-=[THE SYNTH ZONE]=-

it looks like it has just the right amount of complexity to get creative with it without being completely mind boggling

https://www.nippon.com/en/japan-topics/g02027/

The Casio Employee Behind the “Sleng Teng” Riddim

Surprised it doesn't mention the Bowie Hang On To Yourself theory.

I've been spending the day with the minibrute 2s, going through the manual and coming to grips with programming it. The manual is really well written, very friendly and conversational rather than purely technical. It guides you through examples to help learn what everything does. It's really the perfect first synth for me: fairly basic, but with enough bells and whistles to keep it interesting, and it's gotten me thinking how I might get it to work with other synths or eurorack stuff. At this point, I'm feeling pretty comfortable with dialing up patches, but the one thing I haven't wrapped my head around is what all the alternate track options are for on the sequencer. For example, what does it mean to sequence envelope or control voltage or LFO, and when would I want to use that?

I'm hoping to do a similar deep dive with the TR-8S, but the manual and other materials for it are not quite as welcoming, it may take some warming up to truly appreciate what I can do with it. I'm slightly intimidated.

This ancient (in Youtube years) video of Adrian Utley screwing around with a Minibrute popped up in recommendations recently, has me wanting to keep an eye on Craigslist for a 1 or 2.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wtc1qNYCeHY

For example, what does it mean to sequence envelope or control voltage or LFO, and when would I want to use that?

Not Minibrute specific but CV sequencing something other than pitch would generally be used for things like automating changes to volume, how open the filter is, note length, pulse width, etc,

You could, for example, have a sixteen step melodic sequence with the filter set to nine o’clock and trigger an envelope on the fifth and thirteenth steps to open the filter dynamically through to three o’clock.

put some polyrhythmic sequencing on envelope segment lengths (like on different slopes of a MN maths) and you can get real weird real quick

the buchla music easel and the buchla-inspired aalto VST from madrona labs both have a sequencer that's designed to be patched into all kinds of things. sequencing delay time is fun. sequencing the modulation index on the complex osc is even more fun.

I’ve got a Make Noise 0-Ctrl with 3 controllable CV outputs per its 8 steps (among other things) and it’s been fun uncovering all the weird possibilities.

i used to have a MN rene and pressure points combo, which i think is somewhat similar to the 0-ctrl, and it was the best hardware sequencer i've ever used.

the arturia pigments sequencer, discussed in depth on the pigments thread, is also terrific

Arturia's manual game is top notch, the Microfreak manual is very also super readable. And sequencing stuff besides just note values/length/velocity is where synthesis gets really fun, imo. You can discover all kinds of strange grooves this way.

I can more or less understand applying an LFO or envelope to something at a particular point in time, but I don't really know what it means to apply a control voltage to something or why I'd select one control voltage over another.

Control voltage is mostly for controlling other pieces of hardware (in lieu of midi), right?

Control voltage is what drives everything, including pitch. Your sequencer sends a control voltage to the oscillator to determine the note it is playing. You can equally send CV to anything else that can be controlled automatically via a patch point, for example to change the frequency of a filter, to change the amount of an effect, to have precise control over amplitude, etc.

Yes, you could also use a CV output to connect a sequencer to another synth with a CV input.

there are different standards for CV (like, the range that the input is expecting) so interconnections can get funky--eurorack is mostly +/- 10v iirc but not everything is. but you're unlikely to fry anything.

some of the most useful eurorack modules are just like 4 attenuverters on a panel that let you tweak incoming cv or invert it or blend it together into some bizarre waveform.

then when you lose your mind and start buying banana jack synths you have to connect them to common ground b/c bananas don't carry ground and then eventually you start buying diy synth kids and soldering stuff when your kid is napping.

(and it all still sounds like crickets in a bag inside a helicopter)

I had a late night session with the TR-8S, and it's starting sink in just how powerful it is. Getting comfortable with setting parameter locks opens the whole thing up.

