best electro soft synth ?

dodgyedgy · Post by **dodgyedgy** » Mon Jul 02, 2007 9:59 am

Learn how to program synths

THERE IS NO SYNTH FOR A CERTAIN SORT OF MUSIC.

for pity's sake there is NO synth for a certain style... LEARN!!!!

Johnisfaster · Post by **Johnisfaster** » Mon Jul 02, 2007 10:01 am

dodgyedgy wrote:Learn how to program synths

THERE IS NO SYNTH FOR A CERTAIN SORT OF MUSIC.

for pity's sake there is NO synth for a certain style... LEARN!!!!

the point is that each synth does sound different and alot of times you like a certain style because of a particular sound they are getting. so you ask yourself "what are they using"

Poster · Post by **Poster** » Mon Jul 02, 2007 10:56 am

dodgyedgy wrote:Learn how to program synths

THERE IS NO SYNTH FOR A CERTAIN SORT OF MUSIC.

for pity's sake there is NO synth for a certain style... LEARN!!!!

can you do Miami Bass with Operator?
Detroit techno with Absynth?
Dutch electro with a DX7?
Classical music with a Korg MS20?

Certain synths/instruments do have a significant contribution to certain music styles..
That's also part of the learning i.m.o..

forge · Post by **forge** » Mon Jul 02, 2007 11:01 am

TBH I find Operator, sampler + saturator can do plenty good enough electro synths

Saturator is a big part of the sound

pabloaugustus · Post by **pabloaugustus** » Mon Jul 02, 2007 11:39 am

dodgyedgy wrote:Learn how to program synths

THERE IS NO SYNTH FOR A CERTAIN SORT OF MUSIC.

for pity's sake there is NO synth for a certain style... LEARN!!!!

I dunno man, not everyboyd works the same way....I compose music in the traditional verse/chorus format, usually reggae/dub or hiphop groove music. I have bad tendinitis and using the computer and keyboards causes me pain, especially spending hours scrolling through sounds & tweaking sounds. I want to quickly find great sounds for the music I'm creating, and then lay down some tracks.

I've studied synthesis @ school (learned programming a vintage buchla with patch chords) but would rather not program synths, I would rather quickly find an awesome sound and spend my creative energy writing music.
Not everybody on this forum wants to learn to program synths, just like not everybody wants to learn western music theory. Don't get me wrong, understanding synthesis and having the technique to make things sound good together is important (mixing...which I suck at but its cool using live kind forces you to learn), I just want to get these compositions out of my head and into the world, not spend all night tweaking sounds.

Can anybody recommend some good synths in that regard? (someone mentioned trilogy...thats @the top of my wish list) Links to your favorite synth1 presets? Thanks,

-Pablo

ScholarlyGent · Post by **ScholarlyGent** » Mon Jul 02, 2007 2:01 pm

Brainstormer wrote:
ScholarlyGent wrote:You seem so miserable throughout this whole thread... I guess "big money" doesn's buy happiness afterall.
Someone comes on and disses a tune you wrote 15 years ago, you're hardly going to be overjoyed.

ScholarlyGent wrote:Oh yeah, and how many albums did Brittny Spears sell?... but she's definietly not corny...
So Brittney Spears is collectible now? I think not.. Completely erroneous argument, where did I say how many copies of my EP had sold?

This EP (amongst others) seems to have become collectible over time, and for the record, that's it's secondhand value, I don't make any royalties from secondhand sales

Anyway, the question (which you avoided) was "What stuff did you write in 1992?" I ask this because you clearly have no idea about the scene then, otherwise you'd probably know this tune.

It's a pretty poor show if all you can do is diss the tunes I made 15 years ago! When you can't even tell me what you were doing yourself back then, let alone program a synthesizer now!

Are you high!?

dodgyedgy · Post by **dodgyedgy** » Mon Jul 02, 2007 2:10 pm

Poster wrote:
dodgyedgy wrote:Learn how to program synths

THERE IS NO SYNTH FOR A CERTAIN SORT OF MUSIC.

for pity's sake there is NO synth for a certain style... LEARN!!!!
can you do Miami Bass with Operator?
Detroit techno with Absynth?
Dutch electro with a DX7?
Classical music with a Korg MS20?

Certain synths/instruments do have a significant contribution to certain music styles..
That's also part of the learning i.m.o..

you are mistaking certain programming methods available for what was originall being asked.. "Which synth will help me write electro?"

