Noise, Drone.

[verkannt]

Hello everyone. This is my first post but I wanted to start off by saying hello. Seems to be a good community, so it's great to be on here..

I have a little setup at the moment. At the moment it consists of an i-mac, a midi controller, krk rokits, ableton suite, max 4 live, logic studio, audiomulch, guitar + e-bow and pedals, zoom h2 field recorder and a waldorf blofeld.

I'm into making ambient noise, drone, industrial. I'm looking to add a couple of synths to my setup. I was looking to maybe adding a mfb kratzwerg, dsi evolver, alesis micron, juno 60, akai ax60, or a nord rackx2.

I know people selling each of these, so i've narrowed it down to them. Does anyone have opinions on these synths?
Would they be suitable for what i'm making? Should I consider any other synths?

Thank you,

Alan

[smoothcriminal]

I don't think 1-osc vintage analogs like a Juno or Akai AX60 are suitable for drones, because their editing features aren't deep enough for really complex sounds. The AX60 is, in my experience, primarily useful for basses and analog string sounds.

Maybe someone who has experience with a Kraftzwerg could comment, because in my layman's opinion either that or the Evolver is probably the most interesting drone machine that you've mentioned. And your Blofeld might cover some of the same territory as the Evolver.

[space6oy]

the AX-60 and juno 60 have six oscillators, not just one, and they're both capable of all sorts of sounds...

personally i'd go for the kraftzwerg. i thought drones were pretty annoying before i got into modular, now they can be interesting as h**l, and the kraftzwerg is a great way to start a modular rig.

[smoothcriminal]

1 oscillator per voice, sorry for not being more specific.

edit - unless you use mono mode, then its 6 of the same oscillator per voice to be even more specific

edit again - the point being that it's not ideal to make complex evolving sounds that stay at the same pitch ("drones") with 1 oscillator, 1 LFO, filter/amp EGs and PWM. There are only so many parameters that can change over time to keep the done interesting, and there are only so many combinations available to create different drones. Whereas with a modular/semimodular with 3 oscillators, there are virtually infinite possibilities for complex, evolving patches.

[space6oy]

they have six oscillators per one voice if you play them monophonically.

edit - heh you beat me to it.

[verkannt]

Thanks for the feedback. So besides the kraftzwerg, none of the synths I mentioned would be useful?
I wanted to add something for pads, so I think the he synths I mentioned are more for that purpose than for drones. The Micron and the Juno look really nice for pads.

Besides the kraftzwerg and the evolver, is their any other synths I should look at?

[nathanscribe]

Aside from agreeing with the comments about the old Juno (nice synth, sounds good, but lacks lots of modulation) - it depends what kind of sounds you want. I've had good results running very simple sounds through lots of effects. I mean: various overdrives, multiple delays, reverb, modulation effects like phasing, flanging, etc. Don't consider only the dry sound source, consider the whole chain. Set up effects right and they're a sound generation device in themselves. Given an array of effects, a Juno (or similar) can hold its own against a more complex synth dry, and a bunch of effect pedals can be bought cheaply one at a time.

[smoothcriminal]

I don't think the Micron can do anything that you can't already do with your blofeld/software instruments. The rest of the synths you mention all bring their own unique sound, so it's really a matter of figuring out which one fits your musical style.

[GuyaGuy]

Maybe someone who has experience with a Kraftzwerg could comment, because in my layman's opinion either that or the Evolver is probably the most interesting drone machine that you've mentioned. And your Blofeld might cover some of the same territory as the Evolver.

The Blofeld and Evolver do share common ground but the Evolver has a super deep sequencer that takes drones to a whole 'nuther level. It's a 4 x 16 sequencer and you can sequence all oscillators, individual ones, filter, delay feedback, and just about anything else you can think of. Tis loverly.

[verkannt]

Some great feedback. Really appreciate it. I think my heart is set on the kraftzwerg. I'm thinking of complimenting it with something which provides lush pads. A friend is selling the nord rack, but I might look at the evolver as well. Even though the evolver is mono, is it still capable of producing textures other than basses?

[smoothcriminal]

does anyone have an opinion on a Shruti/Shruthi kit as an ambient/drone machine? The name implies it's intended for drone.

[nathanscribe]

Even though the evolver is mono, is it still capable of producing textures other than basses?

Yes. It has four oscillators, which can be sequenced individually from the 4-track step sequencer on board. There is a lot of modulation going on too, so you're not likely to fall short of stuff to play with. Make sure you like the sound before buying one though (actually that goes for anything really).

[Stab Frenzy]

The Evolver kills everything else for drones. So many sound sources, so much modulation, stereo signal path, delay and feedback built in. It was originally going to be called Noise if that's any indication of what it can do.

The Evolver is the best synth for texture I own apart from the modular.

[Plumpudding]

I've just got to add that the blofeld excels at making noise and industrial sounds. You've got a lot of possibilities in that synth alone.

[ryryoftokyo]

Well, there's so many things that are implied when you say noise and drone...you talking Emil Beaulieau wall o static noise or something more ambient like Infinite Body? Something a bit more rhythm oriented like Black Dice? Anyways, here's my two cents:

On the cheaper side, I'd say look at the budget micro synths like Microkorg (and MS-2000), Alesis Micron (and Ion), and the Akai Miniak...as much as I hate to say it, those boards can really hold their own when it comes to noise. Yamaha AN1x is something I've used on MANY noise records and is pretty much my baby...I wouldn't give that thing up for the world. Roland JX-8P is quite a nasty board if you push it right thanks to the Xmod. On the more expensive side, I'd say the Korg Wavestation (or SCI Prophet VS) is always good to have in your rig. The Minimoog, Multimoog, or even Micromoog can deliver some powerful analog drone and texture. And though it's expensive and rare, the Hartmann Neuron is a one note dream machine.