# Making Jim Beard-ish Voyetra patches in Omnisphere? (Or other VI)



## proggermusic (Sep 13, 2021)

A bit of a specific and oddball question, I know. But I'm a massive fan of Jim Beard and lately I've been particularly fascinated by the sounds he got out of his Voyetra-8 synth in the late 1980s. As demonstrated marvelously on the tunes linked below. This is quite a long shot, but I wonder if anyone around these parts has had any success building sounds like this in Omnisphere. I feel like that would be a good platform for making these kinds of sounds, but they don't have any Voyetra sound sources... and these sounds are so hauntingly, uniquely dusty, flutey, warm, but biting. Really unlike any other synth sounds I've heard and I love them! 

If there are any fellow Jim Beard fans, Voyetra fans, or folks who think they might be able to reverse-engineer these sounds with other synths, please chime in.


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## Rob (Sep 13, 2021)

Jim Beard fan here, but no idea as for synth patches... Song of the Sun I have listened to thousand times. Maybe Falcon could be a candidate, I have an expansion (PX-V8) that could be a Voyetra replica actually


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## Bman70 (Sep 14, 2021)

Could you point to a specific part you're talking about? I hear lots of instruments, not sure if you mean he replicated every instrument on a synth or if he's in a band. (First time hearing about him here.)


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## proggermusic (Sep 14, 2021)

@Bman70 – Beard is a prolific keyboardist and composer, mainly in the jazz and fusion worlds (although he's been touring as Steely Dan's keyboard player for a while). In the clips above, I'm referring to the cloudy poly synth sounds that are laying the chordal foundation for nearly everything, as well as the dusty, wispy lead line playing solo fills at the very beginning of "Baker's Annex." THAT sound in particular is one I've been chasing for a couple years with little success.

Jim Beard is well worth checking out for any keyboard/synth-heads, whether or not you're into jazz... his production and sound design concepts are wonderful. He spent a lot of time working with Michael Brecker, Wayne Shorter, and John McLaughlin (three of my all-time heroes) and has some excellent solo records as well.


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## Rob (Sep 14, 2021)

proggermusic said:


> @Bman70 – Beard is a prolific keyboardist and composer, mainly in the jazz and fusion worlds (although he's been touring as Steely Dan's keyboard player for a while). In the clips above, I'm referring to the cloudy poly synth sounds that are laying the chordal foundation for nearly everything, as well as the dusty, wispy lead line playing solo fills at the very beginning of "Baker's Annex." THAT sound in particular is one I've been chasing for a couple years with little success.
> 
> Jim Beard is well worth checking out for any keyboard/synth-heads, whether or not you're into jazz... his production and sound design concepts are wonderful. He spent a lot of time working with Michael Brecker, Wayne Shorter, and John McLaughlin (three of my all-time heroes) and has some excellent solo records as well.


yeah, and some appearance with James Taylor, too (the songwriter) though I think he wasn't completely at ease with...


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## proggermusic (Sep 14, 2021)

@Rob – I think James Taylor and Michael Brecker were friends, and of course Brecker and Beard were close for decades. So I'll bet MB facilitated that connection. But Beard seems like a very odd fit for James!

Funny you mentioned Falcon (which I've never used), UVI is the only company I'm aware of that's made any attempt at a Voyetra soft synth – this one. I'm really reluctant to shell out $80 to chase after two sounds that might be approached with one of the many VIs I already own, buuuuuut on the other hand, it could be worth it! The Voyetra was clearly a very unique and wonderful synth, and the software won't need any repairs...


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## doctoremmet (Sep 14, 2021)

proggermusic said:


> @Rob – I think James Taylor and Michael Brecker were friends, and of course Brecker and Beard were close for decades. So I'll bet MB facilitated that connection. But Beard seems like a very odd fit for James!
> 
> Funny you mentioned Falcon (which I've never used), UVI is the only company I'm aware of that's made any attempt at a Voyetra soft synth – this one. I'm really reluctant to shell out $80 to chase after two sounds that might be approached with one of the many VIs I already own, buuuuuut on the other hand, it could be worth it! The Voyetra was clearly a very unique and wonderful synth, and the software won't need any repairs...


