Be honest, you used Vanguard too! haha Every preset is a known song! Also can you guess the synth riffs in the video? :D Lots of hidden songs in that video haha Give Vanguard some love, destroy that like button !!! haha
I did too, exact in the same era. I had a heavy Dark Electro phase back in the end of 2000s, but honestly back then I imagined that everyone used some real hardware stuff instead of it.
This VST is dripping with nostalgia. It's tone is so iconic that a genre was built around it. Reminds me of what the 7 string/Mesa Boogie combo is for nu-metal. ...I used to think EVERYONE was rocking a Virus back then. 🔥 - obviously, I was wrong. 😊
Haha! exactly. I thought the same. Until I installed Vanguard lol Many people used the Virus too though. There's some iconic presets on there too. Hocico and Combichrist used it a lot.
@@GeoffModulate I can't speak for industrial, but for trance it's a bit more of a chicken/egg thing. I bought his soundsets for Virus, JP-8080 and Supernova II back when they came out, and his thing was more replicating the sounds heard in big tracks back in the day and bringing them to everyone's fingertips, which of course made them more popular, but none of it was stuff I hadn't heard before. It was just really good replications of sounds that various producers had popularized.
Oh man this brought me right back! I used this VST so much back in the 2000's. Also, great to hear all of these famous synth lines from classic songs back then. And just iconic that you got interviews with Grendel and X-Rx - seriously one of your best videos!
haha thanks man! 🙏🏻 I had so much fun just digging into aggrotech classics and old videos, sooooo many good memories hehe I could've listed so many more songs lol I wanted to make that video for a while but I couldn't have made it without JD and Pascal.🤘🏻
@@Tonepusher I dare say that remix birth the Aggrotech genre taking a pounding heavy Dark Electro track and making into a more straight Hard Trance influenced track.
@@GeoffModulate I can totally hear some Vanguard in VNV's songs, although he definitely designed his own sounds. Especially his trademark ''arpeggiated'' basses. Also, it's funny how ''Epicentre'' bass sound sounds like Vanguard before its time haha The Virus was a go to, it's sad they stopped making them. That synth really had a unique sound.IMO, unmatched to this day.
*These industrial tutorials are banging! That is the synth sound I’ve been chasing. 🎵🦅 I like them punchy but sound like there is a chorus/flanger added. Thanks for showing us this plugin!*
Yes! Vanguard was a staple in my early 32 bit tracks. It's funny that you posted this because I **just** purchased the Vanguard 2 and it sounds great! Highly recommend picking it up.
sweet vid ! i never knew about this plugin, now i see that infamous Trancegate feature. It reminds of the 100's of Arpegiator patterns you get on the Access Virus C and onwards. Kind of like a Vanguard in a desktop, as you can also go just as nasty !
yeah Although Vanguard sounds MUCH more digital than the Virus. But I see what you mean! yeah that Trance-gate feature was revolutionary haha At least for the 17 years old me lol
haha thanks man! I think Industrial is everywhere. Video game music, Movie soundtracks, Mainstream artists too...lots of influences everywhere. Having this said, I think 3Teeth are carrying the torch right now.
In case you didn't know: reFX has revived Vanguard as Vanguard 2 a while ago. Including new features, a user interface overhaul and more. I like it! :)
I still constantly use Vanguard in any song I make. Its simplicity cannot be understated, it's really great for someone that isn't yet comfortable with programming their own sounds.
@@Tonepusher Sorta, I've been switching over to Vanguard 2 due to it being 64-bit/being able to actually say I own it (I didn't start using a DAW until about 2008, so, this, z3ta+, Junglist, Hydra and V-Station were all of the big names that I saw on forums for what to "totally legally obtain"- for a teenager who had no clue what they were doing at the time 😁). But, it can be a little annoying having to uninstall Vanguard 2, reinstall Vanguard 1, open DAW/project, export presets, close DAW, uninstall, reinstall Vanguard 2, reload project, import presets- just so that I can update an old project I was still working on. It's great that all of that works, but the number of steps needed to do so makes it really tedious. (Vanguard 2 WILL load in for older instances, but it ALWAYS defaults to Vanguard 1's init preset) There's also a few minor differences between the two that make me prefer Vanguard 1, like the main filter cutoff being listed in Hz rather than percentages. That's pretty useful for my use-case, I use Vanguard mainly for basslines, so accurate note frequency automation that affects harmonics when using several distortion units in my effects chain is pretty important for what I produce.
@@Tonepusher On and off, I've mostly switched over to Vanguard 2 at this point since it's 64-bit, but there are some differences that are a little annoying about the newer version. Biggest one being that the main filter cutoff is incremented in percentages and not frequency values. That's not really helpful for my music since I tend to use Vanguard pretty heavily for basslines, and having the ability to hit frequency note values somewhat accurately at the beginning of an effects chain that has a lot of distortion for harmonics is pretty important. It's also super awkward trying to reimport patches when updating older projects; it'd be so much simpler if you were able to load in Vanguard 2 over top of older instances of 1- but it just ends up defaulting to Vanguard 1's init patch for everything. So, I have to go through the fun and tedious process of: uninstall Vanguard 2 > Vanguard 1 > load project > export presets individually > uninstall Vanguard 1 > reinstall Vanguard 2 > reload project > import presets individually. Not particularly fun! But yeah, Vanguard, V-Station, z3ta+, Junglist and Hydra were all things I wound up finding on forums at the time when I started out producing back in... '08, I believe, that a kid had at their disposal. But, Vanguard's definitely the one that has remained a constant in everything I've made, there's just something about it that keeps me from dropping it entirely.
