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The
industrial genre has always thrived
on an innovative"do it yourself
attitude" and using inexpensive
synthesizers is one way for a rivethead
on a budget to still make music
without going broke. |
Let's
face it—most industrial musicians
aren't rich. In fact, some of us are
downright poor. However we are also
very lucky, because—unlike many
forms of music—industrial music
is often best performed on fairly inexpensive
equipment. But, for the novice rivethead
just "getting into the scene",
this can be a daunting experience trying
to figure out what equipment is good
and what isn't good for doing industrial
music.
With
little exception, such as Neubaten,
most industrial music is primarily written
and performed on synthesizers. Thus
this article will focus exclusively
on identifying which inexpensive synthesizers
are best chosen for industrial music
and WHY they are so good for
their cost.
Without
further ado, here are my picks for the
best budget industrial synths:
Ensoniq
ESQ-1 (1986—1988)
8 voice polyphonic
synthesizer
Digital/Analog Hybrid w/ sequencer
Original cost: $1395.00
Used cost: about $200.00
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The
Ensoniq ESQ-1 was released in 1986 and
quickly attracted attention to itself
as the second product from the company
that brought sampling to the masses
with the Ensoniq Mirage. In 1986 the
ESQ-1 was powerful, and affordable,
offering a glimpse into the future to
the power of a synthesizer workstation.
Featuring 8 polyphonic, multitimbral
voices, MIDI, an 8 track sequencer with
good editing facilities, and a crisp,
deep sound (courtesy of its smartly
designed digital oscillators and the
real analog CEM filters) the ESQ-1 was
a no-brainer for many novice and professional
synth players. Simply put, the ESQ-1
was a good synth for the price in 1986
and is an insanely good synth
for the price today.
But
what does this have to do with industrial
music, you ask?
Well,
for starters the ESQ-1 has a distinguished
history in industrial music courtesy
of none other than Skinny Puppy—who
employed the ESQ-1 prodigiously in the
studio and live, as evidenced by the
THREE ESQ-1's wielded by cEvin kEy and
Dwayne Rudolph Goettel in the "Ain't
It Dead Yet" video (in addition
to a lone Sequential Pro-One, also covered
in this article). In fact, the ESQ-1
graces many of Skinny Puppy's albums
and songs from that period including
the Cleanse, Fold and Manipulate,
Bites, and VIVIsectVI
albums.
Okay,
the ESQ-1's industrial pedigree is certainly
taken care of; but what does this mean
to you as a burgeoning industrial musician?
For starters, ESQ-1's are extremely
plentiful and easy to find. Secondly
they are CHEAP, typically costing
anywhere from 150 to 200 dollars. This
price alone makes the ESQ-1 a great
buy for any synth player on a budget.
But,
interest in the ESQ-1 isn't just about
its cheap price. Its sounds are great,
especially when run through effects
such as delay or reverb—unfortunately
for the ESQ-1 no onboard effects were
included in its design, making the ESQ-1
lose the title of "true" workstation
to the Roland D-20. The triple oscillator
design allows for interesting textures
to be created from its 32 onboard wavesamples.
Amplitude modulation and oscillator
sync (osc 2 to 1) are also available
(although not both at once, unfortunately).
Dozens of modulations are available
from many sources that lead to just
as many destinations, allowing the ESQ-1
to create odd, moving pads or clangorous
and dissonant stabs with great ease.
Soundwise, the ESQ-1 is surprisingly
versatile in the hands of the willing
programmer.
Add
in its excellent MIDI specifications,
multitimbralism, excellent sequencer
which can actually be used for composition
or live playing, and it becomes a wonder
that ESQ-1's aren't in everyone's synth
arsenal.
Truly
an inspiring instrument, even if it
cost twice its current value. A budget
classic that is unequalled in today's
market.
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Sequential
Pro-One (1981—1984)
Monophonic
synthesizer
Dual oscillator VCO analog (CEM
circuits)
Original cost: $995.00
Used cost: about $450.00
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Sequential
Circuits synthesizers have acquired
a very good name for use in industrial
music for their cutting, gutsy sounds.
Unfortunately, the price of most Sequential
gear puts it distantly out of reach
of most players unwilling to spend well
over a thousand dollars on a synth 15
or more years old, and from a company
that has been out of business since
1987. Fortunately, SCI did produce one
monophonic synthesizer, the Pro-One,
that sold in substantial enough quantities
to be realistically available and cheap
enough for the budget musician.
The
Pro-One is essentially a single voiced
Prophet 5, utilizing almost identical
internal architecture and circuit layout
as the revision 3 Prophet 5's; this
is good because it guarantees that the
Pro-One is going to sound like a Prophet
5—which is to say that it is going
to sound pretty goddamn good. However,
the Pro-One expands upon the Prophet
5's polymodulation section by adding
the ability to modulate oscillator B
and A—allowing this little monophonic
to, at times, outplay its big brother
the Prophet 5. Other than these modulation
additions, the Pro-One has all of the
capabilities of a Prophet 5, albeit
with but a single note available and
no preset memories whatsoever.
