I'm glad you (mostly) like this one. Btw that's my voice in your video at 2:30. So that's an item off my bucket list even if it's via the nerdiest back door route of "sound designer samples his own voice for lack of better options" 😁👌
I'm almost at a bingo. So far the Deepmind 12 has been safe and I'm not sure if the Virus TI counts as it was a video on the emulator that Florian did?
Its because we all keep buying so much crap. He waits for a while and then makes a video which reminds you of how stupid that purchase was. And we all click like and he’s our favourite person in the synth community. I think we may be suffering Stockholm Syndrome. 😉
Im gonna say it every year until my last breath Florian Casio - ct-s1000v, the weirdest invention ever created by man or mice, an actual real speech synthesiz synthesizer that they wanted to release 24+ years ago because of sample memory, but, decided to release it 24 years later as a singing synth, but half heartedly added an "outside bluetooth" adapter to the old micro USB just to make that work, you know - entering lyrics into the thing, via a cellphone, I guarantee you, there is no story like this - anywhere, good luck researching it!
Thank you for finally bringing granular synthesis to the channel! It's one of my favorite things to mess with and you can get some insane results out of it. If you want to try a more modern take on it, I can highly recommend Quanta 2. Keep up the good work! :D
The engines in the Ambient 0 feed into a granular processor really nicely because of the smooth FM synth of most of the sounds out of it. Pairs nicely with Texture Lab or any granular plugin you might have. Liven XFM is also nice as a sound source and maybe a little more general purpose than Ambient 0. But Ambient 0 does sound really pretty! I use it with clone of the eurorack module Mutable Instruments Cloud (CalSynth Typhoon) and Make Noise Maths (actually, Berhinger Abacus for less $$), for slewing, LFO, and taming the CV inputs of Clouds. (warning: do not get into eurorack. just get some plugins or VCV rack. )
Yeah. Field record everything, really you only need 1-3 recordings. Using very slow tempo on those 128 steps, P-lock walking through the position of the granular sample. Halfway there to making an 74 minute long ambient track as part of a magnum opus of a 4 movement piece (limited release on 4xCD) of sounds heard in your kitchen one day.
I have fallen down a very deep DIY synth hole (the kind that you can build yourself from a kit) and a lot of those are easy low hanging ripe pickings for a Bad Gear episode. Some are basically a citcuit board with knobs on and some LEDs. I'm a sucker for LEDs.
Oh this hurts. I own this. Some successes, sampled a wine glass, for example. Gives an experimental atmosphere for things. But all the ways you do things are so tedious. I just want to press a few buttons and go. Having said that, your results sound terrific here and it definitely is different sounding so I feel encouraged to keep trying!
Looks like a creative and fun little box. It sounds good in your jams. But your criticisms are valid I think, I can't imagine the workflow being nice. For hardware granular, I'll stick to the Iridium with its nice big screen.
I'm loving the one I got right after it dropped. Given that it and the Micro Freak are little hardware things, they're surprisingly powerful for what they are, plus they're actually controllable as opposed to the NeXT-based clunkiness I'd encountered back in the 1990s. Ya forgot to mention the granular innovator: Iannis Xenakis. Yep, he whupped this technique out while in the next state over (ie: Indiana) teaching at IU. So that was also granular in the VERY early days, back when microprocessors were still made of sticks and rocks and everything was happening (obtusely) in one of those monochrome NeXT windows. I'll take the twiddly knobs on the modern counterparts over NO knobs any ol' day.
It's built like a plastic toy. In that it is difficult for a child to break and has no small pieces to swallow. (maybe the knobs aren't actually that safe for children and musicians with pica)
You are a great sales man, and nice try. Frankly, I really like what I've seen from the LIVEN stuff, and you can't beat the price, but the latest Syncussion SY-1 remake is all the rave, and I'll stick to that for now!
In theory I really like everything sonicware has put out in practice I havent gotten anything from them yet. I kinda like that theyre not just throwing out their version of the usual things everyone offers.
