anyone like using midi vst's? i really like abstract 5 and making synths with abletons built in ones, anyone else use midi with their sp's?

Massive and Kontakt for me .

vst4free ftw. I only use freeware vsts.

Any of the TAL synths are amazing. they have a great sh101 and juno 60 emulator which are must haves.

cool thanks yea i really like absynth (native instruments plug-in) so i would imagine i would like kontakt and massive, and those tal synths are ok but not the greatest, (especially the bass) but im checkin out vst4free right now. anyone use mr ray 73 or mr tramp for piano? i like those alot

Check out lazysnake for nice rhodes emulation

peach

culp that one looks cool but its only windows.. u ever seen the hardware synth made by nintendo? saw one at goodwill for 100 bucks but cant find any pics of one on the internet

I CAN SEND YOU THE CRACK OF MASSIVE IF U WANT IT / IT S MY FAVORITE SYNTH VST !
ABOUT THE NINTENDO SYNTH VST I THINK TO THIS:http://tweakbench.com/triforce

@CULP: I'D FOUND PEACH ON THE SAME SITE , I'LL TRY IT (thx =)

Kinda off topic, but I do NOT understand synth programming. Any tips or links to figure it out? I have like 3 vst synths that I wanna use but all I'm doing now is using the presets. How'd you guys figure it out?

you need to break down the synth into it's individual parts.

1) Oscillator. This is the wave you are going to use (square, saw, pulse, etc.) It'll have tuning and stuff attached to this

2) Filter (vcf). This filters out certain frequencies. HPF only lets high freq throughs (high pass frequency). BP (band pass) lets a mid range through. LPF (low pass) only lets low frequencies through. You'll have Resonance and some other stuff too.

3) Envelope. ADSR. (Attack, Decay, Sustain and Release). This controls the amplitude of the sound. How long it takes to reach max volume, what happens when you hold the key down (sustain) and when you release the key what happens to the sound. Does it stop immediately or fade out?

4) LFO. Low frequency modulation. This is another waveform that you won't be able to here, but is used to control other parameters such as the cutoff of a filter (dup step "wup" "wup" stuff) or the volume (tremelo effect) or the pitch.

That's pretty much the basics

^Thanks for the advice my man

Dam, nice simple layout! Thats really all there is to synthesis. Everything else is the added bonus to each machine. Its like being able to sample and trim is essential to any sample box but chopping is the added bonus like having more waves on a synth or more poly.
Id recommend a monotron, its like synth 101 but without the midi unless you pay more for the upgrade kit which is amazing. Another beats is the minibrute. Finally got to play with one and it sounds really good. Nothing like the Moog sound but very good in its own right. I havent heard any software that compares as far as non-digitized sound. When it sounds too clean then its digital. The mistakes and aliasing is what makes real analog synths the shit. Native Instruments are supposed to be really good at making synths.

I'd recommend the free VST Tal Noisemaker. I use it to teach my students the basis of synthesis. It looks quite neat and tidy and it's controls make a lot of sense.

Problem with a lot of bought synthesizers is they try and look cool and then end up being far to complicated. I love NI Massive, but it's got all sorts of features that a beginner just wouldn't need or just gets in the way of basic synthesis

This is what happens in the world of trying to be 'unique'. And also trying to sell your mediocre stuff at premium prices. Just my opinion anyway. I've seen freeware stuff that does anything Massive can do and more...but I'm of the school that says 'you don't need a better synthesizer, you need a better imagination.'

Massive does have like a million and one buttons and knobs. Monotribe is where its at for beginners. Unless you like rocking presets then you can get any VST synth.