Introduction to Soft Synth

In the age of the DAW (digital audio workstation) it’s presumed that you’ve heard the terms soft-synth, virtual instrument, or virtual synth.  If not, the following will serve as an introduction of sorts and if you have, the info might help you sort out the options and streamline your studio.

In short, a soft-synth (aka software synthesizer or virtual instrument) is a software-based re-creation of a hardware synthesizer or instrument.  Take something like the venerable Roland Juno analog synth of years past and create a virtual form in software code and you have a digitized form that you can use within your DAW.  Sometimes these synths use actual samples (pianos, drums), sometimes the sounds are fully created within the software.

Each DAW (ProTools, SONAR, Cubase, Nuendo, Logic, Live, Performer, GarageBand, etc.) typically includes at least a couple of soft-synths or virtual instruments.  There’s a lot you can do with them and, countless more are available from 3^rd party companies like Native Instruments  and IK Multimedia.  In order to really use them effectively however, you need a controller of some sort.  The keyboard and mouse are fine for an operating system but nothing beats playing keyboard parts on an actual piano-type keyboard.  If you don’t have one already, consider picking up a USB keyboard controller like one of the many models available from M-Audio.  A lot of controllers out there can do more than just act as a piano keyboard, many have additional knobs, faders and buttons that can be programmed and integrated into your DAW allowing you to interact with virtual instruments and soft-synths as well as start and stop your audio project (transport control).  Likewise with drums, if you’re a drummer then a strike surface (like the Alesis ControlPad) is a lot more familiar than playing a beat with your fingers on a keyboard.  MIDI drums have come a long way and if you use a virtual drum instrument along with a good MIDI trigger interface (or e-drum kit like those from Roland and Alesis) you can get incredible results.  The samples available for virtual instruments like BFD, EZ Drummer, Addictive Drums, Strike and others are so good that when programmed or laid down by an actual performance, they’re indistinguishable from a real, recorded kit (because in fact they are a real kit). 

To sum it all up, soft-synths and virtual instruments are a fact of life in DAW-based studios.  You should seriously consider using a keyboard controller to interface with synthesizer and piano instruments and a good MIDI drum trigger interface or pads will go far when working with virtual drums.  Some other considerations though include your DAW itself.  Make sure that you have plenty of horsepower (RAM, hard disk space) because soft-synths (especially virtual instruments with large sample libraries) often require a lot of overhead to run.  In fact, it’s a good idea to have 3 hard drives in your DAW; one for the operating system, one for pure audio recording and the other for all the soft-synth/virtual instrument content and samples. 

To find out more about soft-synths that fit your needs and budget (there’s something for everyone out there), simply browse one of the online stores like Musician’s Friend, Sweetwater Sound or Sam Ash and you’ll find plenty of options.  Before taking the 3^rd party plunge though, be sure to thoroughly investigate the synths and instruments that are installed with your DAW, you might be surprised at how much flexibility and sound options you already have.