# Dune 3 is a surprising contender for score and film



## Databroth (Oct 19, 2021)

I've been playing with a LOT of synths, and just up front I have zero experience with score and film
I'm just going off of my ears and memory

we all know synths like falcon and zebra are more than capable of doing sound design for professional production and cinematic quality sounds
but often times wavetable and "dance" synths just don't quite cut it for that level of quality
either they lack the nuance, or detail required for producing high end emotional dimension

I'd personally argue any synth with the right hands and tools could be placed into film tastefully, but this is more of a claim based on ease of use and variety of sounds, so I'm not trying to dismiss any products. but clearly most of these tools are built around music production and not score

I had a blast streaming Dune today, and the sounds I was getting out of it, especially at the end felt as though they could sit alongside an orchestra
I don't know how this community feels about most synths, but if you've passed up on Dune because you assumed it was a synth for electronic music, give it another look

also this isn't an ad, they aren't paying me, they did give me a free copy, but I have pretty much everything at this point.



here's the latest stream, there is occasional clipping, but this is solved by bringing the output volume down, and channel volume up (something I don't quite have access to live)

particularly the pad I make after the one hour mark really made me smile


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## b_elliott (Oct 19, 2021)

Your description of Dune3 as lush nails it. 
I plan to play your video through (after tonite's NLCS ballgame of course) but have listened to the final 20 minutes = love its sounds. 
I agree that some composer could/should take this synth and along with some Beethoven-7th-Symphony-3rd-mvt-level ideas churn out their soundtrack.symphony.whatever.
Thanks for posting!
Cheers, Bill


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## sostenuto (Oct 19, 2021)

Databroth said:


> I've been playing with a LOT of synths, and just up front I have zero experience with score and film
> I'm just going off of my ears and memory *********************
> 
> I had a blast streaming Dune today, and the sounds I was getting out of it, especially at the end felt as though they could sit alongside an orchestra
> I don't know how this community feels about most synths, but if you've passed up on Dune because you assumed it was a synth for electronic music, give it another look ***********************


Cool stream and interest raised notably. Sooooo much quality /intriguing stuff coming out now ..... serious hopes for BlkFri - Dune 3 deal. No worries of value, just some limits come into play . 😨


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## Databroth (Oct 19, 2021)

totally understandable, these tools aren't cheap, and I'm in a very lucky position to be able to get my hands on all of them. I felt Dune was particularly worth pointing out here though


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## sostenuto (Oct 19, 2021)

Databroth said:


> totally understandable, these tools aren't cheap, and I'm in a very lucky position to be able to get my hands on all of them. I felt Dune was particularly worth pointing out here though


For sure, and orchestral comments were noted. THX !


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## cedricm (Oct 19, 2021)

It's on my synth shortlist, but I just bought Falcon, lots to learn. Unless there's a big BF sales, I'll wait next year for Dune 3.


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## Pier (Oct 19, 2021)

Dune is *amazing* for cinematic stuff!

I'm finishing up some stuff for Zebra and then I want to release a couple of cinematic libraries for it.


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## muziksculp (Oct 20, 2021)

*DUNE 3* is my favorite Virtual Synth.  

Super versatile, sounds are superb, and uses very little CPU power.


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## Markrs (Oct 20, 2021)

It is also currently Guy Mitchelmore's favourite synth as well


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## KEM (Oct 20, 2021)

I only used the demo but from my short time with it I really liked it, will absolutely be picking it up as soon as possible along with Hive 2


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## muziksculp (Oct 20, 2021)

KEM said:


> I only used the demo but from my short time with it I really liked it, will absolutely be picking it up as soon as possible along with Hive 2


DUNE 3 , HIVE 2, and SPIRE are all great to have.


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## Pier (Oct 20, 2021)

muziksculp said:


> DUNE 3 , HIVE 2, and SPIRE are all great to have.


I don't know, there's a ton of overlap here.

If you own Dune you can replicate pretty much anything from Hive and Spire. And a lot more: samples, 8 layers, midi arps, etc.


