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Knobby digitally synthesizers?


urbanscallywag

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Originally posted by urbanscallywag

No I don't care for the Ion.


OK I will qualify, digital but not VA.

 

 

Korg Z1 - okay, not all parameters are available from the front face. But this is a powerful synth... it doesn't have the best VA emulation but as a synthesizer it is fantastic. Good range of acoustic, synth and experimental possibilities. Fantastic controller keyboard! good value on the used market! (Plug - mine will be up for sale soon as I have a one keyboard rule!)

 

Microwave XTk / XT - knobby and noisy!

 

Monomachine - hey, you said it! Fantastic synthesizer and sequencer. Kraftwerk in a box. Fairly knobby...can be polyphonic. even in mono mode some of the "machines" (instruments) can have chorus or extra osc whch can be controlled at each step.

 

V-synth - obviously, good choice. It is part VA but is primarly sample weirdness.

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Originally posted by zarquin

hmm,, what non-VA digital synthasis types are there out there?


Physical modeling..

FM, Wavetable, Addative.. are there more??


so, i guess the Z1.. Dx200, XT, the K5000s are all there...

 

 

Yeah, lots.

 

Granular synthesis, resynthesis (taking a sound waveform, doing an FFT on it, then modifying the spectrum in interesting ways), spiral synthesis, and depending on what you meant by 'wavetable' synthesis, there are various types of that too - Waldorf wavescanning type synthesis, Korg wavesequencing style synthesis, and also Korg and others waveshaping synthesis. There's also Casio phase distortion synthesis, made popular by the CZ series of synths.

 

In the research lab these days there's also wavelet synthesis, and other things that expand upon physical (analog or acoustic) modeling synthesis, but these are of little use to musicians so far.

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Originally posted by TheProteus



Yeah, lots.


Granular synthesis, resynthesis (taking a sound waveform, doing an FFT on it, then modifying the spectrum in interesting ways), spiral synthesis, and depending on what you meant by 'wavetable' synthesis, there are various types of that too - Waldorf wavescanning type synthesis, Korg wavesequencing style synthesis, and also Korg and others waveshaping synthesis. There's also Casio phase distortion synthesis, made popular by the CZ series of synths.


In the research lab these days there's also wavelet synthesis, and other things that expand upon physical (analog or acoustic) modeling synthesis, but these are of little use to musicians so far.

 

 

What are wavelet and spiral synthesis?

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Originally posted by Cruel Hoax


Allow me to cast a vote toward the K5000 (perhaps a rack, with programmer).


-Hoax

 

Yeah, I would say the same, except those programmers are pretty rare these days... I'll have to go with the K5000S, such a great sound and nice-feeling keys! :love::thu:

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Originally posted by sizzlemeister



What are wavelet and spiral synthesis?

 

 

Wavelet synthesis uses wavelets to build up sounds in an additive manner - but this is not additive synthesis. For a good overview on wavelets, check out here. BIG MATH WARNING!!

 

Spiral synthesis is different on many levels. Rather than try and include an overly geeky technical explanation here, I'll refer you to this link here. EVEN BIGGER MATH WARNING!!

 

Both are pretty cool. But, they require a competent understanding of signal theory in order to use efficiently given the current state of the art. I hope that some day we (the academics and geeks who have a penchant for music) will be able to build a more intuitive interface for these kinds of synthesis types.

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Originally posted by malfunkt

Korg Z1 - okay, not all parameters are available from the front face. But this is a powerful synth... it doesn't have the best VA emulation but as a synthesizer it is fantastic. Good range of acoustic, synth and experimental possibilities. Fantastic controller keyboard! good value on the used market! (Plug - mine will be up for sale soon as I have a one keyboard rule!)

 

 

yeah i gotta say you'll have to pry my Z1 from my cold dead hands before i would part with it.

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Originally posted by TheProteus

In the research lab these days there's also wavelet synthesis,
but these are of little use to musicians so far.

 

Ah, wavelet synthesis! I remember SonicWorx Artist on Mac OS8. Man, you could get some alien-sounding stuff mangling with that! Those guys were ahead of their time.

 

As a matter of fact, I may just fire up the ol' beige G3 266, just to mess with it!

