DSP Robotics Support

Gotta admit, I really like this synth.

Started life as a complete and seemingly faithful emulation of the Yamaha CS-30L (which I posted about three years ago). Playing with it recently I decided I really hated the all-too-fathful-to-the-hardware GUI I did for it. That series of Yamaha monosynths with black plastic knobs on the black panels were not much to look at - uninspiring to say the least. I cringed every time I went to use my imitation of it.

So I did what I should have done to start with and just put it in a GUI I'd find pleasant to look at. Back then I'd dabbled with various versions that included features from other models from the CS-line of monosynths, but they were all rather clumsy. Since I was revamping the GUI entirely I came up with a better cleaner way of incorporating functions from the CS-10 and CS-15, that the CS-30 lacked. Most importantly, the two-input mixers in front of the filters. In the plugin one can select any source for all four of these, as well as mixing in white (actually Martin's 'Velevet') or pink noise.

I also re-did the layout along the lines of the CS-80 and CS-15, rather than the rather befuddling arrangement of the CS-30.

Not the least reason of which I dig this guy so much is that I was able to give it a wealth of presets (for me anyway ) by dialing in all the applicable patches from the CS-10/CS-30 patchbook that Yamaha published.

One that really knocked me out was "Cries From the Bottom of the Earth". Below is a WAV of a 2-note chord processed with one of my all-time favorite effect plugins, "Charsiesis" by Fuzzpilz.

Wobbly bubbles!

k brown wrote:as well as mixing in white (actually Martin's 'Velevet') or pink noise.

Reminds me I gotta take a look at that noise of his. Been thinking of switching my noise osc's and also adding a variable noise source (mix or filtered) to my "only" ( ) plugin.
Crazy... Imagine only having created a single synth plugin (Spogg and K Brown! )

Wondering Kevin, which plugin(s) of yours are you most satisfied with?

Spogg has his Rank Two I believe...

Tough question - like being asked to choose your favorite child.

I suppose my top four, though would be this one (CS-300), Vektor, Endeavour, and the one I'm just finishing, which aims to approximate most of the functions of the FM synth in the Synclavier, but with Carriers that are not additive, but can switch between Martin's Spread Partials osc, and the Draw Wave osc which can also load any ".txt" wavetable.

The Synclavier's FM 'engine' was a fascinating take on FM, which pre-dated the DX7 and uses no algorithms. It gets it's timbral complexity from layering four modulator/carrier pairs, each having carriers capable of complex waveforms, not just sine. Plus each mod/carr pair has their own dedicated Vibrato and Tremolo (which can also do auto-pan) LFOs. Another cool trick of the Synclavier that no DX instrument could do, was separately detuning each mod/carr pair against itself; just slightly, or from 2-oct below to several oct above.

The Synclavier didn't offer a way to modulate the level of the additive carrier's harmonics, but since Martin's Spread Parials sounds so cool when it's Timbre is swept by an EG, I added the option of using the Modulator's EG to do that instead of it's own output level (then the Modulator's output is set at a static level).

I ultimately decided against additive oscs for the carriers, because I didn't like the way they sounded at lower octaves, especially when phase-modulated (FM'd). Both the toolbox additive osc, and Spogg's awesome 16-sine additive from 'Mystery' have this issue. If you create an additive timbre then knock it down a couple of octaves, both approaches produce a sort burbling, organ-like sound,, not what one would expect the original timbre to sound like at a lower pitch. I don't know if hardware additive synths, like the Synclavier, did some sort of waveform interpolation at lower frequencies or what, but especially as an FM carrier, I didn't dig the result at all. Both the Draw Wave osc and the Spread Partials retain their waveshape at all pitches, and provide 'more than enough' timbral variation in an FM carrier for my money! Plus, they're easier to use.

I'll post the schem here, but it will be the FS4 version (sorry), because I did more subsequent work on it in FS4 than I was willing do over in the original 3.0.6 schem (after it stopped working, which I posted about in another thread).

I apologize in advance also, for the schem's messy insides - I sort of fell back some old habits with that one, as it grew and grew.

That Synclavier:ish project will be fun to try

I'm reminded of some demos on youtube of the Nonlinear Labs C1...