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## muziksculp (Oct 20, 2021)

Pier said:


> I don't know, there's a ton of overlap here.
> 
> If you own Dune you can replicate pretty much anything from Hive and Spire. And a lot more: samples, 8 layers, midi arps, etc.


Yes, that's true. But having all three offers more patches, also each has it's own features that make it a bit special. But surely DUNE 3 alone is good enough for general synth scores.


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## sostenuto (Oct 20, 2021)

muziksculp said:


> DUNE 3 , HIVE 2, and SPIRE are all great to have.


Kudos to u-he for likely best trial /demo process ever. Got Dune 3 Demo, huge distractions with SFA, Element, et al ..... went back and Demo expired. 
u-he Hive2, Zebra 2 demos always right there to revisit. Appreciate, respect this and maintain some loyalty as a result. 😇


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## Databroth (Oct 20, 2021)

Pier said:


> I don't know, there's a ton of overlap here.
> 
> If you own Dune you can replicate pretty much anything from Hive and Spire. And a lot more: samples, 8 layers, midi arps, etc.


I somewhat disagree, idk about hive, being it's a wavetable synth I'd say I have enough that covers that one. But spire and dune are pretty different, spire has a lot more attitude that dune isn't missing. but takes a fair bit longer to program up. Dune is SUPER clean, where as spire gets dirty fast

I actually REALLY like spire, it might be a regular for me in my writing process, as I can throw together a mockup of the type of sound I want fast.

that's not to say they can't sound similar at all, just that I found spire got me stuff I wanted to use in industrial work much faster than dune

then again, we don't need every synth out there, and learning one inside and out beats itching the surface of dozens


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## Pier (Oct 20, 2021)

Databroth said:


> Dune is SUPER clean, where as spire gets dirty fast



I admit I only demoed Spire briefly a while ago, but in Dune once you start adding filter drive and whatnot things get dirty pretty fast.



Databroth said:


> that's not to say they can't sound similar at all, just that I found spire got me stuff I wanted to use in industrial work much faster than dune


Exactly, can't argue about workflow since all three have different UI/UX, but sonically Dune can produce pretty much anything Hive and Spire can.


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## Pier (Oct 20, 2021)

In case you missed it from the other Dune thread, here's a comparison I did between the ZebraHZ Diva filters, Repro filters, and Dune filters.

The idea was not to make exact replicas of the same sound, but to test if Dune could stand up against probably the best analog emulations in the market.



More details here:






Dune (the synth) is pretty awesome.


Here's someone selling it for €119 that's only a 28€ discount, waiting for sub 100




vi-control.net


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## SlHarder (Oct 20, 2021)

Computer Music did me a favor a couple of years ago and had Dune as a freebie.


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## Databroth (Oct 20, 2021)

Pier said:


> I admit I only demoed Spire briefly a while ago, but in Dune once you start adding filter drive and whatnot things get dirty pretty fast.
> 
> 
> Exactly, can't argue about workflow since all three have different UI/UX, but sonically Dune can produce pretty much anything Hive and Spire can.


I played around with Dune's drive settings/ FM etc
it just has a totally different character of "dirty"

Spire just has an attitude, and mid range tone that none of dune's drives quite replicated
the Hard FM in spire is where that synth is at for me, I love them both, but for particularly clangy tones, spire did what I wanted faster

but "dirty" and "character" are so subjective from person to person
one of us might hear the crackle of a drive and think it is pleasant dirt
while another might hear how some other distortion brings out the low end and texturally sucks away the highs
another distortion might boost the mids and add white noisy character

and each of us will find these tones pleasing or displeasing to different degrees


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## Pier (Oct 20, 2021)

SlHarder said:


> Computer Music did me a favor a couple of years ago and had Dune as a freebie.


I think it was v1 or v2?

Dune 3 is a whole new beast


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## Pier (Oct 20, 2021)

Databroth said:


> Spire just has an attitude, and mid range tone that none of dune's drives quite replicated
> the Hard FM in spire is where that synth is at for me, I love them both, but for particularly clangy tones, spire did what I wanted faster


Could you post an example?

