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Best New Analog Synthesizer Plugin? BA-1 Baby Audio Review & Reaction
19K views
Jul 17, 2023
? FREE SYNTHWAVE SAMPLES STARTER PACK ? https://www.orpheusaudioacademy.com/starterpack Get the plugin here: https://www.orpheusaudioacademy.com/ba1 Get 10% off with my code at check out: "OAA" Baby Audio just released their FIRST synth plugin, BA-1, and it's amazing! BA-1 is a modern re-imagination of a cultish 1982 analog synth that looked like a toy but sounded like a beast. It brings you pure and authentic textures that are fast to program and dripping with color. BA-1 is based on the portable 1980s Yamaha CS01 synth, and Baby Audio has taken it, emulated it, and improved it...all in the form of a very affordable plugin. Also, If you make synthwave music, this plugin already comes with an entire synthwave preset pack made by Michael Oakley! If you make any kind of lo-fi or retro electronic music, this plugin is definitely for you! ⌛TIME STAMPS:⌛ 0:00 - Preview/Example 0:45 - Description of the synth 4:30 - UI Breakdown
View Video Transcript
0:30
I'm so excited about this brand new plugin by one of my favorite plugin companies, Baby Audio
0:39
They finally released their very own synthesizer plugin. Let's check it out. By the way, real quick
0:45
I just want to let you know about my free sample pack that you can grab by clicking in the description below. This has a bunch of awesome drum samples for creating retro electronic music
0:54
So if that sounds interesting to you, then just click in the description below. So it's an og
0:59
model synth plugin. Looks really awesome. Looks like it comes in different colors. That's cool
1:05
A lot of people criticize plugins for like their UI, like looking cool, almost like bad if the
1:13
plugin looks cool because it's all about the sound, the sound, the sound. And that is true
1:18
but let's face it, like creating music, it's an art form, not just a craft. And I like to look at
1:25
nice, beautiful looking plugins while mixing. Sue me, don't sue me. It says it is a synth with a soul
1:32
BA-1 is a modern re-imagination of a cultish 1982 og synth that looked like a toy, but sounded like a beast
1:42
It brings you pure and authentic lo-fi textures that are fast to program and dripping with color
1:49
That sounds like it's right up my alley. This is a video I previously played
1:55
Synthwave! So BA-1 is based on a portable 1980s synth with a toy-like appearance and a gritty sound
2:11
Despite its small size, it left a big mark on music history while still flying somewhat under the hype radar
2:18
The original has been used as a secret weapon for bubbly synth textures by some of Sweden's most successful pop producers of the last two decades
2:27
It was a staple of the 1990s digital dance hall. So I wonder if this is like Ace of Bass type sounds
2:34
And beloved by the Indytronic is seen for its lo-fi quality, the CS-01
2:39
So it's based on the Yamaha CS-01 synth, I guess, is what the original was
2:45
But Baby Audio's motto is an evolution, not an emulation. So they don't strictly emulate things
2:52
They're kind of really enhancing things, which is what I like a lot about their plugins
2:56
It's like, yeah, it's an emulation, but they update them for the modern producer. Because let's face it, a lot of the emulated plugins don't really make sense for the modern day
3:04
Like you get a tape emulating plugin and it has like inches per second on there
3:10
Like how fast the tape is moving around in terms of inches per second
3:13
Like that's not relevant today because we're not actually using tape. So why not just tell us what that control is doing, whether you increase the tape speed or not
3:22
Like what's the actual character that that's introducing to your sound? So that's kind of baby audio's approach, which is why I really like them and why I am a proud affiliate
3:30
So truth to form, they modeled the original hardware with the greatest possible accuracy before carefully upgrading it with a new with new and useful features
3:41
For example, a second og modeled oscillator, a third FM oscillator, polyphony, etc
3:47
Also, original was only mono. Hope to vastly expand the sonic palette of the original, all while keeping its signature sound unspoiled
3:56
Furthermore, BA1 lets you drain the battery, bend the circuits, use the built-in speaker
4:02
and much more for an authentic lo-fi aesthetic that you can normally only get with real hardware
4:07
That's pretty cool. So you got built-in effects. It comes loaded with 500 plus presets, including specialty packs created by some of the best sound designers in the industry
4:19
Michael Oakley Synthwave Pack. I'm a huge fan of Michael Oakley Synthwave
4:24
Oh my gosh. Oh, I can't wait to hear this. I'm so excited. All right
4:29
Let's try it out. Oh. Oh, yes. That is so synth wavy
4:47
All right, so let's break down the UI here, the interface. Now one thing I really love about this plugin
4:52
is that it is very simple, but also gives you tons of control and effects built in
5:00
especially some unique effects. For example, the glissando effect here you can add in
5:05
It's got FM filter here, our control. It's got side chain. You can control the tone, the drive
5:12
It's got a built-in delay and reverb, chorus. So it's really got everything you need
5:17
plus some bonus things that other synth plugins just don't have, and you have the battery control here
5:23
So obviously this isn't something like Serum, which is super complex where you can, you know
5:29
basically create any sound you want, but you probably don't need something that complex
5:33
If you just looking for great sounds for your song if you immediately want a great sound right So if you not a sound design person uh or you just don want to mess with something super complex this is a really great tool for you
5:46
And that's why I like it because it's got really powerful controls
5:50
but also it's very simple and easy to use. So we can go through some of these controls here
5:55
so we can listen to this little brass chords we got here
6:06
So not really something I want for this, but it's just cool that you have that ability to add a glissando effect
6:23
And of course, you've got your two oscillators here, and you can control the blend with the X-Fade here
6:28
and so right now we got a sawtooth wave here but we could move it to a square
6:37
or triangle pulse pulse with modulating
6:49
and this has a speed control attached to it so we can control like the speed of this
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so it adds some extra like modulation to it so like like an og synth wood so that's pretty
7:07
cool let's leave it where it was at you can control the octave of it of course we want it
7:14
find where it's at and it can pitch modulate it too and this is also controlled by the lfo
7:20
So this LFO lets you modulate the oscillator pitch, I believe, and also the filter
7:30
