops and beats from various 

sound sources. Most of these 

have plenty of sound processing 

ability, so could be regarded as 

synthesizers, having something 

sonically in common with the 

wavetable types. 

EXAMPLES 

STEINBERG 

◆ Xphraze 

SPECTRASONICS 

◆ Stylus RMX 

IMAGE LINE 

◆ FL Studio 

BITSHIFT AUDIO 

◆ pHATmatik Pro 

WAVETERA 

Tera 2 offers a wave synth 

reminiscent of the Prophet VS or PPG 

Wave 2. Choose your digital wave 

then edit its Energy Spectrum. Add 

filters and envelope repeats and the 

results can be smooth sweeps or 

abrupt, cyclic noises. There are even 

more Tera options over the page… 

PHATMATIK 

VINTAGE 

Our final form of software 

synthesis is the imitation of 

classic electro-mechanical 

keyboards. However it’s done – 

using any combination of 

additive synthesis, sampling or 

digital signal processing – 

the intention is to specifically 

replace the sounds of named 

(and often very large, 

expensive and unreliable) classic 

keyboard instruments. 

EXAMPLES 

SCARBEE 

◆ WEP – Wurlitzer electric 

piano library 

AAS 

◆ Lounge Lizard – Fender Rhodes 

and other electric pianos 

GFORCE 

◆ M-Tron/Megatron – Streetley 

Electronics Mellotron emulation 

UVI 

◆ Charlie – Hammond B3, Elka 

and other organs 


◆ B4 – Hammond B3 emulation 

E-MAGIC 

◆ EVB3 (Hammond) and EVD6 

(Clavinet) in Logic 6 

LOUNGE LIZARD

Soft synths as substitutes 

IF THERE SEEMS no resemblance between owning a ‘real’ synth and 

a bit of software, then there are plenty of direct software imitations 

of classic keyboard instruments which can make the comparison very 

obvious and easy to make. 

Models that come to mind include the ARP Odyssey, Moog 

Modular System, Yamaha CS80, MiniMoog, OSC OSCar and Korg’s 

forthcoming Wavestation in the Legacy software collection. 

Collective hardware weight and second-hand cost: around half a ton 

and £15,000; collective software cost around £600, with the facility 

to fit them all into one of those little CD storage pouches… 

What’s missing, of course, is the actual experience of twiddling 

those knobs, twisting those pots and ramming home those sliders. 

Part of the appeal of the hardware synth is the pleasure of not only 

playing the keys, but sculpting sound with the top-panel controls. 

And with some classic keyboards, it’s near impossible to replicate the 

feel given to you by their hardware in a software version. 

Take, for example, the MiniMoog, recently hauled into the digital 

age by Arturia. It’s knurled, up-and-down pitch bend wheel gives a 

very different feel to the left-and-right, sprung pitch bender on a 

Anatomy of a soft synth 

VirSyn’s Formantera is an ideal soft synth – challenging without being too formidable 

FORMANTERA 

Definitely the best named soft synth 

around (it’s an island, isn’t it?), the 

Formantera screen in VirSyn Tera 2 is a 

great example of a software synthesizer 

unlimited by hardware constraints. 

Though it only has two oscillator banks, 

it’s a highly versatile sound creator 

PEAKING 

FILTERS 

The secret of formant 

synthesis lies in the filtering 

– here there are three in 

parallel, each with variable 

frequency, resonance, volume 

and LFO modulation source 

MORE FILTERING... 

In addition to the formant filter, 

Formantera has a more conventional 

multimode filter, here set to a 

MiniMoog-style 24dB Lowpass. 

Chaining these two filters allows the 

creation of much more subtle textures 

than a standard analog synth 

Roland Jupiter 8, and as a result your pitch bending technique is 

likely to give different results. 

It’s very easy to play a strong bass line on a software MiniMoog, 

but without the real hardware, it’s very difficult to replicate Jan 

Hammer’s screaming lead guitar imitations. Even the most capable of 

MIDI keyboard controllers doesn’t have the feel of the original 

hardware Moog. 

SOFTWARE SUBSTITUTE 

Of course, there are some hardware synths for which the software 

version seems to lack nothing but the smell. The original OSCar 

abandoned wood in favour of huge rubber end cheeks, with odd 

rubber barriers between each area of controls (which probably 

helped save them from being snapped off). It’s impossible to replicate 

that in software, although admittedly it contributed exactly zero to 

the sound. 