I think I know what you mean. I've recently fallen in love with Bazille that has this wonderful FM/PD tone I don't think I could replicate anywhere else.


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## Databroth (Oct 20, 2021)

Pier said:


> Could you post an example?
> 
> I think I know what you mean. I've recently fallen in love with Bazille that has this wonderful FM/PD tone I don't think I could replicate anywhere else.


Bazille is awesome, just streamed that one today, I know 100% for certain some of the sounds I could get out of bazille wouldn't happen with any other synth

I'm really glad to finally be testing some of these other synths out there, at one point (years ago) I honestly thought "every softsynth sounds the same" I just assumed they used the same code, or same math or something, maybe different features or ranges

but they really do all have their own character


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## odod (Oct 20, 2021)

try SPIRE with Bellatrix Audio patches .. they sounded good too for cinematic


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## Bee_Abney (Nov 8, 2021)

For cinematic, I think the two Dune 3 preset packs on sale at the moment at Bellatrix Audio sounds extremely promising. Down from close to $60 to around $5 for both (sold separately). Incantation Part 1 and Hypnotic. 

They really have me interested in Dune 3 again. 

I generally do sound design with samples and use a lot of presets with synths at the moment (I'm learning to patch; slowly). So having a few preset collections I'm keen on makes a difference to my choices. 

Bazille still seems ahead of the rest for me so far.


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## gsilbers (Nov 19, 2021)

fun fact. the virus ti was hans zimmer go to synth for a lot of cinematic stuff. until zebra later replace it or he starred using it more. 

the dune3 is obvously taking a lot of the virus ti plus it has the flexible envelopes and other cool stuff. sadly that tiny blue screen kills me. it could be pop up or somehting but its tiny now. oh well. still very cool. 

making 3rd party presets for synths makes more sense when there is a bigger market. like zebra2 or omni where it will sure sell enough copies to warrant the time spent making them. im hopeful dune3 will catch on as well as pigments.


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## Pier (Nov 19, 2021)

gsilbers said:


> sadly that tiny blue screen kills me. it could be pop up or somehting but its tiny now. oh well.


Now that Synapse has implemented a dedicated UI for browsing presets in v3.5 seems like the next logical step will be doing similar for the arp and mod matrix.



gsilbers said:


> im hopeful dune3 will catch on as well as pigments.


Same. Dune sounds amazing but it's dragged down by its UI.


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## Databroth (Nov 19, 2021)

Yeah I'll likely be doing a DUNE pack in the next year, I already have a lot of presets for it, and it does certain sounds I've been trying to make very well


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## KEM (Nov 26, 2021)

gsilbers said:


> fun fact. the virus ti was hans zimmer go to synth for a lot of cinematic stuff. until zebra later replace it or he starred using it more.
> 
> the dune3 is obvously taking a lot of the virus ti plus it has the flexible envelopes and other cool stuff. sadly that tiny blue screen kills me. it could be pop up or somehting but its tiny now. oh well. still very cool.
> 
> making 3rd party presets for synths makes more sense when there is a bigger market. like zebra2 or omni where it will sure sell enough copies to warrant the time spent making them. im hopeful dune3 will catch on as well as pigments.



What exactly is Virus? Always heard about it but never seen it, does it even exist anymore?


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## Pier (Nov 26, 2021)

KEM said:


> What exactly is Virus? Always heard about it but never seen it, does it even exist anymore?


The Access Virus is probably one of the most famous series of VA hardware synths of all time.

It's used everywhere but specially in EDM and films.

It saw a recent video of Harry Gregson-Williams and he is still using it. Everyone has used it at one point or another. HZ was a big fan of the Virus 20 years ago I think.

Edit:

Here's HZ rack of synths from 2002, and of course there are 3 Virus synths there.







