[HN Gopher] Helm
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       Helm
        
       Author : Tomte
       Score  : 240 points
       Date   : 2023-11-25 15:19 UTC (1 days ago)
        
 (HTM) web link (tytel.org)
 (TXT) w3m dump (tytel.org)
        
       | 12bits wrote:
       | Helm and Surge XT are great synths (and effects in Surge's case).
       | When my nephew wanted to dabble in audio production, I used them
       | to beef up his free copy of Ableton Live Lite.
        
       | dither8 wrote:
       | Don't forget Vital which is Matt's newer synth. It continues to
       | be open-source as well.
       | 
       | https://vital.audio/
       | 
       | https://github.com/mtytel/vital
        
         | Iridescent_ wrote:
         | So what would be the difference between the two of them?
        
           | Tomte wrote:
           | Vital is a wavetable synth, Helm a "traditional" subtractive
           | synth.
        
         | actualwitch wrote:
         | Did vital have no updates whatsoever after release 3 years ago,
         | or are the updates not open source?
        
           | Kye wrote:
           | There are some threads on the forum, but no answer to the
           | question of whether any new code will appear.
           | 
           | https://forum.vital.audio/search?q=source
        
         | dmix wrote:
         | There's a good course on skillshare/udemy that teaches
         | synthesis and sound design using Vital
         | 
         | https://www.udemy.com/course/the-complete-beginners-guide-to...
        
       | ShadowBanThis01 wrote:
       | Is what?
        
         | spamatica wrote:
         | As I was already familiar with Helm it didn't strike me that it
         | is not easy to figure out what it is from that home page.
         | 
         | It is a software based synthesiser mostly used as a plugin into
         | a music creation application, usually called DAW (Digital Audio
         | Workstation).
         | 
         | There are tons of these, not as many that are open source.
        
           | monoscient wrote:
           | It's also really good and the interface is really nice.
           | 
           | I don't use it much since Vital, by the same author, does
           | most of what Helm does & more.
           | 
           | It's honestly so nice of him to make both of them available
           | for free.
        
           | ShadowBanThis01 wrote:
           | Thanks for that. A bit of it belongs in the title, regardless
           | of what information the link goes to. For example..
           | 
           | Helm: open-source software-based synthesizer
        
       | aeonik wrote:
       | This was the first subtractive synth I got really into. It's so
       | good!
       | 
       | Matt Tytel also made an open source wave table synth called vital
       | that I'm also in love with that you can find here:
       | 
       | https://vital.audio/
       | 
       | git repo is here:
       | 
       | https://github.com/mtytel/vital
        
       | Kye wrote:
       | Helm has some of the simplest modulation among free synths. All
       | the modulation and its strength is visible out front without
       | needing a mod matrix. Pigments is the best among non-free synths,
       | but I would still use Helm if I didn't have all the softsynths
       | I've collected since I depended on it years ago.
        
       | armchairhacker wrote:
       | My favorite VST is Surge: https://surge-synthesizer.github.io/
        
       | zitterbewegung wrote:
       | How is this different to the synths I can find in Logic Pro
       | unless is it just open source ? This is a really cool project
       | though.
        
         | bane wrote:
         | Most digital audio workstations (DAWs) support instrument and
         | effect plugins. The industry has largely settled on the VST
         | interface for this [1]. On Macs it's a bit more complicated
         | [2], I believe you can use VSTs, but there's also Apple's AU
         | plugins and AAX.
         | 
         | Logic Pro should support AU but not VST I think. There's an
         | entire industry that makes and sells these plugins, preset
         | packs, sample packs, and other services. For example, Roland
         | makes a pro VST/AU plugin called Galaxias [3] which requires a
         | subscription but gets you access to near perfect software
         | reproductions of nearly their entire synth lineup.
         | 
         | 1 - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virtual_Studio_Technology
         | 
         | 2 - https://producerhive.com/buyer-guides/vst/au-vs-vst-
         | differen...
         | 
         | 3 - https://youtu.be/C3o-ATXh_AE
        
       | bane wrote:
       | Another very powerful (but now old) free softsynth is Synth1 by
       | Daichi Laboratory[1][4]. If you look around a bit you can find
       | literally tens of thousands of presets for it[2], which then
       | spawned the excellent Synth1 Librarian which helps bring some
       | sense to this huge library [3]
       | 
       | 1 - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Synth1
       | 
       | 2 - https://archive.org/details/synth1_202202
       | 
       | 3 - https://www.kvraudio.com/product/synth1-librarian-by-
       | neutrin...
       | 
       | 4 - https://youtu.be/__2AFeG4xII
        
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       (page generated 2023-11-26 23:02 UTC)