By lo-fi
Wed Oct 20, 2004 10:28 am
BRAVO wrote:Sampler = If you got the time & patience this could be the route. They have a big appitite so u gotta feed em well
Synth/module = A good option if you jus wanna turn on your sh*t and get down to it. Still requires patience tho...Programming etc
I beg to differ. What you say about synths/modules goes for S+S synths, a.k.a. ROMplers. These come with a fixed (often expandable) set of samples as starting waveforms that determine pretty much which direction the sound you're programming is going to take. I've owned a JV1080 and came to the conclusion that I hate this type of synthesis. It's great if you just want to quickly select a convincing Oboe sound and play it, but if you want all your sounds to feel like your own, you very quickly get stuck.
Analog or VA synths, as has been explained above, are different beasts altogether. The starting waveforms are not samples, but just basic waves that can be represented by mathematical formulas; square/pulse wave, sawtooth, triangle, sometimes sine. With even the most basic analog synth, the sonic possibilities are endless.
Especially if you choose a fully analog synth that doesn't have a way of storing presests (most vingage models, M3x, modulars...), you know you'll be coming with something unique every time you turn it on. In my experience, the ones without presets/full midi control sound even more 'alive' or 'organic' than the digitally controlled analogs (SE1x, pulse, Voyager, Andromeda...).
Thing is, a ROMpler will NOT sound or behave like an analog synth (even though they often try), and an analog synth can only do a handful out of the hundreds of sounds that are in a ROMpler.
ROMplers are good for emulating real instruments: realistic strings, classical instruments, Rhodes, etc. There are people that totally tweak their ROMpler's sounds, but I suspect most users just go for the presets, and adjust basic parameters like atack/release and filter settings to taste. Most romplers also have a few banks of SFX and 'analog synth sounds', but IMHO these quickly sound tired when you get too familliar with them. A good Rhodes sound is always a good Rhodes sound, but the 'analog' or SFX stuff needs to be different every time you hear it. It follows that if you're a good keyboard player, you can get a lot of milage out of a ROMpler; you just need good, playable keyboard sounds. If you're more of a 'sound tweaker', then a ROMpler will feel very limited.
A good rack sampler can do anything a rompler can, and it's infinitly expandable in the sounds department, but it's clumsy compared to the 'turn-it-on' simplicity of a ROMpler. Keeping a library takes work, and having to load everything up before you can play anything can often be enough to kill a creative spark.
Analog synths are good for bass, leads, bleeps, squelchy sounds, and all sorts of typical 'synth' sounds, including brass and strings (polyphony permitting). Programming is very direct on most analogs, with lots of knobs to tweak. There are no samples inside, so in theory can turn any sound into any other sound by just turning knobs. Analogs invite you to tweak your sounds. Many (older) models don't have presets, so you just have to turn knobs to get a different sound. If you're a 'sound tweaker', you can use a good analog for 20 years and not get bored with it.
VA synths do everything Analog synths do, and often lots more, but IMHO don't sound quite as good as a good true analog (some get very close though). If you need 'analog' sounds, but you also need the polyphony, then VA is the way to go. If monophonic will do, go for a true analog. If it's a good one it will keep it's value.
FM synths are good for some types of bass sounds, bells, 'metallic' sounds, shimmery pads, and abstract, other-worldly SFX. They are without exeption a b*tch to program (without a software editor), but they are also very cheap. You can get a decent FM synth s/h for $100 - $200.
Then there is wavetable synthesis, and additive synthesis, and granular...