But whether the software experience can ever capture the feel of 

having a huge, patch cable-strewn Moog Modular looming over you 

while you create is another question entirely… 

ADDING 

EFFECTS 

VirSyn’s designs are 

always generous with 

the effects – in 

Formantera you can 

add delay, chorus and 

distortion, and the 

delay times can be 

synchronized if 

required to the 

system MIDI clock 

PLAYABILITY 

Above all, a soft synth has the unlimited 

opportunity to introduce control 

elements which make it more expressive 

to play. In the keyboard controller section 

the glide, velocity and modulation wheel 

response can all be set 

ENVELOPES 

ON SHOW 

Formantera’s simple-seeming 

envelope display conceals a 

multitude of possibilities, as it 

does multiple duty to display the 

many stages of four envelope 

generators and three modulation 

envelope generators. Drag the 

envelope points around and 

you’re in soundshaping heaven 

LFOS TO GO 

Formantera’s LFOs look simple 

– but there are four of them, 

and they can all sync to MIDI 

clock! A huge variety of 

waveshapes including sine, 

ramp up, ramp down, random 

and sample & hold mean that 

you can create all sorts of 

synchronized cyclic patterns 

(don’t even mention Tera 2’s 

sequencer page) 

THE KEYBOARD 

Just to keep things simple, 

Formantera includes a virtual 

keyboard with pitch bend and 

modulation wheels, so you 

can play it without needing 

any MIDI controller attached. 

To pull it all together, Tera 2 

offers a mixer and a 

multichannel step sequencer – 

altogether, a fantastic 

synthesis package 

Under control 

A solution to the lack of hands-on offered by soft synths is 

to get back some hardware control using a MIDI programmer 

Hardware MIDI controllers were 

unjustifiably neglected when their 

main purpose was just to balance 

MIDI channels and pan positions 

or do a bit of editing on your 

knobless synth module, but in 

the era of soft synths they are 

really coming into their own. 

Imagine having a whole panel 

of knobs and/or sliders which 

vary the sound of the software 

Yamaha CS-80V as you play, but 

finding it can also become the 

control panel for an Odyssey, a 

MiniMoog, or a futuristic soft 

synth such as Tera 2 or XPhraze... 

◆ And sl-i-i-de… 

Kenton’s Control Freak offers real-time 

manipulation of a soft synth’s many parameters 

Soft synths, softly sequencing... 

Many software sequencer packages include excellent soft 

synths, or at least beat-slicers and manglers 

OHMFORCE 

SYMPTOHM 

MELOHMAN 

One of the joys of soft synths is that 

they don’t have to conform to the 

limited expectations of hardware 

products. For instance if they want to 

have 100 different modulation 

sources and 100 different 

destinations, they can, without 

worrying about how many switches 

or patch cables are involved in 

construction. Plus, they can have 

nicer coloured knobs... 

Two classic controllers from 

the past are now all but 

unobtainable – the knob-strewn 

MixPad from the digital mixing 

system marketed by Fostex, and 

the MM16 from Kawai, which 

looks like a tiny mixer but in fact 

sends copious amounts of MIDI 

editing data. But there are plenty 

more still on the market, from 

Peavey’s PC1600X to models 

from Roland, Kenton and Philip 

Rees, with three promising new 

models coming up from 

Behringer. Many controller 

keyboards also offer edit controls 

for soft synths too – models 

from Evolution, M-Audio and 

One of the wackier synth designs 

is Symptohm Melohman from 

OhmForce (just check out its Web 

site if you want to know the real 

meaning of the term wacky). Starting 

off with a virtual keyboard with pitch 

bend and mod wheels, it rears up the 

screen to include synchronizable 

LFOs, repeatable envelopes, then a 

crazy four-band filter with eight 

different response shapes for each 

band, variable distortion and 

individual panning. Finally, the four 

filters are mixed together in a 

selection of different combinations – 

there are even delightfully retro VU 

meters on the top. Well worth 

checking out. 

