Posted
HI All
So I tried Synfire Express V1 over a decade ago and never really understood it TBH. Sure, I get the ideas behind the videos, but my results were poor. My fault completely. I gave up.
The recent messaging that Synfire 3 is more DAW-like has me intrigued. Perhaps I want to try again. I make music for fun. The days of working with clients, pressure to complete etc are gone. I love playing with generative music software( Wotja, Instacomposer, many other midi plugins and processors ) and enjoy the happy accidents that crop up.
Obviously much has changed since I opened Synfire all those years ago.
My question is whether Synfire Express 3 has generative capabilities ... that is will I be able to create/generate a chord sequence then have Synfire Express add instrument lines to begin a piece? Then perhaps edit the melodic/Harmony/rhythm parameters to hear variations and interact with the output? Maybe even draw in some melodic patterns. I kind of want to paint music with as little friction as possible.
Or is this only possible with Synfire Pro? I've looked at the comparison document but I'm afraid I've lost track of the terminology phrases, figures, factories, libraries, .... but I have a feeling that it is the Pro version that does generative???
On the other hand I welcome the simplicity that the Express version might offer? Perhaps?
Such a naïve question I know, but here we are!
Thanks.
Fri, 2025-11-21 - 23:56 Permalink
Express has factories and you can generate new output from them. You can't create and edit new factories (Pro). Otherwise with Express you can draw and transform figures and parameters as much as you like. That comes very close to painting music.
Express also has Snippets (one instrument per Snippet). The snippet grid is great for finding 'patterns' that 'work'. You get results quickly.
With editable palettes you don't really need to generate random chord sequences. The factories that do that are useful for film scores and meandering ambient tracks. Harmony that wanders around. Not the more popular stuff.
If you ever feel you want Pro, the upgrade costs only the difference. No risk in trying Express first.
Fri, 2025-11-21 - 23:58 Permalink
You should already have a lot of sounds, virtual instruments. The generic sounds installed with Synfire are very basic