Lets talk synths... What do you use?

[Instrospection]

www.synthwood.com/pro-one

Nice!

[tim gueguen]

I use a Korg MicroKorg right now. I don't get the MK disdain, because there's tons of options, but I suppose that fiddling around with all the LFO's, oscillation options and the voice stuff, that it's not a "plug in and give me something good

 

 

Part of it is the mini keyboard, but the main problem many people have with it is that it's so ubiquitous. Everyone and his brother went out and bought one and used it in their indie bands. Not surprising given that it was pretty much the cheapest thing available new when it debuted and it's small. It's as if you had a whole bunch of people suddenly start playing guitar in bands and they all played the same ultracheap Chinese made plywood guitar from Target or Walmart. You'd have the same kind of "Ugh, those amateurs can't even be bothered to get a REAL guitar and learn to play properly!" kind of response from a lot of people.

[Instrospection]

Part of it is the mini keyboard, but the main problem many people have with it is that it's so ubiquitous. Everyone and his brother went out and bought one and used it in their indie bands. Not surprising given that it was pretty much the cheapest thing available new when it debuted and it's small. It's as if you had a whole bunch of people suddenly start playing guitar in bands and they all played the same ultracheap Chinese made plywood guitar from Target or Walmart. You'd have the same kind of "Ugh, those amateurs can't even be bothered to get a REAL guitar and learn to play properly!" kind of response from a lot of people.

 

 

Probably! But then the really good players always seem to make cheap and ordinary things sound great....

[nomenclature]

returning the Gaia, just not as fat and dirty as I wanted, and some stuff is a pain in the ass (no way to tell what settings a patch currently has, using the GM sounds is a pain in the ass/not available with the built in keyboard, dirt section sucks, effects are assigned to ALL voices, not assignable by section, NO EDITOR APP! when it's available in may it'll be another $100, the gaia is pretty quiet in comparison to the other stuff I have, while you can diable midi control of the internal synth engines to use it as a controller, it seems like you can't disable the midi out if you don't want to trigger external hardware/software while using the internal engine, and you can't edit the arpeggiator patterns). It does sound good, but not exactly what I'm looking for + the above = not a keeper for me.

 

I may see if I can get the Venom in, I'm liking the demos I've seen.

[Phil O'Keefe]

I don't get the MK disdain,

 

I agree with Tim that it's the mini keyboard - one of the big advantages of the Venom IMHO is the full sized keyboard.

 

As far as them being ubiquitous, that's been true of a lot of popular keyboards over the years. The Yamaha DX7, the Korg M1, the Roland D50 - all had similar degrees of popularity. And when something sells in those numbers, and a lot of people rely on the "famous" presets in them (DX7 EP's, D50 Native Dance, etc.), then the sound gets cliche fast. However, if you forge your own path and make your own sounds, then that becomes less of an issue... but statistically, few people who buy keyboards ever bother to do that.

[sommy]

returning the Gaia, just not as fat and dirty as I wanted, and some stuff is a pain in the ass (no way to tell what settings a patch currently has, using the GM sounds is a pain in the ass/not available with the built in keyboard, dirt section sucks, effects are assigned to ALL voices, not assignable by section, NO EDITOR APP! when it's available in may it'll be another $100, the gaia is pretty quiet in comparison to the other stuff I have, while you can diable midi control of the internal synth engines to use it as a controller, it seems like you can't disable the midi out if you don't want to trigger external hardware/software while using the internal engine, and you can't edit the arpeggiator patterns). It does sound good, but not exactly what I'm looking for + the above = not a keeper for me. I may see if I can get the Venom in, I'm liking the demos I've seen.

 

I like that the majority of your post was in parentheses

[WAWBanks]

How? Why?

I'm gonna go ahead and assume you don't know I'm talking about a band.

But if I'm wrong, I can only retort with the fact that I think they're awesome. Good music, incredible live.

[distance21]

I'm a bitch. I use an Akai mini into my computer where I use the synths in Garageband and Protools.

I do have a few old synths in storage, but they are either broken or not as versatile as I need them to be.

[Sad Darwin]

I now just have a Virus TI. Mek was sold this morning. Kronos or Blofeld on the horizon. Still have some evaluation to do on whether I can stretch the Blofeld's 60mb to suit my purposes.

[V]

Since we're talking synths, I thought I'd share a bit for a soundtrack I did today using all synths:

 

Another Road

 

Everything is done with a slim phatty and garritan personal orchestra plus a perfectspace convolution reverb.

 

I'm not sure if the mp3/soundcloud version can really handle the bass frequencies in there, but it sounds not so bad.

 

Oh yeah, it's for a low budget zombie movie.

[TheHarakiriEnd]

Filters are definitely one of if not the biggest part of classic synths "sound". I love running my Blofeld through the Moog Low Pass Filter, so many great sounds.

[nomenclature]

Spladow... Gaia out, Venom in

 

 

note the Monotron at the upper left as well, total street cred, I know. pretty fun for bleepy bloopy {censored}.

 

Just starting to dig into the Venom, just with the base patches it seems a lot closer to what I was looking for compared to the Gaia... it was an open box unit again, and they lost the {censored}ing manual so I'm going to have to download it, which is a bit of a hassle. the build is a little questionable, the keys feel ok but the knobs are pretty wobbly, I feel like I'm going to snap them off. Gonna try and spend most of tomorrow with it, see how it goes.