PROPELLERHEADS 

REASON 

Reason remains the zenith of 

achievement for Propellerheads, a 

massively powerful studio system 

which cleverly offers a software-style 

sequencer, then simulates a whole 

rack of patchable sound modules, 

sequencers, drum machines, effects 

◆ The Novation Remote 

25 Audio has copious control options, 

and provides audio In/Out for USB-equipped computers 

Edirol are all widely available, 

although Novation’s ReMote 25 

Audio with its classic synth-like 

layout seems the daddy of them 

all at the moment. 

Korg is taking a novel 

approach with the Legacy 

software line. This includes 

software imitators of the MS-20 

(but made polyphonic), the 

and switching systems to play from it. 

Within Reason 2.5 there are two 

main soft synths. Subtractor is a 

powerful analog style synth with two 

oscillator banks, three envelopes, two 

LFOs, two linkable filters and noise, 

while Malstrom is a ‘graintable 

synthesizer’, mixing and modulating 

two different digital waves and 

offering comb filtering and other 

more unsual sonic options. 

IMAGE LINE 

FL STUDIO 

Image Line launched Fruity Loops a 

while ago (we now have to call it FL 

Studio) and it’s still popular with 

ambient dance types interested in 

PolySix, and the Wavestation, 

plus a Cell routine which allows 

them all to be layered together. 

These sound great under the 

control of any system, but really 

come to life when coupled with 

Korg’s limited edition USB 

controller keyboard. This is a 

two-thirds size imitation of the 

original MS-20, with a velocity 

sensitive mini keyboard and 

patch points using minijack 

cables (rather than the quarter 

rhythmic pattern-based sequencing. 

Its matrix sequencer arranges factory 

loop segments – of bass lines, drum 

breaks, single beats, synth noises and 

more – but its internal synths can 

create new patterns too. 

3 OSC is a simple analog synth, 

each oscillator featuring half a dozen 

different waveforms each with pan 

and volume settings and amplitude 

modulation, while FL Keys is mainly 

inch cables of the original synth). 

The amazing thing is that while 

voltages zip around from one 

patch socket to another, 

connecting them up with cables 

also makes changes to the 

software on screen. 

For players of a certain age, 

the Legacy setup is going to be a 

real orgy of nostalgia, coupled 

with the most up-to-date USB 

control and software-based 

experience imaginable. 

◆ Remember the 

MS-20? Here’s a 

two-thirds scale 

lookalike with which 

to control Korg’s 

software synthesizers 

a piano and electric piano imitator 

with velocity sensitivity and 

overdrive settings. 

CAKEWALK 

PROJECT 5 

Cakewalk describes Project 5 as its 

“soft synth workstation”, though in 

fact it’s a sequencer which can 

synchronize using ReWire with other 

systems such as Cubase and Logic. 

Currently a PC-only package, it can 

handle VST and Direct X plugin 

instruments, but has a whole slew of 

its own synth, sample and percussion 

generators. PSYN for instance is an 

analog modelling synth with dual 

filters, cross modulation, five six-stage 

envelopes and three LFOs, while 

nPulse is a 12-part drum synthezizer.

SOFT SYNTHS IN CUBASE SX 

NEON & CS40 

Neon is the simplest synth within Cubase SX2. Basically 

it imitates the old Roland TB303 Bassline. CS40 is a 

much more powerful eight-voice synth based on 

Yamaha’s early monophonic and duophonic keyboards. 

Soft synths, processor problems 

THE ONLY PROBLEM with soft synths is that they have 

to run on a computer. That can mean all sorts of 

transportation, operating system and processor problems, 

any of which can help make your soft synth experience 

less than entertaining. 

You can go round to a mate’s house with a keyboard, 

or you can busk with one, but what to do if your main 

instrument is now a soft synth? You’re not going to want 

to disassemble a tower PC and cart it along with a 

monitor to wherever you want to play (even LCD 

monitors being pretty bulky). But is a laptop an adequate 

substitute? Laptop processor speeds tend to lag behind 

those of tower systems and even a 1GHz laptop will have 

difficulty running inexpensive sequencer/synth software 

like Synapse Orion Platinum. Some soft synths are much 

more demanding on processor speed than others, so you 

should certainly try to check out any software before you 

buy, look at your sequencer’s processor efficiency display 

and see whether it’s struggling. 

JX16 & USM 

JX16 is the top of the line in Cubase SX synths, again 

an analog imitator. With two sets of oscillators it 

already sounds heavy, but its incredibly authentic 

chorus settings can make it sound rich and smooth too. 

