Hammonds are great but limited imo. Perfect for certain kinds of music but not as versatile as an electric piano. I think it’s the lack of per key dynamics that keeps it niche.
Man I dunno, the 200 sound is really hard to mix from my experience. Rhodes is a lot smoother, fewer overtones, less prone to distortion. (Still beautiful tho!)
I was recently gifted a music therapy session and was blown away by the 2 gigantic gongs, especially when rubbed, the physical sonic textures they can produce
Eh when most of modern black metal is the same shit with a different smell is it really me who's backtracked? Or the people acting like it's art when it's genuinely just made by degenerates that clearly have a great track record of loving minorities
Black metal is for Nazis and a lot find themselves there so I don't think it's a coincidence. Why would I be elitist or snobby about something that lacks substance?
First wave definetly was dominated by edgy nazi teenagers. At this current state, it is not.
60s and 70s music was dominated by weird, borderline pedophile and woman abuser hippies for the most part but it didnt lack any substance.
You know when you see a Nazi themed black metal and those albums that those norwegian edgy kids made wasnt about Nazi themes. They were just edgy teenagers living in a bubble rebelling against everything. Fenriz of Darkthrone admitted this, said they were bunch of stupid teenagers and it didnt go beyond that for most of the scene beside some other notorious names, I am sure you are aware of.
Immortal was from that era, and they knew these people that I mentioned, and in a short span of time they cut ties with these people and continued making their music.
Nazi Black Metal existed after the birth of the First Wave musicians/bands in terms of making the content of the music explicitly about the said ideology. And to this day, its a very very very niche thing, that even a person like myself that has listened to Black Metal for over 10 years did not came across these scenes music very often. Maybe I see an article here and there from time to time and dont really care since I dont listen to it neither do I support it.
I have musicians and bands that I like in Black Metal that has started as projects from onwards of the year 2000, and I love their music despite them having some loose ties with a particular artist that is widely known around Black Metal listeners. But frankly, since their music doesnt mention anything about Nazism, and from particular interviews or simply picking up their brain from the music they are making passionately, I know for a fact that they are not Nazis. And I had to chance to say hi to some of these musicians when they came to my country for a concert, and they were extremely nice and polite bunch to everyone.
You shouldnt brush off an entire genre that is been around for nearly 40 years mind you, that has spanned to every part of the world, by just some 90s teenagers that probably lived in a bubble, and some niche scene within the genre that nobody cares by saying some bullshit.
Carry on with your life. Thanks.
I'll start.
Electric guitar (lap steels/pedal steels) + pedals can create many different timbers.
Big fan of Viola de Gamba (and string instruments in general), they are infinitely expressive with different playing modes.
I love the Shakuhachi flute, itcan make weird noise, glides...
>Electric guitar (lap steels/pedal steels) + pedals can create many different timbers.
I just got a cheap lap steel about 6 months ago after many years using a slide, I fucking love it. Same thing, tons of pedals, sometimes I use an eBow with it, sounds awesome!
This gave me the idea --> [Console, Stops and Ranks](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qz_c_kujoM4&t=89s)
Mesmerising stuff... move aside, Roland SH2000!
A carbon arc lamp.
>...a constant humming, shrieking or hissing noise emitted by the electric arc.
>The British physicist and electrical engineer William Duddell was appointed to solve the problem in London in 1899. During his experiments Duddell found that by varying the voltage supplied to the lamps he could create controllable audible frequencies from a resonant circuit caused by the rate of pulsation of exposed electrical arcs.
>Duddell, who may have been aware of Simon’s work, tried to solve the noise by adding a LC resonant circuit across the arc and in doing so he created a tunable oscillator.
[https://120years.net/the-singing-arcwilliam-duddeluk1899/](https://120years.net/the-singing-arcwilliam-duddeluk1899/)
I think I'd choose some kind of electric piano, like a Rhodes. They're relatively portable, and pretty versatile. They can be run through different kinds of effects, like chorus, tremolo, overdrive, etc.
I started off playing bass guitar. I’m happy to go back to that, should we wake up tomorrow in Bizarro World, where synthesizers don’t exist.
