How many synths do you need?

[zerocrossing]

But for a beginner trying to make electronic music with a enormous number of choices out there, how many synths would experienced folks recommend I start with.

As a guitarist with 4 guitars and a bass, I can tell you that you can do a lot with a little. Using amp sims, I have access to more guitar amp sounds than I ever imagined. For a decade I did 90% of my synth sounds with a single synthesizer. An Ensoniq TS-10.

But back then, my music was still mostly guitar based. Synths were an add-on, like the Prophet 5 parts in Talking Heads songs. Now, that ratio is flipped. I have 9 hardware synths (though one is for sale) and about 150 software synths, though I don’t regularly use most of them. Some of this is more like being a collector than anything else.

So, there’s no answer that you can get from someone here. My advice is to start slowly and consider each purchase. If all you are after is adding the equivalent of the Talking Heads Prophet 5 type sounds, you could get away with Repro and be done. If you’re looking to explore and experiment… still start with something like Repro, and then when you find yourself unable to make a sound that you want with it, start researching your next purchase.

[Negoba]

If you’re looking to explore and experiment… still start with something like Repro, and then when you find yourself unable to make a sound that you want with it, start researching your next purchase.

That sounds very wise. Thanks for the advice.

[shorty]

for space ambient you need a good reverb. vital and supermassive should be all you need, so there's money left for another guitar

[vurt]

just one!
one huge room sized modular.

[Negoba]

for space ambient you need a good reverb. vital and supermassive should be all you need, so there's money left for another guitar

That's what I'm talking about!

I do have Supermassive - what an amazing free plugin.

[Uncle E]

The reverb recommendation is a good one. Some dreadful synths come alive when put through a dense forever verb. The things that make them bad end up giving them character.

[El°HYM]

Supermassive is your ambient friend; also check the other freebies by Valhalla. As for Synths, you should figure out which ones work best for you and also sonically compliment each other. Something like Vital might work well together with another VA. Also please dont sleep on Additive Synthesis e.g. Loom and of course the usual Ambient Classic FM. If you like some Bleeps & Bits some virtual modular could be a lot of fun too. So basically you dont need many but indeed you need to try out quite a few to figure out which ones are for you.

[ideny]

Dont spend a lot money of you begin. Vital , Native Instruments Complete Selection, TDR, Melda, Valhalla, Dexed, Go over the fee VST Plugins. If you start to understand what you do you can Demo other Synths.

[baggsie]

As with most things in life the correct response is n+1

[BBFG#]

∞ + 1

[kritikon]

17 would be a good starting point, then upwards to ∞ + 1 once you know what you're doing. You will eventually find that enough is never enough.

[cryophonik]

∞ + 1

Oooh, I don’t have that synth yet. Who makes it? Korg? Arturia? Tell me now, I need it!

[BONES]

If you are just starting out, I wouldn't be looking at anything like Vital yet. Start with something relatively simple and learn it inside and out. My honest recommendation would be to grab Invader 2 -



It's a great sounding synth, with a lot of sweet spots, that meets your criteria. It's easy to learn but it has depth so it will take a bit of time and effort to master. Best of all, it's pay what you want so you won't have to outlay much. Once you get your head around it, I'm sure it will allow you to work out what else might be useful to you a lot more easily.

At this stage, and for the kind of music you want to do, I wouldn't worry about different forms of synthesis, a good V/A (virtual-analogue) synth will stand you in good stead for a long time.

[BBFG#]

It's a new millennium.
You need grains, spectrums, fractals and harmonics!
And shimmer!

[Jac459]

It's a new millennium.
You need grains, spectrums, fractals and harmonics!
And shimmer!

. .. and AI !