Synth dads <3

https://i.postimg.cc/3N8tJ6Yn/0-C8-D28-ED-53-F0-4-F03-A8-C7-90-B9-CE7-FC84-A.jpg

I’ve had my eye on a Winterbloom Castor & Pollux for a while but they’ve been impossible to get here until now. It’s great - a really versatile Juno-inspired dual oscillator.

beautiful, love the mixer and waveform sum outs, curious how the chorusing works in practice, post bleeps

loving the minibrute 2s, it sounds really, really good, especially if you are into buzzy, distorted sequences. kind of reminds me of the classic korg synth (the MS20?). I wish there was a way to save patches, I keep finding really great sounds, but then can't resist tweaking then, and then find I'm unable to re-create them. I may just try to remember to take pics of them and attempt to catalog the pics somehow.

I am moving into a new place that will have a detached garage (for the bikes / tools) and studio (for the ~synth zone~) building in the back yard that I have been given domain over. I am excited to setup the studio furniture from scratch. I plan on transferring over my standard Ikea DJ booth (2 x 4 Kallax on it's side + legs to get it to proper height) but am totally free to build / buy the desk / rack for my hardware gear setup. The center of my setup is the MC-707, and I've got a 61 key controller keyboard and a handful of other outboard kit (couple of td3's, electribeS, fx boxes). Should I put it all on one flat surface? Make some kind of tiered setup? standing desk or sitting desk?

I have one of those Output desks, and I like how it has a big tray underneath for my keyboard. My back definitely misses my standing desk, though.

Hardware is fun and cool, but lately I'm trying to save $$ and I'm diving into some VSTs. And holy cow, I want to strongly recommend Vital. I've ponied up for the "Pro" edition, but the basic version is free. The sound-design and modulation possibilities with this thing are utterly wild, and it's got one of the user-friendliest VST UIs I've ever seen (assuming you're already familiar with some synthesis basics).

This guy has a bunch of cool hard techno videos featuring the Roland TR-8S, it's cool to see it in action getting stretched well beyond drum sounds

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=go0CLlh3Js0

I recently downloaded the new operating system for the Elektron Machinedrum, not from Elektron. And it's really a beat. I went ahead and bought the little controller thing that also gives a more advanced sequencer.

Just more ways to make/program electronic sounds and melodies beyond the percussive sounds.

Vital looks extremely up my alley, ty!

Wish I'd gotten a Machinedrum and/or Monomachine when they were just 'old' instead of 'vintage digital' and $2500-3000 each.

Ethics and vapourware suspicions aside, this really is the most extraordinary undertaking:

https://musictech.com/guides/buyers-guide/behringer-synthesizers/

Behringer claims to have 50 synths in the design / testing phase, including a Polivoks, Kobol, LinnDrum, CS80, Solina, etc.

Yeah I got my non user wave machinedrum when they were just cancelling it and it was like 600 bucks. The price immediately started climbing.

Behringer’s desktop Solina String is the one I’m most interested in.

Surprised they haven’t floated something like a Farfisa combo organ in a MS-1 sized package.

Yep, the Solina and Polivoks, for me. Particularly as they are working with Vladimir Kuzman on the latter.

They’ve just announced they’re planning a $399 copy of the Buchla Easel 208….

Hmm. Still trying to save $$ but that mkII Volca FM looks pretty nice...2x the voices and patch memory of the original, but in the same price range. Still kinda baffled that they don't put USB ports on these though

Ha, they finally added velocity to it too. I wish this had been a firmware update to the regular Volca FM, I'd love to have the upgrades but not enough to sell mine and buy a new one.

Surprised they haven’t floated something like a Farfisa combo organ in a MS-1 sized package.

Yamaha's Reface YC is pretty damn close to this. I kinda prefer it more than my actual Farfisa just because I know it'll work.

