Synth for meditation music

[Vibrations]

I am a music therapist.
I am playing mainly with gongs and singing bowls.

But I want to integrate some warm synth sounds.
Which HARDWARE synthesizer, do you think, is best suited for this?

[plantaginate]

i don't think it's necessarily a particular type of synth,
rather the frequencies which it generates,
as a matter of fact, some meditation experts will tell you just to sit, focus on breathing etc.
however i'm not a meditation expert.
quite the opposite. but i am a believer in science.

are you viewing this from any particular religious stand point?
or is it more scientific?

actually there was a bit of a fad going round before about the fm3 buddha machine,
robert henke made a record of it,
remains one of my favourites to this day..

[rikhyray]

Better stick to your gongs and bowls, perhaps add some tamboura or other string instrument.
If you have to use synth analog will work better for the purpose (it has more to do with how digital is perceived by human ear, not musical quality) there is no much choice probably Dave Smith Prophet is the best.

If you decide for digital anyway- Wavestation is rather known-too known in fact, beaten to death, one of the most overused synths all around, because of that I dont use it anymore= cant hear it anymore and I am not the only one.
The best synth I know of for that kind of thing is Clavia G2. You can create whatever you want, have "your" synth.

[dum]

Clavia G2.

A big +1 from me on that one.

With the Nord Modular G2, you can also put together aleatoric / self-playing synth patches which may be conducive to your goals. They are known as 'noodles' amongst the G2 community...

Nord Modular forum:
http://electro-music.com/forum/viewforum.php?f=43
Noodles section of the G2 patch area...
http://electro-music.com/forum/forum-61.html

[plantaginate]

If you have to use synth analog will work better for the purpose (it has more to do with how digital is perceived by human ear, not musical quality)

i'm just going to say without seeing credible evidence to back this up, that i think this statement is bullshit.

edit: i meant the analogue v digital crap
edit edit: which isn't to say i don't think the "this synth is best for meditation" argument isn't crap as well

[dum]

by the way, there's a software demo of the G2 here:
http://www.clavia.se/products/nordmodular/demo.htm

It's a crippled version of the hardware, and it's mono only... but it gives you an idea of how it works.
You can also open g2 patches with it... so long as they're compatible..

[simpleton]

Metaphysical Function ...from NI. Just turn it on and trip.

[luddy]

I've made some contemplative / meditative stuff using a Virus TI as the primary sound source. It is capable of some pretty delicate and refined sounds that don't jar the listener, and the delays make it easy to get hypnotic effects. I think what you want to avoid is overly harsh and gaudy sounds. That's easy to do on the Virus if you program your own patches.

I think by the way you could do this kind of music no problem with just the Live instruments, including the Suite. FM is capable of some very refined sounds, especially if you stick it in a chain with some effects. Collision, tension and corpus are great for this kind of stuff. And there are a ton of good effects there as well.

-Luddy

[33tetragammon]

Metaphysical Function ...from NI. Just turn it on and trip.

^^^

what he said.turn it on and trip.

if that's not sufficient,try out Absynth 5.

i use both on almost any soundscape i create,which are also very suitable for meditation or night trips into the woods and stuff.

doesn't mean YOU should definitely use those :

it's the creativity BEHIND the tools that counts,NOT the tools themselves.

[Vibrations]

Thanks for answering.

Software synths I got Absynth, Zebra, Synthplant, Sylenth1 and the
Live Suite. And I know to program and play them very well.

But I want to know wich HARDWARE synth comes close to, lets say, Absynth or Zebra.

Some times ago I was playing with the Virus Ti in my music store.
Very nice sounds!

But it is always good to listen to different experiences.

[barnabus1999]

Moog Voyager
Dave Smith Prophet

A used ARP

You could do some research in Power Tools for Synth Programming
to see if the analog world fits your philosophy

[Lazos]

Thanks for answering.

Software synths I got Absynth, Zebra, Synthplant, Sylenth1 and the
Live Suite. And I know to program and play them very well.

But I want to know wich HARDWARE synth comes close to, lets say, Absynth or Zebra.

Some times ago I was playing with the Virus Ti in my music store.
Very nice sounds!

But it is always good to listen to different experiences.

Is there a reason that it needs to be a HARDWARE synth? You can get "warm synth sounds" from ANY of the software synthesizers that you mentioned. I have Zebra and the Live Suite instruments as well. Plenty of warm sounds, especially if as you say, you know how to program them very well.

Who are your clientele? Is it important to THEM that your warm synth sounds come from hardware rather than software? I personally think you have what you need already, but that may just be me. If it's the tactile aspect of hardware synths that attracts you, perhaps a very good controller with your softsynth(s) properly mapped might do the trick. Good luck

[Vibrations]

"Is there a reason that it needs to be a HARDWARE synth?"

I got the Roland SH-201 and the microKorg XL.
If I have the strong desire to play, I simply like to turn them on and play - almost immediately.

For me reason enough!

But the sounds of them are limited.

[leedsquietman]

For software synths, Absynth, Omnisphere, Alchemy, Massive and some of the stuff in Reaktor will work very well for your needs.

I demoed Largo recently and that is a pretty good synth for those purposes too. But really, Absynth 5 would be my choice if I could only choose one, Omnisphere is a bit too taxing on most computers.

Hardware synths - Korg M3 or Oasys would be my recommendation, followed by Roland's V-Synth. They can all do reasonable analogue impressions as well as wavetable and additive type sounds which make good soundscapes and pads.

[U=I=O]

hmmm if ur interested in purer more organic tones..i would highly suggest then picking up a pure analog synthesizer but one with some decent modulation options and the ability to generate sine waves...and if you really want to get into it then definitely a modular one...and the reason is not only the quality of sound but the resolution in which it can be manipulated...

I have a moog voyager old school and one my fav things to do when im stressed out is to turn all the oscilators off and then turn the resonance on its dual stereo filters all the way up so they both generate a sine wave which drones with the envelopes triggered...and then modulating them very very slowly with one of the oscilattors at a high frequency...and because its controlls are also not digital..u get absolutely no steps...so its like the smoothest frequency modulated synth tones ever...really soothing...
and on the voyager i can tune the two filters to diff frequencies but then sweep them both in sync so you can get these beautiful harmonies that slooowllly and subtly drift in and out of phase/pitch with the audio rate filter freq modulation..and becuase the filters operate in stereo you also get this awesome panning between left and right that is also occuring audio rates...absolute awesomess....and no way can it be replicated on a digital synth unless it was running at some ridiculously high sample rates...and even then there is always gonna be a 1 and 0 and nothing in between...ugly ugly steps I wish i could upload a sample for you but right now one of the filters is busted

analog is really good for drone type stuff because of its infinite resolution...before this i used purely softsynths and virus and i tell u for sure that they cannot do what real analog voltage can...use a pure one with absolutely no digital...not even the interface and you will know what im talking about..and the connection you feel to the sound and instrument is on a diff level...
so for meditation or audio therapy it would be my choice for sure

and nowdays u get all these awesome little portable drone boxes..just a bunch of oscilattors set the modulate each other in some particular fashion...really not that expensive..
u could also just get a really basic modular with a few oscilattors and filters and just start with that...

oh ya and one last point...people may argue that in a mix i is hard to tell the diff between digital and analog...which can be true in some instances...
BUT with the instrument plugged straight into an amp and to some good speakers...which is what i would assume u want to do..man there is just no comparison as to which sounds more nice full warm and organic...