Let's see your KEYS/SYNTHS!

[Hypnodrone]

Yeah, I had a Roland SH-5 back in the 90'es but I was young and needed the money for bread and diapers for the kids. Just another reason I'm a bitter, old man ...

[Pepe]

I had to sell my Jupiter-4 a few days before our first son was born in 2007. I had this beauty only for a few weeks and I wished I could have kept it.

[Meriphew]

My main synths - Roland JV1080 (x2) both loaded with expansion cards, Elektron Machinedrum, Yamaha Rm1x sequencer, Roland MC303 drum machine (I use it as a Rompler), Roland JP8000. I used to own a Roland Jupiter 8, and a Jupiter 4. I really miss the Jupiter 4.

[jasonmitsch]

For sure, I can definitely see the limitations being too cumbersome.

Its been 4 months since I first approched a duder about building me a drone synth, and I thought it was going to be ready weeks ago. Still dont have it after "it looks like it will be this weekend!"

I just wanna drone

Dude I also spent a lot of time wanting to drone with out funds or means to do so. I read a random post in this forum suggesting 2 drone alternatives and I never looked back.

1: Take any keyboard you have available (Casio to Nord); use a capo or tape to hold down your note of choice; run the keyboard through whatever you have (pedals, modular, mixer, computer, rack, etc.) Drone on the cheap.

2: Use a generic looper/phrase sampler (I use the one built into the Line6 M9); record and overdub a lot of 1sec swells of the same note until there is no attack or decay to the recording; send this custom drone through your gear (pedals, modular, mixer, computer, rack, etc.)

I know neither choice is identical nor as satisfying to using a dedicated unit, but it can get you on your way with existing gear and a Walmart keyboard.

I'm still excited for your new drone box though, when it comes.

[space6oy]

I used to own a Roland Jupiter 8, and a Jupiter 4. I really miss the Jupiter 4.

i'm jealous despite having a jupiter 6 i'll probably keep until death.

[Meriphew]

I used to own a Roland Jupiter 8, and a Jupiter 4. I really miss the Jupiter 4.

i'm jealous despite having a jupiter 6 i'll probably keep until death.

Great synth. Don't ever sell it unless you absolutely have to.

[Forrrest]

who's gonna be the first person here to post a pic of their Prophet 6????

[space6oy]

this thread needs so many more pics...

[spacelordmother]

this thread needs so many more pics...

I'll try harder!!

[Warpsmasher]

99% utilitarian, 1% lazer bling

[Warpsmasher]

Now to explain a bit what's going on...

Arturia Keylab 49 with Analog Lab softsynths - this is my only keyboard. I can play and edit as many rack synths (or instances of the Analog Lab plugin) as I want with it.

Big rack:
Behringer DDM4000 digital DJ mixer (4 stereo RCA inputs mixed down to one stereo SPDIF output)
Novation A Station (ch1)
E-Mu Planet Earth (ch2)
Korg Wavestation SR (ch3)
Korg TR Rack (ch4)
Yamaha TX81Z (out to pedals, back into TC Fireworx)
TC Fireworx
Roland Fantom XR w/4 SRX expansion cards
Eventide Eclipse - Ipod touch, guitar & pedals, ipad, or rack synth of choice gets plugged into this
Roland M-1000 digital mixer - the Fireworx, Fantom, Eclipse, and DDM4000 are plugged into the 4 SPDIF inputs, and the desktop rack is plugged into the stereo analog input. The digital output can be recorded via usb or SPDIF.

Desktop rack:
Korg Electribe SX, with the ipad plugged into the sampling input (ipad has iKaossilator, Nave, iProphet, Thor, etc)
Line 6 Filter Pro
Alesis Akira
Alesis DEQ230
Kurzweil Mangler

This is my dedicated drums & beats rig now, and it sounds amazing. If you've ever used an Electribe or a Volca to play a separate synthesizer, you should understand what's up with the midi here. The Electribe SX can play all the rack synths simultaneously, since they are all connected to pass midi thru. In pattern mode, along with the drum samples, the Electribe SX also plays a 2-channel midi sequence, which each rack synth can be set to play and/or pass through to the next synth in the chain. I currently have the TX81Z set up to play the second midi channel while the others play the first, at varying frequencies/levels/adsr times/etc. The way everything naturally blends and/or offsets is pretty magical, and very easy to get lost in.

Pedals:
Currently set up separate from the racks just for guitar and making RP360 patches on the computer. Seated, 2-footed wah/expressionating is pretty awesome.

The led ipod cables were like $2 each from china on ebay. I have a red one in the car, it looks cool as fuck at night. Wife and her friends all dig the cables.

[Faldoe]

99% utilitarian, 1% lazer bling

Where is the "panic" button?

[Warpsmasher]

Everything ends up in the M-1000 mix, so the master volume there is all that's necessary if shit starts getting out of hand.
I have the Electribe set to transmit midi notes only, no program changes or anything else, so it's always very steady and safe, but the controls on the keyboard can affect different rack units in different ways. I haven't set up any scenes on the keyboard for the specific units yet, so it can get pretty random if editing commands are going through all of the rack synths at once. Apart from the Fantom, which has USB and editing software, and the A Station which has all the knobs and switches, I don't really use the rack synths for creating new sounds much, I prefer the computer and ipad for that. I get a lot more use out of them by just loading them up with sounds that I like, and using them for layering and multi-fxing.

[D.o.S.]

This page got really intense.

[BoatRich]

Any recommendations for a cheapish string synth? No VST's or anything like that because I do enough programming at work. I want like really shitty 80's synth pads to use for drones. Rackmount is fine as long as it's pretty simple. I'd like to stay under $150 or so.