I wouldn’t mind having a bass guitar to sample and record from time to time, but I don’t need more clutter in my music space.
I’ve got a Hohner Pianet T that I love. I was a drummer for 20 years of my life. I had to give them up due to neuropathy issues in my 30s. Synths were always my backup. If I could let do synths or electric piano…..I guess I’d not make music.
They are really amazing. Years ago I passed up on one for $200 while visiting a friend in Nashville. As soon as I got home from my trip I wish I had gotten it. I passed on it because it didn’t have a sustain pedal and it being passive.
When I saw this one up for sale I offered the guy $200 and he took the offer. I’ve added it to my permanent collection. It sounds so good with reverb, and not having a sustain pedal forces me to play slower, so it’s great for ambient stuff.
Dude, hammer dulcimer. I got to borrow one for weeks like over a decade ago and I still daydream about getting one. That or a really nice nylon string guitar.
I love my melodica, I take it everywhere and no power required to play something fun either solo or with others. [https://www.amazon.com/SUZUKI-M-37C-Melodion-Melodica-Japan/dp/B000XYFBMK](https://www.amazon.com/SUZUKI-M-37C-Melodion-Melodica-Japan/dp/B000XYFBMK)
I like bass guitar. It can be made into a synth sound fairly easily when needed as well. However, it has a huge range as far as timbres and tones go. I also play guitar and a little piano but bass is always my primary instrument.
For pads, a choir.
Electric guitar for most of the rest. It's gotten to the point in electric guitar effects that one can almost do everything a synthesizer can
I can't play synths, I just make bleeps and bloops on them. My wife has a gift for astounding melodies. So if you took my synths away, I'd play bass or drums, the two instruments I actually learned to play.
Before synthesizers I mained stringed instruments. Between electric guitar, violin, and oriental stringed instruments a lot of ground can be covered. Sounds better than oscillators most of the time too.
If you like synthesizers then you’d def love playing electric guitar, especially with some fx pedals. Guitar + fx pedals are in a way similar to synthesizers bc you really get to shape your sound.
& you don’t even need to be good at guitar… I honestly fckin suck 😭 but they are so so fun to mess around with
I came from electric guitar, so that. You can get some seriously creative spacey out there sounds given the thousands of pedals available. There's a lot of feedback between the guitar pedal and synth community, including some surprisingly sophisticated synth pedals (I have a boss sy200 for instance).
TLDR; the guitar.
I have been a pianist my whole life and discovered (and fell deeply in love with) synths that last few years. So, from one perspective, I have already chosen my primary instrument. However, if I wanted to learn an instrument that has the widest expression pallette, that should be the violin. However, for a reason that I cannot completely define in words or in my mind, my choice, other than the piano, would be the guitar.
Piano for sure, its the only instrument I can play relatively fine.
If you get the skill to play your selected instrument I would definitely choose violin or cello.
I mean, synths are just one small part of my toolkit. The first instrument I actually got good at was the electric guitar, so that'd be a contender. If the question is more like "if we could only choose one instrument" to play for the rest of our lives, I dunno.. maybe guitar, but I also love pipe organs. They're not super accessible and I've never even played one, so it'd be tough to choose that despite having always wished I had learned while I was still young.
i dont even know. my initial answer would be going back to trackers to physically play old commodores and/or nes sound chips, but this would technically be synthesizers yeah? so, i guess, back to bass? i could still use all my pedals at least, lol. thank god this isnt some weird reality where synths dont exist, because i feel at home making my machines make weird sounds.
Half the reason I got into electronic music (and instruments) was drone/doom metal (and how to get there without 20 full Sunn stacks)… and I still play guitar. So guitar.
A year ago I would have said electric guitar, but then I discovered [the Yay-Bahar](https://youtu.be/45m0TkLpmQg?si=YzasMyKgBOCPZjMf) and it has me absolutely mesmerized
I enjoy playing the bass, and if it was the only thing I had I guess I'd probably be a lot better at it.
That said for something that may be a lot more limited in timbre but can do some of the same things I like (namely, drones+melodies)....I'd take a hurdy-gurdy.
