The rapture pack at 9.95 is a steal

Well said, Craig. I'm happy that Moog is back and flourishing, they carry a lot of history for us keyboardists.

Anderton

ShellstaX
Also Craig Anderton's Minimoog Tribute: Rapture Expansion Pack from the Cakewalk Store.
Down from $49 to $9.95 at present.

FWIW the intention was to include a selection of patches that were the types of sound people created on the Minimoog at the time, but also, to generate income for the Bob Moog Foundation. (The waveforms were sampled from a restored Minimoog that Bob signed when he was staying over at my place, so they weren't just any old sawtooth waves .) 
 
I think it really says something about him that the tones created with his instruments have endured almost a half-century and still set the gold standard for synthesized sound...and that the architecture he developed remains the default standard synth routing. Bob was a giant, and the degree to which he shaped music and this industry cannot be underestimated.
 
I would encourage people who enjoy the sounds for which he's responsible to contribute something (anything) to the Bob Moog Foundation. Had it not been for the foundation, his amazing archives would have been lost. They are being restored and the foundation is involved with other worthwhile projects...please check out the link.
 
We now return to our regularly scheduled programming.

I am fortunate to have this tribute pack, and the sounds are FABULOUS.  I encourage all to check this out - particularly on sale.
 
Thanks, Craig.
 
Bob Bone
 

 
As Sanderxpander mentioned, Sound on Sound's Synth Secrets is a great place to start.
 
I know you're strapped for cash, but I can't recommend enough Simon Cann's book that scook recommended Cakewalk Synthesizers: From Presets to Power User, second edition.  Simon Cann has a bunch of videos on youtube Noise Sculpture: Simon Cann's Music-Related Videos that you may also find interesting.
 
I read Synth Secrets and Cann's book cover to cover last year, but over the last couple of weeks I've started going through the book page by page while doing everything on my computer as I go along.  Now I'm really learning stuff.
 
I started everything with b rock's PSYN-tology and PSYN (I) on Cakewalk's Kinetic (I).  PSYN II doesn't work too well on my X2, maybe because it being 32-bit (?).  Simon Cann's book starts with Triangle II for the basics, which you can run standalone.  This was available free from Cakewalk, but doesn't seem to still be.  See the Triangle II download link thread for a possible solution.
 
Whatever you do, expect a very long process.  Knowing how to program a synth is nothing compared to actually making good music, as I'm painfully discovering...
 
 

PSYNII has to be native a 64bit plug-in to run in a 64bit host it is DXi.

dubdisciple
The rapture pack at 9.95 is a steal

[edit :  I was in error, my download did indeed contain most everything, I was just too blind to see.  The LFO's still have not been located.]
 
I just downloaded this.  However, having first read some posts about it, I was a bit surprised by what was included.  For instance, b rock writes, back when the expansion pack was first released :
 
"There are even a handful of user-defined LFOs tossed into the package for good measure. I'm happy to see someone tapping that amazing feature. It's woefully under-utilized. The included videos are ... nice. It's cool that they were added to the expansion pack, and I did enjoy watching them a few times. That's just not something that would/should make or break the deal for anyone. Enjoy them, and consider that to be a bonus."
 
Unless I'm mistaken, the current expansion pack only has programs and multisamples.  No LFOs or videos.  Are these available somewhere else ?  Is this video one of the ones in question ?
 
 
 
 
 
 

Hi, guys. I've been swamped with some very important and time consuming (but hopefully life enhancing) paperwork/phone calls/research and preparing for a pile of doctor stuff that can no longer wait so I haven't been able to really post but wanted to thank everyone for all the suggestions and encouragement here. Honestly the world of synths is really quite foreign and intimidating to me but I absolutely must learn these things if I'm ever going to get these ideas rattling around inside my head out and on to "tape". It's really awesome to know so many knowledgeable people here have my back on this because lord knows I need it. If I haven't said it recently you guys rock!
 
I think that for my immediate needs in regards to this particular set of sounds I'm going to try out the Pentagon and attempt to fully understand it and why/how it does what it does and look at the PsynII patches to see if I can find the Moog sounds eluded to as well as attempt to take my experiences with Pentagon and its controls and translate that to the PsynII which looks to be a little more... uh... complex? Virtual (as opposed to looking at a piece of hardware) in its operation? I figure that way I'm learning somewhat how an old school hardware synth might work and how it logically relates to a software synth that can immediately perform a function I need (because the patches are there). Then I may be more confident when I delve into Zeta+, DimPro and Rapture or anything else I may encounter.
 
However... as my financial situation improves I will potentially end up putting the Anderton Moog expansion pack on my list of things to keep an eye out for specials on (sad to say but $10 is actually too much to do right now particularly because I snagged the Concrete Limiter on special which I had been waiting for since I first purchased X1 over two years ago). Not that I'm not interested in exploring the more dedicated Moog wares out there, and I know there are some awesome ones because I've watched a lot of vids showcasing them, but because I already intend to rip DimPro completely apart. It's the only thing, AFAICT, that I currently own that will provide me with all the more realistic sounds I need (even if I have to buy expansions or can figure out how to create my own samples somehow) so having a decent Moog library in something I'll already own/know how to use seems better than paying for and learning another program altogether and/or introducing third party stuff that may not play nice with Sonar or I won't be able to ask questions here about. I also like the idea of the money going toward something more than just some random company's bottom line.
 
So, yeah... awesome thread. It has helped me formulate a plan about not just finding the specific tone I was originally seeking but how I should approach my overall education about synths while still remaining productive and using what I already have.
 
Thanks again. Cheers.

Oops... I thought it was a DimPro pack but it is Rapture. I have to learn that one too anyway as well but it's a little more mysterious to me. Not sure what makes that one unique from the others... but I'll figure it out once I get all this meatworld mayhem dealt with. Cheers.
 

scook
PSYNII has to be native a 64bit plug-in to run in a 64bit host it is DXi.

I'm confused but the only thing I need to know... will it work on my 64bit install of X3? I'm assuming it will. Just don't want to let something simmer in that "grand scheme stew" section of my brain if it won't. Cheers.

Beepster
will it work on my 64bit install of X3?

It works on m machine (Win7 X3e 64bit) but I have not used it in a project for some time.