The sounds in the Sonik Synth 2 make up a full workstation of
synth sounds covering the range of today's popular keyboards and sound modules with pianos, bass, drums, guitars, voices and more to a history of
analog and digital synth textures like no other plug-in has offered before! On this page, check out pictures and sounds from some of the many instruments and sonic flavors captured in Sonik Synth 2!
From moving orchestral vocal combi patches like this to motion synths like this to rich analog pads like this or awesome film and electronic fx to thick leads for all styles of music from Dance to R&B to Classic Rock and more... Sonik Synth 2 has it all!
The Arp 2500 was the modular beast predecessor to the popular
Arp 2600. It had a very fat punchy sound. This is the synth that was seen in Close Encounters of the Third Kind in the intergalactic live jam session.
It was also used by many artists in the 70's. The cool sequenced intro to "Baba O' Reiley" and the unique resonant filter effects in Joe
Walsh's "Life's Been Good" were both the Arp 2500. We sampled waveforms and many cool sounds from the Arp 2500 pictured here and got amazing
results that add to the diverse classic synth flavors of Sonik Synth 2!
The Arp Quadra was like having four synths in one (before there
was midi). You had a lead, a polysynth, a string ensemble and a bass synth. It was used by such artists
as Tony Banks of Genesis and Joe Zawinal of Weather Report. The lead sound in the song Abacab (ref. May '04, Keyboard article Ex. 3) is actually an
Arp Quadra playing 5ths through an MXR Distortion + fuzz box. This is also one of the many sounds captured for instant recall in Sonik Synth 2. Here
is an audio clip example.
This is a close up shot of the EMU modular synth. This rare beast
was made before EMU became a pioneer in the sampling world with their Emulator series. It was one of the finest quality modular synths ever made with
a very thick and clean original sound. We sampled many waveforms and unique tones and fx from this and many other modular synths for Sonik Synth 2
A lot of the flavor of these synths are captured inside Sonik Synth
2. Pictured from right to left: Yamaha CS80, Moog Taurus I & II, WMS VC Flanger & Phaser, Roland Phaser & Flanger, Oberheim SEM with 360
Systems OEM version, 14 panel Serge Modular with over 60 modules, Oberheim SEM with an additional SSM P5 filter, Chroma Expander, Small Emu Modular,
EMS VCS3 plus other cool rackmount synths like a Studio Electronics MidiMoog, Roland Super Jupiter and a Voyetra
8. Imagine having all of that flavor inside one synth module plug-in! From progressive leads to full
rich synth sounds, synth fx and more.
The Gleeman Pentaphonic was first discovered by Dave when Keyboard
magazine had a contest to win the CLEAR version. That one was made of plexiglass but equally as rare was the black metal unit pictured here. The Gleeman
had a unique beefy sound for a polyphonic synth at the time. We captured the sonic flavor of this and many other hard to find synths for Sonik Synth
2.
There's nothing like a good wall of synths to play with but the
next best thing is something that everyone can access... virtual instrument plug-ins such as Sonik Synth 2! We've meticulously captured the kind of
sounds you'd get from nearly every brand of classic analog synth to original instrument sounds that allow Sonik Synth 2 to perform the role of workstation
synths too. Pictured here from left: Minimoog, Mellotron 400, EML Electrocomp 101, EMS
VCS3 Cabinet Minimoog, Steiner Parker Synthacon, Arp 2500, Roland System 100, Moog Modular, Steiner
Parker Modular, Custom Built Modular and various analog beatboxes.
The famous Minimoog
was used on more records than any synth of it's time. From Stevie Wonder to George Duke to Rick Wakeman of Yes and so many classic albums where it
was used for bass or leads, the Minimoog is considered to be a timeless classic! We captured many different
flavors of the Minimoog in Sonik Synth 2. You can hear the Minimoog in the lead synth line played in Rush's Tom Sawyer as well as the main lead line
in Asia's "Only Time Will Tell" (ref Keyboard May '04 ex 1 & 10).
In case you love modular synths, there is no shortage of pictures
here! From left there is a stack of EMU Modulars, Minimoog, Steiner Parker, Arp 2500, 12 panel Serge, Oberheim 4 voice, Custom Modular, Moog Taurus
1 plus a PiAi Gnome and a Dr. Rhythm on top (no whip cream or nuts please).
There were several different types of Moog Modulars with
different series modules in them. We sampled both the 900 and 920 series oscillators from many systems including the same 55 system used by Keith
Emerson. The Moog Modular pictured here is a 3C system which had unstable but fat sounding oscillators! They're stable now in Sonik Synth 2!
Another cool sounding rare synth was the OSCar which had a sound
that was like a cross between a PPG and a Minimoog. We have plenty of flavors from both the OSCar and the PPG in Sonik Synth 2!
The Moog Polymoog used a similar organ technology that Arp used
with their Solina/String Ensemble. It had a rich silky sound and was used on many records in the late 70's including Gary Numan's "Cars"
and Genesis' "And Then There Were Three" album.
One of the benefits of Sonik Synth 2 is that we've captured
the very different sound of the various revisions of PPGs (2.0, 2.2, 2.3) and of Prophet 5s (the rev 1 & 2 had a completely different sounding
filter from the rev 3). Listen to this audio clip of Sonik Synth 2's P5 triangle wave pad that is
similar to the sound used on "In the Air Tonight" (Ref. Keyboard May '04 ex. 7). Or, check out this audio
clip of a Prophet 5 sound similar to Thomas Dolby's "She Blinded Me With Science" (Ref. ex. 2) and this harmonica
lead sound used on many Steely Dan and Donald Fagen records (ref. ex 6). Also pictured here is a rare PPG 2.0 (less than 10 in the world), Roland
VP330 vocoder, Oberheim OBX, Arp Solina, Korg CX-3, a set of Mellotron tapes and a Vako Orchestron.
The Oberheim SEMS were one of the best sounding synths ever made.
With it's unique discrete multi-mode filter, the SEM was great for mixing with other synths or using them together in a modular set up of 2, 4 or
8. For Sonik Synth 2 we have samples of both individual waveforms with various filter settings as well as the monster sound of 16 oscillators in unison!
Also pictured here is a PPG Wave 2.2
Here is a close up of the Serge modular system, another rare but
fascinating synth. We captured the unique sound of its New Timbrel Oscillators and more. These are the kind of synths that will most likely never
be fully modeled for commercial reasons but it's nice to have some of it's sonic flavor inside a virtual instrument plug-in!
This is a famous synth out of the UK called the EMS VCS 3. We
sampled both the counter-top and brief case model known as the Synthi AKS. This synth was used on many classic records such as The Who's "Who's
Next" and Pink Floyd's "Dark Side of the Moon". We sampled a variety of waves, noise and fx from this classic to be reanimated inside
Sonik Synth 2. Here is an audio clip of Sonik Synth 2 playing a live alternate version of the type
of sequence part heard on "On the Run" (Ref. Keyboard May '04 ex. 5).
The Roland Jupiter 8 was a fantastic sounding synth. For Sonik
Synth 2 we sampled many Jupiters and Juno synths including the Jupiter 4, 6 and 8, Super Jupiter rack, Juno 60 and Juno106.
This is a close up shot of the Steiner Parker modular, a rare
unique sounding synth that we sampled extensively and is found within the elements of Sonik Synth 2's massive wave set. This synth was developed by
Niles Steiner who invented the first wind controller for synthesizers, the Lyricon and the Akai Ewi.
The infamous Roland TR808! While we've heard this analog beatbox
on more R&B, dance and electronic records than many brand drum kits, it is great to have these staple electronic drum sounds along with the TR909,
TR606, CR78, SR120 and other analog beatboxes inside Sonik Synth 2 for instant use.
As cool as it may seem to have a pile of vintage gear around
the studio, it is also an extra hassle of maintenance like routine contact cleaning, calibration and other activities many like to forget as we get
nostalgic for them such as lugging them around to the shop. Of course you don't have to worry about any of that with virtual instrument plug-ins.
Pictured here is a Prophet VS, Yamaha CP60, Roland D50, PPG 2.3, Arp Quadra, Korg Vocoder, R8, Oberheim Matrix 6, Arp Odyssey, Arp 2600, Yamaha CS80.
A nice variety of vintage keyboards, including classic electric
pianos such as the Wurlitzer 200A and various Rhodes and Hohner electric pianos and clavinets were sampled for Sonik Synth 2. The Wurly EP can be
heard on classic records such as Queen's "My Best Friend", Supertramp's "Logical Song" and many modern recordings such as Beck's
"Where It's At".* The riffs you are hearing are meant to be examples of individual sounds out of thousands possible with Sonik Synth 2. They are not "exact" note for note riffs from referenced published songs. However, when the special trial version of Sonik Synth 2 is released there will be included sounds referenced in the Keyboard magazine's May '04 issue so you can play the riffs in the article and hear the authentic sonic tones to go along with them. Sign up on our mailing list at the top of this page to get it and possibly win a free full boxed version of Sonik Synth 2!