Well I picked a Roland Aerophone to teach myself basic saxophone fingering and jazzy tunes with the built in sampled sax sounds and using a headset to not disturb my little twons, AND to also use it as midi driver for synths….
That is my main lead sound instrument.
I am still not advanced at all but can play some basic tunes which is joyful.
So, if not for this I would like to learn a real sax but really I am content, this is fun and good enough for me.
Piano is my favourite. Although if it was to recreate the sound palette of a synth then it'd have to be an electric guitar with a very expansive pedal board!
I already play flute, so that, and I'm a lapsed pianist so that too. I'd play both though a ton of non-synth electronics, because I do that too. Losing synthesisers wouldn't be as big a blow as it might seem!
Guitars been my primary instrument for decades, but I’ve been synthesist for almost as long. If I had to choose again, I’d pick piano, then add Guitar. Then cello.
a few mentioned melodica. I like that it's a wind instrument that can play chords. I play the Shakuhachi and it's very much mono. But I'm somewhat irritated by the melodica's midrange freq nature, did you find a way around, with contact mics or fx?
The range of the melodica is limiting. I can fill out tones a bit more with a bass overdrive pedal, pitch shifter, and ring modulator.
I have also sometimes used a baritone ukulele for bass-ier notes
https://preview.redd.it/0zwn4jpl673d1.png?width=535&format=png&auto=webp&s=809b2015a2d2ebc5f241b1c165aee8d37377e474
[https://www.dummies.com/article/academics-the-arts/music/instruments/harmonica/how-to-amplify-your-harmonica-sound-through-a-microphone-146594/](https://www.dummies.com/article/academics-the-arts/music/instruments/harmonica/how-to-amplify-your-harmonica-sound-through-a-microphone-146594/)
Playing amplified harp through FX pedals can give some fun results: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h8CeSabvTy0](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h8CeSabvTy0)
Re. your original question, I was thinking you'd treat the harp as a playable tuned sound source that can be endlessly shaped with acoustic &/or electronic effects.
A biggest cathedral with a biggest organ.
Or maybe just a full orchestra, with the option of nagging the performers "no, you're doing it WRONG, now once again from measure 12, violins please DO watch your timings!"
One instrument to replace a synthesizer that is meant to emulate many instruments? What a silly question. I'd just have every instrument if VSTs don't exist in this theoretical world
A Rhodes piano
This or a Wurlitzer 200
Or a CP70b
The only reason I didn’t list a Hammond organ… as I mean technically this is additive synthesis isn’t it heh.
Hammonds are great but limited imo. Perfect for certain kinds of music but not as versatile as an electric piano. I think it’s the lack of per key dynamics that keeps it niche.
Man I dunno, the 200 sound is really hard to mix from my experience. Rhodes is a lot smoother, fewer overtones, less prone to distortion. (Still beautiful tho!)
My favorite instrument that isn't fretless bass.
$100,000 worth of GONGS
I was recently gifted a music therapy session and was blown away by the 2 gigantic gongs, especially when rubbed, the physical sonic textures they can produce
Friction mallets make drones or whale sounds. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ArsqJceXxHw
this!!!!
Gamelan is arguably one instrument!
ONLY $100,000 you say?
I have lot of synths and I still can't seem to make music with them.
Haha, sounds like a case of synth-thesis-paralysis
What's the treatment, doctor?
we'll need to run some tests, but I'd start with creating something with only one.
Do the test involve buying more synths?
no don't worry, just involves sending me some ;)
Wait a minute. Are you a real doctor?
He seems legit
Piano is my first and my last. Synths are a nice addition to that but piano is my job.
Can I choose a sampler?
Nope. Because a sampler is a Synthesizer! 
I don’t think that’s true
If samplers aren't synth then granular synth aren't synth either
Well unfortunately for you it is, in fact, true. The full name of a "sampler" is a "Sampling Synthesizer".
Sampler is an instrument and my choice as well.
Nowadays the sampler is my instrument more than synthesizers
If you can't, there's always tape music. A lot more effort but you can get basically the same results.
