By using samples, wavetable synthesis was able to generate more ‘realistic’ sounds and create new sonic possibilities for open-minded artists. Wolfgang Palm doesn’t get talked about as much as people like Bob Moog or Don Buchla, but wavetable synthesis, developed by Palm in the late ’70s, is just as noteworthy as West Coast and East Coast methods developed by his revered US contemporaries. It’s tricky to master, but the excellent presets will get you started just fine. While traditional analog synths use subtractive synthesis (removing certain frequencies to create patches), Razor’s additive synthesis engine is the perfect thing for making the sort of high-definition music beloved of its creator and a fresh generation of club producers.

Developed by Berlin veteran Errorsmith (whose 12″s with Fiedel as MMM are some of the best German techno records ever made), Razor was released by Native Instruments in 2011 but still looks and sounds like it comes from the future. To make things easier, we’ve collected seven of the most innovative soft synths on the market today, from Errorsmith’s one-of-a-kind Razor to a sample-based synth created by trance legend BT.Īs soon as you load a preset on Razor, you can tell how it got its name: it makes the sharpest sounds of any software synth on the market. However, the world of cutting-edge software synthesizers is just as tricky to navigate as the hardware market. You’d be forgiven for thinking that electronic music is stuck in a nostalgia loop, but in reality, innovation is booming, especially with software. For every Yamaha CS-80 clone or 808 replica, there’s a morphing, 48-oscillator monster that Bob Moog could only have dreamed of.

It doesn’t matter whether you want a TB-303 replica to make acid house or a cheap Minimoog clone to indulge your love of ‘70s kosmische if you want to recreate the sounds of the past, you can do it without having to raid your savings for an eBay binge. We’re currently awash with clones, reissues and emulations of vintage synths. But why go for a vintage sound when there are innovative VST synths being made today? Scott Wilson picks seven of the best for making cutting-edge sounds. It’s possible to get software versions of almost any classic synth.

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