WALDORF BLOFELD (AMBIENT)

[MrGeomusic]

Greek ppl are so cool making music (vangelis p.e.) so blesses to Greece. Btw... do u recommend me the Blo or the Supernova to get some cool pads sounds?

[thekilon]

@MrGeomusic Blo and Supernova are two very powerful vas. Supernova has a weaker engine, feature wise, however its top quality in sound like Blofeld, however its has much better effects. Also Supernova has a great control surface with many knobs and come in a keyboard version like blofeld. I would recommend Supernova because I think ease of use is more important than power. Blofeld's 4 knobs are rather limmiting and the biggest reason that made me decide to buy Andromeda.

[MrGeomusic]

@thekilon thanks for the kind reply :D I've decided to buy both, the Nova and the Blo ^_^ take care and keep doing nice music :)

[thekilon]

@MrGeomusic I think you made a great choice. Dont foget to ping me , each time you upload a video with those synths. Or any other synth. I am always interested to see what people come up with their synths.

[MrGeomusic]

@thekilon of course dude I will! ^_^ thanks

[thekilon]

@MrGeomusic By the way thanks for the Compliment. Even though Vangelis is not Greek, he is a god ;)

[keesvangelis]

beatiful track

i bought a waldorf yust some seconds ago, listening to your track it wil not disapoint me ;-)

greetz Rene from Holland

by dthe way i subbed you cool channel !!!

[AmbientariaRecords]

Very interesting sounds.

Valenten of Ambientaria Records

[thekilon]

@AmbientariaRecords thank you

[Gulielmi87]

Im looking for my first synth. Would you reccomend this?

It's in my pricerange at maximum. I'm looking to create ambient/electronic/idm/sound design

[thekilon]

@Gulielmi87 Blofeld is the most powerful VA at that price, its hard for me not to recommend. However bare in mind that it has limited knobs and no keyboard.

But as an engine, Blo is amazing, it can do whatever you want and it can sound as thin or as analogue as you want, and it will take decades to fully explore.If you love making sound buy it now.

[Gulielmi87]

@thekilon

Oh yeah I was looking at the blofeld keyboard synth.

It is however slightly over my budget. Im also looking at the Roland GAIA, which is a bit cheaper. But in november a new contender the "ultranova" will be released.. hard choice!

[digggert]

@thekilon of course you can also buy the pretty new blofeld keyboard which some may prefer over the blofeld combined with a midi keyboard.

[thekilon]

@digggert , I wanted something with more knobs and a keyboard, I never considered Blofeld keyboard cause I found its price rediculous for it offered, at the time it was double of the blo desktop. So I saved money (2000 euros) and bought the Analogue synth Alesis Andromeda A6. 72 knobs at my disposal, 100% analogue sound, insane modulation abilities, 16 polyphony, 16 timbres , 16 arpeggiators, 16 sequencers etc.. My blofeld has being collecting dust ever since. ;)

[Yosh1moto]

tha to agoraza ean exei hxous gia trance-house k ambient,ti proteineis?>

[thekilon]

@Yosh1moto eidika gia ambient exei ena soro, giati opos vlepeis asxoloyme me ambient.

Tora gia trance, sigoyra exei polla pramata, fantasoy oti exei 1000 presets.

[kormanmanu]

aksizei h agora tou blofeld?

[kormanmanu]

poly kalo...tha ithela mono na ksero ean aksizei h agora tou blofeld.tha perimeno mnm.

[thekilon]

@kormanmanu tha akize akoma kai an kostize to diplasio. Einai forvero synth, kai para poly dynato.

An thes na soy po an soy teriazei, steile moy minima me to ti theleis apo ena synth kai tha soy po an aksizei na to agoraseis gia esena.

[hornetlord]

Beautiful song.

[royalcash83]

nice track to chill !! thx

[kr61ab67]

Relaxing music, I think I'm going for a Blofeld ;)

[YvesIsaki]

This is very good. It sounds like Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence. Although, I'm trying to make music myself soon. I was think Blofeld or microkorg. I want to make ambient music but it seems no matter what the blofeld sounds '80s' compared to the microkorg - which is fine - i just don't want to be stuck on '80s', I like options. That's just what I've seen. If u kno what I mean, can it surpass that? Anyone?

[Pittermilk]

Dynato to Blofeld : ) Wrai kommatia

[thekilon]

geia soy patrida....

