Synth Solo

[TwilightOdyssey]

This synth solo is one of the interludes from my upcoming Prog Rock project. I've always been a big fan of classic/old school synth sounds. There are several layers of synth here. The bass pedal is the Novation bass Station. The pads are VST samples of vintage synths. The lead is a Dave Smith MOPHO.

 

[Funkfingers]

Re: Synth Solo

IMO, one of the characteristics of voltage-controlled analogue subtractive synthesizers is their inherent instability in the tuning and filter control departments. This is what gives them "character". To my ears, in your recording, only the lead synth part has this character. By comparison, the bass pedal note and the chordal stuff are kinda static.

I write as a long-term user of Roland JD, JV, XP, XV type digital synthesizers. It is possible to program in a certain amount of randomness into the sounds of these instruments but this is never entirely convincing. For me, it took the Creamware Minimax ASB and Proddysey ASB to get believably accurate sounds.

Amongst your gear, I would expect you to find the MOPHO very much more believably analogue than, say, the Bass Station - even the very latest version.

 

[Dr. Vegetable]

Re: Synth Solo

I like it. I think this kind of track you can get away with the more sterile sound of the pure digital stuff. You have some nice sweeps in there, and the interplay between the different synth tones has a nice dynamic that makes the whole piece breathe.

FF is right, though, there is a different quality to the old analog gear that is hard to replicate with the current crop of digital synths. I'm still very disappointed at the "close but no cigar" Roland SH-01 virtual analog, which could be awesome if it actually contained the magic of the old SH-101, for example. They didn't even get the sample-hold random arpeggiator right, which is a real buzzkill.

Back on point, though, I like this track. There's probably even enough room in there to add another transient musical theme or two.

 

[TwilightOdyssey]

Re: Synth Solo

I agree, the tuning drift is a blessing/curse, and the MOPHO has a dimensionality to it that a VST will NEVER have. But then, this is a 2 minute bit from 45+ minutes of music and I'm not going to let the fact that I don't have access to a rack of RL analogue synths stop me from writing! (plus, this isn't even mixed yet)

Thanks for listening and commenting!

 

[Funkfingers]

Re: Synth Solo

Are the synth tracks in the sound clip recorded as audio or being triggered by your sequencer? Either way, there are processes that you could apply via your DAW to make the sounds more convincingly "vintage". (Assuming this to be the desired effect.)

Regarding the mixing; more MOPHO, slightly less of everything else, please.

 

[LesStrat]

Re: Synth Solo

Very interesting. Wild.

:bigok: