help my newbie-ass!

[vitamin worm]

hi,

i am looking to buy some sort of synthesizer that can create crazy extreme wierd ... waaaaayyyyyy out there sounds, and soft beautiful ones as well.

i am not really looking to accurately recreate any particular instrument's sound ... i am just looking for something that is reasonably inexpensive and i could use to beef up my songs in a very radiohead-ie / air-ie sort of way.

sorry i am not beeing more specific, but i really dont know how to describe what i am looking for.

i played around on a friend's moog prodigy and loved it! but i think it is a little out of my price range. i have always been a fan of analog everything, but i will look into anything at this point.

my price range is $350 or less.

i will also be happy to answer any questions.

thanks a lot in advance!

-vw

[giaschel]

Have you ever considered a sampler?

[Krakit]

I already have my cadre of analogue synths.

[regebro]

For $350 you'll need to go with second hand stuff. Easiest to use for weird sounds is some analog or virtual analog unit, and you may find something at that price if you are lucky. It seems that the Yamaha CS1x goes for that price, and it sounded good to me when I tried it out. Great arpeggio.

Or you could go for an old Kawai K5 Additive synth. Its a total bitch to program, but very versatile.

Or, you can get a Big Briar Theremin
No programming at all. But a cool sound!

[mikeh]

It sounds like you want an analog synth with real time control of the filters, etc.

I'm thinking an old Roland (Juno 6, Juno 60, Juno 106) would give you the ability to create "strange sounds" or "warm pads" - these units do not recreate any particular instruments (although the string sounds are pretty good)

[robert jaybird]

look for a used yamaha an1x, its what you need.:-)

If you rpefer analog, the juno 106 is good with 6 digitally controlled oscilators and 6 voices, its not phat exept in unison mode though. The oberheim matrix 6 is much moreb versatile and costs about the same, but it has no knobs, but you can always get some knobs later.

If it makes you feel any better, daft punks kit list is:
juno 106
ts 909
roland s770 sampler

all you REALLy need mis 1 analog synth if you have a sampler. orbital made their 1st album with a pro 1 and an s1000.
william orbit is also quite fond of the 106.

The an1x or matrix 6 are cool imho. The juno 106 has some of the best sounding filters, but its quite limited.

[Rubo4]

For around $400 on Ebay there is absolutely nothing weirder and organic then Ensoniq Fizmo. Go to www.vintagesynth.com to read a review or www.harmony-central.com

[regebro]

Oooh, proper wavetable synthesis. Cool. Thats the only thing my Nord Modular CAN'T do. I want one.
I thought only Waldorf made proper Wave-table synths.

[Rubo4]

I have both Microwave XT and Fizmo, but I'm new to both - will take time to fire up both at the same time.

[Rubo4]

The Fizmo is discontinued from 1998, so I'm keeping mine till it brakes. It's hard to find one which works. Many have fried power supplies or mother boards. Also stay away from the rack version - if you can find one. Plus it has the smallest screen so without SoundDiver it's harder. Despite all these problems owners don't want to give them up simply because you'll never find so many unique sounds in one box. If you go to

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/FIZMO

they have a very active group.

[regebro]

There one for sale here in Stockholm now for $900, which is to steep. And I really have no space for anything else that a rack version... So I guess I have to save up to a Microwave XT anyway.

[Rubo4]

900 US is a total rip off. Yeah its huge and heavy keyboard. As for XT save up and try to get the 30 voice.

[vitamin worm]

thanks a lot for your replies guys. it is nice of you to help me out like this.

and now i ask a question that is going to make you all beat the crap out of me:

what is the difference with a synthesizer and a sampler? what reasons would i have for looking into getting a sampler? can i get pros and cons, and some decent models in my aforementioned price range?

sorry, again ... im really new to this.

thanks a lot in advance!

[Rubo4]

A Synthesizer generates it's own unique sounds, where as a Sampler is more for loading different sounds and editing them to almost anything totally different from the original sound. If I'm wrong about the Sampler, someone please correct me.

Synths: Waldorf Q or Microwave, Novation Nova or Super Nova, Nord Lead or Modular, Ensoniq Fizmo, Yamaha CS6, Access Virus.

As for Samplers - never had one, have no need for it yet, so I can't help you there.

[Krakit]

A sampler is a device that digitally records sounds and allows you to play them musically. These days folks are more interested in sampling whole phrases, but back when, samplers were a way you could play dog barks and car horns from a keyboard.

Carl