 

-Hoax

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Originally posted by TheProteus



Yeah, lots.


Granular synthesis, resynthesis (taking a sound waveform, doing an FFT on it, then modifying the spectrum in interesting ways), spiral synthesis, and depending on what you meant by 'wavetable' synthesis, there are various types of that too - Waldorf wavescanning type synthesis, Korg wavesequencing style synthesis, and also Korg and others waveshaping synthesis. There's also Casio phase distortion synthesis, made popular by the CZ series of synths.


In the research lab these days there's also wavelet synthesis, and other things that expand upon physical (analog or acoustic) modeling synthesis, but these are of little use to musicians so far.

 

 

but can you buy a hardware granular synth?

there are some G2 patches you can put together to do that kind of thing...

 

the Neuron is a resynthesis one if i understood its description correctly.. so there is another one to add... i hadn't heard of wavelet or spiral syntheseis before.. going to have to look those up.

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Originally posted by Cruel Hoax


Ah, wavelet synthesis! I remember SonicWorx Artist on Mac OS8. Man, you could get some alien-sounding stuff mangling with that! Those guys were ahead of their time.


As a matter of fact, I may just fire up the ol' beige G3 266, just to mess with it!


-Hoax

 

i just found that you can download it for free from

http://www.hitsquad.com/smm/programs/sonicWORX_Artist/

 

and its now freeware. cool :)

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Originally posted by Cruel Hoax


Ah, wavelet synthesis! I remember SonicWorx Artist on Mac OS8. Man, you could get some alien-sounding stuff mangling with that! Those guys were ahead of their time.


As a matter of fact, I may just fire up the ol' beige G3 266, just to mess with it!

 

 

Worked with OS9 also...SonicWorX PowerBundle here...

 

...said code was the initial genes that led to the beginnings of the Hartmann Neuron.

 

 

cheers,

Ian

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Originally posted by zarquin




i just found that you can download it for free from

http://www.hitsquad.com/smm/programs/sonicWORX_Artist/


and its now freeware. cool
:)

zarquin, you have officially roxxored my soxxors! You just gained bigtime cool points. Thanks!

 

EDIT: Direct link for Firefoxers (like myself) for whom the above link no worky:

http://www.prosoniq.net/pub/freebies/mac/swar250f.hqx

 

-Hoax

 

 

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From Memory only here -

 

1.Roland JD800

 

2.Roland Vsynth

 

3.Roland JP8000

 

3.Korg MS2000

 

4.Alesis ION

 

5.Yamaha AN1X (too an extent)

 

6.Nord Modular , Lead 1 , 2 , 3

 

7.Waldorf Q

 

8.Waldorf XTK

 

9.Quasimidi SIRIUS

 

10.Kawai K5000S (too an extent like the AN1X)

 

11.Access Virus TI / Indigo etc .....

 

 

Well those come too mind off the top of my head.

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I would add the older Novation synths as well - Supernova 2, KS series.

 

KS-Rack is still available new if you hunt around - I have one and still use it alot alongside my Virus TI and V-Synth, and considering how cheap they are now (bought mine in the summer new for about 250UKP) - its a really good little synth and very easy to program/tweak, and can be trivially layered (4 part multi) for really fat lead sounds. It has a loads of useful waves built in in addition to the usual sine/saw/tri/square so there alot of sonic flexibility in it. You can even use the drum sample waves a pitches osc souces as well - makes for some great bass sounds, and gotta love the filter overdrive on it ;)

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NOVATION X-STATION

I just bought the 49 key version to replace my Roland JP8000. It's got tons of realtime control - knobs, sliders, and a Kaoss Pad-like X/Y controller. I also have a JD800 which is an awesome synth, but I don't like to take it out for gigs. For me, the perfect gig combination is the X-Station midi'd to a Triton Rack.

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Originally posted by organ man

Just get a JD800 and be done with it! They're relatively cheap, cover all the digital sounds (glass/bells/piano/guitar) and they have a lovely warm, full sound.

 

 

As much as I like my JD800, I'm contemplating upgrading it to a VSynth. Still thinking on that one. But I don't think that's the kind of digital synth urban is looking for.

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