I love that synth! It was awesome you played Hellraiser, I jam that riff often for fun. My old EBM band was going to open for Grendel at Labyrinth Detroit, but there was the Canadian border fiasco maybe a day or two before, and there wasn't really time to cancel the show, so we played anyway, but did a short breakdown jamming Zombie Nation on a MC-909 in tribute. Their cover of Leatherstrip's Don't Tame Your Soul has some amazing vocoder, I prefer that version, but the original is still a classic. As to the Vanguard, I seem to remember Tom Shear from Assemblage23 being involved somehow, maybe it was making preset packs? What I love and hate about that synth is that it usually has a sound in my head that is already a preset that has already been used because it was big 20 years ago, so I sometimes try to avoid it by going for 40 year old synth sounds with tape saturation to exaggerate being an ancient style. Trying to stay away from the popular modern sounds.
Yeah man, Grendel has composed SO many classics hehe Also the fact that he's remaking Harsh Generation right now makes me happy hehe seriously almost everyone used Vanguard back then.
@@Tonepusher At the time that exact soundbank was in nearly all of Metropolis releases, I thought it was the Virus and unaffordable, wondering if the label was funding the use of expensive hardware at studios. It was such a common sound, I also dumb thought speculated that maybe the Metropolis label was ghost producing the music they way bands styles changed when they would sign to them. Not knocking the label or the bands, I love the style still even knowing the magic of the music. Harsh Generation in Serem could be wicked, I'll be looking forward to that! Luckily, I don't know that soundbank too well, so it'll all be new to me, even if it could be awesome presets from a popular VST, I'd like to hear what Serem can do for EBM, instead of how it's used in the more Dubstep EDM rave scenes. Love the synth, can you make darker music with it?? It'd be nice for my old cybergoth days to make a nostalgic comeback.. coming soon to a nursing home near you, industrial bingo with rivet shaped stampers and HR Giger puzzles. Congregation participation singalongs to Assemblage23's Old. There's a realistic dystopia 😩
@@justin6point7 lol yeah well you can pretty much do anything with Serum. And also any synth can sound ''dark'' if you know how to use it properly! I can name some bands that had ''ghost-produced'' tracks. But it's very very rare in industrial tbh. Most of the time it's more like a friend helping another friend haha
@@Tonepusher Musically, absolutely, but I mean lyrically. I just heard a new song from a producer I highly respect musically, but lyrically, he sounded bored asking why are there so many guns, but respectable cuz there is a lot of violence, as it's always been it seems. Every Day Is Exactly The Same? I dunno, the themes are getting a bit redundant, but that's why I got out of doing lyrical music and make alien noises, but I love it when there is a good spooky album. Wonder what happened with God Module? Made a video for Telekinetic splicing up The Butterfly Effect about 15 years ago for video editing practice. Love the way the lyrics sync to the movie scenes.
Riko from WormZ here, another Vanguard lover from the period to add to your list 🤖 that fat knob=fun knob, even Headhunterz had a song with a straight Vanguard preset (Digiwave)
@@Tonepusherthe moment the plugin was on screen it did give me a chuckle. was playing around with another 1999/2000 ish plugin this week and had similar experiences
Its almost 2025 and i still use vanguard on my brand new tracks. Much more effective tool than Nexus series. Thank you ReFx for creating such a cult synth.
the closest plugin to Vanguard’s gate is the Kilohearts Trance Gate, but sadly it doesn’t have a stereo mode, unless you put two instances in parallel in Snapheap and pan each one to the opposite sides
I still use it, particularly some of the arps and the acid presets. Can be found in some of the late 2000s/early 2010s Eurobeat productions by Delta Records' Morris Capaldi as well (Shalaka Boom by Boris for example). PS: I always associated the Aggrotech/2000s Industrial sound with Hard Trance, Hardstyle and Hands Up. It makes sense seeing Manuel Schleis as the preset maker, he produced Cascada among other commercial german Dance projects.
I can't believe this is the magic behind the one and only GOD MODULE and the best aggrotech song ever created. This is just amaizing dude, thanks a lot
I am only finding about this vst now? Back then I was using Sylenth(also by Manuel I believe). Well even though I use serum now. I will definitely try this vst! I have to make up for lost time! Thank you!
Yeah, I remember Daniel Graves from aesthetic perfection did a screenshot where he was using that and I pointed it out because I always wanted to get it and he thought I was making fun of them for using it.
haha I know he used a lot of Massive and I think he still do. Many people made fun of Vanguard at the time (I'm guilty lol). Because of the presets that everybody used etc... Artists were also made fun of when using presets back then. But as you can see, all the successful artists ARE using presets lol Nowadays it's not much of a debate anymore. But back then it was a huge one lol
Yes, it was probably one of the popular synths in hard dance electronic music, and you can hear it in various tracks by the hardstyle artist Headhunterz. Just like the Massive VST, it influenced genres such as dubstep. As previously mentioned, there is also the K-Station with a VST emulation, probably one of the truly cool emulations since I had both the hardware synth and the VST version.
wow dude aha V-Station! I forgot it existed haha I used it a LOT back then. Nexus/Vanguard/V-Station and also a more obscure one that I don,t remember the name I think it was by Cakewalk
@@Vi_Ta_Lee hey! no I just Googled it and it was Rapture! haha wow memories, I also remember that it didn't sound that well either haha But I liked to use it for dirtier sounds
@@Tonepusher Some old synthesizers, or for example, the old Reaktor ensembles (which are no longer available in the newer versions), had a significant impact on music genres, especially industrial. This is because experimental sound was a priority back then. Nowadays, sounds have become more polished or, in some way, stylized for specific commercial genres. Among the new synths that I think will influence industrial sound are probably Raw and Raw Kick by Rob Papen. In my opinion, Rob is one of the best plugin designers for these dirty and harsh genres. If you haven't tried them, I highly recommend it. I have created several official libraries for Raw and a lot of libraries for Raw Kick (currently working on what is probably the 10th library). For industrial, it's really a great tool (at least to my taste). I also believe Rob Papen influenced the sound of the hardcore genre with the release of Raw Kick, as the built-in limiter allows for very loud sound without exceeding 0, which has affected the genre's sound.
Man, this VST is cool! Is the original still available anywhere? I'm only able to find Vanguard 2, and I can't imagine myself looking at the second one's GUI for very long
@@SalmoneTattico hmm sadly I'm afraid I can't. Although I heard Vanguard 2 is backward compatible and sounds identical lol You might want to check it out!
