Help me choose a synth to learn on

[Mark Nicholson 1]

Hey guys,

Santa gave me a Native Instruments M32 and Komplete 13 bundle for Christmas so I could learn about synths and electronic music. I'm a bit overwhelmed by the choice and the power of what I now have. Komplete has 14 different synths! Where do I start?

Any recommendations for which synth to start off with? The ideal starter synth would also have lots of YouTube or other training materials available.

Thanks,

- Mark 

[John 374]

Read the first manual of the first synth. Then go on the the next one. If you are asking about how to use a software synth in Cakewalk that is a simple thing to answer. 

The M32 should also have a user manual with how to connect it to a DAW. 

We have a lot of very good and knowledgeable people here that can answer almost anything but your best bet is to narrow down the question/s to a reasonable size. Be more pointed in the question.   

[bitflipper 1,036]

Monark is probably the most broadly representative of classic synth architecture, and thus will give you a solid foundation for learning other, more sophisticated synths. 

In any case, John's advice is good for any VI or FX plugin, namely learning all you can about each one, one at a time. With that large a collection, you won't get bored for literally years.

[Alan Tubbs 38]

Monarch and massive both are good analog emulations to learn on.  Many of the other NI synths use different synthesizer methods, FM, sampler etc.  so you came to the right product. Massive X is a better synth in my mind but more complex, so wait for it.

have fun!

[GreenLight 89]

I was also just going to say Monark/Minimoog, like @bitflipper.

I have never been a synth programing nerd myself, but have for a long time also felt the need to improve my synth programming skills. I actually did some Minimoog learning myself just a couple of days ago. The Minimoog seems ideal to learn on in that it has pretty limited modulation options and a straightforward routing.

Read the manual for the synth and play with the controls. Also, why not check out Arturia's manual for their Minimoog-clone Mini-V. It's pretty good.

Check out some YouTube videos, like the tutorial below how to program the bass sound from Michael Jackson's "Thriller".

EDIT: Oh, and the obvious - check out how other patches were made! Take a screenshot, set an init patch and start fiddling!

 

Edited January 7 by GreenLight

[Mark Nicholson 1]

Thanks guys. I have decided to focus on Monark. It has good documentation and lots of tutorials on YouTube. Plus it sounds great!

[Bruno de Souza Lino 283]

Either Monark or go for the modular blocks in Reaktor. Modular might seem a word choice at first, but it's the same thing as the others. The difference is that the others are pre connected or "normalized".

[Mark Nicholson 1]

Don't think I'm ready for Reaktor yet 😜 but just playing with the Monark front panel controls is giving me lots of think about.

[Tezza 345]

Don't worry, I've had Komplete 10 for years and still have not got around to learning Reaktor. I think the advice here is good, pick one and learn it. If your a manual person, there is always that. I'm a video person, I like to learn by sitting down with the VST on my DAW and then playing instructional videos on the TV while I go through it. As a result, I like to check what video instruction is available around the place before I decide which VST i'm going to learn next.

Edited January 10 by Tezza

[abacab 1,869]

1 hour ago, Tezza said:

 I like to check what video instruction is available around the place before I decide which VST i'm going to learn next.

That's a very good point.