[sdiy] Polysynth considerations

[jure zitnik]

6 voices seems quite reasonable to me. i use synths in a similar
fashion that you described and 6 voices seem just right for me. you
can have a 3-note chords with a release and it plays out nicely with
no stealing. wouldn't mind a nice 8-voice either. but as you said, it
could get too busy, especially if it were a 2-osc.

4 voices are really too few and 5 just seems a weird idea :)

jure

On Dec 2, 2007 11:48 PM, Nicholas Gregorich <nicksdsu at mac.com> wrote:
> I am interested in building a polysynth or two with my recently acquired
> CEM chips. I am having a really basic problem: deciding how many voices
> I need/want.
>
> I've owned and played a fair number of synths, but I never stopped to
> think how much polyphony I use. I am not much of a player, more of a
> programmer, so my technique does not depend on the number of voices
> available.
>
> I rarely grab two hands of chords, but I do like long-release pads.
> Voice stealing can actually be useful in these types of sounds, for
> example 16 voices of Andromeda with long release can turn very mushy.
>
> I did not plan to include anything fancy like splits or multi-timber
> controls but I could be convinced otherwise. I guess I don't use these
> features enough to implement them.
>
> There are a couple duophonic synths out there, but that would be too
> limiting. A few 4 voices too, this might be the lower limit of
> "acceptable" polyphony. There's a certain famous 5 voice (who's newest
> sibling has 8 voices) and a lot of 6 voice synthesizers. I don't know of
> any 7 voicers, but quite a few synths have 8 voices.
>
> So I guess I'm looking for some insight. Do people find the Jupiter 4 to
> be short on voices? How about the Prophet 5? There are so many synths
> with 6 voices, but are they noticeably more useful than a 5 voice? Eight
> might be too much for me.
>
> Nick.
> _______________________________________________
> Synth-diy mailing list
> Synth-diy at dropmix.xs4all.nl
> http://dropmix.xs4all.nl/mailman/listinfo/synth-diy
>