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any reccomendations? i wanna have a more hands-on approach to music (and also forget dubstep and dnb for the moment), starting with an akai mpd18 (mpc style pad controller) and as i'm really digging that skweee stuff at the moment i thought "hey maybe getting some cheap lil synths would be just the right thing" !

so obvs i gotta go and look at local shops to see if they have used pieces etc, but i'm wondering what i should look for? does anyone have some (preferrably cheap and small) analogue synths they can reccomend?

There is loads of old synth that fit that description, but most of them are mono, unless you want to spend some more moneys.

The trick is finding them, and getting one in a good condition/price.

Stuff like;
Kawai 100-f
Jen SX-1000
Yamaha CS-5
Yamaha CS-10
Octave Kitten
Moog Rogue

There are a few new things like;
Doepfer Dark Energy
Dave Smith Mopho
Korg Monotron (cheapest on the list )

I am sure I have missed some, but that list should get you started.

Yeah skweee is sick

It doesn't get much cheaper than the monotron, best bit about it is that it has an aux input so you can run your softsynths through a real analogue filter. It's pocket sized too.

wow, that korg monotron must be a joke

but the other ones are daaaaaaamn expensive (at least for a broke kid like me ) from looking at ebay prices, except the dark energy and the mopho, of which the latter sounded more interesting, but then again it's not really the hands-on stuff that i'm looking for. i wanna quit staring at the screen and stop using my mouse basically, and i thought having some vintage gear would be a nice thing on it's own anyway.
well looks like i gotta start looking around in my area if someone's got some gems they're willing to sell (and keep working overtime )


btw does anyone have the video where joker shows some of his keyboards? also curious about any kind of hardware synths (analogue or digital, who cares) you guys use!

3za wrote: Octave Kitten

highly recommended this thing has so much character.

hasezwei wrote:wow, that korg monotron must be a joke

When I see a few second hand ones go cheap I am going to snap them up, but I love kitsch shit

hasezwei wrote: but the other ones are daaaaaaamn expensive (at least for a broke kid like me ) from looking at ebay prices, except the dark energy and the mopho, of which the latter sounded more interesting, but then again it's not really the hands-on stuff that i'm looking for. i wanna quit staring at the screen and stop using my mouse basically, and i thought having some vintage gear would be a nice thing on it's own anyway.
well looks like i gotta start looking around in my area if someone's got some gems they're willing to sell (and keep working overtime )

Yeah ebay prices always seem to be high for analogue synths, local is were the bargins are at.

hasezwei wrote:btw does anyone have the video where joker shows some of his keyboards? also curious about any kind of hardware synths (analogue or digital, who cares) you guys use!

Lots of casio's, two stylophones (one got fried in some drunken christmas circuit bending) some kids xylophone. If it makes a sound, and I can get it for under £10 I will buy.

Here is some casio/xylophone rape;
Soundcloud

I found a freeware vst monotron emulation, and it is like my favorite synth ever. hahaha. I'm definitely picking up a monotron.

hasezwei wrote:wow, that korg monotron must be a joke

but the other ones are daaaaaaamn expensive (at least for a broke kid like me ) from looking at ebay prices, except the dark energy and the mopho, of which the latter sounded more interesting, but then again it's not really the hands-on stuff that i'm looking for.

It's weird, it's almost like for the last 20 years everyone and his dog has been scouring the earth for anything analogue on the grounds that it'll instantly make them sound like Kraftwerk and most of the underappreciated gems that you used to be able to get are now overhyped classics...

If your interest is mostly in getting more 'hands on', it might be worth looking at second hand virtual analogues from the 90s, or even random 80s / 90s digital stuff. Some of it sounds pants, but then lots of analogue stuff probably sounds pants too.

Analog modeling synths:
KORG microKORG
Alesis micron
Akai MINIAK

Read a review of that miniak. I dismissed that synth initially, but the review kind changed my mind.

yeah that microkorg looks great (i'd go for the XL version). also gave the novation xiosynth a look but from what i've read the build quality is really cheap and i want something sturdy. the miniak looks interesting but the other ones can be battery powered which is pretty cool... chilling in the park, blazin a spliff and then playing joker on your synth (or at least trying to ) sounds like a wet dream to me.

thanks for telling me about these, they're all a lot more entry-level and affordable than actual analogue synths. and the best thing: i can try all of them out at the local music store

hasezwei wrote: i wanna quit staring at the screen and stop using my mouse basically

Try the dark energy, its chands on, no menus and sounds sick. And its semi modular great fun patching it up and making it do weird sounds. sorry for bad english, gotta really bad hangover