Analog Synths for Ambient Music

How much do you want to spend? if you buy new, a Waldorf Blofeld + a Strymon BigSky is pretty much ambient synth heaven. Not analog, but analog isn't always the right call when your sound has a lot of reverb on it. Having digital sounds on tap also is important.
 
Those look good. I'm not disagreeing on what are you're saying, but the reason I want analog is to get a more unique sound. I'm not going for quality, just weird sounds.
 
I don't think analog has anything to do with "unique" - in fact, it's probably harder to coax "unheard" sounds from analog synths compared to something like the Blofeld (or modern VAs for that matter). If you want truly unique & weird, go modular :)

I have a Moog Sub37, Arturia Minibrute, Doepfer Dark Energy, Acidlab Bassline, Mutable Anushri & Shruthi as far as analogs go...and I think the one that easily gets "weird" out of these is the Shruthi - because of the digital oscs.
 
I don't think analog has anything to do with "unique" - in fact, it's probably harder to coax "unheard" sounds from analog synths compared to something like the Blofeld (or modern VAs for that matter). If you want truly unique & weird, go modular :)

I have a Moog Sub37, Arturia Minibrute, Doepfer Dark Energy, Acidlab Bassline, Mutable Anushri & Shruthi as far as analogs go...and I think the one that easily gets "weird" out of these is the Shruthi - because of the digital oscs.

hooray a member of the old guard! i bet the mutable stuff kills for pads - i really wanted to strap an anushri to a DX7 for a while as my 'pad rig'. modular stuff won, as it always does...
 
I appreciate the input guys. I've played around a lot with software synths, both well known and obscure, and compared it to analog synths. Maybe we are hearing different things but personally when I hear a analog synth hooked up to a few vintage hardware processors its sounds more weird than the most refined software synth.
 
You should check out the Dave Smith offerings. Especially the Mopho x4. It's brute force squeezed into a small, affordable package. It uses digital oscillators and can get pretty freaky very easily. It fits perfectly for creating what my Moog sub phatty and Roland Super JX-10 can't accomplish.
 
You should check out the Dave Smith offerings. Especially the Mopho x4. It's brute force squeezed into a small, affordable package. It uses digital oscillators and can get pretty freaky very easily. It fits perfectly for creating what my Moog sub phatty and Roland Super JX-10 can't accomplish.

The Mopho's oscs aren't digital - they're analog, digitally controlled oscillators (DCO). Which just makes them more stable than "traditional" VCOs. Of course the whole DCO/VCO discussion is a huge can o' worms by itself, but they're definitely analog...
 
I have been looking at the DSI evolver, I can just imagine all the greatness that may spawn from it. In fact everything I've seen and heard from it, as well as trying it out for a short while tells me it may be the one who takes my analog synth virginity.

I suppose it's actually both analog and digital but still.. I don't care. :P

A great software alternative to weirdness would be Bazille.
 
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Hey Krushing,

What's your experience been like with the Arturia MiniBrute? I have a number of analog and digital boxes (and have access to others), so I don't want to spend a lot of $$, but I have played with the MiniBrute and liked it; I was considering the MicroBrute...

GJ
 
Hey Krushing,

What's your experience been like with the Arturia MiniBrute? I have a number of analog and digital boxes (and have access to others), so I don't want to spend a lot of $$, but I have played with the MiniBrute and liked it; I was considering the MicroBrute...

GJ

I like it - can't say the Steiner-Parker filter is my personal favourite (I guess it's just as much down to being so accustomed to more "standard" sounding ones), but it does its own thing. Envelopes on sliders are great, as you can instantly see the shape of the env; the "special effects" (metalizer, brute factor) get overused at first, but once you learn to back them off, they're a nice flavour. The arp is fine as well, and you can "hack" it (via a simple sysex command) to morph into the SE model, with the sequencer (haven't tried it though). All in all, it's not exactly complex and always tends to sound like a 'Brute, but that's not a bad thing - it's basically my go-to lead synth.
 
Waldorf to the rescue! I have a Blofeld and have played with their String synth before. Honestly, it's a beast for it's price and would fit right in in more ambient music. I have used it a lot since I got it and it's built like a tank. The sounds are lush, rich and thick. I mainly use it for pads, strings and atmospheres.

Or is budget is not a problem the Prophet 6.... All analog beast that'll have you creating some of the best sounding sounds!
 
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