The UVI Vintage Vault “modules” are all based on samples rather than actual models of the synths involved. Now this is not to say they don’t sound good (they do - the recording / sampling is meticulously done), but it does imply one can’t expect to achieve “any” sound out of those modules like one could with an actual modelled Voyetra. Maybe some of the spark that’s needed is present in one or more samples, but on the other hand: maybe not


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## Rob (Sep 14, 2021)

proggermusic said:


> Funny you mentioned Falcon (which I've never used), UVI is the only company I'm aware of that's made any attempt at a Voyetra soft synth – [URL='https://www.uvi.net/en/vintage-synth/px-v8.html']this one.[/URL]
> [/QUOTE]
> [/QUOTE]


Yes that's the one I have, think I got it on sale for 50% off, not sure though...
As doctoremmet pointed out, it's not a modeled synth, although to a certain extent it's programmable. Amplitude and filter envelopes are, as well as unison, port and other things. The GUI is very nice, very vintage... The advantage of being sampled is that the tone is true to the original, and the fx are very good.


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## doctoremmet (Sep 14, 2021)

Rob said:


> Yes that's the one I have, think I got it on sale for 50% off, not sure though...
> As doctoremmet pointed out, it's not a modeled synth, although to a certain extent it's programmable. Amplitude and filter envelopes are, as well as unison, port and other things. The GUI is very nice, very vintage... The advantage of being sampled is that the tone is true to the original, and the fx are very good.


Yes, to add to this: the tone of all of UVI’s sampled Vintage Vault editions is excellent. The potential for further synthesis is there, but the filters on offer (to name a stupid example) won’t be models of the SSM2044’s that are at the heart of the Voyetra. So it depends a bit whether the exact tone you’re looking for is already there “in the samples” or not.


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## Rob (Sep 14, 2021)

doctoremmet said:


> Yes, to add to this: the tone of all of UVI’s sampled Vintage Vault editions is excellent. The potential for further synthesis is there, but the filters on offer (to name a stupid example) won’t be models of the SSM2044’s that are at the heart of the Voyetra. So it depends a bit whether the exact tone you’re looking for is already there “in the samples” or not.


Yes, exactly


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## proggermusic (Sep 14, 2021)

@doctoremmet – Honestly, the "sample-and-tweak" method UVI employs is one of the things that's kept me from buying any of their vintage packs... seems like they're great, but between Arturia and Omnisphere I have most of those bases thoroughly covered, and the Voyetra is the only thing I feel like I'm missing right now. I think I'm just going to spend some more time studying the sounds from this record and experimenting with the tools I have... I'll report back if I find anything close!


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## doctoremmet (Sep 14, 2021)

I can totally understand the reasoning Progger. Although I do enjoy sampled synths from time to time, I much prefer actual synths (not sample based) for most applications. The Voyetra (at least in my mind) is a bit like the RSF Kobol and the Synthex, so I’ve always hoped Xils Lab would have a go at it some day. Mere speculation of course.


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## Rob (Sep 14, 2021)

proggermusic said:


> @doctoremmet – Honestly, the "sample-and-tweak" method UVI employs is one of the things that's kept me from buying any of their vintage packs... seems like they're great, but between Arturia and Omnisphere I have most of those bases thoroughly covered, and the Voyetra is the only thing I feel like I'm missing right now. I think I'm just going to spend some more time studying the sounds from this record and experimenting with the tools I have... I'll report back if I find anything close!


sound decision


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## Bman70 (Sep 14, 2021)

Yeah feel free to share an Omnisphere patch if you get close, or in the neighborhood, I wouldn't mind tweaking on it. Also if you have some more of that sound more isolated that Beard recorded, that would be awesome for matching.


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## tf-drone (Sep 14, 2021)

Hi,

there is a free voyetra-ish VST called Voyette made by K. Brown. Windows only. More info is scarce, perhaps here.


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## Double Helix (Sep 14, 2021)

@tf-drone, Holy Moley--what a collection! Thanks for the link(s)


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## proggermusic (Sep 16, 2021)

OK, here's a little update, for anyone curious! I spent a little quality INIT-patch time with Omnisphere, and I ended up finding a combination somewhat close to what I was looking for... still not exactly it, but I found that by using the "Tetra SawTri" waveform and then -- in particular! -- putting the "Colorful24db" LPF on it, there's some Voyetra-ish character happening. I think the filter is the key, here... apparently Voyetra used 24db filters with lots of character. My goal was the dark and dusty lead patch that Jim is using to improvise solo fills throughout this track, including right at the top:



Here's a folder with my Omnisphere patch saved, for anyone who wants to steal it for your tweaking pleasure (please feel free) as well as a WAV bounce of me messing around with it, starting with some of Jim's lines. 






Voyetra-Beard Omnisphere Attempts - Google Drive







drive.google.com





Full disclosure: in that WAV bounce there's also a little bit of reverb (Valhalla Vintage Verb, '80s "concert hall") and saturation (NEOLD Big Al) but not a ton of either.


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