Ableton Forum

Is there any sub-$500 analog synth that'd make a good gift? Ideally something you can't even save presets on.

Closest I've seen is a moog slim phatty, but it's like $800, and I'd like to spend half that.

I'm not really up on them, so wondering if anyone has any thoughts.

The person I'd get it for has a Buchla, if that tells you anything about what he is into.

The idea is he'll screw around with this for a couple months until he gets bored, then throw it on eBay and roll the $ into the next temporary toy.

thanks in advance for any suggestions.

Korg Microkorg is all that comes to my mind.

thanks, that's a good thought. he already has one of those little korg synths though. (i can't keep them all straight, but i think his has a sampler, but not a vocoder. looks just like that microkorg though.)

another thought came to mind... maybe a moogerfooger (the ringmod or the freqbox).

Maybe some of the MFB stuff, Mopho, Vermona Mono Lancet, Doepfer Dark Energy?

a cool fx box he can run all his synths through

Love my new Mopho, also heard lots of good things about the Doepfer Dark Energy. MFB makes a new one called the Microzwerg which is patchable and cheap.

In all honesty, if the chap has a buchla I think almost any sub $500 synth would be extremely boring in comparison... except maybe Korg Monotron? Its a fun little thing to hack around with on the go, plus you can mod it.

Otherwise like the others suggested maybe some cool FX, like an analog delay or a spring reverb would go with a buchla pretty nicely.

2nd the monotron

at the price it can be a cheap little throw-away, or the starting point for some fun modding.

did i mention it's cheap?

x0xb0x

Not necessarily very versatile, but what it does, it does well.
(Plus the world can always do with some more acid music)

a Frostwave Resonator that's on Ebay..

ebay link

They are awesome, awesome, awesome.

it's an MS-20 filter clone. analog greatness... and it self oscillates, so you can get crazy theramin sounds.

check it out on youtube too.

BoxDJ wrote:Korg Microkorg is all that comes to my mind.

isn't this digital though?

http://www.korg.com/Product.aspx?pd=279
sounds fantastic! actually digital, but who cares...

listen: http://www.korg.com/mediaplayer.aspx?md=3443&pd=279

Slacker4hire wrote:2nd the monotron

at the price it can be a cheap little throw-away, or the starting point for some fun modding.

did i mention it's cheap?

ha! so, we were in NYC this weekend, and while our girlfriends (his girlfriend and my girlfriend are sisters) were shopping we went into Guitar Center (puke) to kill time, and... he bought himself a monotron to play with.

Why not get him some cool analogue effect pedals? They're cheap and he'll be able to connect them up to his modular too. Anything by Electro Harmonix is worth trying out. I still think the Smallstone is an awesome pedal - you could buy him a whole pedal rack for 500USD.

Or you could go vintage and get him some older pedals that have yet to be surpassed or copied properly. The Boss BF-1 is simply the best flanger pedal there is.

ShelLuser wrote:Why analog ?

I mean; if it is a gift why get something which your friend might expect? Now, this is a response which has much bias, but still; if you're gonna give him hardware why not something which might be useful to him yet in a different way ?

Stuff like the UltraNova for example; 'tis a rather cheap (in comparison) synth, which also comes with much analog (-emulated) sound material. I'm pretty sure that if all you're aiming at is providing your friend with a little fun a critter like this should do nicely as well.

Great question. Honestly I couldn't even tell you the strict definition of an analog synth. analog oscillators? Analog filters? analog control voltages? (i came into this world after the "virtual" analog takeover.) i don't even know if the buchla is totally analog. all i know is that he is into turning shit on, starting from scratch, and screwing with knobs, patch cords, etc. until something interesting happens. then if he likes it he records it. and then it never exists again. he doesn't save patches. doesn't like scrolling through presets. he isn't into making "music" (as in songs, loops, whatever). he is into making sounds and noise. every few months in chicago he hosts this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eRzQNhM7NYc

i'm not trying to get him something stellar that'll never leave his collection. he makes noise, so i try to get him a noise toy, in the universe he likes (analog synths), every year to make christmas fun. (though a couple years ago i got him a cz-101.) in contrast, i do (try to) make actual music, so he gets me something in my universe (past years included imposcar, a roland space echo, a kaossilator, etc.).

THANKS everyone for the above recommendations. I'm going to look those all up after work. just want something he'll think is fucking cool (and probably never had before) for at least a little while, then he can roll it.