Very basic question: NektarGX49...how can I get sounds?

[happyrat1]

Why not visit the local music shop and see what's available in used stock.

Play a mini synth and get the feel of the keys.

Roland JD-Xi, Novation Mininova. or ultranova .

The JD-Xi has about 500 sampled ROMpler voices built in, along with a ton of other goodies.

The mininomva and ultranova have plenty of bread and butter presets along with all the synthy goodness of the 80's.

Compare 10 second reboot times compared to evil micro$haft crash reboots.

Plus, if it's all wired up right, the boards are WAY more stable.

And what's the resale value on most software?

A good keyboard can sell for what you paid for it a decade or so later. But buy a new computer, good luck transferring licenses.

Check your local classifieds and take a few test rides.

Ask 50 people for an opinion and you get 50 opposite answers.

You honestly don't know what you want and you are asking strangers what they like.

Unless you hit the music stores and educate yourself you will spend blindly on useless gear and software.

Gary

 

[TitanUp2112]

Here's a brand new one in the US for $449 USD.

Novation Mininova Mini Nova Synth SYNTHESIZER - NEW - PERFECT CIRCUIT 815301000136 | eBay

The software works as a plug-in within your DAW and allows full editing of your MiniNova hardware patches. MiniNova has a powerful sound engine for a micro synth. In addition to its 256 onboard sounds, it has space to save 128 of your own sounds.

www.ebay.com

So, I picked one of these bad boys up. Very nice, but I am not finding the sounds I expected. I was hoping for organ, piano, and strings sounds. Maybe this is not what I needed.

 

[happyrat1]

Organ , piano and string sounds can be achieved with a VA synth by editing a few waveforms. Start with sawtooth waves for strings and pulse for piano and either for various organs.

Add modulation to taste and adjust the envelopes to approximate various EPS and tone wheel organs.

You can also buy pre-made sound packs on eBay.

Gary.

 

[happyrat1]

https://support.novationmusic.com/hc/en-gb/articles/7208768170386-Soundpacks-and-Patches-for-UltraNova-and-MiniNova

 

[anotherscott]

Don't expect particularly authentic organ, piano, and strings out of a straight VA synth, though. It's kinda like using the handle-end of a screwdriver as a hammer. Sometimes it can kinda work, but it's fundamentally not the right tool for the job.

The boards Biggles mentioned are sonically more appropriate to these tasks, but may be too large (or too pricey).

Which might again prompt you to look at an iPad, iPhone, laptop, Windows tablet as a sound source, which can still be done pretty cheaply if you happen to already own one of those things.

 

[happyrat1]

To get you started with sound tweaking and design on the MiniNova here's the sorts of tutorials you should look at.

https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=novation+mininova+sound+design+tutorial

https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=sound+design+tutorial+with+hardware

Seeing as you are mainly looking to play chords with your left while keeping a beat with the rest of your body, the approximations of physical instruments you can achieve on the Novation are more than adequate to entertain a room full of drunks/stoners in a live performance.

The Mininova is small enough to mount on a snare stand and should perform its duties admirably.

Anything larger would be an encumbrance.

Premade soundsets are abundantly available thru youtube demos and from experience I can tell you, Sound Design can be a $***load of fun

Have fun with your new tech. This will keep you going for a long time to come.

Gary

 

[anotherscott]

The Hydrasynth Explorer is another interesting possibility. It's small, and even though it is a pure "synth" that does not employ samples or acoustic instrument modeling (as you'd typically want for authentic sounding piano, strings, organ for example), it has a unique versatile architecture which lets it go in some unexpected directions for a compact, budget synth, including some pretty usable sounds in those categories. And it's got polyphonic aftertouch which opens up some interesting possibilities too, both for its own sounds and if you choose to use it as a VST controller in the future. I was surprised at what this programmer got out of it, he sells some well-priced patch sets for it...

Pretty impressive, I think. And even if you do want to connect to something like an iPad for some more authentic acoustic recreations, this would be a nice controller for that, too.