[Danny880044]

Very good mate, I love the sounds you can get from this little synth. I think I might have to get myself one ;) Peace

[MikaTechnika]

excellent

[teddyboy811]

great

[ryanfreer77]

Wow...you've achieved such dynamic, warm and beautiful tonality on this track. Did you use the Blofeld exclusively? I've been interested in buying a Blofeld; and now that you've owned one for quite some time, how would you rate it?

[thekilon]

it was not so hard. I just edited the sounds to fit my taste. Yes this track was made using only blofeld and without any mixing. How will I rate blofeld , well if you exclude the lack of knobs and analogue sound (being digital) I would have to rate 10/10.

Buy it ,it is a small wonder.

[smartti1970]

Ok I understand.

This track is a marvel.

I sold all my hardware except Jd800. I cant have everything... and I'm a guitarist ;-) ... I'm goanna buy a bouzouki ;-))))

[thekilon]

hahaha ... you surprised me there... thanks for your beatiful comments my friend. I love hardware... it is so immediate a real instrument... i prefer software for thing that rarely tweak like midi editing or effects....

[smartti1970]

beautiful.. is all your music on soundclick with blofeld?

[thekilon]

Nope! I use soundclick to store all of my music through the years. From 2000 till today. This song and "taste of steel" is made with blofeld. "Flor De Mar" and "Talos" part I, II, III are made only with Motif. The rest is 100% software as I use hardware only till 2007 .

Thank you...

[smartti1970]

Thanks for your answere. You mean you'v sold all your hardware? Children of the night and memories of empty space are only created with software? Is it a software synthetiser or software sampler and or wavetable players?

[thekilon]

No I mean I used software from 2000 until 2007 and after 2007 till now (2009) I use hardware only. So both tracks you mentioned are made only with hardware synths.

The only hardware I have ever sold is a Korg Microkorg and now I own , waldorf Blofeld, Yamaha Motif Es6 and of course Alesis Andromeda a6.

Hope that makes it clear.

[pierstheoneandonly]

Read somewhere (HC?) that you've invested in an Andromeda. I hope to hear the fruits of your liasons here or on Myspace sometime.

[thekilon]

Yes indeed.... I got an Andromeda one week ago and absolutely hate it!!!! LOL

I guess I did not expect it to sound so different to blofeld. But they are like night and day. The presets do suck big time. So that means that I will have to create anything from absolutely zero.

But I was desperate for a powerful synth with LOADS of knobs. And that is exactly what Andromeda is. And I love it, I work much faster than blofeld. Expect a video in one month when I get the hang of it.

[pierstheoneandonly]

BTW, this track sounds very like Harold Budd. Do you sequence or play in live multitrack?

[thekilon]

thanks for your nice comments. Yeah I hate looping , try to avoid it as much as I can. Everything you hear is played live, but I have done some automation in then end of the track, just a Volume up and down thing nothing spectacular. All else is sound synthesis and playing.

I love to do everything in real time . I hate midi and audio editing . That is why I use hardware only.

I love to work as fast as possible. Editing just kills my inspiration. I love to make mistakes too. ;)

[pierstheoneandonly]

Enjoying your track. It's so nice to hear synths being *played* on YT in this more thematic, musical way rather than *operated* ..IOW tweaking the filter (or whatever) after every 4 bars on endless dance loopery. Just got back from a week in Zakynthos (last there in '03) and have fallen in love with the place all over again.

[Lemure33tree]

Greetings... Do you have to use the presets or can you write your own sounds and save them inside? I have a poly evolver and I am just learning how to write my own stuff but this has a softer sound and I dig it!_! Thanx in advance and thanx for sharing this beautiful track...Peace

[thekilon]

I am glad you like it.

All presets are user editable and user savable , So that means you have 1000 presets that you can play, edit and save.

Dont be fooled by the sound made here, it is edited by me to sound this way, (Actuall almost all blofeld presets sound harsh and thin) I dont really think that blofeld will have much more to offer except polyphony. Polyevolver is a master synth and you can do some extremely serious stuff with it.

I am saving for buying an Andromeda.

[Lemure33tree]

Thanx for the breakdown :) I am also saving for an A6 and am sooooo excited for you. Those beasts are where it's at and will keep in touch and look out for some more of your great vids. Peace

[thekilon]

Excellent news I got ... I ordered a few days ago an Andromeda and yesterday the shop confirmed that its on its way to me. Hugely excited

Only 2040 euros from Digital Village. Cant believe that once Andromeda costed 3700 euros in my country!!!!!

