Getting tired of synthesizers.

[perfumer]

A few days ago I was listening to my neighbour's radio...........

.... through my electric guitar.

And that helped me put VSTs in context.

VSTs are from teh future, man!

[kvotchin]

Never go full single coil, man.

[digitalboytn]

A few days ago I was listening to my neighbour's radio...........

.... through my electric guitar.

[miloszz]

I like relatively simple synths but I've realized that most wavetable synths/workstations/etc. do nothing for me. I'm not into EDM or cinematic sound design, even real world modular is more interesting in theory than practice.

[AngelCityOutlaw]

Every serious guitarist and synthnut is basically a hoarder

This is just not true. In fact, to the best of my knowledge, it’s more the other way around, for serious guitarists at least. Of course, synths are a bit special that way, in that they’re meant to be very complex instruments, right from the start, built for sound creation as well as playing. Why get into synths at all unless you want your life complicated, lol.

With acoustic instruments, you always know what they'll sound like provided you're using any halfway decent instrument.

(. . .)

Saves a lot of time and money.

Sorry to break it to you, but halfway decent acoustic instruments are horrifically expensive.

Getting into acoustic instruments of quality is not a sane way of saving money. And that’s without microphones to suit, etc.

Also, good luck learning to play them excellently in a short time. So there goes saving time.

I have never personally met a professional or even many hobbyist electric guitarists who own just one guitar forever or something.

I knew this one guy who actually welded over the dials on his tube screamer so that no one could screw with it since he was convinced he finally had his "perfect tone" in combination with this tube amp of his. That last six months before he had an entirely new setup.

There are plenty of mid-range price acoustic instruments that are very good and absolutely acceptable to record with. No shortage of demonstrations on YouTube that prove that, but I've personally seen violinists play with $150 violins and still sound incredible.

[Distorted Horizon]

I saw a vid of a flute player that compared 50€ flute vs 3500€ flute. Expensive one had a bit more depth and more nuances in sound, but generally the professional player made both flutes sound insanely good.

[chk071]

The most interesting thing would be to know what the professional flute player uses on a daily base. The 50 €, or a expensive flute.

[Distorted Horizon]

The most interesting thing would be to know what the professional flute player uses on a daily base. The 50 €, or a expensive flute.

Actually she mentioned that too.. Expensive one stays the main flute, but she took the cheap one as travelling/secondary flute
Understandable.. Most of us probably don't like to carry several thousands worth of gear around with them..

[Music Bird]

At least synths can imitate a flute perfectly like the DX7 or Moog can. The only live instruments that make sense in a contemporary context are synth, guitar, bass, drums, and piano anyways but some foreign music uses folk instruments but that's a different story.

[chk071]

The most interesting thing would be to know what the professional flute player uses on a daily base. The 50 €, or a expensive flute.

Actually she mentioned that too.. Expensive one stays the main flute, but she took the cheap one as travelling/secondary flute
Understandable.. Most of us probably don't like to carry several thousands worth of gear around with them..

That's the thing though... the small differences in depth and nuances actually can make a big difference in terms of musicality and expression. Same for synthesizers.

If that's worth 70x the price is totally up to the person who's buying it. How good that we have the choice.

[donkey tugger]

There are plenty of mid-range price acoustic instruments that are very good and absolutely acceptable to record with. No shortage of demonstrations on YouTube that prove that, but I've personally seen violinists play with $150 violins and still sound incredible.

Now that I'd definitely agree with. Like all consumer goods, beyond a certain point you're 'paying for the name'. Similar to people who always think that just that one more 'big name' compressor will magically be the missing link to musical perfection....

[AngelCityOutlaw]

The most interesting thing would be to know what the professional flute player uses on a daily base. The 50 €, or a expensive flute.

Actually she mentioned that too.. Expensive one stays the main flute, but she took the cheap one as travelling/secondary flute
Understandable.. Most of us probably don't like to carry several thousands worth of gear around with them..