Some artists, such as the London-based Mindlobster 

(www.mindlobster.com), perform very successful live sets 

from an iMac laptop running soft synths in Ableton Live, 

while Kraftwerk is said to run its entire show from Sony 

VAiO laptop PCs these days. But larger computers are 

usually preferable – if you can exceed 2GHz 

processor speeds, do so. 

If you go for a Mac, get at least a dual processor G4 if 

not a G5. Load Cubase SX and you’ll find it offers 24 

slots for VST synths, but you’ll be lucky to simultaneously 

run half a dozen such Novation V-Station, VirSyn Cube 

and some of the built-in soft synths without playback 

starting to slow down. 

FREEZING DEMAND 

This is where the Freeze command in Logic and in 

Cubase SX2 comes in – soft synths with which you’ve 

temporarily finished composing can have their sounds 

printed to audio so they no longer make such demands 

Only in the virtual world 

Some of the most exciting soft synths are those for which there’s no real equivalent in the world of hardware 

VIRSYN CUBE 

www.virsyn.com 

Additive synthesis is an oddity found only on a handful of 

hardware synths. In Cube, though, it’s powerful, weird-sounding, 

but readily controllable. Well worth checking out. 

STEINBERG XPHRAZE 

www.steinberg.net 

This is one of the most powerful soft synths around – it cycles 

through patterns of waveshapes like a Korg Wavestation, but has 

plenty of filtering, effects and other common synth facilities too. 

Steinberg’s Cubase SX comes well equipped with synthesizers, 

starting with a General MIDI module. But there’s more in store 

A1 

Finally, in Cubase SX, there’s a more general purpose 

analog-style synth, the A1, featuring two detuneable 

oscillator banks, two envelopes, chorus and flanger, a 

six-shape LFO and Glide. 

on the processor. You can always unfreeze them if you 

need to edit their tracks. Keeping your hard disk 

defragmented and not running any additional software in 

the background will help, but processor speeds remain a 

problem. While computers are becoming faster, soft 

synths are becoming more and more demanding. 

INCOMPATIBLE SYNTHS 

Beware too of format incompatibility. Most soft synths 

run on either Mac or PC, but some (such as all those 

goodies within Cakewalk Project 5) remain strictly for PC 

only, while others (such as everything within Logic, these 

days) are for Mac only. Then there are all those plugin 

formats – VST, DXi, RTAS, Audio Units and so on. Again 

many soft synths can appear as any of these (the 

Native Instruments lines seem particularly universally 

compatible), but there’s no point lusting after VST plugin 

soft synths if your sequencer can only run Audio Units. 

Software companies often add new version (Novation 

only added the Mac VST version of V-Station some time 

after its launch) so always check on the company’s Web 

site for news, and good luck with your soft synthesizing. 

STEINBERG D’COTA 

www.steinberg.net 

Another unusual synth design, D’Cota has an editable central 

waveform display and applies envelopes, filtering and effects. 

Plenty of unusual textures and hybrid sounds are possible. 

Soft synths on 

the Net 

THE INTERNET IS a sea of information on soft synths – 

understandably all the major producers have Web sites 

which often feature trial versions, downloadable 

updates, free sounds or hints and tips. 