What is better is: Which programming tricks do electro musicians USE? As its not the synth but the way modulation tricks (i dont mean every sort of modulation)

The ONLY way to understand these things is to learn to programme synths as only then can a producer hear an effect produced by a synth then replicate or enhance it.

Sure patch surfing can be fun and productive, but its also ultimately a negative experience and really only plays into the hands of thos who wish to sell us a synth.

I know that some synthesizers are allegedly better at certain types of music, but why do people think that? Mainly because the synths used for these genres where what the original authors had at the time, they didnt use them because they thought "Blimey this synth will help me write a new genre of music.."

Strings of life - written with a DX7 if memory serves... do you think derrick may would have used a fairlight if he had been given the chance? You bet he would have.

Spending the night tweaking sounds isnt necessary, not anymore - no matter how rosy those bulcha glasses are dude.

I just think its a mistake to pander to people's crazy idea that a certain synth does a certain genre. It only seems like they do by artist proxy.

Artist X + synth Z therefore: Synth Z = Genre Y

Its a shame that no-one here has stepped forward to say the same.

Poster · Post by **Poster** » Mon Jul 02, 2007 2:24 pm

dodgyedgy wrote:
you are mistaking certain programming methods available for what was originall being asked.. "Which synth will help me write electro?"

the original question is: "best electro soft synth ?"
that's another question, which I tried to answer..

the question and answer refer to the 'basic' character of a certain instrument..
you can try to program a convincing TR 808 with Massive all you want,
but it's not going to happen because the basic 'character' is not there..

that was my point really..

ofcourse any type of instrument can serve any type of music and does not determine a style for 100%,

but what's typical House without a TR909?
Miami Bass without a TR808
classical music without orchestral instruments..
Bottomline ingredients..

the art of programming, also very important, is a different thing i.m.o.

dodgyedgy · Post by **dodgyedgy** » Mon Jul 02, 2007 2:38 pm

Poster wrote:
dodgyedgy wrote:
you are mistaking certain programming methods available for what was originall being asked.. "Which synth will help me write electro?"
the original question is: "best electro soft synth ?"
that's another question, which I tried to answer..

the question and answer refer to the 'basic' character of a certain instrument..
you can try to program a convincing TR 808 with Massive all you want,
but it's not going to happen because the basic 'character' is not there..

that was my point really..

ofcourse any type of instrument can serve any type of music and does not determine a style for 100%,

but what's typical House without a TR909?
Miami Bass without a TR808
classical music without orchestral instruments..
Bottomline ingredients..

the art of programming, also very important, is a different thing i.m.o.

I believe we were talking about synths, NOT drum machines (And o.k. o.k. the difference between the two isnt that great) But an 808 kick is still an 808 kick and of course a 909 kick sounds great in house music.

I happen to agree with quite a lot of what you said, however its playing on semantics to suggest these two questions are not similar:

Me: "Which synth will help me write electro?"
Original "best electro soft synth ?"

The poster was asking about shortcuts to achieve a sound, and appears to beleive that the shortcut includes a specific synth, which it does NOT by any stretch of the imagination.

After all, this is about imagination isnt it? And the death of said imagination at the hands of a zillion patches.

Like i said, patch surfing can be fun and informative, but ONLY when the surfer learners how each audio 'Wave' ticks. As each sound works within a context.

As a learner it takes a long time for young kids to be able to tell the difference between an square wave and a saw wave - unless that time is dramtically speeded up via the process of learning how synthesis works as a whole.

Im not having a personal go at you with this chief. these are my opinions.

Poster · Post by **Poster** » Mon Jul 02, 2007 2:54 pm

dodgyedgy wrote:Im not having a personal go at you with this chief. these are my opinions.

likewise

and I understand completely what you mean by 'knowing' synthesis..
I'm glad I went to that whole process all along..

But I think I also understood what the original poster was refering to when he named i.e. anthony rother..
And he asked directly which vst could help him whit this..

I could've relpied with; get FM8 and learn the basics of synthprogramming and within time you'll be able to achieve such sounds..

I suggested to take a look at Minimonsta,
simply because character wise he'll be much closer to his goals already,
even without knowing how to program the thing..

