A new perspective on the sound of Falcon
- Thread starter Pier
- Start date
OP
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Pier
Senior Member
I have indeed checked HISE a couple of times. It is a really interesting project. Congratulations!
Nico5
…
I think this is the case in pretty much every independent forum I frequent on a somewhat regular basis.
On one hand I understand your sentiment. It's frustrating if a conversation drifts from the original topic of interest. -- On the other hand, conversations happen in the context of the participants. And in the case of online conversations, the participants are largely determined by the online location of the conversation.
Some forums (and similar discussion places) are more tightly focused on a single topic (e.g. single manufacturer or single tool). -- Others are more independent gathering places for conversations of individuals interested in broader topics served by multiple manufacturers and/or tools. -- And some websites have forums (and resulting threads) of both kinds. vi-control is one of these.
This particular vi-control sub-forum is independent and thus attended by a wider audience. So conversations will drift more, very much like in all other independent forums I attend regularly.
And personally I find this a feature (not a bug) of independent forums. They are the places I seek for comparative information between tools, since where else am I going to get that?
For more focused conversations, chances are much better in forums dedicated to a particular supplier or tool, and when I really want to find places that stay more on topic, I tend to go to those forums. So for staying on a Falcon topic, Falcontinuum might be a less frustrating place for you.
And to take it further, I'm actually even annoyed at very (not very orchestration specific) general Cubase questions being asked here first, rather than at the Steinberg forums.
p.s. I have several of the other major contenders in the big combination sampler/synth space. And I probably would already have bought Falcon to add to my collection, if there was ever a 50% off sale for the software itself. It's pretty much how I got to my current collection in the first place (Omnisphere being the exception). I'm less interested in "free additional content" sales, since lately I'm drawn more to making my own sounds than using 3rd party libraries. But I've only seen a max of 30% off on Falcon sales.
I originally entered this thread (like quite a few other Falcon threads) to see what I might be missing with Falcon that I don't already have with HALion, MSoundFactory, Omnisphere, Hyperion, Kontakt, Reaktor, etc.
The posts by individuals doing some comparisons between Falcon and some of those that I already have, are valuable to me - and the posts mentioning HISE, too!
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OP
OP
Pier
Senior Member
Definitely agree with you.
Personally, I'd love to see manufacturers selling instruments without content at a lower price. Maybe call it something cool like "sound designer's edition"
Regarding UVI, I get why they would give a $100 voucher when getting Falcon. The factory presets aren't great, so expand it with whatever type of sounds you prefer. I'm not sure it's a good strategy though considering Falcon is generally regarded (at least here on VIC) as a sound design playground.
digitallysane
Member
Sonically, nothing.
Alchemedia
Decomposer
Couldn't disagree more. Although I prefer making my own patches I think Falcon's Factory library is an excellent showcase of the vast possibilities Falcon has to offer, which is the point.Definitely agree with you.
Personally, I'd love to see manufacturers selling instruments without content at a lower price. Maybe call it something cool like "sound designer's edition"
Regarding UVI, I get why they would give a $100 voucher when getting Falcon. The factory presets aren't great, so expand it with whatever type of sounds you prefer. I'm not sure it's a good strategy though considering Falcon is generally regarded (at least here on VIC) as a sound design playground.
OP
OP
Pier
Senior Member
I don't own Falcon (yet) so I admit I've never actually heard the factory library for real. I based my opinion on the Youtube videos I've seen and many comments I've read here on VIC saying something like "don't buy Falcon for the presets, buy it for sound design".
I'll let you know my opinion in a couple of weeks!
Alchemedia
Decomposer
I think it would be more accurate to say Falcon excels as a sound design tool. As I mentioned earlier it's an overly complex synth for typical "patch surfers". That's not to say the factory content isn't excellent, it is, however you get far more presets with many other synths at a similar price point such as Arturia's V Collection.
Since buying Falcon, I've removed Omnisphere from my system.
Sure, Omnisphere is pretty great. But it's nice to work with a real 'sound creation' machine that can be used for more than just ominous pads and end-of-the-world drones that end up sounding like everybody else in the world.
I know....Omnisphere can create playable synths and arpeggiated stuff.
But, in the end, one has to go with what feels most conducive to a creative workflow and musical inspiration.
I just do my thing for myself and people that happen to like what I do within my relatively small musical circles. So, I don't have the pressure to produce something that sounds like the latest-greatest social-media influenced sound of the day or something that sounds like it's temping the latest superhero action movie soundtrack.
Speaking on behalf of many musicians, we find UVI instruments and sound libraries to be very inspiring; and most of all and most importantly to me, very musicianly-oriented.
Sure, Omnisphere is pretty great. But it's nice to work with a real 'sound creation' machine that can be used for more than just ominous pads and end-of-the-world drones that end up sounding like everybody else in the world.
I know....Omnisphere can create playable synths and arpeggiated stuff.
But, in the end, one has to go with what feels most conducive to a creative workflow and musical inspiration.
I just do my thing for myself and people that happen to like what I do within my relatively small musical circles. So, I don't have the pressure to produce something that sounds like the latest-greatest social-media influenced sound of the day or something that sounds like it's temping the latest superhero action movie soundtrack.
Speaking on behalf of many musicians, we find UVI instruments and sound libraries to be very inspiring; and most of all and most importantly to me, very musicianly-oriented.
digitallysane
Member
I find it interesting that a lot of people describe Falcon primarily as a sound design tool.
I do agree with you, Falcon feels like a musical instrument, and in that respect it's kinda closer to a flagship hardware synth like Kronos or Montage (I find its organization to be surprisingly similar to my MODX).
While it can obviously do nice sound design, I find it much more of a musical instrument (which you would perform on) than something like MSoundFactory or PhasePlant.
OP
OP
Pier
Senior Member
Could you elaborate on this?
Why would Falcon be more of a musical instrument than say Phase Plant?
digitallysane
Member
The whole organization thing with Falcon (Multis, Programs), including the fact that it actually has a Mixer and a Performance tab (you can do live performances from Falcon standalone if you want to), a lot of attention on Sequencers/sequencing toolset for creating actual musical phrases, the approach of favouring the layering of various synth modules to get a nice musical part instead of a very technical approach that lets one modulate everything with everything (Reaktor, MSF and other).
Again, it feels like a software version of a flagship hardware synth: very capable to do synthesis, but also definitely made to make and play music in the first place.
Alchemedia
Decomposer
Same here.
estevancarlos
Active Member
I basically associate that with IRCAM.
estevancarlos
Active Member
I think Arturia's UX and is important to note. It is much better at organizing presets. You can tag and categorize them. Easier to find content. Falcon doesn't offer that. Falcon is definitely better as a complex synth.
applegrovebard
Member
I am simultaneously strongly attracted to and repelled by MSoundfactory (I've just tried the demo). The vast crazy synthesis and fx possibilities obviously. Actually I'm often weirdly drawn to off-putting synths- oddities and ugly ducklings not 'on point' trendwise- I'm not sure if it's sympathy/feeling sorry for them or just plain perversity on my part... I really don't like the look of the guis that the synths within MSoundfactory have been given (the standard look of their fx I find ok). But if they stop labelling mics as 'mikes'- that might be enough for me to jump aboard...
Bee_Abney
How long have I been out?
It's The Imp of the Perverse.
The Imp of the Perverse - Wikipedia
I find a weird psychological effect of less 'polished' GUIs is that the plugin initially sounds less polished to me. But I soon get over it.
MSoundFactory is very good indeed and likely to continue getting better.
