Synth Lovers United!

[battema]

No worries...you've never met my band. I'll be juuuust fine

[Top Cat]

I checked out the Meris pedals website and all I can say is WOW!!!
They sound amazing. Why haven't I heard of them before?
I thought I knew most of the stuff available out there.

You really know gear John, I think I'll ask you about stuff from now on.....

[battema]

Ha ha ha...now I need to start trying to score kickbacks from these places

The guy behind Meris is also I think someone who was involved with Strymon as well at some point. All three Meris pedals are worth every penny IMHO.

[battema]

Since I'm talking up gear, I'll mention this lovely, which currently lets me use one expression pedal with all three Meris stomp boxes simultaneously:

https://missionengineering.com/shop-...v=7516fd43adaa

[Gizmotron]

Since I'm talking up gear, I'll mention this lovely, which currently lets me use one expression pedal with all three Meris stomp boxes simultaneously:

https://missionengineering.com/shop-...v=7516fd43adaa

What a clever device! Thanks for telling us about that!
So many pedals and synths accept expression pedals. It would be convenient not to have to buy so many of them (like I have done).

(And I love my Strymon pedals by the way...)

[hFx]

Gotta love the Prophet T8

[battema]

Very nice!

[hippypants]

I have a couple of questions...When musicians sample something, what's the process? Do they have a laptop and just record something into that and use that in their music?

Also what's the difference between an arpeggiator and a sequencer? Aren't they about the same thing?

[battema]

An arpeggiator typically takes a chord or notes held on a keyboard and play them back based on some predefined pattern (all notes from lowest to highest, highest to lowest, lowest to highest and then back again, or random).

Sequencers are more programmed, less based on what you play (although you can certainly MAKE them similar). Originally they were voltages. By the 80's things like the Alesis MMT-8 were MIDI sequencers that were compositional tools. Eventually those got supplanted by DAWs and now sequencers are back to being more like their original CV things

Sampling varies from device to device. My Fantom accepts external (or can record internally) WAV files that can be mapped for playback on a keyboard (i.e. sample recording/playback). Software-based samplers mostly work similar. Usually you have to tweak them a bit to make them usable (trim the start/end, set loop points, maybe even record multiple samples so the sound doesn't feel too "stretched" at very high or low registers (unless that's the effect you're going for).

Did I answer your questions sufficiently?

[hippypants]

Yes, thanks for the answers. Make sense to me. I had a friend that had a Casio cheapo, and it had a sampler, which really was a sound port on the synth and you could talk, clap, or take a noise and it would act like a recorder. Then you could play it back via a keyboard at different notes, however, I didn't think this was how professionally ones work. Thanks again.

[Progbear]

Perhaps Herbie Hancock demonstrating his Fairlight will shed some light on the subject:

[hippypants]

Thanks Progbear, yes, I see him sample that little girl's name. I thought that was Quincy Jones as well. Herbie is a really good synth player. Found a book by him at Dollar Tree called Possibilities I've been reading.

[Progbear]

The “little girl” grew up to be actress Tatyana Ali. And if you’re a synth fanatic (why else would you be reading this thread), you definitely need to hear some of Herbie’s albums. Sextant is my fave; total freakout synth meltdown on that one!

He was also very good at subtle, tasteful orchestrations, as on this collaboration with fellow QJ associate Lesley Gore (note that everything you hear is JUST Lesley and Herbie):

[BobM]

This might not be the perfect place to post this question, but if you were to buy just one synth these days what would it be?

- a controller keyboard and a laptop filled with samples and other software?
- one of the Nord's
- something older that seemed to do it all, like Prophet or Korg or ???

Just wondering because it's been a lot of years since I've owned any synths and I just sold my acoustic piano to make a move to another state. If I was to get back into the hobby and start practicing again I would probably only want one keyboard that I could use as a piano and strings and organ and lead and effects and etc. So what would you recommend?

Thanks, and I'm sorry - I'm not trying to derail this thread - just thought the people here might have good rec's.

[battema]

In terms of entry points and flexibility, a controller plus some soft synths are probably the highest initial bang for the buck. The big trick with these is that they tend to deprecate as your computers get older; you have to keep track of license keys, dongles, and the like so moving to a new computer can be a bit of a nightmare.

I personally am moving toward hardware synths again, and leave the computer for the recording/producing end of things. It is more expensive obviously, but also tends to not deprecate as quickly.