At the time I despised this synth for being THE Rythm'n'Noise Lead machine. But GUILTY as charged :D :D :D. I definitely used it on Autoaggression - Artefacts and Geräuschinformatik.
It reminds me of the access virus ti, that is now discontinued and emulated by the free VSTi OsTIrus! I think that almost every sound vanguard makes, with a little bit of snake oil and fortune, can be reproduced with OsTIrus, that is the free emulation of the virus ti, that is the synth that vanguard was supposed to replace at the time of its release!XD
Sdannggg!!!🎉 it was claimed somewhere that vanguard was meant to be THE access virus replacement... but I’ve found out with the free OsTIrus, that the access virus ti can’t be replaced by nothing else than OsTIrus itself, that is the free virus ti emulator! nice sound, vanguard, BTW! It remains in my heart, BTW, as the most famous and complete supersaw/hypersaw VSTi amongst the oldest! I think Sylenth1 can be another one, but it’s newer... and both, for me, sounds more like two different emulations of the jp8000, not of the access virus!😊
im sorry did we just get a stealth drop of a future remaster/remake of harsh generation???!! WAT But also yes i still readily use vanguard in my stuff, its so awesome and holds up really well as a legacy VST
@@WVLFRVN I'll cleanse my memories later so I have a fresh surprise in the future. Soilbleed and harsh generation were my entry into the industrial scene and it's only taken me nearly twenty years to make tracks that are even on par with what you knock out my man. Keep doing what you do and thank you for so many electronic soundscapes that have inspired me over the years!
@@mrN3CR0 I'm not sure if anything's really coming dude, but I'm so glad to hear you're more confident with it now. You've always been a great talent, whether you believed it or not! Time to release something!
@@WVLFRVN I am at a loss of words but you have honestly just made me smile so much and i thank you for it, Theres not many folks who i am still in contact with from my early days "in the scene" and from when i joined soundcloud and the ill-fated vampirefreaks back in the day but its taken folks Like Joss (Jay ruin/ruinzer), Richard Pyne (Uberbyte) and Seamus (Invalid) to keep pushing me into breaking my wall of anxiety and getting things into the wild. Baby steps so far but im now getting digital distro on all the usuals so its just getting the confidence together to come up with another release! I shall keep my eyes and ears peeled for things on your side too mate. Again Thank you! If you fancy a cheeky listen though i still am working in FL with what i can afford im still using my silly N3CR0M4NC3R alias all these years later and things will be under that!
Also, (to my knowledge) one of a very small number of synths that offers a native cross delay. I actually wish reFX would release a delay plugin by itself so I could run other synths through it.
I also used Vanguar a bit because i thought it was a freeware synth back then. Realizing later that it's paid software, i didnt bother to buy it because i already switched to a 64bit system.
Heh Montreal 2009, played 3 gigs in 3 days with three different bands, the third one was a last minute ask and I had 15 minutes to figure out parts backstage for an hour set. Was a blast
If you miss it, get the Vanguard 2! It's better than the original, imo. Has all the original sounds (plus LOTS more) and they sound a lot better then they did in the 32 bit version.
V-Station was is also heavily used. K-Station and X-Stations were probably the scenes version answer to the Hipsters fetish for the MicroKorg. The MicroKorg is the AK47 of the synth world.
It’s why I purchased mini nova when it came out. Mod scenes feature was amazing. Has a cool portable vibe and my favorite budget synth that I still use until this day. You can also edit deep stuff from the menu diving it’s better than hooked up to pc. Can’t do that with micro korg. I’d rather buy a real MS
@@MarcoVisconti oh cool haha yeah I spotted you in that ''Remnants" video while editing. I remember your time with VNV but didn't remembered you played with Grendel too. Harsh Generation era was something 🤘
haha I had sooo much fun making this. I've been listening to 2000s aggrotech for the past week. It's like I'm discovering back songs that I completely forgot about. Thanks to Vanguard lol
SOOOO true hahaha And I'm guilty. I used to go ''oh look another Vanguard preset'' ...And well at the time it was kinda redundant. But now that it's gone, we want em back haha I think we should all take it as a lesson and use what the fuck we want to make music lol No barriers.
@@Tonepusher I was terrible for it 😂 I cringe every time I think about how much I cared 😂 I feel your sentiment entirely - I hammered a few nails in to a wooden box and stuck a contact mic to it the other day, I am in no place to be judging anyone for what they use 😂
@@WVLFRVN Cringe is the word lol I guess we all have that phase. I used to think that music that sounds good do better, when in the end it's the melodies man. But you always had both anyways :) hehe I wish I wouldve cared less lol
Yeah he did use the virus a lot, I found some presets he used on my Ti Snow. I'm pretty sure he did use Vanguard too, but probably on earlier material like ''Everybody Hates You''.
Be honest, you used Vanguard too! haha Every preset is a known song! Also can you guess the synth riffs in the video? :D Lots of hidden songs in that video haha Give Vanguard some love, destroy that like button !!! haha
Of course, I used it!
@@AcyMood AH! we all did lol
Used it for metal music
@@alexandererkabaev2771 would fit perfectly in an industrial metal track that's for sure!
I did too, exact in the same era. I had a heavy Dark Electro phase back in the end of 2000s, but honestly back then I imagined that everyone used some real hardware stuff instead of it.
This VST is dripping with nostalgia. It's tone is so iconic that a genre was built around it. Reminds me of what the 7 string/Mesa Boogie combo is for nu-metal. ...I used to think EVERYONE was rocking a Virus back then. 🔥 - obviously, I was wrong. 😊
Haha! exactly. I thought the same. Until I installed Vanguard lol Many people used the Virus too though. There's some iconic presets on there too. Hocico and Combichrist used it a lot.
The real secret is, Manuel made every synth sound the same (in the best way possible) 😅
@@gurpaful Manuel Schleis defined the sound of 90s/2000s trance/industrial. He's the GOAT when it comes to presets.
