Whats a good synth for beginners?

I've been considering buying one recently. I have been playing guitar for several years and compose music every day, so I'm not new to making music at all, but I am new to this particular way of doing it. I figure this could definitely broaden my horizons. How are the M-Audio synths?

Also, the music I'd be making would probably be some sort of ambient-ish music, without blatantly ripping off others' styles, of course.

Free vsts

Some sort of midi controller keyboard if you want to play the notes out.

Hmm sweet. Where's a good place to find free VSTs?

http://www.kvraudio.com/

I definitely agree with free vsts. Learn about making patches and how analog & digital synths work, and then get into hardware once you've got that sussed.

  On 3/6/2011 at 10:29 PM, sergeantk said:

Hmm sweet. Where's a good place to find free VSTs?

The internet.

also a good place to find free VSTs: the thread right above this one

http://forum.watmm.com/topic/2842-moscas-free-plugins-list/

programming can be as easy or deep as you like

  On 3/6/2011 at 10:05 PM, sergeantk said:

I've been considering buying one recently. I have been playing guitar for several years and compose music every day, so I'm not new to making music at all, but I am new to this particular way of doing it. I figure this could definitely broaden my horizons. How are the M-Audio synths?

 

Also, the music I'd be making would probably be some sort of ambient-ish music, without blatantly ripping off others' styles, of course.

While vst's (virtual studio technology) are good, I would respectfully disagree with these gentlemen and say that having an actual piece of hardware is better to start with. If you have hardware, there is no mucking around with software jargon, just the connection between you and a physical object. Plug in headphones or speakers and you are good to go.

Learning about synthesis was a very physical process for me and couldn't have happened in a virtual framework. That said, most synths that are inexpensive and readily available are basically vst's in a box. Analog synths aren't mass produced anymore with a few exceptions. But having something physical in front of you is completely different than peering into your screen at something artificial.

I use a korg ms2000, which is not true analog but analog modeling, meaning the sound is generated digitally instead of with circuits and voltage.

[http://www.korgms2000b.co.uk/images/KorgMS2000B_angled.gif]

I use vst's as well, but I feel a much stronger connection with my brain/body and my ms2000 than with my computer.

Yeah, I second buying hardware. Being dependent on a computer and MIDI controllers is just not fun. Having a fixed knob that is always in the same ergonomically selected place and responds as it's supposed to is a luxury that I cannot stress enough. Maybe you could start with VSTs as a follow up once you get acquainted with your hardware.

Hardware also ages better since it is a standalone piece of gear that does not risk becoming obsolete after a few computer generations when the developers stop supporting it.

  On 3/7/2011 at 2:56 AM, Wall Bird said:

Yeah, I second buying hardware. Being dependent on a computer and MIDI controllers is just not fun. Having a fixed knob that is always in the same ergonomically selected place and responds as it's supposed to is a luxury that I cannot stress enough. Maybe you could start with VSTs as a follow up once you get acquainted with your hardware.

 

Hardware also ages better since it is a standalone piece of gear that does not risk becoming obsolete after a few computer generations when the developers stop supporting it.

right. a synth is designed to work one way and it will always work in that exact way as long as it is functioning. limitations are a huge plus when you are composing.

plus most vst's interfaces look like hardware. look up simulacrum if you don't know what it means.

You know what, the reason I suggest vsts are because if you purchase hardware when you don't know what you're doing, chances are, you're going to get something that's going to be completely worthless when you do actually know what you're doing. I totally know what you're saying as far as hardware being a plus for composing, but when you're first getting into it, what matters is figuring out how things work.

How come no one has suggested Reason yet?

Its basically like working with hardware, but you can hit save.

  On 3/7/2011 at 5:39 PM, acid1 said:

How come no one has suggested Reason yet?

 

Its basically like working with hardware, but you can hit save.

That's true. I use reason. I actually bought it, a few years back. It's great. Though the synths are slightly irregular.

  On 3/7/2011 at 5:52 PM, sheatheman said:

That's true. I use reason. I actually bought it, a few years back. It's great. Though the synths are slightly irregular.

what does "irregular" mean in this case?

I started with one of these:

Korg MS2000.

Thank you guys, this has been really helpful. I guess Im gonna start by reading up and educating myself on synthesizers.

And eventually I will be making analogue synths for myself, cause I will definitely learn how to make them throughout my major at university.

