That's exactly the VST plugin I use, can't recommend it highly enough
― DDD, Sunday, 2 February 2014 11:35 (ten years ago) link
The other Smartelectronix plugins are awesome, too
ooh that's useful, thanks.
― Merdeyeux, Sunday, 2 February 2014 16:15 (ten years ago) link
I multi-tracked my Microbrute to play chords on one of my songs and it sounded good, really really good... It's a shame that the price gap between monolog and polylog synthesizers is still so huge nowadays. If Arturia released a four-voiced affordable Polybrute they would cause another revolution in the synth market... Alas...
I'm still hyped about the AN1x though!
― DDD, Monday, 3 February 2014 15:35 (ten years ago) link
i've been meaning to try the same thing with the microbrute.
on the same note, i finally got the routing set up so that i can send midi out to my Volca Keys and record it back in as audio, and it's that thick analog poly saw sound that i've been trying to get for years.
unfortunately i couldn't get it to record as stereo, i think it might be the 1/8" to 1/4" cable that i'm using? i don't know why most of these little analog synths make you use the 1/8" headphone jack as an out...it seems like it wouldn't be that hard to have a 1/4" line out but what do i know. so after a lot of fucking around where i could only get it to return as the left or right half of a stereo channel, i set up the send/return as mono and that sounds fine (i usually end up copying the audio to a stereo channel to add stereo effects, this feels like i'm doing something dumb but it works for me).
― festival culture (Jordan), Monday, 3 February 2014 15:53 (ten years ago) link
Most line out jacks are mono anyway, most synths use two line outs for stereo recording and I don't think you can coax a convincing stereo sound out of a simple mono synth without effects like chorus/panning/delay...
If C&P'ing synth recordings feels like doing something dumb you can always double-track a synth line, ie. record it twice on two mono channels, pan them left/right and add effects so it doesn't sound so samey.
― DDD, Monday, 3 February 2014 16:06 (ten years ago) link
As for the mini synths using mini line outs, I guess it's just a "mini" thing. (Microbrute has 1/4" jack tho)
― DDD, Monday, 3 February 2014 16:16 (ten years ago) link
I hate digital pianos so much
OTM! no sympathetic string vibrations = you are not actually playing a piano part, even though you think you are
― charitable remainder unitrust (crüt), Monday, 3 February 2014 16:26 (ten years ago) link
thanks - so i think the mini jack is stereo but my cable is converting the signal to mono, maybe?
i don't mind my current method at all but since i usually just futz with my setup until it works, i assume i'm probably reinventing the wheel and that there's an easier way that i don't know about.
― festival culture (Jordan), Monday, 3 February 2014 16:54 (ten years ago) link
So I checked the manual and the mini jack is indeed stereo - it's probably the cable and/or recording jack you use. Do you have a 3.5mm stereo jack to 3.5mm twin mono cable?
― DDD, Monday, 3 February 2014 18:08 (ten years ago) link
nope, i'm just using 3.5mm -> 1/4" single mono i guess (need 1/4" to go into my audio interface, of course).
― festival culture (Jordan), Monday, 3 February 2014 18:11 (ten years ago) link
If you get tired of fitzing around with stereo jacks mono cables: This cable should solve everything.
If you want a cheaper cable just search for "3.5mm mini stereo jack to 2x mono"
― DDD, Monday, 3 February 2014 18:16 (ten years ago) link
stereo jacks and mono cables*
― DDD, Monday, 3 February 2014 18:17 (ten years ago) link
or get a Cordial cable that's not 6 metres long
― DDD, Monday, 3 February 2014 18:19 (ten years ago) link
UK-only, huh? i'll probably look for a cheaper cable but ty!
― festival culture (Jordan), Monday, 3 February 2014 18:22 (ten years ago) link
i think i prefer recording synths in mono unless it's the sole tenor instrument
― föllakzoidberg (electricsound), Monday, 3 February 2014 23:04 (ten years ago) link
otm, record synths in mono, fear nothing
― flamboyant goon tie included, Tuesday, 4 February 2014 00:56 (ten years ago) link
BTW, when I posted the cable recommendation yesterday I thought the Volca Keys was monophonic when it's in fact a three-voice monolog synthesizer! That makes me almost want to get it if the filter wouldn't have this obvious stepping problem. Anyway, now I can imagine some stereo shenanigans going on with the VK, but yeah, recording synths in mono is the norm anyway, you can always stereoize it with FX like chorus..
― DDD, Tuesday, 4 February 2014 10:51 (ten years ago) link
stepping problem?
― festival culture (Jordan), Tuesday, 4 February 2014 14:39 (ten years ago) link
You can hear it in this vid at ~2:30:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XVTm0mT53fU
The filter seems to react in quantized steps instead of a "smooth slide" like you would expect from an analog synth - I think it's so it can be compatible to MIDI but for me it's the deal killer
― DDD, Tuesday, 4 February 2014 14:49 (ten years ago) link
But no synth is perfect and I'm a bit of a pedant when it comes to stuff like that
― DDD, Tuesday, 4 February 2014 14:52 (ten years ago) link
ah, interesting. i haven't done much recording with it yet but so far it sounds a million times better than using Massive or whatever for saw chords.
