Who Would You Put on the List of the Greatest Synth Preset Designers?

[Reid Rosefelt]

I'm not looking for people like Walter Murch, Ben Burtt, etc. people who create brilliant sound FX for movies and TV

I'm talking about the people who create musical sounds that are used in countless records and movies. And sell them today to consumers.

I realize that there are people who create hardware, like Robert Moog, who also make patches.

There are legends like Suzanne Ciani and Wendy Carlos, but to my knowledge, they don't have stores.

I would put Eric Persing first. I think his sounds are on more hit records and major movies than anybody else.

After that, off the top of my head, I can think of (in no particular order):
Robert Moog
John Lehmkuhl
Urs Heckmann (u-he)
Simon Stockhausen
Matt Bowdler (The Unfinished)
Nori Ubukata
Tom Wolfe
AAS designers: Daniel Stawczyk, Christian Lafitte, Richard Devine, etc.

This is not to show off any knowledge that I possess--I'm sure I'm leaving out some really important people. I'm jsut curious to find out about people like this and learn more about them.

Honestly, I don't know who created all the famous patches for the DX7, M1 and others, aside from Persing (who worked on Roland stuff) and Lehmkuhl (who worked on many Korg synths, so enlighten me.

Thanks!

I think this would make a good documentary. These people have a huge impact on the culture, but the general public doesn't know their names.

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[Tusker]

Howard Scarr

 

[Marcus Millfield]

J3PO.

And who in the synth world doesn't know Jexus?!

 

[Reid Rosefelt]

J3PO.

And who in the synth world doesn't know Jexus?!

I bought my first hardware synth in the 80s and have been messing with them ever since. I don’t know Jexus. I ‘m not a member of the synth world I guess.

It would help me a lot if people would write a sentence or two about who these people are and why they matter.

If they sell their stuff please add a link.

 

[babylonwaves]

Persing

Persing = Roland, not Yamaha. He didn't do FM or WT presets (as in the wavestation).

Howard Scarr as mentioned above and Joseph Holo would good additions.

 

[Maxime Luft]

How can one forget Kevin Schroeder on this list
He did lotsssss of synth patches for HZ

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[nolotrippen]

bo tomlyn

 

[YaniDee]

Tim Conrady..early vst days.

 

[Reid Rosefelt]

Persing = Roland, not Yamaha. He didn't do FM or WT presets (as in the wavestation).

Actually I'm aware of that. There's Roland stuff all over the place in Spectrasonics land.

I said "and others."

 

[Double Helix]

Søren/Luftrum has a shop (and some of my money 8-)
I have several of his Omnisphere & ZebraHZ libraries

EDIT -- linked his shop

 

[Trash Panda]

Are we talking commercial presets only or those used exclusively by their creators too?

 

[Braveheart]

Manuel Schleis from Vengeance Sound. The stuff he’s doing for their Avenger synth is so amazing, I bought many of their expansions pack because of that.

 

[Reid Rosefelt]

bo tomlyn

I remember going to a music event in New York and Bo Tomlyn was walking around with a parrot on his shoulder. Hard to miss. I bought a DX7 cartridge of his patches from him.

 

[el-bo]

Empty Vessel

Top of the pile, literally and figuratively, for me. A meditation in every patch. Tend towards the noisier, wonkier, dustier and 'dystopian' side of things, but with so much beauty at the core.

emptyvessel

cinematic progressive modern presets for composers & instrument makers

store.emptyvessel.co.nz

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Sonic Underworld

In a similar vein to The Unfinished:

Sonic Underworld – Cinematic Sound Design

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The Unshushable Coktor (TUC) - u-he

Has presets in the various u-he synths, including a whole bank in the latest, free Podolski update:

Podolski: Nice and easy

Podolski: Nice and easy

u-he.com

Would love a full Repro bank from him, to add to his excellent factory patches.

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Aiyn Zahev

Tends towards the more Trance/EDM side of things. Fantastic tight/snappy plucks and arps sounds, but also lush pads

Collections

Top Quality Presets & Sound banks for Synthesizers from Sami Rabia

www.aiynzahev-sounds.com

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Francesco Silvestri

Only know him from one Repro-5 bank. But what a lovely bank it is:

KVR Forum: Backdrops & Undertones: free ambient bank for Repro-5 - u-he Forum

KVR Audio Forum - Backdrops & Undertones: free ambient bank for Repro-5 - u-he Forum

www.kvraudio.com

 

[el-bo]

Tim Conrady..early vst days.

Tim (RIP) is the designer of probably my favourite patch…ever - 'Rain Lakota' (Alchemy). I turn down the frogs; often the rain, also. What's left is one of the most beautiful and versatile wind patches I've ever played.

I feature it in the intro and outro of this track:

 

[doctoremmet]

Greg, our Scot in New Zealand aka @Empty Vessel (thanks El-bo) - his patches for LION, Thorn and TAL Sampler are out-of-this-world. Your Arturia banks are also full of his stuff. Great guy and regular contributor to this forum. Need some grit and dirt that at the same time is dark, moody and full of life? Check out Greg’s material. Highly recommended.

@Sound Author does amazing things for Bazille, Hive and other U-he synths. Bazille owners owe it to themselves to get his Equinox and Solstice sets and steal all his cool ideas

@Whywhy aka Yuli Yolo. Great programmer, check his work for Rhizomatic Plasmonic. He’s also all over your Arturia preset banks.

Sami Rabia, aka Aiyn Zahev. Basically masters all platforms.

Simon Stockhausen. True genius. Is there a flagship synth this man has not mastered? His patchpool.net is a treasure trove and he goes to great lengths to demo his patches on YT. A single demo of one patch by Simon is someone else’s ambient album, that’s how high his standards are. Also: his dad had some talent too

patchpool.net | Sounds and Presets by Simon Stockhausen

patchpool.net

UVI Plurality for Falcon - by Simon Stockhausen

An essential collection of evocative and expressive cinematic sounds from a modern master of sound design

www.uvi.net

Ether Fields - Sounds by Simon Stockhausen

Ether Fields for Falcon traverses the cosmos with deep and atmospheric pads, lush and evolving soundscapes and haunting tones.

www.uvi.net

Polarities - Padshop Expansion

Polarities for Padshop 2 by Simon Stockhausen juxtaposes electronic and acoustic sounds, exploring extreme sonic territories which clash with, oppose or complement each other.

www.steinberg.net

Granular Guitars for Padshop

Explore the essence of acoustic and electric guitar instruments with Granular Guitars that was created exclusively by sound designer Simon Stockhausen.

www.steinberg.net

Granular Symphonies for Padshop

This collection offers ominously dark pads and ethereally fragile instruments, fantastical textures and expressive leads, created by Simon Stockhausen

www.steinberg.net

 

[doctoremmet]

Legendary Jexus moment

 

[doctoremmet]

 

[Marcus Millfield]

I bought my first hardware synth in the 80s and have been messing with them ever since. I don’t know Jexus. I ‘m not a member of the synth world I guess.

It would help me a lot if people would write a sentence or two about who these people are and why they matter.

If they sell their stuff please add a link.

Maybe I exaggerated a bit, but Jexus is pretty well known for (ab)using al kinds of synths and getting very creative results (and videos). He also sells presets as of late:





J3PO makes some really playable presets, as he is much more a keys player than a sound designer. For if you want great bread and butter presets.

 

[tmhuud]

Tim Conrady. Great friend and miss him a lot.