Musicians, DJ's, Etc. I Need Your Help! Synthesizer Help!

[KLR]

Im REALLY getting into music and for me to start making specific kinds of music i'm interested in I will need to invest in synthesizers. I need your help on picking one to look into I would like to create things similar to these,please note these do have a little bit of real instruments in them but they are mainly created from a synthesizer.


This one is so awesome to meVVVVV.

[video=youtube;BMrAgJ8uVI8]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BMrAgJ8uVI8&feature=related[/video]


[video=youtube;97N1MyuOyiA]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=97N1MyuOyiA&feature=related[/video]




There are no stupid suggestions for this thread! So suggest something if you know something!




Thanks,
Kelby

 

[caudill187]

Have you ever played with turntables and a mixer? This will teach you the fundamentals of composing elecronic music. It's been a while for me, and techology has increased 10 fold, but most of the electronic music composers I have known started this way.

 

[dhutcheson]

While I do not play synthesizers, I do build and play guitars. Both Yamaha and Roland make
top quality synthesizers. The Yamaha S90XS is solid and the only one I have heard live. But with anything it is the player more than the insrument.

 

[KLR]

Greg-Not in depth,but a little. But now my question is what is the major difference in the sounds produced by turntables/mixers and synthesizers? I know they are not the same but what is the BIG difference? From my understanding turntables and mixers are more knobs and switches and synthesizers are like a keyboard with switches and such,which change your sounds,right?

dhutcheson-Those are the 2 brands I was looking into. I will look into that specific model now.


______________________

If anyone makes their own music with a synthesizer, and can post it, please do. It would help my search ALOT!

 

[caudill187]

Turntables and mixers don't produce any sounds other than that on the records, plus some corny fake scratches, sound effects, and perhaps have some simple sampling ability (if we are talking about the relatively inexpensive mixers that most DJ's use). The value of mixing LP's with a mixer is that one learns the art of mixing tracks....which is the basic task at hand when creating electronic music. From there it is only a matter of buying more expensive equipment.

As I said, I am sure there are more modern ways of learning this....but this has historically been the pattern. Dr. Dre, Timberland, Tiesto, etc. learned this way. Nice synthesizers have the capability to mix tracks from outside sources, MP3's etc. Computer software can even mix the tracks for you, but in my opinion, this takes much of the artistic value out of the process and may prevent learning this.....call me old fashioned:)

Honestly, I don't know much about what is out there these days......but have heard good things about Yamaha and of course, Roland, synthesizers.

 

[JMSKI333]

to be honest, the best way for you to go is with a midi board and a software program like logic or fruity loops. With those two things the possibilities are endless are far as making music goes. I have a MOOG synth and a KORG keyboard and pretty much any sound i can make from them can be made on my logic 8 program. its your best route.

 

[KLR]

Turntables and mixers don't produce any sounds other than that on the records, plus some corny fake scratches, sound effects, and perhaps have some simple sampling ability (if we are talking about the relatively inexpensive mixers that most DJ's use). The value of mixing LP's with a mixer is that one learns the art of mixing tracks....which is the basic task at hand when creating electronic music. From there it is only a matter of buying more expensive equipment.

As I said, I am sure there are more modern ways of learning this....but this has historically been the pattern. Dr. Dre, Timberland, Tiesto, etc. learned this way. Nice synthesizers have the capability to mix tracks from outside sources, MP3's etc. Computer software can even mix the tracks for you, but in my opinion, this takes much of the artistic value out of the process and may prevent learning this.....call me old fashioned:)

Honestly, I don't know much about what is out there these days......but have heard good things about Yamaha and of course, Roland, synthesizers.

O I understand now

to be honest, the best way for you to go is with a midi board and a software program like logic or fruity loops. With those two things the possibilities are endless are far as making music goes. I have a MOOG synth and a KORG keyboard and pretty much any sound i can make from them can be made on my logic 8 program. its your best route.

Ok, the only thing is I like the fact that a synthesizer is like a piano but can make other sounds. I will look at those programs now

 

[KLR]

to be honest, the best way for you to go is with a midi board and a software program like logic or fruity loops. With those two things the possibilities are endless are far as making music goes. I have a MOOG synth and a KORG keyboard and pretty much any sound i can make from them can be made on my logic 8 program. its your best route.

Do you know which is better?

Logic Pro 9 or Logic Express?

 

[bct15]

My setup consists of

2x technics sl1210 mk5g
Rane ttm 57sl mixer
Serato scratch live
Novation dicers
Roland mv 8800 sampler
Yamaha motif xs 6 (comes with cubase)
Ableton live
Kaos pad

I make high quality remixes with this setup and most of what I use is considered the best of best by most professionals. I started off as a scratch/battle DJ but have copied almost all of my records over to mp3 for use in serato...which guaranteed 95% of electronic live sets are performed using serato and ableton live. Whoever said programs make fake corny scratches, watch me scratch using serato and judge for yourself if it is fake, you cannot discern the difference between serato and me using a vinyl (since I still use vinyls as my playback device in serato), couple the decks with a high quality sampler and you can pretty much produce anything you want.

Below is a couple pics of what I use, I am in the process of moving so everything isn't set up right now.

 

[JMSKI333]

i would say logic 9 is better, i use logic 8 currently. You can get great piano sounds from logic and if you spend more money you can get a midi board with weighted keys. the probabilities are truly endless. I was looking at getting a prophet 08 synth when i discovered you can get a software program for fractions of the price and get the same great sounds.

 

[KLR]

My setup consists of

2x technics sl1210 mk5g
Rane ttm 57sl mixer
Serato scratch live
Novation dicers
Roland mv 8800 sampler
Yamaha motif xs 6 (comes with cubase)
Ableton live
Kaos pad

I make high quality remixes with this setup and most of what I use is considered the best of best by most professionals. I started off as a scratch/battle DJ but have copied almost all of my records over to mp3 for use in serato...which guaranteed 95% of electronic live sets are performed using serato and ableton live. Whoever said programs make fake corny scratches, watch me scratch using serato and judge for yourself if it is fake, you cannot discern the difference between serato and me using a vinyl (since I still use vinyls as my playback device in serato), couple the decks with a high quality sampler and you can pretty much produce anything you want.

Below is a couple pics of what I use, I am in the process of moving so everything isn't set up right now.

Nice, I would really like to hear a sample of something of yours,even if it was like 15 seconds?

i would say logic 9 is better, i use logic 8 currently. You can get great piano sounds from logic and if you spend more money you can get a midi board with weighted keys. the probabilities are truly endless. I was looking at getting a prophet 08 synth when i discovered you can get a software program for fractions of the price and get the same great sounds.

Ok,do you know if you can take an mp3 and put it in logic 9 then edit from there?



I looked into the Yamaha S90XS and it is almost EXACTLY what i'm looking for. But i'm still open to suggestions!

 

[JMSKI333]

You can absolutely edit mp3's in logic. My friend is an audio engineer and does it all the time. You can literally do anything with logi, 9/10 when you see a live dj he has his macbook on stage. Running on that macbook is logic. I just saw pretty lights at lollapalooza and he was running logic. Keep reading up on it. It'll save you a lot of money on equipment and leave you with endless possibilities.

Im really surprised that i'm the only one suggesting this.

 

[KLR]

Ok so if I had a synthesizer and logic I would be pretty set, for now?

 

[JMSKI333]

if your synth was midi capable then yes you would be set, but technically you wouldn't need a synth you would just need a midi board and all your sounds would be in the logic program.

 

[KLR]

O, right. If I get a synthesizer,I think ill shoot towards the Yamaha S90XS.

 

[JMSKI333]

your inbox is full

 

[bct15]

I don't know what type of computer you have bit if you are going that direction I suggest you check out ableton live, it's what I use. You can download the full program for free to test it out, straight off their website. You an even save your work. Ableton coupled with a midi controller or synth is a nasty combo, and will probably suit your needs...plenty of mp3 manipulation. Tweak some mp3 (or mp3s) to get your backing track then record what you play over the top of that, then master it up. Ableton is designed to be used in live performances, keeping everything simple and easily accessible.

There is a few addins for it, but it can work with other independent programs using the bridge...I use it hand in hand with serato.