What synth? Help needed, I'm too old!!!
Discussion
In a moment of mid-life crisis, I've decided that I need a synth again. Now, I've just turned 39 and the last time I had one I was 17 and in a school band with a Roland D-10 and an SH-101. We did the odd bit of original stuff, but spent a lot of time doing covers of New Order and Howard Jones (from dim and distant memory).
Now that I've set my mind on getting back into it again (I also want to encourage my 5 year old daughter to learn to play) I really don't know where to start. I don't want anything purist as I'm not a great pianist to say the least. I just want something with lots of knobs, sliders and buttons that I can prat about with and have some fun.
A quick search on the interweb and the Roland SH-201 looks like it might be just the ticket. Can anyone recommend it or point me towards an alternative that might fit the bill?
I also want drums (which I don't think the SH-201 has). When I last used a drum machine it was steam powered... Should I go for a dedicated machine? I've got 2 Apple Mac's at home; should I simply use one of them and some swanky software instead? If so, what software?
Apologies for all the questions; I feel like a grandad trying to work a DVD player
Cheers,
NL
Now that I've set my mind on getting back into it again (I also want to encourage my 5 year old daughter to learn to play) I really don't know where to start. I don't want anything purist as I'm not a great pianist to say the least. I just want something with lots of knobs, sliders and buttons that I can prat about with and have some fun.
A quick search on the interweb and the Roland SH-201 looks like it might be just the ticket. Can anyone recommend it or point me towards an alternative that might fit the bill?
I also want drums (which I don't think the SH-201 has). When I last used a drum machine it was steam powered... Should I go for a dedicated machine? I've got 2 Apple Mac's at home; should I simply use one of them and some swanky software instead? If so, what software?
Apologies for all the questions; I feel like a grandad trying to work a DVD player
Cheers,
NL
If you have Macs, then you likely have Garageband on them already. Have you tried that? It has some half decent sounds included. If you want something more synthy, with drum machines and samplers etc etc, then you could do worse than look at Reason V4. I use this and it's excellent for what it costs (£250 or so) www.propellerheads.se With this or Garageband, you need only plug in almost any readily available cheap USB keyboard, and you are all set. Will be a good and inexpensive little rig.
I used to use a ton of hardware, but its largely gathering dust now, as Reason has replaced most of it.
P,
I used to use a ton of hardware, but its largely gathering dust now, as Reason has replaced most of it.
P,
Ah yes the SH101, now that is a blast from the past! As per Meeja's post, the Roand MKS80 / MPG80 combo is arguably one of the best Analog synths available, I have both of them myself, although prices for both are high for retro gear (not as high as the revered Roland Jupiter 8 though)
I personally wouldn't go for the SH201, its just a pure analog modelling synth, no bread and butter sounds, no drum (unless you make individual electronic sounding ones from scratch). Do you want synth action or fully weighted 'piano like' keys? I would go for the workstation ranges, the Roland Fantom X7 or X8, Yamaha Motif XS (newer) or ES (older and can be had far nore cheaply), or the Korg M3 or TR range. I'd go for 76 keys in any of these, although with fully weighted, 88 keys is the norm. Chosing between them is very subjective, my opinion is that the Yamaha's give the best accoustic instrumentation (pianos etc) not so great on drum sounds though, Roland better for electronica (very warm synth pads and strings), and Korgs are easier to use, better all rounders (good drums too). Best bet is th try them all.
If you want to get the retro analog sounds, I'd also buy a few softsynths for your Mac, Arturia's Jupiter 8, CS80, and Prophet emulations are a good start.
I personally wouldn't go for the SH201, its just a pure analog modelling synth, no bread and butter sounds, no drum (unless you make individual electronic sounding ones from scratch). Do you want synth action or fully weighted 'piano like' keys? I would go for the workstation ranges, the Roland Fantom X7 or X8, Yamaha Motif XS (newer) or ES (older and can be had far nore cheaply), or the Korg M3 or TR range. I'd go for 76 keys in any of these, although with fully weighted, 88 keys is the norm. Chosing between them is very subjective, my opinion is that the Yamaha's give the best accoustic instrumentation (pianos etc) not so great on drum sounds though, Roland better for electronica (very warm synth pads and strings), and Korgs are easier to use, better all rounders (good drums too). Best bet is th try them all.
If you want to get the retro analog sounds, I'd also buy a few softsynths for your Mac, Arturia's Jupiter 8, CS80, and Prophet emulations are a good start.
Thanks for the advice all.
After a bottle of red last night I found an SH-210 for sale and went and bought the bloody thing
I don't mind really as it'll be a good workhorse to get me back into the sort of stuff I want to do. I'm not a trained pianist so have always found I get more fun from the whacky end of the spectrum than the pure end.
I do have Garage Band on my Mac's so will explore that as a next step. What I really want is a good drum machine and I guess software's the way to go nowadays. I'll see where I get with Garage Band and maybe upgrade to something better when I reach that stage.
I quite like the idea of recreating a bit of Howard Jones music again
Found some old and not so old stuff that I quite like all over again
old Howard
new Howard
I also quite like this demo of the SH-201: SH-201
Any advice on drums most welcome
NL
After a bottle of red last night I found an SH-210 for sale and went and bought the bloody thing
I don't mind really as it'll be a good workhorse to get me back into the sort of stuff I want to do. I'm not a trained pianist so have always found I get more fun from the whacky end of the spectrum than the pure end.I do have Garage Band on my Mac's so will explore that as a next step. What I really want is a good drum machine and I guess software's the way to go nowadays. I'll see where I get with Garage Band and maybe upgrade to something better when I reach that stage.
I quite like the idea of recreating a bit of Howard Jones music again
Found some old and not so old stuff that I quite like all over againold Howard
new Howard
I also quite like this demo of the SH-201: SH-201
Any advice on drums most welcome
NL
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