The Sonicware SmplTrek is really good for its class and quite versatile. The SW product that blew me away is the ELZ_1. That little synth is built like a tank and has some very unique synth engines. It's fun to do sound design with and it sneaks itself into my music often. I haven't tried the new ELZ_1 Play, but it seems to be a good successor to the OG ELZ_1. Between this synth and the SmplTrek, you can get a lot of music creation done quickly and they both have USB unlike many other bits of Sonicware gear.
based on the opening music, this is the wimpiest sounding bad gear to ever make an appearance on Florianland. jeez this thing was dated ten years before they made it
0:55 I'd say that would be a valid complaint if we were talking about the Ambient 0. However, here, the 32 slots of 6 second samples is plenty. I just wish I could transfer samples directly via SD Card or something without using a proprietary web app to format the audio for laborious sysex transfer via MIDI OX.
@@jjrusy7438 Yes, you can sample audio directly onto the machine via line-in. But I'd much rather be able to do it via usb stick or sd card. Here's hoping the 2nd generation of Livens has usb data transfer or an sd card slot (a la the Sonicware instruments built on the Smpltrek platform).
Really nice review :) I wonder how it fares against the Minifreak 2.0 Update that brings Granular to that machine. The lack of USB connectivity of Sonicwave Liven devices is really a thing though. The Ambient0 just got a tiny firmware update, nothing big really, but since it was such a PITA updating via SysEx, I even wrote a small guide about how to do taht on Win and Mac and verify it arrived correctly. For a sample that's a no-go-solution I'd say. Thank you for just another review making me smile again! :)
Thanks for the jams. I wonder what the percentage good vs bad gear is. There must be a reason why you show all the "bad gear"... :) And the good gear must be wow
I would add to your list of hardware that does granular the Microfreak. It's actually really good. Even though it was something bolted on years later in a firmware update, they still have (a) more internal memory to hold the samples and (b) a computer interface to load them. Mini MIDI jacks though, so who can say which is better??
close enough, I got the Sonicware Liven Ambient zero; good idea, attractive price, but the menu diving and double shift buttons made me sell it in record time. Good contender for this show.
Texture Lab great for designing sounds ,as per the product name, it's a big clue 😀😀 Use it for sound design and soundscapes , ambient type of stuff and it's great. Chris Lody, Sonic Cartography and others really show what this thing can do.
This is my secret synth I use to get that classic "deleted scene from Event Horizon where lawrence fishburn watches the glitchy recording of the first ship that went to hell and the crew were subjected to nightmarish hell torture, but the studio thought it was too grotesque so they cut it and the original negatives were water damaged so they cant be remastered, leaving an underwhelming theatrical release that could have heen an all time cosmic horror masterpiece, but then the directer decided to make bad Resident evil movies instead for the next decade with his wife as the overpowered main character, ruining the RE lore" sound.
7:56 I'm triggered. The struggle was you had to choose between the nice monochrome monitor, or the color one, which did at least have color (but crap resolution).
At least the edges are smoothed and rounded on this XXL Volca... (only for connoisseurs of synth memes FB group 😅) Seriously i have the bass n beats and want to love it but that UI is cryptical...
Ouch! Because I find the whole subject fascinating it will be difficult for me to be short about it. So here we go: With granular samplers it’s the same as with samplers in general. When used superficially they can indeed be not much more then funny noise machines. If used with a clear vision they are however powertools. I see granular sampling as the best synthesis form that is still fathomable enough to be practical. Full resynthesis is in theory better but changing sounds per overtone is even more maddening then consciously creating good sounds with complex FM. Simply putting synthesiser sounds in a granular sampler and randomly mangling those does however not fall under creative use in my book, especially not if complete musical phrases are cut up. That’s not composing. That’s throwing dice! But the fault lies with the developers as well. Most granular engines I’ve checked out still lack the precision needed to unleash the principles full expressive potential. I’d for instance like to use aftertouch to precisely scrub the play head over the sample. If done carefully one could then even work without any filters at all by using the changing harmonic content of the sample itself. And that is only one example. In other words: A well designed granular sampler can be a precise sound scalpel. Providing one looks beyond the all too obvious novelty trickery
Full Tracks, Sample Packs: www.patreon.com/audiopilz
I dare you to manually program an Alternate Mode Inc. aka KAT, DITI!
ruclips.net/video/uyDe546ECbY/видео.htmlsi=5AxuIEslEPgenHoK
do one of those cydrums
@@AudioPilz are you sure you wantnto distribute this 😄
I'm glad you (mostly) like this one. Btw that's my voice in your video at 2:30. So that's an item off my bucket list even if it's via the nerdiest back door route of "sound designer samples his own voice for lack of better options" 😁👌
Wow, great! Didn’t know that was you!
