Blarg

Blarg VSTi

Download demo: Blarg[demo].zip

Blarg is a 32-bit Windows VSTi featuring a number of different oscillator types (based primarily around additive synthesis models) and extensive modulation options.

View the reference manual on-line

The demo version is fully functional except the sound drops to silence periodically.

$19.99

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31 thoughts on “Blarg

  1. Pingback: Contralogic Productions launches Blarg synthesizer with 50% discount

  2. The Telenator

    I’ve collected too many great synths already, so I initially planned to pass over this one despite the almost free price you are asking. However, something somehow really got my interest here, possibly your obvious sincerity and genuine concern for creating a solid, well-conceived instrument. I’ve made myself a note to purchase this, so with plastic card in hand I’ll return here in a day or two and send you some money. Really don’t need another but there truly is something outstanding about this one. I can tell.

    Cheers!
    Telenator

    1. The Telenator

      Had to buy it. This qualifies as the least expensive synthesizer I have ever purchased, but it is certainly not the cheapest in quality. I’m impressed that you were thoughtful enough to create it with 3 OSCs — a nice touch considering the run of the mill generally have only 2. But what first got my interest was the understated yet pleasing look of the UI. VSTi’s with too many flashing lights, bells and whistles, and unnecessary nonsense tend to seriously put me off.

      I consider the u-he synths to be the state of the art when it comes to current softsynths and, clearly, Blarg is no u-he. But this synth is nothing to be ashamed of, either — the factory presets demonstrate plainly that it can produce the usual wide range of required synth sounds. While at the site, I also grabbed Pterosaur, if only to hear what 16 OSCs can do!

      In any case, thanks for a new, very inexpensive and very useful synth. I’m still curious as to whether the name you chose — Blarg — which I really like, is a tip of the hat to fuzzpilz and his Oatmeal. Thanks, Best Wishes, and Cheers!

      Tele

      1. Chris B Post author

        It wasn’t a reference to Oatmeal – I was struggling to come up with a name when a friend suggested Blarg and I liked it right away :)

        1. The Telenator

          Thanks! Really wanted to know. The name looks so much like some of fuzzpilz’s preset names on his default bank. Blarg is a cool synth — glad I grabbed it!

  3. Konrad

    Seems like a stripped-down version of CK’s Flexoid. But since Flexoid is a bit “too much”, yours might be the better option :

  4. Pingback: Blarg VSTi de Contralogic | CHM News

  5. JongHo

    I ordered Blarg from my Android phone but didn’t download it from the download page after order processing. Can I receive a mail to download?

    1. JongHo

      Sorry. The download email was sent to me right after ordering. After changing my phone, gmail sync might be set to be off. At this time after sync, I checked it.

    1. Chris B Post author

      Install it just like any other plug-in : put the contents of the .zip file in your VST plug-ins folder then click “Rescan” on the “File Folder” tab in Ableton Live’s preferences.

      But Blarg is 32-bit, so if you’re using the 64-bit version of Live you’ll need to use something like jBridge to run it – there’sa guide here.

  6. Stephen

    Hi,

    I am testing the demo version, it is an amazing synth in terms of flexibility and concept. Unfortunately the sound quality is not at the same level, but I suppose that’s SE’s fault. Especially the reverb is rather noisy.
    The manual is also very nice.
    The only real problem is the user interface, the fonts are too small and contrast is poor because of the colors chosen.
    You launched in on January 30, 2013, how about an update for its first birthday :D
    Suggestions:
    – Improved GUI (see above, for instance white fonts and no shouting with all the small labels; since capital letters are broader, you would gain some space and could thus increase the font size as such a bit)
    – A better reverb module if there is one, this one sucks
    – Velocity as an additional source in the modulation matrix
    – It would make sense if ALL components (oscs, envelope tabs, filters, etc.) not used were shown as inactive and could be turned on/off by clicking on their titles, i.e. like the effects.
    – Maybe an arp and a compressor (the latter as an addition to the limiter, both tabs as part of a component labelled Dynamics)

    Anyway, it’s an interesting synth as it is already :)
    Regards,
    Stephen

    1. Chris B Post author

      There’s stuff I’d like to add / change about the synth – but a lot of it is beyond what’s practical to implement in SE.

