I apologize for my rant. I’m that most miserable of gits.
Let’s all recommend rack sampling units now. Preferably with SCSI interfaces for added realness.
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On topic, I’d try to expand my budget a bit and then hunt a used sp-404 mk2. You can live and die by whatever sampling material you can inject into it, and the 404 does dusty lofi atmos in spades. It’s annoying as all hell to master, but it’s also super easy to get going (especially if ‘on-the-grid’ doesn’t really matter)
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I think, with the budget you have quoted, you have to decide where to compromise. That will depend on what you are willing to do in the computer. You could, for example, just get a MIDI controller so you have physical knobs/pads/keys, but they are controlling software. You could get a used Model:Samples and use the computer for preparing samples (you’ll have to use it to transfer samples in any case). You could get one of the smaller synths mentioned above and do sound design with it, but use the computer for effects, perhaps multi-tracking and maybe sequencing. I don’t think you’re going to be able to get everything in one standalone box that’s inexpensive enough.
that miserable git thread is gold, highly recommended from both an empathetic, and cathartic perspective
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Hi, while the earlier post may have been a bit snarky, I didn’t take it as being a dig at you, let me explain.
“Ambient” music is an aesthetic, as you mention textures are vital.
But textures are a combination of effects (most important) and the starting tone (less so).
More productively-
If you find computers less inspirational any rack sampler is going to be utter misery.
My budget is around 300 euros max
Used Model:Samples sounds good, if you can wait longer a Digitakt would be excellent.
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Honesty, sometimes I think of buying a Digitakt again just to apply ambient techniques.
And old-school rack samplers are their own special kind of misery.
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A rack full of Mutable Instrument modules ought to do it!
…… so long as you ignore the word ‘budget’
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If they were more inspired by computers I’d also suggest VCVRack.
It’s an unfortunate truth that most of those lush ambient tracks use either:
A. Samples and good plugins
B. Expensive droney synths
C. Filter sweeps on a $10k eurorack set up
D. All of the above
Of those options, A is the most within your budget. Get a good midi controller and it will feel just like hardware.
Basically, effects is all it is. I have made so many tunes happily from a single sound source. Running single said sound source through a bunch of different outputs and then into seperate effects is absolutely where it’s at for me. A synth is a synth. It produces waveforms. Go a step further and you will run into wavefolder outputs instead of regular saw/sine/triangle etc in the modular world. These bare, raw waveforms will still not get you, or I, or anyone else into the ambient promised land.
What you do with the output is something entirely different.
That’s the long answer. In short …. Use a synth from the App Store for FREE. Synth One, mate 
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A Volca that you like and a Zoom MS-70CDR cost about 300 currency units new and maybe half that used.
Or get the Zoom and a Korg contact mic. Play around with the FX algorithms and routings before you buy more synths.
Maybe a Monitron delay and a mic is all you need for sounds, and you really want a Space or CXM1978. Maybe the Zoom is good and you prefer a MS-20 to generate sounds.
Or maybe a used MC-101 is the right tool.
Lots of options out there. Your budget can be reduced if you shop carefully for second hand gear not necessarily intended for audio production. A cheap tape recorder may be better than a H4n.
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A general purpose computer can do nearly anything you might want or need it to do musically, desiring hardware is really just about the interface, both the physical tactile element and the virtual layout and flow. Also I think a big reason for people’s drive to go ‘DAWless’ is that a computer can do many many things, but you only actually want it to a handful of actions when making music, and having such a large space of possible events can be a hindrance. This is especially the case in frenetic live performance where clicking the wrong menu item or some operating system interruption can completely derail you, for those doing non-realtime composition it’s much less of a concern.
I generally recommend doing the most with what you currently have (presumably some sort of computer) and experimenting with software to see what you find inspiring and effective, and then consider if a particular bit of hardware might make that process that much more fun/easier/interesting/better sounding.
For me I know that if I was able to spend the time to learn and make something very bespoke in like Pure Data which is free, and combine that with some good MIDI hardware (which I already have a fair bit of) then I would be much closer to having the production system I dream of. I’ve definitely realised that in order to do what I would like to do live I need some kind of system that has well defined limits and is very reliable plus very tactile and responsive hardware. I’m pretty happy with the few bits I have at the moment like the Octatrack + MIDI controllers so I’m going to focus on learning their capabilities/limitations as best I can and then go from there.
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a piezo attached to anything can be easily weaponized.
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Samplr is the best because you can just take it anywhere and record the “ambiance” around you: streets, creeks, birds, your voice, anything. And then you get to use the gold standard in ui for tactile music apps. The built in effects are great. Truly theirs nothing like composing an ambient piece using the sounds around you. Used iPads are quite affordable
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I forgot about the MGS samples. I have every sound file from that game, including all the sound effects. Hit me up if you want them.
This is poetry. So true.
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Follow the link for audio
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After reading your answers I realized I have failed to list the gear I already have. Maybe that would be a great help to narrow down the gear I would need?
My gear:
-korg volca fm 2 (I like the sound, hate the interface)
-korg nts-1 (probably the best money I spend on music related stuff)
-arturia minilab3
-elektron model: cycles (bought it last month, still learning, but it seems very deep)
-custom 77 london’s burning electric Guitar
- koala app on smartphone
- Ableton
It seems like you are all agreeing on saying the big thing about these textures is the FX so I guess I should focus more on that than the actual source of the sound.
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Like others said, Burialesque music is best done in a DAW, chopping up samples, pitching them up/down, making basses/leads/glitches out of sample snippets from game music or classical orchestras, and of course some mangled r&b vocals or movie quotes. Believe me, I tried with hardware but came nowhere close.
With Ableton and samples I got this (my best result, I think, although my mixing/mastering skills weren’t that great at the time - still aren’t)
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