Best Service

Synth-Werk is a sample-based synth
instrument with an unashamed nod towards
the sounds of German electronic music pioneers
Kraftwerk. Housed in Best Service’s Engine
player (see The little Engine that could boxout),
it runs as AU, VST, RTAS or standalone.
The 8GB sample set is arranged across 13
categories ranging from the obvious (Bass,
Pads and Synths), to the more speciic (Melody,
Stacked, Chord, Computer, Efects and Organik).
There’s also a Voices/Choirs/Vocoders folder
and a Drums & Rhythm folder. Rounding things
of is a folder of ‘originals’, which includes
sounds form the Stylophone and TI Language
Translator. Also worth mentioning is the fact the
whole library is provided in both German and
English, with patches launching in blue and
green interfaces respectively. Wunderbar!
The Quick Edit screen is the most
comprehensive we’ve seen on an Engine release
to date. Options start with basic modiication
such as sample start point, portamento and
unison, going on to pitch and start point
randomisation, and LFO-to-volume settings.
You’ve then got a multimode ilter with ADSR
envelope and a step modulator for the ilter with
over 40 presets. Efects start with tone controls
(brilliance and an additional high-pass ilter),
before taking in reverb, delay, phaser, langer, bit
reduction and a limiter. Rounding things of are
a volume envelope (AHDSR), stereo width, pan,
dynamic range and overall pitch. Finally, you’ve
got an arpeggiator, step sequencer, and solo and
legato options.
Glowing report
Once you get beyond the tastefully retro Tron-
like glow of the Quick Edit page, the next thing
you’ll notice is the quality of the sounds. Most
load up very quickly and make little use of the
onboard features, apart from the sequencer and
efects. That leaves you free to take the sounds
further aield, modifying them to taste.
We found the combination of arpeggiator or
sequencer (both tweaked in the Pro Edit page)
and ilter with efects worked very well with
such carefully designed source sounds. Many
of the patches load with ready-made sequences
or ilter step-modulation, providing plenty of
movement and a wonderfully organic feel. For
Kraftwerk fans, some sounds will seem very
familiar, and the Chord Sounds and Computer
Sounds folders represent a treasure trove of
riches. This Germanic lavour is consistent
across all categories.
A couple of gripes, though… Firstly, individual
processing sections are too easy to deactivate
by clicking close to the faders. Secondly, patches
are labelled by category and numbered, eg,
Computer Sound 026. This is certainly eicient,
but it’s also instantly forgettable, and doesn’t
indicate whether the sound is sequenced,
Best Service
Synth-Werk £219
From one of the biggest soundware companies comes a
synth ROMpler with a very speciic Germanic lavour
Verdict
For Excellently crafted source samples
Simple, powerful Quick Edit interface
Very quick load times
Lovely organic feel to many patches
Against Patch naming too functional
GUI iddly in places
An outstanding selection of ready-to-go
Kraftwerk-style synth sounds
9/10
Alternatively
Kontakt 5 Retro Machines Mk2
N/A » N/A » €69
Tidy retro synths with eight
variations per patch – great value
Waldorf PPG Wave 3.v
CM162 » 9/10 » £119
For authentic Teutonic sonics, this
emulation is an excellent choice
Last year, Best Service teamed up with
Yellow Tools to develop the Engine player.
Now at version 2, they have a growing
number of products in this format. Much
like NI’s Kontakt library packages, you can’t
use Engine sample libraries in any other
system – but seeing as they bundle in the
Engine software, this isn’t an issue. Also
similar is that all your Engine products are
available from one plug-in, with the option
to combine instruments or ‘layers’.
The software itself is a ‘player’ version of
Yellow Tools’ Independence sampler, plus a
custom Quick Edit page. Again like Kontakt,
this gives you simple access to a multitude
of parameters. However, here everything
appears on the one screen, unlike many
Kontakt libraries. There’s also a Pro Edit
page that allows more detailed access to
envelopes, LFOs, arpeggiator settings and
so on, although there’s no route to directly
working with the underlying sample set.
The little Engine that could
ON THE DVD
Hear what Synth-Werk’s
patches sound like with
our audio demos
arpeggiated or neither. Finally, it’s worth
saying that you won’t ind any super-saw
leads (actually, there’s no leads category at
all) or ready-made club sounds here; this is
all precision electronica in its heritage, yet full
of character at the same time.
You’d be hard pushed to ind a better bunch
of sounds along these lines, and the authenticity
factor is very high. Given that such patches can
be hard to coax from run-of-the-mill soft synths,
we’d say this makes Synth-Werk a highly desirable
package, and Kraftwerk devotees in particular
should check it out.
Web www.bestservice.de
Contact [e-mail]
80 / COMPUTER MUSIC / December 2011
> reviews / best service synth-werk
CMU172.rev_synthwerk.indd 80 10/18/11 11:04:51 AM