Synths

[mychemical nueromance with lew]

Hey I've played piano for years and I want to get into synths. I'm not really familiar with all the elements like vocoders, filters, osciallators, all the fancy mods that they come with. I was thinking of getting one, but I'm not sure what kinda stuff I would want with it. Feel free to recommend any good synths/programs. I'm not really interested in the amount of keys cause I'd be using a keyboard with it :D

[pohl_56]

I too would like to get into synths but also woudl like to purchase a new digital piano. I dont want anything that is too expensive but do want good quality. I have been looking at the Casio PX-300. It looks good and judging by some reviews is good. Does anyone know if it has a "synth sound" on it? That is one of the main things that I need on it cuz i wanna play good rock stuff and that requires the piano and synth and I am not rich and cant afford both. Any ideas to help a guy out?

[akoaysigod]

haha. I came on here to ask about Synths too. I want to get something that's like a Moog. Actually I want a Moog but even a used one is a bit too expensive for my taste. >_< I just really want something that can do what a Moog does just for... a few thousand dollars less. =/

[Seafroggys]

I've seen old minimoogs at shops for less than $100 before.

[akoaysigod]

****. I've been checking out ebay a lot and all the ones I see under 1000 have something wrong with them. Usually.

[mychemical nueromance with lew]

gee thats helpful

[Ollie The Drumming Legend]

Sorry, i know nothing about synths, but i would like to.... same as all you, sorry.

i dont really know what one is and how it's different to a keyboard, like does it just have different voices or what..???

[pohl_56]

A synth is a combination of sounds that you can make and is what you here on a lot of 70s songs. If ya wanna here some, I reccommend buying a Styx album. It is that cool sounding gizmo.

[akoaysigod]

Ya, I know what they are, but I want to get one. Something small. Someone on this board must know something?!

[pohl_56]

Well I do know a litle bit about synths. I want one too but they are too pricy for me. You might try looking around the net and especially musiciansfriend.com They have some good stuff although it too is not cheep.

[Ollie The Drumming Legend]

Ya, I know what they are, but I want to get one. Something small. Someone on this board must know something?!

... i wouldnt count on it, this keyboard/piano forum is kinda (very) slow and it seems that not many people go on it.. though tbh it seems more and more people are coming here and posting..

u could try the forum that's about recording and that kinda thing ( i forget it's name ) i think people who hang out there might know about that kinda technical thing.

[Boxman]

a synth is used to create ("synthesise") sounds. the keyboard is just an interface, rack synths don't have one

they use oscillators to create basic waveforms (sine, square, sawtooth, etc.), filters cut out unwanted harmonics (harmonics and their volume is what creates different tones), and modulators such as envelopes to create new sounds

this is basically how i understand it

and i got a Novation X-Station yesterday, its damn sweet

[Seafroggys]

I've played around with the synthesizers in Reason 2.5 (or 2, forgot what version my college had) and I created some mad sounds with it. I wish I had a real keyboard version of an analoge.

[el_lance_o]

I've played around with the synthesizers in Reason 2.5 (or 2, forgot what version my college had) and I created some mad sounds with it. I wish I had a real keyboard version of an analoge.


did you use a midi controller to play back the sounds, cause I don't have one so I sortof gave up on that program cause I couldn't play anything back I created :upset:

[Seafroggys]

Yeah, it was a big midi controller piano thing.

[Hells Bells]

****. I've been checking out ebay a lot and all the ones I see under 1000 have something wrong with them. Usually.
Ack...that's not good, I'm looking for a combo between a synth and a keyboard under 1000....somehow, I'm starting to think that's not possible.

[dr.roadrage]

I too would like to get into synths but also woudl like to purchase a new digital piano. I dont want anything that is too expensive but do want good quality. I have been looking at the Casio PX-300. It looks good and judging by some reviews is good. Does anyone know if it has a "synth sound" on it? That is one of the main things that I need on it cuz i wanna play good rock stuff and that requires the piano and synth and I am not rich and cant afford both. Any ideas to help a guy out?

Many manufacturers like Roland, Yamaha, or Korg offer similar keyboards in various configurations: 61 or 73/76 keys, non-weighted synth style action, rack mounts (requires a keyboard controllor or you can MIDI to your existing synth), or full 88 keyboards with weighted action. If you're intent on having a digital piano, you might want to look into an 88 key synth with weighted action instead. The editable piano patches will be as good or better than the limited sounds available on the piano and you'll have the option of a huge selection of other sounds to play, as well. Most of these boards have room for sound expansion too. Usually comes down to how much you're prepared to spend.

[dr.roadrage]

haha. I came on here to ask about Synths too. I want to get something that's like a Moog. Actually I want a Moog but even a used one is a bit too expensive for my taste. >_< I just really want something that can do what a Moog does just for... a few thousand dollars less. =/
One caution about MiniMoogs - they're a ton of fun to mess with and certainly teach the player how sound synthesis works (and of course the sound is unparalleled), but the oscillators need to be manually tuned, and memory technology hadn't been invented yet (at least not in a way that could be incorporated into a synth). Result - every time you played it, you had to tune the oscillators and create each sound as you needed it, so in a live environment you had to be able to create your next sound pretty quickly. There are many boards out there now that either have some of those favorite sounds on board or available expansions that have some of the old standard sounds recreated. I would probably buy a MiniMoog now just to have one again for recording, but probably wouldn't use it live. It's possible that one for sale cheap may have a problem with the oscillators staying in tune long enough to play anything. I've had this problem in the past.

[daffy_]

Ack...that's not good, I'm looking for a combo between a synth and a keyboard under 1000....somehow, I'm starting to think that's not possible.

What about a Korg Triton LE 61-key??

[akoaysigod]

hmm... I hadn't planned on using it live, I'd just really like a synth where I can create the sound the moog does. Thanks for the info though. I didn't know that. My experience with any type of synth is pretty limited.