Ableton Forum

Automat

1.Concrete FX - Kubik 2.0 ( I did the Ambient Textures Soundbank BTW )

Reason 3 - Custom Combinators using Maelstrom's / Subs and NNXT (custom patches in general) with a fair whack of patching.

3.Reaktor 5 - Particularly Carbon and Carbon II + a Few Other Ensembles that are a must have for me sound wise.

4.Cakewalk Dimension Pro - absolutely killer pad / string / bass / lead jack of all trades for me.

Would be my 4 major tools .

Also rans are Ugo's Motion/Texture/StringTheory and Makjen's rather awesome Chimera .

this is an obvious one, but as no one has mentioned it...
have you tried the backwards button much?
everything sounds better slowed down & backwards...

one lateral & related approach is to record/improv with the specific
conscious thought that what you are playing is going to be reversed...
for example use some gaffer tape & stick down the sustain pedal on
a piano (as in a real one, not a plug in) pick a key & slowly layer
harmomic elements in to the sustain drone, always with the thought
that they will end as you start them..... & vice versa
ie adsr reversed by your performance in real time.

How you let a sound decay as you play, is how it will attack
try the same with effected (forwards & backwards) guitar
many interesting sounds sometimes don't need any plugins
they are there already, perfectly formed, waiting to be found

KORG WAVESTATION!

Any group of soft notes -> Live Reverb ->freeze button.

oh, and Operator!

I use my JP-8000 for pads, and for pads alone.

I also recommend Crystal and would add that Wusikstation gives a lot of hygenic pad for the buckeroo.

Absynth 3
Reaktor 5 (photone, carbon 2, metaphysical, kaleidon, etc.-too many ensembles to mention)
RP Blue
Crystal
Logic ES2
Sculpture
fm7

...I like the pads out of them guys.

I specifically do not like pads out of operator. But I have a general love-hate relationship with it. Play with it lots, love the interface, but usually end up going with something else. Just taste I guess.

grb

And another Reaktor plug here. I use 5; it literally has anything you'd ever want in it. I use the Steampipe 2 alot since I gravitate to more jazzy, lo-fi kinda sounds. But the Carbon I & II modules, the Equinoxe module, Gaugear and others are just brilliant. And when those fail to inspire you, you can build your own synth or d/l premade ones from the user library.

Reason 3 also isn't without its merits once you Rewire it. I just think that Reason's standalone sound engine is so crappy though that you have to Rewire it or you're not going to get a good sound.

I've been getting some surprisingly good atmospheres and pads out of Chimera; http://www.majken.se/vst/index.asp?Page=chimera.asp

The one I keep coming back to, for almost everything (especially pads), is Big Tick's Rhino. http://bigtick.pastnotecut.org/index.ph ... 40&lang=EN

subbasshead wrote:this is an obvious one, but as no one has mentioned it...
have you tried the backwards button much?
everything sounds better slowed down & backwards...

one lateral & related approach is to record/improv with the specific
conscious thought that what you are playing is going to be reversed...
for example use some gaffer tape & stick down the sustain pedal on
a piano (as in a real one, not a plug in) pick a key & slowly layer
harmomic elements in to the sustain drone, always with the thought
that they will end as you start them..... & vice versa
ie adsr reversed by your performance in real time.

How you let a sound decay as you play, is how it will attack
try the same with effected (forwards & backwards) guitar
many interesting sounds sometimes don't need any plugins
they are there already, perfectly formed, waiting to be found

really nice suggestions - like it

marky wrote:I use my JP-8000 for pads, and for pads alone.

ditto!

Even my Andromeda doesn't hold a candle to the light of the glimmer in the eye of the JP's pads.

Fizmo

suburbanbather wrote:www.pandorapads.com/

another vote for Crystal, yes a CPU hog, but you can tweak the hell out of it.

http://www.greenoak.com