Synth recommendation for a newbie

[BONES]

I actually bought a guitar well above beginner level because I wanted to, had the cash and wanted to be inspired.

That's a different situation, though, because it isn't any harder to learn an expensive guitar than a cheap one.

[revvy]

it isn't any harder to learn an expensive guitar than a cheap one.

True. And?

[BONES]

And that makes it irrelevant to the discussion. Obviously.

[claudedefaren]

...

[revvy]

forgeddit

[revvy]

No it doesn't. Price does not correlate with ease-of-learning for a synthesizer anymore than it does a guitar.

Revvy also didn't mention anything about how difficult or not it was to learn.

Actually, neither did OP, unless he added that specification after his first post (which is primarily focused on presets and syntorial lesson availability).

Revvy's point is that skipping the "beginner instrument" stage, meaning don't buy a cheap thing you won't love later on with poor resale value, yielded a very positive result for him. I'm of the same mind myself.

Cheers!

[mrsugmad]

You may want to try this FREE highly rated VST synth crystal. Many free patches too.

https://www.greenoak.com/crystal/about.html

[ztrauq]

This may seem obvious (although I haven't seen it mentioned yet) but if you're learning through Syntorial, why not use the synth that comes with it, Primer?

https://www.syntorial.com/primer/

It's a simple synth that's apparently designed specifically for learning techniques through the program, so it seems like that could be a natural starting point.

That being said... another option if you want to explore a lot of powerful synth options on the cheap is to buy an issue of Computer Music magazine for ~5 quid or so, which gives you access to a large selection of limited/"simplified" versions of a number of major synths including I think Dune, Thorn, Bazille, and more. It also includes a CM version of Linplug Alpha, which is a good beginner synth and one that I found useful when I was starting to learn about subtractive synthesis.

[peakles]

This may seem obvious (although I haven't seen it mentioned yet) but if you're learning through Syntorial, why not use the synth that comes with it, Primer?

https://www.syntorial.com/primer/

It's a simple synth that's apparently designed specifically for learning techniques through the program, so it seems like that could be a natural starting point.

That being said... another option if you want to explore a lot of powerful synth options on the cheap is to buy an issue of Computer Music magazine for ~5 quid or so, which gives you access to a large selection of limited/"simplified" versions of a number of major synths including I think Dune, Thorn, Bazille, and more. It also includes a CM version of Linplug Alpha, which is a good beginner synth and one that I found useful when I was starting to learn about subtractive synthesis.

hey thanks for writing. I actually began with primer but I couldn't get nice sounds of it and I didn't feel so much inspired. That's why I'm trying to find another one. =) but thanks again! =))

[peakles]

You're welcome!

Regarding synths that may have superseded Serum, there are a number of possibilities. First of all, I'd point out that Serum is a specific type of synth geared toward a certain type of music, though it can do a lot of things.
...
Lots of options out there! And you don't really need to spend money at this stage unless you want to!

Hey!! Thank you VERY much once again! I really appreciate the time you took to write me so many nice information and your overview about so many different synths =) thanks a lot! I also found the analogy to the voice very usefull, I've never thought about it before =)

I researched, and watched tons of tutorials and walkthroughs and am narrowing down my list.

One of the synths I'm really considering is Ana2, which was suggested by another user, but wans't included in your posts. Do you know it? What do you think about it? I really enjoyed some presets that I could hear, and besides having so many features, I thought that I could be comfortable with the interface and there are some interesting resources as the chord memory device (which I should take care to not hold my technique to grow, but I'm sure would be usefull now). It is on sale now, and if I feel like getting other more expensive synth in the future as Sylenth1 or Serum, I'd be comforable for not have spent a lot (and I think that I could also sell it for a reasonable price if it's the case). As you were so kind and passionate about synths, I felt free to ask you about it, as I'd love to know your opinion on that. (if others have opinions about it, I'd love to hear as well, of course - I felt that the members of the kvr forum about it seems to enjoy it.)

Thanks again! All the best!

[JO512]

One of the synths I'm really considering is Ana2 ... Do you know it?

No, never tried it! I've never used anything from Slate. At some point I got a negative impression about Slate and their business model and just never really looked into anything they make.

I'd guess it's a solid synth though. But I really don't know!

I would suggest not letting a feature like chord memory decide your synth, as there are plenty of ways to add such functionality before any plugin if you want it. If you use something like that, it is better if it is plugin-independent. That way you can also use it with your sample libraries or whatever. Your DAW or MIDI controller might even have a way to do it already. The more important considerations should be about the basic synth components like the oscillators, filters, envelopes, and so on, the modulation possibilities, and the usability of the interface. Another possibly important consideration at this early stage is the availability of tutorials and whatnot.

What DAW are you using, by the way? And what style of music are you most attracted to making at this point?

[peakles]

One of the synths I'm really considering is Ana2 ... Do you know it?

No, never tried it! I've never used anything from Slate. At some point I got a negative impression about Slate and their business model and just never really looked into anything they make.

I'd guess it's a solid synth though. But I really don't know!

I would suggest not letting a feature like chord memory decide your synth, as there are plenty of ways to add such functionality before any plugin if you want it. If you use something like that, it is better if it is plugin-independent. That way you can also use it with your sample libraries or whatever. Your DAW or MIDI controller might even have a way to do it already. The more important considerations should be about the basic synth components like the oscillators, filters, envelopes, and so on, the modulation possibilities, and the usability of the interface. Another possibly important consideration at this early stage is the availability of tutorials and whatnot.

What DAW are you using, by the way? And what style of music are you most attracted to making at this point?

Hey, thanks one more time. Actually Ana2 is developed by Sonic Academy, and is from some time on the synth of SAAP. I use Reaper, and will search about other plugins of chord memory, it is nice to know about it, I didn't know something like that exists. Anyway, it wasn't the only feature I liked, the most important was the sound and the interface, which seems pleasant to me (otherwise I saw some people complaining about some different stuff in the GUI, otherwise, nothing is unanimous anyway). I saw some tutorials are available about it, but there aren't many presets or a big community around it yet.

About genre, I'm not strictly attached to any one. I do some soundtracks to documentaries and advertisement, usually with the traditional guitar, bass, drums, and orchestral vsts (and sometimes synths hehehe).

I also liked the Pigments interface, but the sound seems pretty electronic music oriented, if I'm not wrong.

[arkmabat]

I actually bought a guitar well above beginner level because I wanted to, had the cash and wanted to be inspired.

That's a different situation, though, because it isn't any harder to learn an expensive guitar than a cheap one.

The steep learning curve on a cheap guitar with thick strings and poor bridge calibration can be enough to give up. There's a huge difference from a Walmart guitar and a cheap Fender.

[BBFG#]

Strings can be changed and bridges can be calibrated. And Costco sold Fenders. So not as different as one might expect.

[arkmabat]

Strings can be changed and bridges can be calibrated. And Costco sold Fenders. So not as different as one might expect.

agreed, though i consider those part of the learning curve and many cheap guitars dont even allow for bridge adjustment.