I have been toying with the idea of getting Spectrasonics OMNISPHERE 2 which will be available in a couple of weeks (April 30, 2015) anybody have any thoughts? I have never used computer software to produce musical sounds, and I don’t know a damn thing about it. In fact, I don’t use a computer at all when I record.
The sounds of OMNISPHERE 2 are very impressive.....all 10,000 of them!
https://youtu.be/DbpqdaLO-WI
It's wonderful.
Everyone in the production music industry uses it. People don't realize how many times they have heard Omnisphere sounds on TV, Video Games and even movies (Danny Elfman used it in Terminator Salvation for example).
I have Omnisphere (fortunately I got it last Nov. so I can get the upgrade for free). I think if you purchased Oct. 2014 and later you can get this upgrade for free.
You could load it up and play it as a synth (see below), and some of the pads would work really well with the theremin - heck there are a zillion things that would work well with the theremin in this package.
But it really shines if you are doing MIDI work of course. You could record your piano tracks to MIDI and then run them through this very easily with your keyboard if you just don't want to play it as a plug-in synth directly.
And of course if you are into synths, you have a full fledged subtractive and to some extent additive synth there that you can tweak parameters in any way you like (though this may not be the best use of your time). And you will want to use that MOD wheel on your keyboard to get the most expressive sound from the package as many sounds are controlled in different ways though your keyboards MIDI controllers.
Another nice thing about Omnisphere is that it includes a bunch of samples from a lot of their earlier sample libraries especially the strings and vocal libraries. And when you bring up a patch it tells you where it's from.
You really can't go wrong with it, especially if this is your first package like this you are considering. And I bet it will come in handy for a lot of the ethnic music you deal with in numerous ways as well (it has samples from their great Heart of Asia library that is no longer available - plus other ethnic library inclusions).
What electronic keyboard do you use again? It has MIDI output for sure and maybe can even record MIDI files. You running a MAC I think, right? You will connect that keyboard's MIDI interface to your computer and then bring up your DAW that you can attach the plugin sounds to and play away. What program are you recording with on the MAC?
Rich
So I just checked it out some more. Looks like you can import any sound into Omnisphere now in addition to all the new sounds. And then you can play around with the additive wavetable synthesis engine to change and manipulate the sounds. Wow this looks really great!!!
But I don't see that they have added a stand-alone mode so you can just connect your keyboard to the computer, bring up Omnisphere and play away. Still looks like you have to run it as a plug-in in your DAW or other program that accepts plug-ins.
But I think you can get a program that will let you run it in stand-alone like mode which is what I feel will suit you best as you can then treat it just like a digital piano with 10,000 sounds once you connect your keyboard to your computer through I assume a USB MIDI interface you must be able to support.
From what I see (to try and run in a stand-alone mode):
Mac users can download VST Lord (http://arne.knup.de/?page_id=32) for OS X use, while PC users have several choices, including the free Cantabile Lite (www.cantabilesoftware.com), Tobybear's donationware Minihost (www.tobybear.de/p_minihost.html), and Herman Seib's Savihost (www.hermannseib.com/english/Savihost.htm).
So before you buy this make sure you know how you are going to want to use it and make sure you have the right resources on your computer to use it or you might be disappointed.
By the way you might also check out Native Instruments Komplete10. Looks like this is in the same $ ballpark now but an absolutely unbelievable set of tools (also there is Komplete10 Ultimate for about twice the price - so look carefully). This includes a great synth called Massive and the industry standard Kontakt sample player that will let you load up a zillion samples (may you can get for free). And it can run stand-alone. But it's not the same thing as Omnisphere.
Rich
P.S. And this is why I don't have enough time to really learn the theremin the way I want to - too much dilution in the digital domain.
Hi Rich,
Here’s the thang. I’ve never used my computer to record anything! Up to now, everything I have ever done is recorded as a live performance to my trusty olde ROLAND VS-2400CD. That device was discontinued years ago, but I am so used to it I can operate it in the dark. It has hands-on sliders & knobs and reminds me of the days of wood-burning consoles.
My main keyboard is a KORG TRITON and I have an assortment of MIDI modules (also out-of-date) that I use for some of the sounds I like.
I have a Mac OS X Yosemite, 10.10.1 but I have NO IDEA how to plug a musical instrument into it!
I do use my Mac for my Haken Continuum fingerboard because Haken has a CONTINUUM EDITOR program for control and firmware updates. I connect it using a CAKEWALK USB MIDI interface. Some of the people in the Continuum community have been doing wonderful things using the instrument with OMNISPHERE, but I haven’t a clue how they are doing it.
Among other things, I have an ECHO Audiofire 12, along with the software console for plugging the device into my Mac - it works but I’ve never actually used it. I don’t even know HOW to use it. As I guess you know, I am very much acoustic and performance oriented and for me the technology is just a way to enhance the presentation of the things that I do with the many musical instruments I have access to. Sometimes the technical side seems like a wooden duck but when it works I am able to do things that I have never heard anyone else in the world do (not that they’d want to even if they could)! 😛
Peter, I'm not familiar with omnisphere, but I see that there is a set of tutorial videos on spectrasonics website, here
https://www.spectrasonics.net/video/videos-tutorials-omnisphere.php
Looks like a good place to start. :-)
Peter,
First, what you do is exceptional - getting a sound that no other thereminist I've heard duplicates. So rule #1 is don't screw up a good thing with digital complexity unless you have to. It's not clear that even if you went to a DAW you would like the recorded sound it gives you (maybe). Course you can do a heck of a lot more things in terms of post processing, creating effects, etc - but it's not clear that is the goal here. But I can see why this might be of value with the Haken, which is a digital MIDI synth and MIDI controller when all comes to push and shove and Omnisphere is a midi controlled software synth.
