|
whats a good *first* synth to purchase?
|
View this Thread in Original format
| patticus |
i dont know anything about production, in the sense of sampling and sequencing. i have reason. what should i look at? something with an arpeggiator, etc... ?
should i go all out and buy the biggest friggin thing out there, or will that overwhelm me off the bat.
some input from all would be welcome, Please ? :D
i dont want some toy that only produces amateur sounding stuff... of course.. id say probably tops price range MAX $3000 cdn or so |
|
|
| DJ Pete |
this was a post I made to some one els, I have put the synths in orange
when you get into the Pro world you will need Hardware and Software
this is what a PRO setup would have in it.
*Cubase 5.0 (sequencer software)
*Nuendo 1.5(sequencer and movie software with 5.1-7.1 DVD souround sound)
*Waldorf Microwave XT, Novation SuperNova 2, Access Virus A or B ( three of the biggest Hard synths around, all great for Trance.
*VST Plug-ins and Instruments(a software must with Cubase, there are 100s of them)
*Midi Keyboard (for all of them rack synths)
:p |
|
|
| patticus |
thanks pete, good to see you're still around.
so this stuff would probably be outta my range right now?
any one of those orange ones, right?? not all 3..
and why woudl i still need a midi keyboard:D |
|
|
| Pjotr G |
I'm surpised nobody proposed the Roland JV-1080
It's like pretty standard for a trance setup and it can do alot, a virus is Phat too, but it's more something to expand your studio with |
|
|
| patticus |
hm, sweet, thanks for you info guys
but i didnt even know that those things w/ just dials WERE synths!
those are the rack synths? and then midi has an actual "key" keyboard?
can you explain the diff and usage of each please, just a bit...
i was only thinking initially of an actualy keyboard w/ keys like a piano, heh. not like a one octave one
but 60 keys or whatever.. its pretty big. like that korg w/ the arpeggiator if you know what i mean... :p |
|
|
| Eugene |
So, those are synths?
I thought synths were keyboards, however complicated... |
|
|
| Pjotr G |
ok here's the deal.
A synth is a tone generator, and it's usually called a synth when it has explicit tone editing capabilities (VCO's VCA's VCF's LFO's n stuff). Now a synth CAN have a keyboard but it isn't necessary. The idea behind this is that when you have a studio with 10 synths in it, you don't need 10 keyboards with it, just one master controller will do (no need to fill up unnecessary space is there). So via midi you can hook up a rack synth to a controller (keyboard), mostly via a sequencer, and then you can play the rack synth with the controller keyboard. This said, not every keyboard is a synth. There are also just controller keyboards out there with no tone generator onboard and there are also keyboard WITH sounds onboard but no editing capabilities. This is not considered a synth, but is usually pointed to with the vague word "keyboard". Some synths are available in both rack and keys form. There are also more categories of synths, like Analogues (analog oscillators, analog filters; Minimoog), Virtual Analogues (digital oscillator, analog/digital filters; nord lead), FM synths (frequency modulation; DX-7) and a bunch more i reckon. |
|
|
| patticus |
so whats up with this hyped "nord lead" synth? i hear that's what all the big producers use..
anyways so you would i be able to make do w/ something like
reason (there's a sequencer in that, right?)
one of those rack synths, like the microwave or supernova
studiologic sl-61 (as a midi controller?)
how does that sounds?
actually those nice rack synths are probably really out of my range for now, but anyways that's pretty much all i'd need right. ?
either of you guys? :D |
|
|
| Pjotr G |
| quote: | Originally posted by patticus
so whats up with this hyped "nord lead" synth? i hear that's what all the big producers use..
anyways so you would i be able to make do w/ something like
reason (there's a sequencer in that, right?)
one of those rack synths, like the microwave or supernova
studiologic sl-61 (as a midi controller?)
how does that sounds?
actually those nice rack synths are probably really out of my range for now, but anyways that's pretty much all i'd need right. ?
either of you guys? :D |
Well you can start off with such a setup, but calling it all you'd need...a studio is never quite finished ;). All those thingies have a different sound to it, but anyways, for a *first* synth, you could go with a synth like you mentioned (nord lead, supernova, microwave) but they are pretty distinct, and i personally would go for something with a lot of..."different" sounds in it, like, as i said, a JV. Unless you are very satisfied with the sounds of Reason and you only need the synths for the phat leads that reason can't provide, then what u said would make a sensable setup. btw I'm not even gonna go into samplers :D |
|
|
| patticus |
ok, thanks, so that roland jv is a rack synth? or its a controller?
