The Synth Thread...

[Maggieo]

AW SHIT.

Am I about to buy one? I might be.

Not to sound like TGP, but my husband is about to kill me.

[tdbajus]

Aren't they on them the tiny ones?

[mackerelmint]

Yep, they're little bitty things. But they have MIDI in and the sound, omg the sound. I tend to think of them as sound modules with keyboards that you can use in a pinch, but the keybeds are actually pretty decent.

[Maggieo]

Yep, they're little bitty things. But they have MIDI in and the sound, omg the sound. I tend to think of them as sound modules with keyboards that you can use in a pinch, but the keybeds are actually pretty decent.

I'm gonna keep mine in my bedroom for figuring stuff out and noodling before bed, and then take it to my recording rig when needed.

I've been playing Casio stuff for so long, the wee keys don't bother me much anymore.

[Singlebladepickup]

I think the keys are bigger than most mini keys, and the unit itself is too long to fit in a bag I have that is designed for 17" laptops. It's not big, but it's not as small as say an akai mpk mini or a keystep. In terms of the sound, yeah it's good, but the thing that makes me really want to keep it is the effects. Having overdrive, tremolo or wah, chorus or phaser, "analog" or digital style delay, and reverb at the tweak of a knob/switch keeps noodling super fun, and they all sound surprisingly good. Especially fun with the panning tremolo on the rhodes. Now I really need to learn to play...

[Zork]

Yep, they're little bitty things. But they have MIDI in and the sound, omg the sound. I tend to think of them as sound modules with keyboards that you can use in a pinch, but the keybeds are actually pretty decent.

This! You can actually cut them up and convert them to a 19" rack format.

[Maggieo]

Yamaha CP in da house!

The keys are slightly weighted and velocity-sensitive. It's really nice to play.

Even if some muscles I haven't used in years are yelling at me!

[Whiny Minotaur]

^ Did you know that there's a hidden acoustic piano sound on the CP? Apparently it sound really good and all the onboard effects on the CP work on it too.

Amassed a decent amount of gear during the past year. Before I just had the MS-20 Mini and Volca Beats, but I went on a purchasing extravaganza during my stay in Japan. Bought:

Volca Keys
Volca FM
Volca Bass
Volca Sample
Volca Drum
Reface CS
Boog
SH-01a

The idea was to sequence all this gear together to play my music live. Most of the music I write either doesn't work in a band context, or would be hilariously boring to play for other people, so most of the gear is going to be preprogrammed to play sequences. All in all, it was a colossal amount of money, and using them on stage wouldn't really be all that live since I'll only be actually playing one synth at a time, but it's also liberating to stay away from writing music on a DAW. Writing/recording music has never been so fun.

Sequencing is proving to be a bit of a pain in the ass, since the only sequencer I have is a Beatstep Pro which doesn't do polyphonic sequencing. But I think I can get away with controlling everything by using the onboard sequencer on the Volcas, SH-01A and the looper on the CS. The plan is to use the BSP to sequence the Keys for arpeggios and control the Sample and the Drum for more intricate 64 step beats. Synth loops would be handled using the SH-01a, while drones would be done using the CS looper. The FM and Bass I mostly use for noise, so I can get away with just playing them or using the onboard sequencers. More conventional keyboard playing will be handled either by the CS, or the SH-01a by controlling it with a Keystep. I also play guitar on some numbers and sing on all of my songs, so it's going to be pretty hectic, but everything goes well I think it'll be decently entertaining for the audience.

The problem is controlling the Boog, cos it makes up of most of the more conventional synth bass sounds I use, and buying another keyboard/sequencer would take up too much space, which I'm already sorely lacking. I'm toying with the idea of using the MS-20 Mini I have instead, but its awkward shape makes it a headache to bring on stage too. The Squarp Pyramid seems to be the solution for all my sequencing issues, but it's a bit too expensive for me atm. Decisions, decisions...

All in all I'm really happy with the setup I have right now though. I was planning to buy another polysynth down the line, but the CS doesn't sound too shabby especially in the upper range and the SH-01a sounds amazing as a polysynth. So I'm going to stop buying more synths until I finish writing the album I've been writing, and if I feel like I've got nothing in the creative gas tank I'm thinking of buying some more off kilter synths which can do self-triggering music, such as the Bastl Kastl, Volca Modular, Hyve Synth and the Lyra-8.

[brianjdc]

Check out a korg sq1 for the boog. It's small and inexpensive, work great with mine and has CV outs as well

[tdbajus]

The SQ1 is more fun than a barrel of monkeys.

[StevenO]

I'm hoping to find a cheap one of those. I love sequencers! Right now, I get a lot of fun out of my SH-01a as a sequencer/arpeggiator and my Arturia Keystep. But would love the SQ-1 as well!

I use the little Roland keyboard that fits the SH-01A and use the onboard sequencer for it (or midi out to my Juno 106). And then I use my Keystep with my Boog, mostly. Works very well.

[Maggieo]

^ Did you know that there's a hidden acoustic piano sound on the CP? Apparently it sound really good and all the onboard effects on the CP work on it too.

I saw that before it arrived and it was the first thing I did right after putting the batteries in! It sounds AMAZING.

[Zork]

Yamaha CP in da house!

The keys are slightly weighted and velocity-sensitive. It's really nice to play.

Even if some muscles I haven't used in years are yelling at me!

That was a good move. Well done!

Came here to see if anyone already posted about that new synth from that new company that's all over youtube and looks and sounds amazing!
Behold, the AMS Hydrasynth: https://youtu.be/74NFyK2K85I

[Zork]

And by the way: Daniel Fisher! This man is awesome! Right?

[mackerelmint]

That thing is more synth than I can get my head around, but it sure sounds good! With the poly aftertouch and ribbon, and the quality of sound, it kind of strikes me as a modern digital CS80, in a way. But with 3 oscillators instead of two. Also, with all of those LFOs, it kind of does a more controllable version of the LFO per note thing the Kijimi synth can do.