Why Surge XT is a fantastic free synth... and how to use it

Surge XT is arguably one of the most powerful free synthesisers out there. It is a 3-oscillator subtractive synthesiser that’s also capable of both linear FM synthesis and wavetable synthesis, as well as supporting audio input. Let's explore some of its highlights.
Discover more Surge XT tips and tricks: www.musicradar.com/how-to/fan...
Download Surge XT: surge-synthesizer.github.io/

[@randydarklight]

I was a beta tester back then. I never understood why he stopped developing synths. He was years ahead of u-he in terms of technology.

[@CuriousPassenger]

He is one of the lead developers of Bitwig Studio where he continues to develop synths. BWS is ahead of competition too.

[@davidpetersonharvey]

It's worth mentioning to those new to creating their own sound that they can use the included sound as a starting point. Great video!

[@carlosmspk]

Personally, for me, this was kind of my downfall. It's best to slowly experiment and understand what does what. The included sounds are usually really complex and intimidating

[@mr_whyy]

Is this not always the case ? I mean that's what presets are for... "presets"...

[@keltiquewood]

Using Vital for months - now 'shelved' since I installed Surge XT last week! The number of presets sold me! ;-)

[@mads_12]

I also did the same, I enjoy vital, but i feel like this one feels a lot less overwhelming since its all on one screen. Vital would kinda hurt my brain with all the screens but its still a great synth.

[@beyondalldreams]

​@@mads_12 Actually surge is much more advanced.

[@boomunit604]

great one !! did not know it free nowadays !!

[@davelanciani-dimaensionx]

I have yet to really deep-dive into the controls of this great synth. I've only used some of the presets so far, with great results.

[@ppp1364ppp]

I don't understand why serum costs that much and this one is free. the sound quality is incredible. I have tried both serum and Vital. I can say the sound quality is insane for a free vts

[@chaosevolution]

Gonna give this a try.

[@jive499]

great little top level overview. thank you

[@leinexkeith291]

The best synth along Vital

[@devearts7636]

Wow. Welcome to 2023 Surge😮

[@bringmebacklights]

agree very good

[@satishbabu3686]

Unable to get even a peep out of this application, although it looks gorgeous and appears to have abundant functionality. The manual does not mention anything making a sound. There is a reason why most programming languages start off with a "Hello world!" program which is a minimum viable functionality demonstration. Can someone mention how I can get it to play a note? Thanks in advance!

[@dj426]

Top left Options > select your output device > Test if it make sounds (change device untill it make sound) > change sample rate (44.1 or 48), if you getting unpleasant noise, rise your buffer size from 480 to 1024.

[@JB9000x]

If you want virtual keyboard: Menu (bottom right), Workflow

[@frictionless]

Beast!

[@keyboardtek]

I tried installing it three times. There is no trace of the .dll driver needed to make it a function VST instrument. The one sentence installation instructions claim it only has a VST3 driver. No trace of it in my VST folder. Any idea how to get it to be found by my Cubase sequencer?

[@cxtxlessi]

Don’t know about cubase, but I had no problems installing and using it in fl studio

[@oddyolynx5854]

due to licensing restrictions (Steinberg) there is no VST2, it can only be released as a VST3 and CLAP plugin (also LV2) it's possible to build the VST2 locally if one has the VST2_SDK

[@simpson6700]

in the setup you can see it installs to "C:\Program Files\Common Files\VST3\Surge Synth Team\" "C:\Program Files\Surge Synth Team\Surge XT\" and "C:\Program Files\Common Files\VST3\Surge Synth Team\SurgeXTData" really stupid that you can't change it. the only things i put on C is stuff that i don't mind disappearing when i reinstall windows, so this is really annoying.

[@keyboardtek]

Thanks for the reply. I will have to try downloading the installer again. I must have gotten a corrupted installer as it showed no indication of where it would install.

[@simpson6700]

@@keyboardtek in the window just before hitting install it tells you in a text box.

[@djdex8945]

How do you get the external midi keyboard working with it?

[@keltiquewood]

Plug the keyboard midi into the USB on the computer and it should be picked up by the software. Don't forget to turn on the keyboard and the computer! ;-)

[@sawtooth808]

@@keltiquewood 🤭

[@ParaParaPartyCrow]

Is a MIDI required or are there other ways to generate the input? I thought its entirely virtual...

[@luzbiensuave]

Yeah, like with most VSTi. You can either use a MIDI keyboard or the virtual MIDI piano rolls that most DAWs have 😊

[@carlosmspk]

@@luzbiensuave You can also use external "exciters" but I've never messed with those

[@matwardmusic]

Go to menu and show virtual keyboard

[@sawtooth808]

It may not be as pretty as Pigments 5, but it can definitely go head to head against it, and hold its own.

[@jerrybriardy]

I have no idea how he is gettng sounds out of this thing. Test is working. I know it is producing sound but nothing else works. This is extremely frustrating.

[@dj426]

Click on setting or option > set your audio output until it make test sound > alt + k to bring up virtual keyboard (change sample rate (44.1 or 48), if you getting unpleasant noise, rise your buffer size from 480 to 1024.)

[@martinitarecords.gt97]

How do i open it from ableton?

[@dariostank]

hey guys

[@McGyver008]

Why did you "forget" to mention, that there are 2 "scenes" available, each with the 3 oscillators?!?!? That would have been an essential information .... I hiope, you will upload a correction at least for the scenes. BTW... if you forget such important details, how complete is your video at all....?!?!?!?

[@MsHofmannsJut]

0:32