Affordable new age/ethereal pad synth?
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Affordable new age/ethereal pad synth?
Does anyone have any suggestions? I'm trying to make Future Sound of London/ ambient/ vocal sounds and am interested in synth for this. Would the Yamaha Sy77 be an option?
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Re: Affordable new age/ethereal pad synth?
Get a 2nd hand Korg Karma and use it sparingly...RedSky wrote:Does anyone have any suggestions? I'm trying to make Future Sound of London/ ambient/ vocal sounds and am interested in synth for this. Would the Yamaha Sy77 be an option?
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I think the SY77 would be an excellent choice.
Also for pads, lots of Korgs with the wave movement work great - TR Rack (an older synth related to the Trinity, not the current TR,) and the Korg MS-2000 with it's multiple LFOs.
The Roland MKS-70 is a real analog string monster, and Roland's D-50 / D-550 are still cool after all these years. A lot of people buy the D-50 just for the Arco Strings and Soundtrack patches.
Also, if you're just using it for recording, you may look at software synths as they're getting better all the time. GForce's Virtual String Machine and M-Tron are both excellent.
Arturia's CS-80V is another cool pad maker although a bit control heavy.
Reason is a program (sequencer + synth rack + effects + sound tools) that gets used for a lot of ambient and trippy dance music. It's complicated though and takes a few months to really get to know. Still, I've heard some amazing stuff made with Reason.
Also for pads, lots of Korgs with the wave movement work great - TR Rack (an older synth related to the Trinity, not the current TR,) and the Korg MS-2000 with it's multiple LFOs.
The Roland MKS-70 is a real analog string monster, and Roland's D-50 / D-550 are still cool after all these years. A lot of people buy the D-50 just for the Arco Strings and Soundtrack patches.
Also, if you're just using it for recording, you may look at software synths as they're getting better all the time. GForce's Virtual String Machine and M-Tron are both excellent.
Arturia's CS-80V is another cool pad maker although a bit control heavy.
Reason is a program (sequencer + synth rack + effects + sound tools) that gets used for a lot of ambient and trippy dance music. It's complicated though and takes a few months to really get to know. Still, I've heard some amazing stuff made with Reason.
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Re: Affordable new age/ethereal pad synth?
What is your idea of affordable?RedSky wrote:Does anyone have any suggestions? I'm trying to make Future Sound of London/ ambient/ vocal sounds and am interested in synth for this. Would the Yamaha Sy77 be an option?
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Would any of you consider the M1 a viable choice?
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I have a TG77 and think it is a great synth. However, I don't think it is the best synth for ambient sounds. There are too few samples and programing the FM side is not easy. The synth is very powerful with good effects, so if you want to spend time with it, it will do ambient. But, be prepared to send some time programming.
I suggest a K1m. There are lots of waveforms, the low sample rate give a nice shimmery sound to it, and there is a joystick to to control the mixture of the waveforms. Add to that a decent effects processor and you are in an ambient dreamland.
I suggest a K1m. There are lots of waveforms, the low sample rate give a nice shimmery sound to it, and there is a joystick to to control the mixture of the waveforms. Add to that a decent effects processor and you are in an ambient dreamland.
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the 01/W is my favorite new age pad synth followed by Karma and TG500.
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Re: Affordable new age/ethereal pad synth?
Very good choice. I had SY-77 for some time, programmed it a lot. It has that ethereal character, specially for chords. But keep in mind, FSOL's main tool is a sampler. If you are looking for that FSOL sound, the synth is just the first step. You need a good fx unit to process it, and a sampler to sample that (be it a phrase, or a chord). Then apply more fx onto that, compression, eq, resample it again, play it transposed, etc.RedSky wrote:I'm trying to make Future Sound of London/ ambient/ vocal sounds and am interested in synth for this. Would the Yamaha Sy77 be an option?
Once you make a good collection of (reprocessed) sounds or phrases in your sampler, add some beat (process it heavy) and you are ready for some FSOL goodness. Good luck! You'll need it. I still haven't heard a band that can sound as good as they do. Not even close.
As of "all in one" solution. I use this:
http://acapella.harmony-central.com/for ... st26300975
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Re: Affordable new age/ethereal pad synth?
yes, the synth is not a big deal. darn near anything with some flexible architecture will do.Don Solaris wrote: If you are looking for that FSOL sound, the synth is just the first step. You need a good fx unit to process it, and a sampler to sample that (be it a phrase, or a chord). Then apply more fx onto that, compression, eq, resample it again, play it transposed, etc.
it's the fx/processing chain, or more succinctly, workflow that will get you there. FSOL's is a particularly processed sound, so the ability to compose w/ various processes are need much more, ultimately, than any specific gear or whathaveyou...
2600.solus.modcan a.eurorack.cs60.JP8.Juno6.A6.sunsyn.volcakeys.jd990.tb303.x0xb0x.revolution.
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shaft9000.muffwiggler.com <- singles & mixtape
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999.m1am1.RY30.svc350.memotron
shaft9000.muffwiggler.com <- singles & mixtape
shaft9000.bandcamp.com <- spacemusic album
youtube.com/shaft9000 <- various synth demos and studies