June 12, 2024
by GForce Software
Ramon Kerstens and Richard Veenstra, a.k.a K/V, are composers of sound & music, first and foremost. They write music for artists, companies, ad campaigns, and narrative media. They design sounds and presets for media composers and virtual instrument developers. If you are a musician, chances are you’ve used their work. They also put out music as K/V. Your mom probably wouldn’t like their music but maybe you will.
K/V, who contributed to OB-X, Axxess and more recently impOSCar3‘s sound design, kindly agreed to answer a few questions.
Do you have any tips for getting great-sounding patches?
ImpOSCar absolutely shines when you explore the parameter modulation options and one of the coolest ways that comes out is through the Aux Mod. Here, you can apply an envelope to a variety of parameters, including PWM and Oscillator mix. If you combine this with the fact you can apply a similar sort of parameter control using velocity, you now have so many ways to make cool sounds that change over time by just using a single envelope. This was quite often a starting point for us when building patches.
Which of your impOSCar3 patches do you consider your personal favourite?
Tough one. China Love is a personal favourite because it’s so cinematic and has both that classic arp sound and is also edgy enough it could come straight from a Rival Consoles album. Wave Pulses is a preset we recently used in a production because it had that double-layer vibe we were looking for; it starts as a classic Oberheimish sound and then tilts and bends into an unsettling atmosphere using the Macros. Cool To The Touch is also a favourite, straight out of a David Lynch film. There are so many!
Is there anything, in particular, you liked about impOSCar3?
Absolutely. We think two things stand out in particular. Firstly, as mentioned above, the parameter modulation options in impOSCar3 are quite nifty and useful. There isn’t an overbearing matrix to use, or senseless routing options that are only there because they can. Instead, every modulation source and destination in impOSCar3 is immediate, makes sense and really adds something to the instrument.
Secondly, its audio fidelity. It’s one of the reasons why we love working with GForce and their instruments in general; all the instruments sound great and bring out the character of the originals incredibly well, most notably in the filter algorithms. It’s quite impressive!
What’s your favourite synthesiser?
That’s a tricky question because we own many synths and use almost all of them…
I think the obvious -and perhaps boring- question is that if we had to keep one synth, it would be our respective modular racks. It’s a bit of a cheeky answer but our modular setups provide us so many creative- and sound options that it would be hard to do what we do without them. Most other synths can be replaced by another in one way or another.
That said, if we omit modular synths for a second, there are two that stick out:
We don’t get to use the Juno 106 a whole lot but had to pull it out recently for a production and we immediately realized why we were keeping it. No matter how old it is or how basic its architecture is, the Juno oozes with vibe and character. A true testament to great synth engineering.
Another fav would be the Sequential Rev2. This is a recent addition to our arsenal but it gets almost daily use. One of the most impressive things about it is how ridiculously easy it lands in a mix, which is a quality of synthesizers that often gets overlooked. There are many great synths out there but a lot of them need to be massaged into a mix. The Rev2 just sits there in between all the other instruments and waves back at you with a smile.
Where can readers find out more about you?
You can read more about who we are and what we do at www.wearekv.com, or on socials through @we_are_kv
Photo Credit: Marijke Kuesters