Which synth is best for synth punk?

VST, AU, AAX, CLAP, etc. Plugin Virtual Instruments Discussion
RELATED
PRODUCTS

Post

So I was going to title this post 'Serum vs. Massive which and why' but I'm blind when it comes to the world of synths. Just browsing a couple of these topics brings up synths I've never heard of that I am now extremely grateful to have the knowledge of!

I am just breaking into the virtual synth world. On my machine I own serum and massive. I am used to playing cheap keyboards or my roland stage piano with the synth presets. Some of which I actually like but for the most part I am looking for an upgrade. I play a lot of synth punk and alternative synth style rock and roll. So I am looking for synth leads and crunchy/distorted synths along with atmospheric sounds. That's not only what I am after but I am looking for some new 'main' tones. It seems like most synths are more EDM based these days so I am just curious if there's anything out there that I might be missing and what synth I should consider my 'main' go to synth.

Here's a spotify playlist with a lot of the music that falls in a similar genre http://open.spotify.com/user/1247779508 ... 2UsdXz89rU

Thanks,
Kevin
Win 7 | Dual Xeon x5680 | 48 GB RAM | Saffire Pro 40 | Yamaha HS50 monitors |Cubase 8.5 Pro|
Image
Kevin DiGennaro

Post

Oddity2 is probably the most punkrock synth you can get. Imposcar2 is also awesome as f**k.

http://www.gforcesoftware.com/products/oddity2
http://www.gforcesoftware.com/products/imposcar2


Between those two, massive and serum you might not need anything else.
:borg:

Post

V0RT3X wrote:Oddity2 is probably the most punkrock synth you can get. Imposcar2 is also awesome as f**k.

http://www.gforcesoftware.com/products/oddity2
http://www.gforcesoftware.com/products/imposcar2


Between those two, massive and serum you might not need anything else.
Both of those sound great and are definitely more punk out of the box. My question is where should I start? I've got serum and massive and both can be a bit overwhelming. Presets are great but I can't quite get the tones I want because I don't really know the best way to create the tones. So starting out where would you recommend starting?

Thanks,
Kevin
Win 7 | Dual Xeon x5680 | 48 GB RAM | Saffire Pro 40 | Yamaha HS50 monitors |Cubase 8.5 Pro|
Image
Kevin DiGennaro

Post

theEmbark wrote:
V0RT3X wrote:Oddity2 is probably the most punkrock synth you can get. Imposcar2 is also awesome as f**k.

http://www.gforcesoftware.com/products/oddity2
http://www.gforcesoftware.com/products/imposcar2


Between those two, massive and serum you might not need anything else.
Both of those sound great and are definitely more punk out of the box. My question is where should I start? I've got serum and massive and both can be a bit overwhelming. Presets are great but I can't quite get the tones I want because I don't really know the best way to create the tones. So starting out where would you recommend starting?

Thanks,
Kevin
Well learning a bit about wavetable synthesis would be a good start, then you'll learn a bit about what you already own. Wavetable synthesis is kind of a hard to jump into if you have little understanding of synthesis.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wavetable_synthesis

Hope that helps a bit,
Good luck :)

*edit* - Sorry the answer doesn't seem to help so much, but learning synthesis can be challenging.

This is a good read that might help you wrap your head around synthesis.
https://www.soundonsound.com/sos/1997_a ... hool1.html
:borg:

Post

Thank you very much for the reply! I agree that I need to learn more about synthesis to really be able to take advantage of really any digital synth. Thank you for the link I will read this evening! There's a lot about synthesis out there but I've had trouble getting started with something that's really applicable to what my end goal is.

Thanks again,
Kevin
Win 7 | Dual Xeon x5680 | 48 GB RAM | Saffire Pro 40 | Yamaha HS50 monitors |Cubase 8.5 Pro|
Image
Kevin DiGennaro

Post

I suggest Waves Element (it is discounted now, I think for $72) and the tutorial from Groove3 about it. It is an easy synth to learn and it also sounds great.

The tutorial is about version 1, but the current version has the two versions in one (1 and 2) so switching between them is just a click away. The two versions are very similar in design but version 2 has a stronger filter/sound and some small additions.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FGaP8AAfBR0

Post

Sh*t son......if you want the punkest synths then use what punks used....or at least e-mus of 'em
Moogs, Arps & Sequential,(Prophets). That's what the Punk & No Wave bands in NYC used back in the day cuz it's what was around.....a Minimoog or ARP Odyssey plugged into a Marshall stack is about as punk as you can get!!

THIS.....is the BIBLE of punk synth:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=11KOFvXtg2g
the secrets to old age: Faster horses, Richer Women, Bigger CPU's

https://soundcloud.com/cristofe-chabot/sets/main

Post

CapnLockheed wrote:Sh*t son......if you want the punkest synths then use what punks used....or at least e-mus of 'em
Moogs, Arps & Sequential,(Prophets). That's what the Punk & No Wave bands in NYC used back in the day cuz it's what was around.....a Minimoog or ARP Odyssey plugged into a Marshall stack is about as punk as you can get!!

THIS.....is the BIBLE of punk synth:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=11KOFvXtg2g
Thanks for the post and the video share I will check it out. I'm trying to find a digital equivalent for right now because space is hard to come by these days. I've been listening to some of my favorite tracks and trying to pull out the sounds and reproduce them.
Win 7 | Dual Xeon x5680 | 48 GB RAM | Saffire Pro 40 | Yamaha HS50 monitors |Cubase 8.5 Pro|
Image
Kevin DiGennaro

Post

Get an arturia microbrute, that synth has a ver edgy and raw sound that would fit well in a rock band.
dedication to flying

Post

CapnLockheed wrote:Sh*t son......if you want the punkest synths then use what punks used....or at least e-mus of 'em
Moogs, Arps & Sequential,(Prophets). That's what the Punk & No Wave bands in NYC used back in the day cuz it's what was around.....a Minimoog or ARP Odyssey plugged into a Marshall stack is about as punk as you can get!!

THIS.....is the BIBLE of punk synth:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=11KOFvXtg2g
going against most everything else you said above, they used an ORGAN for that album. :roll:

here's some more organ "synth punk" (actually released before Suicide, i think, though Suicide had been around for years by that point):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZKxOa3ZjPKk

Post

God, I love The Misfits, but oh how i dislike organs..almost as terrifying as e-pianos.

For punk i recommend FM8 or Bazille. Since you already have Massive and Serum i suggest just getting to know them a little better. Just the basics, really.. you don't need to dig too deep at first... experiment with them. Read the manuals, or watch some tutorials. They might be all you need.

If you just want to get straight into making music without having to worry about designing sounds then most any synth from Arturia should work too.

Post

Ohmforce Symptohm - It has a punk skin:
https://www.ohmforce.com/media/v5/sympt ... funky1.png

Post

Won't bother

Post

I used to play synth punk back in the day in an all-synth band. We went through a lot of synths but the ones we found that worked well were:
- Korg MonoPoly - because of the nasty cross-mod and sync
- Pro-1 - because it had guts (although the damn things kept drifting out of tune)
- SH101 - bass machine of course
- MS20 - industrial sound processing and great noise circuits

Monophonics really helped to define the sound too. You could get pretty crazy and complex and still have definition that going polyphonic would sabotage.

And what utterly failed were the simple polyphonic synths like the Juno 106. Very wimpy sound with no controls to make it howl or screech

Post

Humanoid Sound Systems - Scanned Synth Pro

http://www.humanoidsoundsystems.com/sca ... th-plugin/
Anyone who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities.

Post Reply

Return to “Instruments”