Sounds and Presets: Great Patches That Sell Synths
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More great sounds and presets this week, including some for the latest Arturia plugin and a bank that sold me a synth!
There’s an unwritten rule when voicing a new synth. The very first patch when you turn a synth on is the one that sells it. KORG’s M1 had ‘Universe’ and the Prophecy had ‘Prophetic Steps’. Roland’s D-50 had ‘Fantasia’ and the JD-800 had ‘Millenium’. Heck, even Arturia’s PolyBrute 12 opening patch, cleverly called ‘The Opening’, is a real sonic statement of intent.
The theory was that when a customer walked into a music store (remember those?), they would turn a synth on or select Bank A Patch 1 and play. This patch needed to grab them and draw them in. It’s the same as the first sentence in a book. That initial interaction has to sell the synth. Just ask Alesis how important that is.
On their ill-fated Fusion workstation, the first 10 patches were pianos. And the very first one wasn’t even that great. Amongst a raft of other things, when the user played it for the first time, all they got was a bog standard piano. It was downhill from there…
Essence Flight Presets for Kodamo EssenceFM
Those who know me know of my penchant for FM synths. So when a new French company sprang up back in 2019 with a modern take on the method, my interest was immediately piqued. The Kodamo EssenceFM sought to redefine how users interacted with an FM synth, making it more approachable and rewarding.
I initially held back on buying one because it was both new and a little pricey. I love to support new developers, but like most of us, I don’t want to pour money down the drain. I wanted to see how well the company did and what trusted users thought. Within a year, Kodamo gave us the Mk.II. This told me the company was invested and listened to its customers.
What tipped me over the edge, however, was a demo video they released shortly after launching the Mk.II. This video had a beautiful soundtrack which was 100% EssenceFM and used visuals captured from the cockpit of an airliner. I couldn’t stop listening to it and that was it. My order went in. Here’s the video…
As soon as my unit arrived, I wanted to find these patches. Rather handily, the patch details and some information was displayed on screen. However, I couldn’t find them in the unit. I emailed Kodamo and within days, they had made those patches available on their website. Fantastic service!
So here they are. Let me know in the comments below whether this video convinced you to buy an EssenceFM. If not, what presets finally made you reach for your wallet on a particular synth?
Phantasm Presets for MiniBrute V by LFO.store
Arturia’a latest plugin hasn’t been with us much more than a week and we’ve already got a great set of presets for it! Cloning their own hardware synth, the much loved MiniBrute, Arturia continue to celebrate 25 years in the game with a superb recreation that goes WAY beyond the ‘OG’, as the kids say!
LFO.store didn’t hang about getting this superb set of sounds out there. Phantasm contains 40 patches that will satisfy most styles and genres. Making use of all the original MiniBrute features, and the expanded options too, Phantasm has something for everyone.
MiniBrute V takes the original single Brute oscillator hardware with its simple, straightforward sound-shaping architecture and makes it 8-voice polyphonic! It retains everything from the original and makes it better. People questioned their choice of the Steiner-Parker filter in the original but this and subsequent Brute-based synthesizers from Arturia justify their choice.
Phantasm is a highly useable bank of patches for this great soft synth and only costs a mere €15! I look forward to more great MiniBrute V patches.
Parsec by Limbic Bits for Twisted Electrons MEGAfm
Back to FM! The Twisted Electronics MEGAfm was originally based on a pair of Yamaha YM2612 FM chips, the same ones used in the SEGA Mega Drive/Genesis console. These 4-Operator chips deliver 8 algorithms with which to build your sounds. The MEGAfm delivers a very user friendly interface to coax those sounds out.
In August of 2022, Twisted Electrons released the Mk.II. The key difference between it and its predecessor is the use of the YM3438 chips found in the Mega Drive/Genesis 2. The key difference with these chips is better DACs. Best of all, Twisted Electronics put these chips on sockets, meaning you can swap them out with the gnarlier YM2612s if you wish.
Parsec is Limbic Bits second bank of presets for the MEGAfm. Making use of the new features in the latest firmware, such as loopable envelopes, Parsec features superb pads and textures rich in animated motion. And there’s a wide range of preset styles to suit most tastes too.
All in all, there are 100 new sounds, all for just a mere £25. However, if you buy Parsec and their previous bank, entitled Magnitude, you can save 20% on the combined price and get them for £39.20! Limbic Bits also provide detailed installation instructions on their website.
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