      Granted the reverb is nothing special – the main justification for its inclusion is that you can modulate its parmaters in realtime from any other mod source.. so you can experiment with effects that are tightly synced to whatever else you’re doing with the oscs etc. (only really useful when the synth is in mono mode, though).

      You can route velocity into the mod matrix via one of the envelopes.. a bit hacky, but at least the option is there.

      I like the idea of toggling the oscs in the same way as the effects.. not sure why I didn’t already make it do that, maybe some issue related to the synth’s internal architecture made it awkward to implement.

  7. Stephen

    PS:
    – Is there a way to set controls to default? The usual ways don’t seem to work…
    – There should also be the standard patch manager for saving and opening patches because some DAWs only save patches in a proprietary format and god knows where. That makes it impossible to transfer patches to another DAW or share them with others.

    I just wanted to buy it anyway, but why don’t you use the normal Paypal procedure? I don’t want to enter all my personal data on the form of yet another company…

    1. Chris B Post author

      There’s not – except you can double-click stuff in the mod matrix to reset to 0. I can look into adding patch manager stuff – didn’t realize there’s hosts which don’t implement standard .fxp and .fxb files.

      As for the payment procedure – FastSpring takes care of hosting and delivering files, so I’m not just using them as a Paypal alternative. I don’t think your data is used for anything other than vaidating your payment info.

      1. Stephen

        Thanks for your reply. I already bought it a couple of days ago, just had to when I managed to make a formant voice pad in the demo version which sounds surprisingly similar to the voices on 10cc’s I’m not in love :) I don’t know any other synth that can do that while using so little CPU and costing so little.

        I simply don’t use the internal reverb to avoid that odd noise sound, which by the way almost goes away when turning the reverb filter to max, but that also reduces the reverb effect considerably.

        The sound quality of the synth as such is pretty good, especially @ a sampling rate of 96k. No aliasing and such sounds. But it seems to lack in bottom, at least that is my impression. But I don’t mind, for bass sounds other synths are better anyway.

        Yes, Mixcraft for instance doesn’t allow me to save and load patches in the fxp format, it uses its own proprietary format and saves patches in a DAW subfolder. I use Tarkus a lot for analog sounds, it has that basic SE pop-up patch manager which is enough for me.

        All in all, I am happy with it already :)

    1. Stephen

      I don’t see any Blarg track there…

      Anyway, I am happy with Blarg, but if it is not too much trouble I would appreciate an included patch manager, just the standard SE module used on countless other SE synths (SuperWave etc.) would be enough.
      I would wire you an extra 10 or 15 bucks for that update because it is important to me :) So far I don’t even feel like creating a lot of Blarg patches (which is a shame) because I can’t reuse them across different DAW’s…

      1. Chris B Post author

        hi,

        sorry for the slow reply! I emailed a test version with some controls added – seems to work OK from my initial testing and should hopefully remain compatible with existing patches and banks for Blarg.

        It’s got the same 4 character VSTi ID, so you might have to move the current version of Blarg out of your plugins folder depending on your host.

    1. Carlos

      Also, have you considered making it able to import samples… That would be really really awesome, with the Dual mix Mod.. damn looking foward to that

  8. brian

    Very pleasant synth, imo. There aren’t many additive-style synths available and the sound quality of this synth stands out, both because it’s additive and because of the good programming design. The sounds are warm and inspirational, MIDI control and response is very nice.
    CPU is low and it runs just fine in LMMS on linux. (Might be worth mentioning… ;) ) In fact, with VST3 now having a GPL option, this would be a very nice addition to the native-linux synth line-up.
    Thanks!

  9. Pingback: Contralogic Blarg synthesizer VST plug-in released

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