The Irrational Thread: Need Suggestions for a musical fun toys of $600 or less

mashtup

Toraiz Squid works well with iPad and hardware.

AlmostAnonymous

Holy crap! i was was totally down to try....and then i saw that price tag....

colonel_mustard

@michael_m said:

@TimRussell said:
A melodica, a glockenspiel, a lap steel/weissenborn, a ukulele, some hand percussion.
All fun & easy instruments to learn and incredibly expressive once you get the hang of them.
You could get all of the above for less than $600

This would be my suggestion too - get something that’s outside of your comfort zone that’s not too difficult to learn.

Ok, it looks difficult, like herding cats, but what an instrument! Presently €711 for a new one, but with a second-hand deal it should be possible to hit the $600 mark.

Also, I got my nephew a melodica for his birthday last year (age 4) and it was a major hit. Blew everything else out of the water.

AlmostAnonymous

Herding cats is easy of you keep cans of tunafish around

seventyfour

Tbh what I don’t like about Lyra 8 is that it doesn’t have a very big sound palette. It seems rather limited to how many sounds it can make. I would love to have a Lyra-4 tho

Liquidmantis

@0tolerance4silence said:

+1 on B2600

Wish Sweetwater would hurry up and ship mine...

klownshed

bennorland

@seventyfour said:
Tbh what I don’t like about Lyra 8 is that it doesn’t have a very big sound palette. It seems rather limited to how many sounds it can make. I would love to have a Lyra-4 tho

Sort of true, but it you remember it’s also a pretty wild delay and distortion fx pedal, it seems better sonic value.

bennorland

There are so many fun and crazy musical toys out there now. It’s silly. I could make a list of two dozen at least. On top of those mentioned so far I would add SOMA’s the pipe, ZOIA, and Organelle

bennorland

Oh and I should add Hologram Electronics Microcosm - unless that’s already been mentioned

colonel_mustard

@seventyfour said:
Tbh what I don’t like about Lyra 8 is that it doesn’t have a very big sound palette. It seems rather limited to how many sounds it can make. I would love to have a Lyra-4 tho

Yes, it's perhaps not the most versatile instrument ever made, but it has charisma. I'd like to spend some time with one. It won't be for everybody.

I hope you find your 4

@AlmostAnonymous said:
Herding cats is easy of you keep cans of tunafish around

SimRed

If I was to get one, where lies your recommendation? I am tempted by the cycles - I own a mpc one for sample duties, and a synth engine is kind of more interesting. Im a bit worried of the risk of it having a kinda narrow sound palette, though.

@Proppa said:
Elektron Model:Samples and Model:Cycles are both currently $250 each. Either / both are microcosms of awesome.

AlmostAnonymous

@colonel_mustard

colonel_mustard

@AlmostAnonymous said:
@colonel_mustard

Haha

Montreal_Music

@seventyfour said:
1) one of the “Tocante”:

2) SOMA Laboratories “Enner”:

3) 1/2 of Meng Qi’s “Wing Pinger”:

4) Sherman Filterbank 2 Compact:

5) ROLI Seaboard Rise 25 (used)

I will watch video on YouTube about 1, 2 and 3. ROLI have a bad reputation. I prefer paying more for a Linnstrument. Thank you for the suggestions!

Montreal_Music

@seventyfour said:
1) one of the “Tocante”:

2) SOMA Laboratories “Enner”:

3) 1/2 of Meng Qi’s “Wing Pinger”:

4) Sherman Filterbank 2 Compact:

5) ROLI Seaboard Rise 25 (used)

Ok the Filterbank 2 Compact is awesome but....800 USD? I'm in Canada, it's like 1100 canadian dollars

seventyfour

Ok the Filterbank 2 Compact is awesome but....800 USD? I'm in Canada, it's like 1100 canadian dollars

Ohh I’m sry… checked prices again your right it’s a bit out of budget

Montreal_Music

@seventyfour said:

Ok the Filterbank 2 Compact is awesome but....800 USD? I'm in Canada, it's like 1100 canadian dollars

Ohh I’m sry… checked prices again your right it’s a bit out of budget

I say that but now I want a Linnstrument + a Behringer B2600 in the same order for a grand total of 3x my budget!

