31–40 of 46 posts
Artirua's been doing this for a few years, including their Brute lineup; the MiniBrute and the MatrixBrute would be the closest comparison. https://www.arturia.com/products
I'd consider getting a Eurorack modular synth. Advantages: 1 - it's much more fun to build your own synth out of components than to buy an off-the-shelf system designed and built by someone else 2 - and you get to build exactly what you want 3 - there are literally thousands of modules to choose from, giving you much more flexibility and features than any integrated synth 4 - lots of cables to make a patch, which can…
The physical nature makes it easier (for me at least) to remember instinctively what does what. I've build my synth exactly how I want it... I've put module X right where I want it between module Y and module Z. Using it as often as I do, my muscle memory kicks in and my arms remember where things are. I can recognize most of the modules and controls by touch. It makes composing, experimenting and performing to be almost exactly the same process (at least the way I do it) - which is something I've been striving for for my entire musical life.
That said, I wouldn't actually recommend Eurorack to most people, simply because of the extreme price.
Korg has to be my favorite synthesizer company atm. They really hit the sweet spot of great aesthetics and usability. The sound is, of course, a matter of taste. The monologue is more mid-rangy than you'd expect from an analogue synth but I guess it has its place and, more importantly, it gives the synth a unique character. Personally I think the market is over-saturated with emulations of classics. Someone else ment…
I use to buy chips for chip tune sound and own a few hardware synths. Now software rules for me.
I'd consider getting a Eurorack modular synth. Advantages: 1 - it's much more fun to build your own synth out of components than to buy an off-the-shelf system designed and built by someone else 2 - and you get to build exactly what you want 3 - there are literally thousands of modules to choose from, giving you much more flexibility and features than any integrated synth 4 - lots of cables to make a patch, which can…
I'd add another advantage: The physicality of it all. That was what drew me to it. It's kind of related to your advantage #4 and advantage #2, but it's more than that. The physical nature makes it easier (for me at least) to remember instinctively what does what. I've build my synth exactly how I want it... I've put module X right where I want it between module Y and module Z. Using it as often as I do, my muscle mem…
1 - Buy used. You can get a lot of great modules in great condition used.
2 - Build your own, either from kits or (if you have the skills) from scratch. There are tons of kits out there, and you can make some pretty unusual and interesting modules with them. Plus, making your own helps you to understand them better, and help you to repair them yourself if they break.
3 - Limit your appetite for modules. You don't necessarily need a 4 voice modular synth, with 4 copies of every module. Try limiting yourself to one voice, or even to just a few modules that perform a small number of functions. That can still be really useful.
4 - (Related to 3): Combine your modular synth with an integrated hardware synth or even soft-synths. That way you can get the best of both worlds, and the non-modular synths can make up for what you're missing in your modular, again letting you limit your modular to just those functions that you need, thereby reducing the price of your modular.
5 - Buy from the less expensive module manufacturers like Doepfer. Their modules are often a fraction of the price of many other manufacturers.
Korg often leaves me wanting just a little more in a good way.
Play. That's the best. People can just play. Serious or fun, it's all good.
Korg has to be my favorite synthesizer company atm. They really hit the sweet spot of great aesthetics and usability. The sound is, of course, a matter of taste. The monologue is more mid-rangy than you'd expect from an analogue synth but I guess it has its place and, more importantly, it gives the synth a unique character. Personally I think the market is over-saturated with emulations of classics. Someone else ment…
I am of the mindset that the really interesting world is software synths. I love all the tools and sounds out there. I use to buy chips for chip tune sound and own a few hardware synths. Now software rules for me.
However I found myself really missing the immediacy of knobs and buttons, especially when I got back into playing my Korg MS-2000 with other people. That's not a true analog synth, but it has a front panel that is comparable to them. I have used MIDI controllers to try to get the same kind of feeling from a softsynth, but there's something to be said for having your control surface's layout match that of your synth--I never had the same kind of intuition about keying in or tweaking a sound via MIDI controller as I do with the Korg.
I dream of an interface that can be physically rearranged so that its knobs and sliders mirror the layout onscreen. Like a tactile touchscreen. A good synth's signal flow can be understood by "reading" its control layout, whether it's hardware or software, and for me at least, there is a huge loss when mentally mapping a well-designed interface to a boring row of eight unlabeled knobs.
Artirua's been doing this for a few years, including their Brute lineup; the MiniBrute and the MatrixBrute would be the closest comparison. https://www.arturia.com/products
Who is the target audience for this? Why did they spend quarter of the video on colors? Why does it even matter? It made me feel like the device is probably not that spectacular if color is one of its main features.
I read that it's E-to-E so it's essentially a replacement for a bass player. One you can program or play live. $300 to never have to deal with a bassist again is, in some circles, quite a bargain. I've seen several MiniNovas and other small frame synths in the wild, from dive bar acts to openers for larger venue groups like Run The Jewels. Re: Color. If there is an aesthetic theme for one's act, then having a matchin…
Are bassists dysfunctional or sth?
Korg has to be my favorite synthesizer company atm. They really hit the sweet spot of great aesthetics and usability. The sound is, of course, a matter of taste. The monologue is more mid-rangy than you'd expect from an analogue synth but I guess it has its place and, more importantly, it gives the synth a unique character. Personally I think the market is over-saturated with emulations of classics. Someone else ment…
I am of the mindset that the really interesting world is software synths. I love all the tools and sounds out there. I use to buy chips for chip tune sound and own a few hardware synths. Now software rules for me.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
I am of the mindset that the really interesting world is software synths. I love all the tools and sounds out there. I use to buy chips for chip tune sound and own a few hardware synths. Now software rules for me.
What are the best software synths that map easily to midi keybords?
Free and probably not easy: PD; SuperCollider; Csound; ChucK
Not free: Arturia Suite; NI Reaktor, Massive, Absynth; Serum; Sylenth; Nexus; Spire
They all have a different sound. Some are modular, some are straight analogue clones, some are hybrids.
I used to design analogue synth hardware. Now I design non-analogue software. The software does a lot more, is vastly less expensive, takes up much less space, is easier to keep clean, and much easier to move. :)