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Sikosis « A real treasure »
Published on 10/14/14 at 03:15Camel Alchemy was fairly easy to install and setup. You need to set up an account with Camel and then download Alchemy plus all the presets and samples (5GB) - so it does take some time to install. Once it's installed and you're ready to go it's worth watching the tutorial videos as these are great, whether you're a novice or more experienced virtual synth user.
There are 3 levels to Alchemy - Browse, Simple, Advanced. Browse allows you to browse through the existing presets. Simple allows simple manipulation and control over the presets and Advanced allows you create, control and manipulate samples to your hearts content.
SUITABILITY/PERFORMANCE
Having a few instances of Camel Alchemy running together can be a bit CPU intensive, especially if you are using several filters the arpeggiator, lots of effects etc but I don't normally get any issues until I'm at the mix stage, at which point I should have bounced down the midi files to wav.
OVERALL OPINION
I really love Alchemy. There is so much it can do and it is so fun to use. Even if you're a novice it does not take long to start making and manipulating your own sounds and there is so much you can do with the sounds - LFOs, ADHR, Arpeggiator. You can map any of the parameters to pretty much whatever you like. For example you can set the volume to an LFO and then set the LFO speed to a second LFO. But really it's something you want to experiment with.
There are lots of presets to get you started but I would definitely recommend importing your own samples or instruments and trying to make your own sounds. It's not hard to do and is a lot more rewarding, knowing that no one else is going to be using those sounds.
There are a lot of alternatives to Camel Alchemy, Razor, Massive, Waves have a few synths out now, but I feel those synths are good for creating a certain sound that already exists (e.g. Massive is great for dub step) but Alchemy is something you can dive into and not know what you're going to come out with, but be confident that you can create something cool and unique in what feels like no time at all.
There are 3 levels to Alchemy - Browse, Simple, Advanced. Browse allows you to browse through the existing presets. Simple allows simple manipulation and control over the presets and Advanced allows you create, control and manipulate samples to your hearts content.
SUITABILITY/PERFORMANCE
Having a few instances of Camel Alchemy running together can be a bit CPU intensive, especially if you are using several filters the arpeggiator, lots of effects etc but I don't normally get any issues until I'm at the mix stage, at which point I should have bounced down the midi files to wav.
OVERALL OPINION
I really love Alchemy. There is so much it can do and it is so fun to use. Even if you're a novice it does not take long to start making and manipulating your own sounds and there is so much you can do with the sounds - LFOs, ADHR, Arpeggiator. You can map any of the parameters to pretty much whatever you like. For example you can set the volume to an LFO and then set the LFO speed to a second LFO. But really it's something you want to experiment with.
There are lots of presets to get you started but I would definitely recommend importing your own samples or instruments and trying to make your own sounds. It's not hard to do and is a lot more rewarding, knowing that no one else is going to be using those sounds.
There are a lot of alternatives to Camel Alchemy, Razor, Massive, Waves have a few synths out now, but I feel those synths are good for creating a certain sound that already exists (e.g. Massive is great for dub step) but Alchemy is something you can dive into and not know what you're going to come out with, but be confident that you can create something cool and unique in what feels like no time at all.