which first synth to explain synthesis ? substractive & additive

[Uncle E]

As he's already learning and practicing piano scores at level 5, he's not going to like to create bleeps and weird noises for a very long time ...

And also, even though he had extremely limited screen time for the first 6 years of his life
( I know : I'm a mean dad that has forbidden his son to spend hours drooling in front of a screen ) he's been fiddling already with synthesizers presets and making zaps, burps and the like ...

For the moment, his favourite synth GUI is ACE from u-he.

My daughter loves making sounds on my Roland HS-60 (Juno-106 with built-in speakers). She also enjoys building Korg DIY synth kits. Hands-on control + built-in speaker + DIY = Teenage Engineering Pocket Operator Modular.

[neverbefore]

As he's already learning and practicing piano scores at level 5, he's not going to like to create bleeps and weird noises for a very long time ...

And also, even though he had extremely limited screen time for the first 6 years of his life
( I know : I'm a mean dad that has forbidden his son to spend hours drooling in front of a screen ) he's been fiddling already with synthesizers presets and making zaps, burps and the like ...

For the moment, his favourite synth GUI is ACE from u-he.

My daughter loves making sounds on my Roland HS-60 (Juno-106 with built-in speakers). She also enjoys building Korg DIY synth kits. Hands-on control + built-in speaker + DIY = Teenage Engineering Pocket Operator Modular.

don't get too excited - children can change. Our son was very keen on sequencers and synths quite young and was an astonishing pianist almost immediately - I still remember him calling out to come and have a look at this cool thing he figured our and he started transposing a super fast exercise on the fly after only playing for a very short time. After a few months his first teacher said we needed to find him a better teacher who could deal with his precocity.
But he gave it all away not long after ...

Now he is just a consultant geospatial engineer earning a fortune. We are so disappointed he didnt choose music for a career lol

[Shabdahbriah]

Pretty much every form of synthesis in one box, with visual feedback of most every parameter. Build your own synths/effects.

X-mas sale 70% off = $59.00

https://karmafx.net/buy

That looks amazing, I am kind of surprised I hadn't heard of it before. It's like an even more modular Phase Plant.

that is an 11 yr old video...the update added granular and more...every holiday season we have the thread on it being underrated lol...definitely good value at holiday price

Indeed! I was pleased to see it getting some love when Scott Solida did his "Scott Solida's Synth Essentials" for Computer Music magazine quite a few years back. Last years upgrade price from v1 to v2 of $79 was still a good deal I felt, considering all of the work that went into it, and continues to be put into it.

Very stable, versatile/flexible application all around.

[bermudagold]

Pretty much every form of synthesis in one box, with visual feedback of most every parameter. Build your own synths/effects.

X-mas sale 70% off = $59.00

https://karmafx.net/buy

That looks amazing, I am kind of surprised I hadn't heard of it before. It's like an even more modular Phase Plant.

that is an 11 yr old video...the update added granular and more...every holiday season we have the thread on it being underrated lol...definitely good value at holiday price

Indeed! I was pleased to see it getting some love when Scott Solida did his "Scott Solida's Synth Essentials" for Computer Music magazine quite a few years back. Last years upgrade price from v1 to v2 of $79 was still a good deal I felt, considering all of the work that went into it, and continues to be put into it.

Very stable, versatile/flexible application all around.

agreed...the only shortcomings I found were that you can't FM the audio in when using as a vst FX....also you can modulate the playhead, but not the sample and loop markers...other than that one of the fastest most accessible modulars I've tried, but admittedly I'm not a synth guy...sounds good, and can be used as multifx box which is rare...rapid and hyperion are a few of the others that come to mind...significantly increases the value...I just think its hard to sell a hybrid today because virtually everyone has one already...as a non synth guy I have 3...and like most categories there are formidable freeware/donation ware options...br808, tranzistow, vaporizer, apricot

[markp]

That is your opinion, nothing more, nothing less.

Yes, but its an informed one.

I would never recommend any beginner to start with modular synthesis.

That is your opinion, nothing more, nothing less.

Before learning how to build synthesizers

None of your strawmen please, there's been no mention of building synthesisers on my part.

you should learn how to use them.

And before learning to use them, you should learn how their parts work.

Tight rebuttal

[Manuel_M]

I always recommend Pigments because of its visual feedback and ease of use. It's surely way more powerful than the OP's requested 1 or 2 oscillators, an ADSR and a filter but I still find it to be a lot easier for a novice than the usual synth emulations. The modulation lane is super useful and clear. Also, it's very tolerant to "user errors" (just thinking of the sudden resonant sound blast I got way back from Omnisphere when I first tinkered around with the Resonator and Metal Pipe filters)
Also, Pigments sound is very rewarding (if that makes sense). I just can't recommend this synth enough and it's surely one of those synths that will stick with you for all the years to come.