MUST HAVE Softsynths for rap production

[I <3 The Beatle]

Right now I have a Triton Extreme, BFD (w/ 8 bit kit expansion), and Trilogy.

Yes, this is enough to make good beats with..but I'm a slut. Also, not interested in any outboard other than my keyboard (price, convenience, portability, etc. etc.)

While I'm here, lets cover all the bases... drums, bass, horns, wood winds, piano, strings, voice, pads, etc. etc.

I am really interested what you guys are using, I'm looking to drop some cash

[matt thomas]

I'd get a sampler, possibly kontact
also a moog emulation, probably from arturia
I'd also down load the free http://www.yohng.com/piano.html
and the free vinyl plug from izotope

matt

[Methlab]

oh man..so many..I love atmosphere for my sweeps..love colossus..damn, I use a lot of synths to list. I love 80s shit...anything 80s or that can get tweaked to sound real big like Reaktor.

[cynic one]

kontakt
reaktor
absynth
fm7
gmedia m-tron
trilogy
v-station
impOSCar
vanguard
quadrasid
albino

those should cover you............

[kojo]

Kontakt 2---grab some GIGA sample cds while ur at it
Proteus X plus expansions (virtuoso, mophatt, vintage synths)
hypersonic 2


synths
______
FM7
arp2600
vanguard
albino
Discovery
Z3ta
ultra focus
Superwave

[The Marrvel]

Battery is often the foundation of my production. It's very good for drums and even triggered phrases. I'll probably never go back to MPC. Trilogy is great! Atmosphere has great strings but it didn't really work on my style of beats. Hypersonic 2 seems to work better for hip hop. I like the minimoog V also. Mtron is kinda novelty, but if you want to sound like Timbo on occasion, it'll work for you.

Honestly, if I had a Triton, besides Trilogy and Battery, I wouldn't even use soft synths much.

[matt thomas]

actually look at the emu pci cards sampler, I know you said no hardware, but it costs about the same as software plus you get the card

narco

[Methlab]

yeah, i should put a disclaimer that I personally am not into the same synths that have established themselves as go to hip hop standbys. For me, Atmoshpere is the shit, because it sounds so big w/out needing layers.

In fact 60% of the synths I have been using lately. my boy who produces too doesn't like or use. I am really into alternative shit, and my new beats reflect that. So I will now either fall on my face and lose my income from no new sales, or i'll sell stuff that reflects me more acurately. either way, here are some synths that ARE go to's that many guys i know getting placements are using:

Collosus
Trilogy (if you need bass and can't play bass guitar, use this)
Cakewalk Dimension
Reaktor
Hypersonic 2
Battery (the core of my beatmaking. the shit. the ****ing bomb, whatever you want to call it, this is my favorite VST ever for beats)
Kontakt
RA
Pro 53
MiniMonsta (moog emu, my favorite one)

That should start someone off right and break their wallet at the same time.

[Nahuel]

I tried a brunch of soft synths, many are nice, but that korg collection is above average.

[HeatWAVS]

Albino

[I <3 The Beatle]

Thanks fellas....damn there's a lot there!

So you guys are liking Battery for drums? I am definetly looking for a hip hop sound (BFD does the acoustic sounds well) and the Triton drums just don't do it for me.

What do you find Kontact useful for?

Reaktor?

A lot I haven't heard of, like wtf is Albino?

I hope I don't sound like an a-hole but if you guys could go more in depth that would be great. I really appreciate the lists, I am going to be running google searches tonight or tommorow....

[perun]

Originally Posted by I <3 The Beatle

Thanks fellas....damn there's a lot there!

So you guys are liking Battery for drums? I am definetly looking for a hip hop sound (BFD does the acoustic sounds well) and the Triton drums just don't do it for me.

What do you find Kontact useful for?

Reaktor?

A lot I haven't heard of, like wtf is Albino?

I hope I don't sound like an a-hole but if you guys could go more in depth that would be great. I really appreciate the lists, I am going to be running google searches tonight or tommorow....

KONTAKT really ROCKS!!! Load it with top-quality samples and you won't be needing much... it sounds 10 times better than any other soft-sampler... OK, we're talking about soft-synths/samplers only??? I'm using it all the time...

Regards!!!

[RaGe]

Originally Posted by Methlab

yeah, i should put a disclaimer that I personally am not into the same synths that have established themselves as go to hip hop standbys. For me, Atmoshpere is the shit, because it sounds so big w/out needing layers.

In fact 60% of the synths I have been using lately. my boy who produces too doesn't like or use. I am really into alternative shit, and my new beats reflect that. So I will now either fall on my face and lose my income from no new sales, or i'll sell stuff that reflects me more acurately.

Meth,
Atmosphere is great but to me sometimes (often) it sounds too big/nice/polished for hip-hop. When using Atmosphere it is very tempting to use those gorgeous sounds but my tracks end up sounding very "euro" which may or may be not a bad thing (i like your comment about your music reflecting yourself and the politics that come with that).

Also I hate going thru presets ... And when I am laying down tracks and I have this particular sound in my head, going thru hundreds of patches kinda kills the flow. Very frustrating to say the least.

[Arka]

If I could have just one, it would be Minimonsta for sure. Its by far the most analog sounding VSTi I´ve come across so far.

[azwun25]

Some of my favs:'

Atmosphere
Trilogy
Stylus RMX
Lounge Lizard EP2
Arturia Moog Modular V
Scarbee Vintage Keys
Kontakt 2
Albino
Synthology Ivory (best piano IMHO)

There's many more that I just can't think of right now.

[PhonoquO]

I second all that Methlab listed. My personal favs are Battery, Colossus, Hypersonic 2, Minimonsta, Trilogy, and Phatmatik Pro (ultimate chopper/zoner)

[TWC]

I just got Blue, by Rob Papen, the same guy that did Albino. Its got some really nice sounds and a nice interface... not sure how it'll work for hiphop but definitly one of the nicest sounding and looking softsynths ive come across

[PeeWeeGee]

Get ALL the stuff from Spectrasonics. Eric Pershing is a genius. Also, grab the NI Komplete 3.

You're finished with soft synths for a LOOOOOONG time if you got those.

[I <3 The Beatle]

Thanks boys! And yes, Eric Pershing is a genius for making Trilogy..if his other libraries are that good then .

Seriously, I don't even audition basses on my Triton since I've gotten Trilogy...that's probably a bad thing, but those basses just sound so effin good!

Seriously, we live in the best beat making time ever IMO. Cost to quality is just out of this world...

[FunkFaker]

a lot of people sleep on ohm force plugins. really great for getting completely different sounds out of organic instruments, or drum sounds/samples!

as for synths, i loved the impOSCar, arturia moog and reason.

[Maddstone]

Another plugin I simply luv is Edirol's HQ-Orchestral and Super Quartet.Edirol is simply tight, period.

I agree, that Korg Legacy Collection is worth a look into, so is Hypersonic and Albino for synth Needs.NI also does some nice stuff with FM7.Look into them if u want that synthness.