-=[THE SYNTH ZONE]=-

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!

hi all, looking for some "first synth" advice...

basically i want to create, endlessly tweak and zone out to penetrating drones and deep washes of noise (think eliane radigue but obviously so much less elegant)

i don't have a lot of money. i'm thinking a software synth is a good option. can anyone recommend something? the arturia modular v maybe (or is that too complicated)? thanks

https://vcvrack.com/ is free and open source and cross platform

Yes, VCV rack is ideal. You can make an amazing soft synth for drone / ambient stuff just from a handful of the Mutable Instruments modules available that’s essentially as powerful as a $6000 modular hardware setup would be.

You can start with a a small virtual rack and work out how to use new stuff as you go. There is a learning curve but there are lots of free YouTube videos, etc to offer guidance.

I have a hardware modular synth and I honestly have almost no idea how the Arturia Modular V works. That’s mostly laziness on my part but the interface is typically larger than a screen can handle and it feels less intuitive when you can’t see what’s going on without scrolling. Their Buchla and Synthi reproductions are also very good.

VCV Rack could keep you occupied for years and would certainly give you a sense of which direction to go in if you did want to buy something else in the future.

VCV Rack is awesome, but it's a bit of a steep learning curve for someone unfamiliar with synthesis theory and methods.

you can start small though, lfo, couple of vcos, some kind of output.

there are tutorials that take you through it

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

(although the actual synth output in that is far too low in the mix. and i wish he wouldn't keep sliding the modules around like he does)

Patch Storage has a bunch of VCV racks people have put together - most of them are insane and overly complicated but if you look through you can find some
VCV has the plugin manager on their site, you probably need to download the 15-20 most downloaded ones to get what people are using. They don't take up much memory and they're free

https://patchstorage.com/beginners-patches-i-basic-sequence/

didn't finish that first sentence - you can find some basic patches that help you figure things out. Tracing backward as to where cables go and how things interact is the best way for me to learn so starting points have been useful.

A grendel drone commander would be an awesome first drone synth, but that's obviously the opposite of inexpensive.

vcv looks ideal -- thanks all!

My only comment would be that it's way more fun to play with a physical synth than a VST. If you could get something like a Neutron or Bass Station 2 or Minilogue, it might be more inspiring for you.

the 0-coast used sells for $350-400, most demos seem to have a harder edge but it could probably do big drone-y wash with a reverb pedal (or two)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oLS9UZ1VP2I

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

― DJI, Friday, August 2, 2019 1:35 PM

I goofed around on the Deluge in honor of 808 day. I don't know what I'm doing yet - this thing can do SO much - but threw this together in about an hour:

MSS808

Awesome! Very 80s drums and bass.

Had to use those 808 style drums!