Pro-One's
came out long before MIDI, but have
excellent CV/Gate interfacing, making
it fairly rudimentary to add to a modern
recording setup. It also has an external
audio in—allowing you to process
other synthesizers or sounds by the
Pro-One's excellent, cutting low pass
filter. Even without a MIDI interface,
the Pro-One is a great source of samples
ranging from harsh percussion, the "high-Q"
sound courtesy of its over-eager to
self-oscillate filter, to chunky deep
bass sounds and frequency modulated
squeals that would make a death metal
guitarist scream in terror.
In
a nutshell, the Pro-One offers more
than any other monophonic, VCO analog
synthesizer within its price range and
sounds better as well. For industrial
mavens, the dual frequency cross-modulation
possibilites alone make this synth a
great deal—not to mention the ability
to process external sounds, the rich
bass sounds and excellent percussion
or lead sounds the Pro-One emits effortlessly.
Rich
or poor, a Pro-One makes a valuable
contribution to any industrial synth
player's rig. Period.
Korg
Polysix (1982—1983)
6 voice polyphonic
synthesizer
Single oscillator VCO analog (SSM
circuits)
Original cost: $1095.00
Used cost: about $300.00
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The
Korg Polysix synthesizer is, as I term
it, the "industrial Juno 60"—it
is a good sounding, simple polyphonic
synthesizer with a few downs, a whole
hell of a lot of ups, and a price so
cheap it is difficult to ignore. And
it should be a good synth too, because
it was designed to compete with the
rampantly successful Prophet 5 released
four years earlier; in fact—the
Polysix contains much of the same circuitry
as the revision 1 and 2 Prophet 5's,
albeit in a slightly less intriguing
fashion. However, the Polysix is a strong
performer and is endearing in a slightly
over-the-top manner. It even has 32
onboard memory locations for saving
your sounds, which is always a plus
for any synthesizer of this era or earlier.
The
base sounds of the Polysix are good,
courtesy of the aforementioned SSM filters;
not content to leave good enough alone,
Korg modified the SSM filter chips to
compensate for the destructive effect
to low frequencies that occurs when
filter resonance is grossly exaggerated—as
a result, the Polysix is capable of
producing extremely fat, extremely deep
bass sounds almost to the filters point
of self-oscillation. This is good. This
is very good. What's even better
is that the Polysix is capable of triggering
its oscillators in unison mode, locking
all six voices onto a single note for
extremely rich tones.
However,
even though the Polysix's sounds are
good, the implementation of the synth
is a bit lacking and simple—more
simularity to the Juno 60. The Polysix
is forced to share an envelope between
the VCF and the VCA, cutting down on
the versatility somewhat. More disappointing,
the Polysix has but a single oscillator,
plus a sub-oscillator square wave, to
make sounds on; once again, this resembles
the Juno 60 in form and function. Similar
to the Juno 60's chorus, the Polysix
has a built in "effects" section
consisting of a ensemble, chorus and
phaser that adds some depth to the overall
sound. One limitation for the Polysix,
which confines it to the "bass
and lead synth" role, is the LFO
which is limited to a sine wave only
and can only modulate pitch OR tone
OR volume, not combinations. Thus, for
other than simple sounds such as static
pads or string/organ sounds, or its
real forte'—bass—industrial
musicians desiring more complex sounds
had best go elsewhere (see the ESQ-1
for more details).
One
major downside is MIDI and interfacing.
The Polysix lacks MIDI and, very unfortunately,
also lacks any for of CV control. This
oversight by Korg is a bit disappointing
considering the Polysix's VCO power.
It IS possible to have a Polysix
MIDI'd, but the cost suggests to me
that perhaps it would be better to purchase
something that already had MIDI or CV
onboard, such as the Polysix's sister
synth the Mono/Poly. If you are into
playing your parts live, or are looking
for something to sample, the omission
of MIDI or CV shouldn't disappoint you
too much.
A
few downsides notwithstanding (such
as the well known problem with the internal
battery leaking and destroying the ability
of the synth to store or recal presets,
or just fry the synth), the Polysix
is a capable performer that produces
real VCO analog sounds at a fraction
of the price of any other good voltage
controlled oscillator polyphonic analog.
Simply put, the Polysix sounds like
a 1500.00 dollar synth but only costs
a fraction of the price.
It's
really that nifty.
There
are many other interesting, and affordable,
synthesizers perfect for industrial
music. However, for a new musician looking
to really score a good deal—and
find an instrument that is almost indespensible
for industrial music—nothing can
top the ESQ-1, Pro-One and Polysix for
versatility and sonic overkill. In fact,
you could have a flexible, versatile
synthesizer setup using ONLY
those three synths. Now that's power....
-James Meeker
