Help a newbie figure out of a monosynth is for me....

glimmertwins · Post by **glimmertwins** » Fri Apr 14, 2006 3:13 am

This is probably a pretty ridiculous question but I am a little unsure. In short, I am a guitar turned key player who is looking to add more synth sounds to my band's "sound". Not that I haven't been playing funky old electronic keybaords for a while, but rather I would like to augment the lo fi orchestra sound with some nice sound effects and weird sounds that only a synth can give ya. I have toyed with a few soft synths and I love em, but I hate playing through a computer. I would like a hardware unit and I am getting a chunk of change sometime in the next month or two.

Here is where I need your help - of course everyone goes crazy for Moog synths and I hear nothing but rave reviews about the Voyager. My problem is - it's a monosynth and it's a good amount of money to boot but still can't get over some of the glowing reviews I see on it. I'm sure it's a good synth, but is it for me - being mono?

I play indie rock music - more melodic stuff, laid back at times. I really want a synth to "fill in the cracks" so to speak of a guitar/electromechanical key rhythm. It's not really electronic music I am going for, but a good organic and rich sound. I hear the Moogs are very "musical" and that appeals to me too because I like to play instruments rather than just hit keys that produce a sound.

I've toyed with synths with more polyphony but they either felt weird to play(kind of cold) or they just seemed too cluttered. It seems like I never have found a poly synth I really like because more than a key or two is always too much for a band that wants to use synths for rhythm and sound shaping duties.

So with that in mind, how useful is a mono synth for a guy like me? Am I really looking for a poly synth but just don't know how to use one? Does anyone else here use a monosynth for rock music? I know of a few bands I really like who use them and it's so odd because the parts they make for the song are so subtle but really make it sound more polished but maybe it's just the arrangement/band and not the synth I am marveling at.

Anyway, just confused - maybe you guys could kindly set me straight. Thanks!!!!

EricK · Post by **EricK** » Fri Apr 14, 2006 8:51 am

I think the Voyager sells itself. I know what you mean about just hitting a key and it does everything. SOme of the newer ROland Synths are like that.
You can definately play the voyager, even to just get noises it still needs tewaking hehe.

If you get a voyager, i think you woudl find yourself wanting to do more and more than just filling the gaps heheh. I don't think you woudl be satisfied for very long just adding to the sounds i think you woudl want to do more and more and more because to me, the voyager inspires me to keep playing and playing.

If you want to get the voyager, it can control 88 key synths in full polyphony with midi, it can be used as a controller for your softsynths, and its a darn fine monosynth. If you wanted to get a good poly synth then go the Roland Fantom route. The x-8 has amazing sounds and its full 88 keys. they have an x-6 that is 61 keys and half the price. They make that series in a rack version too. THeres the ROland V-synth too. Clearly nowhere near the voyager's great great sound.

The mono/poly decision is strictly you. It depends on what kind of phrasing you want to do with the orchestral sounding stuff. How big of chords are you trying to play? How good of a keyboard player are you?

Myself, im not a dedicated keyboardist. I can use both hands to a degree but im certianly not a pianist. I prefer monosynths because I can do alot with 1 note at a time haha. I use mine for solos and melodies and I do the chords on the Rhodes or other unit that i have at my disposal.

THe problem i think is the technology that it takes to have a fully blown synth and have full poly. THe Alesis Andromeda is all analog and it has some polyphony but i think the synths were mono for a reason. In my theory, the boards that it takes to make those great sounds woudl have to be 1 board per key to make the synth a true fully integrated wonderful sounding poly. Even the PolyMoog didn't meet alot of players expectations as far as the Moog sound was concerned.

If you are getting a huge chunk of change to afford the voyager, for around the same price you coudl have the best of both worlds....you could get a Fantomx-6 and a Little Phatty. With the right adaptatiopns, they coudl control eachother and those 2 units would have a great great compatibillity as far as being able to express yourself.

I think the best way to answer your question woudl be to ask yourself how you woudl feel 10 years from now owning a monosynth. WOudl you ever get a full poly unit so your playing could evolve into 2 handed stacked chord madness or do you think that you could adequately express yourself with just 1 super sounding face melting note?

I don't think anyone on this board can tell you what you really want.

I am curious though to see what you end up getting.
EricK

mee3d · Post by **mee3d** » Fri Apr 14, 2006 9:16 am

Someone once said . . .

"synthesizers should be monophonic, polyphony is for pianos!" (Morton Subotnik I think?).

Mal

electricmoog · Post by **electricmoog** » Fri Apr 14, 2006 9:44 am

It sounds like you need a EMS VCS 3

glimmertwins · Post by **glimmertwins** » Sat Apr 15, 2006 3:50 am

Thanks for the replies folks....reading through some of the random posts on this forum, something just occured to me. I suppose it's possible to take some sort of simple polyphonic synth, control it via MIDI by the Voyager, and plug in the audio out of the poly into the Moog to get the basic poly harmonic content whacked out by the Moog filters/processing. Am I correct here? Could I whack it out beyond recognition - like say take a bell EP sound and make it sound crazy evil?

...just thinking out loud. The world of synths is just fascinating.

...and yes, I am definetly a nerd - it's amazing this didn't appeal to me sooner. Equal parts science/math & creativity. This could become an addiction.

Modularfan · Post by **Modularfan** » Sat Apr 15, 2006 9:55 am

glimmertwins wrote:Thanks for the replies folks....reading through some of the random posts on this forum, something just occured to me. I suppose it's possible to take some sort of simple polyphonic synth, control it via MIDI by the Voyager, and plug in the audio out of the poly into the Moog to get the basic poly harmonic content whacked out by the Moog filters/processing. Am I correct here? Could I whack it out beyond recognition - like say take a bell EP sound and make it sound crazy evil?

A couple of thoughts come to mind:

1. You should check out the Roland V-Synth. It's far from a 'simple polyphonic synth', but it can do some pretty wild, crazy stuff if you want. It's a ROMpler-type device, but it can handle samples, too. Its Variphrase and COSM processing can do some unbelieveable permutations of the source material. You can also process external stuff, too. The only downside is the cost - it's not cheap, but if you've got the dough, it's an awesome way to go. There's a rack-mount version available, too, that has a D-50 synthesizer (popular '80's synth) and Vocoder engine built it. It's really a lot for the money. It may be way more than you need, but the possibilities are staggering. You should definately check this board out.

2. A cheaper alternative is the DSI Evolver. It's a monophonic 4-voice laptop configuration (soon a keyboard version will be available) that can do some pretty vicious sound mangling. It has a built-in sequencer, and you can process external sounds through its engine. The downside is the interface; serious programming is best done using the software editor. Check out the Dave Smith Instruments web site for some sound examples.

- MF