21st century synths

The Lounge General Discussion
#21

AI/algorithms
I think we are seing this a little where rather than carefull programming the synth is reacting to what you do and creating more or less random sound based on an algorithm. More intuitive. And this will get mutch better.
Also applied to secuencing.

Mixing of diffrent existing synthesis methods
I dont know but maybe there are some mixes that havnt been fully explored yet. In the near future probably more mixing of analog and digital like people do in eurorack. Duh

Also this: https://www.plantwave.com/

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#22

Seen those before , great concept. there is even a euro version. But i guess i mean a fully mindful synth. Like the OP-1 bt just for field recordings and cv from nature etc

#23

Dieter got a next level joystick at NAMM

#24

there is no reason music escape the “smart” fashion. You right, there will be no creativity, but the illusion to. Algorithm will help you to make the new top 5 hit based on rules and learning what ppl listen.
Of course, the good old unconnected analog synth will still exist, but at very high cost.

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#25

Synths based on energy of crystals and minerals :wink:

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#26

And the moon😁

#27

Frequency modulation and ring modulation using complex oscillators and/or resynthesis. I have spoken.

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#28

Like this, but from the future.

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#29

  • Processing power will continue to become cheaper with every year and we will see very powerful digital synths with lots of polyphony, zero delay filters and nearly unlimited modulation possibilities. (Touch-)screens are going to be standard, even on budget synths. The big question is which company will design the best user interfaces.

  • I think the vanilla analogue subtractive synth trend will die down somewhat because people will be bored by standard waveforms and ladder filters.

  • I dont see useful applications for AI in music production/synthesis for the next generation of instruments. The first attempts will be rather pointless implementations that dont yield very musically-useful results but will be marketed heavily as the next big thing (~“AI-sound-engine powered by the cloud”)

  • The now new thing will become the old thing and there will be old people that used to be young telling everyone that only the old things used to be good and the new young people will want that old thing and Uli Behringer will release Bassive and Berum in a box :rofl:

  • Myself I am just hoping for an open, stable, widely adapted wireless standard for midi and audio with low latency because fuck cables, adapters and audio interfaces/mixers going out of inputs :pray:

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#30

Preach

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#31

Who knows, maybe we’ll all want that “Miami Vice-type of sound” in 2030…

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#32

Some very interesting thoughts & perspectives here.

I‘ve been reading up on synthetic biology lately and saw this thing at the Beyond Festival a while back, where a guy hooked up mycelium to sound generators.

I‘d love to be able to use bio feedback from my body to create or affect the sounds I‘m creating and playing…eg my heart rate modulates the filter cutoff (the most natural of LFOs lol), the electric current in my finger tips serves the waveform creation/modulation (looking at you, Lyra).

Also interesting I find biological matter as sound source, that picks up nuanced shifts in states as one interacts with the biomatter. This is especially interesting in the context of aforementioned synthetic biology as cellular structures could be grown that are eg highly responsive the light / touch / or some other stimuli.

The whole topic of AI is also interesting to transpose to synths, although I‘m less excited by predictive elements than by e.g. conversion of (very) complex non-sound-based source material into sound (eg image recognition software that converts pixels into waveforms).

I really like the simplicity and tactility of subtractive synthesis, maybe what is actually subtracted could be played with as well (eg a filter that subtracts complex waveforms rather than the usual, more orderly frequency patterns such as lowpass, highpass, band etc).

I like @Fin25‘s enthusiasm about FM synthesis. Personally I associate FM with the DX7 and thus with that 80s sound, but I know that I‘m being clueless here :slight_smile: The non-linear nature of frequency modulation synthesis is actually very exciting indeed, especially if coupled with an open mind in regard to the expected “aesthetics of sound“.

I also liked the suggestion re recording nature…I did this retreat a while ago where we had to carry a chair out into the woods, find a spot we liked and then sit there blindfolded for 3+ hours and just listen…man, the complexity and depth of the sounds of the natural world are mind boggling. Exploring some sort of direct-sampling based synthesis (a la Vlad‘s Soma for example or the Koma Field Kit) could be very interesting.
EDIT: eg…imagine setting up microphones in forests around the world and stream those 24/7 in realtime to synths/sample based synths around the world. So every time I turn on my synth and I turn the “forestillator” knob, I switch between different live streams around the world that I can then modulate & play in real time…aiaiaiai :slight_smile:

Thanks for the inspiring and open minded responses, you make me wanna head out today to field record and then experiment on the OT… :slight_smile:

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#33

For me it would be a thing like nord modular, but editing without computer (but with the option to do it on the computer too).

#34

I hope Nord is reading this :wink:

#35

That was more into Fairlight CMI sampling workstation.

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#36

I dunno wtf this journo is talking about. Has he even played a waldorf Quantum? Or OT? Or Pulsar23? Sounds like a buffoon to me. Just cuz behringer keeps being stuck in 70s- 80s doesnt mean that no players in the industry have moved on.

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