It’s official every single piece of gear I own has made it on the channel.
Congrats! Bad Gear bingo!!!
Me too
(I only own a microfreak)
I'm almost at a bingo. So far the Deepmind 12 has been safe and I'm not sure if the Virus TI counts as it was a video on the emulator that Florian did?
Every single gear will end up on this channel eventually.
Woop! JX-08 + MC101 + Reface DX owner here (got an MV-1 also, but I'm counting that as a jumped up MC-101)
The intro sounded so thin that it could almost be used to roll a spliff with.
lol
Ma man!! 💨✌🏽
that final jab about "too busy making music" is spot-on incomparable wit.
Thank you so much!!!
Stabbed us like Commodus did to Maximus. 🤣
How he puts one of these out every week is truly a miracle, a blessing. Saint Florian.
❤️❤️❤️
Its because we all keep buying so much crap. He waits for a while and then makes a video which reminds you of how stupid that purchase was. And we all click like and he’s our favourite person in the synth community. I think we may be suffering Stockholm Syndrome. 😉
The TB-3’s workflow is so efficient he has ample time left ocer
From a man to a King, now from a King to a Saint. Long live Saint Florian!
@@caspay21 this is the correct answer
Im gonna say it every year until my last breath Florian Casio - ct-s1000v, the weirdest invention ever created by man or mice, an actual real speech synthesiz synthesizer that they wanted to release 24+ years ago because of sample memory, but, decided to release it 24 years later as a singing synth, but half heartedly added an "outside bluetooth" adapter to the old micro USB just to make that work, you know - entering lyrics into the thing, via a cellphone, I guarantee you, there is no story like this - anywhere, good luck researching it!
Another Friday, another Bad gear Episode.
Perfection.
Have a great weekend!!!
The visuals for the finale look exactly how granular sounds to me. Meaning 3D pigeons in toilets. Excellent job!
Thank you!!!
6 seconds over 32 patches - whoopidoo in the age of memory that’s nothing to be proud of. My oven has greater capacity
My short term memory has double that!
My short term memory has double that!
@@allgonewrongfulit pollutes your mix aswell. Sign me up to disappointment
Thank you for finally bringing granular synthesis to the channel! It's one of my favorite things to mess with and you can get some insane results out of it. If you want to try a more modern take on it, I can highly recommend Quanta 2. Keep up the good work! :D
Thank you so much!!! Actually my entire DAW is granular;)
@@AudioPilz Anything is a granular synth if you try hard enough. ;)
Happy weekend my dude, you always deliver best conent and music memes
Got the Ambient 0 as my first sonicware product and must say they really impressed me
Nice!
The engines in the Ambient 0 feed into a granular processor really nicely because of the smooth FM synth of most of the sounds out of it. Pairs nicely with Texture Lab or any granular plugin you might have. Liven XFM is also nice as a sound source and maybe a little more general purpose than Ambient 0. But Ambient 0 does sound really pretty!
I use it with clone of the eurorack module Mutable Instruments Cloud (CalSynth Typhoon) and Make Noise Maths (actually, Berhinger Abacus for less $$), for slewing, LFO, and taming the CV inputs of Clouds.
(warning: do not get into eurorack. just get some plugins or VCV rack. )
I've only used the Smpltrek, but it exceeded my expectations. Very cool bit of kit
My god, NEW BEST GEAR EPISODE!
😃
The "granular tweak lean" is the new "guitar solo stank face"
😂😂😂
That lean in "Dagobert Michelson". Florian wasn't tweaking samples; he was steering a cruise ship.
🤣🤣🤣
I love this channel so goddamn much
Ha! The field recordings joke... For whatever reason, that actually took a second to process.
ngl, I liked the intro, maybe a thick drone bass underneath it could seal the deal.
The Liven Ambient 0 and this Texture Lab are the Livens I never knew I needed. I love it!
👍👍👍
That finale video was something else... what have i just seen?
Jam 1 is amazing. Really great stuff!
