The World of Synthesizers

[native]

Follow me down the rabbit hole. Anyone interested in synthesizers? I'm thinking of getting into them, but I can picture myself being holed up in my house for days on end going into a trance exploring the sounds. They range from inexpensive to very very expensive.

These first four videos show what are called euroracks..which are in the form of modular synthesis. You buy all the modules individually from various different manufacturers and can mix and match any way you like.











This is from a famous influential synth company (Buchla), the other being Moog. This Buchla is $14,000!

[native]

The Minimoog Model D is one of the most sought after synths in the synth world, and one of the most sought after musical instruments in general. You've heard it in many different songs. Moog is actually reintroducing this synth..for how long, it's unclear at the moment.







A great funky jam from the Sub 37.




I might just start off with a Moog Mother 32..they're $600, and can be put in a modular set-up.






There are of course less expensive synths, but I've highlighted some awesome ones.

[Aion]

Get a Korg or a Moog, try it out, if you like it then go for something fancier. Imo.

[native]

Yeah I'm not unloading a lot of money that's for sure.

[AnthroHeart]

You can also use a cheap keyboard with MIDI out, and hook that to a computer that runs synthesizer software.

[Jim Kent +]

Greetings Icaro, 

I've been making music with MIDI ( Musical Instrument Digital Interface ) synths for over 20 years so I know a fair bit about them.

If you are just starting out making music with synths then I would highly recommend buying what is known as a "workstation"...

A workstation is a synth, usually digital, that has a variety of sounds: piano, drums, basses, strings and leads etc. Along with this highly useful variety of sounds, workstations often have a built-in sequencer which will let you write songs without the need for computer-based sequencing system.

Ideally I would suggest that you do eventually move to sequencing on some computer based platform, say Cubase on a PC for example.

I started out making MIDI music with a Korg X3 workstation, and I believe that Korg still make some of the best value and useful workstations...

An excellent "budget" Korg workstation is their Krome:

http://www.dv247.com/keyboards-and-midi/...on--101705 ( This retailer is a British company, but Korg are available worldwide! )

If this is a bit out of your current budget, Korgs last very well and I wouldn't be put off buying one second-hand.

Yes, Moogs are up there with the best of analogue synths, if they do make a workstation, which I'm not sure, it would be very expensive.

If you want to add some analogue warmth to your music, Korg do a great little range of budget analogue synths called the Volca range, find to follow details of the Volca Bass synth:

http://www.dv247.com/keyboards-and-midi/...ne--106360

I hope that this helps, but if you want anymore specific advice then please just ask as I love all aspects of this stuff!  

L & L 

Jim          

[native]

That's cool Jim. What has been your go-to synth/workstation lately? I've looked at workstations and have done a lot of research in general. I do love the polyphony option!

[Jim Kent +]

That's cool Jim. What has been your go-to synth/workstation lately? I've looked at workstations and have done a lot of research in general. I do love the polyphony option!

Hi Icaro, 

My primary synth at the moment is a Korg Kronos 2 61 key workstation.

I wouldn't necessarily call it my go to synth, as I've learnt over the years that to record music with a complex and / or varied sonic character, you need to have a variety of physical synths comprising the sonic makeup of the music you're creating.

This is why I would recommend not exclusively going down the soft-synth route to making music ( software synths are just programs in your computer that replicate the functions of a synth ) If you only use soft-synths, then ultimately, they're all going to sound the same, as they're all outputted through your computers sound-card! 

In my studio, I have digital and analogue synths by a variety of manufacturers, therefore offering a varied selection of sonic characteristics.

The Kronos is a beast! It has 9 different synths engines and a 16 track multi-track recorder built-in!

Let me know if you need any more advice.

Cheers.

Jim  

[native]

Yeah I definitely could not work with a soft-synth. Thanks for your advice

[AnthroHeart]

So is it possible to recreate analogue sound digitally, without distortion? Like an exact recreation?

[native]

It can never be exact but they come fairly close.

[Dekalb_Blues]

Cutting-edge synth tech in the service of ultra-high-concept avant-garde Dada art music:


 (Admittedly, the drum machine could use updating.)

[AnthroHeart]

Cutting-edge synth tech in the service of ultra-high-concept avant-garde Dada art music:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=87cUqFA3mnw  (Admittedly, the drum machine could use updating.)

I like that, it made my day.