That's the thing though... the small differences in depth and nuances actually can make a big difference in terms of musicality and expression. Same for synthesizers.

Not really. The difference between the synthesizer and the flute is that the synthesizer doesn't have a definite, universally-recognizable sound and is limited in what sounds it can produce, and how well it sounds, depending on synthesis type and other variables.

Flute always sounds like "flute", so whether you have a 50 dollar flute or a 3,000 dollar one, it's not going to make a difference in what you can play with it and maintain authenticity to the style.

[Music Bird]

I agree. Synths are capable of so much more than bleeps and blips. They can be just as expressive as an acoustic instrument and ROMplers and samples are used plenty of times when a horn or string section isnt available. Even Walter Murphy uses a JV-1080 to score Family Guy along with his studio ensemble of 60+ musicians.

Edit: there are plenty of cheap acoustic instruments from Amazon. If you want to learn one a cheap instrument can be the best.

[digitalboytn]

Not really. The difference between the synthesizer and the flute is that the synthesizer doesn't have a definite, universally-recognizable sound and is limited in what sounds it can produce, and how well it sounds, depending on synthesis type and other variables.

Flute always sounds like "flute", so whether you have a 50 dollar flute or a 3,000 dollar one, it's not going to make a difference in what you can play with it.

Not really....

With a real flute,you can pick it up and smack someone over the head with it if the're making derogatory comments about your playing...

The smacking creates a new dynamic timbre and the screams and groans from the person getting whacked are another ballgame altogether

So when you use a flute creatively,it can generate quite a range of different sounds

[BONES]

Anyone else getting tired of the bleep bloop, sounds of synthesizers??

You're an idiot.

I've been fairly tired of them for years now, and for the same reasons. Synths just simply can't match the human touch and expression of acoustic instruments.

What a load of bollocks. Maybe you can't manage it but I have no trouble at all getting at least the same level of expression out of my synths as anyone playing any other instrument. You just have to look at all the different tools we have for that purpose to see the truth of it - velocity, after touch, pitch-bend, mod wheel - and that's just the stuff that's been with us for decades. These days we have a new generation of MIDI controllers with much more than just that. Compare that to what a piano player has to work with and it is obvious to anyone that if you can't be several times more expressive in your synth playing than a pianist, then you can't be trying.

The other thing is that the more "interesting" a synth timbre becomes, the less musical it tends to be. There's all kinds of really cool pads and stuff out there, but they're useless for melody or bass. The sounds that are useful for melodies are the more basic ones, which also tend to sound a lot cheesier.

That is one of the most ridiculous arguments I have ever heard. What you say is true of all instruments. What sounds simpler than a double bass, for example? Certainly none of the sounds I use for my basslines. What sounds cheesier than a clarinet?

I find that I get bored of a genre. Making the same thing over and over again isn't what I call inspiring.

So why stick to one? Nobody's forcing you.

That's why I love modular synthesis. It's not held back by making XYZ song. Instead, I focus on making whatever sound that comes to mind.

That's just you putting up artificial barriers, it's nothing real.

I was getting very bored with VSTis... :yawn:
now every patch is a new instrument...

What a shame it means you have to throw away the last one to make way for it.

with real knobs to gently tweak and hear the response.

Can you press SHIFT and adjust it even more finely? No, you can't, all you can manage is a crude approximation of the control you get when you work ITB.

I love synthesizers in general, I just don’t like the lack of dedicated physical controls. I used to be all in on the touch screens and whatnot, but the longer I use a computer, and the more I’ve tried to use synths with touch screens (including my Korg M3 module which needed me to literally replace the defective touch panel), the more I’ve come to dislike the computerization and menu-diving aspect of all of this stuff.

Again, these are choices you make. I also hate menu diving so I look for software and workflows that minimise the need to do it. That's why I used to make my own synths in SynthEdit. They were simple and straightforward, everything on one (small) screen. That's why I always grab Thorn before DUNE, PhasePlant before Massive and why I don't have many of those multi-windowed instruments in my VST folder.