Thank you so much!!!
that last meme was perfect!
Thanks!
Their new drum synth is pretty dope, sounds killer.
I really have to give that one a try!
I don’t need one, but I think I need one
I feel you;)
Probably more fitting for abstracty ambient stuff than anything rhythm based....thanks, now i want one
Agreed!!!
Yeah. Field record everything, really you only need 1-3 recordings. Using very slow tempo on those 128 steps, P-lock walking through the position of the granular sample. Halfway there to making an 74 minute long ambient track as part of a magnum opus of a 4 movement piece (limited release on 4xCD) of sounds heard in your kitchen one day.
Omg that opening; I’m dead lol
FMA!!!
FLORIAN YOU CAN'T OPEN WITH THAT FMA SCENE.
Why, brother?
@@illustriouschin the feels
It's illegal, I know...
@@parkersxp44 he'd give his right arm for a decent synthesizer
Pigeon video is insane and music is similar. Thank you for music and imagination!
Always a pleasure, thanks!!!
Once again, my favourite sampler, the Electribe ES-1, makes a brief appearance! The P-6 is a lot of fun too and also has a granular synth
❤️❤️❤️ES-1❤️❤️❤️
Its like it has a wierd reverby filter noise you can't truly turn off. Florian kills the jams as usual still though.
"too busy making music" - LOLOL already won the joke of the year.
Seeing as it's the Elric brothers, maybe that opening should have been saved for the Moog Mother-32.
This looks like it would be fun to play with! I'm still slotted for a P-6 though. It's gonna have to wait. Thanks, Florian!
Always a pleasure, thanks!!!
all synthesis can be granular if you smash your microkorg with a hammer several times
lol
Grainular synths are just one of the steps towards the rompler revival.
I have avoided granular synthesis until very recently where I bought a 1010 lemondrop and it quickly became one of my favorite bits of gear.
1010 is awesome!
Can't wait for the Tastty Chips Mega, the Uno Pro X and the Sonicware Cydrums Florian treatment.
Great suggestions, thank you!!!
I have fallen down a very deep DIY synth hole (the kind that you can build yourself from a kit) and a lot of those are easy low hanging ripe pickings for a Bad Gear episode. Some are basically a citcuit board with knobs on and some LEDs. I'm a sucker for LEDs.
Interesting!
2:15 The QY10 finally makes it into a Bad Gear episode!
It's my last resort piece of gear;)
Okay but that Glitchyeen sample went absolutely dummy holy shit
😃
Roland 2-line displays looking pretty good now right?
True that!!!
Ich habe dieses Video an meisten gewartet! Danke🙌🏻
Freut mich zu hören, danke!
Oh this hurts. I own this. Some successes, sampled a wine glass, for example. Gives an experimental atmosphere for things. But all the ways you do things are so tedious. I just want to press a few buttons and go. Having said that, your results sound terrific here and it definitely is different sounding so I feel encouraged to keep trying!
Thank you so much!!!
few buttons pushes and granular synthesis do not got hand in hand..
Looks like a creative and fun little box. It sounds good in your jams. But your criticisms are valid I think, I can't imagine the workflow being nice. For hardware granular, I'll stick to the Iridium with its nice big screen.
This reminds me to actually start learning how to use my Ambient 0.
I really have to give that one a try!
@@AudioPilz Yes please, make a story about him
BadGear Starting to rack up the Sonicware lineup. I am here for it.
I'm loving the one I got right after it dropped. Given that it and the Micro Freak are little hardware things, they're surprisingly powerful for what they are, plus they're actually controllable as opposed to the NeXT-based clunkiness I'd encountered back in the 1990s.
Ya forgot to mention the granular innovator: Iannis Xenakis. Yep, he whupped this technique out while in the next state over (ie: Indiana) teaching at IU. So that was also granular in the VERY early days, back when microprocessors were still made of sticks and rocks and everything was happening (obtusely) in one of those monochrome NeXT windows. I'll take the twiddly knobs on the modern counterparts over NO knobs any ol' day.
Kudos on making it sound so good! Any time I flip mine on, all I get from it is a jumbled mess.
Thank you so much!!!
No grain, no pain. Wise words! That piece of gear shows that there is a market for everything.
