First Synth for an Industrial Musician

[Drill]

Ok, so I have an Idea of what I want in a synth, here are the specs for a posible selection

under $400usd

preferably analog, but can be digital, knobs and sliders and switches are a must(i love those little things)
preferably Mono-phonic, chords get me too carried away
at least 2 ocsillators, noise function a must
i hate digital interfaces, though they are more prevalent these days
must be portable, at the very least.

http://www.myspace.com/cranialdrill

this is the type of stuff I create, though I also create lite electro though I have none to present.

any help would be apreciated.

thank you for your time.


Drill

[balma]

Man:

analog, and under $400, you are pretty limiting the possibilities.


Definitly AKAI AX 80 and AX60 are synths with a strong, harsh sound very recomendable for industrial music.


But they are ZERO portable. AX 60 is my heaviest synth. But also, it has the heaviest sound.


There is a demo from Jexus on youtube where you can hear that rusty sound.

I have one, they were on $350 6 years ago. I don't know its actual price, but have a long time without seeing one on EBAY.

You MUST add at leas $100-200 more, to have a wider spectrum of possibilities, since the AX series is becoming rare on the last years.

I don't know the DSI Mophito, but is under $400, is analog and portable.

[Z]

Although there are no plethera of sliders, the Ensoniq ESQ-1 & SQ-80 have three oscillators per voice, analog filters and capable of some nice analog and gritty digital sounds.

+1 on the Akai AX60 - my 1st "pro" synth which I regret selling. I wouldn't mind getting another if i can find one under $250. They're certainly worth more these days, I'm just limited on space, so I would have to make room if I found a deal.

[Ashe37]

definitely the ESQ or SQ80

[Dane_Xoth]

I've never heard a filter like the AX60's. It has a character that i have only ever been able to describe as 'industrial'.

+1 on the DSI Mopho (or the Evolver) if you want something nice.

I would also recommend the Novation A-Station, but you will need a controller keyboard. (Yu may beable to find an X-station for budget which has the synth, keys AND a USB audio + MIDI interface)

If you are looking for sonically mangled drone loops check out the Yamaha A-series samplers. Lots of different filter types and distortion effects.

[pflosi]

you could also be able to find a waldorf microwave I for that money. it's only analog filters, but it sounds great and can be really aggressive / harsh. you would need a programmer or software editor to truly benefit from it.

but my tip is to save some money and get a korg ms10 or better yet 20

[otto]

My idea of industrial may be dated but analog monosynth doesn't strike me as the first choice for an industrial synth. If that’s what your after though I think the evolver would make a great industrial synth and will run you about $400. As others have mentioned the ESQ-1/SQ-80 is a classic industrial standard, used heavily by skinny puppy way back when. It is hybrid digital/analog. Also the Akai isn’t a bad choice, my AX80 has tight oscillators and can be both very punch and aggressive for a vintage poly, good bass machine. Also, Casio CZ synths strike me as useful for industrial and can be had cheap. I imagine if you looked around you could probably pick up a CZ and an esq-1 within your budget. You might also consider a gritty old sampler.

[haydenvan]

definitely the ESQ or SQ80

second that. you could find an sq80 for 300 or under if you look. i got mine for that much. very versatile. can get some nice metallic/fm industrial sounds and also nice analog sounds. has a nice analog filter.

Drill: I absolutely love your avatar. boyd rice and cats is an amazing combination.

[Dogpupkus]

Korg Poly-61 !

This is a bit bias, because I just picked one up... but I found out that the Korg Poly-61 can get Very nasty. It sounds pretty awesome, and I definintaly see it in a Industrial Genre'd Environment.

It has 2 DCO's so its oscillators are stable.

I see them on eBay all the time going for $120-200. The Korg Poly-61M even has MIDI. The regular Poly-61 does not, but don't let that stop you from making some sweet and Industrial sounding programs. It's got a nice Arpeggiator too. Editing can get a bit tedious, but Ive found out its easy to get used to. Save your patches, and bam.

+2 to the Korg Poly-61
+1 to the Ensoniq ESQ-1
+1 to The Akai AX60, but you just gotta look hard for them anymore. I love mine.

Not super portable, but whatever. That's my 2 cents.

[Drill]

you could also be able to find a waldorf microwave I for that money. it's only analog filters, but it sounds great and can be really aggressive / harsh. you would need a programmer or software editor to truly benefit from it.

but my tip is to save some money and get a korg ms10 or better yet 20

I was thinking about saving up for an ms 10, mainly because I have messed with one before and got amazing sounds from it, if only I had a fuzz box and chorus at the time, I would have had my sound for sure.

but yes, i will look into a waldorf.

and to the folks that keep recomending synths that skinny puppy used, if I was going for that sound, I would pick them up, but I am going for that late seventies early eighties boyd/EG/SPK sound, the more noise but structured sound.

so thank you for your input but I just can't do those synths, the digital interface makes me go crazy, I HATE PRESSING THE SAME BUTTON FOR 6 STAIGHT HOURS JUST TO GET THE ATTACK EXACTLY WHERE I WANT IT!!!!

that being said, I was going to buy a kit for a mfos soundlab, to get started, but now i am reconsidering that.

[haydenvan]

why an ms10 or wait for an ms20. if you're doing this noise electronics stuff (listened to your page, sounds awesome ) why not go with a yamaha cs15? same price as an ms10 with tons of flexibility and different sounds. and i see you like synthesizers that fart. i had a cs15 and always considered it quite "farty."

[Cerebral Infect]

For under 400$....

Infamous microkorg. The less notorious X-Station would give yuo the most bang for the bucks in terms of polyphony, features, sliders, effects. I know you wanted a single voice synth, but at that price, kind off limit the possibility. You could dwelve in the FM or PM real with old Yamaha DX-?, SY-? or Casio synths.

[Drill]

why an ms10 or wait for an ms20. if you're doing this noise electronics stuff (listened to your page, sounds awesome ) why not go with a yamaha cs15? same price as an ms10 with tons of flexibility and different sounds. and i see you like synthesizers that fart. i had a cs15 and always considered it quite "farty."

I LOVE FART PIANOS


I have been looking into a CS15, but I have not come by one, I am going to see if can get an MFOS Soundlab from a friend for the x-mas, and save my money and look for a cs-15, because I have seen and heard the capabilities of it, I think It's what I am looking for.

[Zarith]

You could consider the DOEPFER Dark Energy.

It's fully analog, with controllers and knobs for every features. It's a very simple synth, fun to use. It can sound really aggressive and raw. It has only a single oscillator but the dual LFO, the Frequency and Pulse Width modulation makes it really expressive.



With a distortion pedal it could be a perfect set up for your industrial tracks.

It cost a bit more than $400, but I think it worth it. It's a very cool little monster.

[Uncoat]

I would save up more dough and get a Synthi AKS like SPK used.