Electronic Instruments & Synthesizers Chat

[Guest]

I didn't see any place to talk about electronic music equipment like Synthesizers, Electric Guitars, Bass, Talkboxes, and so on.

 

Welcome to the Discussion! Some information about electronic music:

 

What is a Synthesizer?

A Synthesizer is an electric circuit that emits a sound. Commonly these are made with some form of Oscillator.

 

What types of Synthesizers are there? How long have they been around?

Synthesizers were invented in the 1950s and have been around a long time now. Most of the earlier synthesizers were Analogue. Now, you can get digital synthesizers, analogue, or even virtual synthesizers. Some synthesizers can be rewired with what are called "Patch cables."

The cheapest "real" synthesizer is called the stylophone. It's about 70~100 us dollars and runs on AAs. You can get rechargable Duracell AAs for like 20~30 bucks on amazon with the charger and play for some time before having to recharge and save money. There's also that Otamatone which is a type of Theremin, but it doesn't have any knobs to turn.

 

What is a talkbox?

A talkbox is a speaker with a tube. Instead of plugging your instrument into an amplifier, you plug it into the talkbox and put the tube in your mouth. When you play the instrument, you mouth the words you want to say and the sound from the instrument becomes your voice.

 

How does one get into music?

The best way is to take an instrument in school if you have that option. Otherwise, you could find a music school & learn something like the Piano, guitar, or singing.

If you're in college, Music Theory really helps a lot if your teacher is passionate.

If you don't have money, search up what a scale is. Search up the circle of fifths. Search up "Modes" where you should see something about major and minor.

Learn about Chords and intervals.

 

What do I need to get started with Synthesizers?

If you like music, you can get a Synthesizer you'd like, and read the manual. It helps to understand some music, but if you're having fun for a hobby, then it doesn't matter.

 

 

I guess I'll start.

I got the Moog Grandmother last week. It's the spiritual successor to the Mini Moog which is what Trent Reznor of NIN got as his first Synthesizer. I'm having a lot of fun learning it.

The manual really explains what the sound shapes mean and how to get into the direction of different instruments.

[Brian McKee]

I got a few synths. Most impressive is probably the venerable Alpha Juno 2 from Roland, probably best known for its "hoover" sound. I use it mainly for ambient sound scapes.

 

I also own a Roland Sk-88 pro keyboard which is a sample machine but is still very impressive and very fun to play with.

 

Last and probably least I have an early 90s/late 80s Yamaha drum machine that was rescued from the actual garbage and needs some repair. It's a sample machine but they're wonderfully crunchy and it makes me smile when I use it.

[Red :)]

uhm... I guess I got a Kurzweil KP70

the patches aren't all that customizable and its only outputs are a headphone 1/4" jack and MIDI-over-USB

[Heats with Nvidia]

If anybody here has a problem, i repair that stuff. Mostly modular system modules, Buchla, Cwejman, Sequential Circuits/Dave Smith, Moog, Korg etc... I haven`t had all of them, since there are just too many, but quite a few and maybe i can help.