...or maybe not;)
Luv to see you review the new Stylophone Genx2 synth with CV/gate
Great suggestion, thank you!!!
AHAHAHah one of the best videos by @AudioPilz, and makes me wanna buy a Texture Lab so badly :D
For as cheap feeling the body is it sure can survive a fall off my desk and be just fine
Definitely not fit for the zombie apocalypse
Their sound engines are pretty sick though.Ended up getting an ambient Ø and it’s wonderful minus the keys.
It's built like a plastic toy. In that it is difficult for a child to break and has no small pieces to swallow. (maybe the knobs aren't actually that safe for children and musicians with pica)
Bruh. You went Full Skibidi Toilet. NEVER go Full Skibidi Toilet.
No, that's German meta brainrot;)
Do you think the intro tune could have had more reverb? I almost think I could recognise when the notes ended and the next started
😂😂😂
wonderful tunes again.
Thank you so much!!!
How I want to see him do an episode of Bad Gear on the Liven Mega Synthesis, I just got one for Christmas and it's just fun & I feel very meme-able.
You are a great sales man, and nice try. Frankly, I really like what I've seen from the LIVEN stuff, and you can't beat the price, but the latest Syncussion SY-1 remake is all the rave, and I'll stick to that for now!
I was just looking this up when this video dropped
Are you getting one?;)
@@AudioPilzI was looking at the mega synthesis since they’re from the same manufacturer, but after watching this, maybe
7:20 Pigeons waking up in the Backrooms had me rolling the ground :D
For the first time in history I watched a bad gear episode and didn’t want to buy it. Congratulations?
It doesn't work every time;)
Sounds like it exists in a large diameter sewer pipe. Disappointed that you didn't give it the He-Man flex test.
😂😂😂
In theory I really like everything sonicware has put out in practice I havent gotten anything from them yet. I kinda like that theyre not just throwing out their version of the usual things everyone offers.
Great concepts!
The Sonicware SmplTrek is really good for its class and quite versatile. The SW product that blew me away is the ELZ_1. That little synth is built like a tank and has some very unique synth engines. It's fun to do sound design with and it sneaks itself into my music often. I haven't tried the new ELZ_1 Play, but it seems to be a good successor to the OG ELZ_1. Between this synth and the SmplTrek, you can get a lot of music creation done quickly and they both have USB unlike many other bits of Sonicware gear.
Humpback whales are awesome. Come to Nova Scotia and I will introduce you to them. Happy weekend!
based on the opening music, this is the wimpiest sounding bad gear to ever make an appearance on Florianland. jeez this thing was dated ten years before they made it
0:55 I'd say that would be a valid complaint if we were talking about the Ambient 0. However, here, the 32 slots of 6 second samples is plenty. I just wish I could transfer samples directly via SD Card or something without using a proprietary web app to format the audio for laborious sysex transfer via MIDI OX.
can you just play your samples in analog output form and record them on the texture lab line level?
@@jjrusy7438 Yes, you can sample audio directly onto the machine via line-in. But I'd much rather be able to do it via usb stick or sd card. Here's hoping the 2nd generation of Livens has usb data transfer or an sd card slot (a la the Sonicware instruments built on the Smpltrek platform).
Isn't this still borderline music tech archeology?;)
"..some of the most iconic fart noises from your favorite modular synth artists were actually just sampled farts." Brilliant.
the synth with no attack
Completely attack-free...
ah I’m finally ahead of you! You’re reviewing things I own rather than reviewing things I want to own
Ah, getting into Bad Gear bingo, I see...
Man the thumbnail was so fuckin funny
Thank you so much!!!
"Top ten of worst bad..."
finally got me.
Would love to see your take on the DSP and DAC troubled Novation Nova/SN/SN2!
Great suggestions, thank you!!!
My BlackBox is my go to
👍👍👍
It would be interesting to see a top 10 of your favourite gear
Cool little gear.. for some good minimal music!
👍👍👍
Really nice review :) I wonder how it fares against the Minifreak 2.0 Update that brings Granular to that machine. The lack of USB connectivity of Sonicwave Liven devices is really a thing though. The Ambient0 just got a tiny firmware update, nothing big really, but since it was such a PITA updating via SysEx, I even wrote a small guide about how to do taht on Win and Mac and verify it arrived correctly. For a sample that's a no-go-solution I'd say.
