Members ElectricPuppy Posted February 11, 2011 Members Share Posted February 11, 2011 Alrighty, here's our Super Serious Synth thread to end the week with. Every now and then I'll see someone make a claim about how some piece of gear sounds "organic". It makes me giggle every time I see that. What in the world could make an electronic gizmo sound organic? My guess is that's the poster's way of saying, "it lacks high-end". In conclusion, I think calling any synth "organic" is just silly hyperbole. Thoughts? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members ChristianRock Posted February 11, 2011 Members Share Posted February 11, 2011 I think it has more to do with the synth having unpredictable results, which give it a bit of a "mind of its own" - meaning, there's movement in the filter that's not linear, or the so-hyped up pitch fluctuations of VCOs. That's how I've always read this term when applied to synths... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Caligvla Posted February 11, 2011 Members Share Posted February 11, 2011 Well no aliasing is a good start ... Anything blocky, bitcrushed, grainshifted, distorted -- I realize some of these are effects -- is probably not going to sound "organic" in the conventional sense (if we can even agree there is one) ... A safe bet would be analog, preferably VCOs and vintage ... But results are just as important as the source ... "Organic" is a word I would certainly certainly apply to my JP8 and JP6 ... Sure, like most adjectives, it's subjective ... but these synths, for me, have a very pleasing quality in the ear/brain relative to other synths ... Other similar desciptors could be "smooth," "warm" ... But organic also connotes an aliveness, randomness that is perhaps stated in contrast to some of the digital VAs and softsynths out there that might never get that label ... (This can be even more apparent when sounds are being tweaked in real-time ... ) I'm also not holding this up a some ideal to be aspired to ... An "organic"-sounding synth, or an "organic"-sounding result, is simply a set of colors in the producer/musician's palette ... In the end, it could simply viewed as the spectrum opposite of the pejorative "digital." One of the reasons I like JP6 so much is that it's crazy-ass high end still sounds ... "organic" ... As if it was perhaps a "real sound," created by nature, which it is really already, but that we just haven't heard yet ... That's one of the great things about synths ... whether organic or not ... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Conbrio Posted February 11, 2011 Members Share Posted February 11, 2011 After listening to Vangelis, I think this beauty can be considered organic for sure... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members GuyaGuy Posted February 11, 2011 Members Share Posted February 11, 2011 The player. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members tim gueguen Posted February 11, 2011 Members Share Posted February 11, 2011 It's shorthand for "it doesn't stay in tune very well." Which of course is ironic given how much effort many players of "traditional" instruments have to go through to play in tune ie. the intonation problems of fretted instruments. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Purity_Control Posted February 11, 2011 Members Share Posted February 11, 2011 Except that making synths that do stay in tune well not stay in tune well doesn;t make them that organic, it just makes them not stay in tune well in an ungood way. It's part of it but perhaps a small part. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members burster Posted February 11, 2011 Members Share Posted February 11, 2011 Tubes are the most "organic" electronic component ever invented. This why B3 organs are so fat and organic sounding. A well built tube synth would also kill in the organic dept. Go thru the S-1000 demos and you will hear how big and organic or crazy sounding a tube synth can be. http://www.metasonix.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=30&Itemid=61 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members carbon111 Posted February 11, 2011 Members Share Posted February 11, 2011 Imperfection. Looseness. Wide tolerances. Non-linearity. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Dreamtronix Posted February 11, 2011 Members Share Posted February 11, 2011 Controlled voltage Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Redhotpoker Posted February 12, 2011 Members Share Posted February 12, 2011 At first I'd have tried to realize you didn't actually mean this: http://www.punksynth.com/2010/07/29/diego-stocco-music-from-a-tree/ I enjoy a band called 'Deep Forest' cd's particularly "Made In Japan", and"III COMPARSA" is very fine too. Love Joe Zawinul on keys, you know 'syndicate', 'weather report'. Chas Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members burster Posted February 12, 2011 Members Share Posted February 12, 2011 My guess is that's the poster's way of saying, "it lacks high-end". The term "warm" is usually used when a sound has a lack of high end. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members tangerine Posted February 12, 2011 Members Share Posted February 12, 2011 Organic for me is when software sound like hardware VCO, DCO and not hollow and thin as some software can sound. Some examples of this is impOSCar, Virsyn Tera, Applied Acoustics Tassman, Ultra Analog, FXpansion DCAM synthsquad. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members MuzikB Posted February 12, 2011 Members Share Posted February 12, 2011 Alrighty, here's our Super Serious Synth thread to end the week with. Every now and then I'll see someone make a claim about how some piece of gear sounds "organic". It makes me giggle every time I see that. What in the world could make an electronic gizmo sound organic? My guess is that's the poster's way of saying, "it lacks high-end". In conclusion, I think calling any synth "organic" is just silly hyperbole. Thoughts? What makes a synth "organic?" The chorus settings. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Meatball Fulton Posted February 12, 2011 Members Share Posted February 12, 2011 I think calling any synth "organic" is just silly hyperbole. +1,000,000 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Gribs Posted February 12, 2011 Members Share Posted February 12, 2011 Organic is just an adjective that has been found to be a successful advertising word. As we have seen here it has many different meanings to different people and mostly appealing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Conbrio Posted February 12, 2011 Members Share Posted February 12, 2011 Organic is just an adjective that has been found to be a successful advertising word. As we have seen here it has many different meanings to different people Yeah, and there are so many other "synth words" as well: warm, fat, dirty, nasal, biting, spacey, evolving, earthy, ________________ (place your word here). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members mcmike100 Posted February 12, 2011 Members Share Posted February 12, 2011 Joe Zawinul Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members ChristianRock Posted February 12, 2011 Members Share Posted February 12, 2011 Look for this seal in the back of the synth: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members McHale Posted February 12, 2011 Members Share Posted February 12, 2011 Yeah, and there are so many other "synth words" as well: warm, fat, dirty, nasal, biting, spacey, evolving, earthy, ________________ (place your word here). The synth sound descriptors don't bother me nearly as much as how every guitar player describes how their guitar plays like butter. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Paolo Di Nicolantonio Posted February 12, 2011 Members Share Posted February 12, 2011 This is a super easy question. A synth is organic when you are playing an organ patch on it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Caligvla Posted February 12, 2011 Members Share Posted February 12, 2011 In conclusion, I think calling any synth "organic" is just silly hyperbole. Thoughts? Of course, because it's THE SOUND being described not the synth ... I think part of the issue with some of the respondents here is that they don't have a synth that readily falls into said sound category ... "Your synths are digital ... " And while certain descriptors can be overused, we still need them to convey meaning ... Not to mention, I don't see the word being overused in general becuase most synths don't have that native ability to sound that way ... When I first played Paolo's JP8, I couldn't believe a machine was making those sounds ... They sounded so real, present, pleasing and ... and ... organic ... although admittedly perhaps more in an astral, aethereal kind of way ... It wasn't like there were sliced onions falling out of the heat sink ... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Paolo Di Nicolantonio Posted February 12, 2011 Members Share Posted February 12, 2011 When I first played Paolo's JP8, ... Diametro? :poke: Is Caligula you? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Caligvla Posted February 12, 2011 Members Share Posted February 12, 2011 :wave: Nice camel toe ... !!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members droolmaster0 Posted February 12, 2011 Members Share Posted February 12, 2011 Well, sorry. I think the s1000 can sound very good in an extremely small sweet spot...does it have its own sound? Yes. But it only sounds organic because of your association of tubes with organic. Tubes are the most "organic" electronic component ever invented. This why B3 organs are so fat and organic sounding. A well built tube synth would also kill in the organic dept. Go thru the S-1000 demos and you will hear how big and organic or crazy sounding a tube synth can be.http://www.metasonix.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=30&Itemid=61 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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