Modern D50 sounds with PG1000?

KalinsFarm · Post by **KalinsFarm** » Wed Jan 09, 2008 12:44 am

I always thought the D50 had a nice sound but now everything sounds sooooooo 80's cliche. I'm guessing most were presets. Has anyone used a PG1000 and created sounds something more modern? No chffs and pffs please.

calyx93 · Post by **calyx93** » Wed Jan 09, 2008 9:50 pm

Just don't use the PCM samples/partials - the rest of the synth is pretty much typical subtractive/VA territory - easy peasy and able to create fairly beefy typical synth patches. If you do use the samples, try using them creatively with ring mod or as slight background elements that give the synthesized waves a bit of dirt.

gcoudert · Post by **gcoudert** » Wed Jan 09, 2008 10:13 pm

calyx93 wrote:Just don't use the PCM samples.

Agreed. Besides, you can't filter the PCM samples on the D50/D550. The synth engine is quite powerful and with 4 partials to play with, it can sound very big. And unlike most digital synths, the D50 allows you to modulate the PW with an envelope or LFO.

Gilles

Mr. Black · Post by **Mr. Black** » Wed Jan 09, 2008 11:52 pm

Just stick with Saw/pusle,tri and such you can't go wrong, or ever sound dated,I notice you use Atmosphere,you can create pads and textures that are similar in style, add ring modulation to the mix and you can come up with some CS-80 Blade Runner kind of effects.D50 can also do Jp8000 super saw,not really my thing but very capable.

KalinsFarm · Post by **KalinsFarm** » Thu Jan 10, 2008 4:56 am

Mr. Black wrote:Just stick with Saw/pusle,tri and such you can't go wrong, or ever sound dated,I notice you use Atmosphere,you can create pads and textures that are similar in style, add ring modulation to the mix and you can come up with some CS-80 Blade Runner kind of effects.D50 can also do Jp8000 super saw,not really my thing but very capable.

Thanks guys. I've been somewhat disappointed in the ubiquitous sounds of Atmosphere which led me to asking the D50 question...looking for a few new and unique sounds with something old.

MrFrodo · Post by **MrFrodo** » Thu Jan 10, 2008 6:27 am

Okay, here's a real weird question, slightly off topic.

Where do you think the D50 would be classified on the market if it had been brought out today? Does its LAS engine fall under sample-playback, modeling, waveshaping, ROMpler? It seems to predate all those designations.

What do you think?

Mr. Black · Post by **Mr. Black** » Thu Jan 10, 2008 8:02 am

Well this has been talked about before on this forum before "Is the D50 a VA or Rompler"since the d50 synthesizes it own spuare/saw/pulse it is part VA,tough to say what it would be today because what would it's specs be? different sound,waveforms,effects front panal editing, knobs maybe, it would be so far removed from the one you see today.

Bitexion · Post by **Bitexion** » Thu Jan 10, 2008 9:54 am

It has 4 independent monosynths you can layer together, so it can be fat enough, or as "modern" as you like. Each "part" has an oscillator (saw/square/samples) that is tunable over many octaves, amp envelope, pitch envelope, filter envelope and resonant filter.

There's 4 of those. And still 8 note polyphonic. Then there's a couple global LFO's. And there are shortcuts on the patch buttons to each part so you can just click through them and set what parameters you want very easily (or just look at all the parameters of a preset).

So it is really a powerhouse of an analog synth if you only use that part of the soundbanks. Gets more interesting when you mix in samples though. Plus some really nice effects like delays, tons of reverbs, ringmod. It can sound like anything you want it to. Don't have to layer pretty bells with strings. h**l, it even has its own 4x3 key keypad for easy patchname typing or parameters. The PG1000 is just an addon, to help you access the parameters easier. Doesn't change anything on the synth itself. I love mine, even without the PG1000 (it costs more used than what I paid for the synth).

One of the fave sounds I've created is 4 saws, 2 are fundamental pitch and detuned, and the other 2 a fifth above and detuned. Creates the most massive brass sound you've ever heard when you play chords.

Sir Ruff · Post by **Sir Ruff** » Fri Jan 11, 2008 6:51 pm

KalinsFarm wrote:
Mr. Black wrote:Just stick with Saw/pusle,tri and such you can't go wrong, or ever sound dated,I notice you use Atmosphere,you can create pads and textures that are similar in style, add ring modulation to the mix and you can come up with some CS-80 Blade Runner kind of effects.D50 can also do Jp8000 super saw,not really my thing but very capable.
Thanks guys. I've been somewhat disappointed in the ubiquitous sounds of Atmosphere which led me to asking the D50 question...looking for a few new and unique sounds with something old.

your question is odd-can one make modern sounds with the pg-1000? Surely someone who knows how to program this thing doesn't need the pg1000 either way... Do you have a pg1000?
If not, it sounds like you just need to get your hands dirty and learn how to program... find a preset you like and go from there.
If you have the pg1000, I wondering what is stopping you from doing the above even more easily? :scratch:

Sealed · Post by **Sealed** » Sun Jan 13, 2008 3:02 am

MrFrodo wrote:Where do you think the D50 would be classified on the market if it had been brought out today? Does its LAS engine fall under sample-playback, modeling, waveshaping, ROMpler? It seems to predate all those designations.

What do you think?

Digital-PCM hybrid like YAMAHA SY22/KAWAI K1, I think.
D-50's synth engine is a quasi-analog one. It emulates filter behaviour by digital waveform generation like CASIO CZ-1. If D-50 had a really well-emulated digital filter, it could filter the PCM as well.

gcoudert · Post by **gcoudert** » Sun Jan 13, 2008 1:00 pm

Bitexion wrote:One of the fave sounds I've created is 4 saws, 2 are fundamental pitch and detuned, and the other 2 a fifth above and detuned. Creates the most massive brass sound you've ever heard when you play chords.

And you can choose an effect routing that pans one tone hard left and the detuned one hard right for a VERY wide stereo effect!

Gilles

MrFrodo · Post by **MrFrodo** » Mon Jan 14, 2008 6:30 am

Sealed wrote:
MrFrodo wrote:Where do you think the D50 would be classified on the market if it had been brought out today? Does its LAS engine fall under sample-playback, modeling, waveshaping, ROMpler? It seems to predate all those designations.

What do you think?
Digital-PCM hybrid like YAMAHA SY22/KAWAI K1, I think.
D-50's synth engine is a quasi-analog one. It emulates filter behaviour by digital waveform generation like CASIO CZ-1. If D-50 had a really well-emulated digital filter, it could filter the PCM as well.

All that being said, could the D-50 still be somewhat ahead of its time?

Also, do any of you try and load your own samples to the thing? What about retrofitting it with General MIDI?

Mr. Black · Post by **Mr. Black** » Mon Jan 14, 2008 8:32 am

The D50 was not ahead of it's time,not the first synth to incorporate ROM,but it allowed complex layering S&S,full digital effects processor all for less than $2000 in 1987,it layed a foundation for the future of synths .

Sealed · Post by **Sealed** » Mon Jan 14, 2008 10:55 am

Apart from the hardware - the first fully digital hybrid synthesizer - D-50 was innovative in the spirit of sound creation.

* the idea of combining attack sample bits and the digital synth
* 'jam loops' to use up limited samples
* the first synth to ring modulate samples
* PWM for saw waves