Top Raspberry Pi Synthesizers Links

1.  Piana 2.0 is being worked on


2. Raspberry Pi Looper Link


3. Run Puredata on Raspberry Pi

4. A guide to setup Raspberry Pi to run low latency audio.

5. Raspberry Pi MS-20 - Link

Vote For Synthesizer of the Year 2013!

Now its time to vote for synthesizer of the year! Pick ONE of your favorite synthesizers that you thought was product of the year below. Poll closes January 5th, 2014.

[poll id="4"]

The Rules of Production: Use Presets, Modify Presets, Sample and Create.

1. The best way to create music is to use other people's preset sounds.

2. Change them up. If they aren't quite right, you can try modifying them.

3. Borrow and sample. If you like a sound on someone else's music you should sample it!! Create a new music from old.

4. Add effects. Effects put a new spin on any sound instantly.

5. Demo presets against other peoples music. This is a time saver. You can tell if the sound has enough energy, style, etc. to make your final track. You can also tell if you need to adjust the effects (eq, reverb, panning, compression).

Its nice to know how sound works, however, thats not necessary to know in order to make music. Learning your synth in its entirety is a long process. Lots of artists haven't explored what their hardware is capable of, but its also not necessary.

Korg Has MS-20 in the Works

Korg are officially reissuing in the MS-20 in a smaller, more compact size. It will be using mini-jacks (1/4″ instead of 1/8″) and have USB-MIDI and is of course fully analogue."  From WaveFormz

 

Moog Sub Phatty Announced

Moog anounced the Sub Phatty today for $999. It appears to be...another analog monosynth. What they did right was include all the knobs. Only 25 keys, but they look nice. I think this would be a good first synth if it pans out. I would rather have this than the Phatty. They are probably killing off the LP, that is, if they don't understand how to tier their products.

Analog Four Demo Sounds By Elektron

Analog Four Demo Sounds By Elektron.

Analog Four Site Sounds by Elektron

http://www.musicradar.com/news/tech/elektron-unveils-full-details-of-the-analog-four-synth-566760

The device marries a 4-voice synth - featuring fully analogue oscillators, filters and signal path - with an advanced Elektron sequencer. It also features chorus, delay and reverb effects plus CV/Gate and DIN sync outputs. Check out the full spec below.

The Analog Four is set to start shipping 3 December and has an RRP of £899/$1149.

This is a decent price considering the other alternatives brand new. Sounds fantastic to me.

Novation MiniNova First Look

This sounds really great from the demo. Not a fan of mini keys, so I probably would not be interested. It looks better than the MiniKorg however.

Top 20 Digital Synthesizers Voted In The Past Year

 

Here are the top 20 Digital synthesizers that synth users have been interested in this year (2011-2012). Only four are still available to buy. (V-Synth, Virus, JP-80, Nord Wave.) Many will only be on the used market. Also interesting is that nobody listed the Blofeld which is often recommended to new users.  With Nord Modular being older, you'd think the users would have gone to Reaktor or something. This list is probably completely irrelevant to those who only use software. Personally, I would only want a handful of these in my studio.

1. Nord Modular  nord modular by sebastianBulla


2. Roland D-50  Roland D-50 pads by mark rushbury


3. V-synth (or GT, XT) V-Synth GT 06 Recesión sonora by Sweetfilterswwep


4. Kawai K5000 Kawai K5000 Creaturz Patch Pad Demo by synthboy


5. Yamaha FS1R Yamaha FS1R E-Type by SCS Silent Crab Studio


6. Kurzweil K2000 Days of Old (Kurzweil K2000) by greengostudio


7. Roland JD-800  I love jd 800 by lookinon


8. Hartmann Neuron 


9. Access Virus TI  Virus TI (Fat-Zound Clubzonatic) patches by Baltic Beats


10. Ensoniq Fizmo  Fizmo loop (test) by CrawlingWind


11. Roland Jupiter-80  Jupiter-80 Lead by SynthTest


12. Yamaha EX5  YAMAHA EX5 のプリセットを適当に弾いてみたのん by しましまP


13. Synclavier 


14. Nord Wave  Nord Wave Delay Test by mike-fibes


15. DX7  DX7 Bounce by Kaarma


16. Supernova II  Nova Supernova Soundz01 by Synthetical


17. Korg Prophecy  Clav-Nimal - Korg Prophecy (Albert Korman) by albertkorman6


18. Yamaha SY99  SY99 by Korg-Kamerat


19. Waldorf Wave  


20. Korg Z1  Melting Trumpet (Korg Z1) by RossT

Data compiled from Gearslutz forums dated 2011-2012. Losing popularity from 2008, the Access Virus TI had less people interested in it. Gaining some popularity, the Ensoniq Fizmo appeared more often. Interest in favorites like Nord Modular, Roland D-50, K5000 and FS1R stayed regular.

Listen to Saturn Bomberman Music w/ MiniMoog - June Chikuma

After purchasing a Saturn to play older games that I happened to miss, I had to get Saturn Bomberman (1996). It is a direct sequel to the Sega Genesis "Mega Bomberman" which had excellent music. Since the Saturn supports CD, the music was taken to the next level in this game. Most songs featured the MiniMoog.
 
 
Saturn Bomberman/June Chikuma by June Chikuma

Musicians : June Chikuma(key, nai, prog), Kaoru Akimoto(g, vo), Hirohiko Otsubo(b) / from SEGA SATURN Saturn Bomberman / 竹間ジュン

This is excellent music, and a great game.

Other Saturn games I have tried have not been as good, except for "Shinobi", but Saturn Bomberman is a must have. Unfortuneately most copies for for 50+ dollars on ebay, and the PC emulators out today are not very adequate. It is great that June Chikuma seems to have uploaded this music.

