The Synth Thread...

All instruments that aren't guitars (or bass guitars).
Post Reply
User avatar
StevenO
PAT. # 2.972.923
PAT. # 2.972.923
Posts: 17768
Joined: Wed Oct 18, 2006 7:06 pm

Re: The Synth Thread...

Post by StevenO » Sun Aug 13, 2017 4:30 pm

The first step to overcoming a problem is admitting you have a problem.


I think I want a Roland SH-2... Or maybe a The Cat by Octave... :shifty:

User avatar
Shadoweclipse13
PAT. # 2.972.923
PAT. # 2.972.923
Posts: 12435
Joined: Fri Feb 07, 2014 9:22 pm
Location: Stuck in the dimension of imagination

Re: The Synth Thread...

Post by Shadoweclipse13 » Wed Aug 16, 2017 6:10 pm

Anyone use synths (preferably modular) for ambient type of sounds? In the modular synth I'm planning to build, I want to do some ambient stuff as well as typical synth sounds.

I'd love to find a controller (like a keyboard) where you could press a key and hold a note or chord, and then play over top of it, without having to send the sound to a looper. Kinda like an EHX Freeze.

Admittedly, I'm still quite new to synths and modular synths.
Pickup Switching Mad Scientist
http://www.offsetguitars.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=8&t=104282&p=1438384#p1438384

User avatar
mackerelmint
PAT. # 2.972.923
PAT. # 2.972.923
Posts: 13674
Joined: Sun May 05, 2013 9:51 pm
Location: トイレ国、ウンチ市

Re: The Synth Thread...

Post by mackerelmint » Wed Aug 16, 2017 7:17 pm

Consider, for a keyboard, an Arturia Keylab. It's got drum pads on it, which you can program to just be different chords you press to play.

Can't weigh in on the modular, though. Good luck!
This is an excellent rectangle

User avatar
Shadoweclipse13
PAT. # 2.972.923
PAT. # 2.972.923
Posts: 12435
Joined: Fri Feb 07, 2014 9:22 pm
Location: Stuck in the dimension of imagination

Re: The Synth Thread...

Post by Shadoweclipse13 » Wed Aug 16, 2017 10:39 pm

mackerelmint wrote:Consider, for a keyboard, an Arturia Keylab. It's got drum pads on it, which you can program to just be different chords you press to play.

Can't weigh in on the modular, though. Good luck!
Interesting... I'm not worried about a drum machine since I just ordered a Digitech Sdrum, but I never considered using something like that as a different instrument (tuned differently). I've been looking at one of the controllers from Synthesizers.com (49-key perhaps) or the Sputnik Modular Keyboard.

Do you have an Arturia Keylab?
Pickup Switching Mad Scientist
http://www.offsetguitars.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=8&t=104282&p=1438384#p1438384

User avatar
mackerelmint
PAT. # 2.972.923
PAT. # 2.972.923
Posts: 13674
Joined: Sun May 05, 2013 9:51 pm
Location: トイレ国、ウンチ市

Re: The Synth Thread...

Post by mackerelmint » Wed Aug 16, 2017 10:58 pm

Shadoweclipse13 wrote:
mackerelmint wrote:Consider, for a keyboard, an Arturia Keylab. It's got drum pads on it, which you can program to just be different chords you press to play.

Can't weigh in on the modular, though. Good luck!
Interesting... I'm not worried about a drum machine since I just ordered a Digitech Sdrum, but I never considered using something like that as a different instrument (tuned differently). I've been looking at one of the controllers from Synthesizers.com (49-key perhaps) or the Sputnik Modular Keyboard.

Do you have an Arturia Keylab?
I do not. I have an akai MPK 25, but that chord feature is cool enough (and the mpk line has changed enough since mine came out, but the arturia has a very similar feature set to what I have and like) that whenever I upgrade to something larger than 25 keys, the keylab is the one I'd like to go to.
This is an excellent rectangle

User avatar
Shadoweclipse13
PAT. # 2.972.923
PAT. # 2.972.923
Posts: 12435
Joined: Fri Feb 07, 2014 9:22 pm
Location: Stuck in the dimension of imagination

Re: The Synth Thread...

Post by Shadoweclipse13 » Wed Aug 16, 2017 11:07 pm

That's good to know. The Keylab has some good specs, which I haven't finished going through yet since I'm at work and all that jazz. The price is definitely better than the two I'd been looking at already ($350-ish/$500 respectively). I do like that it has real piano-type keys too. Touch pads are cool, but they don't feel like a responsive piano key which is something I do like.
Pickup Switching Mad Scientist
http://www.offsetguitars.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=8&t=104282&p=1438384#p1438384

User avatar
mackerelmint
PAT. # 2.972.923
PAT. # 2.972.923
Posts: 13674
Joined: Sun May 05, 2013 9:51 pm
Location: トイレ国、ウンチ市

Re: The Synth Thread...

