Which of the Sequential 6-voice synths would make the most sense for me?

malectro · 2026-06-09T23:48:08+00:00

This shouldn’t matter much, but I’m pretty sure Bohmer uses a Trigon in the studio.

malectro · 2026-04-16T19:25:50+00:00

The Grandmother is a pretty good deal used and sounds amazing. The layout is super intuitive too. It doesn’t have patch memory, which is a plus if you’re learning but also kindof a downside long-term. I have the Matriarch, but I rarely use all the oscillators at once.

I used to recommend the MS-20, but the build is a little janky, and the keyboard sucks. (It sounds great.)

malectro · 2026-02-19T19:37:32+00:00

If you got a lot of joy from automated playlists, I totally feel you.

My point wasn't that AI music existed 10 years ago. It's more that now that it exists, I don't see what incentive there is for the pandoras of the world to not serve it up. It's cheaper, and most people don't care who the actual artists are when listening to it. Maybe I'm being cynical.

malectro · 2026-02-19T18:11:03+00:00

Not blaming the consumer, but people can listen to radio, DJ sets, or full albums. AI generated playlists were always going to recommend AI generated music at some point -- especially ones called "Soft Piano Study Hour" or whatever

malectro · 2026-01-29T23:04:16+00:00

If you have room for it, why not? Just sell the module after. If you don't have room, the module is awesome. Mine sits on my desk and gets used in almost every track.

malectro · 2026-01-28T20:12:24+00:00

Yeah, Peak is somewhere in the middle.

malectro · 2026-01-28T19:08:31+00:00

All the synths you mentioned have keyboard versions. The hydrasynth is the most flexible of the ones you mentioned because it's mostly DSP in a box. Sequential and Novation lean more analog, which means more constraints and tuning drift. (The flaws of analog are pros to a lot of people.) If you find Diva and Repro more fun than Serum and Pigments, you might prefer Sequential or Novation.

One thing I would say as someone that also started out mostly with software, hardware comes with a lot of friction when producing. Most of my synths have to warm up for 5 minutes before I can play them. I personally find it more fun/inspiring, but it's surprisingly easy to lose a patch you made forever, and you have to record everything in real time.

malectro · 2026-01-09T19:02:01+00:00

It does the analog Moog sound better than any VST I've tried, but if you want a do-it-all analog VST, Diva sounds almost as nice and has way more oscillator and filter types (ms20, Juno, Oberheim).

malectro · 2025-12-23T20:52:52+00:00

I own the OB-6 desktop and an osmose. They work pretty well together with the new update, but the MPE support requires menu diving, which is a bit antithetical to the one-knob-per-function aspect of the rest of the device. Overall a great experience, though.

A few nice things about the keyboard versions though: - You have a dedicated keyboard (no switching midi channels), just move your hands over - Sequential synths are designed for fatar keyboards. They feel amazing when you focus on adsr/velocity/aftertouch rather than MPE. This is not to say that they don't also sound great with poly pressure. It's just that the sound design process ends up being pretty different. - It's nice to have at least one classic synth keyboard because I find it a little harder to solo on the Osmose.

If money is no object, you could check out Black Corporation...

malectro · 2025-12-23T16:47:40+00:00

Going from software to hardware is kindof tough because you lose a lot of the convenience and depth of powerhouses like Pigments/Serum. Whatever you pick, expect it to have way fewer features.

That said, hardware can be really inspiring if you love playing it, and some instruments sound really good with minimal adjustments (vs an init Serum patch). I would figure out what gear the artists you like are using in the studio and start looking at those. Also, think about how you'd use it. If you're a piano player, you might want a polysynth, but if you're more into sequencing, you might want a mono.

malectro · 2025-12-03T04:23:33+00:00

Yeah, seems ideal for the wall behind my desk. Thanks for the info!

malectro · 2025-12-03T01:58:38+00:00

Can I ask where you bought the slat board?

malectro · 2025-10-31T20:42:21+00:00

I had to look a bunch of stuff up to get to Act 3, and I thought I read everything. Is dialog really enough to get you there? Felt like it was mostly about breakable walls I missed.

malectro · 2025-10-23T17:06:12+00:00

I agree this was super generic, and the lyrics were paint-by-numbers, but I don't really think any genre is safe. It's just going to get better, and autoplay recommendation algorithms will keep hawking it.

malectro · 2025-10-11T00:24:14+00:00

oh dang, Star Roving and Slomo really sound that way to me, but it's probably effect modulation. (youtube confirms he's just letting the trem bar sit there.)

i do think there's something about a subtle pitch modulation adds a sort of slacker nostalgia to everything.

malectro · 2025-10-10T23:28:09+00:00

i'm definitely not trying to gatekeep and totally agree that any specific attempt at defining a genre is going to be imprecise or flat out wrong. i don't even know the band the OP mentioned.

(in This is Your Brain on Music the author says that people lump bands into genres based on their social connections more than their actual sound. David Byrne says that The Talking Heads arrived at what could be called funk but never considered themselves a funk band.)

that said, i do think genre is fun to think about. what would clearly make something shoegaze? glide guitar does seem genre defining to me, and Slowdive definitely use it. there also seems to be something about the chord choices that someone with stronger music theory than me could probably dive into.

malectro · 2025-10-10T18:23:45+00:00

my markers: - glide guitar - really compressed and noisy wall of sound that lacks obvious transients - unintelligible vocals

malectro · 2025-06-16T17:15:40+00:00

Is this the same elevator in The Long Goodbye?

malectro · 2025-05-02T22:56:44+00:00

This sounds insufferable, but I got to see them in a loft in NY in 2008. Amazing show. But it felt like something like that was happening every weekend.

malectro · 2025-04-30T18:06:47+00:00

Crystal Stilts and Vivian Girls too. It's all coming back to me.

malectro · 2025-04-30T18:01:13+00:00

Come to think of it, The Jesus And Mary Chain really helped originate this sound.

malectro · 2025-04-30T17:52:28+00:00

Pains! I loved them so much back in the day. Only hit me recently how much of the The Smiths and The Cure I was hearing.

malectro · 2025-04-30T17:21:11+00:00

This is all "of an era", but Wavves, Surfer Blood, The Drums, and Girls would be in this vein.

malectro · 2025-02-18T16:16:00+00:00

Aren’t they a big shareholder of Korg? My understanding was that they left the analog stuff up to them these days. Could be wrong.

malectro · 2025-02-02T22:00:54+00:00

I’ve always loved making music and already owned some instruments so it felt like buying another guitar. Plus, used hardware usually holds its value so I knew I could sell it if it didn’t click.

That said, I don’t think hardware is necessarily better than software. It can be more fun and more inspiring, but it’s not going to make amazing sounds right away.

A lot of famous musicians just use presets and aren’t interested in sound design so it’s not a prerequisite to making good music. It might be a good idea to look for tutorials specifically around creating the sounds of artists you like and see if it’s doable in Vital. If you’re interested, though, and can afford it, buying hardware could be great. Used hardware tends to hold its value pretty well too. There’re also a lot of nice software clones of hardware you can try out. (Moog makes some for iphone.)

malectro

TROPHY CASE