Keyboard Synthesizer Review - Popular Analog Synthesizers & Playback Synths

Best Synthesizer Keyboards under $700
Best Synth Keyboards under $1000
Best Music Workstation Keyboards

If you look at a keyboard synthesizer, it will look very much like an arranger keyboard!

Most of them come with 61 keys and have a synth action... but that’s where most of the comparison ends.

Synthesizers are technically superior instruments, are more expensive and it gives you the capability to manipulate almost any of the parameters associated with the built-in sounds.

Unlike musical keyboards, they do not have built-in accompaniments and speakers; you will need external speakers to generate sounds.

A musical keyboard will also NOT let you tweak the built-in sounds...may be it will let you to a limited extent. Keyboard synthesizers on the other hand will let you do much more. You can create rich, amazing sounds to some extremely wacky ones.

Basically, you get two types of keyboard synthesizers depending on the type of sounds generated – Analog Synths and sample Playback Synths.

Sample Playback Synths include more of the bread and butter type of sounds. If you are more into pop, jazz, orchestral or mainstream type of music then you will need authentic piano, string, brass sounds. And that is what a Sample Playback Synth provides.

Products:

Yamaha MOTIF, Roland Fantom, and Korg M3 at the higher end
Yamaha MO6, Roland JUNO and Korg M50 at the lower end

Analog Synthesizers (also known as Virtual Analog synths or VA synths) are for those who only prefer doing dance, trance, techno type of music. It gives you a palette of sounds that suits these styles of music, something which sample playback synths cannot provide.

Products:
Nord, Roland V-Synth Novation, Access Virus, Waldorf at the higher end
Korg MS2000, MicroKorg, Alesis Micron at the lower end

Now, to create a different sound you should be able to modulate or change these waveforms. This is the reason synthesizers come with so many knobs, sliders and buttons.

These controls let you modulate the basic waveforms so that you can create sounds with totally different patterns. Using the knobs and sliders, you can change the waveforms pitch, frequency, amplitude and other parameters to create entirely new sounds.

The following are some of its features:

• It produces waveforms and lets you modulate (change) them to create new audio waveforms
• It doesn’t contain accompaniments nor do they have built-in speakers
• It contains loops, arpeggios and effects
• Extremely versatile
• Used to create sounds that can be used as sound effects in background scores
• Used mostly in studios
• Used by lot of keyboardists to play in a band because of their stunning sounds and effects.

A particular sound or timbre sounds that way because of the waveform generated and you can change it by altering these four things:

• Attack - This is the time taken for a sound to reach its maximum level after a key is pressed.
• Decay - This is the rate at which the volume decreases from that maximum level.
• Sustain – This is the level of the sound while the key remains pressed.
• Release – this is the duration of the sound after the key is released.

An arpeggiator lets you play a variety of phrases and arpeggio patterns using just one finger!

Some of the synths may provide you with two polyphonic arpeggiators, making it possible to create even more sophisticated patterns!

You may use the two arpeggiators to play two different instruments – for instance drums and bass, while you play your chords and melody. This feature gives you amazing power for your live performances.

Most of these synths provide you with numerous patterns to choose from. They even let you create your own original patterns, which you can then store in the internal memory for later use.

It is what lets you create the nuances and articulations for any selected sound, which forms such an important part of the synthesizer artistry.

Modulation means the ability to vary the pitch of any note and to be able to add effects such as vibrato or wah.

The joystick, which you will find on most synths, is one of the most common and the easiest way to freely vary the pitch and apply the various modulation effects.

Unlike an Arranger keyboard, it does not contain built-in musical sequences, intros, accompaniments, and fill ins. It contains loops and arpeggios which can be modulated and stored to be played back later.

Synths can produce melody as well as percussion sounds ranging from reed instruments to drums. But its true power is its possibility to create completely new and unheard of sounds.

All these keyboard synthesizers provide you with different ways to create extremely sophisticated sounds. You can choose to either program these in, or you can operate in real time to give your sounds a high degree of expressive life.

Additional Reading

Best Synthesizer Keyboards under $700
Best Synth Keyboards under $1000
Best Music Workstation Keyboards

61 Key Synthesizers - Amazing Sounds & Patterns
88 Key Synthesizers - Perfect Balance of Synthesizer and Piano Keyboard
Learn How to Use the Arpeggio Function on Keyboard Synths
How to Use Multi Pads on Piano Keyboards?
How to Use the Synthesizer Mode on Casio Piano Keyboards?
Professional Synthesizers from Yamaha
Full-Featured Keyboard Synthesizers from Roland
Moog Synth/Synthesizers

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