1st Synthesizer advice, am I looking at the right synths?

[Ryrinanal]

Hello all. I’ve been a guitarist for close to 12 years and played keys for around 7 years, this year I’ve really made the leap from acoustic instrumentals to electronica. Past 2 years I have been using Komplete 8 but using a computer to design sounds really just isn’t satisfying so I’ve never gotten past altering other peoples patches for my own needs.

I’m not too interested in too much menu diving for the moment, but at the same time I would like the ability to create sounds from a vast palate. I have been looking at possibly getting the Moog Sub 37 then two months later getting either the new Prophet 6 or the 12. There’s no stores in my area I can really try them out at so I’m kind of stuck with online videos and reading others opinions. When it comes to synths I love the sonic character of artists like Banks (her entire album I love the sounds on), Totally Enormous Extinct Dinosaurs, MGMT, FKA Twigs and some off the synths of Sufjan Stevens new album. Later down the road for live stuff I would like to be able to sync them with Albeton Live and an AKAI APC40 but early on its for studio use. Would both the Sub 37 and Prophet 6 or 12 work well for what I wish to achieve? Thanks.

[meatballfulton]

The Sub 37 is a monophonic synth...forget about chords.

The Prophet 12 is discontinued, but can be bought new. It's the most verstaile of the three.

The Prophet 6 is a fine synth, but like the Moog it's just analog subtractive which limits the kinds of sounds it can make. But the sounds it can make are really good

For a "vast palate" I'd be looking at digital synthesizers, especially if you are used to the sounds in Komplete.

[melveyr]

One thing I have learned with music gear is try as much as you can for as cheaply as possible because you never know what will be a good fit for you personally.

How is your local craigslist scene? I like to find bargains on craigslist with the knowledge that I can try to sell back later for a similar price once I have had my fun with the gear.

[Hyde]

Moog & Sequential make some really fine instruments. They can be pricey, too! Most of what I buy is used, vintage. So, a lot of my research is in headphones on youtube. What you really don't get from this may be how its going to fit into your workflow. Sometimes, the videos are so few that you don't even really get a grasp of how versatile the machine actually is. My point is that if you are going to pay full retail on a high end machine, make sure you really understand what that instrument does.
Since you are talking analog style instruments, I'd suggest you pick up something like an Arturia minibrute, or micrubrute. you can find these types of synths around $200, used. They would go a long ways towards learning if this type of synth is going to be what you really want to put your money into. You would learn how everything operates, & they sound pretty great.
In the end, you may decide to get something in the elite range of Moog or SCI. They make great machines. But, there are plenty of options out there. & some not quite as expensive. Good to get your feet wet before you jump in

[SciNote]

Another thing to consider is how you're going to use the keyboard. And by that, I mean, do you want to use it like a piano/workstation, where it would be a main keyboard that you would be playing a full range of octaves with both hands? Then you'll want something that has at least a 5 octave keyboard. But if you're looking for just an auxiliary type keyboard -- something to add to your guitar playing, for example, or something that you'd mainly be using for multi-track recording, where you would record one component of the sound at a time, then you could get by with a smaller keyboard, such as 3 octaves or less (though less than 3 octaves can be limiting -- you just need to think of the kind of playing you'll be doing with it). But unless you want something mainly for leads and/or bass, I would stay away from a monophonic keyboard that can only play one note at a time.

My story is that I was recently in the market for a synth. I am not a "purist", so it did not have to be true analog. I already have a main 5-octave keyboard, as well as an 88-key weighted-key electronic piano, so I was looking for an auxiliary keyboard to add to the sound -- something to play leads, pads, and sound effects that I could use in conjunction with my existing keyboards to quickly add tones/instruments to a song I'm playing without having to switch a bunch of buttons on my main keyboards while playing. My choice was the Roland GAIA SH-01.

It is a digital synthesizer but with analog style controls. It lets you choose from 7 waveforms, each with 3 variations. Some of them make great string and organ sounds with not too much modification. And it is basically 3 synths in one -- it is not just a 3 oscillator synth -- it has 3 complete synth engines, each with its own oscillator, LFO, filter, and amplifier, and they can all be mixed and played together. And the oscillator, filter, and amp all have their own envelope generators. Plus, you get a whole complement of effects such as distortion, flanger, phaser, reverb, and delay (the effects apply to all 3 synth engines at once -- you cannot have a specific synth engine bypass the effects, for example). And, it is a stereo instrument, so you can have animated panning effects, or have different synth engines set to different left/right panning points on the sound stage. This all allows for some great versatility, and I have gotten some great Moog-style leads, synth bass sounds, Vangelis-style CS-80 type brass, orchestral strings, and Hammond-style drawbar organ sounds, to name a few. Also, it is up to 64 note polyphonic -- though I imagine that drops to 21 when using all 3 synth engines.

The cost for one new is about $650, but you can get them used for quite a bit less. Now, I will say that some people do not like the sound of this instrument, and if I had to list some drawbacks, it would be that you can't really get that deep, growling analog bass out of it, and some of the very high notes might have some aliasing. Also, if you use MIDI, the 3 separate synth engines are NOT on separate MIDI channels. But I am very happy with mine.

With the analog-style controls, you can really zero in on the type of sound you're looking for -- and there is NO screen or display, so NO menu-diving! However, almost of all of the controls have a secondary function accessed by a "shift" key, and there is no labeling on the control panel as to what these functions are -- you have to consult the manual or memorize them -- however, many of them do make sense and relate to the main function of the control in some way. For example, holding down "shift" and adjusting the filter cut-off frequency knob will adjust the velocity sensitivity of the filter. And, there is a "key hold" feature, which lets the synth continue playing the last notes you hit, even after you let go of the keys, so that you can use two hands to hold down the shift button and adjust the parameter, and hear the result in real time.

[SciNote]

In my post above, I talk about the Roland GAIA SH-01. But I just saw information on another synth that looks very interesting, especially if you're looking for digital FM sounds. It's called the Korg Opsix, as it is essentially a 6-operator FM synth, but it goes beyond that. It has multiple waveforms and filters, and unlike the original DX-7 and similar synths that required you to hunt for a function and then adjust it with just one little slider control, this synth has various groups of sliders and knobs to adjust the parameters of the operators hands-on. Yes, some of the knobs can have different functions, which are displayed on a menu screen, but it looks like it's a lot more intuitive to use than the classic FM synths. Like the GAIA SH-01, it has a 3 octave keyboard, so as I described in my last post, it's not the kind of keyboard that you could play like a piano, but at least it does appear to have full-sized keys.

It's about $800, and may very well be worth checking out.

[ryankm]

I haven't got one, but if you want something that is musical that sounds good that you can play: Korg Prolouge 16

Feature rich Prophet REV2 is also coaxable.

I had a Roland Super JX also with optional PG 800 programmer and that thing was a Gold mine.