People recommending tiny synths to beginners is weird

The Lounge General Discussion
#41

Makes sense!

I think it’s a great synth for someone starting their journey - gives you a lot for the money and it’s something that may always be useful in a setup - sounds fantastic and you have a fair amount of scope to tweak things to your liking.

I’m not personally a big fan of the shift functions or mini sliders, but a lot of people aren’t fussed so that’s down to preference.

Whether the Nymphes or (i.e.) the Volca FM is best for you is likely to be more down to which sounds you like and what you want to get out of the device.

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#42

They’re good for beginners because they’re cheap

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#43

I think it’s rather more uncool to recommend shitty, clumsy, watered down products like these Rolands to beginners. Because it’s a bad start. Let’s be honest, there’s not a lot you can make with that dumbed down drum machine besides just noodling around here and there on a lunch break. There are capable tiny synths, even with menu-divey controls including some of the Volcas. But these Rolands are crap, IMO.

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#45

I took an odd route that many beginners wouldn’t take.

My first synth was the Analog Four in 2014*- worked like 30 hours of overtime for it.

I have no idea how to be a beginner :grinning:

* - i freaked out, and rocked back and forth in the corner the moment I realized what “p-locks” were

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#46

:laughing: That’s more my style tbh - but yea I don’t know if it’s what I’d recommend to others haha.

I saw someone post on Reddit not long ago that they decided to get into music so bought a Make Noise Shared System I almost fell off my chair :upside_down_face:

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#47

If Make Noise put rather conventional labels and didn’t use weird, nonsensical layouts (they’re probably trying to mimic Buchla, but on steroids to look cool and authentic that way), I’d say most of their stuff would look more accessible. Because underneath that façade, the core west coast concepts are pretty straightforward. I’d say it’s a nice hobby for any level of knowledge as there’s plenty of material everywhere.

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#48

Something that can operate on battery on your couch and do not take space will always be nice for a beginner. It is all about making music first and learning synthesis last.

When I was a teenager and was doing music with fast tracker 2 or impulse tracker on DOS I would have been very happy if my parents could have afforded me a laptop so I can bring it everywhere, as crap as they were at the time.

Think of starting with a volca/roland Aira compact as starting with a Ukulele instead of a guitar.

#49

If you want to play guitar, absolutely start with a guitar. The timbre, fretboard, muscle memory, even strumming is different. It’s a different instrument. No cutting corners on learning guitar.

#50

But their labels are mostly conventional in the west coast sense (Index) or even in a general modular sense (Sum, Or), and the signal flow is laid out on many of their modules (including 0 coast) much like the MS-20, for example, which was just as confusing to me at first, and not simply design-for-design sake.

There are obvious non-conventional outliers (Telharmonic) and sure Onset could have just been called Attack.

#51

I’m just saying that when I fire up Buchla somehow I know what’s what. And when I take Make Noise module it’s like deciphering a code.

#52

Ha, ok! I get that, I guess I think there’s more logic behind it than they’re sometimes given credit for (and not 1/2 as bad as some of the newer companies/designs).

Back to the original question - it’s simply a matter of economics, they’re cheap so not a lot of financial outlay for beginners, and secondarily not a lot of space needed. They make the sounds people associate with genre X or electronic music in general without too much fuss. Whether or not they’re really good for “beginners” is kind of hard to say since there are all kinds of beginners who can find their way in via different means. Even mid-level hobbyists and pros have different wants/desires.

Somewhat cynically I see it as just being a way to sell to people as part of synthfluencer culture. I agree with many of the same points OP makes but have no idea if they can be applied to any set of beginner or other level of musican/noodler/sound designer/whatever.

Edit: My first drum machine was the Boss DR-202 which some consider to be one of the worst Roland boxes, I didn’t know any better and was perfectly fine with it. At the same time I was learning “synthesis” on a Yamaha CS-5 and other cheaper analog synths.

#53

A lot of people are a bit timid and unsure of themselves, but specially when on new ground. And making music means potentially loud embarrassing sounds. Think how the beginner guitar student plucks the strings - they are a little afraid they might break, it’s a very tentative kind of pluck they do. Music is intimidating at the start.

I think these simple devices are helpful getting past that. But the best thing is to have kids playing musical instruments from when they are toddlers so they never develop the fear.

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#54

The thing with Volcas is they work really well together. For the price of a good monosynth, you can get 3-4 Volcas that cover a lot of ground sonically as well as give you the utilities needed to make electronic music (sequencer, keyboard etc.). It’s just a cheap way to get a setup you can actually make pretty complex music with, as opposed to paying hundreds of euros for a single monosynth.

The only easier & cheaper way to get a full setup would be a DAW and free VST’s.

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#55

Totally agreed. My first proper synth was a Korg MS2000. It was an excellent first synth, with knob-per-function, effects, even a signal diagram. I think it was a perfect beginner synth for that reason, and actually still think it’s a great first synth given the prices are still reasonable.

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#56

I started with a bundle in 2003, Waldorf Micro Q, and a Rack Attack drum synth, these two were very capable, and took me a while to figure out. After some month i found out that the cubasis that came bundeld with it is severly limited to the full version, which did cost like 500/600 Euro at that time. It was very offputting that i had to invest so much money afterwards, without knowing if i stayed with that approach. A trial period for such a complex software for 30 days is very short. (i tried the crack version, but it felt wrong to me to use it)I did box up the stuff and restarted 2011 with a full version of Abelton 8. I think to be serious with a hobby one needs to have the full capabilitys, else it ends in an upgrade loop. I would feel severly limited with that roland toy synth. For beginners i would recommend NI Maschine or MPC or Abelton live. As these grow with the user.

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#57

If you want to learn guitar yes. If you want to make music, not necessarily. That’s my point.

#58

Everyone should do exactly what I did: research feverishly for several weeks, then buy a used Poly Evolver (or whatever the equivalent of that synth would be in 2022) for $1600 on ebay and spend several years getting stuck in, becoming acquainted with God.

Or just buy a M8 Tracker and make music with only that for 10 years.

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#59

I recognize that ergonomics and flexibility can be important for learning, but I do wish gearheads were able to read the room more in giving recommendations. If someone says they are considering gear that all fits a certain price range, it’s weird to recommend something that is twice as expensive (or more!)

I will say elektronauts is fairly good about not doing that

#60

Also, keep in mind that these tiny focused devices are designed to do one thing. You need all 3 to actually make a piece of music. By that point, an all-in-one groovebox type thing makes much more sense.

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#61

Is there a groovebox for less than 400 euros that can do as much as 3 volcas?

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