-=[THE SYNTH ZONE]=-

Someone get the Buchla easel plugin and let me know how it is

I may have to get the behringer easel

Not sure if this will ever see the light of day.

i have the arturia easel VST, it's fun enough. though madrona labs' aalto is very similar in terms of patching and general philosophy and is better in every respect imo

Ooh, neat. I may have to try this out.

My first encounter with Buchla was stumbling upon YouTube videos of Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith playing the easel some years back. At the time, the only options available were impossibly expensive. Luckily that's been changing rapidly. Lately I've been expanding out my eurorack rig to include a couple of the Tiptop Audio Buchla modules, which are very nice and much more affordable. The dual oscillator has quickly become my favorite sound source.

VCV Rack has all the pieces to put together an Easel (for free) too or even an improved one. The Instruo models on there are sweet - love the Cs-L complex filter and 1047 filter from the ARP 2500. Their envelope generator is an ADSR but the Befaco Rampage module is a good alternative.

complex oscillator

Yeah, vcvrack is hours of fun...

i've been trying to recreate some serge panels in vcvrack using the stock modules, i think there are subtleties in the serge designs that are difficult to capture in a chain of generic function generators but you can build up some pretty fun feedback patches anyway.

great software regardless.

Well, I done horse-traded my Modal Cobalt 5s to help pay for a Digitone; it turns out this was a good choice! I bought the Cobalt last year for a goth-rock project with a friend that never materialized. It's a fantastic-sounding synth but incredibly awkward to work with; patching relies on a lot of shift functions that bounce right off my muscle memory. Also the XYZ pad kinda sucks, which is a shame.

Is this your first experience with Elektron gear? What are your thoughts? Any reason for Digitone vs some of the others?

I was already Elektron-pilled by the Model:Samples, which I've had for around 2 years. I think they're great, you have the flexibility of modulation that you have in a DAW, but with the immediacy of hardware. I love the whole "press a key, turn a knob to change just that step" paradigm. Elektron has this reputation for having a steep learning curve, and that may be true for something like the Octatrack (which I personally can't speak to), but I find the workflow very fast and intuitive once you get the basics down. But that might just be the way my brain works, ymmv.

I've been eyeing the Digitone in particular for a few years. I like the fact that I can use it as an 8-voice multitimbral polysynth *or* as a groovebox/sketchpad. I also like the streamlined approach to FM; you're guided toward the sweet spots by default, but you still have the freedom to step outside of them when you want to. The other boxes don't interest me as much, because they're either too expensive or because their feature set just isn't what I'm looking for. I'll admit the new slicing and time-stretch machines on the Digitakt have piqued my curiosity, but I'll stick with Koala Sampler on my phone for now :)

The Syntakt is the one that attracts me the most, and the ease of parameter locking is a big part of it, but something about the sound of Elektron boxes always puts me off a bit, like they are a bit too clean or something.

If I ever win the lottery I will immediately buy an Intellijel Cascadia and an Erica Synths Perkons, both look amazing, but they are also absurdly over-priced

Got to spend a couple of hours playing an OB-X8 tonight and wow, that's a legitimately inspirational machine. All the different Oberheim filter arrangements, set up an arpeggio of noise and the filter just starting to ping, flip through the SEM and OB-X LP/BP/HP options, play with the adorable paddles and manually shift the arpeggio tempo for rolls.

Same acquaintance has a Prophet 10 and if I was going to dump $4k plus on a keyboard I'd 100% go with the OB over the Prophet.

This video's had me thirsty for a Syntakt

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bx61uxtPzo0

I haven’t touched a Syntakt but it’s definitely the first Elektron machine that seems kinda half-baked to me. Just cobbled together old parts as opposed to something forward thinking. Can understand the appeal as a seemingly all in one machine though.

Whoever was asking about the Digitone above, that is an actual brilliant synth. Kind of a landmark in FM synthesis imo.

I kinda had a moment of reckoning the other day, looking at slimming down all my shit. Outside of modular, these were the boxes I’d keep for the desert island:

Octatrack
Digitone
DFAM

octatrack would be a great desert island thing as it would force me to finally learn how to use it

The ARP 2600 FS is back! Only, uh... $4500+tax.

I hope Ilhan Omar gets one this time.

I pulled the trigger on the Opsix, it's in the mail. I'm sure I'll make some fun stuff with that magic first blush of inspiration, but I'm hoping this one will provide some long-term utility. :)

Speaking of which I should probably sell that Volca FM, which I did get an EP out of but haven't touched in awhile, and is probably redundant now.

The people who did the Virus DSP emulator now have a Waldorf MicroQ version - https://www.kvraudio.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=596134&hilit=filter

Hmm cool, these big firmware updates almost make me wish I had held on to the Microfreak:

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

I have my Opsix all nicely set up, but I'm waiting for a free afternoon until I turn it on. Don't want to waste that magical 'new gear' energy.

I, too, am wishing I had held on to my Microfreak. I'd love to have some kind of granular hardware. Eager to hear how you get on with the Opsix!

I finally hooked up my Opsix and got a nice lead part recorded using one of the pluck presets (just using the basic operator mixer sliders and knobs), but have yet to get into the real sound design. Youtube tutorials, here I come.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q2_hCZew0Eg

so...I have to admit. I hate my Opsix.

it makes me feel dumb and i've yet to find a sound i actually like to use on a song. the presets suck.

i'm sure this is me being not being able to use it, but i find it frustrating.