Thoughts on Repurposing and Combining Technologies.

New things are created when two different technologies are integrated. Also when old technologies are re-purposed. Everything comes together at a certain time and place just because we can. New musical styles can come about in the same method. They have roots in these technologies that were meshed together or repurposed. Sample synthesis brought new musical genres to the 80s and 90s. Vast computer power from 2001 and later brought about more control over our music.

What is your favorite new technology? What is an old technology that you could find a new purpose for? Thinking about these questions could lead to new music!

Lastly maybe we should spotlight softwares that are just putting out the same thing. Refining an old technology, in a way, is deconstructive. In practice its okay, but this minimalist approach should be criticized. For one thing it is not new. It does not lead to new thoughts and sounds. Secondly the decision not to incorporate other technologies leaves you with building blocks that don't connect with eachother very well...for example two VST plugins that can't interact. There are endless software clones, none of which will have a big impact because the developer chose not to repurpose and combine new things or code that was available to them. The ipad world is filled with these and get a big PASS from me. Sometimes its not a matter of inventing, which is super hard. Sometimes its just taking two things and mixing them together. You are taking a big risk if your output depends on refinement and minimalism no matter how perfect your product is. Minimalism and refinement have no place in the future because your customer and listeners are perpetually bored.

Comparison of Synth Keyboards Over $1000 in 2012

After doing the budget synth roundup I decided to do ANOTHER comparison for more expensive keyboard synthesizers. The focus is on keyboards with what the manufacturers would call a real synth engine.

We compared 11 different keyboards. $1000 is the breaking point to buy "pro" equipment. The amount of features, both analog and digital is vast so we compared them feature for feature as close as possible. Compiled in a PDF report Important features like touchscreen, knob control, and number of sound engines were compared. A value meta score, and recommended buys were given. Two synths have won the editor's choice award. What synth is king in 2012? Buy the $9 PDF to find out.

Compared:
Waldorf Blofeld, Roland Jupiter-50, Moog Phatty Stage 2, DS Prophet 08, Roland Jupiter-80, Korg Kronos, Access Virus, Dave Smith PolyEvolver, Moog Lunar Impact (Moog Voyager), Oberheim 2-Voice, and Moog Voyager XL.

Only $9

A Comparison of Analog Synthesizers Under $700 in 2012

Which budget analog synthesizer should you buy? This is a common question in forums. We compared 8 different "budget" analog synthesizers straight off the shelf, and two unreleased. Although $700 seems like a lot in 2012, that is about the default limit for lower end. Anything over that price and people expect much more. Compiled in a PDF report is a comparison of important features (like memory, audio input, hard sync), value meta score, recommended buys, and two synths have won the editor's choice awards. Which synth has the most sound editing features? Buy the $9 PDF to find out.

Compared:
Korg Monotron Duo, MonoTribe, Dave Smith Mopho, Dave Smith Evolver, EOWave Domino, Moog Minitaur, Arturia Minibrute, Vermona Lancet.

Only $9

Ninstrument

A Ninstrument is a custom built rack mountable sound module that can accommodate any number of vintage gaming systems to produce unique era centric sounds. We use only ORIGINAL HARDWARE in our systems. We don’t use emulators or knock-off type products.

by Absolute Extremes Ninstrument

First Look: Waldorf Pulse 2

http://waldorfmusic.de/products/pulse-2.html

Analog Monophonic Synthesizer

• 3 analog oscillators + 1 noise generator



• Pulse width modulation



• Hard sync



• Filter FM from Oscillator 3



• Ring Modulation from Oscillator 3



• XOR Osc Mode



• 8/4 Voice Paraphonic modes



• Cascade Filter



• 24dB/12db Lowpass, 12db Highpass/Bandpass filter modes



• Powerful Arpeggiator



• 8-slot Modulation Matrix



• USB



• MIDI



• External analog signal input



• Stereo line out



• Headphone out



• Backwards compatible with classic Pulse



• 128x64 character backlit LCD



• 8 stainless steel knobs



• 500 Sound Programs



• Electron-absorbing black case

New Product: Akai Professional MPC Renaissance

I love all the inputs. This looks like the best hardware controller I've ever seen. If the software is good, you might not need Ableton anymore. Awesome.

Link

MPC Renaissance

Music Production Controller

› Fuses legendary MPC production with the power of your computer

› Vintage Mode changes sound character to MPC3000, MPC60 and more

› 16 backlit MPC pads,16 Q-Link controls, and adjustable backlit LCD screen

Kronos Official Video

Tempest Drum Machine Rocks.

New from Roger Linn and DSI

Korg Kronos Revealed

Korg Kronos found on Hipasonic.com

What is it? A premium piano, electric piano, tonewheel organ, MS-20, Korg PolySix, AL-1 Analog Synth, Waveshaping, Plucked String, and HD-1 High Definition synthesizer.

AND a sequencer!!!

http://www.hispasonic.com/noticias/presentacion-korg-kronos/6613

This is definitely a M30 replacement/companion. It comes in 61, 76, and 88 keys. I want to hear this mafucka!

Might have to wait till tomarrow or friday. It might be expensive, but very quiet. It contains a Solid State Drive (SSD)

http://www.hispasonic.com/noticias/presentacion-korg-kronos/6613

KDJ-One Portable Touchscreen Synthesizer

KDJ-ONE packs everything you need to produce music into a portable CD case sized 126x150x27mm unit, making it the world's first fully mobile DAW. Features include a powerful synthesizer, drum machine, and support for ACID format audio tracks. KDJ-ONE can also be used as a VST instrument, or a controller for other DAW software.

Cyberstep Link

Moog Voyager XL

Is this real?

Page Link

found on gearslutz via MC202.com