@@GeoffModulate I can't speak for industrial, but for trance it's a bit more of a chicken/egg thing. I bought his soundsets for Virus, JP-8080 and Supernova II back when they came out, and his thing was more replicating the sounds heard in big tracks back in the day and bringing them to everyone's fingertips, which of course made them more popular, but none of it was stuff I hadn't heard before. It was just really good replications of sounds that various producers had popularized.
@@Tonepusher It would be cool if you'd make a video about the most iconic presets, for sure!
I'm so relieved to hear I'm not the only one still using Vanguard today 😂 it has a special place in my heart
haha I suggest using Vanguard 2 though! lol
Its solid. V2 is too!
@@sierrawhiskey5144 heard that it sound like the original one haha
Oh man this brought me right back! I used this VST so much back in the 2000's. Also, great to hear all of these famous synth lines from classic songs back then. And just iconic that you got interviews with Grendel and X-Rx - seriously one of your best videos!
haha thanks man! 🙏🏻 I had so much fun just digging into aggrotech classics and old videos, sooooo many good memories hehe I could've listed so many more songs lol
I wanted to make that video for a while but I couldn't have made it without JD and Pascal.🤘🏻
That Hellraiser (VNV Nation Remix) lead was so spot on...
That awesome time when VNV would make remixes that destroys the original songs. 🖤
@@Tonepusher I know for a fact VNV used Vanguard! But also a lot of Virus and Reaktor at various times.
@@Tonepusher I dare say that remix birth the Aggrotech genre taking a pounding heavy Dark Electro track and making into a more straight Hard Trance influenced track.
@@GeoffModulate I can totally hear some Vanguard in VNV's songs, although he definitely designed his own sounds. Especially his trademark ''arpeggiated'' basses. Also, it's funny how ''Epicentre'' bass sound sounds like Vanguard before its time haha
The Virus was a go to, it's sad they stopped making them. That synth really had a unique sound.IMO, unmatched to this day.
*These industrial tutorials are banging! That is the synth sound I’ve been chasing. 🎵🦅 I like them punchy but sound like there is a chorus/flanger added. Thanks for showing us this plugin!*
Nice man & you had on Pascal & JD. Two genuinely talented good dudes.
100% man, they are super cool and down to earth 🖤
Really appreciate your takes and observations man keep going! Super resource for us.
thanks man! yeah that one was very nostalgic for me haha
Alex from Method Cell here 👋 We absolutely used this in Curse Of A Modern Age! 😍
hey Alex, love your music :) I went back listening your album. Definitely can hear some Vanguard in there haha Nice use of it ;)
@@Tonepusher thank you! Awesome video :) 🖤
Vanguard + SerumFX is still a valid way to create smooth modern sounds :3 Thanks for remembering I own this :D
man that's a very very good idea lol I never thought of using Serum AND Vanguard together lol
Yes! Vanguard was a staple in my early 32 bit tracks. It's funny that you posted this because I **just** purchased the Vanguard 2 and it sounds great! Highly recommend picking it up.
I'm pretty sure I'll buy it too haha Might wait a couple month. Everything will be on sale! haha
sweet vid ! i never knew about this plugin, now i see that infamous Trancegate feature. It reminds of the 100's of Arpegiator patterns you get on the Access Virus C and onwards. Kind of like a Vanguard in a desktop, as you can also go just as nasty !
yeah Although Vanguard sounds MUCH more digital than the Virus. But I see what you mean! yeah that Trance-gate feature was revolutionary haha At least for the 17 years old me lol
I am just in love with all your advices!!! Industrial Metal would be certainly be back soon or later with your help...🙏🏻
haha thanks man! I think Industrial is everywhere. Video game music, Movie soundtracks, Mainstream artists too...lots of influences everywhere. Having this said, I think 3Teeth are carrying the torch right now.
In case you didn't know: reFX has revived Vanguard as Vanguard 2 a while ago. Including new features, a user interface overhaul and more. I like it! :)
I love this content. It's so hard to find any info on EBM/Industrial sounds. Thank you.
So much nostalgia. Everyone used vanguard back in the early 2000s.. i think even VNV Nation used it if I’m not mistaken on matter + form
Yes, I have sources that confirmed that they did! :) they even sampled it years later for live shows.
I have seen X-RX live! They are great! Hopefully I will see Grendel live in the future.
Vanguard wasn't only ours, it was LOVED by psy/trance producers too.
loved this synth. still love it. was soooo happy the re-released it and now i don't have to use a 32bit bridge
Absolutely killer video and some of my favorite sounds, thanks for making these.
Would love to see you do a video on the SE-50/SE-70.
Thanks man! And that's a really good idea haha I have one lying here in my studio for the past 15 years lol Why not use it hehe
Thank you for this video, I miss those days
haha np man! I had fun making it :) good memories!
I loved Vanguard. I wish i could find it now. It sounded so dope
haha yeah it sounded awesome. I heard that Vanguard 2 sounds the same and that it's running V1 presets too!
I still constantly use Vanguard in any song I make. Its simplicity cannot be understated, it's really great for someone that isn't yet comfortable with programming their own sounds.
haha true, are you using the first one still?
@@Tonepusher Sorta, I've been switching over to Vanguard 2 due to it being 64-bit/being able to actually say I own it (I didn't start using a DAW until about 2008, so, this, z3ta+, Junglist, Hydra and V-Station were all of the big names that I saw on forums for what to "totally legally obtain"- for a teenager who had no clue what they were doing at the time 😁). But, it can be a little annoying having to uninstall Vanguard 2, reinstall Vanguard 1, open DAW/project, export presets, close DAW, uninstall, reinstall Vanguard 2, reload project, import presets- just so that I can update an old project I was still working on. It's great that all of that works, but the number of steps needed to do so makes it really tedious. (Vanguard 2 WILL load in for older instances, but it ALWAYS defaults to Vanguard 1's init preset)
There's also a few minor differences between the two that make me prefer Vanguard 1, like the main filter cutoff being listed in Hz rather than percentages. That's pretty useful for my use-case, I use Vanguard mainly for basslines, so accurate note frequency automation that affects harmonics when using several distortion units in my effects chain is pretty important for what I produce.