I would say start with free software vst synths first, then move on to hardware when you have a better idea of what you want. When starting out, it's important to have easy access to all synthesis parameters and not have to sort through menus. Unfortunately most hardware synths that have a knob dedicated to each parameter are very expensive, and out of reach. Getting something like the ion will just cause confusion IMO, and will make it harder for you to learn programming. There is only one hardware synth that I would recommend for a beginner, and that's the Korg MS2000, which has already been mentioned several times on this thread. This is excellent advice, however, they don't make them anymore so you would have to hunt one down used. They have the same engine as the microkorg, but more knobs and less menus.

For software synths, I cut my teeth on this synth:Ichiro Toda's Synth-1. You can find a manual for it here. I think this is the perfect synth for a beginner. It's simple, easy to understand, no menu diving, contains everything you need to make most sounds, basic effects, and can be very deep and powerful if you want it to be. It has a huge cult following, and even though it may not sound quite as fat and analog as some of the newer commercial stuff, it still sounds quite good in its own right. I think it has a similar bite to some of the later roland synths, and it has the uncanny ability to be able to mimic other synths with ease. Whenever I hear a sound and I want to reproduce it, I can dial it in 10x faster on Synth-1 than anything. It just has this vanilla sound that can be tweeked into anything you want. This is not the case with a lot of fatter sounding VAs. There are plenty of people that have made great sounding music using nothing but this synth alone.

My second recommendation would be Togu Audio Line's Noisemaker. This synth isn't quite as powerful as Synth-1, but it's newer, fatter sounding (as good as most commercial stuff IMO), and has a really sleek GUI. It's also dead simple to program.

Both of them are free, and I would highly recommend either of them over most of the other stuff out there. But if you go the hardware route, the MS2000 also gets my vote.

I have no hardware, but I think the microKorg would be awesome.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MicroKORG

I 2nd synth1. It is my go to subtractive synth. i use it on every piece I make.

  On 3/7/2011 at 11:25 PM, chassis said:

I have no hardware, but I think the microKorg would be awesome.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MicroKORG

The MicroKorg is great, but it's a chore to program. Most people I know who have one just use it for tweaking presets. Not enough knobs and a painful GUI IMO.

Ableton Live

  On 3/7/2011 at 11:34 PM, MrSparkle666 said:

  On 3/7/2011 at 11:25 PM, chassis said:

I have no hardware, but I think the microKorg would be awesome.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MicroKORG

 

The MicroKorg is great, but it's a chore to program. Most people I know who have one just use it for tweaking presets. Not enough knobs and a painful GUI IMO.

The reason I was going to get it was for midi. I think it would go well with Ableton, and there seems like enough knobs for me. Unless you need a shit ton of knobs, then I wouldnt bother getting a keyboard at all just a massive knob interface like

or something like that.

  On 3/7/2011 at 11:37 PM, chassis said:

  On 3/7/2011 at 11:34 PM, MrSparkle666 said:

  On 3/7/2011 at 11:25 PM, chassis said:

I have no hardware, but I think the microKorg would be awesome.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MicroKORG

 

The MicroKorg is great, but it's a chore to program. Most people I know who have one just use it for tweaking presets. Not enough knobs and a painful GUI IMO.

 

The reason I was going to get it was for midi. I think it would go well with Ableton, and there seems like enough knobs for me. Unless you need a shit ton of knobs, then I wouldnt bother getting a keyboard at all just a massive knob interface like

 

or something like that.

I think you are missing the point. The OP asked what would be a good beginner synth, not for a good midi controller for ableton. Also, there is a big difference between a rack of random midi knobs, and a synthesizer that actually has a hardwired knob for every parameter. If you need a midi controller, I'd say get a midi controller rather than a MicroKorg, but I've never tried using one as a midi controller, so I'll reserve judgment.

Ye I suppose so.

I just think that midi+software is probably the way to go now. Unless you have crap loads of money to pump into your hobby.

I also just noticed the OP asked how the M-Audio synths were. I got the Axiom 25 and its fantastic.

  On 3/7/2011 at 11:48 PM, chassis said:

Ye I suppose so.

 

I just think that midi+software is probably the way to go now. Unless you have crap loads of money to pump into your hobby.

 

I also just noticed the OP asked how the M-Audio synths were. I got the Axiom 25 and its fantastic.

The Axiom 25 is NOT a synthesizer. It's a midi controller.

And why would you want to buy a MicroKorg to use as a midi controller if you already have the Axiom?