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Synths/keyboard


Larsen B

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Yeah, the Microkorg is pretty easy to use. I've not even read the instructions properly yet as I was pretty much able to switch it on and get good sounds straight away. You can edit the patches on it but I haven't tried to as its got all the sounds I want already. Its also got a vocoder which is good.

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Originally posted by iain44s:

ive got a novation k station. its in the same price range as the microkorg and its rather amazing...has full size keys too which is one of the reasons i didnt get a microkorg.

yup

k station is a much better synth than the micro korg

micro korg is a fairly limited synth......generic-ish sounds, limited programming, fairly crap vocoder (but all vocoders are crap and over used) but its got a good appregiator

i had one for a few months and put it on ebay as soon as i sussed its limitations and got my money back basically

seems to a popular item though and tres good fer beginners kinda thing who dont wanna get bogged down witha load of programming

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Guest Stripey

Yeah K-station is a good synth, I use the VST software version of it (v-station) and its pretty usefull for pads/sweeps and bass. The arpeggiator isn't the best though. I haven't tried the microkorg myself, but it seems a bit gimmicky and I guess you get what you pay for.

Access Virus synths are very highly respected http://www.access-music.de/products.php4 and might be worth checking out...it all depends on what kind of sounds you are looking for.

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if you are just wanting it for recording, and not for live performance, then any old midi controller will do. midi controllers can be had second hand on ebay for much cheapness. you will need a midi interface to stick it into your computer too, they can be had for around 40-50 quid. then the world is your oyster. you will need some software to generate the sounds for the controller, but that can be had for free easily (legally or otherwise).

i use linux for all my audio stuff now, and have found some great softsynths. some are real twiddly nob basically program it yourself type of things (with lots of honestly good sounding presets), others simply load sf2 files, which are in plentiful supply on the internet (sf2 files provide instrument sounds), e.g. at sf2midi.com. in case anyone will ever be interested, here's some linux software i've found really useful in the last couple of weeks for recording with my midi stuff:

zynaddsubfx (soft synth/synth generator)

fluidsynth (soft synth)

qsynth (UI for above softsynth)

ardour (multi track HDR system - quite pro tools like)

hydrogen (great drum machine)

qjackctl

i've finally managed to get audio stuff working properly on linux, hopefully i'll get a chance to document some of it soon so that others can benefit. almost all of the software on linux is free, which is obviously an advantage, but some of the software actually works a lot better too. much of it is still stabilising though.

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Guest Stripey
...

i've finally managed to get audio stuff working properly on linux' date=' ....[/quote']

Have you got any vst capable stuff working? I am a linux head, and the only reason I run windows on one of my machines is because I cant find a decent vst host for linux...and I can't live without my vst heheh

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Have you got any vst capable stuff working? I am a linux head' date=' and the only reason I run windows on one of my machines is because I cant find a decent vst host for linux...and I can't live without my vst heheh[/quote']

personally i haven't, but there's some software (using WINE) to hook the VSTs into the LADSPA plugin system. i don't know how well it works, but the code has been around for a couple of years so i will check it out and let you know. it's called vstserver or something. it has mostly been tested with ardour i think. is there a freeverb vst or something i can download to test against?

are you doing music on linux already? have you ever had any luck with muse or rosegarden? i desperately want muse to work, and i know it must for some people, but for the life of me i can't get any noise out of the bastard, nor a click track in either of them. and i can't find any metronomes that support JACK. speaking of jack, it's the mutt's nuts, truly. i just loaded up a rhodes keyboard sample, took it out through the soundcard and through a wah wah pedal, then back into ardour to record! it's amazing!

edit: http://www.djcj.org/LAU/ladspavst/

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Guest Stripey
personally i haven't' date=' but there's some software (using WINE) to hook the VSTs into the LADSPA plugin system. i don't know how well it works, but the code has been around for a couple of years so i will check it out and let you know. it's called vstserver or something. it has mostly been tested with ardour i think. is there a freeverb vst or something i can download to test against?

are you doing music on linux already? have you ever had any luck with muse or rosegarden? i desperately want muse to work, and i know it must for some people, but for the life of me i can't get any noise out of the bastard, nor a click track in either of them. and i can't find any metronomes that support JACK. speaking of jack, it's the mutt's nuts, truly. i just loaded up a rhodes keyboard sample, took it out through the soundcard and through a wah wah pedal, then back into ardour to record! it's amazing!

edit: [url']http://www.djcj.org/LAU/ladspavst/

You can get free vsts from http://www.kvr-vst.com

I haven't done any audio on linux yet, cuz I'm basically happy with my setup on windows and dont have time anymore to get used to a whole new setup again. Most of the stuff I've tried (there was a drum machine thingy and a step sequencer) were a bit cack and homemade seeming...

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yeah, i thought everything was really shit until i spent a lot of time and lost patience working it all out. it's certainly not easy, by a long shot; you also have to move away from the paradigm of one-app-for-all-things. Ardour is really a great piece of software, and the latest version is the most stable by far. it's approaching version 1.0. Hydrogen is the drum machine i use, the two best drumkits for me are the synth electro ones and one of the hip hop kits, however, it now takes midi input for drumkits, so if you have a soundfont that has a kit you like, you can pull it from that i think. I'm using version 0.8.2 of hydrogen.

i'll post a sample of something i've managed to do with linux later on if i can.

do you know of a vst that can do amp simulation for guitars, free or otherwise?

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Guest Stripey
yeah' date=' i thought everything was really shit until i spent a lot of time and lost patience working it all out. it's certainly not easy, by a long shot; you also have to move away from the paradigm of one-app-for-all-things. Ardour is really a great piece of software, and the latest version is the most stable by far. it's approaching version 1.0. Hydrogen is the drum machine i use, the two best drumkits for me are the synth electro ones and one of the hip hop kits, however, it now takes midi input for drumkits, so if you have a soundfont that has a kit you like, you can pull it from that i think. I'm using version 0.8.2 of hydrogen.

i'll post a sample of something i've managed to do with linux later on if i can.

do you know of a vst that can do amp simulation for guitars, free or otherwise?[/quote']

Yeah the way you described it sounds quite modular, which is something i've always liked about linux.

A really neat amp modelling vst is Amplitube http://www.amplitube.com

They also do a special zero (well close to zero) latency version for live use.

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excellent, thanks. i'll see if i can obtain that. what distribution of linux do you usually use? i use gentoo, and having tried redhat before for audio, i can tell you that gentoo completely takes the hassle out of getting most of the audio stuff to work, straight out of the box. however, there are now music/video specific distributions, e.g. planet ccrma and agnula.

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Guest Stripey
excellent' date=' thanks. i'll see if i can obtain that. what distribution of linux do you usually use? i use gentoo, and having tried redhat before for audio, i can tell you that gentoo completely takes the hassle out of getting most of the audio stuff to work, straight out of the box. however, there are now music/video specific distributions, e.g. planet ccrma and agnula.[/quote']

I use slackware, and its the only distro I've used since 1996. Stuck in my ways I guess heheh, but I like it for its rawness. The only sound app I use is xmms and mplayer...

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