@@Tonepusher On and off, I've mostly switched over to Vanguard 2 at this point since it's 64-bit, but there are some differences that are a little annoying about the newer version. Biggest one being that the main filter cutoff is incremented in percentages and not frequency values. That's not really helpful for my music since I tend to use Vanguard pretty heavily for basslines, and having the ability to hit frequency note values somewhat accurately at the beginning of an effects chain that has a lot of distortion for harmonics is pretty important. It's also super awkward trying to reimport patches when updating older projects; it'd be so much simpler if you were able to load in Vanguard 2 over top of older instances of 1- but it just ends up defaulting to Vanguard 1's init patch for everything. So, I have to go through the fun and tedious process of: uninstall Vanguard 2 > Vanguard 1 > load project > export presets individually > uninstall Vanguard 1 > reinstall Vanguard 2 > reload project > import presets individually. Not particularly fun!
But yeah, Vanguard, V-Station, z3ta+, Junglist and Hydra were all things I wound up finding on forums at the time when I started out producing back in... '08, I believe, that a kid had at their disposal. But, Vanguard's definitely the one that has remained a constant in everything I've made, there's just something about it that keeps me from dropping it entirely.
I bought it and all the sound packs and a year later it was discontinued. Great success.
haha yeah well at leas you had time to get it.
Add some distortion and this became my go to synth! Epic time for Harsh Industrial!
haha yeah it was the shit. The FXs on it sucks though. But with a good distortion, it sounds awesome.
This video put a smile on my face.
haha me too!! this one was for my inner teen.
Koprolalie! Love these tutorials man!
classis riff and song! haha thanks man :)
I love that synth! It was awesome you played Hellraiser, I jam that riff often for fun. My old EBM band was going to open for Grendel at Labyrinth Detroit, but there was the Canadian border fiasco maybe a day or two before, and there wasn't really time to cancel the show, so we played anyway, but did a short breakdown jamming Zombie Nation on a MC-909 in tribute. Their cover of Leatherstrip's Don't Tame Your Soul has some amazing vocoder, I prefer that version, but the original is still a classic. As to the Vanguard, I seem to remember Tom Shear from Assemblage23 being involved somehow, maybe it was making preset packs? What I love and hate about that synth is that it usually has a sound in my head that is already a preset that has already been used because it was big 20 years ago, so I sometimes try to avoid it by going for 40 year old synth sounds with tape saturation to exaggerate being an ancient style. Trying to stay away from the popular modern sounds.
Yeah man, Grendel has composed SO many classics hehe Also the fact that he's remaking Harsh Generation right now makes me happy hehe
seriously almost everyone used Vanguard back then.
@@Tonepusher At the time that exact soundbank was in nearly all of Metropolis releases, I thought it was the Virus and unaffordable, wondering if the label was funding the use of expensive hardware at studios. It was such a common sound, I also dumb thought speculated that maybe the Metropolis label was ghost producing the music they way bands styles changed when they would sign to them. Not knocking the label or the bands, I love the style still even knowing the magic of the music. Harsh Generation in Serem could be wicked, I'll be looking forward to that! Luckily, I don't know that soundbank too well, so it'll all be new to me, even if it could be awesome presets from a popular VST, I'd like to hear what Serem can do for EBM, instead of how it's used in the more Dubstep EDM rave scenes. Love the synth, can you make darker music with it?? It'd be nice for my old cybergoth days to make a nostalgic comeback.. coming soon to a nursing home near you, industrial bingo with rivet shaped stampers and HR Giger puzzles. Congregation participation singalongs to Assemblage23's Old. There's a realistic dystopia 😩
@@justin6point7 lol yeah well you can pretty much do anything with Serum. And also any synth can sound ''dark'' if you know how to use it properly!
I can name some bands that had ''ghost-produced'' tracks. But it's very very rare in industrial tbh. Most of the time it's more like a friend helping another friend haha
@@Tonepusher Musically, absolutely, but I mean lyrically. I just heard a new song from a producer I highly respect musically, but lyrically, he sounded bored asking why are there so many guns, but respectable cuz there is a lot of violence, as it's always been it seems. Every Day Is Exactly The Same? I dunno, the themes are getting a bit redundant, but that's why I got out of doing lyrical music and make alien noises, but I love it when there is a good spooky album. Wonder what happened with God Module? Made a video for Telekinetic splicing up The Butterfly Effect about 15 years ago for video editing practice. Love the way the lyrics sync to the movie scenes.
The Vanguard, Albino, and Z3ta were the 3 synths I remember using back in those days.
oh yeah Z3ta was one of my main weapon also!
i subscribed for the industrial content!
thanks a lot :) there's more coming!
Thanks, dude. Nice upload.
np man :) I felt nostalgic and had to do it! 🤘
Did anyone else use the Superwave P8 back in the day? Poor man's JP8000.
loll I did! It's funny because I thought about that plugin this morning
I have both(vanguard and p8) on my actual computer since 20 years and actively using
@@rcs2003 you may try ultimate from superwave, they show it like a fuller jp8000 emulation!
@@rcs2003 damn, I hope your computer isn't 20 years old though. haha
Ohhh, liked that one, until I started using Sylenth1 and years after, Spire (my no. 1 vsti nowadays, programming leads is extremely easy on that one).
Vanguard was my favourite plugin. Probably still is.
As a matter of fact, Merlin used it for his bases.
I'm not familiar with ''Merlin'' but I'm curious. Can you suggest me an album/song?
@@Tonepusher oh damn, fkn autocorrect.
