I’m sure others have already said what I’m about to, and have probably said it better, but incan’t Resist throwing in my two cents - I’m excited for you.
I strongly agree with “start small” advice. There are so so many options out there that if you drop 3 grand on a drum machine/sequencer, a VA polysynth, an analog monosynth, a small eurorack setup, a mixer, and a couple effects boxes, you’ll drown in options.
Get enough to learn what you like. Do you like sound design, drum programming, sample mangling, grooving out to funky bass lines? When do you get lost in what you’re doing?
Give yourself limitations. No one piece of gear is perfect in every situation, but I’ve found that I’m usually my most creative when trying to figure out how to make-do. You learn how to push the instruments you have, and find unique solutions to problems when you only have a few options.
If it were me, I’d get a simple 2-osc analog monosynth to learn the basics of subtractive synthesis - honestly, the MiniBrute 2s looks pretty sweet. Keys, if you’ve prefer playing over sequencing. Either way, it’s a well developed monosynth that has everything you need to really learn subtractive synthesis. Plus it’s god a sick patchbay that’s let you dabble with module patching if you’re interested. Then, I’d get and machinedrum (UW if you’ve got the extra scratch.)
With that rig, you’ve got your basics covered. Drums, bass, rhythmic and melodic sequencing. You can pipe the monosynth into the MD’s input and forego the need for a mixer at the beginning.
OMG. This.
I can’t remember the last time I bought something new. I’ve had great luck picking up gear off of craigslist, ebay, or on rare occasions, the local pawn shop. Usually it’s somethjng that has like a total of 20 hrs on it, and someone is getting rid of because it just wasn’t their jam.
I came across this thread on Saturday and and had a little read (OP’s story sounds very familiar to me). Randomly Sunshine Jones was playing in my town on Sunday so I went to check him out. Fantastic stuff and definitely inspiring as someone who eventually wants to get into a similar kind of live space. Seemed like he had 4 Roland Boutiques, an OT, an MX-1 and some other small stuff I didn’t see too closely.
To op’s question, I’d say a sampler is a great place to start (and where I started). The Digitakt has really unleashed my creative output. So much so that I also added a Digitone a couple months ago and played my first live ambient set on the weekend.
I haven’t read all of the replies yet, but I wanted to say just 1 thing…if you don’t get a long with the first piece of gear you buy, it doesn’t necessarily mean you are not cut out for making music. Every piece of gear has a different workflow & what I have learned in my journey is HOW you make the music…the process… matters more than the end result. A Digitakt compared to an MPC compared to the Deluge…all have a different workflow, a different process. And if you don’t enjoy the process with 1, doesn’t mean you won’t enjoy the process of the others.
I would get an MK1 version of the Analog 4 since it has overbridge support if you ever want to use a DAW in the future plus it has a good sequencer. Plus used prices are good on it.
Also what is your budget? Other options are getting a sampler like the OT or Digitakt.
this is good advice- I have gear that is a pain for me to use for different reasons like the Moog Sub 37 is big and too heavy for hauling to shows and gigs and the Microkorg does not have the best workflow for me. The Elektron workflow is great and once I get used to it flies by for me.
Sunshine Jones is a cool cat, he is a member on the Squarp forum, he uses Roland Boutiques, Octatrack and a Pyramid as well as other stuff, he has a lot of quality content on his homepage including some gear related articles and videos, and some other interesting stuff http://sunshine-jones.com/
My budget is around $800. The digitakt seems like a great option. Been watching digitakt megatutorial by cuckoomusic. He really takes apart the instrument. Seems easy to use after watching that video.
I admit I don’t have a Digitakt (been researching the hell out of it & want one), but I agree on it being a good first purchase. It’s not TOO expensive, if you don’t get a long with it you can sell it & make most of your money back…it works well for a lot of different genres, especially ‘techno’, great features, but not too overwhelming. Can make full tracks (not just a synth). Seems like a great piece of gear to get your feet wet, plus it seems to play well with others, so you can add on to it, like a synth, turntable (if that’s your thing, it’s def mine :o), ect.
A Digitakt would be a solid first instrument, it is easy enough to use on a “surface” level and you can dig deeper as your knowledge expands, an excellent addition to it after a while would be the Roland SH-01a, it will cover plenty of sounds and will teach you the foundations of analog subtractive synthesis, have a look at the Sunshine Jones video of it, you will certainly recognise the sounds it can make.
a modest subtractive synth is a good companion for Digitakt (starting out), because it’s far more direct and ‘hands-on’ - in that your gestures get immediate results… you turn a knob, hit a key, or have a simple sequence running (Monologue is great for this), and you can immediately see (hear) how the knobs affect the sounds, play around with the sequence length, see how each oscillator affects one another, etc.
The Digitakt isn’t so direct, but once you understand how it works (a bit of programming, navigating the interface), it’s really fast and similarly ‘immediate’.
I also would start learning synthesis on a computer before I’d buy a hardware synth because there are excellent free software synths out there (you would need a DAW for that, but Reaper is not that expensive)
This is such a great, positive thread. Someone ought to let Sunshine know - he’d love to know how he’s inspired you, OP.
Totally agree with the suggestion of a DT as a first device too. It made sense to me immediately with very little experience, but I’m still digging deeper into it every time I use it a year later.
After some tinkering with apps like Korg Gadget and FunkBox, I was lucky enough to have some friends loan me a few pieces of gear (volca beats + microbrute) to learn the basics of drum programming and subtractive synthesis and making them work together. It was a revelation for me! If you can find a kind soul to help you out in a similar way I’m sure you’ll be hooked in no time.
Congratulations and welcome to the start of the journey. As mentioned above, Sunshine has a great site/blog. You might want to check out what he has to say about the JU-06. It’s a re-do of the Juno 106 which is an absolute classic for house. The most important thing is that it just … sounds good. Plus it’s so easy to figure out. Anyway, you have plenty of advice here and whatever you decide, it’s all good.