Post by mackerelmint » Wed Aug 16, 2017 11:28 pm

Shadoweclipse13 wrote:That's good to know. The Keylab has some good specs, which I haven't finished going through yet since I'm at work and all that jazz. The price is definitely better than the two I'd been looking at already ($350-ish/$500 respectively). I do like that it has real piano-type keys too. Touch pads are cool, but they don't feel like a responsive piano key which is something I do like.
No, you're not gonna get that kind of response out of pads like that, but as far as I know, they're the only game in town for programmable one-touch chords. And the build quality on them is pretty skookum from everything I've read about them, same as the akai. The akai's keys are a DREAM, and I've seen it said that the arturia's are just as good. Big plus in my book.
This is an excellent rectangle

User avatar
Shadoweclipse13
PAT. # 2.972.923
PAT. # 2.972.923
Posts: 12435
Joined: Fri Feb 07, 2014 9:22 pm
Location: Stuck in the dimension of imagination

Re: The Synth Thread...

Post by Shadoweclipse13 » Thu Aug 17, 2017 12:08 am

Oh, absolutely. If the keys feel good that's all that matters for sure. But if the difference is that much, that's where I'd be looking at the Synthesizers.com board. They've got a ton of options, and with my woodworking skills, I could make an epic enclosure for it too:
Image

It's not THAT expensive, but it would be nice to find something cheaper too. Maybe I'll go try out one of the Keysteps at a Guitar Center (:k) or something this weekend.
Pickup Switching Mad Scientist
http://www.offsetguitars.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=8&t=104282&p=1438384#p1438384

User avatar
StevenO
PAT. # 2.972.923
PAT. # 2.972.923
Posts: 17768
Joined: Wed Oct 18, 2006 7:06 pm

Re: The Synth Thread...

Post by StevenO » Thu Aug 17, 2017 1:51 am

Shadoweclipse13 wrote:Anyone use synths (preferably modular) for ambient type of sounds? In the modular synth I'm planning to build, I want to do some ambient stuff as well as typical synth sounds.

I'd love to find a controller (like a keyboard) where you could press a key and hold a note or chord, and then play over top of it, without having to send the sound to a looper. Kinda like an EHX Freeze.

Admittedly, I'm still quite new to synths and modular synths.
Do you have any examples of what you want to do as far as ambient sounds go? I feel like that can mean quite a bit, but sounds interesting!

I have a little Arturia Key Step, which I use with my Roland Juno and MacBook/iPad. What I like to do with my Juno is to set the KeyStep up for a high-octave (it has switches to select the octave range) sequence and then play notes that are in a lower octave range on the keyboard on the Juno. Works quite well, in almost the same manner that you have mentioned, but not sure how well that work with a monophonic modular system, if at all.

I think your best bet might be to actually just get a Freeze or Super Ego or a Looper. You'll probably get more use out of a looper, to be honest, and luckily we live in a time with a lot of rather inexpensive loopers and delay pedals that contain loopers as an add on.

Edit: Just noticed Megan's posts. The Keylab is OKAY, but the feel of the mini keys are quite awkward (like a Microbrute versus a Minibrute). The feel of the keys are better on the Keystep, personally. The Keystep also has the hold chord feature, which works decently well. If you have, say, Garageband or other software synth programs, you can also plug the Keystep in and use as midi controller and use the sequencer and arpeggiator with those sounds as well (imagine a sequenced Wurlitzer/Rhodes EP or Hammond Organ). Lots of great possibilites.

User avatar
mackerelmint
PAT. # 2.972.923
PAT. # 2.972.923
Posts: 13674
Joined: Sun May 05, 2013 9:51 pm
Location: トイレ国、ウンチ市

Re: The Synth Thread...

Post by mackerelmint » Thu Aug 17, 2017 2:03 am

What! Keyboards with whammy bars? Where have these been all my life? I don't want a dang pitch wheel, or even a stick!

WANG BAR KEYTAR OR GO HOME
This is an excellent rectangle

User avatar
StevenO
PAT. # 2.972.923
PAT. # 2.972.923
Posts: 17768
Joined: Wed Oct 18, 2006 7:06 pm

Re: The Synth Thread...

Post by StevenO » Thu Aug 17, 2017 2:04 am

Woah! Missed that.

User avatar
Shadoweclipse13
PAT. # 2.972.923
PAT. # 2.972.923
Posts: 12435
Joined: Fri Feb 07, 2014 9:22 pm
Location: Stuck in the dimension of imagination

Re: The Synth Thread...

Post by Shadoweclipse13 » Thu Aug 17, 2017 4:40 am

StevenO wrote:Do you have any examples of what you want to do as far as ambient sounds go? I feel like that can mean quite a bit, but sounds interesting!

I have a little Arturia Key Step, which I use with my Roland Juno and MacBook/iPad. What I like to do with my Juno is to set the KeyStep up for a high-octave (it has switches to select the octave range) sequence and then play notes that are in a lower octave range on the keyboard on the Juno. Works quite well, in almost the same manner that you have mentioned, but not sure how well that work with a monophonic modular system, if at all.

