Dave Smith Instruments SYNTHESIZERS

> The Evolver does seem like a slightly odd replacement for an
> Ion though, since they are very different synths, e.g., no keyboard,
> no real polyphony, etc.

i agree, it is kind of an odd change of direction.
as much as i like the sound of ion, its high likelihood of malfunction
really worries me.

so when i went to the store, i was looking around to see if anything
else had a sound that inspired me. as soon as the sales guy plugged in
the evolver i knew i had found one.

i dont require a keyboard so thats not much of a concern, more knobs
would have been nice though.

polyphony and a band pass filter are two things i had in mind though,
neither of which the evolver can provide. a little bit of multitimbrality
would have been nice too.

but on the other hand, the evolver excells in my three biggest
requirements.

1. exceptionally good analog sound
2. flexible programming options
3. lots of sonic variety

so i can still get myself some polyphonic band passed fun, i think
i will also buy gmedia's impOSCar plugin. that is one impressive
sounding softsynth.

> but sure enough, my Ion is currently out for repair (gotta say though,
> it's one of those synths that sounds nice enough that I'll put up with
> a bit of aggravation)!

a few years back i endured a lot of agravation over an unreliable synth
that i loved the sound of. im glad i put up with it since i still love the
synth
and its chronic troubles were eventually properly fixed. however, i just
dont know if i want to volunteer for an experiance like that again.

but as soon as alesis solves the ion's problems, i'll be back in the store
with cash in hand.

-ugo

--- In DSI_Evolver@yahoogroups.com, "Ugo" <ugo@i...> wrote:

> a few years back i endured a lot of agravation over an unreliable 
synth
> that i loved the sound of. im glad i put up with it since i still 
love the
> synth
> and its chronic troubles were eventually properly fixed. however, i 
just
> dont know if i want to volunteer for an experiance like that again.

Can we say Fizmo????  ;)

Sayer

On Thu, Jan 15, 2004 at 01:16:56AM -0500, Ugo wrote:
> so when i went to the store, i was looking around to see if anything
> else had a sound that inspired me. as soon as the sales guy plugged in
> the evolver i knew i had found one.

Yeah, the Evolver definitely has that property ... despite no keyboard, it's
damn hard to keep your hands off it!

One thing that's cool about it, is the many voice elements that are simply
_different_ than other synths (notably the feedback/delay-related ones, but
also odd things like filter-split), while still being very musical.

It also definitely lives up to its name -- with most synths I'm usually a
bit lazy about programming dynamic elements (lfos, extra envs, mod
routings, etc), but with the Evolver it's different, I end up using tons of
that sort of thing; maybe it's the lack of a keyboard...

[Well also, oddly enough, it's that I _love_ the Evolver's programming
interface -- having _all_ the parameters laid out explicitly, right before
my eyes in that little space with fairly quick and easy access seems to
make it easier to actually _use_ them all.  In fact I think I like it even
better than traditional knob-per-function synths like old analogues or nord
leads or whatever!  My one wish is that DS had used softer buttons; don't
like those clicks.]

> but as soon as alesis solves the ion's problems, i'll be back in the store
> with cash in hand.

FWIW, the reports from NAMM are that Alesis say they have found the problem
(a batch of out-of-spec pots from their supplier) and fixed it in new units.
They are also trying to aggressively deal with any existing bad ones.

In my case the distributor is going to give me a brand new ion from a new
production run, which I should get this weekend; we'll see how that goes ...
:-|

-Miles
-- 
Occam's razor split hairs so well, I bought the whole argument!

Well, I'm just getting back into music. I had a long period of unemployment
where I had to sell off virtally everything, and I'm finally getting back
into it.

Well, I had a Virus C, and it came down with MIDI update disease, so I went
out and picked up an Evolver on Monday.

I had some experience with a VS and Pro 1, so, I expected it to be nice, but
right now I am quite in love with the thing. Hah - then I went to try one of
the Mac Sounddiver adaptations, and I had to re-authorize from the cd, now
where is that cd....damn, well, there are a few more steps to getting
everything running again, but this synth is FUN.