Ha, understandable. How much do you think is just the FM aesthetic? I'm personally into glassy FM sounds right now, and was also able to grab some good plucks and string pads that fit into a track with mostly piano as the main instrument, but I could see it not blending with other palettes.

Also without getting too deep into the sound design (which I really haven't yet), one of the knobs changes the algorithm, which drastically changes the sound and can easily lead to some cool patches. I think it's one of the knobs (or buttons?) on the right side, I stumbled on it but it's an easily accessible knob on the Volca FM, and was/is my main trick on that synth.

Really need to set aside some time to dive in more though.

I think the glassy FM stuff might not work real well with what I'm doing right now.
though I do like those kinds of sounds.

I'll mess with the algo knob. I don't know. the whole thing feels like a lot of effort and I messed with it forever a couple nights ago then ended up using some preset in the stock synths that come in logic haha

ultimately, i'm just projecting my own stuff onto the opsix, it's just not made for me. i like using synths when i make music but i'm not necessarily *interested* in synths per se if that makes sense.

the opposite experience for me was at a friend's studio and he had a moog grandmother - holy shit i loved that thing, it just felt like literally everything i messed with sounded cool from the jump. it just felt musical in a way the opsix doesn't to me (not saying it can't if you know what you're doing)

It seems like the opsix is maybe too menu divey for what you like and you need something more immediate maybe?

Yamaha Reface DX

xpost yeah I think you're right.

If I were to spend roughly the same amount of money as an Opsix, the synth I'd probably go for right now would be the Pittsburgh Modular Taiga, but that is a much different beast, much more hands on though!

I don't know if they're still available but the MegaFM is 4-operator FM with sliders for everything.

I think the Digitone is a good choice for accessible, stripped-down FM, and I enjoy using it. YMMV, as I am one of those weirdos who enjoys sound design as a pursuit of itself. You can get very nerdy with the DT, but you really don't have to. And I really like the way it sounds. To my ears it's a bit grittier and warmer than your classic DX7-style FM synth.

speaking of opsix
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mYisKyhOXlE

always makes me a bit IA that this guy ends up hyping the "bad gear" in every video

haha welp was gonna list the opsix but then my 12 year old was bored and asked if she could play w/a synth and just guess which synth is like the ultimate party for a tween who wants to just twist knobs and make weird sounds?

Reface CS. Korg Minilogue. Nice entry-level synths with knobs per funtion.

Hydrasynth Explorer is knobby and weird

And maybe battery powered?

I need another hobby like I need a hole in my head, but my wife got me a Moog Mother-32 for my birthday after I got transfixed in a store a few months ago.

I play no musical instruments and at age 51 I will never take this gear out to play live. I do have some money to throw at the situation. Looking for some advice on what else to get and resources for beginners with the following considersations:

1. I just want to make cool sounds to amuse myself and record it. Is there cheap software for beginners to allow multi-track recordings? I'm on an older (2016) Mac at home.

2. I don't even own a pair of headphones and nothing else to connect to the Moog to listen to it. Should I just buy a pair of headphones? Can I get a 1/4 plug to RCA connector to connect to the preamp in my home stereo?

3. What else would you add (if anything) to give me some basic options?

Please take it easy on this noob.

Cheap to free options for recording - Reaper, FL Studio, Audacity, Garage Band. I think Logic is relatively cheap too? There are also "intro" versions of Ableton and other DAWs with fewer features that are cheap.

If you want to record, you'll probably need an external audio interface (and you can plug headphones into that), something like this https://us.focusrite.com/products/scarlett-solo

If you are vibing well with the the Moog Mother, the obvious thing to pair it with would be the Moog DFAM, which people seem to love a lot. It seems like it would be a good idea to get any Moog gear sooner rather than later because it's unclear if they are going to continue as a business much longer.

For more of a contrast and a more affordable option a drum machine like the Arturia DrumBrute Impact could be fun.

There are definitely 1/4" to RCA adaptors out there. As far as I can tell, the Mother doesn't have any kind of USB options, so to record it on a DAW you'd need some kind of audio interface to plug it into. There are some basic interfaces that you can buy for around $100.

I’d get a little midi controller so you can play w keyboard and they usually have sequencers and stuff.

I’d also get some basic monitors. You can plug into your stereo but synths kick out all kinds of frequencies. I blew plenty of cheap home speakers before just buying powered monitors. You can get something from Presonus for not too much.

Midi controller, for sure. Audio interface if you want to record.

I think the M32 is a great synth to learn on and you will figure out what you want to add when you run into the limitations it has.

The one thing I’d say is that the M32 sounds great but better with some reverb. If you already have guitar pedals, they will work great. If not, some cheap ones can open up a lot of territory (or you can add in the DAW).

I can’t remember how many patch cables it comes with, but getting another six or eight will make sense.

This website seems to have an expired security certificate but it’s a good resource for patch ideas.

https://patch-library.net/patches?device=moog-mother-32

Thanks for all these recommendations.

My company has given out some nice gift cards the last several years that I haven't used, so I may blow them all on an audio interface and whatever else I need to get me started.