So the filter over here. So it's really nice because a lot of times, like, again, with more complex synthesizers
7:36
you can modulate just about anything and you kind of drown in the sea of possibilities
7:41
and you kind of waste time trying to find something that sounds good
7:44
Here, it's just like, these are two things that we know sound good. you can modulate the pitch, you can modulate the filter
7:50
You can see it's already modulating a speed of one to one
7:54
The pitch here, so we can hear the pitch oscillating a little bit here
8:11
So that just gives it more of that lo-fi og type of feel
8:16
So moving on, we've got the FM slider here, and so we can hear how this just adds character to the sound
8:30
If you want a little bit darker or brighter, you can use that. Of course, we've got our filter
8:35
which is the same as any other plugin with your cutoff, your resonance, your envelope
8:46
and we've got our envelope over here
9:01
So you've got your Tacticay, Sustain and Release. Again, just like you would have on any other synth
9:06
And interestingly, you also have this SYNC control here. So you can sync it, I guess the attack here to the beat of the song
9:26
So that's really unique. Then we already talked about the LFO here. And this is also a very unique control that I haven't seen in any other synth
9:33
This is built in sidechain. So we can immediately sidechain this to the kick or the beat really of the track
9:46
We can have it be pre or post routing, which I'm thinking post would probably be post effects
10:00
So after all the effects and pre is it side chain before the effects. So it's being side
10:05
chain and then all the effects come in. I could be wrong since I'm receiving this pre release
10:10
This is a pre release version. Uh, there isn't really a lot, much literature on it yet
10:15
So that would be my guess on what's going on here Because that's what it sounds like it sounds like it's kind of being ducked and then you're hearing the effects but post
10:31
We're hearing all the effects and everything being ducked as well And then you have your effects section here so we can control tone so we can make it darker or brighter or both
10:45
That's cool. And you got two different modes as well
10:55
So you want to add some nice saturation. This is really cool. So we got circuit here or overdrive, I think
11:03
OD, yeah, overdrive. So circuit would be like what? Like transistor type of saturation
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So this is, I guess, more saturation. The other one's more like distortion. So, we'll listen to this with the saturation
11:15
Kind of static It a little darker That really cool Again you get more of that lo authentic vintage
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style feel. And of course, you got your delay here. Pretty self-explanatory and reverb. Very
11:40
simple controls. You can control the length of the reverb and then the amount. Pretty simple
11:45
It's really cool. You don't have to mess with complex effects and controls
11:51
You just can quickly dial in the sound you want. And of course you got a chorus here on and off
11:59
And then another unique effect here is this battery control. So I guess the original synth had a
12:05
like you could run it off of battery and when the battery got low
12:09
it changed the sound. I can't hear it at all
12:22
It's dead. So this would be really cool for like automation, like a transition or something
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And the last unique thing here is you can actually like turn on the speaker for more
12:32
lo-fi sounds, I guess the built-in or the original og synth had an actual speaker
12:37
so you could hear it out of the synthesizer itself. Yeah, it gives it more of that tinny, speaker, kind of lo-fi sound, so that's really cool
12:54
So that could be really cool if you're making a lo-fi track, obviously, but even if you're
12:59
not making a lo-fi track, it could be maybe interesting to have this switched on in the
13:03
earlier part of the song here, where it's like the intro. It's dirty and lo-fi
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and I turn it off when it hits the quick, the chorus. So it'll be cool, there's endless possibilities here
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and of course, it has amazing, actually built-in presets and everything, so this is a really awesome plugin
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I highly recommend it if you make any kind of vintage, retro style music or lo-fi, it's a really amazing plugin
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that can quickly get you the sound you're looking for. Basic Brass
14:12
It's a mono stream
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Sounds so good. All right, let's see. Michael Oakley's Synthwave Pack. Some nice running bass type sounds
15:40
Nice sweeping bass. Blips, nice
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Can definitely use that. That's really cool
16:24
Boards of Toronto. I'm guessing that's based off of Boards of Canada
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pretty cool steampunk piano
17:28
Pads Brother Tiger, I don't know my favorite artists
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Definitely sounds Brother Tiger-y Jupiter's Glory
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I don't know how to play Africa. Definitely sounds like it, though
18:42
Oh, these all sound good. I haven't heard a bad sound yet
19:28
Time Cop Density 3, another one of my favorite artists. Tycho, another one of my favorite artists
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Oh, that's definitely Tycho-ish. Washed Out. This is like a synth made for me
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It's like all my favorite artists sounds. Oh, yeah
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That's just Michael Oakley's pack, so Michael Oakley has good taste. We can just look at all the other basses in here
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Pads, leads, plucks, and arps. Keys. Choir
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There's only one thing left to do now, and that is to create a track with this
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Thank you
21:58
Super awesome plugin
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I highly recommend you get it. So click in the description below to get it or go to Orpheus Audio Academy.com slash BA1
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And be sure to use my code OAA at checkout so you can get 10% off this synth and all baby audio plugins
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If you enjoyed this video, feel free to drop a like and be sure to check out this other video up here
22:36
which breaks down another awesome plugin for creating retro electronic music. With that, have a great day and keep creating
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