My dirty little secret revealed. NGD!

[zeegler]

New GEAR day.

Okay I've actually had it for a couple of weeks now, and it's not a guitar, which explains why I didn't post it in the guitars section.

It's a Korg M1 synth, from around 1992 or so. I've never played piano or keyboard before in my life, but I'm having a load of fun with this thing. I've been playing some Van Halen, Gary Numan, Rush, etc.

The only problem is, I had to replace the internal battery, and I have to re-load all the factory pre-sets, but I'm having a hard time transferring the data from my PC. I've had to make my own patches so far.

Anyway, this thing is in pretty damn near mint condition.

[Musician78]

Sweet!! Synths are cool. I have an Alesis Q8.2 and I love it.

[Endrik]

mine's too old to have batteries in it

[Cygnus X1]

I will retread this old tire...

Great Stuff!

To add to your experience, I am a proud owner of an Ensoniq SD-1/32.
Not a sampler, a true synth, with all the gidgets and wadgets thrown in.
I am still learning how to really program voices, but the stock
sounds are awesome enough.

Great score, Zeeg!
I are happy for thou.

[AlexL]

I think there's quite a few of us synth lovers on the forum.

Here's mine:





Dave Smith Instruments Prophet 08 on top, which is a proper analog synth. It's all about the waveforms and filters on this one.

On the bottom is a Nord Electro 3, which is part Hammond/Vox/Farfisa organ emulator, and part sample-based playback for pianos, clavinets, wurlitzers, and any other sample you can generate or download.

I too have been playing some Rush: Subdivisions, Witch Hunt, Countdown, etc. More chord-based parts. I've also been playing some Tom Petty, TSO, Linkin Park (New Divide) and anything else that catches my ear.

Enjoy the M1. That baby's a classic.

- E.

[zeegler]

Sweet!! Synths are cool. I have an Alesis Q8.2 and I love it.

I almost bought an Alesis QS7, but I found this locally, and I could not believe how clean it was. Not to mention, I got it for an extremely good price.

[zeegler]

I will retread this old tire...

Great Stuff!

To add to your experience, I am a proud owner of an Ensoniq SD-1/32.
Not a sampler, a true synth, with all the gidgets and wadgets thrown in.
I am still learning how to really program voices, but the stock
sounds are awesome enough.

Great score, Zeeg!
I are happy for thou.

Thanks Cyggy.

I remember when I was a kid, and my Uncle had this analog synthesizer. This was back around 1978 or so, and I remember it had a bunch of knobs on it that you tweaked to get different sounds. It was pretty cool, but not being able to actually save the sounds must have really sucked.

Yours is probably a hell of a lot more sophisticated than that one.

[zeegler]

I think there's quite a few of us synth lovers on the forum.

Here's mine:





Dave Smith Instruments Prophet 08 on top, which is a proper analog synth. It's all about the waveforms and filters on this one.

On the bottom is a Nord Electro 3, which is part Hammond/Vox/Farfisa organ emulator, and part sample-based playback for pianos, clavinets, wurlitzers, and any other sample you can generate or download.

I too have been playing some Rush: Subdivisions, Witch Hunt, Countdown, etc. More chord-based parts. I've also been playing some Tom Petty, TSO, Linkin Park (New Divide) and anything else that catches my ear.

Enjoy the M1. That baby's a classic.

- E.

Very cool setup Alex. I wish I knew more about this stuff, but I guess you gotta start somewhere. I've always been interested in synths, but guitar was always a little more exciting. I think I'm taking to it a lot quicker and easier than guitar too.

[Ben...]

I think there's quite a few of us synth lovers on the forum.


On the bottom is a Nord Electro 3, which is part Hammond/Vox/Farfisa organ emulator, and part sample-based playback for pianos, clavinets, wurlitzers, and any other sample you can generate or download.


- E.

I played one of those Nords at the local music shoppe. Played so smoothly but the control setup was way over my head. I just don't know if I can afford it though.