[Rarebird]

In terms of entry points and flexibility, a controller plus some soft synths are probably the highest initial bang for the buck. The big trick with these is that they tend to deprecate as your computers get older; you have to keep track of license keys, dongles, and the like so moving to a new computer can be a bit of a nightmare.

I personally am moving toward hardware synths again, and leave the computer for the recording/producing end of things. It is more expensive obviously, but also tends to not deprecate as quickly.

You're right. Downloading Arturia takes a lot of time and at this moment I can't use it, because Cubase indicates it uses a lot of processorload, making things pretty difficult. It caused all kinds of delays and when the music wasn't delayed, the Cubase screen still was and when it stopped all midi-instruments still ran, but the virtual synthesizer stopped producing sound, till the screen jumped to the right position.

[battema]

Yeah, that can get annoying. I make my own life a little harder because I keep my music computer OFF the network (they actually tend to run more smoothly in the long haul). So once every 5-7 years I have to go and find all my various registration/license keys, discover what software is no longer compatible with the new minimum system setups, who went out of business in the interim (a MUCH bigger problem for software than hardware IMHO), and so on. And then the offline registration processes are usually slower and more awkward (if they still exist at all).

But, at least out the gate, software can be cheaper.

[hFx]

This might not be the perfect place to post this question, but if you were to buy just one synth these days what would it be?

- a controller keyboard and a laptop filled with samples and other software?
- one of the Nord's
- something older that seemed to do it all, like Prophet or Korg or ???

Just wondering because it's been a lot of years since I've owned any synths and I just sold my acoustic piano to make a move to another state. If I was to get back into the hobby and start practicing again I would probably only want one keyboard that I could use as a piano and strings and organ and lead and effects and etc. So what would you recommend?

Thanks, and I'm sorry - I'm not trying to derail this thread - just thought the people here might have good rec's.

- If "music production" is the goal, doing full arrangements, software give you the most versatile system, but can be frustrating to get into all possibilities, the interface is non-intuitive (screen and mouse) and as said above, the "system" requires some regular maintenance and upgrading. But if the sky is the limit (idea wise), that's the way to go IMHO.

- For a more direct feel, while still being able to create full arrangements, a good workstation takes you quite a bit on the way. If money is no problem, Korg Kronos is fantastic. More low cost are Kurzweil PC3K, or second hand Yamaha Motifs or Roland Fantom workstations.

- If keyboards (rather than creating a whole production) of various kind is your focus, go for performance keyboards like the Nord Stage, Nord Electro or Korg SV-1. The workstations above are a good choice too.

Just my 2 ¢...

[Gizmotron]

This might not be the perfect place to post this question, but if you were to buy just one synth these days what would it be?

- a controller keyboard and a laptop filled with samples and other software?
- one of the Nord's
- something older that seemed to do it all, like Prophet or Korg or ???

Just wondering because it's been a lot of years since I've owned any synths and I just sold my acoustic piano to make a move to another state. If I was to get back into the hobby and start practicing again I would probably only want one keyboard that I could use as a piano and strings and organ and lead and effects and etc. So what would you recommend?

Thanks, and I'm sorry - I'm not trying to derail this thread - just thought the people here might have good rec's.

Another vote for a Korg Kronos.

[Top Cat]

Another vote for Korg Kronos. I picked up a used one about a year ago and it covers so much ground with sound possibilities, I could very easily use it for everything if all I could have is one synth.

[hFx]

Maybe the most powerful moog in years/decades?

[Progbear]

Looks kind of like a Source with more colors, and patch-cord connections.

[Top Cat]

Maybe the most powerful moog in years/decades?

what do you mean by powerfuL? and you're joking right?

[hFx]

what do you mean by powerfuL? and you're joking right?

Basic, down-to-earth concept, sturdy design (except for the Radio Shack paint scheme) and very direct sounding. Semi-modular design that adds more features than meets the eye... So no joking. Decent pricing too!

[Top Cat]

don't get me wrong, I think it sounds wonderful and looks like a lot of fun.
I think it's great Moog is having a bit of fun here and thinking outside of the box.
But I've had a Voyager since 2004 and I don't really consider this as more powerful. The Voyager design really is a bit of modular, only it's hardwired.

Speaking of Moog, have you heard of the rumored Moog 1 poly analog? now that would be it's most powerful synth in decades.

btw, are you getting this grandmother?