INTRODUCTION TO SYNTHESIZERS - hol.gr

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What about computers? Personal computers are becoming more and more usual today as tools used for creating and recording music. As the PC's are getting more powerful than ever, their usefulness for musical purposes is also steadily increasing. A fast desktop computer equipped with a decent sound card, running some appropriate software (like Cubase VST, Cakewalk Pro Audio or CoolEdit Pro) can in fact be used as a regular multichannel digital recording studio. Computers can also be used as synthesizers on their own by running software "emulating" a dedicated hardware synthesizer. These software synthesizers are quite usual today and their sound quality and functionality equals those of regular, hardwired synthesizers. To be able to play a soft-synth, you'll need a MIDI-keyboard connected to the computer. Also keep in mind that if you wish to use one computer as both a soft-synth and to record audio, you may need two sound-cards, since many soft-synths and recording software cannot use the same soundcard at the same time. I don't find it unrealistic to think that dedicated hardware-synthesizers will in a soon future be replaced by software based ones, just like the hardware based sequencers that have been rendered obsolete by MIDIprocessing software. What the future has to offer can only be speculated upon, but one thing is certain: a new era is dawning in the area of computer music, and a brand new world is being opened up for the public. Buying used equipment Say that you wish to build a small home studio. You don't really need all the latest equipment and your budget is rather limited. What can you do? Start by asking yourself the following question: is a synthesizer, which was the state of the art just a few years ago, merely a pile of rubbish today? Of course not. You may not be able to create the most recent sounds from the hit lists - but there are sounds on my 1986 Korg EX-8000, which I still can't reproduce on any other machine. Evidently there is a market for used equipment. How can you find second hand synthesizers? Well, you can for instance check the newspaper for used gear. Keyboard magazines are the obvious ones. Sometimes you can find true bargains, but you should always be prepared to examine the equipment before you buy it. Once you take it away, your chances to sell it back in case of a malfunction are rather limited. A better choice would be to pay your local keyboard shops a visit. Quite often they have demo synthesizers and used equipment for sale. Of course their asking price is higher than the ones you'll find in the newspaper ads, but they will almost always offer a limited warranty of say, three months. Quite enough for any odd problem to make itself noticed. Compare the prices - some owners don't seem to realize that electronic music equipment has a shorter life span than cars or computers. Expect the price to have dropped to at least half the original price after two or three years! Of course some classic, vintage instruments, like the MiniMoog, still hold on to their exclusive status and corresponding price tag. Things to check For keyboards, check the action of each individual key. Are they sticking or is the action uneven? Listen for strange noises from the keyboard - it can be a sign of wear. Check the action for velocity sensitivity and after touch (if this applies). Make sure the joystick is working properly and that it springs back to the middle when you release it. Has the keyboard been dragged around on gigs without a protecting case - maybe even dropped once or twice? Examine the shell carefully, even at the bottom. Scratches, bumps, tapes, scribblings or cracks may imply that the inside can be damaged as well. Move the synth around a bit. Is there something loose on the inside? When a broken-off resistor is rolling around inside the shell, something is bound to get more broken soon. Leave the instrument on for five or ten minutes. Make sure that the power is not switching off by itself, that the instrument does not create excess heat, doesn't begin to smell funny or - shock horror! - starts to smoke. Check 30
the display for flickering when you play the keys - it could be a sign of a malfunctioning power supply. Connections, like outputs, headphone jacks and pedal connections are prone to be broken. There is nothing more annoying than discovering broken line outputs too late, just because you only tested the synth with your headphones! Check the MIDI connections. You will need to have another keyboard or a computer to perform this check, but a broken MIDI circuit can render the instrument useless for sequencing work, so this check may very well be worth some fuss. If the synth is equipped with a disk drive, watch out! Old disk drives may be working perfectly for decades, but when they break down you may not be able to replace them. Check the drive out for dust and dirt - use a flashlight to see if there is grime and grease on the inside. I am serious. Take a look at the disks - if provided. Do they look dirty? Are the labels loose or sticky? Do they have pencil writing on them? Pencil dust, combined with eraser dust is the worst disk drive-killer you can imagine. Definitely avoid instruments using QuickDisk (QD) drives, like the Akai S700, Akai X7000 and the Roland S10. Empty QD-floppies used to be very expensive and they are almost impossible to get hold of today! What about the manuals? You may be able to figure out the basic operation of the instrument by yourself, but can you set up the System Exclusive Patch Dump Request too? The condition of the user manuals can also tell a lot about the previous owner - a mint condition manual may tell you that the owner took good care of his instrument. Stolen equipment How can you be certain that the equipment you wish to buy is not stolen? Well, this one can be a bit tricky. If the previous owner can show a receipt of his purchase, then you are probably quite safe. But otherwise you should be careful. Ask the seller about the reason for the sale. If the price is absurdly low, or the conditions of the purchase seem weird, you should definitely watch out. Also check that the serial number plate (often on the back of the synth) is intact. If this plate has been removed or obviously replaced, you can be pretty sure that the instrument is a stolen one. Sometimes it can be tempting to buy a synthesizer at a ridiculously low price with no questions asked, but you should remember that buying stolen property is a crime! And if the police comes knocking on your door, you will need to have some good explanations at hand! Losing your new synth, your money and getting sued at the same time is more than enough to ruin your day! Frequently asked questions I receive a lot of mail about musical instruments and synthesizers, and it's great to be able to help. I try to answer your questions if I can, but it may take some time! Q: Which synthesizer should I buy? A: Please, please, please - don't ask me what synthesizer you should buy! This is without doubt the most frequently asked question and it is absolutely impossible for me to answer it! As any newcomer in this area surely must have noticed, it's a complete jungle out there: there are thousands and thousands of different kind of synthesizers and modules, so picking just the right one for you is nearly impossible. I am only familiar with, like ten or twenty of them. You have to take your time and do your homework, reading reviews in music magazines, gathering information, visiting music shops and trying out the instruments that you feel good about. For issues regarding buying synthesizers and music equipment, please check out my Synthesizer Buyer's Guide web page. If you still have specific questions, don't hesitate mailing to me. I'll answer if I can! 31
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Page 17 and 18: By connecting a MIDI-keyboard to th
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Page 21 and 22: Software-based sequencers are proba
Page 23 and 24: Click on the icon to listen to a mo
Page 25 and 26: The faders The sound volume for eac
Page 27 and 28: pattern. The echoes can be set to e
Page 29: Sampled or synthetic If you are int

INTRODUCTION TO SYNTHESIZERS - hol.gr

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