So give this a gander:
the Haken Continuum with Omnisphere
OK. If your head ain't spinning after looking at just a couple minutes of this something is wrong. But basically this is saying to use the Haken with Omnisphere, disable the MIDI link to the internal synth and connect it to external MIDI that you will then connect to a MIDI interface that connects to your computer (you have one from what you say above) and then the DAW will see the Haken as a MIDI input available to connect to things. This then implies you need a DAW (this guy uses Logic Pro, I use Cubase, some people use Sonar, a lot of people use Pro Tools, etc - but you need something that you can bring up Omnisphere patches in - as a digital plug-in). Then you can set up the Haken to use the max pitch bend setting that Omnisphere supports (Haken can be a lot more microtonal than Omnisphere it seems). Then you need to set up some interfaces in the Haken tool to map to your Omnisphere connections. Yada yada - but I think with online videos you can get where you want to be and with help from people here (synthguy is going to hit the "engage" button as soon as he reads this).
So frankly what you want to research before Omnisphere (as that will work like any other SW sample or synth plugin) is a Digital Audio Workstation (you may have Cakewalk/Sonar already or at least a simple version that came with the MIDI interface). Now this all brings your digital audio interface into play as once you play those Omnishpere patches from the Haken (or your Triton which is a simpler interface) you then need to play it back and record it in your DAW - or route the audio out of the DAW back to your Roland recorder (and its not clear if there will be latency issues doing this). So your computer audio out needs to be a high quality interface unless you are recording digitally internally in your DAW (I need to check out that one you have). Also from what I've seen Omnisphere has very good latency (remember there is time for both the MIDI interface send data and also time for the samples in Omnisphere or whatever to play as you are going to want to play in real time on your Haken & Triton). There can be some lag sometimes that forces you to go in and try and optimize data buffering. (criminy!)
So we're back to goals. Obviously, there is going to be a learning curve here - connecting interfaces to the MAC (which is typically easy), learning about MIDI to some extent, learning about using a DAW, learning Omnisphere, and then figuring out how to record in this new environment (or route things back to your current recording setup).
It's not as bad as it sounds. You need to learn what suits your needs. But you must know some folks with MAC-based DAWs. I would start by talking to them and maybe sitting down with them if you can to see how things work and decide what DAW might be right for you if you want to get into the computer-based sound generation and recording scene. That experience in and of itself may dictate how you proceed.
In the mean time, when Omnisphere2 comes out I'll do some experimenting and reporting when I get my free upgrade. I don't have a Haken (must be nice!), but I do have a long ribbon controller for my Kurzweil keyboard controller that I can use to connect to Omnisphere to simulate some Haken-like things - also use the Etherwave CV as in my latest experiment with CV-to-MIDI conversion.
Rich
P.S. And it looks like that Firewire audio interface you have is fine, though only you will be able to judge if you like its sound for playback or possibly recording back to your Roland. And since you will be already digital on the computer, you are probably going to want to go digital back to that Roland for your Omnisphere tracks so you don't go through another round of conversion unless you now record the theremin to the DAW through the Audio interface. More experimenting you will be doing.
As they say in French, “Oy, Gevalt!”
I’ve seen Ed Eagan’s Haken Continuum/Omnisphere video and it is awesome. I know Ed personally, and HE is also awesome (as well as being a super nice guy). He wants to come over to my place sometime next month so maybe if I can get all the tools I need (including Omnisphere 2) Ed will be able to show me how to use the damn thing.
At the moment, I have no DAW at all, and I have never used one……although I did fiddle around with a very early version of Cubase (it was on diskettes) when I was first exploring the MIDI capabilities of the Moog MIDI Ethervox. I think that was when I had a G3….I’ve had several different Macs since that time.
CONFESSION: before today, when I googled, I didn’t even know what DAW stood for!
I often find that people who have the most recent and sophisticated musical soft & hard ware, produce recordings that sound great, with astonishing electronic FX, but they are hollow and empty. The “music”, so-called, is being created by the technology and not by the human soul. It all ends up sounding like a TERMINATOR soundtrack - amazing but forgettable. I think the trick is to make the technology work for YOU, and not the other way around.
I watched all the OMNISPHERE videos as Gordon Charlton suggested, and as the narrator keeps repeating over and over again, like a mantra, “POWERFUL, POWERFUL, POWERFUL”.
I’ll find out what DAW Ed Eagan uses and get that one.
That sounds great. I'm sure he will show you all you need to know. His video was actually quite instructive. That Haken can assign a different MIDI channel to every finger it simultaneously senses - and you can then assign each of those channels to a different Omnishpere instrument so each finger you play at the same time on that keyboard can come out a different sound (which you obviously know and can do with the internal synth). I was wondering how some of the videos I see on that mix different sounds so fluidly as they play - now I can see how its done.
As for DAWs, Omnisphere, Sample Libraries, DSP plug-ins - they are all just tools. They have absolutely no power whatsoever. The power is all in the mind of the person using them. Good luck.
These tools are like golf clubs. My game sucks so I figure if I just buy a more expensive golf club I'm going to be better - the marketing wouldn't lie to me right :-)
The dark secret to all these digital libraries and sound creation tools is that the professional things you hear made with them are all manipulated 7 ways till Sunday. So you get unsuspecting people buying this stuff, loading it up and it sounds like crap. They don't tell you you have to manipulate MIDI streams, fool with mod wheels, fine tune Continuous controller parameters, etc. So even if you are a great musician, you may not get the sound you want without tweaking MIDI in numerous ways. And that can be a total pain and counter-productive for some musicians.
But on the bright side, a lot of the Omnisphere patches sound pretty good out of the box.
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