― festival culture (Jordan), Tuesday, 4 February 2014 15:00 (ten years ago) link
Haha, Massive, I actually played around with Massive a few months ago and it was pretty okay, but way too overused in certain electronic music genres IMO.
And I realized that you can connect the Volca Keys to the Microbrute to use the smooth MB filter so my criticism pretty much went up in smoke
― DDD, Tuesday, 4 February 2014 15:08 (ten years ago) link
oh, connect them how exactly?
i like how quickly i can create and modulate a patch in Massive but i'm getting sick of how it sounds, i'm only using it for certain things these days (big fan of the 'Classic' waveform).
― festival culture (Jordan), Tuesday, 4 February 2014 15:25 (ten years ago) link
1. Use one of the orange patch cables to patch "Gate In" to "Gate Out" on the back of the Microbrute2. Connect audio output to the Microbrute "Input" jack and set the Input Level3. Press a key on the Microbrute and the audio input signal is permamently triggered! Have fun!
― DDD, Tuesday, 4 February 2014 15:35 (ten years ago) link
Oh, you should also turn off all MB oscillators and set the VCO to Gate (I think)
― DDD, Tuesday, 4 February 2014 15:36 (ten years ago) link
uhm, VCA, not VCO. Sorry, it's been a while since I did that with my Microbrute. But you should get some sweet results out of that. Anything from simple filtering to overdriving the filter and making a mess with the Brute Factor knob.
― DDD, Tuesday, 4 February 2014 16:03 (ten years ago) link
Also I misspelled "permamently", why am I doing all these mistakes today
― DDD, Tuesday, 4 February 2014 16:16 (ten years ago) link
And I did it again....
― DDD, Tuesday, 4 February 2014 16:18 (ten years ago) link
aargh... just outbid on a Voyager
― JLB Credit (Jack BS), Thursday, 6 February 2014 19:55 (ten years ago) link
The Minimoog Voyager?? I don't see many people talking about that synth for some reason... a shame.
― DDD, Thursday, 6 February 2014 20:50 (ten years ago) link
So my AN1x finally arrived today...
... yeah, it's a pretty good synth. Some of the factory presets are cheesy though. What's with synths and truly cheesy factory presets?
― DDD, Friday, 7 February 2014 16:53 (ten years ago) link
If your on PC there is a great midi manager /patch randomizer program called an1x genetix.
― dsb, Friday, 7 February 2014 17:04 (ten years ago) link
Gonna check that out, thanks!
― DDD, Saturday, 8 February 2014 23:10 (ten years ago) link
Well, Moog have sold huge quantities of them. The consensus of the cognoscenti is that it's powerful and good-sounding, but somewhat clinical, lacking the grungy magic of the original Minimoog. I've never heard of anyone who liked the touchpad feature, and it's been notable by its absence from the many, many spin-offs that Moog have brought to market since launching the Voyager. I've never bothered checking one out myself, as I own an early-'70s Mini, which is all the Moog I'll ever need.
― Vast Halo, Sunday, 9 February 2014 21:12 (ten years ago) link
I have a pretty random collection of hardware synths.
Best luck was with the first one, which I got in high school: the Akai AX-80. which was a completely bizarre attempt to produce an 'analog' version of a DX-7. Same stripped down simple knobless / faderless interface. Presets were disgusting. But like the DX-7, the second you dip below the surface and begin to tweak it, absolutely bizarre sounding, mutant techno to Sun Ra / Residents squall, sounds more unique by the year. There's one patch from it I always I end up putting on nearly every album like a Wilhelm scream.
Other purchases since have been two cheap Casio CZ-101s, a Roland V-Synth and an OP-1. All very quirky, absolutely useless as go-to workhorses -- the basic presets are far too generic & silly, but they're all great for distinctive what-in-hell-is-that solos and ornamental ear candy details.
― Milton Parker, Monday, 10 February 2014 20:30 (ten years ago) link
I listened to some Voyager demos and despite the "improvements" it definitely has the Moog thing going on. But TBH when you're able to afford the Minimoog Voyager you might as well buy a vintage Minimoog.
Milton, your collection sounds like a vintage synth enthusiast's nightmare - that's awesome! And I love the sound of vintage Akai synths. Teisco synths, too.
In other news, I was looking for a bag for my AN1x and ended up buying a Korg Monotron Duo. Woops. I know I've mentioned how I didn't like the Korg sound (especially the filters) but I looked at the Monotron and just couldn't help it.
― DDD, Tuesday, 11 February 2014 12:09 (ten years ago) link
As someone who's most comfortable with SH-101 or MS-20 knob tweaky synths, the Voyager's powerful preset programming is a bit weird. Kind of like having a soft synth... sound is great but v clean.
