Long time keys player—new to the forum

[RoHo89]

Hey guys. My name is Ross and I’ve been playing piano and other keyboards since I was 4 years old. I love and do it for a living but what brings me here is my search for advice about making/designing my own synth patches, info on good pedals to for keyboards, and any other knowledge on sound design for keys

The current band I’m in has been pushing for me to up my game on this for a while now and I’m ready to get started but just don’t know where to begin. The genre of music of the band is pop/funk/r&b

Any and all advice or direction will he greatly appreciated!

 

[SeaGtGruff]

Welcome, Ross! It sounds like you have a life-long love of keyboards. I'm sure you'll get some good suggestions from people once you set a price range and list some of your core needs, such as acoustic and/or electric pianos, drawbar organ sounds, synths, etc. What are you currently using? And what instruments do the other members of your band play? For instance, will you be expected to provide any sax or brass sounds, or can any of the other members play those instruments when needed? Or do you already have keyboards or synths that you're sticking with, and you just need suggestions on creating your own sounds or customizing the preset sounds?

 

[Rayblewit]

Hi Ross,
Welcome to the forums.

The current band I’m in

I’m ready to get started but just don’t know where to begin.

So these two statements confuse me. Are you currently playing in the band or the band wants you in?
What keys are you currently using?
Cheers
Ray

 

[Biggles]

Welcome.

As Ray suggests it would help if you also listed what kit you have.

 

[RoHo89]

Hi Ross,
Welcome to the forums.

So these two statements confuse me. Are you currently playing in the band or the band wants you in?
What keys are you currently using?
Cheers
Ray

I’m curren

Hi Ross,
Welcome to the forums.

So these two statements confuse me. Are you currently playing in the band or the band wants you in?
What keys are you currently using?
Cheers
Ray

I’m an currently in the band.

My current set up is a Moog little phatty and a nord electro 4d

 

[RoHo89]

Welcome, Ross! It sounds like you have a life-long love of keyboards. I'm sure you'll get some good suggestions from people once you set a price range and list some of your core needs, such as acoustic and/or electric pianos, drawbar organ sounds, synths, etc. What are you currently using? And what instruments do the other members of your band play? For instance, will you be expected to provide any sax or brass sounds, or can any of the other members play those instruments when needed? Or do you already have keyboards or synths that you're sticking with, and you just need suggestions on creating your own sounds or customizing the preset sounds?

The band I’m am in is a high energy pop/funk/r&b group. Think prince meets parliament with a little Bruno Mars too. The band is built around the 3 lead singers. The other instrumentation includes: lead/rhythm guitar player, bass, drums, and a Sax.

The vibe is for sure more electric so I’m really curious about synths and pads and further more keyboards that have them either programmed in or the ability to download patches. My current rig is a nord electro 4ds and a moog little phatty so for them I’m curious about pedals

 

[happyrat1]

If you're looking for tutorials on sound design a great place to start is the Youtube series by George Hall on the Studiologic Sledge and the Behringer Neutron.

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCvNM5I4gpa4MfzRiP3s2s5Q/videos

Add that link to your bookmarks and watch them all and you'll learn a hell of a lot about synth patch design.

Gary

 

[Becky]

Belated hello and welcome from me!

 

[CowboyNQ]

Welcome!

 

[SeaGtGruff]

Another resource is Syntorial— https://www.syntorial.com/
The full program isn’t free, but a good bit of it is free.

There are also a number of printed books that discuss sound design, including one which has been released for free as a PDF document, How to Make a Noise— https://noisesculpture.com/how-to-make-a-noise-a-comprehensive-guide-to-synthesizer-programming/