The Synth Thread...

All instruments that aren't guitars (or bass guitars).
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UlricvonCatalyst
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Re: The Synth Thread...

Post by UlricvonCatalyst » Sat Jun 16, 2018 11:49 pm

Whiny Minotaur wrote:
Sat Jun 16, 2018 9:34 pm
Yeah, to be honest now that I’ve spent a few months playing synths and keyboards, it feels much more intuitive than playing the guitar. I still use guitars to play weird tunings and get ideas from there, but keyboards have all but replaced guitars for my songwriting now.
StevenO wrote:
Thu Jun 14, 2018 5:10 am
Jag, you can do it. Keyboards are easy. Piano is hard. Take it slow, learn a few chords, and just have fun. You already probably know your guitar chords and chords for songs, so just learn the keyboard equivalents of those and learn to navigate the keys that way. Trust me, you can do it.
I don't know, I've been able to play basic chords, simple progressions and short melodic flourishes for about two-thirds of my life at this point, but I'm really frustrated by my limitations on keyboards compared to guitar, which I can play with at least some degree of fluidity.

I realise putting the hours in is the answer in both cases, but I feel like there's a wall you can hit pretty early on that you might never get past without many, many hours of determined dedication.

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Re: The Synth Thread...

Post by Zork » Mon Jun 18, 2018 12:26 pm

I just found this documentary: https://youtu.be/TK1P93r9xes
About british synth pop bands of the late 70s and early 80s.

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Re: The Synth Thread...

Post by Jaguar018 » Tue Jun 19, 2018 9:54 am

StevenO wrote:
Thu Jun 14, 2018 5:10 am
Jag, you can do it. Keyboards are easy. Piano is hard. Take it slow, learn a few chords, and just have fun. You already probably know your guitar chords and chords for songs, so just learn the keyboard equivalents of those and learn to navigate the keys that way. Trust me, you can do it.
Thanks man. :) I'm giving it a go. I'll channel my inner Bob Ross and see what happens.

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Re: The Synth Thread...

Post by tdbajus » Tue Jun 19, 2018 9:56 am

Jaguar018 wrote:
Tue Jun 19, 2018 9:54 am
StevenO wrote:
Thu Jun 14, 2018 5:10 am
Jag, you can do it. Keyboards are easy. Piano is hard. Take it slow, learn a few chords, and just have fun. You already probably know your guitar chords and chords for songs, so just learn the keyboard equivalents of those and learn to navigate the keys that way. Trust me, you can do it.
Thanks man. :) I'm giving it a go. I'll channel my inner Bob Ross and see what happens.
Remember- if you set your synth to monophonic, you only have to worry about one finger! Stack those oscillators, you bad dog!

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Re: The Synth Thread...

Post by Jaguar018 » Wed Jun 20, 2018 7:26 am

UlricvonCatalyst wrote:
Sat Jun 16, 2018 11:49 pm
I don't know, I've been able to play basic chords, simple progressions and short melodic flourishes for about two-thirds of my life at this point, but I'm really frustrated by my limitations on keyboards compared to guitar, which I can play with at least some degree of fluidity.

I realise putting the hours in is the answer in both cases, but I feel like there's a wall you can hit pretty early on that you might never get past without many, many hours of determined dedication.
That's where I have you beat. You see, I am not a super-great guitarist either. :shifty: I have a particular sound and technique that works okay, but I'm not exactly lighting the ol' fret-board on fire with all my different techniques and scale knowledge.

First goal is to get all the chords and the transitions down. If I can do that I'll start to feel a little better about things.
tdbajus wrote:
Tue Jun 19, 2018 9:56 am
Remember- if you set your synth to monophonic, you only have to worry about one finger! Stack those oscillators, you bad dog!
I need to spend more time with synths to just figure out what the hell I even want to do with them. With the ones I have I think I pretty much have everything covered: Behringer model D for the Moog sounds. Juno 6 for 80s synth, and the Nord Electro 3 for Rhodes, Vintage organs, and Mellotrons.

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Re: The Synth Thread...

Post by tdbajus » Wed Jun 20, 2018 11:06 am

Jaguar018 wrote:
Wed Jun 20, 2018 7:26 am
tdbajus wrote:
Tue Jun 19, 2018 9:56 am
Remember- if you set your synth to monophonic, you only have to worry about one finger! Stack those oscillators, you bad dog!
I need to spend more time with synths to just figure out what the hell I even want to do with them. With the ones I have I think I pretty much have everything covered: Behringer model D for the Moog sounds. Juno 6 for 80s synth, and the Nord Electro 3 for Rhodes, Vintage organs, and Mellotrons.
That is quite a rig you have there.

If I may be so bold as to make a suggestion: Get a copy of Welsh's Synthesizer Cookbook. It's tons of fun, and gets me out of my usual thinking.

Now, next time you want to get a synth part, imagine you have an orchestra. Which instrument will you use for this?

Cello? Groovy.

Go to the cello page in the Cookbook, make a cello (spoiler, it won't sound much like a cello).

If you are like me, you'll start playing with it, fucking with the pulse width/osc shape, detune, etc etc, and wind up with something inspiring.

