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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

#21

Post by lolive »

Juliate wrote: post #13
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.]

Yes! But, huge but, very huge but, you lose the affordance of the switches and the buttons and the knobs and the patch cables. And that is a terrible loss for fiddling and discovery.

My path has been to work a lot in the ODDYSEi app.

Now that I understand most of it, I am really considering buying a ARP 2600 replica.

So yes, the switch from software to hardware comes with time. But, at least for me, the first step is cheap apps on my already-owned tablet.

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

#22

Post by Juliate »

lolive wrote: post #17
Juliate wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes! But, huge but, very huge but, you lose the affordance of the switches and the buttons and the knobs and the patch cables. And that is a terrible loss for fiddling and discovery.

True. But for going from zero to semi-hero, that’s definitely an option. [the huge amount of presets in software synths is really an BIG added value, so you can learn how each given sound is built]

Definitely agree too. Budget is definitely not the same.

And something like VCVRack is heaven to learn, experiment and understand what one can do with synthesis, step by step.

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

#23

Post by ACCount37 »

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.]

Creating music was never more accessible than it is now.

Conversely, the likelihood of making it big just by making some good damn music was never lower than it is now. Makes for a fine hobby though.

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

#24

Post by mkesper »

Little bit shallow article. Raspberry 3/4/5 are in a different league than RP2040. Newest Zynthian kits are updated for Pi5. There is also a big difference between using Linux (e.g. Zynthian) and running barebones (e.g. Minidexed, MT32-pi, probably some proprietary offerings).

https://shop.zynthian.org/

https://github.com/probonopd/MiniDexed

https://github.com/dwhinham/mt32-pi

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

#25

Post by drcongo »

Juliate wrote: post #13
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.]

Yes! But, huge but, very huge but, you lose the affordance of the switches and the buttons and the knobs and the patch cables. And that is a terrible loss for fiddling and discovery.

Ahh, but, you can just chain a bunch of Intech controllers. That's what I do. https://intech.studio

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

#26

Post by ofalkaed »

rjh29 wrote: post #6
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.

But they are not the same, if you are a musician going to bars and practice spaces and the like that $300 Blofeld will handle the abuse and accidents much better than a laptop or tablet. No matter what you do and how careful you are, cords get snagged and stepped on, stuff gets knocked over, things get spilled etc etc etc. My Blofeld has taken far more abuse than any laptop or tablet will handle and still going strong 15 years later; three laptops and two tablets later.

There are things you can do to make computers more suitable for this stuff but it gets expensive fast and less convenient quickly. Toughbooks are tempting, but expensive, rackmount computer can be managed for not much and keeps the computer safe in its rack but now you more and bigger stuff to haul. Taking a disposable approach with rpi or the like is tempting but not exactly ideal. Computers/tablets are great and have their uses but are not a replacement for hardware yet.

The big problem for me with all things touch screen is that they get confused by water on the screen, which is an issue when it is hot and you are sweating or on a stage with bright lights cooking you. Not an issue if you just want to tap out beats but a serious headache if you want to adjust parameters. Connectors on tablets are also an issue, USB is not a very secure connection and the wireless options are not great. Give me a tablet with a plastic screen, 1/4" ins/outs, can run PureData and will not get confused by water on the screen and I will probably give up my hardware.

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

#27

Post by Applejinx »

For some time now I've been supplying all my audio DSP plugins at airwindows.com pre-compiled on the Pi 400. (MIT open source, so it's not limited to that). The Pi version is included.

I mention this to make a point: you can't transform synths just by running some generic DSP code on a Pi and putting it in a box. Sound processing is also being transformed, and whether it's something like Hydrasynth generating poly aftertouch (but aliasing and not sounding that different from a VST) or Novation Peak/Summit receiving poly aftertouch (not generating :D ) but generating sound using custom hardware, sitting a VST on a Pi isn't going to get you a transformative synth.

Thing is, if you're able to dig into stuff like my DSP codebase that is actively under development AND plunk a VST synth onto a Pi AND do something interesting with the physical controls to direct the synth engine, that's starting to look transformative again. But just knowing about Pi isn't enough, you'll have to have a deep background in soundmaking and the ability to instrument-make in an interesting way.

If you have those things… game on. You can begin work FAR more cheaply than ever before, and that is how the Pi could be transforming synths.

I'm waiting for 24/96 audio hats to be common before I dig into this, even for stompboxes. I'm given to understand Electrosmith Daisy already has this, and that's a similar class of 'system on tiny board' that should be considered an audio Pi-like.

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

#28

Post by diggan »

ofalkaed wrote: post #26
rjh29 wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

But they are not the same, if you are a musician going to bars and practice spaces and the like that $300 Blofeld will handle the abuse and accidents much better than a laptop or tablet. No matter what you do and how careful you are, cords get snagged and stepped on, stuff gets knocked over, things get spilled etc etc etc. My Blofeld has taken far more abuse than any laptop or tablet will handle and still going stron…

> My Blofeld has taken far more abuse than any laptop or tablet will handle and still going strong 15 years later; three laptops and two tablets later.

On the other hand, my Blofeld had wonky unresponsive knobs after just a couple of months, not that they were very good at the first place, who thought having knobs with no tactile feeling of grip was good idea?!

Personally the biggest win for actual hardware is that it's just more fun to play and use. I've tried various music apps for mobile/tablets and while it's fun for some minutes, that's pretty much it. But then I feel the same with DAWs, it's just not as fun as playing with an hardware drum machine + synth + sampler all hooked together.

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

#29

Post by diggan »

ACCount37 wrote: post #23
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.]

Creating music was never more accessible than it is now. Conversely, the likelihood of making it big just by making some good damn music was never lower than it is now. Makes for a fine hobby though.

> Conversely, the likelihood of making it big just by making some good damn music was never lower than it is now.

Is that statement backed by any facts? Otherwise it sounds like a soundbite that sounds good, but I'm not sure how true it is. Maybe what "making it big" has changed more compared to how many people make their living making music, which for me would be enough to be considered "making it big".

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

#30

Post by rcarmo »

I’ve actually been building a few synths based on the Pi over the years—it’s been a great way to “get rid” of the older boards as time goes on, although since I’ve never bought a Pi 5 I suspect that time has past.

You can use the Pi 2/3/3a/Zero 2 to build things like an mt32 or DX7 emulator almost trivially, and they make for great DAWless modules.

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