Many great suggestions in this thread, keep them coming.

slicetwo

Poled Medusa is mad fun. Make noise 0Coast, too.

shinyisshiny

anything from soma

Wrlds2ndBstGeoshredr

You can get a caxixi for around $20. It’s a very fun instrument. You get those seeds flying in the air and after a few minutes it becomes a meditative interaction between you and gravity and the other laws of objects in motion.

Proppa

@SimRed said:
If I was to get one, where lies your recommendation? I am tempted by the cycles - I own a mpc one for sample duties, and a synth engine is kind of more interesting. Im a bit worried of the risk of it having a kinda narrow sound palette, though.

@Proppa said:
Elektron Model:Samples and Model:Cycles are both currently $250 each. Either / both are microcosms of awesome.

Because you have the MPC1 the Cycles seems like a solid choice. Regarding the FM palette take in a few YouTube videos that showcase the engines. I was seduced by what I heard online but even more stoked on how it sounds in person.

The 'Samples is more versatile but is also extra steps for sample import and file management which isn't a negative per se but there is a beauty to the 'Cycles being utterly self-contained. Also for both Models: the audio class compliant USB makes capturing output a breeze: I use my iPad with Audioshare for this and it's full fidelity / all smiles.

krassmann

At Superbooth 21 were quite some interesting small desktop synths. The most impressive for me was Fred’s Lab ZeKit which is very good sounding, 4 voice paraphonic sythesizer for just 129 Euro. I don’t know how but the few knobs and buttons really seem to be enough. Just a pity that it has no USB.

I know people hate Behringer for their cloning but their synths deliver great value for the money. Crave or Model D for instance. If the budget is 600 the Poly D is really tempting:

klownshed

If I had £500 to spend today, here's what would be on my list (includes things I already own

Behringer Pro-1. The sound of Yazoo.
Behringer any of the other analogue monosynthy clones (your B mileage might vary)

One of the Modal Electornics Synths. I don't have any of these but they look (and sound) really cool.

Novation Circuit Tracks and Rhythm but I'd buy the original for <£100 new used and replace all the synth sounds and samples with my own shit.

Novation Circuit Monostation. Greater than the sum of its parts.

Roland JD-Xi, Much maligned but a diamond in the rough. Very good value for money, especially used at about half price. very underrated and a fantastic way to get away from screens as a musical scratchpad (as are the circuits). Includes an audio/midi interface for PC/Mac, MIDI only for iOS. 2 Digital synths, 1 Analogue monosynth, Roland drum machine (samples), Vocoder, Auto-tune vocal things, Audio to MIDI, 4 bar 4 track sequencer...

PO 32. Great fun drum machine with lots of free patches online (or make your own with micro tonic)

TR6-S. I like drum machines.

DrumBrute Impact. I like drum machines :-) Proper analogue drum machine for £250. Bargain.

Novation launchpad Pro thing. Live clip launcher + Circuit style sequencing for external gear without the built in sounds. I'd just use the Circuit instead but this might be better for some.

Zoom H (1,2,3,4,5,6,whatever) recorder. Record the stuff you make with the other boxes and also work as audio interfaces for the iOS device. And go around hitting things with sticks to make your own drum kits with better microphone than the iPhone.

Most of the stuff I've mentioned is because I like the hardware to be (mostly) self-contained so that I can use it away from screens to come up with ideas or just play music.

I'd have a different list if I still had a permanent studio space in my house.

sevenape

This:

stown

Arturia Microfreak
ASM Hydrasynth Explorer - at $600 before tax, but what an awesome synth and with polyAT.
Koma Elektronik’s Field Kit

seventyfour

Safe for a few more months and buy a new iPad Pro.

Kashi

Norns Shield. Best thing I ever bought, no contest.

FordTimeLord

@klownshed said:

Novation Circuit Tracks and Rhythm but I'd buy the original for <£100 new and replace all the synth sounds and samples with my own shit.

That’s intriguing. Where would one find the original for <£100 new?

klownshed

@FordTimeLord said:

@klownshed said:

Novation Circuit Tracks and Rhythm but I'd buy the original for <£100 new and replace all the synth sounds and samples with my own shit.

That’s intriguing. Where would one find the original for <£100 new?

Sorry. Meant to say used. Brain fade.