cuz i WOULD need one of the mentioned midi controllers even if i got that right..
it doesnt matter so much what kind of keyboard i get, right.. i mean i have about as much musical training as anyone, so obviously more octaves + features = good, but editing-wise.. would it really matter, in terms of capabilities? |
|
|
| DJ Pete |
CLAVIA - NORD-LEAD
New: NORD-LEAD-1 : £ (Keys) 999, (Rack) 799 ......NORD-LEAD-2: £ (Keys) 1495, (Rack) 1295
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ok........ the Nord Lead is not a new synth, it's been around a few years.... I aint ever used one, but I just wanted to add it to the list, as after all, it's one of the main competitors in the Virtual Analog race........
The NORD-LEAD-1, is pretty cheap now compared to it's released price which was, if I remember right, about 1400 ish (UK)....... You get a 4 part, 4 voice modelling synth, with 2 oscillators per voice.... so it's 4 seperate monosynths, or a 4 voice polysynth..... You can expand the unit to go to 12 voices with an 8 voice expansion add-on, that also offers extra patch storage banks via PCMCIA cards.....
All the controls on the Nord's have a dedicated control knob.... and they all output midi... and of course all the parameters recieve midi to, with some nifty extra's like midi trigger routing to control the LFO's or Arpeggiator clock...
Both units are versatile, fat sounding studio or live machines, well respected and well rated........
Anyhow...... I just leave the spec's, cos there's nothing I can say except they do sound nice and fat....... Hopefully, some Nord-Lead users will add comments to give us a real user experience......
The NORD-LEAD-2, is a higher power unit available again as Keyboard or Rack, this unit bumps the voices up to 16, retains the 4 part multi-mode, but gives you 4 seperate outputs to mix 'em on seperate channels.....You also get a Sine wave oscillator choice, ring modulation, distortion on the filter and extra LFO wave coices and destinations amongst others........
Again..... I haven't had a chance to try this one either...... so again, I'll just add the spec's, and hope for some cool user notes........ No demo audio seems to be available from the Uk distributor, so I cant really say if it's possible to get some RA of these units, unless I go and get a demo somewhere....... anyhow..... here's the spec's..... add yer comments pleas... and if you do own & use one, as much info as you can muster please.... cheers.....Oh yes...... Visit the Clavia site, where there is loads of info, and you can also check the Nord 'Modular' system which operate with a hardware unit and onscreen computor patch creation....
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
SPEC'S
NORD LEAD 1
(Nord Lead Rack)
Voices
4 voices expandable to 12. 4 part multi-timbral.
Special features
Velocity programming: Each function, controlled by a knob, can be programmed to velocity. Morphing: Each function, controlled by a knob, can also be controlled by the modulation wheel / pedal to continuously fade between two values.
Performance controllers
4 octave velocity sensitive keyboard with octave shift buttons (5 oct.). Modulation wheel, the "Pitch Stick" (featuring no dead zone at zero crossing), pedal input for sustain or expression pedal. Patent pending for the "Pitch Stick".
User interface
2 digit display, 26 knobs and 19 buttons for program editing.
Oscillator section
Two oscillators generating triangle, sawtooth or pulse (with adjustable width) waveforms. Oscillator 2 can also generate nolse with a color control. Oscillator 2 can be hard "synched" to oscillator 1. Linear deep frequency modulation of osc 1 from osc 2.
Filter section
12 dB "2 pole" lowpass, 24 dB "4 pole" lowpass, bandpass or highpass. Cut off, resonance, envelope amount, envelope amount controlled by velocity, keyboard tracking and ADSR envelope.
Amplifier
section ADSR envelope, gain control.
Modulation section
LFO 1 generating triangle, saw or random routed to Osc 1 +2, Osc 2, filter or pulse-width. LFO 2 produces a triangle waveform, routed to Osc 1 and 2 or amplifier. It also controls the rate for the arpeggiator. Arpeggiator: Range: 1 - 4 octave. Modes: up, down, up/down. Modulation envelope (attack, decay) for osc 2 pitch or FM amount.
