 If you are reading this thread, then you are interested in the wide and wonderful world of Synthesis involves taking one or more signal sources (or waveforms) which are usually just simple waves such as sine waves, square waves, sawtooth waves, etc. and running them through a series of modulators to generate a sound you like, which you then proceed to listen to in satisfaction and do nothing musical with! It's a fascinating process. There are many different ways in which a signal is modified, and there are a lot of great resources out there for learning synthesis which can give a far better overview than I can in this post. There are, however, a few things that are important to know since the terms are thrown around frequently in this thread:  Oscillators are the sound source, what generates the original raw signal that is modulated by the other bits. These often have a unique character to them depending on the type of signal they put out. Sometimes they can need tuning if it's older, sometimes they're controlled by a digital voltage source which means they're less in need of tuning, sometimes they're literally just bits of software. None is inherently "better" than the other. Filters are arguably the most important thing at giving a synthesizer its distinct sound, these allow you to cut out certain frequencies and make other frequencies more resonant. These can range from simple low/highpass filters that cut off everything below or above a certain point, to formant or comb filters, which mimic human vocal chords or apparently the acoustic properties of a stairwell, respectively. These are also love or hate things to a huge degree, with lots of different sounding filters out there some people will always be drawn to certain sounds and repelled by others. If you're interested in buying a synthesizer beyond just the entire thread saying "You should by X" (where X is a Minibrute) then you should definitely look into some examples of the raw filter sound. LFOs or "low frequency oscillators" are a slow waveform that is designed to modulate something else rather than be a sound. The best known example of this is making an LFO control a filter to make instant dubstep, though they're capable of so much more than that and can be used to make all kinds of neat sounds. They're something you've sort of got to explore to find out how you like to use them, but a large number of synthesizers have them so it's important to know they exist. Envelopes are what "shapes" the sound. Without them you'll likely end up with a long lovely sounding drone and becoming a superstar in the modular synthesizer community. Every synth to my knowledge has these (though you can't always control them in drum machines) and in general if someone says something has a "snappy" envelope they mean it can close really fast, such if you're trying to play notes rapidly in succession.  It's important to also know the difference in types of synthesizers out there. Broadly speaking, these are Modular, monophonic, polyphonic, drum machines, and maybe it's fair to say other random things. There's a lot of overlap between these synths, but I'll try and give a breakdown of each kind. Modular synths are basically the synth world's version of heroin. Generally bought module by module wish finished synths easily costing upwards of tens of thousands of dollars, these synths are designed to let creativity be the only constraining factor. If you want to route your LFO to an enveloped sound of a chicken clucking coming in to a $300 line input from a ¢30 garage sale radio, then this is where you want to be. These things are sexy looking, fun to play with, and capable of sounding like almost anything. They've got a pretty fun community around them, though there's a bit of an unhealthy cat obsession. A huge percentage of the user base simply uses them to make what is affectionally referred to as "robot farts" as opposed to anything most people would call musical, but some well known artists use them to great effect. Trent Reznor's "How To Destroy Angels" album is basically a love letter to modular synths. Monophonic Synthesizers are synths that generally play one note at a time and definitely don't play chords. These are also going to be the cheaper (that doesn't mean worse!) options for people starting out who want to get into hardware synths. These are where your popular dance basslines, a lot of the ripping leads, etc. come from. Usually they feature one or two oscillators and focus on making that sound good. Their range is way less limited than this might lead you to think, they're capable of an astronomical amount of sounds. I should also mention here that there are some semi-modular monosynths, which can be patched like a modular synth (and sometimes into a modular synth) but not expanded, and in places their architecture is frequently fixed. Recently Korg re-released the MS-20 as a miniature version of its old self at a fraction of what they used to go for. If you really want to dive balls-deep into synthesis and don't mind a steep learning curve, there are worse places to start. Polyphonic Synthesizers are the home of lush chords, big spacey pads, and over-drafted bank accounts. These feature tons of oscillators, lots of routing options, stereo capabilities, and are quite complicated to learn to program. They also tend to be very expensive if you want anything analogue, and even the digital ones (which sound very very good and you should not rule out just because