Today, let’s dive into the Synthi V and see what Arturia offers. Before that, a little about Synthi will spice things up for you. Read this article to know all of the curious information about this musical software we have collected for you!
What is EMS Synthi AKS?
EMS Synthi AKS had been manufactured by Electronic Music Studios from Cornwall, England and released in 1971. Before this, there was VCS 3 and Synthi A. AKS is the upgraded version of Synthi A with AKS being a keyboard and sequencer added.
This magnificent magic box had been used by prominent acts in the history of music like Pink Floyd’s “on the run” riff, “Any color you like it” lead sound, Jean Michel Jarre’s entire Oxygene album as well as on Equinox and lot of use in Klaus Schulze’s early works. If you haven’t heard these, you can go ahead listen to some of their works to hear the space-cake-walk sound that will haunt you forever.
Playing EMS Synthi AKS with Arturia
For the Synthi, it uses a push pin matrix board instead of patch cables to patch various of components to produce deliriously awe-inspiring sound.
For Arturia’s Synthi V, since we do not have to go and buy each pin for 1 to 59 pound from EMS, you can just simply chose your choices of patch color and click as obvious. This will initiate the right state of the sound if you know how the whole patch matrix works for Synthi.
In case, if you do not know about it, do not worry. One of the best thing about Arturia is they foresaw lot of problems user may face down the road, therefore, they always add user manuals for each synth, which is neat enough to get you started and leave you on your way to explore the depth of unknown. There will find plenty of guide how this matrix board is working.
Sections of Arturia Synthi V
As usual, Arturia added additional drop down display to the top. This section contains, various effects like delay, reverb, chorus.
Another section for added function, which can add a rich layer of soundscape to your generic sound and the sound can automatically alter over time based on your configuration. There is also a joystick section where you can add modulations to the movement of your joystick. The moment you do this and patch the joystick, you are able to generate weirdly unpredictable sound with each movement of the joystick.
You can assign various components on X axis and Y axis to joystick. For instance, if you route a filter on the X axis of the joystick and route Oscillator Pitch on Y axis, you will be able to generate crazy sound upon the movement of the joystick on each axis.
Presets of Arturia
Of course, you do not have to build your own sound to get an idea of what kind of sound Synthi V can produce, this had been taken care of by the Arturia Team by a large collection of presets you have at your disposal.
You just simply go to the preset section and choose the sound you like for your need. You can explore and see the power of Synthi V. You can also modify the existing preset and just play around as a starter if you do not want to read through the manuals. Yet, if you do, soon you will be able to understand the behaviour of Synthi V and how you can create unique sound over time. This is true for any synth in general. This was one of the notions of the legendary composer Brian Eno, who always got down to the depth of his synth and studied it all so well.
Still you can just select a preset and poke around and have good times enough with Synthi V.