Let's see your KEYS/SYNTHS!

[Pepe]

It has to have a built-in string ensemble chorus or it won't sound like '70s/'80s strings. Apart from the Waldorf Streichfett there seems to be no hardware synth on the market that comes close to that sound. And I tried the Streichfett at the Musikmesse. It sounded like shit IMO. But what can I do? I'm spoiled! I have a KORG Trident!

[BoatRich]

It has to have a built-in string ensemble chorus or it won't sound like '70s/'80s strings. Apart from the Waldorf Streichfett there seems to be no hardware synth on the market that comes close to that sound. And I tried the Streichfett at the Musikmesse. It sounded like shit IMO. But what can I do? I'm spoiled! I have a KORG Trident!

Shit is good, I'm not opposed to used at all, just looking for something in general to get that sound. Has anyone used the Alesis micro/nano rack stuff?

[backwardsvoyager]

have you looked at the novation xio 25? ticks the cheap and small boxes and you could probably come up with a patch to do what you want.
also roland sound canvas modules are dated sounding and can probably come up with something you'll like. idunno about the alesis ones i've not tried any but demos always seemed scarce and not very nice sounding.
i love the hell out of my yamaha SY22 and roland JV1080 which are cheap but they definitely are not compact.

[BoatRich]

have you looked at the novation xio 25? ticks the cheap and small boxes and you could probably come up with a patch to do what you want.
also roland sound canvas modules are dated sounding and can probably come up with something you'll like. idunno about the alesis ones i've not tried any but demos always seemed scarce and not very nice sounding.
i love the hell out of my yamaha SY22 and roland JV1080 which are cheap but they definitely are not compact.

I've actually been looking really hard for a Yamaha TG33 which is the tabletop version of the SY22, the Roland's look really interesting too... I'm thinking something like that may have to be what I do. Especially if I can control it with midi through the MB keyboard?

[backwardsvoyager]

have you looked at the novation xio 25? ticks the cheap and small boxes and you could probably come up with a patch to do what you want.
also roland sound canvas modules are dated sounding and can probably come up with something you'll like. idunno about the alesis ones i've not tried any but demos always seemed scarce and not very nice sounding.
i love the hell out of my yamaha SY22 and roland JV1080 which are cheap but they definitely are not compact.

I've actually been looking really hard for a Yamaha TG33 which is the tabletop version of the SY22, the Roland's look really interesting too... I'm thinking something like that may have to be what I do. Especially if I can control it with midi through the MB keyboard?

as long as you have another keyboard with midi out you'll be set with any of those sound modules.
if you can find a TG33 that'd be awesome. blending and detuning vectors is sweet.
also for drones you'll benefit a lot from being able to use a sustain pedal with polarity switch so that you can set it up so if you hit a note it will hold indefinitely until you tap the sustain pedal.

[spacelordmother]

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.

There's a tradeoff between cheap and simple to program, but there are loads of options for 80's pads. How much programmability do you want? Maybe a cheap rompler could get you there?

Not exactly a string synth, but the Casio CZ101 is $150 all day long, easy to program (though a bit tedious), great for drones with its 8 stage envelopes, and as cheesy/shitty/awesome as you want to make it. I have a ton of fun with mine!

[Warpsmasher]

Shit is good, I'm not opposed to used at all, just looking for something in general to get that sound. Has anyone used the Alesis micro/nano rack stuff?

I once owned n Alesis QS7.1 keyboard, and I loved the way it sounded. I only sold it to downsize, knowing I'd eventually own the sounds again in the form of the QSR (rack synth). If you want really shitty strings just use the general midi bank of any old rack synth/sound module, or a yamaha/casio keyboard with speakers.

You can audition all kinds of keyboards and rack synths at http://www.synthmania.com , the treasure chest of demo samples there is extremely helpful when you're shopping for a specific sound. Any Roland, Korg or Yamaha rack stuff that came before the Triton, Fantom and Motif would be a good place to start looking.

[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.

There's a tradeoff between cheap and simple to program, but there are loads of options for 80's pads. How much programmability do you want? Maybe a cheap rompler could get you there?

Not exactly a string synth, but the Casio CZ101 is $150 all day long, easy to program (though a bit tedious), great for drones with its 8 stage envelopes, and as cheesy/shitty/awesome as you want to make it. I have a ton of fun with mine!

I'm looking at those Casio's now and that also definitely seems way up my alley soundwise.

have you looked at the novation xio 25? ticks the cheap and small boxes and you could probably come up with a patch to do what you want.
also roland sound canvas modules are dated sounding and can probably come up with something you'll like. idunno about the alesis ones i've not tried any but demos always seemed scarce and not very nice sounding.
i love the hell out of my yamaha SY22 and roland JV1080 which are cheap but they definitely are not compact.

I've actually been looking really hard for a Yamaha TG33 which is the tabletop version of the SY22, the Roland's look really interesting too... I'm thinking something like that may have to be what I do. Especially if I can control it with midi through the MB keyboard?

as long as you have another keyboard with midi out you'll be set with any of those sound modules.
if you can find a TG33 that'd be awesome. blending and detuning vectors is sweet.
also for drones you'll benefit a lot from being able to use a sustain pedal with polarity switch so that you can set it up so if you hit a note it will hold indefinitely until you tap the sustain pedal.

All of this is good to know, I'm super new to keys/synths so it's all a learning process. The TG33 has been on my GAS list for a while though and everything I read just cements the fact that I need to cop one.

Idea for the tone I'm going for is Zomes
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FMmSSr7hk8k[/youtube]

[spacelordmother]

Cool man -- if you have any more questions about the CZs hit me up!

And now I want a TG33 too.

Gnarly stuff! He's playing an old Casio (a Casiotone ct-310 I believe) so there's not so much "synthesis" going on (not that that stops him from being asweome) but if you want to cop those toanz you can grab almost any old keyboard and run it through a ton of effects. If you're getting into synths though that might not end up holding your interest for long.

[ChetMagongalo]

anyone have any recommendation for a midi controller to play my pocket piano with? I might also use it for ableton

[Zork]

Above your budget but I found the Waldorf Streichfett really convincing. Certainly worth a look.

[Seten]

anyone have any recommendation for a midi controller to play my pocket piano with? I might also use it for ableton

I have 2 for sale, let me know if you're interested. Both of them are usb only so to use them to play the pocket piano you'll have to get a converter.

[Seten]

actually, I take that back, converting it from usb to midi might be really hard and maybe expensive, idk, so unless you're cool with that or already have a solution to converting I wouldn't buy mine

[Seten]

It's weird, I couldn't find any usb to midi converters anywhere. I could find ones that have a usb male to 2 midi (in/out) male so you could plug in your computer but I couldn't find ones that had usb female to 2 midi (in/out) male

[blakestree]

It's weird, I couldn't find any usb to midi converters anywhere. I could find ones that have a usb male to 2 midi (in/out) male so you could plug in your computer but I couldn't find ones that had usb female to 2 midi (in/out) male

Search for "MIDI host". But, you also need to consider if the controller is powered over USB.