Gene

> One thing that's cool about it, is the many voice elements
> that are simply_different_ than other synths (notably the
> feedback/delay-related ones, 

if you dont mind, could you give me a description of what exactly
the unique delay options are like? i've read mention of them in
reviews but never anything that actually told me all that much
about them.

> FWIW, the reports from NAMM are that Alesis say they
> have found the problem (a batch of out-of-spec pots from
> their supplier) and fixed it in new units. They are also trying
> to aggressively deal with any existing bad ones.

ah very good to hear that. i'll have to keep an ear out for how
the current production run stands up. i still would love to have
one.

> I think it was (list) $1300 -- 

thats not too bad...i was expecting worse.
though for the time being, i'll probably have my hands full with
programming 1 evolver, let alone 4. :-)

-ugo

hi ugo,

good to see you interested in an evo. you should buy one ! it is so 
much fun to programm the evolver right from the front matrix ( i 
don´t need a editor for it ). Compared to other synth programming 
this thing is very easy but at the same time it can be very deep. 
It´s not a k5000 but it can make unbelievable sound fx and all that 
analog stuff. 
The delay section is so unique cuz of the modulation possibilities. 
You have 4 lfo´s and numerous other modulation source that can 
modulate time, amplitude, feedback of each of the 3 delays...and 
sometimes odd pitch changes comes up. very nice - these are the 
basics to programm flanger,chorus and others...
well there are so much things - you can nearly modulate everything 
with everything... my only wish for the evo would be 
unlimited "modulators"

btw: i think your white noise additive patches are the best ones ;)

-phono





--- In DSI_Evolver@yahoogroups.com, "Ugo" <ugo@i...> wrote:

> > One thing that's cool about it, is the many voice elements
> > that are simply_different_ than other synths (notably the
> > feedback/delay-related ones, 
> 
> if you dont mind, could you give me a description of what exactly
> the unique delay options are like? i've read mention of them in
> reviews but never anything that actually told me all that much
> about them.
> 
> > FWIW, the reports from NAMM are that Alesis say they
> > have found the problem (a batch of out-of-spec pots from
> > their supplier) and fixed it in new units. They are also trying
> > to aggressively deal with any existing bad ones.
> 
> ah very good to hear that. i'll have to keep an ear out for how
> the current production run stands up. i still would love to have
> one.
> 
> > I think it was (list) $1300 -- 
> 
> thats not too bad...i was expecting worse.
> though for the time being, i'll probably have my hands full with
> programming 1 evolver, let alone 4. :-)
> 
> -ugo

"phonophobie" <sidstation@...> writes:
> The delay section is so unique cuz of the modulation possibilities. 
> You have 4 lfo´s and numerous other modulation source that can 
> modulate time, amplitude, feedback of each of the 3 delays...and 
> sometimes odd pitch changes comes up. very nice - these are the 
> basics to programm flanger,chorus and others...

And remember, there's really _another_ delay in the form of the
feedback section, which goes back through the filter!

Also, all the delay times are (1) synchronizable to the beat (either
fractions or multiples thereof), and (2) with shorter delay times, are
`tuned' to note pitches: i.e., a delay time with a frequency (1/time)
close to a musical note will actually be _exactly_ on the note, so you
can reinforce certain frequencies, etc.

-miles
-- 
`The suburb is an obsolete and contradictory form of human settlement'

welcome back to blip blop land:)
peter stockholm sweden

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hi,

> good to see you interested in an evo. you should buy one ! 

already have! the shop just told me it has come in but they
are waiting for the rest of my order to come in before they
ship it to me.

so...im going to drive up the shop on saturday and pick up my
evolver, and let them ship the software whenever it comes in.

> very nice - these are the basics to programm flanger,chorus
> and others...

so the delay can be made fast enough to create a flanger or
chorus? wow...that is awesome. 

> btw: i think your white noise additive patches are the best ones ;)

thanks! :-)
eventually (hopefully in the not too distant future) i'll be giving
dave a full bank.

-ugo

> And remember, there's really _another_ delay in the
> form of the feedback section, which goes back through
> the filter!

interesting.

