Top Five Affordable Synths For Beginner Producers

Nowadays, you don't need to splash out on expensive studio equipment to make great music. You can make a top selling album on a laptop with headphones. However, when you get passionate about creating music it's nice to have something physical to get your hands on! That's where a synth, short for synthesises, comes in. A synth is an electronic instrument which will generate an electronic sound. They come in all shapes and sizes from synths that fit in your pocket to synths as big as a house! Here is our list of the popular synths for beginner music producers on our production courses.

If you would like to learn how to make your own music or remixes get in touch! We offer one-to-one music production courses in Manchester, Birmingham and Oxford and all our courses are accredited by London Sound Academy. You can also book these courses online and learn from the comfort of your own home. Production courses graduates can even release their music on our own in-house record label.

1. Behringer MS1 - RRP £220

Based on Roland's classic sh101 the Behringer MS1 is a brilliant clone giving people a chance at owning this classic work horse for a reasonable price. Running of a single 3340 oscillator the ms1 is perfect for beefy basslines and crystal clear leads.

Arturia Mini Brute 2 - RRP £390

A serious step up from its predecessor the mini brute 2, has a huge analogue tone powerful shaping features, a versatile modular patch bay and step sequencer/arpeggiator the mini brute 2 is an instant classic. Once again harnessing the Steiner-Parker self oscillating filter often found in Autrias higher end synths the mini brute 2 packs some serious analogue punch.

Behringer Crave - RRP £150

Coming in at £150 Crave is the cheapest on our list, with a single-oscillator monosynth no patch memory and with over 30 minijack patch points on its top panel, it can serve as the control interface for a Eurorack or similar modular system. The crave combines the prophet 5's classic oscillators with the moog ladder filter, analogues fatness at an affordable price.

Korg Monologue - RRP £220

A collaboration between Aphex twin and Korg, the monologue is a stripped down single voice version of the successful Minilogue. featuring two VCO's , 25 keys , Sequencer, micro tuning and drive knob. It also have fuller low end frequencies due to the much sort after Korg 35 Ms-20 style filter chip.

The Moog Werkstatt-01 - RRP £180

Slightly different from the rest of the list The Moog Werkstatt-01 Analog Synth Kit and CV Expander is a patch-based analog synth that you build yourself. Moog products have an instantly recognisable sound and character but often with a hefty price tag attached to it. The Werkstatt offers you a chance to own this legendary voice for a fraction of the price, you do however have to assemble it yourself. Fortunately the instructions are easy enough and the sense of achievement when completed is an added bonus.