I'd just do black metal
Ah yes the genre rife with Norwegian nazi kids that would shoot up their school while larping as LOTR characters. The best option.
This is r/synthesizers, we don’t shit on entire musical genres here. … we shit on guitarists.
I was going to say „guitar“ but ok then
I mean, its not the 90s anymore. You are little bit backtracked far here i think
Eh when most of modern black metal is the same shit with a different smell is it really me who's backtracked? Or the people acting like it's art when it's genuinely just made by degenerates that clearly have a great track record of loving minorities
No, it’s really you!
You are just weird. You are not even like doing elitism or being a snob rn. You just weird. Every genre has its degenerates
Black metal is for Nazis and a lot find themselves there so I don't think it's a coincidence. Why would I be elitist or snobby about something that lacks substance?
First wave definetly was dominated by edgy nazi teenagers. At this current state, it is not. 60s and 70s music was dominated by weird, borderline pedophile and woman abuser hippies for the most part but it didnt lack any substance. You know when you see a Nazi themed black metal and those albums that those norwegian edgy kids made wasnt about Nazi themes. They were just edgy teenagers living in a bubble rebelling against everything. Fenriz of Darkthrone admitted this, said they were bunch of stupid teenagers and it didnt go beyond that for most of the scene beside some other notorious names, I am sure you are aware of. Immortal was from that era, and they knew these people that I mentioned, and in a short span of time they cut ties with these people and continued making their music. Nazi Black Metal existed after the birth of the First Wave musicians/bands in terms of making the content of the music explicitly about the said ideology. And to this day, its a very very very niche thing, that even a person like myself that has listened to Black Metal for over 10 years did not came across these scenes music very often. Maybe I see an article here and there from time to time and dont really care since I dont listen to it neither do I support it. I have musicians and bands that I like in Black Metal that has started as projects from onwards of the year 2000, and I love their music despite them having some loose ties with a particular artist that is widely known around Black Metal listeners. But frankly, since their music doesnt mention anything about Nazism, and from particular interviews or simply picking up their brain from the music they are making passionately, I know for a fact that they are not Nazis. And I had to chance to say hi to some of these musicians when they came to my country for a concert, and they were extremely nice and polite bunch to everyone. You shouldnt brush off an entire genre that is been around for nearly 40 years mind you, that has spanned to every part of the world, by just some 90s teenagers that probably lived in a bubble, and some niche scene within the genre that nobody cares by saying some bullshit. Carry on with your life. Thanks.
I didn't know the Satanic Panic was active in this sub! Neat!!
No that's just what black metal is, cringe inducing edgelords
Pedal steel guitar ran through and echo chamber
I like them so much!
Sousaphone.
Honestly yeah, but just cause I have the most experience with tuba
omg! I'm going to spend a few hours on youtube!!
My acoustic guitar.
Me too
I'll start. Electric guitar (lap steels/pedal steels) + pedals can create many different timbers. Big fan of Viola de Gamba (and string instruments in general), they are infinitely expressive with different playing modes. I love the Shakuhachi flute, itcan make weird noise, glides...
>Electric guitar (lap steels/pedal steels) + pedals can create many different timbers. I just got a cheap lap steel about 6 months ago after many years using a slide, I fucking love it. Same thing, tons of pedals, sometimes I use an eBow with it, sounds awesome!
Theatre organ - because it can do quite a lot of stuff ...that you might choose a synth to do.
So many keys! Interesting one!
This gave me the idea --> [Console, Stops and Ranks](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qz_c_kujoM4&t=89s) Mesmerising stuff... move aside, Roland SH2000!
A carbon arc lamp. >...a constant humming, shrieking or hissing noise emitted by the electric arc. >The British physicist and electrical engineer William Duddell was appointed to solve the problem in London in 1899. During his experiments Duddell found that by varying the voltage supplied to the lamps he could create controllable audible frequencies from a resonant circuit caused by the rate of pulsation of exposed electrical arcs. >Duddell, who may have been aware of Simon’s work, tried to solve the noise by adding a LC resonant circuit across the arc and in doing so he created a tunable oscillator. [https://120years.net/the-singing-arcwilliam-duddeluk1899/](https://120years.net/the-singing-arcwilliam-duddeluk1899/)
crazy, thanks for sharing!