“Neelix”
Riko from WormZ here, another Vanguard lover from the period to add to your list 🤖 that fat knob=fun knob, even Headhunterz had a song with a straight Vanguard preset (Digiwave)
loll fat knob=fun knob haha I love it 😂
00:51 - Dun - dun - Dun - dun - Dun... HELLRAISER!! 🤟🏾🤟🏾🤟🏾🤟🏾
Mindstrip, one of the best album ever! :)
Completely forgot this vst existed. Been working on some old school hardstyle recently, might need to try this out again....
yeah I heard Vanguard 2 sound pretty similar, you might want to check it out
"Today we are going to review plugins from the early 2000s" *takes out magnifying glass*
loll dude, I have a 4k screen. I can tell you that it was small on my screen.
@@Tonepusherthe moment the plugin was on screen it did give me a chuckle. was playing around with another 1999/2000 ish plugin this week and had similar experiences
@@dreikelvin It's sad though that some plugins are left behind. I use Reaktor sometime and it's starting to get smaller and smaller lol
@@Tonepusher My eyes when using Absynth or FM8. 😣
Damn, i loved this vst back in the day
haha yeah dude, I curious to try the 2
Its almost 2025 and i still use vanguard on my brand new tracks. Much more effective tool than Nexus series. Thank you ReFx for creating such a cult synth.
LD The Beast was also used in Glowstix, Neon & Blood by Incubite. Even I used it a lot back in the day, such a classy VST.
haha true I remember that Incubite track!
the closest plugin to Vanguard’s gate is the Kilohearts Trance Gate, but sadly it doesn’t have a stereo mode, unless you put two instances in parallel in Snapheap and pan each one to the opposite sides
I used it this morning for a remix (trance gate) haha Kilohearts Bundle is by far the best free bundle you can find imo
Vengeance has a Trance Gate in FX collection. Honestly you can get gated riffs using a MIDI Gate or a "Phrase Arpeggiator".
@@Mythos91Tube There's many many ways of re-making it. You can also assign an LFO to the AMP or Volume of the oscillators
The suicide commando shout out!
I still use it, particularly some of the arps and the acid presets. Can be found in some of the late 2000s/early 2010s Eurobeat productions by Delta Records' Morris Capaldi as well (Shalaka Boom by Boris for example).
PS: I always associated the Aggrotech/2000s Industrial sound with Hard Trance, Hardstyle and Hands Up. It makes sense seeing Manuel Schleis as the preset maker, he produced Cascada among other commercial german Dance projects.
oh 100% 2000s aggrotech was a lot inspired by trance and eurobeat
Ohhh yeah. also in the 2000s, I make some industrial with the help of the Vanguard. but now - serum is one love!
haha yeah Vanguard was cool but Serum is in another league haha You can do anything with it
@@Tonepusher yeah bro, literally anything! and at the same time, its interface is also not so overloaded!
Vanguard is the future back then🔥👍🏼
definitely was haha
Scream4More preset used on one of the most important tracks, “Boneshaker Baybee” by :WUMPSCUT: 🖤
haha true!! I forgot that one. Embryodead and Wreath of barbs are probably among my top albums of all time
holy shit those Montreal clips made me feel old af lol
haha SAME! Kinetik was the sh*t!
I can't believe this is the magic behind the one and only GOD MODULE and the best aggrotech song ever created.
This is just amaizing dude, thanks a lot
haha yeah well this is the magic behind a LOT of aggrotech songs. Iconic sounds really hehe
I am only finding about this vst now? Back then I was using Sylenth(also by Manuel I believe). Well even though I use serum now. I will definitely try this vst! I have to make up for lost time! Thank you!
haha np man :) Serum is by Steve Duda! You can use Vanguard 2, I heard that it sounds the same!
@@Tonepusher oops I meant sylenth. Edited. Thank you!
Yeah, I remember Daniel Graves from aesthetic perfection did a screenshot where he was using that and I pointed it out because I always wanted to get it and he thought I was making fun of them for using it.
haha I know he used a lot of Massive and I think he still do.
Many people made fun of Vanguard at the time (I'm guilty lol). Because of the presets that everybody used etc... Artists were also made fun of when using presets back then. But as you can see, all the successful artists ARE using presets lol Nowadays it's not much of a debate anymore. But back then it was a huge one lol
Oh yeah, I used it quite a bit when I dived into electronic music. Especially for those metalic kinda sounds.
yeah haha ngl 95% of the sounds coming out of Vanguard sounds metallic and thats why we loved it 😂
@@Tonepusher Exactly :)
Yes, it was probably one of the popular synths in hard dance electronic music, and you can hear it in various tracks by the hardstyle artist Headhunterz. Just like the Massive VST, it influenced genres such as dubstep. As previously mentioned, there is also the K-Station with a VST emulation, probably one of the truly cool emulations since I had both the hardware synth and the VST version.
wow dude aha V-Station! I forgot it existed haha I used it a LOT back then. Nexus/Vanguard/V-Station and also a more obscure one that I don,t remember the name I think it was by Cakewalk
@@Tonepusher Yes, it was an interesting period. I also worked a bit with Cakewalk. Did you mean the Z3TA VST?
@@Vi_Ta_Lee hey! no I just Googled it and it was Rapture! haha wow memories, I also remember that it didn't sound that well either haha But I liked to use it for dirtier sounds
@@Tonepusher Some old synthesizers, or for example, the old Reaktor ensembles (which are no longer available in the newer versions), had a significant impact on music genres, especially industrial. This is because experimental sound was a priority back then. Nowadays, sounds have become more polished or, in some way, stylized for specific commercial genres.
Among the new synths that I think will influence industrial sound are probably Raw and Raw Kick by Rob Papen. In my opinion, Rob is one of the best plugin designers for these dirty and harsh genres. If you haven't tried them, I highly recommend it. I have created several official libraries for Raw and a lot of libraries for Raw Kick (currently working on what is probably the 10th library). For industrial, it's really a great tool (at least to my taste). I also believe Rob Papen influenced the sound of the hardcore genre with the release of Raw Kick, as the built-in limiter allows for very loud sound without exceeding 0, which has affected the genre's sound.
