You could learn the basics of substractive synthesis (the most common one) for free with software emulations, either on desktop (VST/AU plugins) or with iOS apps (Android is not very well served in this area)
To be honest many producers in the younger generation haven't ever touched real hardware synths (let alone real analog synths) and do everything "in the box" using software. There's endless debate on whether this sounds the same (it's the "Emacs vs vi" wars of the synth world), but as Tatsuya says in the last paragraph of the interview, you'd be hard pressed to hear any difference once in a mix.
A few of the best sounding classic-analog-emulating software synths would be : Diva, Serum, SynthMaster, Sylenth1, Spire, and the Arturia collection.
Hardware synths are fun though, and most importantly their interface can spark inspiration where technically equivalent but mouse-operated software synths wouldn't.
A small selection of hardware synths, by rough ascending price :
- The cheap and fun Korg Volca range mentioned in the article.
- The Boutique range from Roland. Spot-on virtual analog (=DSP-based) reissues of their classics, the JU-06 is probably the easiest to figure out and most faithful to the original Juno 106 (a staple of the 80s), but it's sold out in most places.
- The Arturia microBrute and miniBrute. They spearheaded the cheap analog renaissance a few years ago and sound lovely and gnarly
- The beautifully designed Korg Minilogue mentioned in the article.
- My all-time favourite interface on a synth is the Nord Lead 3's. It's full-featured but especially suited to beginners because of a truly unique feature : endless rotary knobs with LEDs indicating current value. It's virtual analog (DSP-based) with everything you'd expect on the substractive synthesis front, plus the easiest FM synthesis interface you'll find anywhere. It's been discontinued for years (and its successors don't have the LED knobs), but some units pop up on eBay regularly.
- At the higher end of the price range, there are also dozens of options : the Prophet 6 and OB-6 by Dave Smith Instruments (the inventor of MIDI) are poised to become modern classics. The DSP-based Virus TI is incredibly versatile (although it's getting long in the tooth, as CPU power has caught up with DSPs meaning a plug-in like Serum is just as good)
Here's a free barebones synth plug-in (you'll need a VST/AU host, for example Garageband that comes bundled with macOS) : https://tal-software.com/products/tal-noisemaker
To be honest many producers in the younger generation haven't ever touched real hardware synths (let alone real analog synths) and do everything "in the box" using software. There's endless debate on whether this sounds the same (it's the "Emacs vs vi" wars of the synth world), but as Tatsuya says in the last paragraph of the interview, you'd be hard pressed to hear any difference once in a mix.
A few of the best sounding classic-analog-emulating software synths would be : Diva, Serum, SynthMaster, Sylenth1, Spire, and the Arturia collection.
Hardware synths are fun though, and most importantly their interface can spark inspiration where technically equivalent but mouse-operated software synths wouldn't.
A small selection of hardware synths, by rough ascending price :
- The cheap and fun Korg Volca range mentioned in the article. - The Boutique range from Roland. Spot-on virtual analog (=DSP-based) reissues of their classics, the JU-06 is probably the easiest to figure out and most faithful to the original Juno 106 (a staple of the 80s), but it's sold out in most places. - The Arturia microBrute and miniBrute. They spearheaded the cheap analog renaissance a few years ago and sound lovely and gnarly - The beautifully designed Korg Minilogue mentioned in the article. - My all-time favourite interface on a synth is the Nord Lead 3's. It's full-featured but especially suited to beginners because of a truly unique feature : endless rotary knobs with LEDs indicating current value. It's virtual analog (DSP-based) with everything you'd expect on the substractive synthesis front, plus the easiest FM synthesis interface you'll find anywhere. It's been discontinued for years (and its successors don't have the LED knobs), but some units pop up on eBay regularly. - At the higher end of the price range, there are also dozens of options : the Prophet 6 and OB-6 by Dave Smith Instruments (the inventor of MIDI) are poised to become modern classics. The DSP-based Virus TI is incredibly versatile (although it's getting long in the tooth, as CPU power has caught up with DSPs meaning a plug-in like Serum is just as good)