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Which Synth to chose for lead tones for (oldschool) Acidic and Melodic Goatrance


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Hi Psynews members,

 

i am new on this forum however sinking in the Goatrance since nearly 20 years.

 

After hesitating starting producing music for the same amount of years, I finally decided to build my own studio, and aim is to produce (oldschool) Acidic and Melodic Goatrance.

 

I would like to create songs the way they (every note) can be played live, and thus avoiding as much as possible using a DAW (which looks a big challenge since by the neture of Goatrance, variation in sound in expected every few seconds).

Therefore i opted for the Roland Aira suite (TB3, TR8, MX1 and System-1m (semi-modular synth)) and the Hybrid Roland JD-XI.

So far i am quiet happy with the drums, bass sounds and effects i get out of my instruments, however am missing warm synth leads to create nice floating melodies/harmonics.

 

What Synth would you advice to add into this setup to obtain what i am looking for?

Honestly, have doubts about the reliability of second hand vintage synths (especially when considering this risk against the huge price which is requested for such synths). However am not complete against to consider the risk.

I am open for Digital-Analog-Modular or regular suggestions. The form does not matter, only the sounds matters :-)

Thanks in advance for your reactions

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I'd suggest a Virus as a great all-rounder synth. It's digital, but it has really juicy analog-modelled filter which makes it a good choise for liquid squelchy leads, also it is great for pads and effects. But it may sound too modern to your taste (however it can sound really warm if you want this).

 

Here is a goa track (not mine) made with a Virus tweaked in realtime

 

 

If you are not completely against software instruments, you may also consider something like laptop running Diva with a knobby MIDI controller.

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Just in case my post was not clear, access virus is a hardware synth, you don't need a computer at all to use it. This dude sequences it from his laptop, but you may use a hardware sequencer or play live (there are keyboard versions). U-he Diva is software, but a really good one, people say it sounds like analog gear.

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Hi Psynews members,

 

i am new on this forum however sinking in the Goatrance since nearly 20 years.

 

After hesitating starting producing music for the same amount of years, I finally decided to build my own studio, and aim is to produce (oldschool) Acidic and Melodic Goatrance.

 

I would like to create songs the way they (every note) can be played live, and thus avoiding as much as possible using a DAW (which looks a big challenge since by the neture of Goatrance, variation in sound in expected every few seconds).

Therefore i opted for the Roland Aira suite (TB3, TR8, MX1 and System-1m (semi-modular synth)) and the Hybrid Roland JD-XI.

So far i am quiet happy with the drums, bass sounds and effects i get out of my instruments, however am missing warm synth leads to create nice floating melodies/harmonics.

 

What Synth would you advice to add into this setup to obtain what i am looking for?

Honestly, have doubts about the reliability of second hand vintage synths (especially when considering this risk against the huge price which is requested for such synths). However am not complete against to consider the risk.

I am open for Digital-Analog-Modular or regular suggestions. The form does not matter, only the sounds matters :-)

Thanks in advance for your reactions

any thing you can afford that does saw , square , sine and triangle waveforms do the job. you pick and good luck! :)

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Well, today I've heard a really well produced goa track made in Causic, that's a small Android app.

 

But I won't trade my Virus for a tablet with Caustic anyway ;)

 

 

i got that bro used it last year :) i recommend too

 

i aint trading my 3Xosc for squat like :lol: i even made custom version might post it later :lol: the virus is good but i say use what you love to me nothing really matters except that pure vintage shitttt lol

 

3xOsc.png

 

maxresdefault.jpg

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Thins is what 3osc looks like now?

 

Meh, the oldschool look is much better

ye bro the new fl sucks i dont use it they removed the block sequencer and i aint changin.

the old school 3xosc is best and for what it doesnt do like sync leads n stuff theres nothing better like Synth1 .

I also use the Juno 106 TalUnoLX something for acid. most dudes use it for that transwave bass but im like fk dat :lol: i got my own bass .

 

FL Studio 13 :P:lol::D

 

like i said before :

 

10349983_1616859025217876_46766796325240

 

the hand of God

 

:lol:

 

10430902_1616729661897479_59630959922729

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The MS20 (mini, I guess?) is great for learning the basics and more advanced things regarding synthesis. With the patch panel you can go very far with creating new, weird sounds. It's (been) used in many genres, also oldschool goa trance. One of the synths I'll never sell. :)

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U-he Diva is software, but a really good one, people say it sounds like analog gear.

that's an understatement. at a blind test over at some studio forum, more people thought that diva was the analogue original and thought that the old analogue synths costing thousands of euros were the plugin than the other way round ;)

 

but for the most part diva sounds more like the lush synth sounds of the 70s or 80s, instead of the cheap digital synths that were so prolific in oldschool goa. of course it's a flexible synth, but out of the box it's easier to sound like vangelis than like astral projection...