@@Vi_Ta_Lee I never tried RAW, but you got me interested hehe I have to check that out!
Man, this VST is cool! Is the original still available anywhere? I'm only able to find Vanguard 2, and I can't imagine myself looking at the second one's GUI for very long
Seems like Vanguard 2 is backward compatible. Ngl I don't remember where I found mine lol I need to get V2 :)
@@Tonepusher any chance you can share the original one w us?
@@SalmoneTattico hmm sadly I'm afraid I can't. Although I heard Vanguard 2 is backward compatible and sounds identical lol You might want to check it out!
This synth is so easy, can't sound bad. hits with presets ready ;)
haha yeah man presets are legendary. I was also using it as sub bass sometimes. Straight up waveforms with distortion sounds suuuuper good.
At the time I despised this synth for being THE Rythm'n'Noise Lead machine. But GUILTY as charged :D :D :D. I definitely used it on Autoaggression - Artefacts and Geräuschinformatik.
Ah yes, the defining sound of my early 20s! This takes me back😂
haha yeah these presets are like traveling back in time haha
dis! my personal favorite!
Haha nothing sounds like it. (still to this day)
It reminds me of the access virus ti, that is now discontinued and emulated by the free VSTi OsTIrus! I think that almost every sound vanguard makes, with a little bit of snake oil and fortune, can be reproduced with OsTIrus, that is the free emulation of the virus ti, that is the synth that vanguard was supposed to replace at the time of its release!XD
lol yeah it was suposed to, but in the end nothing sounded like Vanguard haha
@@Tonepusher in fact they sounds similar, and they can be used in pair alongside other instruments/samples in a full dance/techno/trance track
@@ranmadog72000 Well, I have a virus and I don't think they sound similar at all hehe Having this said, it's true that they fit together though!
Still use Vanguard and Vanguard 2 quite a bit, Alongside a Virus TI and a few arturia plugins. They're in almost everything I make now.
That's a perfect setup. You can do pretty much anything with that!
The first VST I ever paid for.
At least we found one person who paid for it! lol
Sdannggg!!!🎉 it was claimed somewhere that vanguard was meant to be THE access virus replacement... but I’ve found out with the free OsTIrus, that the access virus ti can’t be replaced by nothing else than OsTIrus itself, that is the free virus ti emulator! nice sound, vanguard, BTW! It remains in my heart, BTW, as the most famous and complete supersaw/hypersaw VSTi amongst the oldest! I think Sylenth1 can be another one, but it’s newer... and both, for me, sounds more like two different emulations of the jp8000, not of the access virus!😊
JP8000! another classic, will be in my next video :)
Great vid. Do you have a vid on the best industrial drum plugins?
hey! I made one on old school drum machines but I didn't on plugins. I'll put that on the list :)
@@Tonepusher can't wait for it !!!!!
@@Tonepusher Cool. It's drum sounds I suffer finding the right sounds with.
@@BloodyChunX ngl for a lonnnng time it was my weakness. Now I think most of the time I'm good with drums. But yeah it's a hard thing to master...
im sorry did we just get a stealth drop of a future remaster/remake of harsh generation???!! WAT
But also yes i still readily use vanguard in my stuff, its so awesome and holds up really well as a legacy VST
haha YES we did, you heard it here first my friend 🤘 I was as surprised as you are man haha Can't wait to hear it!
I'll gladly take some of the blame for this ❤ (it's Jay again I keep changing my name because I hate myself)
@@WVLFRVN I'll cleanse my memories later so I have a fresh surprise in the future. Soilbleed and harsh generation were my entry into the industrial scene and it's only taken me nearly twenty years to make tracks that are even on par with what you knock out my man. Keep doing what you do and thank you for so many electronic soundscapes that have inspired me over the years!
@@mrN3CR0 I'm not sure if anything's really coming dude, but I'm so glad to hear you're more confident with it now. You've always been a great talent, whether you believed it or not!
Time to release something!
@@WVLFRVN I am at a loss of words but you have honestly just made me smile so much and i thank you for it, Theres not many folks who i am still in contact with from my early days "in the scene" and from when i joined soundcloud and the ill-fated vampirefreaks back in the day but its taken folks Like Joss (Jay ruin/ruinzer), Richard Pyne (Uberbyte) and Seamus (Invalid) to keep pushing me into breaking my wall of anxiety and getting things into the wild. Baby steps so far but im now getting digital distro on all the usuals so its just getting the confidence together to come up with another release! I shall keep my eyes and ears peeled for things on your side too mate. Again Thank you! If you fancy a cheeky listen though i still am working in FL with what i can afford im still using my silly N3CR0M4NC3R alias all these years later and things will be under that!
This VST was very popular for psytrance too, all sub genres…
100% , it was used for eeeverything hehe
You Mad Lad you did it! Trance Gate go Brrrrr! 😉
Haha instant club hit
@@Tonepusher Even Timbaland used it! Remember when he was biggest Producer in the world.
I still use this!
Also, (to my knowledge) one of a very small number of synths that offers a native cross delay. I actually wish reFX would release a delay plugin by itself so I could run other synths through it.
yeah i used it. and i liked it.
I also used Vanguar a bit because i thought it was a freeware synth back then. Realizing later that it's paid software, i didnt bother to buy it because i already switched to a 64bit system.
People actually paid for it? 😂
Heh Montreal 2009, played 3 gigs in 3 days with three different bands, the third one was a last minute ask and I had 15 minutes to figure out parts backstage for an hour set. Was a blast
haha yeah man Coma and Kinetik was the best. I played there too, multiple times. What bands were//are you in?
@@Tonepusher Grendel, Terrorfakt and Shiv-r
@@nisroch nice, great bands! respect 🙏 Were you on stage for infamous Terrorfakt show that ended Kinetik? 👀 hahah
@@Tonepusher The 2012 show? I was not there sadly.
@@nisroch Yeah that one where a grinding disk exploded in the crowd. It was at ''Usine C'' I think. Best venue!