Performance section
Play mode: Poly, legato, mono, unison mono, unison poly. Manual mode. Four program slots for layering possibilities. Portamento / auto portamento.
Audio Out
Stereo output. Modes: Stereo, mono and multitimbral (A C + B D) mode. Headphones out. Stereo 18 bit DAC.
Memory
40 user-programs, 59 factory programs and 100 factory performances. With the 8 voice expansion card, the Nord Lead can hold an additional 297 (99 x 3) user-programs and 100 user-performance programs on a PCMCIA 128 kilobyte battery backed RAM card.
MIDI features
All control knobs and switches for program editing send and receive Control Change messages. System exclusive bulk dumps. One program or all programs. MIDI clock synchronizing LFO 1 and LFO 2/arpeggiator. € Triggering of the filter and amplifier envelopes and velocity control from separate programmable MIDI channel and note numbers.
Dimensions
865f W) 265(D) 105(H) mm. Weight 6.7 kg 34.0"(W) 10.4"(D) 4.1"(H). Weight: 14.71bs.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
NORD LEAD 2
(Nord Lead-2 Rack version)
Voices
16 voices. 4 part multi-timbral.
Special features
Velocity programming: Each function, that is controlled by a knob, can be programmed to be controlled by velocity. Morphing: Each function, that is controlled by a knob, can also be controlled by the modulation wheel / pedal to continuously fade between two sets of values.
Performance controllers
4 octave velocity sensitive keyboard with octave shift buttons (5 oct.). Keyboard split, two sections. Modulation wheel, the "Pitch Stick" (featuring no dead zone at zero crossing), 1 pedal input for sustain and 1 for expression pedal. Patent pending for the "Pitch Stick".
User interface
3 digit display, 26 knobs and 27 buttons for program editing.
Oscillator section
Oscillator 1 generating sinus, triangle, sawtooth or pulse with adjustable width, wave forms. Oscillator 2 generating triangle, sawtooth or pulse (with adjustable width) wave forms and can also generate noise with a color control. Oscillator 2 can be hard "synched" to oscillator 1. Linear deep frequency modulation of osc 1 from osc 2. A wide range of new waveforms with a strong formant character is achieved with the new synchable noise, where noise can be synched to Osc. 1.
Filter section
12 dB "2 pole" lowpass, 24 dB "4 pole" lowpass, bandpass or highpass. Cut off, resonance, envelope amount, envelope amount controlled by velocity. ADSR envelope. Filter keyboard tracking can be set to full, half or off. Filter distortion.
Amplifier section
ADSR envelope, gain control.
Modulation section
Lfo 1 generating triangle, saw, pulse, LF filtered noise and random staircase routed to Osc 1+2, Osc 2, filter, pulse-width and FM amount. Lfo 2 produces a triangle waveform, routed to Osc 1 and 2 or amplifier. It also controls the rate for the arpeggiator. Arpeggiator: Range: 1 - 4 octave. Modes: up, down, up/down, random. Echo can be set between 1 and 8 repeats. Modulation envelope (attack, decay) for Osc 2 pitch, FM amount and pulse width.
Performance section
Play mode: Poly, legato, mono, unison mono, unison poly. Manual mode. Four program slots for layering possibilities. Portamento / auto portamento.
Percussion kits
10 analog drumkits. Each percussion kit holds 8 independent sounds, configurated in 8 zones across the keyboard.
Memory
40 user-programs, 59 factory programs and 100 factory performances. An additional 297 (99 x 3) user-programs, 100 user-performance programs and 30 drumkits can be saved on a PCMCIA 64 (or more) kilobyte battery backed RAM card.
Audio Out
4 outputs. Each slot have its own output. Modes: Stereo, mono and multitimbral mode. Headphones output. High resolution low noise 18 bit DAC.
MIDI features
All control knobs and switches for program editing send and receive Control Change messages. System exclusive bulk dumps. One program or all programs. MIDI clock synchronizing LFO 1 and LFO 2/arpeggiator. Triggering of the filter and amplifier envelopes and velocity control from separate programmable MIDI channel and note numbers.
Dimensions
865(W) 265(D) 105(H) mm. Weight 6.7 kg. 34.0"(W) 10.4"(D) 4.1"(H). Weight: 14.7 lbs. |
|
|
|
|
