For as long as I've been making music I've pretty much only used the stock Logic Synths, most of the time I just use ES2. However I'm wondering if getting some DAW agnostic Synth or Synths and learning them is a better long term plan, since right now I'm preferring tracking instruments in Studio One and honestly in the future I might not go Mac again next time.
Here's the thing... I have no idea where to start! I definitely want a synth plugin not a sample set.
Is it worth holding out for a sale on Native Instruments Komplete and learning the synths in that? Or should I look at a Rob Papen Bundle? Or something from u-He?
I like a broad range of sounds and listen to pop, EDM, film soundtrack stuff. From an untrained eye it kind of seems like most synth plugin companies can cover most bases with their product range, so I'm a bit confused with where to start.
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I would get Diva for analogue sounding goodness and Zebra for an ultimate powerhouse do it all synth.
Re-pro 1 if you need a good mono synth, and Bazille for modular hybrid analogue / digital madness.
But really Diva and Zebra can do 99% of all the synth work you would ever need.
For complex soundscapes and modular craziness I also highly recommend Native Instrument Reaktor 6.
The Blocks are very fun, sound splendid and are as good as better as having a real modular ( having had both - each has advantages and drawbacks but ultimately Reaktor won for me ).
https://www.native-instruments.com/en/products/komplete/bundles/komplete-11-select/
Remember, it's easier to criticise than create!
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U-he Diva for Analogue sounds
NI FM8 for FM synthesis
Image Line Ogun for additive synthesis. Very good for metallic and bell like sounds
AAS Chromaphone for percussive type synthesis
Image Line Harmless which I've used for such things as powerful bass synth tones.
Earlier this year I upgraded to NI Komplete Ultimate which has some excellent synths which I'm still learning about. I suspect most of my synth needs might be satisfied by NI Komplete, but I'd still go for U-he Diva which is a lovely analogue synth.
Out of all those I feel I can cover everything I need with both U-He synths and Alchemy. To get the best out of Zebra you need powerful computer. Personally I wouldn't get Komplete as to me it seems overkill and I found having less software is better for me anyway.
I much prefer the Arturia collection, really easy to use, easy to map to a controller and they sound great. I got colection 5 80% off in black friday sales. so I think 179 GBP for the lot. money well spent.
There's quite a few freebies that have unusual sounds if you're prepared to spend time looking into them.
Morfiki 'mass turbo tar' (boom, boom) can morph between patches via controller.
VSTZone's Atmospheres is good for ambient, it pairs unusual oscillator combos.
NI do some freebies if you check their site.
My other go to synth is Omnisphere 2: its all you need. it really is.
If you have Logic, Alchemy is bundled with it now, and that was probably my favourite synth before they were bought by Apple. I have every library released for that, and stil use it.
It really depends what you are wanting I suppose. I am a bit of a synth nut, and can't stop buying them, so I do have a few. But if you wanted just one synth that can do more or less anything, then it would be Omnisphere 2. It has the lot, and its huge, but not hard to use.
Omnisphere 2 (synths, experimental)
Stylus RMX (beats, percussion)
Trillian (specialising in bass)
Keyscape (pianos, traditional keys).
Rob Papen makes some good instruments and tutorial materials to support them.
The D16 Group makes some excellent instruments that exceed expectations of the 101, 303, 606, 808 and 909.
KORG Legacy.
Roland "plug-out" SH-101, SH-2 et cetera.
Had a go on the demo versions of all the U-He Synths. The ones that make most sense to me are Zebra and Hive, with Hive being simplest. I quite like the sounds of Diva too, though on first impressions I prefer the workflow in the other 2.
I'm going to demo NI and Rob Papen stuff too when I get a chance.
Keep going back to Hive, it doesn't quite do everything but it's so fast an easy at more bread and butter modern EDM stuff.
Also still enjoying Zebra which has a lot more options, is well laid out, but by nature a bit slower to use due to its potential complexity.
The RP stuff is nice, I already have Blue 1, overall I feel I might as well just upgrade to Blue 2 rather than getting the whole bundle. I think I prefer the u-he stuff.
Still need to check out Massive too.
Going to have to be talked out of adding too many synth parts to songs at this rate... having a lot of fun writing parts
I feel like in the short term the best decision for me is to get U-He Hive. It might not be the most versatile but it gets the sounds I look for super fast, and it's enjoyable to use. It took me the least time to learn the GUI and this is a major factor for me because I look to synth stuff as an extra rather than a primary sound from a creative standpoint.
The less time I spend messing with settings the better - and I acknowledge that my familiarity with synths is much lower than with guitar gear... I'm more at home with a complex piece of gear for guitar just due to experience, an Axe FX 2 doesn't phase me because I'm generally confident of how to get from A-B without getting too lost. With synth, I couldn't tell you 'oh that's clearly this type of wave layered with that type of wave' because I don't have that burned into my brain, yet.
Zebra seems pretty amazing too. I feel like if I sat down and really learned a lot then I'd probably only need Zebra, but by the same token over the immediate future I don't see me reaching that level with synths.
I've worked out that really fat vintage synth sounds and vintage inspired GUIs aren't really my thing, I'm always trying to make stuff that bit more aggressive to get it to sit with heavy guitars and that's easier in some synths than others.
With regards to NI, I'll probably just wait for the next major sale precluding the release of Komplete 12, they usually do a good deal on the outgoing Komplete at that point. Right now they're only doing deals on upgrades.
TLDR, Hive seems to be the sweet spot for me and I'd recommend giving the demo a go, it's very easy to use and sounds really good IMO.
Thanks
So I took a longer look at Serum, actually I've been watching the Groove 3 Tutorial on it since the demo window is so small (just 15 minutes, I want to know the basics before I try it). It looks pretty awesome and the layout is great. I feel like Hive for basic stuff and Serum for anything more advanced will suit me quite well.