Post what worked, what didn't work, and what you plan to use.
What workedRenoise. Dat tracker UI...it's hard to break away from
Axis 49 +
Mixcraft 5. The combination of this MIDI controller with any multitrack+MIDI sequencer works marvelously for "things trackers don't do well" - if it wasn't Mixcraft it would probably be FL Studio.
SiON for some Flash-based experiments, particularly
this prototype tracker UI on top of the built in MML. There's still a lot to explore with this technology.
MiniAudicle to test out some audio algorithms in a fast-iteration environment.
Audacity 1.3x and
WinLAME as the toolchain to get assets in a game-usable form. Adequate, but I feel like I could make the process more streamlined.
Image Line Harmless. Still my go-to for possibly too many synth sounds. There are very few softsynths that match the raw power of this thing's timbres, and it packs in a lot of diversity in the UI.
Synth1. When I need something Harmless doesn't do(usually more detailed LFO and noise stuff), Synth1 usually does it.
The (discontinued) Sanford Cobalt. It specializes in pitchy and harsh digital sounds - if it had better noise functionality it would be my #1 sound effect synth, I think. (because of that weakness Synth1 is instead)
Mixcraft's built-in GM soundbank. No joke, some of those samples are pretty darn good.
Everything made by
Bootsy. A lot of these plugs have overlapping functionality, which leaves me clueless as how to best use most of it, but I have a habit now of putting FerricTDM on every track and using EpicVerb for all reverb(the only annoyance of the latter is that the default setting of all presets is 100% wet, which sounds stupid), and then randomly choosing one of the others for analog-sounding compression and EQ.
Voxengo Boogex for amp simulation. A great help to making my MIDI guitars sound a bit more believable(if not perfect).
What didn't workI didn't have a good setup for samples this year and mostly resorted to built-ins of my sequencers, when I really needed them. At one time I used sfz free and soundfonts, but it was doing horrible things to my sequencers this year, for some reason.
I tried a number of free plugins and while some were very promising(e.g.
Plex) they mostly didn't stick for one reason or another.
My mixes were shabby because I wasn't in a situation where I could really use speakers, so I used an old pair of Senn PX-100's instead, which don't have nearly enough accuracy to make good mix decisions.
Overall not a horrible year, I just never got around to resolving my sample problems(since I'm not composing full-time and mostly do synth stuff anyway), and I was able to forget that I was mixing badly after spending months doing it
What I plan to useJeskola XS-1 seems to fit my SF2 needs again, so I'll go back to building up some libraries with that format.
Digidrum Pro for a simple drum synth, something I've missed for a while.
Majken Grizzly as a secondary drum synth for more "FX" type sounds.
Sennheiser HD203 cans, which I just got. The 203s bring out a lot more detail than my PX-100s, but I will still use those for everyday listening because they're more comfy. Maybe in the future I'll try other brands too!
I will try searching for a "power-user" synth again - maybe another additive. And I will look for a second set of mixing plugins(other than sequencer built-ins) that might complement the Bootsy kit.
And I will continue with all the good stuff I used last year. Still discovering new things to do in Harmless and Synth1. Much of my current setup is free, which is nice.
Developer