Found it here:






Media Adventures


From Rain Man to The Lion King, and Gladiator to Mission Impossible 2, Hans Zimmer's music is known by audiences worldwide. With business partner Jay Rifkin, Zimmer is also responsible for Media Ventures, a music studio that offers a unique environment for media composers.




www.soundonsound.com


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## KEM (Nov 26, 2021)

Pier said:


> The Access Virus is probably one of the most famous series of VA hardware synths of all time.
> 
> It's used everywhere but specially in EDM and films.
> 
> ...



No plugin of it? I’ve never seen a single thing about it


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## Pier (Nov 26, 2021)

KEM said:


> No plugin of it? I’ve never seen a single thing about it


You can use a plugin to control the hardware on the latest versions. It's called Total Integration.

There was also an official plugin for the TC PowerCore DSP units.

Sylenth, Dune, Spire, and Predator were heavily inspired by it.

Then there is Viper, which some say is the closest emulation ever made. Only for Windows though.


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## Voider (Nov 26, 2021)

I'm very happy to see that Dune is finally getting the recognition it deserves  It's still my main synth (and I am still on Dune 2 hehe).

This whole track - synth wise - is 100% Dune 2, all custom patches that I made for the track.
Only supported by DM-307 for the percussion and Vocalize by Heavyocity and Nucleus Lite's choir for the vocal parts.



I'm currently working on a new futuristic cyberpunk track and crafted all the patches for it on Dune 2,
after all these years that synth just feels like home to me, I find the UI so pleasant to use.


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## Pier (Nov 26, 2021)

Voider said:


> and I am still on Dune 2 hehe


Nooooo!

You really gotta upgrade to v3 man. The new filters are amazing.


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## KEM (Nov 26, 2021)

Pier said:


> You can use a plugin to control the hardware on the latest versions. It's called Total Integration.
> 
> There was also an official plugin for the TC PowerCore DSP units.
> 
> ...




I promise I’m gonna buy Dune one of these days!! Just gotta get some debt paid off first lol


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## KEM (Nov 26, 2021)

Only for Windows… I can feel the puke rising up my esophagus


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## Voider (Nov 26, 2021)

Pier said:


> Nooooo!
> 
> You really gotta upgrade to v3 man. The new filters are amazing.


I've tried the demo and liked it, but currently there's so much other stuff I want to expand my gear with. And except the dual filters there's not so much new stuff that amazed me to justify the upgrade price, I am really happy with Dune 2. 

Maybe one day.. when Dune 4 comes out and the upgrade is a major one.


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## Bee_Abney (Nov 26, 2021)

KEM said:


> Only for Windows… I can feel the puke rising up my esophagus


I pity you.


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## KEM (Nov 26, 2021)

Bee_Abney said:


> I pity you.



Mac is better, there’s just no way around it


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## KEM (Nov 26, 2021)

Seriously, who makes something and doesn’t make it available for Mac, stupid


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## Bee_Abney (Nov 26, 2021)

KEM said:


> Seriously, who makes something and doesn’t make it available for Mac, stupid


I could be very wrong if I've mixed up synths, but I believe this synth is developed by a small developer working in their spare time and that it is fairly recent. The chances are they merely haven't finished the port over to Mac yet.

Edit to add: Whoops! It's been out for three years.


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## KEM (Nov 26, 2021)

Bee_Abney said:


> I could be very wrong if I've mixed up synths, but I believe this synth is developed by a small developer working in their spare time and that it is fairly recent. The chances are they merely haven't finished the port over to Mac yet.
> 
> Edit to add: Whoops! It's been out for three years.



I certainly understand that peoples lives don’t revolve around this stuff so it’s very possible he might not have the time or resources, but his oldest video on Viper is 5 years old, surely it’s possible to get this on Mac


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## Pier (Nov 26, 2021)

KEM said:


> Mac is better, there’s just no way around it


Eh. I use both on a daily basis. Both have pros and cons.


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## KEM (Nov 26, 2021)

Pier said:


> Eh. I use both on a daily basis. Both have pros and cons.



My only con with Mac is the price, everything else to me is just so much better than PC, I also have both and my PC is just relegated to a VEP template and playing Skyrim lol


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