So it seem the next video will be made with Andromeda. YAHOO!!!!

[CMIKE9783]

VERY NICE Kilon! Congrats on your music.

listened to the demo of the BLOFELD.

I indeed agree, the preset sounds are very harsh and 80's sounding.

Do you feel SOME/MOST/ OR ALL of the harsh sounds with this hardware can be tweaked into soft ambient pads?

I guess anything is possible.

It just would be nice to know I have a large selection of soft ambient pads before purchasing!

[thekilon]

Well it is not difficult really, you tweak the filters a bit, and play with fm and viola the preset is full of warmth and presence.

The bottom line is that all you need is a easy to use interface and a complex deep engine. Blofed has both. The only thing that lacks is the wealth of knobs of waldorf Q.

[sescallier]

Could one hook up that bcr2000 to the Blofeld Keyboard model also?

[thekilon]

of course you can, you can hook it up to anything with a usb or midi port. Which is pretty much anything out there, hardware or software. Not only that but bcr can be hooked to two devices by midi or more by usb. Its a master controller.

Beware however that programming/ assigning 120 parameters to knobs and buttons its easy but takes considerable time. But its worth it.

I have recently also bought Novation Remote Sl, costs as much as blofeld desktop but its an amazing midi controller .

[balma]

Ok.

just one question, isn't it uncomfortable to program with so few hardware controllers?

I always love waldorf, but this new series seem to make less emphasis on getting fast to the paramaters you wish to modify. The wavetable Xt has 44 knobs, is a very intuitive way to reach everything in less than a second.

I ask because I like its sound, but I'm hesitating because it's obvious it does not have a impressing hardware

thanks man

[Sunjammer]

My Blofeld keyboard shares a space with a Korg R3, a Nord Modular G2 and a Korg Z1, and yeah, unfortunately, the blofeld is by far the worst of them to program.

This isn't to say it's BAD, but it is certainly very spartan, with a lot of pages to flip through. I also have some issue with the velocity curves on the rotaries. That said, almost everything is MIDI ready so hook it up to a decent controller and you're golden. Regardless, it SOUNDS mindblowing, which is the most important.

[thekilon]

I know all about R3 cause it happened to own a microkorg, you can see a video I uploaded in youtube. You cant really compare it with blofeld. Not only because blofeld is 10 times more powerful. R3 is not easier at all, as both share pretty much the same interface , blofeld is easier because of the bigger screen. You can see not only the waves , the waves of the filters but also sum up of all parameters.

G2 on the other hand is light years ahead of blofeld .... it is the king of VA.

[thekilon]

Knob wise it is no big deal. A BCR2000 from Behringer costs around 130 euros and will give 32 knobs with each knob having 4 pages of parameters. That means it can control 32*4 = 128 !!!! parameters. No big deal. Oh by the way BCR2000 has also loads of button . BCR can send even sysex midi which means that it can access even the deepest functionality of blofeld and control it 100%. I happen to own one .

[balma]

Just a question: this is a 100% blofeld track right? I had a MicroQ, but never get deep into it since I hate the rack design, is so uncomfortable to get into them. Recently I got the wavetable XT. I mean, you made a beatiful use of this instrment. Mostly of the "synth name tracks" on youtube, are just aleatory played notes, 100% BORING , but you really make this thing sound as it shoud be

[thekilon]

Yeah beside a sample of water drops and reverb added in Ableton Live, everything else is 100% Blofeld. I have to confess that I do not like the presets so much, I had to tweak them all, as they are too harsh and too digital sounding.

I am becoming less and less a preset guy , I rarely find what I need, fortunately with 1000 presets it is easy to find a base and tweak it from there on. I am also more into organic fluid sounds than harsh and digital.

FM8 could this just the same. I love FM.

[balma]

there is so much beauty and peace of mind on those sounds.

[thekilon]

Very nice comment thanks. That was my initial goal and that is why I named the track before I started it "the Silence Before the Storm" , I wanted to illustrate a moment of peace and tranquility just before all hell brakes lose. And now I am working with a new track that will illustrate this hell.

[EasilyEmbarrassed]

Lovely atmospheric pads!

Cheers!

Nick

[thekilon]

Thank you

I invite anyone viewing my videos to visit your website and get your new album. Too bad Youtube does not allow links.... Stupid youtube.

