Lets talk Synthesizers

A while back I somewhat randomly decided to get a synth.. (an electribe 2) and quickly discovered that it scratched a similar itch to playing a classic arcade game, the ability to hit a button and have it make a great noise. Since then I picked up a Roland Sound Canvas (used to make the music to classic games on pc like doom) a Microgranny2 (a sampler than gives a glitchy crunch vibe) and a Digitakt which is just awesome for mangling and creating new sounds from samples. It is actually surpassing gaming as my main hobby quite quickly.

Just curious if any other giantbombers are using synths hardware or software and if it scratches that itch for you. What kind of gear are you using? What sound are you chasing? Post some of your music! I'll add some of mine later if this topic gets any steam.

I'm really into synths, and recording in general. I started playing piano at 5, and gaming at 3, so synths were definitely appealing to me.

I've been fighting an autoimmune disease for years, so that has hindered my ability to create, but it's my favorite thing in the world. Before I got sick, I was working in the recording business and all of my attention and money went there as I took a break from gaming.

I'm more of a hardware junkie, but I dig software too. I'm not into stuff like Dave Smith or Roland too much. I really like Buchla and Serge, but they are just so expensive. Control and expression is the most important thing to me. I'm all about a good interface. A 200E system has been my dream. (Never gonna happen!)

My main tools are a Moog Voyager, (Korg)Arp Odyssey, Gotharman Little Deformer 2, Eventide H8000, Linnstrument (For VSTs) and a Buchla Music Easel.

As far as VSTs go, Madrona Labs makes great stuff that is MPE compatible. U-HE Bazille, and Diva are both ace, espically with the Linnstrument. MPE is definitely not a gimmick, it's the way forward for sure. The level of real time expression you can obtain in software makes it quite appealing, even if I'm not crazy about most VSTs

Having a low latency Thunderbolt interface definitely helps that disconnect when using software.

My fave soft synths at the mo are

Serum a really full featured wavetable synth that does just about anything.

Avenger, another wavetable synth (made by Vengeance) that also does sample playback and drum sequencing.

Sylenth, a 4 Osc analogue model type thing, with great bottom end.

Don't get much chance to mess around with hardware too much these days, but I have been tempted to re-buy an Akai s1000 or newer sampler, just for the retro feel of the filter those things have (no software is even close to that sound)

Also, back in the day, I used to love a rack Mount I had - Akai vx-90. Think it was a single osc thing, and it used to drift out of tune every 2 mins....but fun!

I had a Virus TI-polar for a while, but I didn't really use it all that much, felt a little over rated to me.

Have been looking at getting some stuff from Roland's Boutique range (new recreations of old stuff), specifically the 303 clone - TB-03

http://sanxion.co.uk/releases/

I love watching this dude on YouTube. He incorporates so much hardware into his music, hardware synths, midi controllers, guitar pedals, and drum machines. So freaking sexy. I own Massive and mess around with it here and there but I don't seriously try to record anything.

I don't have any hardware synth's besides my old casio wk-1630 but i make beats and mess around with VST's alot. Sylenth, Reaktor 5, Hypersonic 2(when it's not bugging out on me, also don't think it's available anymore), and Nexus are what i use most nowadays. Was using Cubase 5 but i'm back to Fl studio because the workflow is faster, also use reason 5 still for it's bass sounds mostly. Reason has some pretty good default synths as well and doesn't require a lot of cpu/ram overhead.

I had to downsize a lot of my hardware and mostly work in software right now, since my workspace is kind of cramped and unpacking even the synths I have left would make that way worse. Right now the only hardware I have permanently set up is my Push, my Elektron A4 (which is my favorite synth I've ever worked with for pure creative inspiration), and a DSI Mopho, since it takes up so little space and I use it for a lot of glitchy / clicky sounds that soft-synths can't quite match.

Seriously though, Elektron's synths are pricey but the interface is so inspiring if it clicks for you. I've definitely had trips where I don't need to work and just take my A4 over a computer to work on music. As for soft-synths I'm a huge Omnisphere fan (hard not to be though), I use Diva a good deal, and I like some of Native Instruments' synths to just quickly hop in and get a workable sound from when I'm less interested in sound design and more in composition. Other than that, I love my older Lexicon reverb VSTs, pretty much every Soundtoys plugin I own, and I use Trackspacer (b/c I'm lazy) and U-HE Satin (b/c it's fantastic) in some capacity on basically every track I make.

I honestly used to be more of a sound-design guy, but I more and more have moved towards focusing on composition while using more samples and less complicated / meticulously crafted synth patches. Still love working with synths, but in general the technical aspects of electronic music have lost some of their luster for me compared to the simple act of sitting down and writing melodies or basslines or what have you.