Synthesizers

[BobF]

Hello gang,

Simple question. In your opinion what makes a good synth? 1,2,3 or more oscillators, a super filter, lots of effects or what. Lets see lots of comments on this one.

Thanks all, BobF.....

[Phil Thalasso]

Hi Bob,
my first synthesizer was a KORG Polysix. I still have it and it is in good working condition. There really isn't much to it, it's good for pads and strings. What I expect from a synth is that it sounds like one. Just finished reading "analog synthesizers" by Mark Jenkins and that was a true revelation. When I started out with music some 30 to 40 years ago, me and my buddies were very much into Pink Floyd and Genesis. I guess it is fair to say that Tony Banks used sounds that were typical of the period - brass, strings, the like.
Nowadays I expect a synth to sound synthetic. I want to manipulate filters with lfos, I'm really into west-coast modulation and no, I'm not that much into software that emulates "the classic" synths. I just came back from a nice long vacation during which I toyed intensively with your logic-gated synth. That said, I'm an ardent admirer of your posts, enjoying very much what you share and always learning from them! Lately I got into VCV Rack which I'm running from Ableton. I'm not into self-generating patches or very abstract music, but I love to drive filters for example via a trigger sequencer and building complex rhythms. So whatever does n o t sound "natural" is welcome by me. What I usually end up doing is mixing hardware with software, make ample us of effects and arrive at something that doesn't receive a lot of applause from my very small audience. If I wanted a piano-sound I'd just sit down on my piano and would never try to recreate its sound electronically.
Regards
Phil

[Wassaka]

I believe that what makes a good synthesizer is the originality of this, that is, that there is no other equal in the world and that it is unique...find ways to create new ways of auditory synthesis.

[TrojakEW]

If we are talking about soft synth I think there are no rules to follow to make really good synth. Having 3 oscillator doesn't mean it is 3 times better then having 1osc. What I don't really understand why are people always looking for "good" sound VA sound. I rather have better UI then VA sound. BTW what you can get out of synth is mostly matter of operator and not synth itself. It is like me driving formula 1 will have same result like me driving old school bicycle.

Everyone is looking or waiting for "holy grail" synth that will never exist. Most users wish to have one knob synth that can analyze your thoughts and based on this will generate sound.

I have worked with many soft synth free and commercial and there is one to rule them all (for me).

For me almost perfect soft synth is https://u-he.com/products/zebralette/. It is only one osc synth but it can produce any sound you like with those spectral effects. Still it is not perfect since you can assign only one modulator per parameter but having one additional modulator will make it PERFECT. I know there is full Zebra (I don't have) that can do this but it is also more complex and same time will be harder to use because of complexity and extended features. Sometimes less is more.

What you can do with one osc synth like Zebralette? Listen to example bellow. Everything in this track is Zebralette and nothing else. Every patch is custom made by me of course.
https://soundcloud.com/trojakew/the-modern-prometheus

[Spogg]

Great idea for an on-going topic Bob!

What interests me, and influences what I make, is the exploration of specific techniques. Could be additive, FM, granular or just weird and unusual. Each technique has its own strengths and limitations so it depends on the specific goal and what is best suited to achieve it. If you want a bright, clean, metallic FM-type of sound you wouldn’t use granular for example.

I’m with Phil regarding emulation of physical acoustic instruments but I would add that it’s interesting for me to test a synthesis scheme to see if it can be bent to that purpose. Of course if you need a realistic sound a good sampler is the obvious choice, if a little boring because it feels kinda like cheating!

What I’m not a great fan of, is synths that try to be all things to all men (and women). They inevitably become too complex to invest time and effort in, to program from scratch. So they rely on having a huge range of presets for the user to surf. For me that’s not wrong or bad but it doesn’t pique my interest; it puts me off. I guess it does provide a small income for patch designers and future sales of new banks.

To sum up, I warm to synths that essentially do one type of synthesis and do it really well.

Cheers

Spogg

[tulamide]

What you can do with one osc synth like Zebralette? Listen to example bellow. Everything in this track is Zebralette and nothing else. Every patch is custom made by me of course.
https://soundcloud.com/trojakew/the-modern-prometheus

Sorry, but that is not showcasing Zebralette. It is impressive because of your very good composition. Ieven go as far as saying it is a good song DESPITE Zebralette. I can imagine how this would sound played by big symphonic orchestra, and it would give me goosebumps.

My own approach is simple: I don't care for number of osc, lfo, env, etc. What I do care for is how easy or complex it is for me to produce usable sound. This goes hand in hand with all disciplines, the tools at my hands, the GUI to guide me, the quality of the sound altering modules. It doesn't make sense to have a synth that takes you days to program a patch for. In my case it's even worse: I often imagine a certain sound and then have to build it in a synth in minutes or my imagination is gone, resp. falsified by what I actually hear.

I also think that less is often more, but well done synths can be a joy even if more complex.

[Spogg]

Everything in this track is Zebralette and nothing else. Every patch is custom made by me of course.
https://soundcloud.com/trojakew/the-modern-prometheus

OMG! That track is so good!

I rarely listen to tracks the whole way through these days (they are often too repetitive, predictable, formulaic and thus boring) but that really grabbed me and kept me till the end.

What you’ve demonstrated is what a good and capable synth can do in highly talented hands. Take either out of the equation and you get far less than 50% of the result.

Cheers

Spogg

[TrojakEW]

Sorry, but that is not showcasing Zebralette.

I'm saying it is best synth for me. I use alot of synthesizers and spent too much time with sound design on them and the fastest and most organic result I can get with zebralette. I do not prefer any type of synthesis because every type has its own advantages and disadvantages but this thing is really uniqe for expressive playing where dynamic range really matters. Yes I'm weird since I mostly trying to make acoustic instruments out of synth but almost any synthesizers can make synthwave/supersaw/any synthy sounding stuff.

You also prove my words that it doesn't matter what car you drive but how good driver you are. Of course I like to hear from others what they prefer and use.

OMG! That track is so good!

Oh thank you.

[Phil Thalasso]

Hello all,
the track is very nice indeed. I enjoyed listening to it and admire what was achieved with several instances of one vst. I do, however, believe that this is not something which I take as a typical synthesizer piece, the way I understand electronic music. As great as it is, I can imagine it being realized with classical instruments, just like Tulamide wrote. Of course I do understand that this is a matter of having the means to do so. Who has an orchestra at their hands? I certainly don't. Employing a vst like Spectrasonics Omnisphere is also a matter of having the funds to buy one in the first place. So, to sum it up, a great piece of music, for which a freeware vst was brilliantly used to emulate sounds of acoustic instruments. Chapeau.
Regards
Phil

[tulamide]

You also prove my words that it doesn't matter what car you drive but how good driver you are.

You might have misunderstood my whole post, because this is exactly the point I was making. It's not the tool, but the person using it. You could have done the song with any other synth just as well - because the composition is good, not because any synth would make it sound better.