Helm

[dither8]

Don't forget Vital which is Matt's newer synth. It continues to be open-source as well.

https://vital.audio/

https://github.com/mtytel/vital

[actualwitch]

Did vital have no updates whatsoever after release 3 years ago, or are the updates not open source?

[Iridescent_]

So what would be the difference between the two of them?

[dmix]

There's a good course on skillshare/udemy that teaches synthesis and sound design using Vital

https://www.udemy.com/course/the-complete-beginners-guide-to...

[NikkiA]

Vital is effectively NOT open-source, the source available on github is a single snapshot of the source as it was when 1.0 was released, it has not been updated since, and 1.5.5 is vastly different.

[bane]

Another very powerful (but now old) free softsynth is Synth1 by Daichi Laboratory[1][4]. If you look around a bit you can find literally tens of thousands of presets for it[2], which then spawned the excellent Synth1 Librarian which helps bring some sense to this huge library [3]

1 - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Synth1

2 - https://archive.org/details/synth1_202202

3 - https://www.kvraudio.com/product/synth1-librarian-by-neutrin...

4 - https://youtu.be/__2AFeG4xII

[12bits]

Helm and Surge XT are great synths (and effects in Surge's case). When my nephew wanted to dabble in audio production, I used them to beef up his free copy of Ableton Live Lite.

[armchairhacker]

My favorite VST is Surge: https://surge-synthesizer.github.io/

[aeonik]

This was the first subtractive synth I got really into. It's so good!

Matt Tytel also made an open source wave table synth called vital that I'm also in love with that you can find here:

https://vital.audio/

git repo is here:

https://github.com/mtytel/vital

[ShadowBanThis01]

Is what?

[spamatica]

As I was already familiar with Helm it didn't strike me that it is not easy to figure out what it is from that home page.

It is a software based synthesiser mostly used as a plugin into a music creation application, usually called DAW (Digital Audio Workstation).

There are tons of these, not as many that are open source.

[Kye]

Helm has some of the simplest modulation among free synths. All the modulation and its strength is visible out front without needing a mod matrix. Pigments is the best among non-free synths, but I would still use Helm if I didn't have all the softsynths I've collected since I depended on it years ago.

[zitterbewegung]

How is this different to the synths I can find in Logic Pro unless is it just open source ? This is a really cool project though.

[bane]

Most digital audio workstations (DAWs) support instrument and effect plugins. The industry has largely settled on the VST interface for this [1]. On Macs it's a bit more complicated [2], I believe you can use VSTs, but there's also Apple's AU plugins and AAX.

Logic Pro should support AU but not VST I think. There's an entire industry that makes and sells these plugins, preset packs, sample packs, and other services. For example, Roland makes a pro VST/AU plugin called Galaxias [3] which requires a subscription but gets you access to near perfect software reproductions of nearly their entire synth lineup.

1 - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virtual_Studio_Technology

2 - https://producerhive.com/buyer-guides/vst/au-vs-vst-differen...

3 - https://youtu.be/C3o-ATXh_AE

[Kye]

Synth designers are very opinionated, so they all sound different or make different choices that affect how different people get along with them. They're like DAWs that way. Lots of people swear by FL Studio, I can't stand it.

Give Helm a try. It's the only way to know if its opinions mesh with your own.

[bretbernhoft]

This is outstanding. Thank you for sharing a link to this program.

[000ooo000]

First release of Kube Helm: Feb 2016

Earliest commit in the synth Helm repo: 2013

Earliest commit in the Emacs Helm repo: <=2007

First time someone called a ship helm a helm: ???

First time a Viking called a helmet a helm: ???

So, who cares really

[headhasthoughts]

Pretty sure EMACS beat Kubernetes to the punch. This Helm, too, is pretty old now.

Complaining about names is ridiculous. There are only so many names to go around, and there's almost no overlap in use-case or userbase between a synthesizer and a throwaway piece of business software for Yet Another Soulless Cloud Ecosystem.

Naming things isn't hard. What's hard is that people feel possessive over English words. You probably share your name with hundreds of thousands of people in your country.

[computershit]

If I was looking for a virtual synth deck and came to you asking for a recommendation and you said Helm but actually meant the Kubernetes Helm not the synth Helm, you would have a very solid point. But you would also be an idiot.

[TaylorAlexander]

Yeah they really should have checked out the Helm synth before they named the Kubernetes thing!

[frenchman99]

Do you know that "Helm" is a German word for "helmet"? That's what happens when you name a project after a dictionary word.

[GaryNumanVevo]

Of course this is _very_ difficult for me, a DevOps engineer who deploys VSTs via Kubernetes, but I think I'll survive

[gtirloni]

And all these audiophiles didn't know about this completely different app in an area they probably don't even know exists? Serenity now!

[pkd]

Was an Emacs package before that.

[failedartifact]

But you could not tell which helm was being referred to on the HN news link title, a (Synth) or (Kubernetes) would do. OP has a good point.