Hey guys, I hope you’re all doing fine and protected! I was wondering what would be the best synths for someone with no music theory knowledge, a synth that mistakes would be minimal while composing.
PS: This is for my son, he is 18 and loves to create beats
Thanks
One of the MPC groove boxes might work out.
a buchla easel is very resistant against music theory 
joke aside: an elektron model samples is a good choice to start off beatmaking for an 18-year old.
This thread from a while back was somewhat similar, maybe worth checking out: I’m thinking of getting my son a Digitakt for his 16th birthday
Synth : Hydrasynth Desktop. You can select a Key and a Scale to put on the Pads as Octave Rows. Very clever.
Roland JDXi is a bargain right now(less than £400). Its instant to create tracks, a great sequencer and has a great drum and synth section. Just dial in the sounds.
Thanks for the inputs!
MPC One
Any synth that you can lock to a musical scale, where any ‘wrong’ notes are automatically shifted to the ‘right’ ones. Digitone or Digitone Keys does this, as do a few others by other brands. In all honesty, though, for a young ‘un having something like Ableton Live is a godsend and there are many tools within it for locking things to a given scale.
Yo get him some theory lessons!
It’s better to learn this stuff now than when he’s older.
Damn, I sound like an old person!
I wouldn’t buy any daws. I’m usually defending daws here, but I think it’s important to have something material at the beginning. He probably has one already anyway. MPC would be really great. But M:C and M:S are also a great start.
I would say m:s over M:c. I think that M:C might be a bit to avante garde for someone wanting to get into beatmaking
But the chords machine is quite immediate.
If you’re into the idea of letting your son just play the keys and it’ll sound good no matter, anything with scales will fix it for you, which none of the Model:Samples do. Also, go for polyphony. Monophonic synths are cool, but for someone who’s starting out, the idea of single note lines might seem a bit abstract.
I’d go for the Novation Circuit. Great scales, extremely playable and it has synths and drum samples to go, and it’s a very immediate playing experience. It’s portable, battery powered and given its no screen, marco implementation, you don’t need to know much about music, synthesis or anything cause it’s so abstract and it’s got enough short cuts to piss off old synth vets, it’s really tailored for people who just want to dive in and get going, no matter their preference.
However, no scales or auto corrections in the world will replace the value of just a few piano lessons or guitar lessons or similar. Even if you never gel with an instrument, just understanding how it works on a fundamental level, will provide you with so much more, no matter. You don’t need much, just get an idea of it, and everything will make so much more sense and be more coherent. And you can readily take such a class while you’re banging away on a Circuit and even bring the Circuit to class and say. “Hey, you talk about C minor like you’re all that, but can you show me you got what it takes when the going gets really tough? Huh? Can ya, Teach? Or are you just a D flat spineless piece of kazoo player, like your useless father before you.”
I’m talking more of the sound aspect, if you’re starting out making beats I’m not sure you would find FM drums all that pleasing.
This! Encourage actual learning!
Apologies to the OP, I realise you’re trying to be nice in looking for something for your son, and the advice above about something that’ll lock into a key or scale, or button bash like a video game controller (all of whilst the player has absolutely no clue what they’re doing) is hopefully helpful. But I wince anytime I see requests for this kind of thing. So many people just want to take shortcuts 
Developing a love of lifelong learning is where it’s at!
Scales mode on Novation Circuit (2 polysynths + Drums) and also on the Circuit mono station (paraphonic synth - max 2 voices)
With the circuit he can make full compositions, easy, fun and quick to learn. Runs on batteries, built-in speaker, also quite cheap used.
and watch YouTube videos of music theory (free)
+1 for the Circuit. Great Device for a good price.
But, If son wants to go deep into hip hop beat making and is more into sample stuff then playing synths, And you got the money, MPC is THE THING! Even if he wants more later, the MPC will stay. Comes with 3 Synth Engines too!
It’s worth noting, though, that appreciating the immediacy of say something like a Circuit, could be what inspires one to learn and take classes. It’s not a linear journey, after all.
I was seven years old when I first played the piano. My brother, seriously skilled at the instrument, said to me: “Just stick with the white keys for now. And whatever you play, will sound good.” So that essentially meant I stayed within the C Major scale, which isn’t a bad place to begin, with its uplifting mood and naive but cheerful spirit. He then went on to say, “Stick to just the black ones now”, which is close enough to Pentatonic Minor, a very suggestive and atmospheric counterpart to the simple C Major and where you’ll find most of Kraftwerk, Daft Punk and Aphex Twin’s work.
Those two scales pulled me in and it’s quite possible a regular set of trainings to begin with, hadn’t.
Damn, wish someone gave me that for my birthday 