I think your best bet might be to actually just get a Freeze or Super Ego or a Looper. You'll probably get more use out of a looper, to be honest, and luckily we live in a time with a lot of rather inexpensive loopers and delay pedals that contain loopers as an add on.
I don't have any examples of synths playing ambient stuff (maybe what I've heard called synth pads), but stuff like drones? Like this (but imagine with synth):
https://youtu.be/R85DQcfMBdc
Or the intro here (LOVE Shiny Toy Guns by the way):
https://youtu.be/dyEEequwxNA

I have a looper AND a Freeze on my guitar pedalboard which I could use for sure...
mackerelmint wrote:What! Keyboards with whammy bars? Where have these been all my life? I don't want a dang pitch wheel, or even a stick!

WANG BAR KEYTAR OR GO HOME
That dude has some cool expansion modules for his keyboard. I'd probably just get pitch and modulation wheels, but I love the possibilities...
Pickup Switching Mad Scientist
http://www.offsetguitars.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=8&t=104282&p=1438384#p1438384

User avatar
OffYourFace
Mods
Mods
Posts: 13686
Joined: Thu May 03, 2007 2:59 pm
Location: Los Angeles, CA

Re: The Synth Thread...

Post by OffYourFace » Fri Aug 18, 2017 10:48 pm

I love Dotcom.
I have a Dotcom system in the 22-space portable cabinet. I basically built a system to be like a super mini-moog. But it turned out to be its own thing and not really moog like, even with a ladder filter and 3 VCOs. It's just a cleaner sound than an old Moog. I even ran the signal hotter into the filter (like a mini). It's still a really great monosynth and I like that it doesn't sound like a Moog.

I ended up replacing the ladder filter with an ARP 4072 type filter to go in a different direction. I aslo tried an Oberheim SEM style State Variable Filter but I like the 4072 the best for my needs.
I mainly use that synth for melody lines or big percussive and metallic sounds.

For ambient stuff, you'll have many more options in Eurorack. I personally can't deal with Eurorack, everything is too tiny.

User avatar
UlricvonCatalyst
PAT. # 2.972.923
PAT. # 2.972.923
Posts: 7193
Joined: Mon Dec 14, 2009 4:05 am
Location: Glasgow, Scotland

Re: The Synth Thread...

Post by UlricvonCatalyst » Sat Aug 19, 2017 3:08 am

Just watched this demo for the Landscape - Stereo Field last night and it looks like it'd be a decent option for ambient-experimental synthesis if you don't really want the hassle of having to play keyboards.

Someone in the comments section suggested you could do much the same with the filter matrix of a Microbrute, but that touch-responsive surface looks like a whole different experience to knob-twiddling.

Not the cheapest option, but if you're starting with a blank slate....

User avatar
Shadoweclipse13
PAT. # 2.972.923
PAT. # 2.972.923
Posts: 12435
Joined: Fri Feb 07, 2014 9:22 pm
Location: Stuck in the dimension of imagination

Re: The Synth Thread...

Post by Shadoweclipse13 » Sat Aug 19, 2017 9:04 am

UlricvonCatalyst wrote:Just watched this demo for the Landscape - Stereo Field last night and it looks like it'd be a decent option for ambient-experimental synthesis if you don't really want the hassle of having to play keyboards.

Someone in the comments section suggested you could do much the same with the filter matrix of a Microbrute, but that touch-responsive surface looks like a whole different experience to knob-twiddling.

Not the cheapest option, but if you're starting with a blank slate....
From the demos I've seen, it looks a bit more chaotic than I usually like, but I'd really like to try one. It does look like it'd be fun ;D
OffYourFace wrote:I love Dotcom.
I have a Dotcom system in the 22-space portable cabinet. I basically built a system to be like a super mini-moog. But it turned out to be its own thing and not really moog like, even with a ladder filter and 3 VCOs. It's just a cleaner sound than an old Moog. I even ran the signal hotter into the filter (like a mini). It's still a really great monosynth and I like that it doesn't sound like a Moog.

I ended up replacing the ladder filter with an ARP 4072 type filter to go in a different direction. I aslo tried an Oberheim SEM style State Variable Filter but I like the 4072 the best for my needs.
I mainly use that synth for melody lines or big percussive and metallic sounds.

For ambient stuff, you'll have many more options in Eurorack. I personally can't deal with Eurorack, everything is too tiny.
I'm a short guy with small fingers, so the Eurorack thing might not be too bad for me. The only thing I worry about is getting annoyed to have patch cables everywhere and blocking knobs :D

The DOTCOM feels good then, key-wise? That's the direction I've been leaning towards most. I think some of the touchpad keyboards are awesome (Sputnik Modular, Future Retro), but I've always hated the feel of touchpad vs tangible keys and buttons, at least for things like cell phones. I miss my buttons :D

I'm really interested in modular, but I keep finding these standalone systems that sound SO good. My first want is the Moog Mother-32, but DesmondWafers turned me onto the Behringer Model D clone which sounds great, and I just found the Roland SE-02 from Sonicstate today as well...
Pickup Switching Mad Scientist
http://www.offsetguitars.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=8&t=104282&p=1438384#p1438384

Post Reply