MS-20 One Synth Challenge

video upload by Cyberspace O'Blivion

"I figured that it'd be worth demonstrating what this synth can do as the sole sound generator for a track for that video, hence this video where I use the MS-20 mini for the one synth challenge

There's a couple of sounds where I brought the K2 in as well, the behringer version of the MS-20, and hard panned each synth across from each other for a binaural type effect. By using both synths directly with each other it became quite evident that the K2 isn't able to pull as much sonic weight as the MS-20 Mini. It's good, and is very nearly identical, but the filter especially is just that little bit lacking. But within a whole mix and the way I've used it here, the difference is negligible

The drums where the hardest part to get right with this. I'm not sure if it's a limitation of the MS-20 itself or a failure on my part to find the most optimal percussive sounds. The kick especially I'm not super thrilled about, but the rest of the elements serve their purpose. I've done my best with mixing to bring the most out of all of the sounds, but there's some elements that I think would've been better served by a different sound source, mostly the kick. Overall, this is a solid synth, and as a primary sound source has a lot of scope, but I'd pair it with at least a drum machine of some sort

I really enjoyed working with the limitations of one synth for a track. I might do this again sometime with a different synth, probably the MicroBrute. Truth be told, all of our albums are basically one synth challenges with the MatrixBrute as it's pretty much the only synth we use to record our albums. The other synths we have do show up occasionally, and drums are dealt with independently, mostly with samples from drum machines or the occasional acoustic drum-kit."