[EasilyEmbarrassed]

Thanks Kilon! We really appreciate that. We'll keep in touch!

Cheers,

Nick

[hoeppc]

dreaming away listening to this...

(thanks for posting)

[JeremyNucleusSound]

Sounds really cool. But its in mono. I think youtube accepts stereo now, you should reupload.

[thekilon]

yeah . youtube accepts HQ video now. I probably re upload it , in the meantime just add "&fmt=18" in the end of the address to listen a top quality stereo and better video quality. An old trick that applies for all youtube videos.

[thekilon]

I recommend it 1000%. Buy any midi keyboard you want. Go get a BCR2000 for extra 32 knobs and loads of midi control.

If you want to tame this beast , I am here to help you. I have persuade at least 3 people to buy it. None has regret it , everyone loves it.

[thekilon]

I am ? Of course I am !  LOL

[lactatingwalrus]

very nice

[thekilon]

thanks

[DeathByDinSync]

some great sounds here

[thekilon]

Thank you

[SteveStereo1]

really like your song and your vid!

[thekilon]

Thank you very much

[illDiology]

Have fun trying to get your hands on a G2 expansion board! The G2 may be one of the best modern synths ever made, but Clavia (or Nord Keyboards, or whatever they are called now) are inept as a company.

[thekilon]

G2 with the expansion board , hands down. Blofeld is good but not that good. G2 is one of gods of modern synths.

[mjh0055]

Great sounds - 5:11 onwards is tremendous. Cheers.

[thekilon]

Ahh thank you for the compliment. Most of the sounds are tweaked, making interesting sounds on Blofeld is so easy.

[seanfanning1]

Great sounds, I like the song. I am thinking of getting a Waldorf Blofield - can you trigger it directly from a MIDI keyboard or do you have to run it through a computer first to play it?

[thekilon]

yeap it can do the thing you want. Just plug any keyboard that can send midi to it and you are ready to go. I have mine connected to a Yamaha MOTIF ES6.

[TrascalMusic]

a wonderful dream song - great - im now also a blofeld user

[thekilon]

We are very lucky. I am actually so happy with my blofeld that I am thinking of replacing it with a Waldorf Q+ which is pretty much the same engine with alot more knobs ( more than 40) and analog filters. Can't WAIT!!!!

[thekilon]

Also not 25 , but 100 polyphony. That is the most polyphony for a VA.

[dragonsagoth666]

Nope, Blofeld has 25 notes of polyphony. And when using two comb filters with FX it can go down to 3 notes!

[thekilon]

True , but with every parameter accepting fm this little synth should not need comb filters in the first place. And the polyphony can stay pretty decent.

Fx are not worth spending CPU, they are not so good. They are not bad, but they can be easily outperformed by VSTs. I use my yamaha motif es FXs for extra boost to blofeld cpu. This way I never run out of polyphony.

With some careful planning you can enjoy as much polyphony as you want.

[voltaspeeder17]

Very powerfull machine for this price! And great stuff you did with it dude!

[thekilon]

Exactly , it offers so many option in such well designed interface that even a beginner can make some amazing music. When I first got it listening to the presets I thought this machine was not for ambient music. Boy Was I Wrong!!!

[TrascalMusic]

very nice song !

whats the name of the presets sounds ?

[MALALOO]

Oh you think everybody only use the presets? =;o

[thekilon]

lol! ;)

The sounds used here are presets that I tweaked. You wont find the sounds of the song in Blofeld of course. There is at least a 20% diffirence. The sounds on blofeld are either too harsh , too distorted or too loud . Obviously are now Ambient orientated sounds. Of course tweaking sounds is not such a big deal as some people might think and specially in the case of blofeld , it only has 6 knobs but its menu and big screen make things alot easier than someone might expect.

[electricprince]

bravo file poli kali i mousiki sou kai

poli kalo to waldorf. thelo kai ego ena.

episis poli kales i fotos sou. san tin ellada

telika den exei.

[thekilon]

eyxaristo poly patrida. ;)

[trcwm]

Add &fmt=18 to the URL and the sound becomes (( STEREO ))! This works for _many_ YouTube videos.

