Synth Recommendations

Woebot

Well-known member
Also really like the Korg DS-10 for the Nintendo DS, results out of that are great.

that is such a cool thing that.

little video for people who haven't seen it:


we should just have a toy synth thread and be done with it
 

Benny Bunter

Well-known member
well i use a novation remote 37 sl and i wrote these templates so i could tweak the parameters of a matrix 1000 (a 1U rack synth).

i'm Hollow Earth on this thread:
http://www.vintagesynth.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=42498&p=569269#p569269
and there's a link to the templates there.

just send me an email if you want (get it via cybore.me)

[edit]

yes you wouldn't need the computer (though you do need it in the very first instance to upload my templates to the novation)

HOWEVER! caveat. you may have more fun with something properly knobby. it's not that tricky to set up (a load less tricky than it was for me!) but it is slightly crazy. i just adore the oberheim's sound so....

Cheers. I dont have the novation 37sl though and I take it that if I got a novation bass station (or any other midi controller) it would need a totally different template right? Are there lots of readymade templates that people have made out there to download or would have I have to make my own for the controller that I had? Cause that would probably a bit of a ballache for me to do, being a noob. I'll bet the oberheim sounds great though.

tbh I'm still leaning towards a brand new all in one synth. Hopefully I'll be getting a go on the microkorg and the alesis micron tomorrow so I'll see then. Can't wait! Its all very exciting
 

connect_icut

Well-known member
I haven't really researched this but I'd guess Max/MSP would make it pretty easy to map any given MIDI controller to any given hardware synth.
 

Woebot

Well-known member
Cheers. I dont have the novation 37sl though and I take it that if I got a novation bass station (or any other midi controller) it would need a totally different template right? Are there lots of readymade templates that people have made out there to download or would have I have to make my own for the controller that I had? Cause that would probably a bit of a ballache for me to do, being a noob. I'll bet the oberheim sounds great though.

tbh I'm still leaning towards a brand new all in one synth. Hopefully I'll be getting a go on the microkorg and the alesis micron tomorrow so I'll see then. Can't wait! Its all very exciting

yeah you couldn't do it with the bass station as you have no way to programme what sysex messages it sends. although to be honest just having a bass station and a matrix 1000 would be fun. there aren't any templates for the matrix 1000 apart from mine.

have fun on those synths! :)
 

massrock

Well-known member
You can do that sort of mapping stuff with something like MIDIOX (far simpler than MAX) as well but that's all introducing extraneous elements, like a computer.

What MIDI controller do you have BB? Maybe it can be programmed anyway, but not all of them do SYSEX which I think is what would be needed for the Matrix for instance.

Anyway from everything you've said it sounds like you really want something self-contained and immediately playable...
 
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connect_icut

Well-known member
i'm sure you're right. quite some skill-set though! certainly beyond me......

No, I honestly think it would be really, really easy. It wouldn't require any deep Max skills at all, just an extremely basic grasp of the programming interface and two, maybe three objects. Massrock is right, though, introducing the computer as a "middleman" would make connecting it all up a bit of a pain in the ass.
 

Benny Bunter

Well-known member
Personally I'm pretty clueless about midi in general but my pal who I've started producing with uses Max msp (we've got Max for Live which is fantastic btw) so it would be possible I suppose. I've got him looking into it at the moment but it would mean him investing a load of time and effort and I'm not sure he can be arsed!

Had a go on the microkorg but there was also the microkorg XL there which was £50 quid more but is miles easier to program and has a better LED display (and it sounded great I must say). If I went down the microkorg route I would probably save a bit more and get that instead. Had a quick go on the alesis micron too but it didn't really seem like the sort of thing I could start using right away in the shop, whereas the microkorg xl seemed ridiculously easy to use. d :slanted:

But THEN there's also the Korg R3 which is nearer to £500 brand new, but I might be able to bag a 2nd hand one for a good price. :slanted:

Got my eye on one or two things already so I'm gonna ruminate for a while and keep my eye out for bargains. I want a synth NOW though! :confused:
 
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Benny Bunter

Well-known member
What MIDI controller do you have BB? Maybe it can be programmed anyway, but not all of them do SYSEX which I think is what would be needed for the Matrix for instance.

All I have is a shitty old Roland keyboard controller (no Knobs) and a M-Audio X-session pro which I use for djing with. Not great then...
 

connect_icut

Well-known member
Personally I'm pretty clueless about midi in general but my pal who I've started producing with uses Max msp (we've got Max for Live which is fantastic btw) so it would be possible I suppose. I've got him looking into it at the moment but it would mean him investing a load of time and effort and I'm not sure he can be arsed!

I haven't tried it but I suspect that, for anyone with even rudimentary Max experience, mapping MIDI values from one piece of hardware to another would be a piece of piss and take about five minutes. I think you'd just need a bunch of midiin and midout objects (maybe going through zmap or scale objects to scale the controller values if you needed to).
 

massrock

Well-known member
I haven't tried it but I suspect that, for anyone with even rudimentary Max experience, mapping MIDI values from one piece of hardware to another would be a piece of piss and take about five minutes. I think you'd just need a bunch of midiin and midout objects (maybe going through zmap or scale objects to scale the controller values if you needed to).
If it's Sysex messages you're dealing with it can be a bit more intensive, they're more or less non-standard by definition. I made a controller map for a synth that uses Sysex and it involved 'several' hours of tedious data entry. :eek: Once it's done it's done though I spose.

Good call on the MKXL Benny, when I saw the price difference I was gonna mention it, twice the voices as well I think. BTW I see loads of the older Novations on ebay. Been intrigued by the Nova, seems pretty good for the prices they go for now.
 
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nomos

Administrator
Just posted an update on my tech questions on the other thread. But yes I ended up with a full-fledged Ensoniq ESQ-1 after the rackmount one went up in smoke. I love it. It was pure luck that I found it too - just browsing a local classifieds site the night the ESQ-M died.
 

skull kid

Well-known member
esq-1 is great, but what is it with ensoniq gear? so unreliable

my favourite synth atm is yamaha tg-33. such a strange machine
 

skull kid

Well-known member
the one ensoniq i'm really lusting after is the eps-16 sampler - pretty much responsible for 90s glitch (think early authecre, fennesz ca instrument/hotel paral.el, loop finding jazz records etcetc) AND the early rza sound. but those ensoniq reliability issues put me off somewhat
 

CHAOTROPIC

on account
Just posted an update on my tech questions on the other thread. But yes I ended up with a full-fledged Ensoniq ESQ-1 after the rackmount one went up in smoke. I love it. It was pure luck that I found it too - just browsing a local classifieds site the night the ESQ-M died.

I can beat that for pure luck! Moved house a couple of years ago & found a perfect Ensoniq SQ-80 in the cellar :cool: Still use it. Amazing analogue filter, polyphonic aftertouch & beautifully ragged 8-bit digital waveforms. My favourite synth, I think.

This guy's youtube channel is great for synth porn.

He's some Polish teenager with about a million old analogue synths & gets some amazing noises out of them. Does his videos with analogue editing gear too & records on VHS. Here's his test of the Ensoniq ESQ-1.
 
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