Digital vs analogue for Ambient
When it comes to Funk and Soul, generally you’d use analogue synths for pads and bass but Ambient music has a much wider and more open sound that straddles many different styles – thus, digital FM synths or ROMpler sampled waves are perfect fodder. One of our favourite synths for Ambient music is the humble 4-operator Yamaha DX100 FM synth. It’s noisy and dirty and has aliasing on sounds but this all adds to the overall character. Add outboard reverb, delay (or even better, some Eventide Harmonizer) and you’ll find yourself in Ambient heaven!
Moving onto current synths, Behringer’s DeepMind 12 is a killer Ambient synth (with its 12-voice analogue engine, control sequencer and modulatable digital effects), as is Arturia’s analogue MatrixBrute with its modulatable analogue FX. Sampler-wise, E-mu’s E6400, Akai’s S950/S6000, Roland’s VP-9000/V-Synth and Yamaha’s A5000 are all brilliant for manipulating/creating Ambient noises and sounds. Finally, flagship boards like the Kronos, Montage and Nord Stage 2EX are also great Ambient machines, allowing sample loading/layering with their factory waves/engines/FX.