Thank you for just another review making me smile again! :)
Minifreak is a really tough competition! Thanks!
I just want a hardware version of Propellerhead Malström for my granular needs. 😀
Jam 1 has some nice late 80s Jarre vibes.
Thank you so much!!!
Thanks for the jams.
I wonder what the percentage good vs bad gear is.
There must be a reason why you show all the "bad gear"... :)
And the good gear must be wow
Thanks!!! That's more of a philosophical question;)
Love mine. It's a vaporwave ethereal beast
I would add to your list of hardware that does granular the Microfreak. It's actually really good. Even though it was something bolted on years later in a firmware update, they still have (a) more internal memory to hold the samples and (b) a computer interface to load them. Mini MIDI jacks though, so who can say which is better??
True, I really have to give that one another shot!
7:55 Oh noo ! FLASHBACK!
I feel you
So this is basically Reason's 23 year old Grain Sample Manipulator in a box with fewer features?
Less memory tho;)
close enough, I got the Sonicware Liven Ambient zero; good idea, attractive price, but the menu diving and double shift buttons made me sell it in record time. Good contender for this show.
Great suggestions, thank you!!!
you gotta do the Ambient!
Texture Lab great for designing sounds ,as per the product name, it's a big clue 😀😀 Use it for sound design and soundscapes , ambient type of stuff and it's great. Chris Lody, Sonic Cartography and others really show what this thing can do.
bleep bloop fart noises go bbbbbbrrrrr
🤣🤣🤣
2:40. A diet full of grains is good for your sonic health
😂😂😂
I prefer a Donner!
This is my secret synth I use to get that classic "deleted scene from Event Horizon where lawrence fishburn watches the glitchy recording of the first ship that went to hell and the crew were subjected to nightmarish hell torture, but the studio thought it was too grotesque so they cut it and the original negatives were water damaged so they cant be remastered, leaving an underwhelming theatrical release that could have heen an all time cosmic horror masterpiece, but then the directer decided to make bad Resident evil movies instead for the next decade with his wife as the overpowered main character, ruining the RE lore" sound.
Best. Description. Yet.
Love my morphagene,
MoDnUlAr not even twice !
7:56 I'm triggered. The struggle was you had to choose between the nice monochrome monitor, or the color one, which did at least have color (but crap resolution).
I know the struggle...
@7:10 oh nein, vertikal rotierende fisch.
Lol, ein Kenner!
synth suggestion: the Liven Lofi-12, a zesty blend between a wolca sample and a bootleg sp1200
Great suggestions, thank you!!!
I'm now seriously considering changing my name via deed poll to Cheeks McMilligan.
Yamaha QY10 spotted. Looking forward to it's review.
"Belcome to Bad Gear..."
lol
Eine wirklich sehr nette und liebe Beigabe mit den Samples 🙂
😃 😃 😃
At least the edges are smoothed and rounded on this XXL Volca... (only for connoisseurs of synth memes FB group 😅)
Seriously i have the bass n beats and want to love it but that UI is cryptical...
lol
Ouch! Because I find the whole subject fascinating it will be difficult for me to be short about it. So here we go: With granular samplers it’s the same as with samplers in general. When used superficially they can indeed be not much more then funny noise machines. If used with a clear vision they are however powertools. I see granular sampling as the best synthesis form that is still fathomable enough to be practical. Full resynthesis is in theory better but changing sounds per overtone is even more maddening then consciously creating good sounds with complex FM. Simply putting synthesiser sounds in a granular sampler and randomly mangling those does however not fall under creative use in my book, especially not if complete musical phrases are cut up. That’s not composing. That’s throwing dice! But the fault lies with the developers as well. Most granular engines I’ve checked out still lack the precision needed to unleash the principles full expressive potential. I’d for instance like to use aftertouch to precisely scrub the play head over the sample. If done carefully one could then even work without any filters at all by using the changing harmonic content of the sample itself. And that is only one example. In other words: A well designed granular sampler can be a precise sound scalpel. Providing one looks beyond the all too obvious novelty trickery
8:18. Ipad a believer !
Never gonna give U up!
iPad neva let’s me down
I gots the touch and gives me the sounds!
😍
the intro has me dead af