All,

OK I know the prospect of a bass player dabbling in keyboards is a frightening one but I need an inexpensive synth to provide some interesting warm, ambient, string-like pads (behind my cliché-free fretless Wal bass solos - no, only joking, they're clichéd full to the brim).

So, what to get? Something perviously enjoyed from the evil-bay or a new Xiosynth or similar. Or would the keyboard controller and plug-in instrument be a better solution (I'm using PT LE)? Have to say though that I'm decidedly old-school about actually playing and fiddling with instruments rather than letting a computer do it for me (and of course a synth will always drive a plug-in too).

Any suggestions?

Ta
Phil

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Freelance audio product designer/writer
www.philward.biz

Hybrid is a neat bit of kit for PT.
I have great fun with it.

Otherwise, a hardware synth such as Korg 01/FD or any of the chepaer X or N series would do the job.

I use and M1, having owned Tritons etc, - sometimes it good to just turn it on and play.........

Heya Phil

Quote Phil Ward:

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Have to say though that I'm decidedly old-school about actually playing and fiddling with instruments rather than letting a computer do it for me
Ta
Phil

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Last week by some amazing fluke managed to get a Novation X-Station 25 from heBaY.

I've been a pc only man for a while, and its been driving me nuts, fiddling around on a screen was doin myhead in.

I badly needed instant sounds, hardware knobs, instant playablity without having to turn on the dreaded pc
or having to go through various banks of sounds & parameters on a plugin.

What i like about the X-Station is its got 200 sounds, and a K series synth engine .. easy top manipulate, replace the stored sounds..
I just put in 6xC batteries or power it from the included ac adptor and i am ready to play.
I can hook it up to pc just using the usb cable, No batteries Nor ac adaptor required, open up Sonar and lay down tracks.

Its that easy and intuitive.

If i want a different sound to what the X-Staion has it is easy enough after laying down the track
to shift trough plugins to find one more appropriate.

The X-Station has on board effects which can be recorded to pc, i use the distortion a lot.

Really like the sliders which in addition to synth control double as mixer control.
The generous amounts of knobs give plenty of control too.
The pitch mod control is ace.
The dedicated transport buttons for pc sequencer are useful.

Its got 2 phantom mic ins ofcourse, as well as spdif out, midi in & out, audio out.

Quote:

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I need an inexpensive synth to provide some interesting warm, ambient, string-like pads

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Korg Wavestation. Dirt cheap and excellent pad machines. If you go for the keyboard then the EX is the one to get. Better still, get a controller keyboard and the SR rack - insane amount of great pad sounds.

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Veni, Vidi, Aesculi
(I came, I saw, I conkered)

I have to say I'm in total agreement with table for 2. me & my band mate got a production laptop over christmas & we run it with a novation X-station I attained. I [ ****** ] love that little machine! the key action is great, the onboard synth is seriously nice, the contoller section is very handy, the XLR mic inputs are (suprisingly) rather nice aswel! the fact that they have onboard DSP to either record OR monitor with is crazy cool also (it excepts instrument level also & last but definatly not least... the whole thing can run off batterys for 6 hours! whats even cooler, if you slam rechargables in there, when you power the X from the mains, it actually charges the batterys for you! I routinely go to bed with just this & headphones & program b4 sleeping. the Xiosynth is of the same ilk, I head that the synth section was re-written to make its sounds a little more raw & gritty, tho you only get 1 line & mic in as apposed to combi sockets, & theres ALOT less knobs etc to programing is a little cumberson.

other synths I'd recomend from personal experience

waldorf XTk - its rare as [ ****** ] & is a [ ****** ] ANIMAL!
Novation Nova II - great sound, great keys, deep synthesis
Korg Z1 - super deep synthesis & a decent GUI aswel
Alesis Ion - good sound & old style programming
Nord Lead - simple, sounds great & really punchy
Alesis Fusion - on its way out now & thus is super cheap, good for combining samples & VA

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visit www.stoltz.co.uk now

Quote Dave B:

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Korg Wavestation. Dirt cheap and excellent pad machines. If you go for the keyboard then the EX is the one to get. Better still, get a controller keyboard and the SR rack - insane amount of great pad sounds.

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Add the Trinity rack into that equation if you can get over the damn editing scroller. Some fantastic pad sounds.

Alternatively, you could get a Roland JV 5080 (3080, 2080 etc) and load it up with some great cards to expand the sonic arsenal or just use the bog standard sounds: they are decent pads in there.

Yamaha FS1R also has some great pad sounds, along with a ton of other usable sounds.

The Z1 can create some great evolving pads and the X/Y pad allows for some great real time manipulation.

Alternatively, any half decent sampler will give you more options and a much larger library base.
Emu, Akai, Yamaha, Kurzweil etc all spring to mind.

If you want to go down the vsti route then Atmosphere is stocked with a gazillion pad sounds.

Cronox is also good for evolving pad sounds, as is the free Crystal.

There are many more and I am sure others will chime in with their recs.

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Samplecraze
Stretch That Note

I would go for FXpansion VST to RTAS wrapper, and Korg Legacy digital, that gets you a fully expanded M1 (with a resonant filter) and a Wavestation inside Pro Tools for small money, and much easier to work with than the hardware versions, IMO. Take your pick of controller keyboards with knobs- M Audio, Edirol, etc.

Crystal is then yours for the taking, it works great in PT with the fxpansion wrapper. Great synth.

ACtually, this way, you're getting three synths, all of which are excellent at pads!

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madtheory creations
Synths and pianos for Kontakt

+1 for the Korg Z1. The physical modelling of real instruments is the best you will hear from any synth.

Also, the Roland JP8000 is a great keyboard, and more than sufficient for you purposes, but only if you want synth sounds.

If you are looking to emulate real instruments, then get a sampler.

I tell you what, get yourself a JP8000 for £375, and an AKAI S3000XL for £75. That way, you'll cover all bases (pun fully intended).

Quote Zukan:

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Add the Trinity rack into that equation if you can get over the damn editing scroller. Some fantastic pad sounds.

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Incidently you can graphically edit the Trinity or TR-Rack from your PC with a free PC librarian and sound-editor called "Trinitro" by Kevin Goodman, over MIDI.

http://www.korgforums.com/forum/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=18508

The complex envelopes on the Trinity/TR-rack do allow you to make some great evolving paddage.

I also recommend one of the older Access Virus synths too, as they competently lend themselves in the atmospheric/paddage/strings stakes. Picked up an Indigo (Virus-B engine) a good few years ago on ebay for £400 and love it to bits. Easily my favourite bit of kit. High quality onboard effects too (Reverb+Delay, Chorus, Phaser, and Distortion), and stereo audio-in. Wish it had a ribbon-controller, but I digress.

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http://Infekted.org ~ Access Virus news & community

That's all brilliant stuff.

Thanks guys.

Phil

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Freelance audio product designer/writer
www.philward.biz