Newbie to the world of Synths.

[caledoneus]

SO,

I picked up a Novation Bass Station II last week, it came in on Friday, and I hooked it up and decided to see what I could figure out. Having no idea how to play keys, I was jumping into the deep end with no floaties, but I'm having a lot of fun with it.

Hooked it into my Helix along with a guitar and came up with this after a few hours of figuring out the synth (a little bit, anyway). Not very good yet, but having lots of fun!

 

[joesnewmatch]

Congrats on taking the plunge! Looks like you already figured your way around the synth. Now you just need four arms like the rest of us!

 

[eclecto-acoustic]

What a fun world it is! Even though I'm in softsynth heaven and really should spend my money on a guitar interface and some rack stuff, I'd rather just buy a bunch of hardware synths and not resurface for several years.

Congrats on the Bass Station. It's a great first pick and can make a lot of fun noise.

 

[caledoneus]

Congrats on taking the plunge! Looks like you already figured your way around the synth. Now you just need four arms like the rest of us!

Lol. Thanks. It is definitely different from guitar, and more hands would be great.... I think I may have to get a sustain pedal for it so I can hit a not, hold it with my foot and then play with some knobs!

 

[Madsen]

I think I may have to get a sustain pedal for it so I can hit a not, hold it with my foot and then play with some knobs!

Or just crank up the sustain & release sliders.

 

[Vaifan]

Lol. Thanks. It is definitely different from guitar, and more hands would be great.... I think I may have to get a sustain pedal for it so I can hit a not, hold it with my foot and then play with some knobs!

I started playing keys in 1984 (first song I learned was Jump by VH which was brand new). I'm a guitar player, I started in 1980.

My suggestion if you care to know, would be use your chord knowledge on guitar and find the same chords on the keyboard. Having some tutorials would expediate that of course. But in 1984, I learned strictly by ear.

I learned inversions, then arpeggios. Eventually I played Jump, and still play keys today.

The left hand is more difficult, at first. It is still my weak side, because I dont practice it nearly enough. But anyway, I started on the left hand with playing only octaves.

So if I played Am in the right hand, I would play two A's about an octave or two below that minor chord.

Learning the note names is paramount. Look for two black keys alone together. The white key before them is a "C". The one near the middle of the keyboard is middle C. Then the black key after is C# etc.

Have fun, and congrats on the new rig!