Also, OSC Sync is cryptic and weird and fucking awesome.

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Re: The Synth Thread...

Post by mackerelmint » Wed Jun 20, 2018 1:25 pm

When the UB-Xa happens, I'm gonna be happier than a pig in shit. Really. It's almost the only synth I really want or need. I've basically forsaken plugs, but...

Do I keep hanging with the arturia minimoog, or do I get a behringer? It's a conundrum. One I have and is a sunk cost, and is polyphonic and has patch memory. The other one, well, is a physical object with twiddly knobs. I can make chords by stacking oscillators.

SIGH

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Re: The Synth Thread...

Post by eggwheat » Wed Jun 20, 2018 2:52 pm

Just wanted to say fuck behringer, I will never buy anything from them. They are pirates. Lately they’ve been trying to sue Dave smith...unbelievable.

The Roland System 8 thing...it’s actually really good...I’m liking the new korg prologue too..moog grandmother another winner. It took the big boys 10 years to catch up and start making this stuff, but I’m glad they have...exciting times.

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Re: The Synth Thread...

Post by Dok » Wed Jun 20, 2018 7:46 pm

eggwheat wrote:
Wed Jun 20, 2018 2:52 pm
Just wanted to say fuck behringer, I will never buy anything from them. They are pirates. Lately they’ve been trying to sue Dave smith...unbelievable.
I gotta say this news really put me off any of the new cheap Behringers: http://www.factmag.com/2018/06/20/behri ... ibel-case/

And this thread, too: https://www.reddit.com/r/synthesizers/c ... hina_with/

And yeah, there's a lot of other gadgets we buy with supply chains that have less than stellar standards for workers, but it's good to be reminded how these products can be made so cheaply.
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Re: The Synth Thread...

Post by mackerelmint » Wed Jun 20, 2018 8:21 pm

Well, somebody better make a new Oberheim OB-Xa, I have mixed feelings about the Dave Smith OB-6.

It's completely bizarre that a company that isn't Zachary guitars would go after people on a forum in court like that. Especially at this point in time where people have been talking shit, right or wrong, for 20 years. What legal department would go ahead with that? I don't get it. Without the benefit of a law degree, I'm having a hard time seeing the legal logic there.
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Re: The Synth Thread...

Post by Whiny Minotaur » Wed Jun 20, 2018 8:57 pm

Yeah, I know I'm being a hypocrite since I've bought guitars from Squier from some Chinese company that has dubious qualities, but reading about the factory conditions in Behringer, and Uli's completely tone deaf conduct on the whole matter, I can safely say that I have absolutely no interest in buying any of their products anymore. That Roland SE-02 is looking a lot more attractive now..

I'm not going to fault some kid who has a $50 allowance buying their products (which I pretty much was when I was buying my guitars), but I feel too guilty about it now. Sure, the iPhone I'm typing this post was made by psuedo slave labor, but at buying an analog synth isn't really an essential, and there are dozens of companies which probably take much better care of their workers.
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Re: The Synth Thread...

Post by eggwheat » Thu Jun 21, 2018 7:33 am

I've always thought this about behringer, crap quality gear ripped off from other people....but they kind of had me interested and fooled lately when they broke into synth building..but then I see they are just as bad as they always were. So that's me out. Agree that the Roland SE-02 looks like the one right now.

Dont get me wrong the insane prices of vintage kit annoys me so I want these tools to be available to musicians..not rich collectors only.....I see the need..but 20K for a Jupiter 8?? Who the hell is buying them at that price?

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Re: The Synth Thread...

Post by eggwheat » Thu Jun 21, 2018 7:37 am

mackerelmint wrote:
Wed Jun 20, 2018 8:21 pm
I have mixed feelings about the Dave Smith OB-6.
How come?

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Re: The Synth Thread...

Post by mackerelmint » Thu Jun 21, 2018 11:15 am

eggwheat wrote:
Thu Jun 21, 2018 7:37 am
mackerelmint wrote:
Wed Jun 20, 2018 8:21 pm
I have mixed feelings about the Dave Smith OB-6.
How come?
6 voices instead of 8, and some architectural differences. The panning is there, but no layering and the modulation isn't as robust without that second LFO. There's also the cem/sem difference and different/limited filtering comparatively. also that clone that some kid made and has been trying to bring to market, but that's not an option yet.

So, the behringer is currently the most attractive hardware option.
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Re: The Synth Thread...

Post by tdbajus » Thu Jun 21, 2018 4:03 pm

In a completely unrelated note...

Any of you using a good stereo delay with your synths? I'm not sure if it's limited to the Prophet 6, but every pedal I run it through make it sound like crap. I suspect it's some kind of MASSIVE impedance mismatch.

I bought a couple of reamp boxes to change the line level signals to instrument impedance. Didn't help.

My old Acetone organ would eat up any guitar pedal I put on it. The Prophet hates them.

I'd be super pumped if I could get the old DL4 to not sound like garbage.

My friend's Meris Polymoon sounded great, but jesus, that pedal is an IQ test I am relentlessly failing.

I was wondering if the rackmount version of the DL4 would like the signal better, but I have no rack gear and do not want to open that can of worms.

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