80's pop/rock soundset for Motif - why aren't there more sound libraries like this?

[WorknMan]

It wasn't too long ago that I discovered the 80's 'Playkeyz' library for Motif synths:

 

http://www.playkeyz.com

 

I don't know if the libraries are really as good as they sound, but just listening to the samples, I nearly lost my mind hehe

 

I don't have a Motif, but I immediately went out looking for similar libraries like this for Motif and other synths, but came up empty-handed. In fact, unless I'm just not looking in the right place, I don't know if any other sound libraries are dedicated to replicating sounds from famous 'top 40' songs.

 

Now, being a person who LOVES playing/recording cover songs but HATES programming synths, I have to wonder if there are others out there like me? It seems that an entire industry has sprung up around recreating the sounds of retro synths, so I'm wondering why there doesn't seem to be much effort around recreating specific 'famous' sounds? Is it really a pain in the arse to pull off, or is there just not a market for it?

[clausan]

WOW! Made me think about getting a used Motif rack .I think you have to be very good at programming to create patches like these. I spent days trying to create and perfect Cutting Crew's I Just Died in Your Arms Tonight for my Fantom X6 and never got even close. I used to have a Kuzweil PC1se with some nice 80's sounds, but AFAIR not this many or this good.

[plepue]

I play in an 80s band and have searched and searched as well for my Tritons. I share your frustration. I'm sure the sounds are out there in many of the 3rd party soundsets but they are not named in a way that helps me. If they simply said that the tone was similar to ("Name of Song") that would be wonderful. I have had to program all mine from sratch. I often think I have the greatest, most accurate sound and then 6 months later I listen to the original and notice how off mine is. Its a constant evolution and the reason I keep two of the exact same board and may never buy a new one. I seriously dread the thought of ever having to recreate the hundreds of custom patches and combinations I have. I cant tell you how much time I put into creating the lead tone for the solo on Girls Just Wanna Have Fun.

[DmitryKo]

unless I'm just not looking in the right place, I don't know if any other sound libraries are dedicated to replicating sounds from famous 'top 40' songs.

 

The same two banks are available at MotifMart: www.motifator.com/mart where they call them 80s Pop/Rock Volumes I and II.

 

Honestly, the stock ROM soundset has very similar sounds which were obviously modelled after much the same pop/rock hits (some Roxette and Van Halen presets are already there for example; didn't look for anything else); you can easily tweak factory Voices to be the perfect match to the original if you need to. These custom banks just offer the convenience of having these voices tweaked already and organized in multi-part Performances (combis) complete with corresponding arpeggios, which enables instant hassle-free live playing.

[WorknMan]

you can easily tweak factory Voices to be the perfect match to the original if you need to. These custom banks just offer the convenience of having these voices tweaked already and organized in multi-part Performances (combis) complete with corresponding arpeggios, which enables instant hassle-free live playing.

 

Well, maybe YOU can easily tweak the presets, but don't speak for the rest of us It's like saying, 'If you can't find a program on your PC to do xyz, you can easily write your own.' Meh, I'd rather pay somebody else to do it.

 

As an aside, after posting this, I noticed that this exact topic popped up on the Roland forums, and no, I didn't post it

http://forums.rolandclan.com/?action=show_thread&thread=35755&fid=8&page=1

 

Clearly, there seems to be an untapped market for this kind of thing ...

[AnalogBastard]

I purchased several of these sound sets from Motifator to include the 80's library. I was more than satisfied with them. Yes it's true you could probably edit some of these sounds yourself from the motif presets, but the convenience factor is huge. I really lack the patience to dig deeply into the editing menu of the yamaha and these libraries delivered what I needed.

I'm much more in my element fussing with patch cords on a modular synth then trying to program anything remotely complicated on the motif.

[DmitryKo]

don't speak for the rest of us It's like saying, 'If you can't find a program on your PC to do xyz, you can easily write your own.'

No, it's more like "a have all the utilities on my disk but I'm just to lazy to look up their syntaxis and construct a proper batch file"

[ricoche]

 

I'm wondering why there doesn't seem to be much effort around recreating specific 'famous' sounds?

 

 

In my opinion, I think it's mainly because there is no standard format for creating, distributing, and playing back patches. WAV and MID are close to standard formats that most hardware and software will play. However, with regards to synth or keyboard patches there's lacking a standard format. If you play Korg, Yamaha, Roland, Nord, etc. which format are you going to program in?

 

If someone creates 80's patches for the Yamaha Motif ES, you're not going to be able to use them on the Korg M3. If some guy has the Roland Fantom, same deal. So right off the bat, your synth community will be limited. It would be great to have like a "Youtube" of patch exchanges, but unfortunately a site doesn't exist probably due to the lack of an "all purpose" patch format.

 

Until either an incredibly popular synth comes along that "everybody" wants like the Yamaha DX7 of long ago, OR there's a more universal way to create a patch that can be played or interpreted on most machines, I don't think many users will want to spend the time creating and distributing patches.

 

Of course one could argue that "subtractive synthesis" is universal and thus if you know what you are doing you can program on any make or model provided the parameters exist on your hardware or software. However, that relies on everyone knowing how to apply such info to their instrument.

 

I remember back in the 80's when I first had my Yamaha DX-7 and Roland D-50. There weren't a ton of synths around and very little if any software. Patch librarians were popular and it was more common to exchange patches and discuss patch making. Patches were pretty abundant and patch communities flourished. Nowadays there's just too many choices which is arguably a nice thing I suppose, but at the same time it prevents anyone from really getting to know their instrument in order to easily create and exchange patches.

 

For the average synth user it's all about presets these days. Synths of the past had limited patch banks and thus ones appetite for more sounds and patches grew rather quickly. Nowadays with hundreds or even thousands of preset sounds, it takes longer for synth users to desire more out of their machines. In other words, I actually don't think the demand for new patches is as high as it once was back in the 80's for example.

 

Just my thoughts.

[McHale]

 

I play in an 80s band and have searched and searched as well for my Tritons.

 

 

What songs are you looking for? I have 10 years of 80's patches programmed into my Triton.

 

But I agree, those patches sound awesome...