-=[THE SYNTH ZONE]=-

really wasn't interested in the microfreak...cheesy promo vid, questionable name and design etc, but these videos have me more intrigued.

http://www.synthtopia.com/content/2019/04/20/arturia-microfreak-synthesizer-review/

That's a very comprehensive video. Certainly sells the Microfreak a lot better than the other demos I've seen. I'm not interested in the keyboard mechanism, but if they made a desktop module version I'd be more likely to pick one up. However although there are a lot of the oscillator engines, each one feels kind of limited in what it can do and how much it's sound can be varied. The Microfreak has some of the code from the Braids module, but the module would be part of a larger modular system. When it's more isolated like it is in the Microfreak, the limitations of each engine become more apparent. I like the filter though, it's nice to hear a filter that seems to have been designed to be usable when the synth is used in a track rather than make the most obnoxious screaming sound possible. I guess the nearest synth, both in size and price, is the Modal SKULPT, but that seems more firmly routed in being a VA synth rather than multi-engine like the Microfreak. I suppose one way of comparing them would be that the SKULPT has deeper programming but the Microfreak has a broader range.

A friend of mine finally released the modules that he's been working on for the last few years. I'm not a modular person but having been able to play around with them and see them develop, they're pretty unique and cool imo:

https://starling.space/via

Nice quick demos here: https://www.instagram.com/p/BwVrOaylb0V/

into that gateseq. i also appreciate the kit coming with the smd stuff already attached, might pick one up.

I am v much down for the freak. love the randomizing stuff in the sequencer.

maybe it could be a keyboard and digital osc for the minibrute!

Synthi, CZ and Mellotron now added to Arturia V collection. I didn’t upgrade to 6 but will now, I think.

i just bought an ipad to sequence hardware via a midi-to-cv module (and to entertain my daughter on a long flight). anyone done this? i hope to give it a shot during naptime or later tonight.

I haven't used it much but Lemur seems excellent for that.

i ended up returning the expert sleepers fh-2 i was going to use for midi/cv as it seemed like a tremendous drag to configure. lemur into a less feature-rich module might be the way to go.

the ipad itself is a fuckin synth goldmine--been running a whole mess of softsynths and effects through AUM and having a great time for cheap (compared to say eurorack).

Yes. There are so many tremendous iPhone/iPad synths one hardly knows where to start the list.

Have you got Korg Odyssei and Arturia iSEM? Sunrizer and Volt also incredible. And and and

I've been having fun with BeatMaker 3 on the iPad, which will also host soft synths. Don't forget about Moog's amazing Animoog!

animoog is so good! i made kind of a corny planetarium patch and ran it through fugue machine (a very fun if gimmicky sequencer) for a couple hours the other day.

so many good ones to get

i had iVCS3 on my phone but it's actually usable on the ipad. and it looks amazing.

iVCS3 is wonderful, even on phone

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1009010446/bitty-a-pocket-drum-machine?ref=thanks-tweet

Ooh, that is very appealing, at least as a sample generator.

Novation Summit looks sick.

http://cdm.link/app/uploads/2019/05/novation_summit.jpg

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cRvaSrstxQM

Some patches from Patricia Wolf

https://soundcloud.com/patriciawolf_music/summit-multi

good joke was they didn't have the legal permission to call it Twin Peaks

i cant stop looking at that guy's watch

LOL

http://warmplace.ru/soft/ans/

"software simulator of the unique Russian synthesizer ANS – photoelectronic musical instrument created by Evgeny Murzin"

ooh nice

Bought! Looks very cool.

Yeah it’s been out for years as a great standalone app but this is the new AUv3 version with some other exciting enhancements.

i never got around to making the ipad talk to my modular stuff but man do i love AUM and Audio Damage and Bram Bos iOS stuff. so much fun.

gonna get this tonite for sure

Anyone have experience with VCV Rack? The whole modular thing is completely confusing to me but this is very cool for free.

I downloaded it in beta ages ago and played around a bit and thought it was super cool then stopped. Just downloaded the v1.0 and yeah, it's awesome. One-time (sometime?) ILXor Jon Williams I don't even remember what names he went by I think has developed modules for it. There's a user group here: https://www.facebook.com/groups/vcvrack/

fyi put up a new track on my soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/newyorkendless

synths include Analog 4, Prophet 600 and Minilogue. Drums are Machinedrum and samples.

VCV Rack is amazing. The main issues is that it doesn’t integrate easily with a DAW at the moment but they’re fixing that. I’ve gone down the hardware modular route this year but VCV honestly gives enough of the same experience for zero cost that it is practically a miracle. I use it to experiment with modules I might want to get irl and it is perfect for that too.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RaI_TuISSJE

It took me a minute to figure out that using the same builders' mini-synth (Pilot) uses a different operator ; instead of :

I have become lost in the Youtube synth world since I started researching samplers. These people have way more fun than guitartube.

Video tutorials for hardware synths are often incredible - particularly as it's so rare to get actual manuals these days.

Talking of modular, i've finished the first two rows and have another Rackbrute on order.

https://i.postimg.cc/BZTcWWwy/IMG-0682.jpg

beautiful. which bastl modules are those? i built their kastl synth and really like their approach

Very boring ones, i'm afraid - a six-channel mixer and the Ciao! audio output. I'm going to get some of their drum / noise modules when i expand.

So did anyone go for the MicroFreak? I found a good deal on craigslist and I'm extremely tempted. I might even swap about my MicroBrute, which I haven't been using much (only for the occasional faux-808 bass and for LFO lasers, but I made a lot of samples anyway).

Played a microfreak at a guitar center a couple weeks ago, loved it

I did it, I'm a microfreak. I'm excited! My partner was not excited that I brought a new friend home, but now I'm motivated to clear out some synths and pedals that I haven't been using much.

buying the synth is always the right choice

I bought a Synthstrom Deluge. Pretty amazing piece of kit.

Any tracks we can hear? It looks really fun. Like a Circuit++

Nothing recorded yet as I haven’t had much time to play with it. Dabbled with its groovebox stuff last night and found it fast and intuitive. But that’s barely scratching the surface of what it can do

Looks really cool if you want a DAW replacement.

I haven't plugged in my Microfreak yet but I've looked at it many times with satisfaction, and I'm confident that it's going to do work this fall/winter.

I was debating either the Deluge or the Octatrack as my “hardware DAW/rig brain” but after borrowing an Octatrack for a little while I found out my mind doesn’t connect with the Elektron workflow. So far the Deluge makes sense to me .

Excellent! I recently bought Live 10 so I’ve been deep in software fun. It’s pretty awesome to have endless options, but also intimidating.

The Lyra-4 was a poor choice of first synth, traded it for guitar pedals a while back but I'm finally in for hardware round 2 with a Behringer Model D and a Keystep.

Does anyone have a favourite reverb pedal for running synths through? I have a Polara, which is very good, but am aiming to add something deeper for ambient washes, etc. I’m torn between Earthquaker’s Afterneath / Transmisser, Walrus’ Slo and OBNE’ Rever.

I’m a big fan of Alexander Pedals’ Sky 5000. All the MIDI controls are nice.

If you’re checking out the OBNE Rever check out the Dark Star, too.

Cool. Thanks!

I have a BigSky and it’s great for that stuff. Interface is a little too complex though.

Earthquaker are turning Afterneath into a synth module!