BIG dilemna...

Greetings

Me and some friends are wanting to start a band. Our influences mainly are:

Spacemen 3, Beatles, 60s Psychedelia and The Brian Jonestown Massacre.

I plan to buy a small synth, mainly to experiment on and create drones. I suppose this ties in very well with our influences especially Spacemen 3 and BJM.

My concern is I can spend around

I would say the Microkorg is more modern sounding while the Micron is more classic.

if youre after drones then the dsi evolver should be considered. no keys and monophonic but i dont think anything can touch it for drones.

I don't believe that you really read any earlier threads on here. There seriously are hundreds. If you DID read those thread, you would have said something more specific like, "well, the Microkorg has the mic and vocoder, but the Micron has has better FM implementation, so I'm confused."

Despite that, I will give you a definitive, final answer.

Buy an Alesis Micron.

The blue ones are on sale at several places. And if that isn't enough, you can get it dirt cheap on the ebay. Moreover, the Akai Miniak is EXACTLY the same synth, so you can even get the Micron in black, so to speak.

Here's why: full size keys. Several knobs for real time control (of your drones). Excellent synth engine.

Now off with you. Go buy a Micron. It will make all your dreams come true.

EMS Synthi.

hey, Spacemen 3 fan here too.

either synth would do what you wanted. I'm partial to the MicroKorg. I like the Micron/Miniak very much too. I've only played with the Alesis in the store though. It seems more difficult to program than the Korgs (this probably isn't true) and at first I really liked the sound but not so much anymore.

Also look at the Korg R3 which has fullsize keys. And if you are really wanting to experiment with drones, a used MS2000 or Radias cuz you get knobs for everything plus the mod sequencer. Maybe a Roland Gaia though I think that is out of your price range

either way, its best to get something that sounds good to you and inspires you.

There is no need for any further opinions. This is not subjective. The OP clearly wants a definitive answer. So once again:

BUY AN ALESIS MICRON.

Here's where you can buy one.

Moderator, can you please close this thread? Thanks. Have fun with your new synthesizer!

Update:

I tried out the Korg today in store. To be honest the preset programme things put me off a little? Theres 8:

They include a few terms I didnt like haha such as 'Trance' and 'Drum and bass'.

I did however like the organ sounds you can get from it.

I'm looking for the kind of sounds on these songs I think, but with plenty of room to try new things out too:

Cheers for all the help thus far, Im a {censored}ty student so cant waste my funds twice!

this

As Gary Barlow said have a little patience please my Internet friend, I am a novice.

What makes the Micron so suitable? I mean I guess for what I want, running the synth through a few effects will help the sound?

Which would come easier to a newbie?

Cheers

im no microkorg expert but

micron has full size keys

double polyphony and x4 the multitimbral

extra osc

way more filter choices and 2 at once

more envelopes

more fx types

great fm implementation

step sequencer

better sound

it can do everything the microkorg can do and more

Thanks for the info mate. Think I will order one online tomorrow!

They easier to get used to?

Update: I tried out the Korg today in store. To be honest the preset programme things put me off a little? Theres 8: They include a few terms I didnt like haha such as 'Trance' and 'Drum and bass'. I did however like the organ sounds you can get from it. I'm looking for the kind of sounds on these songs I think, but with plenty of room to try new things out too: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x-VODzscDr4&feature=related 10secs in > http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9mi-Xsz1b5Y Cheers for all the help thus far, Im a {censored}ty student so cant waste my funds twice!

You are asking for two different things:

1.) Organ sounds

2.) Other stuff, which is synthesizer-ish.

I have a gut feeling that what you REALLY want is a Nord Electro 3. That will cover all those good classic rock sounds...Beatles, Spaceman 3, and various psychedelia. Unfortunately, you can't afford that. I'm not being a jerk. It's just fact based on your info.

The keyboard in the first clip is a combo organ of the Farfisa / Vox ilk. The second clip is a Hammond of some sort.

The Alesis Micron can do an *ok* combo organ, and a pretty anemic Hammond organ. If you play guitar, and have a good tube guitar amp (like a Fender Twin or Vox AC30 or something), then you could feasibly run the Micron through the amp, and that will *slightly* improve the organ sounds. However, it will possibly make all synth sounds awful.

There are keyboards that can do awesome organ sounds, AND awesome synth sounds, but that's waaaaay out of your budget,

Another course is to forget about getting the cheapest synth you can, and go look for a used "clonewheel" organ. These won't give you combo organ sounds, but they'll be more affordable, and you can focus on your PLAYING and CREATIVITY for a few years.

In fact, everything you've said indicates you really want an organ. Not a synth. Forget about "sounds" to explore. You're young. Work on the damn notes.

Cheap used clonewheels for you to search Craigslist/eBay for:

Hammond XK-2

Hammond XB-2

Korg CX-3 mark ii (the digital one, I've seen these as cheap as $600 when they're beat up)

Oberheim OB-3

Roland VK-7 (I hate it, but some people dig it)

Nord Electro 2 (also has good electric pianos and other stuff)

Finally, Google is your friend. There's plenty of info out there, about this stuff. And more and more online demos every day. Check them out. Youtube. Vimeo. You get the idea.

Now go! Off on your process of self-discovery.

id rather learn synthesis on a micron for shure

Yeah, hearing the songs *neither* Micron or Microkorg would work.

Here's what I would get for those influences, which can easily be obtained for 300 pounds, I think:

A) A cheap used combo organ, like a Farfisa or a Vox or better still a more unknown model

B) A bunch of effects pedals to "psych out" the combo organ sound

A clonewheel is a good suggestion as well, although mostly out of your price range I think.

You could also look at an 80s digital or hybrid that does a good "pseudo-organ", that fits the style. (The Korg DW-8000 and the Ensoniq ESQ-1 comes to mind, these have the benefit of being very good synthesizers as well.)

Ideally you get something that leaves you money for effects -- a reverb in particular.

The Micron and Microkorg really are geared for synthesizer bleeps and bloops, more techno and analog synth. You are looking more for that 60s psych-pop vibe. Unfortunately this means hunting the used market with your budget, unless you have a computer and are willing to haul that to shows. (There are some excellent organ VSTs for under 300 pounds.)

Replace awesome with good, and I think the Korg Microstation is the perfect fit for him.

I say get neither.

Get a Korg Delta.

The OP needs to bump up the budget to 400 pounds for that, I think. Then you also need to bring in the Korg X50 and Yamaha MM6 into the equation.

I personally am not sure about the Microstation, when you already have decently priced workstations with full size keys the mini-keys seems weird.

All these are good for the organs but not so good for the boops and beeps. (But you'll get pianos and whatnot too.) You also will only get a fraction of the typical Hammond sound compared to a clonewheel, but it won't cost so much. (Some ROMplers don't have anything resembling a combo organ at all... if that's important...)

If you have a shoe size in the low forties, you should buy the Micron. Otherwise, you should buy either the Micron or something else.

Be sure it runs on batteries, what with the upcoming energy crunch.

won't the battery factory be affected by the energy crunch?

you're thinking something that winds up might do the trick?

yeah, wind up or mule powered.

I believe a ROMpler Keyboard will suit you better. for 300 pounds you can get a Roland JV80 with Vintage SRJV80 for example