― JLB Credit (Jack BS), Tuesday, 11 February 2014 14:50 (ten years ago) link
I thought this was a cool article about programming bass sounds, and it also touches on some reasons some synths are seen as better for e.g. bass sounds than others:
http://www.darksonus.com/DS_articles_analogbass01.php
― L'Haim, to life (St3ve Go1db3rg), Sunday, 16 February 2014 03:58 (ten years ago) link
http://www.korg.com/us/news/2014/0217/
Dannnnng
― DDD, Monday, 17 February 2014 16:14 (ten years ago) link
Whoaaaaa. Korg have already gone full tilt into the neo-analogue thing, but this is something else again...
― emil.y, Monday, 17 February 2014 16:20 (ten years ago) link
Announcement timed to mess with Roland and their new VA line up?
― an office job is as secure as a Weetabix padlock (snoball), Monday, 17 February 2014 16:39 (ten years ago) link
If you look closely at that prototype pic you can see a mini-slider next to the filter sliders - looks like the KORGyssey will maybe include both MKI and MKII filters... That's awesome, although I'm more in the mood for crystal-clear digital synths now (bidding on a Waldorf Blofeld)
― DDD, Monday, 17 February 2014 18:48 (ten years ago) link
Maybe, although OTOH prototypes often have extra controls that don't appear on the final product. Anyway, interested to know if this is going to be a 85% sized version like the MS-20 mini - if so, it might be almost as cheap.http://www.djfood.org/djfood/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/Florian-Autobahn-smile.gif
― an office job is as secure as a Weetabix padlock (snoball), Monday, 17 February 2014 19:09 (ten years ago) link
looks genuinely awesome. the ody is discrete right? korg should bring back curtis chips as well 8)
― föllakzoidberg (electricsound), Monday, 17 February 2014 21:21 (ten years ago) link
otm
― bourgie tagger (crüt), Monday, 17 February 2014 21:24 (ten years ago) link
ow hope it's not stupid mini version of the arp, hate mini keys
― Crackle Box, Tuesday, 18 February 2014 10:13 (ten years ago) link
Yep, looks like it's gonna be a bit tinier than the original model
http://i.imgur.com/293L5xi.jpg
― DDD, Tuesday, 18 February 2014 10:56 (ten years ago) link
man i've been living in maxmsp land for ages now, miss playing with the synths :(
(i don't own many of these, landlord is an ex synth-junkie who lets me use all his stuff. also, i work in a recording studio doing programming/engineering)
korg ms-20 - original. badass. the best. new thing doesn't really compare imo. the originals really scream. maybe it's just age and worn components.sequential circuits pro 1 - filthy filthy. surprisingly versatile. love the seq/arp and modulation madness.moog taurus 2 bass pedals - got that moog sound. kinda wooly. mine's a bit scratchy.waldrof pulse - monster sounds, huge. v annoying to program from the front panel. not really mastered this one yet.minibrute - does some really interesting things. don't really go to it for classic sounds out of but good for experimenting.novation bassstation 2 - it's growing on me, started using one of these in a band. really good for overdriven dubsteppy type sounds.moog micromoog - hugely underrated, S+H etc. have had 2 and they both sounded v different.moog minitaur - fucking great.little doepfer modular setup - love it. rarely use it on its own. need to try out that cv software thingymc-202 - does what a 101 does but without the keyboard afaicttb303 - broken but when it worked it was… eh alright. 202 does a good enough job.prophet 12 - getting into it. i always end up in terry riley land for some reason. spent a few days doing rudimentary things like making drums / basic sounds to get a feel for it. it's a v powerful synth but it's not good at everything. the wave morphing stuff is cool but eh, computers are better at that imo.roland gaia - LOLjuno 106 - with electricsound on this one. i'm not the greatest keyboard player but i've heard people make them sound great.alpha juno - keyed has gone on mine again. which is fine. i like it for dronesmatrix 1000 - love the sound of this. amazing value for money.walford q - cheeky little number. like the pulse it's annoying to program, i quite like to make it freeze and crash it does all manner of weird things.yamaha fs1r - my favourite synth in the worldcasio cz101 - these sound really really greatroland jd800 - pretty cool. too many knobs and things, always have fun playing with it but don't find it partic useful.jv1080 and all those - these are all great if you want vintage, err, digitalvolca keys, beats, bass - fantastic stuffnovation supernova - v v cool, always end up getting useable stuff out of thislogan string machine - lush as fuck
really wanna play with:
more arp, buchla, ems stuff. flood's studio isn't far from where i work, really wanna get in there for a night.
synths synths synths. a lot of fun, but i think i've got to a point where i'd be quite happy with just a laptop and max/reaktor.
― Crackle Box, Tuesday, 18 February 2014 11:45 (ten years ago) link
That list... wow
Also re: Roland, one might think they'd change their stance on VA/analog gear after the bad reception of the GAIA but oh well...
― DDD, Tuesday, 18 February 2014 16:15 (ten years ago) link