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Raspberry Pi Synthesizers – How the Pi is transforming synths

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Re: Raspberry Pi Synthesizers – How the Pi is transforming synths

#3

Post by lolive »

I discovered by pure chance the vast ecosystem of iOS synths apps. And I was absolutely blown away. 90+% of the synths of the past century are available for ~5-20€ each. Connect that to a basic KORG MicroKeys Air [extra cheap, but includes Bluetooth]. And you are the next Jean-Michel Jarre.

[Note: and the amount of tutorial videos on YouTube is huge.]

Re: Raspberry Pi Synthesizers – How the Pi is transforming synths

#4

Post by lolive »

lolive wrote: post #3

I discovered by pure chance the vast ecosystem of iOS synths apps. And I was absolutely blown away. 90+% of the synths of the past century are available for ~5-20€ each. Connect that to a basic KORG MicroKeys Air [extra cheap, but includes Bluetooth]. And you are the next Jean-Michel Jarre. [Note: and the amount of tutorial videos on YouTube is huge.]

Additional note: synth emulation is also available in the Bristol Linux app, or in the [proprietary but very complete] Arturia VST.

Re: Raspberry Pi Synthesizers – How the Pi is transforming synths

#5

Post by snom380 »

charcircuit wrote: post #2

What if instead it ran on a macbook which you plugged the keyboard into. You could still make the software open source if you want.

Arturia does that, and Korg did as well (making controller keyboards specific for emulating a synth, with the software running on a Mac or PC.

Downsides: - if the software doesn’t get updated, you’re stuck running an old OS an old Mac that supports it. - you can’t just turn on the synth and use it, you need to find a cable, connect it to the Mac, launch the software, etc

Re: Raspberry Pi Synthesizers – How the Pi is transforming synths

#6

Post by rjh29 »

lolive wrote: post #3

I discovered by pure chance the vast ecosystem of iOS synths apps. And I was absolutely blown away. 90+% of the synths of the past century are available for ~5-20€ each. Connect that to a basic KORG MicroKeys Air [extra cheap, but includes Bluetooth]. And you are the next Jean-Michel Jarre. [Note: and the amount of tutorial videos on YouTube is huge.]

For some synths like Blofeld, you're paying $10-20 for something that used to sell in a box for $300. And it's the exact same synth (100% digital) often with a better UI.

The iPad is a great choice for music - you get the variety of hardware synths with none of the annoying setup (power, midi, audio routing), at a cheaper price, but it still feels more immersive than sitting at a desktop PC and a daw.

Re: Raspberry Pi Synthesizers – How the Pi is transforming synths

#7

Post by bartvk »

Typical how they first let Korg do the talking, when actually, Korg is much slower to innovate. With one line, the article mentions Tasty Chips synthesizers (who are friends of mine), but as far as I know, they were actually the first, just check their Kickstarter campaigns which go back ten years.

Note that using RPi is not all sunshine and roses. There were times that compute modules were extremely hard to get.

Re: Raspberry Pi Synthesizers – How the Pi is transforming synths

#9

Post by lastdong »

lolive wrote: post #3

I discovered by pure chance the vast ecosystem of iOS synths apps. And I was absolutely blown away. 90+% of the synths of the past century are available for ~5-20€ each. Connect that to a basic KORG MicroKeys Air [extra cheap, but includes Bluetooth]. And you are the next Jean-Michel Jarre. [Note: and the amount of tutorial videos on YouTube is huge.]

GarageBand is free on every iPhone and has a good selection of starter synths, with added DAW capabilities. Bluetooth midi controllers are supported (via bluetooth midi connect App). Using a pi or Arduino to build a midi controller can also be great fun.
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