The ultimate virtual analog synth, Zero-G's PHAEDRA is a virtual instrument that contains over four gigs of sounds, 20,000 samples, and 720 patches. It is a result of producer Sam Spacey's toils over the last three years with one goal in mind: create the synth that fixed all of the frustrating problems encountered elsewhere.

The result is 20,000 hand edited and looped samples where nearly each separate note is sampled to eliminate aliasing. It addresses the lack of raw sonic power in other virtual synth emulations as well as sloppy MIDI timing of external analog synths under modern computer operating systems.

Sam Spacey himself wrote:

"I set about making a personal library for the dance releases I was working on at the time. A few of my producer friends managed to try out some of my presets and ended up using them a lot on their releases.

After finding myself more and more unable to satisfy my producing needs with soft synths I found myself relying more and more on the small number of sampled presets I had made from my old MiniMoog D for bass sounds. One oscillator from a Moog seemed to sit so nicely in a mix without me having to throw loads of EQ or compression at it.

It seemed that to get the same amount of sonic energy for a bassline using one oscillator on certain VSTi analog emulations required a lot more volume and headroom that I wasn't about to give up, not to mention the time taken in compressing and EQ'ing just to get the virtual synths to sit right in the mix. The analog samples just seemed to sit in the mix so much easier.

I was also getting very frustrated with so called "sample accurate" MIDI interfaces that were anything but sample accurate. No matter how I tried to set up the interface it was never tight on timing. In the days the Atari it was tighter but also there was no sample accurate audio then so much as there is now. And MIDI just comes across even looser when put up against a modern sequencer's sample accurate audio and VSTi's.

So . . . I spent a few weeks making a load of my favourite patches in Kontakt 1. This worked really well and I was really considering selling my analogs again (been there before though lol). After constant pestering from friends to make more presets I decided to pitch my idea for a library based on analog synths to Zero-G. Nothing new I hear you say, but I wanted to go about this with the same attention to detail as say an orchestral sample library developer would."

The list itself included several detailed points that Spacey was sure to incorporate into his development of PHAEDRA. In addition to looping and editing everything manually and other aforementioned benefits, PHAEDRA was sampled using high quality Lynx 2 sound cards. Unique vel/modulation source to sample start uses the filter from the actual analog synths for flexibility and playability.

Presets were designed with use in a mix rather than solo use in mind. In addition, effects are only used when they are parts of the sampled sounds, so patches aren't just dolled up with reverb.

Made for KONTAKT 2, the PHAEDRA takes full advantage of its ability to act as a full synthesizer, and its presets are built as springboards with several ways to alter the sound.

Of the 20,271 samples (which took a year to record), none were EQ'ed or enhanced. If you want a sample to sound a certain way, that's your call, detective. And of those 20,271 samples, none are duplicates. Check it. I dare you.

Here are the synths that were sampled and some notes from Sam on each one:

• Mini Moog D - Was very hard work to sample due to the fact that if you looked at it, it went out of tune.
• Welsh Moog - A prototype Re-issue Moog made in Wales, but had a unique PWM mod done to it.
• Yamaha CS5 - Very snappy and fast attack and surprisingly bass-y oscillators.
• Yamaha CS-15 - This one was delivered in a terrible and broken state, but sounded great for it.
• Yamaha CS-30 - Sometimes I stacked all 3 Yamahas up over CV voltage for a huge sound.
• Korg Monopoly - Still getting to grips with this 4-osc howling beast.
• Korg MS-20 - Very quirky with a great filter.
• Studio Electronics SE-1 - Modern rack-mounted Moog that could store presets and stay relatively in tune - hurray!!!!
• Studio Electronics SE-1 - as above but with filter input. I stacked these two a lot, as the sound combinations were awesome.
• Roland SH-101 - Wet and squelchy, a really good little workhorse.
• Crumar Multiman - 70's string synth with Arp filters, surprisingly interesting palette of sounds.
• Akai AX-73 - Cheap and nasty but I love it for that fact; evil filter.
• Analog Phaser - Home-made, based on the Small Stone that was modded and used by Jarre on everything he did :)
• Roland analog chorus pedal - Subtle but lovely.
• Ensoniq Esq-1 - 8-bit grungy samples going through complete Curtis analog circuitry - I love this synth. [It's the only digital synth on this list!]

Finally, and if you're still reading, I commend your patience, here are some of the programming notes. All sounds were recorded and processed at 16-Bit resolution and 44.1 KHz sample rate. Each instrument has a mod wheel function for greater dynamic control, so try it out on every patch for something different. Some of its functions include Tune LFO, Filter Cutoff, Pan, and Volume.

Polyphony is unlimited on basically everything. There are a few exceptions, like synths that were originally monophonic and bass sounds. Also, up to 64 instruments can be combined for a Multi. That's kind of a lot, so you should be able to do some really crazy stuff with PHAEDRA.