Synth for Sound FX

Sorry, another synth question.

I'd like something to do sound FX type stuff, spaceship sounds, analog dive bombs etc.  Think Air's la femme d argent.

I've found VST's working for many things, but without hands on control I never seem to be able to get sounds without the right kind of movement for special FX.

Just wondering if any basic monosynth like the Korg Monologue would cover this?

menamestom said:

Sorry, another synth question.

I'd like something to do sound FX type stuff, spaceship sounds, analog dive bombs etc.  Think Air's la femme d argent.

I've found VST's working for many things, but without hands on control I never seem to be able to get sounds without the right kind of movement for special FX.

Just wondering if any basic monosynth like the Korg Monologue would cover this?

This is very much my area,
Modular will work better than any other option, because the architecture is so open and you can route anything to anything.

What plugins have you been using to do this sort of thing so far?

You could just get a dumb controller and map some knobs to the functions you need though- that would be the cheapest route.
There isn't going to be a particular synth that will work better than anything else, it will be your ability to ideate sound design and then put it into action.

That said, certain technologies work better for some things.

If I want something to be metallic then I will often use FM, for instance.

But I wouldn't usually suggest a monosynth for sound design as a rule, unless the sounds you want to design only need a single voice, which they usually don't. The whole thing with sound design is how you craft and layer sounds together.
I'd usually got for something like an Access Virus, Hydrasynth, any of the Novation polysynths.

In your situation I'd get really good at NI Reaktor and use a Focusrite Launch Control or similar.
Or VCV Rack.

If you can make sounds then it isn't that it doesn't matter what you use, it does, sort of, but the thing is that you have enough capability to be able to think of a number of ways of doing it. A space ship sound, for instance, could be done dozens of different ways. What is the space ship doing- is it taking off? If so then I'd use a noise layered behind rising triangle waves, where the pitch modulation on the waves starts to diverge over time, so it becomes more atonal and intense, but only enough of that effect to not notice it. If it is too obvious then I've missed the brief, usually.

The problem with using a fixed architecture synth for this stuff is you eventually run out of voices and, more importantly, effects buses. Where in a DAW it is pretty much endless capability, esp when you get to surround. 

But iof you are fixed on having a hardware synth then you can always layer it up in the DAW and use fx there. But it just feels a bit like stepping back.

I use hardware synths for a lot of things though, but usually because they have a quality that you can't get in a plugin.

But Omnisphere copped so many synths so well, plus all the other plugins of vintage synths that there aren't many 'vintage' sounds I can't get in plugin form.

I agree that twisting knobs is more fun.

octatonic said:

menamestom said:

Sorry, another synth question.

I'd like something to do sound FX type stuff, spaceship sounds, analog dive bombs etc.  Think Air's la femme d argent.

I've found VST's working for many things, but without hands on control I never seem to be able to get sounds without the right kind of movement for special FX.

Just wondering if any basic monosynth like the Korg Monologue would cover this?

This is very much my area,
Modular will work better than any other option, because the architecture is so open and you can route anything to anything.

What plugins have you been using to do this sort of thing so far?

Thanks for the reply.

I don't have many synth plugins currently, to be fair.  A cut down version on analog lab, but that seems pretty limited.

I have Air Mini D.  I'm liking that so far, sounds really good and I've been able to get some good bass and lead sounds.

Ultimately I'm thinking of moving away from DAW in the near future and was looking at an MPC Key 37(hence getting the Mini D that works with MPC also).  The plan then would be to have a few external pieces of hardware just to add more of a human touch  to the things I build up in the MPC.  I'm used to mainly recording conventional instruments, so more electronic music is a departure for me really.  My controller doesn't have any knobs or sliders, so I could go down that route (i.e. a new controller and software) but I think a different workflow away from the laptop may throw up some new creative angles.

I'm currently using cubase and working on a tune that's coming together okay, just seems to need something a bit less rigid and sequenced as some icing on the top.  For this I might use the ipad as I have quite a few synths on there, and record the audio.

So not getting into anything complex with sound design, just want to tap into something immediate that can throw some randomness and chance into the mix.  

The truth is whilst I save up for the MPC, the £300 I have put a side is burning a hole in my pocket for a shiny thing with knobs on

If you want to try a VST then there are two plugins that have been made in collaboration with Hans Zimmer

Synapse Audio The Legend HZ 
U-He Zebra Legacy 

Both of which come with loads of amazing FX plugins and are very good for that kind of thing. 

If you want something to play around and make funny noises with then the Behringer Crave or Edge might be fun to play around with or the Make Noise 0-Coast 

In terms of fun to play with and lots of options I think this looks really cool:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wzIrGNSRocA&ab_channel=Polyend

Couple of other thoughts.

You mentioned Air and the main synth they used was a Korg MS20 a clone of which can be found here:

https://www.behringer.com/product.html?modelCode=0718-AAG

If you have an iPad get Drambo which is a really great modular playground you can use to make anything.

I have a Roland XPS30 - it's an Asia only model, I think the closest in the UK might be the XP30.  Mine does sampling as well as a greatest hits of Roland patches.  It's also possible to import your own samples or download them off the Roland site.  The user interface is easy to use and it sounds great.  I haven't looked at another synth since.

If you have an iPad, the Korg IMS20 app is pretty cool with a couple of pads you can assign X & Y to different things

https://apps.apple.com/gb/app/korg-ims-20/id401142966

Monologue or MS20 clone plus an echo pedal should get you a long way.
With the monologue, you can also have the step sequencer thing going on.
Apps are cool, but it's nice to turn the knobs...

I hope it’s okay to plug, but I’ve a Hydrasynth Explorer for sale pretty cheap in the Studio classifieds- they’re incredible sound design tools (far beyond the basic subtractive polysynth I need).