[yorgatron]

from top to bottom;
Korg DW8000
Yamaha SK-30
Hohner Clavinet/Pianet Duo



on the left is a Baldwin Electropiano,on the right is a RMI Electra-Piano & Harpsichord;



not pictured;Elka Rhapsody 490 String Synthesizer.

[( )]

Spladow... Gaia out, Venom in note the Monotron at the upper left as well, total street cred, I know. pretty fun for bleepy bloopy {censored}. Just starting to dig into the Venom, just with the base patches it seems a lot closer to what I was looking for compared to the Gaia... it was an open box unit again, and they lost the {censored}ing manual so I'm going to have to download it, which is a bit of a hassle. the build is a little questionable, the keys feel ok but the knobs are pretty wobbly, I feel like I'm going to snap them off. Gonna try and spend most of tomorrow with it, see how it goes.

 

Can you load samples into the software?

[light years]

As much complaints about the microKorg its popped up a lot in this thread. I need to get another.

[krish]

I currently have a Korg X50 and Roland GAIA. I really like them both, and they both have some really inspirational sounds that have formed the backbone of a lot of the songs I've written for my band. They may not be the fattest sounding synths in the world but I've really come to know them inside out and love what I have to work with.

I'm currently in Australia have been in Australia/New Zealand for the past 2 months, but I recently ordered a Waldorf Blofeld (in black) which is waiting for me at home (London) for when I get back in about 6 days. I really like all the samples I've heard and love that it's pretty tweakable. I CAN'T WAIT to get my hands on it!!! I plan to control it with the Korg X50 +/- my Yamaha SHS-10 (Ooooh yeah I got the Street kredz!) for live work! I'm sure it will make an excellent addition to the synths I have currently.

[TheHarakiriEnd]

Yorgatron, I use to really like my friends Sk30, how do you feel about it?

The Monotron can be great in a noise setup, I've been using mine with feedback loops/pedals/etc. and really enjoy it. If you spend the time tuning it just right you can get some really nasty aggressive sounds.

[OMTerria]

Hey HCFX synth folks, I was going to post this in the forum it's supposed to be in but it seems like they don't take too kindly too n00bs in that neck of the woods. I'm in the process of figuring out what to get as my first synth and was wondering if something like the Micron, Microkorg, Microkorg LX, Roland Juno D, or similar cheapy synth could be programed to get something close to the sound from 2:38-3:18 in

video. I LOVE that sound (as well as a couple others in that video) and while that falls into my price range, I'm torn between it and something that has a greater variety of sounds going on with it. Maybe there's something better out there that I should be looking at? My budget is about $300-350, but I could maybe stretch it by a hundred or two if it's really worth it

[eti]

OMTerria, that's a really basic sound. Any programmable synth with sawtooth waves could handle it.

[OMTerria]

Excellent...shows how much I know about this kind of thing

[sommy]

Spladow... Gaia out, Venom in note the Monotron at the upper left as well, total street cred, I know. pretty fun for bleepy bloopy {censored}. Just starting to dig into the Venom, just with the base patches it seems a lot closer to what I was looking for compared to the Gaia... it was an open box unit again, and they lost the {censored}ing manual so I'm going to have to download it, which is a bit of a hassle. the build is a little questionable, the keys feel ok but the knobs are pretty wobbly, I feel like I'm going to snap them off. Gonna try and spend most of tomorrow with it, see how it goes.

 

Awesome to hear -- I'm surprised we haven't gotten any of these at work yet. I'm pretty psyched for when we finally get some in. Let me know what you think.

[yorgatron]

Yorgatron, I use to really like my friends Sk30, how do you feel about it?

I feel like I was pretty lucky to even find it.

seriously though,the organ sound is pretty damn good (I run through a Motion Sound Pro-3T) the polysynth and strings are straight out of Vangelis (it uses some of the same chips as the CS-80) and the solo synth section,while limited,is able to hold its own by itself,or blended with the other sections.
one thing I haven't really explored yet is using the trigger in/out or control voltage in/out jacks to hook up to other devices,since the Korg will do some pretty wild sounds on its own,also not really sure what's compatible and what isn't.

alll in all,if you can find one for less than the ever-popular but overpriced (IMHO) Juno 6-60-106 i'd say do it.

[Phil O'Keefe]

from top to bottom; Korg DW8000 Yamaha SK-30 Hohner Clavinet/Pianet Duo on the left is a Baldwin Electropiano,on the right is a RMI Electra-Piano & Harpsichord; not pictured;Elka Rhapsody 490 String Synthesizer.

 

:phil: :phil:

 

I've been asking the various VSTi companies for ages to make more than just the basic Rhodes and Wurli EP recreations, and the Hohner Pianet, RMI and Baldwin are instruments I've specifically mentioned. You sir, are a lucky man... and I'm more than a little jealous!

 

Sample them for me please, kthxbai!

[seifukusha]

i had an ELKA organ and i loved it, the x-50. just found another, but its broken :)

[Instrospection]

I'd got a Korg X50 today. Having rented the Triton LE many times to add embellishments to records, having found out that the LE's engine was in the X50 had led to me renting the X50 a few months back and loving it. Awesome bang for buck with the X50.