>(2) with shorter delay times, are `tuned' to note pitches: i.e.,
> a delay time with a frequency (1/time) close to a musical note
> will actually be _exactly_ on the note, so you can reinforce
> certain frequencies, etc.

can you set up a tuned delay to track the keyboard so the pitch
generated by the delay properly follows the associated keyboard
notes?

this would be fantastic if it could since at that point all you'd need
is to feed the delay some noise and you'd have a baisc physcially
modeled string.
 
-ugo

great to hear you already have one. looking forward to your patchbank
;) evolver is such addictive - i created my first patchbank just in a
week. cu
-phono

--- In DSI_Evolver@yahoogroups.com, "Ugo" <ugo@i...> wrote:

> hi,
> 
> > good to see you interested in an evo. you should buy one ! 
> 
> already have! the shop just told me it has come in but they
> are waiting for the rest of my order to come in before they
> ship it to me.
> 
> so...im going to drive up the shop on saturday and pick up my
> evolver, and let them ship the software whenever it comes in.
> 
> > very nice - these are the basics to programm flanger,chorus
> > and others...
> 
> so the delay can be made fast enough to create a flanger or
> chorus? wow...that is awesome. 
> 
> > btw: i think your white noise additive patches are the best ones ;)
> 
> thanks! :-)
> eventually (hopefully in the not too distant future) i'll be giving
> dave a full bank.
> 
> -ugo

"Ugo" <ugo@...> writes:
> >(2) with shorter delay times, are `tuned' to note pitches: i.e.,
> > a delay time with a frequency (1/time) close to a musical note
> > will actually be _exactly_ on the note, so you can reinforce
> > certain frequencies, etc.
> 
> can you set up a tuned delay to track the keyboard so the pitch
> generated by the delay properly follows the associated keyboard
> notes?

I've never tried it, but I suspect so; certainly you can make the delay
track the keyboard, and the delay times in the audio range are `tuned' to
notes, but I don't know how those two features interact.  Dave Smith is
really keen on this sort of thing (I seem to recall that he actually
suggested using the delay lines to do various physical-modeling type stuff).

You should really go to the DSI website and download the manual -- it
includes a picture of the voice signal flow, plus of course details on all
the parameters/modulation-routings/etc.  It's fairly short, but
well-written.

-Miles
-- 
Somebody has to do something, and it's just incredibly pathetic that it
has to be us.  -- Jerry Garcia

> great to hear you already have one.

i cant wait to get my hands on it.  i'd go to the shop tomorrow
to pick it up but i wont get out of work in time so im going to
have to wait until saturday.

> looking forward to your patchbank ;)

hopefully it wont be too much longer before i finish my WN additve
bank for dave. (wallin, not smith. :-))

> evolver is such addictive - i created my first patchbank just in a
> week. 

im really looking forward to working with it. after just a few minutes
tweeking, the salesman had some absolutely fantastic sounds coming
out of the evolver...anything from beautiful to evil.

im even more excited now that it looks like i'll be able to keytrack
pitched delays. im really into that sort of thing now. one of the next
synthedit softsynths i'll be releasing is built around several pitched
delays.

-ugo

ah.. i remember you at k5000 group, talking about your synthedits. do 
you have a website now ? i would like to check them out. i got a 
faster pc now and the yamaha 01x so softsynth becomes more 
interesting for me. wna is a nice one - i really like to build up my 
additive waves and fm them - are you intoo the development of it ?
however those other additives around are great too. vertigo is so 
unbelievable at resynthesis ! and it will be updated soon.

about the pitched to keys delays - i suggest you have to experiment 
yourself. you can assign note-numbers to delay time .. but the result 
will not be always the same, cuz feedback is needed to hear any sound 
and this means chaos. when you play fast sequences the feedback is 
still somewhere and will interact with notes played before...
also it depends on other things like filter cutoff, envelopes etc... 
but you can use the feedback section for this kind of sounds too.. 
and with a little distortion at input and outputs you will get 
monstersounds.

have fun
[phono]




