23Feb In the last year, KVR anounced a new Developer Contest, so I came up with the idea for TranceDrive. Basically it is a subtractive synth like many other, the challenge was to build it completely from scratch using SynthMaker. So, every single part of it was custom made, and optimized to the limits (of SynthMaker). Also I don’t use the standard FX from SynthMaker, instead I made my own versions by using some hints from Harmony Central. After concentrating on all this technical stuff, I forgot to submit the result for the KVR Developer Contest. Shit happens!
So, enough about the story here are the facts:
TranceDrive is a subtractive synthesizer, that was build for Trance music. That means, it has builtin supersaw oscillators for realy fat synths and pads, harsh filters, a trancegate and a hugh reverb effect.
Here is a list of the features that I can remember:
- 3 main oscillators
- each main oscillator supports 6 waveforms: sine, saw, triangle, pulse, saw7, cry
- the waveform “saw7″ is a supersaw with 7 detunable sub oscillators
- the waveform “cry” is an experimental waveform, it is built up with several hardsynced saws
- main oscillator 2 has an additional unisono mode, when it is enabled, the whole oscillator triples its voice and the voices can be detuned from each other
- the oscillators can be chained (osc1 to osc2 and osc2 to osc3) using FM, PM and sync, these 3 options can also be used at the same time
- seperate noise oscillator
- 3 LFOs, each supports 5 waveforms: sine, saw, triangle, pulse, sample and hold
- the LFOs can be synchronized to the host tempo or run free at a specific frequency
- each LFO can control multiple parameters of each OSC, you can even assign several LFOs to the same parameter
- LFO1 can control the filter cutoff
- 2 Envelope generators (Mod & Amp) with variable shapes
- the modulation envelope can control multiple parameters of each OSC, and it can also be mixed with the LFOs. Additionally it can control the filter cutoff
- 3 types of filters: lowpass, highpass and bandpass
- each filter type can be set to 6dB, 12dB, 18dB and 24dB steepness
- 9 effects, and they can be used at the same time: gater, chorus, phaser, flanger, distortion, delay, reverb, equalizer, stereo-effects
- each of the unused parts of the synth is shown with less contrast, so you can focus on the active parts
- the output of the synth can be clipped to avoid overdriving noise. The clipping is done with a soft limiter, that can be used to compress the whole synth sound (just enable clip and turn up the main volume)
Of course you’ll also find the standard features that every synth supports, but I don’t want to list them here, that’s just too much
Right now there are only a few presets, I’m not good in programming this and I don’t want to waste my time with stuff, that every musician can do. Hopefully someone else makes a nice bank and I can include it in an update, but right now I haven’t this person
Downloads
TranceDrive-VSTi
TranceDrive Executable
The synth is Freeware, you can use it as it is. If you like it, please show me your appreciation for my work by making presets.
This entry was written on
Tuesday, February 23rd, 2010 at 5:31 am and is filed under SynthMaker, VST-Plugins.
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11Dec The LoopDrive plugin received a major update. The version 4 of it was posted a long time ago in the SynthMaker forum, now this is the official release. I had to wait for a stable version of SynthMaker so that’s why there was a big delay.
There are many new features and most of the old parts are now optimized, here are some of the most significand changes:

- Nearly every part of the audio processing has been optimized in assembler
- compared with version3, this version is up to 3 times faster
- added a pattern manager, that allows up to 8 different sequencer and LFO patterns that are switchable through midi keys
- load & save, copy & paste parts or whole patterns. There are also some default patterns.

- the wave LFO has been replaced by a step/matrix LFO, so you can set volume, balance, filter cutoff, filter resonance, overdrive amount and grain pitch for every single step
- you can scale the modulation amount for a whole pattern of the step LFO with a single knob
- each mouse move in the step sequencer now highlights the used wave slice
- you have the option to mute a complete step with the right mouse button in the step sequencer
- updated the FX Routing GUI to make it easier to understand

- added interpolation option to the slicer, so you can avoid aliasing effects when you need it
- fixed a problem with the mix knob of the distortion section
There are also some more changes that I propably forgot, but try it yourself. If you like it, leave a comment.
Downloads: VSTi, Executable, SynthMaker schematic
Have fun!
This entry was written on
Friday, December 11th, 2009 at 2:54 am and is filed under SynthMaker, VST-Plugins.
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16Jul I’ve fixed a minor bug in the LoopDrive VST plugin. If you load the plugin with its initial loop, there was a error message saying that it couldn’t find the wave file. I removed this message, and if you now load in wrong wave files it doesn’t use the windows message box for showing the error message, because in some hosts it causes the audio drivers to stop working. The fixed LoopDrive3 VST-Plugin can be found here. And if want to play with its source, here is the SynthMaker schematic.
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Wednesday, July 16th, 2008 at 10:39 am and is filed under SynthMaker, VST-Plugins.
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15Jun Here is the first plugin in this blog. I’ve made it long time ago, and as image-line asked me to update it, so they can include it in their new FruityLoops Studio8, I did it. To give users a chance to play with it without having to buy FL-Studio, I decided to publish it here. What it is: It’s a Loop slicer and rearranger with some weird FX. So you load in a drum loop wave, set the tempo, and LoopDrive slices it into beats. Now you can use the build-in sequencer grid to rearrange the beats. There is also a “reverse sequencer” which enables you to play selected beats backwards. After rearranging the loop you can apply a filter, bit crusher, distortion, overdrive and even a grain FX. There’s also the possibility to set the FX order, which gives you more control over the FX.
There are also some other things that I haven’t mentioned here, so try it yourself. The LoopDrive3 VST-Plugin can be found here. And if want to play with its source, here is the SynthMaker schematic. Have fun!
This entry was written on
Sunday, June 15th, 2008 at 5:40 pm and is filed under SynthMaker, VST-Plugins.
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