they're digital) are still not cheap. Certain digital polysynths can turn up on the used market relatively cheaply, some of which are quite good. Unless you're an accomplished keyboard player you might not want to jump into polysynths right away, and it's often a good idea to get the hang of polyphonic synthesis using a VST (software synthesizer) before dropping the cash on one of these. Drum Machines are boxes that generally lack a keyboard but instead are set up to sequence drum patterns. These are a strange breed of machines, some of which have total cult-like status (such as the Roland TR-808, pretty much the sound of hip hop and a few other genres). There's currently a bit of a resurgence of drum machines after a relatively lacklustre couple of decades since the 80s, though the raining king seems to be the Elektron Machinedrum, a digital drum machine with a stunning amount of power behind it that's got some serious capabilities for live use. Samplers are also super popular as drum machines, and while not strictly synthesizers they're pretty well loved and widely used for percussion by synth fans. These just play drum samples adjusting for things like pitch, envelopes, time-stretching, etc. and can often be played live like an actual drum by hitting on pads. The MPC line is venerable and well respected and certainly is a good place to try and get some experience with a hardware sampler. Other random things like grooveboxes, 303s, Monotribes, and other synths don't quite readily fall into the categories above, even if they technically do. Grooveboxes are hardware units designed to let you compose an entire track on, from synths to drums to effects, and sometimes samples. There haven't been too many new out on the market lately, but what's been around since the 90s or early 2000's is still generally very good and totally fun to play with. Don't expect to turn out ultra-perfect tracks on them, but expect to have a ton of fun. These are generally not recommended as first synths because they often don't have super intuitive interfaces and a lot of them use more outdated tech/don't sound fantastic, but you can definitely make learning on of these a project and do some really really surprising things with them, like this weird dude who has basically mastered the Yamaha RM1x. Other synths are strictly speaking monosynths with a specific sequencer built in, such as the Monotribe, Volca Bass, or Roland TB-303 where their sound is less defined by the specific oscillators and envelopes and more by the sequencers. They're much more restrictive, strictly speaking, but they've also got a certain element of fun added in by those restrictions and frequently they've got strong recognizable "sounds" (particularly the 303 or its clones, which can be picked out from a mile away).  So you want to make the plunge into buying your first synth? Awesome! There are two important things to do when getting your first synth: Deciding what features you want, and deciding how much you want to spend. Once you've got your wish list and budget, pick which one you're going to pay attention to, because it very likely isn't both. Keep in mind that the synth world has a very healthy aftermarket, which means that if there's something you want there's a good chance you can save a decent bit of money getting it used. Craigslist is also a good place to check if you live in a major metropolitan area (though some amazing steals can be had in rural areas). In the past a bunch of people in this thread have got into synths by grabbing something local and cheap, which has traditionally been a great way to get into it/learn what kind of synth you don't want to buy. Currently we're living in sort of a renaissance of synthesizers, with cheap analogues flowing out of every orifice and most of this thread is going to recommend one synth to you regardless of what you're looking for:  The Arturia Minibrute has become the kind of gold standard for the intro to synthesis. It's a cheap synth that sounds good, does that popular "grinding electro-house bass" really well and goes for about $500 US new. These really are fantastic little bits of equipment, and one nice thing about them is they've got a very direct hand-on interface, making them very easy to learn and it's the kind of thing you'd probably want to keep even if you got more into synthesis.  The venerable Microkorg. A lot of people in the past have gotten one of these as their first synth, since they used to be the only cheap option around. Don't. There's tons on craigslist for a reason. I'm not saying they're incapable of sounding good, but they've got the least intuitive interface imaginable and in general their sound is not really well liked. Using the "synths from every orifice" example above, this is the anal secretion of the modern synthesis world. Some people in this thread might disagree and point out that these sorts of things are subjective (this synth is objectively terrible), and some people in this thread can use them really well. But just resist the urge.  The Korg MS-20 Mini is Korg's recently(-ish) released recreation of its much beloved MS20 synthesizer. It's semi-modular, which makes it much harder to dive right into then the Minibrute, but it's a pretty well loved synth, especially if you want to push yourself right from the get go. A bit more expensive than the Arturia synths, it'd probably be best if you got your hands on one to try out before buying it. WAFFLEHOUND fucked around with this message at 07:22 on Mar 19, 2014 |
