Minimal Wave Records

Hi,

Do you think this is possible or it goes against the Minimal synth principles? I think there are lots very good vintage sounding vst’s. I also think it is cool to use only freeware tools to make music or noise or whatever, pure punk ethic!

For example Tal audio has some very interesting vintage vst’s

http://kunz.corrupt.ch/

I am also considering the Korg Monotron and even the fabolour Korg Ds10 (Why not DS10+ in Europe? :-()

What is you opinion?

I collect and use vintage and modern analog equipment. But I’m not a purist.

Computer is okay with me depending on how you use it. The programing is what makes the difference in most of the cases and I think it’s possible to create absolute garbage with hardware if you are not careful. The DS10 is cool too (and very fun to use).

BTW, it’s not only because of sound quality that hardware “sound sources” are still extremely popular. Everybody use computers for email and work, so making music with them isn’t always magic. With hardware you are getting something that you can touch and that can last for years without updates, OS upgrades and so on.

Once you’ve started, I suggest that you save for some quality analog gear (old or new) to complement your existing setup. The cool thing with computers is that you have an almost unlimited numbers of tracks to work with. So even with only a few piece of gears, you can build complex arrangements without having to invest huge amounts. 

Regards,

P-Pho

Listener cares about effect, tools are element of creative process. Why should you care about conventions or principles?

Software gives lots of possibilities for almost free, but even simpliest synth gives you another experience and quality. In fact every tool gives you other quality in terms of sound and (...let’s call it this way…) “feeling”.
You can still find cheap, cool, old fashioned synths on the market (for example: crumar bit one/99, hybrid korgs…) so it may be good idea to give them a try.

I don’t have monotron, but - as i know - it’s kind of toy or signal processing unit, not full-scale instrument.

yeahhh i’m w/ exotika. i’d say avoid the computer. you will come up with a more interesting, unique sound with a few cheap pieces of hardware, analog or otherwise. while much vintage analog gear has skyrocketed in price, there are still tons of excellent, interesting synths that you can get for quite cheap, sometimes even pennies. if you poke around the forums here, you should find some good tips.
a drum machine, a cheap synth or two, and a handful of cheap fx pedals will get you much further than all the vsts in the world.

edit:
and the monotron could be very very cool, especially with appropriate modificiations. even as is, it is very useful for effects and percussive sounds.  could be a perfectly viable addition to a simple live setup. just don’t expect to be playing beautiful lead synth parts on the thing

Just using whatever’s the most available and cheapest is definitely more punk and cool than using any kind of hard-to-find analog hardware synth (especially the overpriced ones).

The only problem is that there are way too many options when you use software and you’ll make music entirely differently because of all the available features and doodads these days. Even with some newer VA hardware, there’s too many options. It’s even worse with software.

I didn’t even realize how much of that mattered until after I had spent hours upon hours trying to write stuff when I realized my gear was the problem. The thing is, you won’t realize this until you get your hands on old gear. Then it will all make sense.

That said, I think *in theory* it’s possible to use software only, but you have to be super disciplined and super aware of what you’re doing to avoid things like using too many effects, too many voices, too many envelopes, too many anything, which will immediately make the music sound too contemporary.

It’s hard to say what kind of musician you are, so I would have to agree with teachu2die and exotika and recommend hardware. I’d recommend getting even a VA like an MS2000 or Supernova before any kind of software.

If you use a computer, you’re going to have to learn the hard way.

“too many anything, which will immediately make the music sound too contemporary.”

Totally agree, and with that horrible “trance” color sound. That’s why I love TS404 from FL Studio, it is very minimal. Or better Wasp XT. The free TAL Stuff is lovely too. And I am considering the Monotron.

I would try to use ONLY a set of VSTs (no more than 4 including percusion) that sound minimal and only basic effects (phaser/Flanger, reverb and delay). Some “analogue sounding compressor” and that’s it. Also samples should be avoided, only original sounds.

Thanks for the suggestions.

I think if you were going to do it in software, it helps to understand how older gear works so that you can translate that to a software environment.

If it were me, I’d get some vintage drum samples and pick one or two softsynths with a particularly “raw” sound. There’s a nice ESQ1 emulation that is free that would do nicely. Imposcar is another nice siftsynth but I agree in general the fewer the synths you use with the fewer options on them the better.

I tend to get bored with software in general because it’s to easy to get lulled into a point, click, point, click sort of lethargy. Having to actually connect bits around to each other and push buttons and all tends to give you those little moments where you go off and discover a sound or something you wouldn’t have found other wise.

sounds crazy but the minimalism & the vibe can be achieved with some free demoversions of software where such things as copy/paste/save/export are disabled. in a way it’s like an old synth which can be only switched on/off

render your parts or tracks on a cassette recorder - then you can digitize it back and compile a song or do it on a tape deck via ‘play/pause’ 8) fuck these VST tape simulators - record your songs on a good k7 recorder

limitation is the key