Ableton Forum

i have a feeling i will be using ableton's instruments less frequently from now on.

it IS insane isn't it!

it sounds so good i have only been playing it for a few hours....but i can already say it is the "purchase of the year" for me.

Is it as good as the flanger on a DJM800?

timothyallan wrote:Is it as good as the flanger on a DJM800?

i feel, that is like comparing apples to oranges.

absynth is good
i love the sounds

I want one

Absynth is a complex synth...the only thing i wanted is to be able to automate all the parameters like others synths...You have to do all the work of mappings inside absynth and only you can automate the macros and a few parameters more in live....

yeah i have only scratched the surface of what absynth can do....i mean, it doesn't seem to outlandishly crazy different functionality wise from any other synth, you have oscillators, and lfo's and envelopes and effects. etc. etc.... not pretending to be an expert at sythesis by any means or that i have a full grasp of absynth after only a day of messing with it, but it seems once you get the hang of those things, you can pretty much apply it to any synth.
as far as automating parameters, i guess i am not too interested in that..if you think about it, if you had a moog from the 70's (not that absynth compares) you wouldn't be able to automate its parameters ....i just wanted something that really sounded bada$$ compared to LIVE's instruments and didn't break the bank...absynth was the perfect storm.

I am the one guy who didn't really like the factory sounds. They are too generic, too 'late 90s' for me. After flipping through its interface many years ago I never really understood its appeal. Why on earth were people proclaiming this synth so powerful?

Anyway, I got it with Komplete and once I started to program it myself I started to like it a lot more. The simple fact of being able to add an envelope (with its own LFO) for every single parameter is pretty incredible. Many of its features are deeply buried, probably in order to prevent scaring the preset-flippers (who are of course the main market).

It's an impressive synth, although the late 90's 'bio-tech' style interface is still pretty damn stupid. it looks about 15 years out of date to me. cramped and over-styled, with little regard to usability. However, that's not unusual in softsynth design, thankfully a receding trend though.

eddiex wrote:but it seems once you get the hang of those things, you can pretty much apply it to any synth.

That is generally true, but in Absynth's case there are a few important exceptions, which if misunderstood can really make programming it confusing. Most notably: the value for "cutoff frequency" of any filter module does not represent "current value" or "base value" (like with most all synths) but rather it means "maximal value possible." So regarding the filter + envelope relationship, the "top" of the envelope = maximal value = value you've currently set the cutoff to, and the "bottom" of the envelope always = zero, and logically the span of the envelope covers this value range, from zero to maximal. This is functionally very different than the cutoff knob / filter + envelope relationship on the vast majority of other synths, in which the envelope always causes a value change -starting- from the current cutoff value via use of an "envelope amount > filter" control, which you'll note Absynth lacks, because its method doesn't require one.

Actually, this approach to modulation is pretty much consistent across all of Absynth's controls (and envelope modulation specifically is like 70% of Absynth's sound design functionality), not just filter cutoff, so understanding that relationship is key to understanding the synth. It certainly confused the fuck out of me at first!

Nothing else sounds quite like Absynth. Have fun.

-M

SIDE NOTE: @mholloway.....portland or. represent! you play around town quite a bit right? i live near the hawthorne theater...i remember seeing "dead when i found her" on the marquis a couple of times....or once? its a pretty clever memorable name!!

I love absynth's sounds and the fact that it is nice and light on cpu. I really am not a fan of the layout and design though. Pages upon pages of stuff buried under menus accessible from some small button somewhere. And I can't stand synths that don't directly expose parameters to automation. This business of going to macros first I don't like. I used to be really impressed by synths with multi-stage envelopes and all this modulation power like absynth, but these days I don't care about that. Realistically I need a few ADSR envelopes and a few lfo's. The rest I'd much rather sequence with automation. If a sound has a complex envelope applied (you know the kind where you press a single note and a whole song happens), it's no good if you ask me because that's what happens every time you play a note! You can't change it for different parts of the song. Well you can automate envelope amounts and change to a different envelope but that'll still just give a few options. No thanks, I'd much rather have a complex parameter sequence written in the host automation so that it's unique to a clip or section of the song, not the entire patch. I don't even touch multi-stage envelopes in synth at all anymore. I'm much more concerned with a powerful oscillator section that allows for many automatable parameters and simple envelope control. 99% of what you'd need for a patch that you actually want to play on the keyboard is in an ADSR or lfo. For complex evolving one-finger type patches automation is so much more useful. Of course it helps if the host can do proper bezier curves...

The thing I really love about Absynth 5 though which is quite unique is the randomizer. You can actually select a type of sound from the tagged presets and have the current sound morph towards the presets of that style. So it's like a directed randomization towards a particular feel. And it works amazingly, so many useful sounds come out of it, you feel like it's cheating.

good taste eddiex !
my all time favorite sw synth !!

you're in for a treat !
does samples..
does surround..
waveshaping...
wave-morphing...
preset "mutator"..
amazing and unique fx section...
a crazy envelope editor..(learn using it and you're king)
vast modulation options(including an envelope follower!)

it's truely a beast to master and there's a learning curve..
but it's the most satisfying of all soft-synths out there when you do imho..
NI made a good investment back when they bought it..
and I'm thankful to them for keeping supporting it's development

the GUI ..suffers from the instrument being so vast.. (like all NI stuff)
there simply isn't any other choice other than to slice it into sections..
it would be a dream if NI comes out with a dedicated 'Absynth controller' a la 'Maschine'..
I would snatch that !

and it's very forgiving on cpu-wise...
again..something common that I love about NI plugins..
their coding is "tight"..

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3VTEUv-ands