Some sites even offer free, or almost free 

synthesizers – there’s a good market in shareware, for 

which you’re expected to send a contribution only if 

you like and start to use the synth. Some Web sites for 

major manufacturers are listed below, but in the 

meantime, for all those shareware soft synth goodies 

for PC, Mac, UNIX and even Atari machines, you owe 

it to yourself to check out the Shareware Music 

Machine at www.hitsquad.com/smm, along with the 

following useful Web links… 

Access Music Electronics www.access-music.de 

Applied Acoustic Systems www.applied-acoustics.com 

Arturia www.arturia.com 

BitHeadz www.bitheadz.com 

Bitshift Audio www.bitshiftaudio.com 

Cakewalk www.cakewalk.com 

Camel Audio www.camelaudio.com 

discoDSP www.discodsp.com 

FXpansion www.fxpansion.com 

GMedia Music www.gmediamusic.com 

KORG www.korg.co.uk 

LinPlug www.linplug.com 

Native Instruments www.native-instruments.com 

NUSofting http://nusofting.liqihsynth.com 

OhmForce www.ohmforce.com 

reFX www.refx.net 

SampleFusion www.samplefusion.com 

Scarbee www.scarbee.com 

Shin’en Audio www.shinen.com 

STL www.software-technology.com 

Sonic Charge www.soniccharge.com 

Spectrasonics www.spectrasonics.net 

Steinberg UK www.steinberguk.com 

Swar Systems www.swarsystems.com 

UltimateSoundBank www.usbsounds.com 

Unity Audio www.unityaudio.co.uk 

VirSyn www.virsyn.com 

Going Native – five top performers from NI 

Past master of soft synthesis includes Native Instruments, the German company which 

developed some of the most authentic replications in software of classic keyboard designs. In 

the NI range you can find almost any form of synthesis you want – from analog to FM and from 

organs and percussion to physical modelling. More at www.nativeinstruments.com 

Pro-53 

ANALOG DONE TO PERFECTION 

Pro 53 is the latest revision of NI’s Prophet 5 simulation. The 

original Prophet 5, designed by Dave Smith, who went on to 

develop the MIDI standard and more recently the powerful 

little Evolver module, was in spirit a polyphonic MiniMoog, 

boasting five voices each with two oscillators, two envelopes 

and a squelchy 24dB lowpass resonant filter. The NI version 

remains pretty true to the original, retaining its most distinctive 

feature, oscillator cross-modulation. This means that the A-bank 

oscillators are modulated by the B-bank oscillators at fast audio 

frequencies, creating anything from mild overdrive to 

clangorous metallic sounds. Pro 53, like the original Prophet 5, 

remains an analog favourite. 

B4 

TIME TO GET ORGANIZED 

There are many imitations of the Hammond B3 organ, 

including the recently launched Charlie from UIV, and the EVB3 

module supplied with E-Magic Logic 6. But Native Instruments’ 

B4 remains one of the most popular (including with 

afficionados such as Dave Greenfield from The Stranglers) 

thanks to its comprehensive layout, which includes two 

manuals and two sets of drawbars. Pulling out drawbars is a 

primitive form of additive harmonic synthesis – but even more 

important to an accurate Hammond simulation are the mild 

overdrive, subtle keyclick, monophonic “percussion” response, 

simulated Leslie rotary speaker and other typical facilities, all 

simulated within B4. 

FM7 

A YAMAHA CLASSIC REVIVED IN SOFTWARE 

FM synthesis is one of the more complex forms of sound 

creation, and though it’s present in some form within several 

synthesis packages, only Native Instruments appear to have 

licensed the original algorithms which tame the system and 

make it musically controllable. The FM7 software is reminiscent 

of the original DX7 keyboard, or the much more rare and 

powerful DX1. All the FM standards are there – clanging bell 

and percussive metallic sounds, sharp brass and strings, and 

indescribable patterns of digital modulation. But a little 

modernization has been carried out – though it can actually 

load six-operator DX7 sounds, like some of the later Yamaha 

keyboards, FM7 also includes an easily managed analog-style 

resonant filter. 

Reaktor 

A REAL JOURNEY INTO SOUND 

Reaktor 4 is a completely flexible modular synthesis software 

package which allows the user to create new hybrid synthesizer 

system designs. Modules include virtual modelling, sampling, 

sequencing and effects, and for those on a budget there’s a 

stripped-down version, Reaktor Session. Like all Native 

Instruments designs, Reaktor runs on PC or on Mac OXS9/X as 

a VST, DXi, Audio Units or RTAS plugin. 

Battery 

DO YOU LIKE YOUR DRUMS BATTERED? 

Native Instruments Battery is one of the few drum machine 

software packages which have enough sound creation power 

to count as a percussion synthesizer. Its screen display uses a 

matrix of 54 percussion sample “cells”, all with 128-velocity 

layers, pitch and volume envelopes, bit reduction and effects. 

And that’s not all from Native Instruments – Kontakt (£279.99), 

Intakt (£149.99) and Kompakt samplers offer powerful 

synthesis facilities, while Absynth 2 (£289) offers a mix of 

granular sampling, FM, wavetable and analog synthesis. 

PRO-53 

B4 

FM7 

REAKTOR 

BATTERY

Soft Synths - Songwriting Place

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