Espen Kraft says synths are scams. Is he right or just trolling? That plus Sinevibes Korg plugins, Behringer MS-5 demos and more in this week’s Synth Journal.
Synths Are Scams?
Espen Kraft broke the synthternet this week with his video, “The great synthesizer scam | How they reel you in.” In it, he outlined how synths are scams and the price of hardware synthesizers is extremely inflated, especially given that many are essentially just “VSTs in boxes.” Even modern analog synths are largely digital, he points out, with digitally controlled envelopes, LFOs, etc. Some of the synths on his scam list are the Oberheim OB-X8, Sequential Prophet-5, Roland Jupiter-X and Juno-X and the Moog Muse.
Instead of paying large sums for hardware synths, he recommends buying software instead. He does recommend the ASM Hydrasynth though, even though he admits to not owning one.
Espen’s video seemed to strike a chord with the YouTube synth community, with a number of reaction videos dropping, all disagreeing with his opinion that synths are scams.
Espen’s response? He started a new channel and posted a rebuttal video called “I made the synth world go mad | Here is my reaction TO the reactions.” And his reaction? He reads The Fox and the Hound, a kid’s book version of the 1981 Disney movie. In Norwegian.
What do you think about Espen and his video? Do you believe synths are scams and that hardware synths – even analog ones – are just VSTs in boxes? Personally, I don’t think so. Whether there’s software inside or not, synthesizers are musical instruments to be played. You’re paying for that musical experience. Let us know what you think in the comments.
New Sinevibes Plugins Available for Korg NTS-1 MKII and NTS-3
Digital effects specialist Sinevibes has updated a number of its Logue plugins to now work in the newly available Korg NTS-1 MKII and NTS-3 Kaoss Pad Kit.
If you’re unfamiliar with the whole Logue thing, basically some of Korg’s products feature a user oscillator and updatable effects section. Sort of like a hardware plugin host. Sinevibes makes a number of oscillators and effects for the Logue line, many of them compatible across the entire line of Prologue, Minilogue XD, NTS-1, NTS-1 MKII and NTS-3.
The most recent Sinevibes plugins to get updated for the NTS-1 MKII and NTS-3 include Albedo v2, a granular cloud reverb, the multi-algorithm distortion Corrosion v3 and Vibrant, a “deep phaser.” They join the Blend v2 chorus, Dipole v2 flanger and Whirl v2 phaser.
If you’ve already purchased one for a previous device, there’s no need to purchase again, as they’re compatible across multiple devices.
Hainbach Makes Ondioline Album
In 1939, Georges Jenny built the first Ondioline, a monophonic analog electronic instrument often considered to be a forerunner of the synthesizer. By setting switches on the panel, you can get a variety of unique sounds from it. The pressure-sensitive three-octave keyboard is particularly expressive and you can wiggle the keys for vibrato like on an Expressive E Osmose.
YouTuber and experimental musician Hainbach made a great video introducing the Ondioline a week or so back. Now he’s put out another one, this time of a performance, and released an album of Ondioline songs called Breve as well. Interestingly, Hainbach borrowed the Ondioline from Forgotten Futures, a non-profit organization founded by musician Gotye.
The album is available on his Bandcamp page in vinyl, cassette and download options.
MoForte GeoShred Studio for Mac
From Hainbach to Jordan Rudess, we now move to MoForte GeoShred Studio. You may remember the original GeoShred, a series of iOS apps for iPhone and iPad that let you play physically modeled instruments using a non-conventional note grid.
The company has just released GeoShred Studio which moves the app from iOS to MacOS as an AUv3 plugin for desktop DAWs that support the AUv3 format. As the app is all about using the special control surface, those with Apple devices like an iPhone or iPad can control GeoShred Studio from an existing GeoShred iOS app or the free GeoShred Control MPE iOS app. It also supports MPE controllers, conventional MIDI controllers and even breath controllers.
You can download the app for free from the Mac App Store. GeoShred Studio costs $50 to unlock. Additional instruments are $50 each.
Behringer MS-5 Demos
I have a confession to make. I often mix up the Roland SH-5 and SH-7. Both are analog monosynths from the mid-1970s, except that the SH-7 had the additive oscillator section and the SH-5 has a rather well-regarded clone from Behringer. Called the MS-5, it features two oscillators, two filters (a multimode and a bandpass), two envelopes, two LFOs, and sample and hold.
Just this past week, two demos came out for the MS-5 and they both sound very, very good. The first, from Limbic Bits, pairs it with an Empress Reverb and puts it through its paces.
The second demo, this one from Wine&Synths, has it in a more musical context, pumping along at a cardio-friendly 135bpm.
The MS-5 sounds very nice indeed and recreates a fun era in Roland synths. We tend to think of Roland analogs as being clean and polite like the Jupiter-8 and Juno-106. But go back a decade to the 1970s and things get a little more muscly. My System-100 is the beefiest synth in my studio by far and it’s what I reach for when I need bass that makes you say phwoar, something to grab you by the collar.
Throbbing Gristle loved this Roland era too, using the SH-5 and SH-7 among others. They even took a photo with all of their Roland gear out hoping to get a sponsorship deal from the company. Roland passed. But this should tell you something about the sheer sonic power of the SH-5 and the other 1970s Roland monosynths.
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