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Mar 19, 2014 03:15
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The Cleaner posted:You need gear, and LOTS of it. I'd like to give a shoutout to tehshulman for his thread name suggestion of "Synthesizer Megathread: The megafaggot pro zone" e. found something worthy of this space: CAT rear end now!!! posted:a man falls through the earth and into parisian catacombs. taking a torch from the wall he spies row upon row of skeletons. grasping the nearest by the shoulders, he shakes it madly, yelling "my nigga have u tried buchla" WAFFLEHOUND fucked around with this message at 22:44 on Sep 7, 2014 |
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Mar 19, 2014 03:16
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Your Computer posted:I want to talk grooveboxes, as I think it'd be fun to have one. How do they compare in 1) ease to use 2) drum sounds and 3) ability to play more than just a short loop? I've looked into them as well, I haven't heard much positive in the way of the MC- series other than the 808 and 909, but I know a couple of people here (tehschulman and renderful, I think?) have them. The RM1x seems to be kind of the gold standard in part due to how cheap it is, not to mention that its sequencer is meant to be great. Don't count out the Electribe boxes either, I know the ESX is meant to be a hugely favoured sketch box for lots of people, and among psytrance nerds it's not uncommon to see one sitting around the studio (or front and centre) of some pretty well known producers because it can sound genuinely good at times. Honestly, the Elektron boxes seem to be the closest thing going right now. Thanks to p-locks the A4 is actually a pretty decent groovebox, since with the effects sends it can sound much more "complete" than, say, the Monomachine. If I was going to put the time and money into an actual groovebox right now though it'd probably be an SD ESX, I've heard some really neat things come out of them whereas the RM1x seems to have one weird gloved British dude who can make them sing and everything else is kind of "Welp, that's a 90s groovebox" Your Dead Gay Son posted:I miss the pictures. Too many pictures relative to the text. But here you go.     WAFFLEHOUND fucked around with this message at 03:34 on Mar 19, 2014 |
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Mar 19, 2014 03:27
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Startyde posted:Good! No Ensoniqs in OP? Awful. I mentioned that some digital polysynths that can be had for cheap and are considered good, I was referring to the ESQ ones. Someone who has had one/played with one should do a write up.
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Mar 19, 2014 16:16
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Radiapathy posted:So, YEAH Dubz is 100% a goon, right? I just love that he not only made a video called "Fausage Sattner" but he actually released the Reaktor plugin from the video.
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Mar 19, 2014 16:58
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I'm writing up a relatively large post later tonight for the second post place on major synth manufacturers and some of the offsite resources like Muffwiggler and Gearslutz (:vomit:). I'm also going to mention the Facebook group for anyone who starts posting here regularly, but thinking about that gave me an idea would anyone have an interest in doing kind of a synth nerd night sometime on something like skype? The ability to route audio at a whim from our audio out to the skype line could mean we could mainly chat without having to hear what everyone is working on all at once unless they had a specific question, and it could be a good motivator for some of us who get dangerously close to that gearslutz hoard-gear-never-produce line ( ).Even with those of you in Europe we could probably make this work at a time for all of us, assuming those of us in the far west wanted to be up around noon for it.
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Mar 19, 2014 17:45
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FLX posted:That's a good idea. Isn't there some kind of IRC-like audio/video chat platform that we could get a permanently running room on? Like this we wouldn't need to do the whole connection thing with Skype every time. If there is this would be really fun, though there's a small enough number of us that I think organizing some times would still be useful. Actually making stuff can be boringly detached at times, so having some people to talk to/bounce stuff off would be fun. And as far as I know only one of the regulars from this thread hates fun and socializing so we'd probably have a pretty decent group.
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Mar 19, 2014 18:00
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I was more going to do a general write up on synth manufacturers then a little bit on the popular forums and sites for synthesis. I mean Gearslutz can be a good resource if you just chant "Analogue doesn't mean better" constantly as you read it. I'm convinced those guys determine a synths usefulness in terms of how much it cost. Also I bought Sausage Fattener, am I a bad person? I figure that if something can help me stop loving with processing each sound then I'll be happier and make more music, and it seems pretty well liked even if it is a bit of a cop out.
