D3 Factory Sounds

[Kriminal]

did a little experiment...

using the Pads catagory, as it has the most presets, and these were likely to be the most complex

Pads - 69 Presets in total
Layers Used

1- 25
2 - 13
3 - 17
4 - 8
5 - 2
6 - 2
7 - 0
8 - 2

i didnt go thru the whole lot to check, but quite a few had repeated layers

interestingly, one of the 8 layer sounds had 8 layers that were the same, with zero detune and zero spread...so 1 layer would have done the same job

when i first tried this, i looked at the bass catagory as a reference, but realised i was looking at D2 sounds, but here are the results...

Layers Used

1 - 28
2 - 12
3 - 7
4 - 1
5 - 1
6 - 0
7 - 0
8 - 0

of course, you would excpect a bass sound to be much simpler than a pad sound, but layer wise, the numbers are quite similar

in conclusion, realistically, you could easily get away with 4 layers imo....

[Teksonik]

Are you suggesting they should remove 4 layers ? A bit late now. I've rarely used all 8 but sometimes do go over 4.

I'd rather have too many than too few.

If you're talking about Mystic Choir KS there is some variation in the individual voices and the voices are being modulated differently. It's not just about spread and detune. So no, one voice would not have made the same sound.

I count 2 in the Pads Bank with 8 and there are 73 patches in Dune 3 Factory/Pads here. None of them look like ones I might have added by mistake.

I think as Dune has grown over the years each of the Layers has gotten so powerful that you don't need many of them these days to create complex sounds but still it's nice to have a few extra around just in case.

[Kriminal]

yes, 2 with 8, my error (i even mentioned 2, but listed wrong number )

the 8 voice one you mentioned, i did solo and check, and the diff was so minimal that 1 voice was enough. (a couple were detuned at osc an equal amt so cancelled each other out for a start)



i wouldnt suggest removing anything, just an observation that 4 may have been adequate from the start.

[bones]

Plenty of scope for an entry level instrument though - just a single layer, only the V/A oscillator, just a couple of effects, one MSEG and a smaller mod matrix. Whatever you can fit on a single page GUI. I'd be all over it.

[Teksonik]

the 8 voice one you mentioned, i did solo and check, and the diff was so minimal that 1 voice was enough. (a couple were detuned at osc an equal amt so cancelled each other out for a start)

He is using the matrix to provide some subtle movement in the patch:

D3 031119.png

Voice 6 does have detune set at 81% while the rest are 64%. It's the subtle variations that bring richness to the patch.

Could he have used fewer voices ? Probably but what the heck we have 8 why not use them if you wish. That patch isn't terribly heavy on CPU. Maybe he was just trying to use all 8 voices as an example of taking advantage of the full power of D3.

Anyway we've had 8 voices since the original Dune so it's nice to know they are there even if rarely needed especially now with the power of the current individual layers in D3. Of course we can still use the global voice detune rather than the layer Osc detune if we wish so the 8 voices could be useful in that scenario.

I like that it's hard to "hit the wall" in Dune 3. For example in Hive I often find myself wishing for more Layers than the 2. Having more "head room" in Dune 3 is what sets it apart from others like Sylenth, Hive, Ana 2 etc......

[Kriminal]

anyway, it was just a bit of exploring, rained all day so couldnt get out.... MK patches were very good, most only use 1 layer, a lot of the others came across as lazy programming, and most are totally unusable in a song

[Teksonik]

Everyone has a different definition of "usable". I think most of the patches do their job by showing what range of sounds Dune 3 is capable of creating.

[Kriminal]

Everyone has a different definition of "usable". I think most of the patches do their job by showing what range of sounds Dune 3 is capable of creating.

yes, i agree with that, showcase sounds.... but not what i would call good ingredients for a song.

[bones]

The fact that those two things are not the same tends to indicate it has far more features than anyone reasonably needs. After all, what is the instrument for if not to use in songs? Given that, things that showcase it best should also be the things most usable in a song, shouldn't they?

[Mark]

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