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by diggan 526 days ago
The best way I found to understand a bit more about how synths work, was to give VCVRack a try. Basically "build your own synth" in a box, AKA " Modular synthesizer", which lets you build what a mainstream synth comes with, from scratch.
3 comments
colkassad 526 days ago
There is also Cardinal, a GPL fork that you can run as a plugin directly in your DAW of choice (I believe you need the paid VCV Rack to do that):

https://github.com/DISTRHO/Cardinal

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jnovek 526 days ago
I tend to thing that non-modular is a better place to start. Modular is great, I've wasted untold shameful consumerist dollars on Eurorack, but I think it's better to get the core concepts from a well-known fixed-architecture synth (like a Minimoog clone/VST) before moving on to modular. Modular can be very overwhelming when you're new.
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jghn 526 days ago
To this point, are there any free/cheap apps/browser apps that clone simple/older/well known synths you'd (or others here) would recommend for skilling up a bit? Doesn't need to be anywhere near pro quality sound-wise, not what I'm after.

A million years ago I had some analogue korg model and have been interested in playing around again. But I know myself well enough to know that my interest may very well be fleeting and I don't want to invest much in the way of $$ to go that route.

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nprateem 526 days ago
Sylenth has a free trial. Garageband probably has an analogue synth in it. There's also v station:

https://stgdownloads.novationmusic.com/novation/novation-sof...

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jnovek 524 days ago
I’m a fan of Helm but it’s got some complexity under the hood.

If you’re an iOS user there are a ton of good soft synths on iOS that are criminally cheap. E.g. Moog has a version of the Mini that’s like $15.

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diggan 526 days ago
I guess semi-modular is a good half-way :)

Personally, I'm not into modular synths, so I don't recommend them as "Stop buying synths and start doing modular synths" but more like "If you're already into synths, but want to learn more about how they actually synthesize the sound, give VCVRack a try", merely as a learning tool.

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jnovek 524 days ago
That’s fair, I misunderstood GP’s post thinking you were making that recommendation to total noobs. Modular definitely has enough rope to hang yourself.

If someone is going to buy a hardware synth to learn on, I think a well laid-out semi-modular that has a good default signal path is a good way to go. Just ignore those funny 3.5” jacks until you’re ready.

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actsasbuffoon 526 days ago
It’s also pretty easy to create your own VCV Rack modules, assuming you don’t mind doing a little math.
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