I had a real YC for almost twenty years and forced myself to sell it when I moved across the country because it weighed like 100 pounds and I hadn’t used it in years. Instantly regretted it and will probably buy that Reface YC someday just for the comfort nostalgia vibes.

Like your Farfisa, the real YC would break a lot though!

I've had Vital downloaded forever but never really dove into because the interface was a bit intimidating/flipping through presets made it worse.

Started going just from the init patch and I really like it going easy on the modulation and macros. The text-to-wavetable ability + making an LFO stereo so you start in the middle of a wavetable and have it modulating in and out going the opposite way in each channel is a lot of fun.

Looks like Elektron are dropping something new very soon...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TVX0AThBNPE

https://www.dublab.com/archive/elektron-presents-new-sounds-from-a-new-place-04-19-22

Syntakt's probably pretty fun, but seems like kind of just a cobbling together of existing Elektron parts. Like maybe a slicker Model: Cycles mixed with a RYTM lite? Still using the old RYTM analogue engines too, which really need a overhaul at this point. Curious to see how it lands, but considering their big releases the past few years have been minimally upgraded re-releases of classics, the budget Model stuff, and now this, they're kinda not looking too inspired these days. I know some key (or at least public facing) talent has left these past few years.

Yeah it seems a little underwhelming, particularly given the 1K pricetag. I was hoping it would be a little more fully-featured for what they're asking. I think the budget Model stuff is good--I own a Samples and it's what got me into Elektron gear. Apparently Korg has been working on a "Drumlogue" with a similar feature set to the Syntakt, so maybe that will prove to be an affordable alternative.

New Oberheim for all the Van Halen tribute bands out there to really nail that "Jump" sound.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8eOSXipp-MI

I'm all about tiny budget synths, and those Rolands *look* very nice, but function-wise don't seem very interesting to me, since I don't really make acid techno/pick your choice of uptempo 4/4 dance music.

The new Polyend box (it's a sample-playback groovebox, so not a "synth" technically) looks very fun, but that's gonna be out of my price range for the foreseeable future.

Has anyone tried out Dreadbox Nymphes? It looks like it could be really nice.

ooh, the Eowave Quadrantid Swarm is one I might actually have to get, seems really good for making gnarly techno sequences

this mylarmelodies fellow can pretty much sell me on anything

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

Dawesome Novum is the most interesting granular plugin I've seen (not cheap or free but there's a 90 day demo) - it splits an audio file into six spectral layers that can be turned on or off or individual layers swapped out with layers for other sounds.

Very intriguing, it looks like what I wanted out of NI Form.

gear update!

still going strong with the Minibrute 2s, just incredible bang for the buck. I recently found myself with a bit of extra money, so I decided to add on the 6U Rackbrute and a bunch of modules, here's the rundown:

Eowave Quadrantid Swarm semi modular synth and sequencer - the build is a bit flimsy, it takes up a lot of space in the rack, and it is nearly impossible to get anything in tune (a quantizer might fix this). In a way, it reminds me of a 303 because it doesn't seem to do a bunch of the stuff it was meant to do very well, but it just sounds very good and is a great way to produce noisy atonal techno jams. I probably will move it to a stand alone case eventually if I need more room.

Mutable Instruments Marbles random sampler - I really like the idea of building grooves between several voices based on random sequences that I can then lock down. I've come up with some interesting things here and there, but it can be very difficult to tame it down to something manageable. I need to keep working with this one to find it's sweet spot. Possibly changing up the scales it uses could help.

Make Noise Maths function generator - this is just extremely powerful and helps dial in the exact right sound in all kinds of circumstances, pretty much can be used with everything. There are times when I expect it to do a particular thing and I'm not sure how to get it exactly right, but that just comes down to my own lack of know how. More often than not, it does a ton of work.

