Analog Synths sound dated?

Who gives a sh*t?   Did they make good? sound is all that counts.

Edited by Slartibartfast - July 05 2012 at 12:12

of course they sound dated, isn't that what we love about them?







Edited by Atavachron - July 05 2012 at 17:56

Well, when I hear the sound of an analog synth comes automatically to my mind all those 70s prog monsters like Wakeman, Emerson, ect.. So probably they sound "dated" to me, but they do sound great and that's enough.

One man's dated is another man's vintage.

Originally posted by Ytse_Jam Well, when I hear the sound of an analog synth comes automatically to my mind all those 70s prog monsters like Wakeman, Emerson, ect.. So probably they sound "dated" to me, but they do sound great and that's enough.

If you take a quick visit to www.moogmusic.com you will find that they are still developing and producing analog synths and that they hardly mention prog or even the 70s anywhere. Analog synths are still considered cool today because people like Deadmau5 use them, lots of "musicians" in the electronic/dance genre's love the "fat" analog sound, mostly for their bass lines of course.

Originally posted by cstack3 Nice post!  The ARP String Ensemble didn't quite have the sound of the Mellotron, but it did have its own vibe, and I became quite fond of it during the middle & late 1970's.   However, if you find one, I doubt it will last very long....they weren't very well-made beasts! I have had excellent luck in taking all sorts of digital signals & then processing them through ANALOG processors, ex. analog delay, chorus etc.  These add a nice warmth to the otherwise "reedy" sound of the digital keyboard (I am thinking of the Yamaha DX7 specifically).   If you want to get a nice string sound, buy some Mellotron samples online & load them into a nice synth workstation! That is what Mike Pinder (ex-Moody Blues) does these days.  All the cleanliness & convenience of digital, with a true Mellotron sound!  After all, those original sample sounds were generated by living/breathing string/flute/vocalist musicians, many of whom are probably dead by now!!  Rather awesome to think of that, actually, especially with the Mellotron 8-voice choir!!  A veritable choir of ghosts..... This is a great site to explore:  http://www.planetmellotron.com/toptens2.htm

Edited by Josef_K - August 25 2012 at 08:37

Originally posted by cstack3 Nice post!  The ARP String Ensemble didn't quite have the sound of the Mellotron, but it did have its own vibe, and I became quite fond of it during the middle & late 1970's.

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If I'm not mistaken Dave Stewart played keyboards for National Health, Hatfield & The North, Egg, and various side projects with people like Bill Bruford. That might be a good comparison. Listen to the synth on Hells Bells off of Brufords "One of a Kind". If you can tell whether it's a Minimonsta(Minimoog on steroids(computer to midi fatar), Memorymoog or any of the various others plus modular versions, then I wopuld consider you an expert between the 2 (Analog vs digital). I have a Roland Juno G, Roland Sh-01 GAIA, Alesis Micron, Korg Microkorg and the Minimonsta. Being an ex sound technician for Tapco/Mackie and having had a huge modular (analog synth)PAIA w/7 oscillators, 5 vcf's, etc. It all had to be externally patched from 1 module to the next. (best way to learn signal flow imho)
The major differences between synthesizer makers and their "sound" is in the types of filters. An average synth player can take an older analog alot of places, but the polyphony that creates the much more lush sounds on the digitals......I personally prefer. I love my GAIA.