There are some amazingly complex and sophisticated synthesisers which allow powerful in-depth synthesis which other synths simply cannot do
But the more the years go on, the more I’m of the opinion that the more complicated synths simply don’t afford the making of better music, and in many cases they fight against good sound and good music because the more complex detailed heroically-synthesised sounds become either the focus, or have too much importance attached, or worse, they have too much importance attached as far as the person making the sound is concerned, but nobody else really gives a crap or even notices that it’s such a complex and deliciously synthesised sound, they just don’t notice, but in the meantime, all the hard work in the composition has gone into these complex wonderfully created sounds that no other synthesiser could do
I know, you’re saying that as I own a Korg Opsix, isn’t that one of the most complex synths out there? Well, yes it is, but for one thing I’m completely at home with FM synthesis (having started on the Yamaha CX5M as my first actual synth that wasn’t a modular that I’d built myself (Digisound 80)) but that’s how I’m spotting this tendency – I’m now starting to not want to spend time on my own patches, which up to now was where most of the fun was, and starting to explore the much less capable and far simpler and more direct synths which are ‘just’ synthesisers, and not be afraid to put forward just basic synth sounds which almost any synth and any synthesist could have done #Synths
Gary Numan released Telekon, my favorite of his records, in 1980. It was the first vinyl I bought as a teen in the 90s. Hearing this intro track and the album that followed was mindblowing. Definitely listen to this whole record if you get a chance.
Here's "This Wreckage", the first song on Telekon, one of the best album opening tracks EVER:
Y'all know I'm not big on black metal, but being that it's Monday and I keep coming back to this one, it's probably a good one for #BlackMetalMonday.
LUST HAG is a solo project of Eleanor Harper - it's one woman feral black metal from Montana and it's pretty cool. There's some great synths and dynamics and interesting lyrics, etc.
Black metal fans, this is probably worth checking out.
I might have shared these before, but worth sharing again. Ableton has two fun, interactive resources for learning about making music and playing synths:
I spotted @laamaa's post about his new album 'M8 II' on Friday but only just now had a chance to listen -- it's incredible. If you like chiptune or synthwave at ALL, this is a MUST hear (and his other stuff too). The melodies, and the dynamics, the tracks all flow so well. 🎹 🔥
my new Fysen EP releases this Friday and today we gonna have a listen party on Bandcamp. It will start at 7pm CET (Berlin) time. I will be available in the chat, if you wanna join please check here:
This version is still based on the original MIDI file, but is more of an #Electro beat with a bunch of added live-tweaked stuff, including a fairly restrained TD-3 bassline.
@synths Animoog Galaxy uses the same engine as Animoog Z, they say. Does anyone here have experience with the Animoogs? What kinds of sounds are they best at?
This #BandcampFriday, I finally remembered to do the checkout of a massive #Bandcamp cart that had been piling up over several months. Listening through things now, dropping some recommendations along the way: 👇
The repetitiveness/variations of the same theme is a great peek into an aspect of composing that we don't often think about: The music we love and listen to every day might have ended up being (very) different. It just happened to be what it is, although several outcomes were possible when the artist set out on the creative journey.