Expert Sleepers ES-8 USB i/o interface - this is very handy for sending audio and CV signals back and forth with Ableton, it is pretty much how I run everything. I send clock signals from Ableton to sync the various devices, and then send back the audio to record. It also allows me to sequence modular voices with midi from Ableton and Push, as well as send additional modulation signals. Finally I can send out audio from Ableton to use modules as outboard effects processors. The one issue I've had is that I'm very reliant on an M-Audio interface for general audio i/o including sending audio to my speakers. Windows does not allow you to run multiple audio interfaces at the same time. My workaround has been using Asio4All to basically kludge the 2 interfaces together, but it is very unstable and leads to a lot of crashes. I've more or less got it working most of the time, but will probably add in a CV-to-1/4" converter to send audio back and forth from the M-Audio interface instead of trying to run both simultaneously.

SSF Stereo Dipole filter - I originally wanted to get Mutable Instruments Blades because I love how smooth it is, but I guess Mutable Instruments is going out of business, most of their items are discontinued, so it's pretty much impossible to find for anything close to an affordable price. The Stereo Dipole was the one of the closest I could find in terms of functionality. It sounds utterly amazing. It doesn't have the same smoothness as Blades, and can get a bit screechy at points, but generally just makes everything sound better. I'm pretty much running every sound through this at the moment because it adds so much.

Intellijel Quad VCA - This is a very handy little mixer that also provides some nice overdrive color. Pretty much all patches have some combination of Maths, Stereo Dipole, and Quad VCA, plus LFOs and attenuation from the Minibrute.

Mutable Instruments Plaits macro-oscillator - I was very much on the fence about this. It seems to appear in every last rig you see, probably the most popular module out there. I felt like its sound was maybe becoming too much of a cliche and wasn't sold on the idea of a digital oscillator. I bought it for a few reasons: right now there are enough out there that you can snipe one for a decent price off Ebay or Reverb, it seems like it will be discontinued in the not too distant future and will probably have decent resale value then, it would make a nice contrast to the very analog sounds of the Minibrute and Quadrantid Swarm. Anyway, it sounds really good, and it was silly of me to resist. It has enough flexibility that you can dial in stuff that still has some uniqueness.

Make Noise Mimeophon delay/reverb - this is in the mail, will be a good addition for more effects processing, which has been a very important element of the rig for me.

Other possible future additions - CV-to-1/4" or something else to help manage my interface issues, maybe a Quantizer, a compact LFO source or sequencer, a drum voice. None of these is critical at the moment, but are more nice to have someday.

The final complementary piece of gear that I mentioned upthread is the Roland TR-8S drum machine. It isn't perfect, but it has been getting a lot of use lately because it is so quick to dial up a solid sounding beat. The classic sounds are of course all great. It has a parameter locking function (Roland calls it "motion") that helps fine tune my beats and add some extra movement, although it is not nearly as precise or flexible as what you'd find on Elektron gear. It also has limited capacity for sequencing samples, which I really haven't made full use of yet. It holds far fewer samples than I would have expected, so I need to take some time to really pick out a selection of the best ones I have. I would much rather just dump a bunch of stuff in there, but that isn't going to work. With all the drum samples I have in Ableton, I can realistically create beats on the computer that are just as good, but so far the Roland has just been quicker, easier, and less CPU intensive.

I'm very happy with the move towards a more hardware-centric approach. The bottom line is that I'm getting much more high quality sounds out of the rig than I can get using soft synths, and I can dial in what I want very precisely. I tend to come up with a few sequences and/or patches, then just hit record and jam out on them for about 10 minutes. Then I can edit down the recordings to some useable loops or just use extended segments if they sound good enough. This has enabled me to be more productive and actually get stuff done without feeling frustrated. Having decent sounds readily available just makes it all more fun and less like a chore.

I think this will be the year I add one or two hardware instruments to my Ableton + Pigments set up.

― Muad'Doob (Moodles), Sunday, January 16, 2022 11:58 AM (six months ago)

lol "one or two"