analog bass synth for southern/ west coast rap

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kerby_45

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wsup y'all

I'm really digging for the perfect bass sounds for 90s bass heavy west coast rap and southern rap. Will the Korg Ms2000 satisfy me?

one
 
Negative most likely.

I like the machine quite a bit, and i've even used it in that capacity but i'd make other recommendations.

I would actually say check out an Ion for that (even though as i've stated before i think they're ugly) or possibly a Waldorf Pulse. You'll have to have a seperate MIDI keyboard for that, however.

I also think waldorf products are ugly.

*dives into a WMD bunker*

Anyway, both i believe are fairly close to the MS2k price.
 
I love my 30 year old analog Micromoog for this type of stuff.

not expensive, and amazingly full bass sound.
 
gotta warn you, you asked for analog and the korg ms2000 is not analog. its virtual analog, meaning that it has a digital processing chip that emulates the analog circuit of a real analog synth.

although they are arguably similar (as one is a direct emulation of the other), there is actually a huge difference. to sum it up, the tradeoff is as follows:

- VA synths, such as the ms2000 or ion or virus etc, generally have tons of crazy functionality that would be impossible in the analog domain... programmability on steroids

- analog synths sound amazing and "real" in a way that VA can never quite imitate. believe me, there have been attempts, and some people even claim that they have it down and their VA synth sounds exactly like an analog synth. but double-blind tests (given a trained ear that is familiar with analog and VA synths) will almost always show that VA is never quite there.

having said that, i would suggest that you look into real analog synths if you only are trying to use this synth for bass. this is because of A: the analog sound, and B: the fact that the extra VA functionality doesn't really help for programming bass sounds (where you will usually stick with basic sound design and not get all experimental).

http://www.vintagesynth.org has a great listing of synths, including all the classic analog synths.

you will probably need only a monosynth for basslines. the minimoog is a classic but its relatively pricey. a cheap alternative is the novation bass station, i think it costs no more than $100 used, and it sounds cool for bass stuff (avoid the non-bass harmonics). its used by some big names.... RZA, radiohead, havoc, massive attack, salaam remi, trent reznor, the list goes on.....
 
mano 1 said:
I love my 30 year old analog Micromoog for this type of stuff.

not expensive, and amazingly full bass sound.

I like imagining in my mind's eye how Eminem got ahold of that thing . . .


Eminem: Yo, so i can i have one of dem sweet MiniMogz or whatever you got that you usin' all the time? That bass is DOPE.

Dre: Uhhh . . . well, no . . . i might have something you can use . . . lemme see . .

*dre rummages in closet and pulls out micromoog*

Dre: Yeah . . . you can have this thing

Eminem: WHAT THE HELL IS THIS?!?!?! Oh wait. Itz a mog too, dats cool. I'll take it.

Eminem: Gotta run dawg, my boy told me there's this new beat box called the uhm Hartmon nuurrrron. Make me sound like kanyez. and datz a fakt!


BTW, that's not a bash on the micromoog at _all_. I think it's the cat's ass. I just like visualizing that situation.
 
2nice said:
gotta warn you..... the list goes on.....

I too think analog is the best answer, but for kerby_45 to get the most out of a nice analog piece of equipment like that, then kerby_45 would have to be a fairly decent keyboard player in order to get stuff done in a reasonable amount of time without 5000 re-takes.

are you a decent keyboard player kerby_45?

If so, then go the vintage route. If not, then i still would suggest the ion because it has MIDI and what not.

BTW, to my ears the Bass Station sounds a lot more like an SH101 than anything moog-related. Maybe that's just me though.
 
the MICROmoog is not pricey at all.. I bought mine at around $450 and that was a couple years ago.

I didn't say Minimoog - that one IS expensive indeed.

I like my Micromoog very much! Let people overlook it (and underestimate it) and sell it for less than one of those cold/new digital mini-synths.

I went from Virus B (with TONS of polyphony, filters, voices, programming...) to a ... Micromoog (limited, 1 voice, 1 oscillator, 1 filter, DEAD SIMPLE)

and you know what... I do not miss the "millions of things you can waste hours exploring" :)

I did get a Poly Evolver Keyboard later on too, mainly because I am a big 70's electronic ambient guy and needed the lush poly-pads/strings stuff the Micromoog doesn't do (it does sound awesome though, and you can "stack" audio channels with layers and layers of Micromoog = amazing richness).
 
i would recommend

a minimoog or clones/reworks like the se1x or the minimoog voyager

a waldorf q+ (if you can find them, is out of production and rare to find)

a korg ms 20 (idem like above, but easier to find)

synth's like an elka synthex, waldorf pulse, roland sh101, roland tb303 ... can also do a lot...
 
I'd be careful with buying an MS-20; you should know your stuff (I mean do you have a lot of experience yet with subtractive/analog synthesis ?) if you want to get the best out of it...
If you know how to use subtractive synthesis then the MS-20 is a great one - not cheap but neither too expensive.

And like Mano 1 mentioned: the Micromoog (and I can add the MOOG Prodigy) is a very nice synth for a decent price and the real MOOG sound if you like.
 
Indeed that's a good one.
The SE-1(x) is very popular with music studio's 'cause it's definitely one of the best Minimoog clones out there (with a few extra interesting features ánd MIDI !). Its sound comes pretty close to the 'real stuff', and it's all packed in a robust 19" case for easy rack mounting, but with lots of direct knobs for easy use.

Feel free to have a look here: http://www.studioelectronics.com/products_se1x.php .
 
Ok sorry, I'm a bit late and didn't read the 2nd page until now :) but my recommendation is SE-1, too.
 
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