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Mar 19, 2014 18:16
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Sjoewe posted:I would switch to VST's if they came up with one my cat could sleep on, but until then I'm stuck with hardware. Your cat can't sleep on your computer? Swagger Dagger posted:I'm looking for a new midi keyboard since the M-Audio Keystation I have blows, the keys feel terrible and I hate it. Does anyone have recommendations for anything in the $150 range? For that much plus shipping I'd give you my Wavestation. Radiapathy posted:Strap it across a drum bus some time. I'm still trying to figure out what it does (it does NOT turn your waveforms into a greasy sausage) but it seems to do something magic on drum buses. I've used it for exclusively that purpose on 5 or 6 tracks. I'm actually planning to do some more detailed analysis of this in the next couple of weeks, to see if it's more than just a placebo effect. The impression I've got is a mix of multiband compression and EQing to a small degree, which would make sense for drums sounding good with it. Basically I did some digging around at what people were doing on the kind of sound I've been after and it looked like two things: Sausage Fattener and a transient shaper, or a shitfuckload of Waves plugins. I went with the $30 option. I'll feel guilty about cheating later.
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Mar 19, 2014 19:13
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tehschulman posted:I came across the KORG Zero8 Run like crazy. They're famously prone to getting super noisy, entire panels dropping out, overheating and just all-around dying, the Kaoss pads breaking, and as far as I know very very very few of them made survived more than a couple of years due to their architecture being unable to cope with the heat they put out. Just do a search around, there's a reason Korg stopped selling them so quickly after they came out and there's a reason a relatively recent mixer with its specs is going for $3-400 used when people paid 2k for them new.
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Mar 19, 2014 19:21
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Hey, so, uhhhh, Sausage Fatterner. Get over your prejudice and burn $30, holy poo poo no wonder this thing is so popular.Sizone posted:Moving to Hawaii? Need a midi controller? Nah but I need someone to talk synths with~
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Mar 20, 2014 04:10
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HotCanadianChick posted:I don't live there anymore but I do love me some synths UH, I'm a volcanologist.
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Mar 20, 2014 06:03
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Alt for Norge. Alt for syntese.
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Mar 20, 2014 16:56
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I missed out on the setup posting on the first page, so I figured I can try to catch up here:
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Mar 20, 2014 23:53
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Rageaholic Monkey posted:That's your entire setup? I figured you would have like twice as much gear! There's a wavestation sitting in my closet and the left drawer has a pile of eurorack that's still unsold and a Monotribe. But yeah, I gear froth like crazy since Muffwiggler enables me like crazy. Right now I'm waiting for the oscillators to warm up on the Moog so I can get a stable sound out of it.
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Mar 21, 2014 00:09
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136 is the most fun BPM, just tossing that out there.
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Mar 21, 2014 05:34
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Live upgrades are 100 off until the second, I'm considering bumping up from 8 and grabbing a push instead of getting a TB-3, how are people liking their Pushes? Edit: Never mind, they're offering like $25 off and gently caress that. WAFFLEHOUND fucked around with this message at 02:34 on Mar 23, 2014 |
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Mar 23, 2014 02:19
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renderful posted:Do you guys revisit/revive old projects? Do you ever find hidden treasures that then translate into new things? This is one of the things I really appreciate computers for. I don't really, though sometimes I'll go back through old acid tracks to salvage useful patterns. I mean, I never finish anything so there'd be a lot of old garbage to go through to be fair.
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Mar 24, 2014 20:29
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It's more about the sequencer and the squelchy filter than anything else. I mean, even a Moog Phatty set to a saw with the res up and sequenced by a 303 sounds kind of like a 303. Though you could also buy a 303. 
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Mar 25, 2014 02:18
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I don't know how much crossover there is, but I've got some stuff up for sale on muffs, including a Euro case and a Monotribe. Also, has anyone here got on opinion on the state of the Maschine in the post-Push era?
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Mar 28, 2014 00:54
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I'm not sure either of us would jump to do this but in theory I could bring you one in a couple of weeks if you wanted to do a proxy fee or something.
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Mar 28, 2014 02:49
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Flanky posted:Oh sick! I'd have to think about it + make sure my finances are in order first, as I'm not sure I'm willing to swing it unless it's used. If you've got paypal you could have it sent to me and I could bring it over. I know that's a shitload to trust to a goon but I've sold several thousand worth of gemstones on SA and most of this thread knows my real name and such.
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Mar 28, 2014 03:30
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Flanky posted:Cool. Do you have PMs? I don't yet but could get in touch with you that way in the future if I decide to go for it. I do, yeah.
