Soft Synth recording: Native Instruments Absynth 3 vs. Arturia Moog Modular V2 ?!

I do a bit of work with softsynths. Reason and Cubase are my main programs, and I use a lot of VSTi's. I used Absynth before and didn't really like it. I'm not a fan of the layout. I've never used Arturia Moog.

If you're just getting into softsynths you might want to start with free VSTi plugins. There are a ton of free VST softsynths and effect out there and some of them are as good or better than anything you can buy. Get youself an inexpensive controller; maybe something like a Keystation 49e. Just make sure whatever you get has a mod wheel and pitch bend control. You'll also need a program to host the VSTi's. I use Cubase, but I think there are some free programs out there.

For more info on VSTi's check out KVRaudio.com. It's like TalkBass for softsynth/VSTi stuff.

Good luck.

 

Try out the demos for both of those. They're pretty different animals: the Moog Modular is just like how it sounds - it's based on the huge Moog modular analog synthesizers of the '60s and '70s. Absynth is a very different beast, kind of unlike anything that's been around before.

 

+1 on KVRaudio.com. you can find tons and tons of stuff there and not just synths. you can get effects, other instruments, utilities, etc etc. for free that are really nice. i'd say get your feet wet with free stuff before going out and buying something. once you get the hang of it, try some demo stuff and buy if you want it.

 

Exactly.

I also agree with comments about Absynth. It is not a normal synth.

You want to start out with something that has a classic layout. Something with all the standatd knobs. That way you'll learn about how to synthesize. Working a synth is not like using presets on a keyboard. If you know what you are doing you can have full control over your sound creation. You really have to know what every control does to the sound and how they effect each other.

I recommend you start off on Triangle II. It's a subtractive softsynth VSTi. It is great to learn on and very powerfull. You can download it for free, just do a web search or look on KVR.

 

Get a decent MIDI controller, for sure. A sound card with good specs and drivers is a must, as well. Older or consumer-type sound cards / interfaces often have very high latency (takes a long time to make the sound after you press a key) and that can be frustrating.

Absynth is neat but odd. Moog Modular is great but requires lots of practice and experience with patching modules to get good tones. I'd suggest something easy with lots of good presets, like perhaps:

http://www.applied-acoustics.com/ultraanalogsession.htm

I have Ultra Analog (the synth that this is based on,) and it's great. This version is much easier to use, and it's the kind of thing that make you concentrate on making music as opposed to toying with sounds.

The big thing I have to watch out for with virtual instruments is the more choices I have, the less music I actually make. If I have 25 synths, I'll mess with all of them before I get around to playing something useful. I've intentionally limited myself to the following:

NI Kontakt 2 (sampler)
NI Elektrik and Akoustic (electric and acoustic pianos)
M-Audio M-Tron (Mellotron sounds)
NI B4 II (Hammond organ)
AAS Ultra Analog (Moog and assorted analog synthy type noises)

I also use ToonTrack EZDrummer for a drum machine, but I don't actually "play" that one.

So my advice is to start with some simple stuff, and keep your choices to a minimum (at least to start with) so you can actually make music and not just mess around. After all, that's what it's all about, right?

Matt Farrow

 

It is nice to have a good sound card, but not necessary. Any modern desktop or laptop can be set up to run a USB midi controller/VST setup without any noticable latency issues. You just need to have everything configured correctly. A good sound card will give you more In/Out options and probably have better Digital to Analog conversion.

A good ASIO or DirectX driver makes all the difference with latency. I use ASIOforAll. It is free, easy to install, and has worked very well for me. Just search "asioforall" and you can find a free download.

 

Yup, same here. I had to intentionally uninstall some of my software synths so I wouldn't bog myself down with options. Actually, on the software front, all I have installed right now is the M-Tron (gotta have the Mellotron sounds available) and EZDrummer (by the way, EZDrummer is the best thing to happen to drum software ever.) I have some other softsynths that I bought along with a few freebies that I downloaded, but I forced myself to uninstall all of those and now I just limit myself to my two hardware synths (Alesis Ion and Moog Taurus) for my synth needs.

What Geddy Lee said regarding synths is true: "One synth is too many, and a thousand aren't enough!"