 

btw, diva also includes modules modelled after the ms20, so it might be a cheaper (and equally good) option if you're looking for that kind of sound and are fine with it being software.

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that's an understatement. at a blind test over at some studio forum, more people thought that diva was the analogue original and thought that the old analogue synths costing thousands of euros were the plugin than the other way round ;)

 

but for the most part diva sounds more like the lush synth sounds of the 70s or 80s, instead of the cheap digital synths that were so prolific in oldschool goa. of course it's a flexible synth, but out of the box it's easier to sound like vangelis than like astral projection...

 

btw, diva also includes modules modelled after the ms20, so it might be a cheaper (and equally good) option if you're looking for that kind of sound and are fine with it being software.

I think I saw this test at KVR and Gearslutz, I've even reposted it at some other audio forum where most people also picked Diva as hardware :)

 

Yeah, the stock presets in Diva are mostly targeted at progressive rock and like that, but it is really easy to make goa-like synth lines with these filters. Also Diva has a module emulating Jp80x0 supersaw oscillator.

 

Here is a two minute track I've made just for fun, all Diva except for the drums, kinda-sorta oldschool goa. Love these resonances ;)

 

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  • 3 weeks later...

Not quite. The character of a synth matters a lot.

 

Then you have to give it character.

Saw, sine, square, or mixtures of basic waveforms are more than enough. All any synth does is modify them to some degree.

 

More artists should experiment and tweak things themselves, music would be a lot better. That way you can build your own synthesizer from your heart, in a way. Sytrus comes with FL Studio and is a damn great tool for it, many of my leads are done with it from scratch.

 

But please, don't get me wrong: some synthesizers do a damn great job at the above. So I'm not saying "don't use synthesizers" - do it! :) Spend some time to find something cool and new, though. It sucks hearing the same synths all over goa trance.

 

Also, don't spend hundreds of bucks in software synthesizers. If you're going to spend money, spend it on hardware. Dedicated machines do it better some software within other software.

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Even though its not a hardware, if you ever looking for soft synths for some tones perfect for goa trance -- try the diversion vsti.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WmJaQ9CRIZc

 

I just posted this in another thread but it really is quite related I think. Cheers

Thanks! I picked it up.

 

On topic: Doesn't matter! You can do great leads with just about any synth. Your basic Sytrus for FL studio, for example, alone has pretty much endless amount of sounds.

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Also, don't spend hundreds of bucks in software synthesizers. If you're going to spend money, spend it on hardware.

Why?

 

I have more exerience with SW synths than with HW ones but I can say that getting a first HW synth (Virus TI) didn't change a lot in my life. I't a very powerful machine and it is fun to play with but I can't say it's another level of sound quality compared to SW synths. Well, if you compare it with something like 3osc it is, but newer synths like Spire or Diversion sound equally good and have the same or even greater possibilities for sound design.

 

Actually I've bought a Virus just because I was dreaming about it some years ago and occasionally there was an opportunity to snag it for cheap, not because I felt my softsynths are lacking something

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  • 4 weeks later...

I'm with recursion loop. If it's just about sound "quality" or character of sound, modern softsynths are perfectly capable of producing results equal to the hardware synths, sometimes there may be some processing required but the differences are actually very slim. Also consider this: most of the time, Goa tracks have such a full mix that it's rarely possible to percieve subtle synth characteristics at all.

There are still many legitimate reasons for using hardware, but if you're "only" trying to produce Goa Trance tracks with the characteristic synths, using software does not mean a disadvantage at all. (IMHO!)

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I´d suggest any synth with knobs for EVERYTHING, and the ability to do FM or cross modulation of oscillators, oscillator sync, ring modulation and filter FM.

 

Analog sounds very very very different, the people who tell otherwise are plain wrong. I don´t want to start an argument

again over this same issue, but just try it, get a bit deeper besides some clean sounds, and quickly it´s apparent.

 

The Studio Electronics Boomstars have a great specs for a not too expensive, high quality construction synth.

Eurorack is crazy cool, but you will be spending 1000-3000€ for an average system where you can do even the basic

things. Also the workflow will be veeeery different from an in-the-box solution.

 

Things I didn´t try out, that should be legit: Korg Ms20m, MFB Dominion-X, and of course a lot of the

new hybrid modular modules.

 

But, basically anything with a "good" sound, and the specs mentioned in the beginning of the post will do. Just try a

few demos, the programming is the same in any synth anyway. But mostly you will want the knobs. Not

menus, not any kind of matrix, just a knob or button for every single parameter. That will make a big

positive difference regarding the workflow, and also it´s easier to create tweaks on the fly.

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I´d suggest any synth with knobs for EVERYTHING, and the ability to do FM or cross modulation of oscillators, oscillator sync, ring modulation and filter FM.

My only keyboard synth (not my only synth) is a DSI Poly Evolver. It does all those things, and it's hardly the synth for EVERYTHING.

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