Syntheseizer

better than what?

bass station 2 can produce some naughty sounds, Virus series is popular too...really depends what you are comparing it to, and what you want from it, there isn't much (anything) you can do on a hardware synth, that you cant do in a VST, the main difference people are looking for is the sound of the filters and analog distortions etc, but again it depends what you are comparing to and what you are used to using...
 
It's quite limited if you ask me. If you want more options towards creating drum and bass buy a sampler instead.
As you want your music sounding more and more diverse im guessing

A random stock synth that comes with your DAW + a Sampler is way more powerful than what you are buying right now.
 
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all in all, with some normal layering, the bass station 2 is capable of some utterly outlandish shit. and its fun to have a hardware synth, you just have to use the best of both worlds, so record different sounds and layer them. make a 12 osc supersaw maybe. always record low, mid, high separately etc.

having said that i concur with whats said by everyone else in this thread. i tend to think about it the way [MENTION=97560]Visions[/MENTION] said, a free
vsti and a hardware sampler is such complete power
 
not really a great reason to spend huge amounts on a synth lol esp when midi control surface can cost peanuts

Most second hand hardware holds its value very well, and you get back more or less what you pay for it should you sell it a year later. What's your used copy of massive worth?r
 
Most second hand hardware holds its value very well, and you get back more or less what you pay for it should you sell it a year later. What's your used copy of massive worth?r

I don't use Massive, or infact any other VST synth, I use everything that's built into Live Studio, its more than enough, combined with control surfaces

...but that wasn't my point at all, buying a synth because you can turn more than one knob at a time, is not a good reason to buy a synth, you buy it because of its sound, its unique filters and other things, not for pots


and actually most second hand synths go for at least half their RRP, 2/3's if the seller is lucky
 
Hi, just got a quick question which I think is loosely related to synths. When listening to regular dnb tracks say Logistics - the grid or fred V & G - Purple Gates, how do these people make the music behind all the drum and bass. Do they actually make that bit themselves or do they find loops I don't really know how I would start making the music part I know there are pads and synths but still? Any help would be great thanks,
 
I
...but that wasn't my point at all,
Turning two knobs at once, and reselling your gear ARE two things you can do with hardware. Fucked if I know wat your point is tbh.
and actually most second hand synths go for at least half their RRP, 2/3's if the seller is lucky

By 'second hand synth' I meant buying used. My virus synth is worth as much today as it was when I bought it 5 years ago. I paid for shipping, thats about it. My emx has dropped by about 15% what I paid. My rm1x has increased in value. What's your copy of Live worth? Will it be worth more in a few years?
People say hardware is expensive but it really isn't all that bad.

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you guys recommend any samplers i think my old Akai S01 needs an upgrade?
I enjoy my mpc1000. Better workflow and speed than classic hardware, with ok sound and its a killer sequencer too. Not quite happy with controlling it with midi tho. I've a yamaha a3000 but I mostly use it as a multifx box just because its way slow to load anything. If a cheap emu comes up I'd be tempted to check it out just cos so many tracks used it. I have a yamaha mult12 which is shit. I sold my esx cos I didn't like the editing, too imprecise and it was fiddly to load samples, but it had some great points too.
 
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my copy of live is worth a hell of allot more than the RRP, seeing as it earns me a living.

resale value and pots do not make a synth, if that's what you value, then fine, but that's not why they exist or why most people buy them.


Hi, just got a quick question which I think is loosely related to synths. When listening to regular dnb tracks say Logistics - the grid or fred V & G - Purple Gates, how do these people make the music behind all the drum and bass. Do they actually make that bit themselves or do they find loops I don't really know how I would start making the music part I know there are pads and synths but still? Any help would be great thanks,

mostly people write it themselves, often there is a sample or two which the track is based around, but allot of it is written by the producer, pads, leads, arps etc

learn some chords, add some pads, play a few notes via a synth using the same notes as you used in the chords, add some samples and FX, and off you go....onto many many years of learning and hair loss :)
 
mostly people write it themselves, often there is a sample or two which the track is based around, but allot of it is written by the producer, pads, leads, arps etc

learn some chords, add some pads, play a few notes via a synth using the same notes as you used in the chords, add some samples and FX, and off you go....onto many many years of learning and hair loss :)

Thanks for the response. When you suggest learning some chords do you mean using a piano? I'm using logic so I was wondering what instruments/plugins would be good to use? When people typically use samples for a DNB track for either liquid or jump up any ideas where they look coz would a lot of general music be a bit slow (less than 170 bpm) ?
 
Thanks for the response. When you suggest learning some chords do you mean using a piano? I'm using logic so I was wondering what instruments/plugins would be good to use? When people typically use samples for a DNB track for either liquid or jump up any ideas where they look coz would a lot of general music be a bit slow (less than 170 bpm) ?

start off by using whatever Synths are built into your DAW - also check out the lists of "best free synths", such as this one: http://www.musictech.net/2013/10/freeware-synths-ten-of-the-best/ to get yourself some more if you run out of ideas with whatever is built into logic

if you have a piano, then yeah that's a great way to learn chords, you can then use the piano-roll in your DAW to recreate the chords (by either playing them thru a midi keyboard and recording, or drawing them straight in) and then play them back thru a synth of your choice - you can find Piano Chord Charts all over the net, have a search thru google, then either play the chords yourself on a piano, or just write the notes directly into your DAW using the piano-roll editor

to get samples to play back at the right speed, you need to learn "time stretching", that's a function in your DAW which lets you stretch or shrink a sample to a different size to match the tempo, how you go about doing it depends on the DAW you use, youtube is a good place to learn these things
 
I enjoy my mpc1000. Better workflow and speed than classic hardware, with ok sound and its a killer sequencer too. Not quite happy with controlling it with midi tho. I've a yamaha a3000 but I mostly use it as a multifx box just because its way slow to load anything. If a cheap emu comes up I'd be tempted to check it out just cos so many tracks used it. I have a yamaha mult12 which is shit. I sold my esx cos I didn't like the editing, too imprecise and it was fiddly to load samples, but it had some great points too.

Sweet i have always wanted the mpc and see what problems it has with midi, the others i will check out.
 
Sweet i have always wanted the mpc and see what problems it has with midi, the others i will check out.

I bought an MPC last year, had a bit of fun with it, recorded sum samples and cranked the gain up to get "that" sound of the MPC which is really kool, def got sum nice warmth and color to it...but in the end I just found it to be a pain in the arse to use and gave it up, despite its sound, which really is great, its a big step down from modern DAW's in terms of features and useability
 
I bought an MPC last year, had a bit of fun with it, recorded sum samples and cranked the gain up to get "that" sound of the MPC which is really kool, def got sum nice warmth and color to it...but in the end I just found it to be a pain in the arse to use and gave it up, despite its sound, which really is great, its a big step down from modern DAW's in terms of features and useability

I stupidly bought on impulse the novation controller thing for doing some mixes for potential podcast nonesense with me and some mates and find it a bit flimsly and the buttons too small, in hindsight i mabye should have got the push for ableton. im wrkn a lot over xmas n new year so will have decent coinage so ill keep the novation midi controllers in bag for use at work... but want something i can get into again, and after talk in another thread about synthesis mabye a sampler is the answer i like the old S01 but its too much of a workflow hassle also the sound certainly isnt any good for dnb prod. cant hurt to try the mpc ill just sell it if i dont like it also i like the use of word kool comming from you must be good bit of gear and its all about sound for me. Regarding the podcasts im killing two birds with one stone by getting my lad a little extra for his xmas by buying a numark mixer so ill get a shot when hes not around lol.
 
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