7 thoughts on “Absynth 5 In Depth, With Creator Brian Clevenger

  1. No offense intended but I didn't think much of this review even though I really love Absynth. It almost seems as if the reviewer wanted to have something to draw attention to his advertisements and thus invited a 'big' name. However, I think the interview is conducted a little poorly: "You live in Paris now?" "Yes, I live in Paris". While Brian maybe a very talented programmer it somehow doesn't work out in the video part for me.

    Alas; it maybe good to know that the real Absynth review actually starts halfway the first video; around 7:30.

    And well, I think the review itself is quite poor. The why is simple: the host doesn't even allow Brian to finish his sentences at numerous of occasions. You'll notice this right when they start talking about the oscillators. Brian hasn't even finished talking about the oscillators (there is SO much more to them than merely "sample based" and "these are DSB based synthesis, right?"). Yet when he's in the middle of his story the host cuts him short and "Oh what are these blocks here below?!".

    That is a very poor way to conduct an "interview". And it makes the quality of the review even worse since now it doesn't even scratch the surface of Absynth anymore IMO.

    Same issue with the envelope section. There is SO much more to that than merely "oh, ha ha, you can zoom it in and out" and dragging the attack / release range. Why don't we see or hear anything about the things which makes Absynth totally stand out above the rest ? Most synths know an envelope section and have ADSR. Absynth on the other hand allows you to tune this section in ways unmatched by others.

    And you'll even get to see what you're doing because it displays – at all times – which part of the envelope section is being used. Those details do not make it in this "review".

    I skipped part 2 after seeing it for a minute. Esp. when the host started with "There was so much we talked about in part 1" while in fact the first part of the video was crammed with advertising and very little talk about Absynth. And what do you know? Part 2 starts off with the massive advertisements as well. That's one way to fill up a "review" and say that "it didn't fit in one part".

    In the end I'm disappointed. Absynth 5 is such a cool product and it deserves way better than this.

  2. The hard sell is a bit heavy-handed.

    I liked the later discussion, though. Maybe it's not as good for more experienced Absynth users, though!

  3. Yeah, I'm not really sure why the host even bothered inviting Brian Clevinger to be in this video. He hardly asked him anything, and often cut him off when he did get a chance to speak. For the most part, he wasn't interested in letting the CREATOR of this software explain much about his creation. Instead, he tried to explain it himself with his own incomplete understanding of the software. Mr. Clevinger was left sitting there staring at his computer screen, looking bored, while the "host" jumped around the user interface showing off random functions and tweaking parameters. It was not only rude, but almost totally uninformative.

  4. The last time I tried Absynth was its first version. (many years ago) It seems quite different now, though it always had a sound of its own.
    I imagine that the vst version no longer has to launch a secondary sub program to do editing and patch programming.
    I might just have to check it out again.

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