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Mar 28, 2014 05:13
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Am I the only one here who wants to make the kind of music I just heard and who needs to listen to a bunch of what I was planning on making in order to want to make it?Skeletron posted:Oh, cool! Thank you! I didn't know about this site. That's great. How do you have that many synths and not hear about Synthopia? 
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Mar 31, 2014 05:00
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Totally the wrong thread for this, but does anyone here have experience with handpans?
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Mar 31, 2014 07:39
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Startyde posted:He actually plays them. I'm sorry the way I enjoy playing my synths is bad and wrong. t  >
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Mar 31, 2014 16:36
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net work error posted:Did you ever get your audio situation sorted so that we can listen to your jams ~in real time~ ? You mean using that weird collab software?
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Mar 31, 2014 19:43
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I've done it with Justin TV before.
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Mar 31, 2014 23:24
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net work error posted:I made a song today! This was my joke you jerk. 
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Apr 1, 2014 16:55
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Let me know if you want to sell it, I'm on a handpan wait list but if that falls through I may be interested.
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Apr 1, 2014 19:46
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renderful posted:The Launchpad is built like a tank, but the Novation Zero SL MKii that I had was like a toy, and it broke quickly. I had one of the huge novation keyboards and while I was out of the house for the night my roommate got smashed, opened my door, pissed on it, and closed the door again. That's my story.
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Apr 2, 2014 00:01
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Okay so I'm sitting on some euro and a major move is rapidly approaching. If anyone wants a 104hp Sound Modular case, a Polivoks VCF, a Doepfer exponential mixer, and an a-190 midi-to-cv as a bulk deal (or interesting trade) I'd probably do a pretty drat good discount.
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Apr 3, 2014 23:58
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It includes the PSU.
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Apr 4, 2014 02:32
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I decided what I need to burn all my money doing: It'd be the best setup for never making anything ever.
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Apr 4, 2014 05:37
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Radiapathy posted:A few days back I posted that the only thing holding me back from selling the Virus was that I wasn't sure I could find a replacement for its wide, fizzy "hypersaw OSC" sound. Based on suggestions from here and KVR I spent some time with a number of plugins, and actually found several that get close enough for me that the Virus is hitting eBay this Sunday. Just so you know, one of the goons here was looking for a Virus TI and they wanted me to bring it to Tokyo. You might consider sending Flanky a message, then everyone wins. JamesKPolk posted:Looks like a good start but idk I can't help but feel like you could use another analog mono or two. You know, just to cover your basses. Do you have the inputs for like a x0xbox and maybe a BassStation 1 on the rack? Or maybe a Volca Bass going to the Line In on the laptop? A Microbrute? I thought about another few monos but then I remembered that the A4 counts as four of them. e. So clearly I need another A4 Your Computer posted:vvv Watch me do it again Kill your posting and then yourself. < >WAFFLEHOUND fucked around with this message at 18:42 on Apr 4, 2014 |
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Apr 4, 2014 16:22
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DCAM is mindblowingly good, Strobe is slowly replacing Massive as my go-to bass synth. I find it sounds less fantastic right out of the gate though, and needs a little more tweaking. e. Just buy Z3ta and embrace the worlds best pads/saws. Your Computer posted:vvv I really dislike more or less all the presets, including the several free packs, and it does take a bit of work to get used to it. Once you begin mastering Fusor though... man. vvv Arrrgarhgahrgahr don't reply in the post someone already replied to. 
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Apr 4, 2014 16:48
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I'm only at like, 2500 right now, assuming SH-101s don't skyrocket. And I'm on a handspan waiting list so I don't have that money. 
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Apr 4, 2014 18:08
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Well, thank you for encouraging me to pick up one in North America while they're still <1000.
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Apr 4, 2014 18:32
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He said Euro.
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Apr 4, 2014 19:34
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"I will sell all my euro and some other synths and pare down what I've got to essentials. Then I shall take the money from selling these synths, put half into savings, and take the other half and get more synths for some veriety and a fun time. Maybe a couple of outboard racks and something small, a VST or two, but certainly not just spending that entire half on a single expensive vintage synth which I'll be terrified of damaging because that would be really stupgently caress"
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Apr 6, 2014 00:21
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