My Nord Modular has some pretty good Moog like patches,
but 99% of the time it's not even close to such..
So if you want something that'll sound as Rother's electro,
a Nord would probably not the first thing that comes to mind..

Brainstormer · Post by **Brainstormer** » Mon Jul 02, 2007 4:17 pm

Poster wrote:
dodgyedgy wrote:Learn how to program synths

THERE IS NO SYNTH FOR A CERTAIN SORT OF MUSIC.

for pity's sake there is NO synth for a certain style... LEARN!!!!
can you do Miami Bass with Operator?
Detroit techno with Absynth?
Dutch electro with a DX7?
Classical music with a Korg MS20?

Certain synths/instruments do have a significant contribution to certain music styles..
That's also part of the learning i.m.o..

you couldn't write a whole tune with ANY of the listed synths, but any of them could be applied within a piece of music of any style.

dodgyedgy, telling people here to use their brains and learn how to make their own sounds will just give them reason to diss any tunes you may have written years ago as you will see 2 pages back

ScholarlyGent · Post by **ScholarlyGent** » Mon Jul 02, 2007 5:40 pm

Brainstormer wrote:
Poster wrote:
dodgyedgy wrote:Learn how to program synths

THERE IS NO SYNTH FOR A CERTAIN SORT OF MUSIC.

for pity's sake there is NO synth for a certain style... LEARN!!!!
can you do Miami Bass with Operator?
Detroit techno with Absynth?
Dutch electro with a DX7?
Classical music with a Korg MS20?

Certain synths/instruments do have a significant contribution to certain music styles..
That's also part of the learning i.m.o..
you couldn't write a whole tune with ANY of the listed synths, but any of them could be applied within a piece of music of any style.

dodgyedgy, telling people here to use their brains and learn how to make their own sounds will just give them reason to diss any tunes you may have written years ago as you will see 2 pages back

You are truly delusional... and I am crying for you.

Brainstormer · Post by **Brainstormer** » Mon Jul 02, 2007 6:25 pm

ScholarlyGent wrote:
Brainstormer wrote:
Poster wrote: can you do Miami Bass with Operator?
Detroit techno with Absynth?
Dutch electro with a DX7?
Classical music with a Korg MS20?

Certain synths/instruments do have a significant contribution to certain music styles..
That's also part of the learning i.m.o..
you couldn't write a whole tune with ANY of the listed synths, but any of them could be applied within a piece of music of any style.

dodgyedgy, telling people here to use their brains and learn how to make their own sounds will just give them reason to diss any tunes you may have written years ago as you will see 2 pages back
You are truly delusional... and I am crying for you.

You are a very strange being indeed! If not just a mere whipper-snapper who knows nothing better than to diss people's music from several eras ago.

rasputin · Post by **rasputin** » Tue Jul 03, 2007 4:28 pm

pabloaugustus wrote:I dunno man, not everybody[FTFY] works the same way....

QFT (Quoted For Truth)

I've studied synthesis @ school (learned programming a vintage buchla with patch chords) but would rather not program synths, I would rather quickly find an awesome sound and spend my creative energy writing music.
Not everybody on this forum wants to learn to program synths, just like not everybody wants to learn western music theory. Don't get me wrong, understanding synthesis and having the technique to make things sound good together is important (mixing...which I suck at but its cool using live kind forces you to learn), I just want to get these compositions out of my head and into the world, not spend all night tweaking sounds.

Can anybody recommend some good synths in that regard? (someone mentioned trilogy...thats @the top of my wish list) Links to your favorite synth1 presets? Thanks,

-Pablo

Dimension Pro is a pretty powerful synth with a billion presets you can start with. Mainly it's a 4-element sample playback machine but it does have a lot of depth...

I haven't used Rapture, but I do have an early version of Zebra 2 that not only sounds great, but also has many presets you can start with. Amazing flexibility in routing 3 oscs, vcfs, lfos, mod matrix, etc. etc.

Those are both $$ synths ($150 - $200 price range) -- for free synths see other threads...

r.

beats me · Post by **beats me** » Fri Jul 06, 2007 2:01 pm

I don't know if this was mentioned already in this thread but since Minimonsta was brought up, right now on novamusik.com they have the "open box" Minimonsta for sale for $65. You get everything except the box. I like my impressive looking shelf of software boxes as much as the next person but for that price I can live without it. You can also get Novation's V-Station on there for roughly the same price.