I bought myself a Roland Juno-Di a month or so back. These things are so much fun. It was only like $750 and it came with software and everything. Nice beginner synth. I can drive people nuts because it has a polyphonic saw patch that is a replica of that Van Halen song "Jump". I haven't tried out the patch editing software yet. I have to get a cable so I can connect it to my computer. Apparently it's pretty good though from what I've read.

I've been tackling "Jump" along with a couple Children of Bodom songs and Stratovarius' "Black Diamond". Next up is Subdivisions and Dream Theater's "Learning To Live" (15/8 time go!).

[zeegler]

I played one of those Nords at the local music shoppe. Played so smoothly but the control setup was way over my head. I just don't know if I can afford it though.

I bought myself a Roland Juno-Di a month or so back. These things are so much fun. It was only like $750 and it came with software and everything. Nice beginner synth. I can drive people nuts because it has a polyphonic saw patch that is a replica of that Van Halen song "Jump". I haven't tried out the patch editing software yet. I have to get a cable so I can connect it to my computer. Apparently it's pretty good though from what I've read.

I've been tackling "Jump" along with a couple Children of Bodom songs and Stratovarius' "Black Diamond". Next up is Subdivisions and Dream Theater's "Learning To Live" (15/8 time go!).

I think every decent synth has a pretty good "Jump" type brass sound. The M1 does for sure. I mean, it is identical. Here's a sample:

http://www.synthmania.com/Korg%20M1/Audio/Factory%20preset%20examples/Programs/92%20SynthBrass.mp3

[wilkinsi]

I still have my Yamaha PSR530 home keyboard. I swear by it's rock drumkit and orchestral sounds - they've served me well since 1995.

[AlexL]

Very cool setup Alex. I wish I knew more about this stuff, but I guess you gotta start somewhere. I've always been interested in synths, but guitar was always a little more exciting. I think I'm taking to it a lot quicker and easier than guitar too.

I looked for the "right" synth for about 3 years, and then I bought the DSI prophet. I did a lot of reading before I bought it; not just product research, but research on the fundamentals of synthesis.

This book is highly recommended:
Power tools for Synth Programming

I hear what your saying about keys coming easier than guitar. I would say the same about me. But I think once you have experience with one instrument under your belt, a second or third comes easier. I am learning keys on my own, but I have a friend who is a pretty phenomenal piano/keyboard/accordian player, and every few months I pop over to his house, show him what I'm working on, and get some pointers from him. Usually on better fingerings than I am using, although I am getting much better in regards to chords as to using the most efficient fingerings.

This site has some Rush keyboard "tabs" (no music reading talent required - yay!).
Rush Tablature Project

Song selection is a bit sparse, but there's some good stuff to cut your teeth on.

- E.

[Cygnus X1]

The interface on my Ensoniq is very user friendly, and I have disks (the old 3.5" floppy) upon disks of my sounds.
It was built primarilay as a sequencer with the older FM synth capabilites built in.
Many of the sound effects you hear in the movies from '95 to well into the 2000's came from this synth, stock.

Best advice for any synth (I do love Rolands, Prophets, Yamahas, etc) is just take your time and learn your own sound.
Otherwise it will become just like a huge effects pedal you toss to the side.

It is indeed a whole new world, and nothing to sneeze at!

The best thing is writing on keys rather than drums or guitar.
I get an idea in my head and it just flows from the keys.
My first instrument was really a neighbors upright piano after all.

[AlexL]

I think every decent synth has a pretty good "Jump" type brass sound.

There is nothing really "special" about the "Jump" sound. Eddie used an Oberheim (OB-8 or OB-Xa), and I think it was just one of the preset sounds.


- E.

[Cygnus X1]

There is nothing really "special" about the "Jump" sound. Eddie used an Oberheim (OB-8 or OB-Xa), and I think it was just one of the preset sounds.


- E.

No kidding, the Ensoniq has a preset called "Jump".
Funny stuff!