I used this and kinda miss it. I was turned on to it by Alex of NF and damn this synth was inspirational.
haha yeah it was the best. Nexus came and destroyed all our dreams haha They released Vanguard 2 though. But it's 15 years too late.
If you miss it, get the Vanguard 2! It's better than the original, imo. Has all the original sounds (plus LOTS more) and they sound a lot better then they did in the 32 bit version.
@@cryogeneric I think it's the nostalgia I miss, I run dawless these days. If someone made a hardware version, Id be the first in line.
Thank-you!
haha thanks for commenting man :)
I don’t see what the problem is. This is the origin of "club trance" genre. On of my favorites.
1:59 This melody is stuck in my head but someone has to tell me what song is this :p
Okay, got it! It's They by Combichrist :)
THEY!
I loved that thing
haha we all did, and ngl I still think it sounds good lol
It would be nice to have some tutorial in the style of We Are Magonia and darksynth.
Dose turteen effects was pretty good
I still use it!!
haha damn, 20 years later! It'll need some repair soon XD
V-Station was is also heavily used. K-Station and X-Stations were probably the scenes version answer to the Hipsters fetish for the MicroKorg. The MicroKorg is the AK47 of the synth world.
we still can use V-Station
@@pavelmolchanov7156I couldn’t stand v station
It’s why I purchased mini nova when it came out. Mod scenes feature was amazing. Has a cool portable vibe and my favorite budget synth that I still use until this day. You can also edit deep stuff from the menu diving it’s better than hooked up to pc. Can’t do that with micro korg. I’d rather buy a real MS
@@marsoblivi0n945 I have one too. Its a very powerful synth indeed.
Ah the memories!
I know right? haha Did you guys used Vanguard too? :P
@@Tonepusher of course :) I think I actually got it from Jos, as at the time I was playing in Grendel too!
@@MarcoVisconti oh cool haha yeah I spotted you in that ''Remnants" video while editing. I remember your time with VNV but didn't remembered you played with Grendel too. Harsh Generation era was something 🤘
@@Tonepusher it was the best of times.
I have the vanguard vengeance today...and all the vengeance drum packs.
haha Vanguard 2 or 1 ?
@@Tonepusher one I bought it on sale last year..
@@mikelreborn3254 oh interesting, I didn't know they were still selling it
Oh Vanguard, how i miss it
I dream about trancegate
most of th melodies I knew from my past nice!!!
haha I had sooo much fun making this. I've been listening to 2000s aggrotech for the past week. It's like I'm discovering back songs that I completely forgot about. Thanks to Vanguard lol
love from québec
hey merci man 🤘🏻
We all used to shame it
Now we crave it
SOOOO true hahaha And I'm guilty. I used to go ''oh look another Vanguard preset'' ...And well at the time it was kinda redundant. But now that it's gone, we want em back haha
I think we should all take it as a lesson and use what the fuck we want to make music lol No barriers.
@@Tonepusher I was terrible for it 😂 I cringe every time I think about how much I cared 😂
I feel your sentiment entirely - I hammered a few nails in to a wooden box and stuck a contact mic to it the other day, I am in no place to be judging anyone for what they use 😂
@@WVLFRVN Cringe is the word lol I guess we all have that phase. I used to think that music that sounds good do better, when in the end it's the melodies man. But you always had both anyways :) hehe
I wish I wouldve cared less lol
Vanguard Super VST!
One vst to rule them all
this video should give some sales of the new version of Vanguard I suppose 😜
lol maybe I should've contacted reFX before making it? 🤔 haha I'm sure it will
im glad they released vanguard 2
I heard it sounds exactly like the first one haha
Vanguard was awesome
It sure was haha I remember the first time I pressed that trance-gate feature. Changed my life lollll
I still use it.
damn! the V1 ? or Vanguard 2?
V1. lol. I’ve got a. Old Mac g5 running OSX 10.4, I’ve got a lot of old plugs.
@@benjaminframe5530 haha damn, what's your DAW?
Cubase SX3
me too. V1
You should feature Adam Szabos viper next Vanguards big brother
Vengeance Avenger is like Vanguard on steroids or Gladiator by Tone2 which was made by the guy who created the OG Vanguard.
Did Combi use Vanguard? I thought Andy used the Virus. A LOT!
Yeah he did use the virus a lot, I found some presets he used on my Ti Snow. I'm pretty sure he did use Vanguard too, but probably on earlier material like ''Everybody Hates You''.
It sounds so much like the Toxic Biohazard synth in FL Studio 🗡️
does this mean we can see a preset pack for vanguard from you in the future?
Haha dude, ngl I thought about the exact same thing. Could be coold. Something like Vanguard Tones for serum haha
@@Tonepusher That would be amazing
@@rammstein1985234 trancegated sounds! hehe
Overused in the early hardstyle scene, still love those sounds!
Considering this plug in was largely aimed at the European trance and dance scene, I’m surprised it had such a big industrial following.
yeah well it was more the cybergoth/aggrptech industrial scene. "Pure" industrial didn't use it much, although you totally could.
I might buy Vanguard 2 but its price is a bit steep for some sweet Nostalgia. I do own Nexus though.
Well I'm pretty sure it'll go on sale at the end of the year like pretty much anything on internet lol I'll wait for that too!
@@Tonepusher Yeah but so are the Nexus expansions. I'll probably get some of them. Nexus is a great writing tool.
what should i say? think i used vanguard on our second album "coded message 12" a bit. really just a bit ;))
Dude, love your work. I abused that album haha The prod still sounds great even to this day. Definitely one of the best use of Vanguard hehe 🤘
@@Tonepusher thanks, man!
The best [:SITD:] album of all time in my opinion. Please release a remastered version!

@@AdamT0501 thanks a lot!
@@Tom1904GE I thank you! This album gave me a lot of strength at that time in my life!
yes, half of my projects had vanguard until like 2020 *&%
Now enlighten me what combicrist used to make the sound thoughtout 'this shit will duck you up"'