--- In DSI_Evolver@yahoogroups.com, "Ugo" <ugo@i...> wrote:
> 
> > great to hear you already have one.
> 
> i cant wait to get my hands on it.  i'd go to the shop tomorrow
> to pick it up but i wont get out of work in time so im going to
> have to wait until saturday.
> 
> > looking forward to your patchbank ;)
> 
> hopefully it wont be too much longer before i finish my WN additve
> bank for dave. (wallin, not smith. :-))
> 
> > evolver is such addictive - i created my first patchbank just in a
> > week. 
> 
> im really looking forward to working with it. after just a few 
minutes
> tweeking, the salesman had some absolutely fantastic sounds coming
> out of the evolver...anything from beautiful to evil.
> 
> im even more excited now that it looks like i'll be able to keytrack
> pitched delays. im really into that sort of thing now. one of the 
next
> synthedit softsynths i'll be releasing is built around several 
pitched

> delays.
> 
> -ugo

hey people, lurker ksine here. i too am a recent owner(finally) of the evolver.
 
 i am loving this thing to death(hopefully not!).
messing with it reminds of messing with my good old s.c.i.  pro-1 in many ways somehow...other than just the engine...maybe the routability and pleasant surprises around every corner.
 
i do have a (dumb?) question...  
 
is there a way to bring a sequences pattern back to zero so as to start from scratch (without having to turn them all to zero manually). if it's in the manual, then kick me, but i can't find anything re it. i suppose DSI figures you're just gonna overwrite what's there, but i'd rather just 'erase' it so it doesn't influence what i'm doing. same reason i hate scouring the manual hehe. i'm sure the Evolver Editor does it, but i'm trying to stay off computers during the creative stage.
 
thanks for any responses...
 
jeremy

 

 

 


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--- In DSI_Evolver@yahoogroups.com, "Ugo" <ugo@i...> wrote:
> polyphony and a band pass filter are two things i had in mind though,
> neither of which the evolver can provide. a little bit of multitimbrality
> would have been nice too.

The Evolver does basically have a bandpass filter since the analog lpf 
and the digital hpf are run in series.  By modulating the cutoff of both 
filters together (with say the sequencer) you can control cutoff 
frequency and the bandwidth of the resulting bandpass filter.

Also the Evolver is arguably "multitimbral."  You can't play more than 
one patch at a time but within a single Evolver patch you can get some 
pretty complex stuff happening like a synth lead on top of a drum 
machine rhythm or a lead line and a bass line that loop at different 
points.  So in that sense I think it provides a little bit of multitimbrality.

hi,

> do you have a website now ? i would like to check them out.

a propper site is still in the works but i have them posted on
temporary pages. you can download them here:

motion 2.5 (2 oscillator polysynth with loads of modulation options.)
http://www.cortidesign.com/motion

rez 1.0 (simple 1 oscillator monosynth with a highly resonant lp filter.)
http://www.cortidesign.com/rez 

flash is required to view the pages. if you dont have it, let me know
and i'll give you the direct links to the files.

> wna is a nice one - i really like to build up my additive waves
> and fm them - are you intoo the development of it ?

no i was not part of the development. (i think that was all dave.)
i was just on the beta test team and doing some patches for it.
my favorite parts of wna are the bizarre results from wav importing,
being able to draw the spectrum, and its unabashedly digital nature.

> however those other additives around are great too. vertigo is so 
> unbelievable at resynthesis ! and it will be updated soon.

yeah, i cant wait. im a big fan of vertigo. its a brilliant synth
and, imho, the resynthesis really is outrageously good
compared to the competition.

if john comes through with what he mentioned a bit back on kvr,
the next version of vertigo will not only contain the new spectral
engine (and all the goodies that go along with it) but also loop
start/stop points that we'll be able to modulate. that will 
essentially turn vertigo into an addtive, resynthesizing,
transwave-esque, monster.

im looking forward to trying cube 1.5 when the demo is released.
thats going to combine 512 partial resynthesis and 4 way morphing
that could be great.

> about the pitched to keys delays - i suggest you have to experiment 
> yourself. you can assign note-numbers to delay time .. but the result 
> will not be always the same, cuz feedback is needed to hear any
> sound and this means chaos. 

sounds like fun. :-)

-ugo

> By modulating the cutoff of both filters together (with say
> the sequencer) you can control cutoff frequency and the
> bandwidth of the resulting bandpass filter.

excellent point. i didnt think of that. cool.

-ugo