[Kvisigen]

thanks, nice tricks :)

[thekilon]

This thing is like a magic box ;)

[ryanfreer77]

Beautiful sound. From this recording & the others I've heard thus far, it seems to have a much different quality than the Microwave XT...Although it's supposed to emulate it perfectly well, I haven't heard anyone do this with it yet. The Blofeld seems smoother and more analog in tone. This gives me a reason to keep my Microwave XT, and another reason to buy a Blofeld also. The presence of the PPG filter makes it all the more attractive.

[thekilon]

Ahh do not be fooled by this video . I edited all presets to make them smother and less distorted. Unfortunately many presets of blofeld are very harsh . Of course having 1000 sounds , it is impossible to not find sounds of your liking. People are talking about "Blofeld Sound" but it is pure nonsense. Blofels can do Wavetable on FM , which means that it can make any sound imaginable. Of course the same applies for Microq and many other synths.

[danmusicstoke]

wow,

ive gotta start doin more ambiant stuff

this is amazing =]

well done.

[thekilon]

I would like to thank all people for their positive comments. If you can listen to more of my music see the more info box , I will edit it with links to my music. Because youtube does not allow me to post the links in the comments. I tried many times and it blocked them. You can sind me in Soundclick as Kilon and Myspace as TheKilon . Just do the search or follow the links in the info box.

[Biopharmer]

i'd ratha get the new blofeld keyboard

[thekilon]

Have you seen the price ? The Sample Rom does not persuade me to get it, too expensive.

[ryanfreer77]

Agreed. Unless there's more to that picture, I don't see how 60-MBs of added sample memory and a 49-note keyboard justify an extra $500.

[dragonsagoth666]

FMing the samples?

Syncing the samples?

Distorting the fuck out of samples?

Comb filtering the samples?

And if Waldorf is smart, IMPORTING USER WAVETABLES?!

Of course it's worth the extra money!

[thekilon]

A powerful addition to an already extremely powerful synth.

Nightmare or Dream ? ;)

[Biopharmer]

well, you've already got a desktop one anyway. Did you think that the desktop one was worth the price? I might just get that instead of the keyboard. I posted that before I had seen the USD price.

[thekilon]

The Blofeld Desktop is a steal, it is the most cheap yet extremely powerful VA you can buy for the money. But on the other hand look at Evolver Mono Keyboard. They took the Desktop version as did Waldorf with Blofeld and added a keyboard and a huge amount of knobs. Now Evolver Mono Keyboard woths its price. It is really common logic, nothing more , nothing else. Waldorf tries to takes advantage the suceess of Blofeld as Access does the same with Snow copying Virus. Both are ridicously expensive

[trcwm]

Don't forget the lousy exchange rate. The price will get better for you in the future, I'm sure. Furthermore, I'm not sure if the price has been set yet. All the specs are preliminary.

[synthisist]

Nice music, I can't buy one at the moment, have an emu x-board + some soft synths, + others, but if I ever sell anything then I would consider the Blofeld. The Kurzweil ME1 also is at a good price, but now off the market I believe. But, and with all respects to Kurzweil, the Blofeld seems a more modern and 'more for your money product'. Other alternatives, Arturia Analog Factory Experience - and my favourite. the G-Force String Machine, (but yes, software). Or a very old Fairlight/Synclavia!!!

[readyfresh]

this is actually very good indeed.

[dreadedplatypus]

PS. this really took me to anothe rplace....awesome video!

[dietfried2]

Wonderful. Nothing more to say.

[BlueIzzzs]

Thanks that was excellent!!!

Regarding Access

Anyone have any comment on the differences between the TI snow and the TI desktop?

30 voices VS 80 voices

1100 sounds VS 2500 sounds

1350$ VS 2400

6 knobs VS many knobs

surround sound VS no-surround sound

comments?

[dreadedplatypus]

I think it allll comes down to the knobs man. That's one of the things that threw me off of the Snow was how much harder it is to tweak then the Blofeld. But with the Desktop! Now we're talking, too bad I dont have 2400 bucks though :S

[OfflineHero]

isn't there also 4 parts vs 16 parts?

[uhj4]

Very nice piece of electronic music! that is how I imagine atmospheric ambient! beautiful sound and good composition; by the way, it's also quite relaxing; give me more!!!

[dreadedplatypus]

Very nice Kilon! Thanks a million for filling the void of Blofeld music on YouTube.

Still can't make up my mind between the Blofeld and the Snow :S

I've tried both...I think I prefer the Snow, but the price difference is making the decision tough, since the Blofeld is clearly awesome too!

Again, very nice work, do you have a website or myspace? Cheers.