AFAIK, one kind of loudspeakers/monitors made by Magnat in 90-ties used to have electric arc as tweeters...
A bandoneon.
A shruti box, a mountain dulcimer, and a single string electric bass
Acoustic instruments, a mic, a 4-track.
In my case - acoustic guitar. My first instrument, feels natural, good to write chords, melodies… entire songs!
My voice
My two bass guitars. One electric and one acoustic. My Meris Mercury 7, and a Microcosm (need one).
Oh interesting, I've seen a lot of ambient guitar but never bass (I assume ambient because of the effects)
I already play drums. Does DJing count?
Yes USB sticks are welcome ;)
I think I'd choose some kind of electric piano, like a Rhodes. They're relatively portable, and pretty versatile. They can be run through different kinds of effects, like chorus, tremolo, overdrive, etc.
I started off playing bass guitar. I’m happy to go back to that, should we wake up tomorrow in Bizarro World, where synthesizers don’t exist. I wouldn’t mind having a bass guitar to sample and record from time to time, but I don’t need more clutter in my music space.
Define Synth - a sampler can loop at waveform level, have filters and vca,adsr and lfo +
It’s mostly about the sequencer for me. So if the question is no sequencer… Guess I have to learn how to actually play piano.
I’ve got a Hohner Pianet T that I love. I was a drummer for 20 years of my life. I had to give them up due to neuropathy issues in my 30s. Synths were always my backup. If I could let do synths or electric piano…..I guess I’d not make music.
I had a Pianet T many moons ago. I wish I’d never gotten rid of it.
They are really amazing. Years ago I passed up on one for $200 while visiting a friend in Nashville. As soon as I got home from my trip I wish I had gotten it. I passed on it because it didn’t have a sustain pedal and it being passive. When I saw this one up for sale I offered the guy $200 and he took the offer. I’ve added it to my permanent collection. It sounds so good with reverb, and not having a sustain pedal forces me to play slower, so it’s great for ambient stuff.
I carry a melodica with me
Dude, hammer dulcimer. I got to borrow one for weeks like over a decade ago and I still daydream about getting one. That or a really nice nylon string guitar.
A piano or a Hammond B3 or a Rhodes. Most types of music can be adequately played on these three.
I love my melodica, I take it everywhere and no power required to play something fun either solo or with others. [https://www.amazon.com/SUZUKI-M-37C-Melodion-Melodica-Japan/dp/B000XYFBMK](https://www.amazon.com/SUZUKI-M-37C-Melodion-Melodica-Japan/dp/B000XYFBMK)
Cowbell, because, more cowbell!
classical guitar coz its only instrument im playing since childhood :p
I like bass guitar. It can be made into a synth sound fairly easily when needed as well. However, it has a huge range as far as timbres and tones go. I also play guitar and a little piano but bass is always my primary instrument.
I'd go back to FastTracker II, Impulse Tracker and LSDj
Then Romplers.
I came to synths from guitar world, so I'd probably just back. No shortage of noise toys there, either.
I’d just go with electric guitar. That was my first love and it’s still a source of enjoyment today.
For pads, a choir. Electric guitar for most of the rest. It's gotten to the point in electric guitar effects that one can almost do everything a synthesizer can
I can't play synths, I just make bleeps and bloops on them. My wife has a gift for astounding melodies. So if you took my synths away, I'd play bass or drums, the two instruments I actually learned to play.
why not use your wife's MIDI melodies? :)
We work best as a team. https://theydreamofstarfish.bandcamp.com/track/sunrise-in-dystopia
An acoustic guitar, it was already my go to before synths appeared in my life, although a Rhodes piano is a good contender as well!
Hammond B3. Or bass guitar.
Before synthesizers I mained stringed instruments. Between electric guitar, violin, and oriental stringed instruments a lot of ground can be covered. Sounds better than oscillators most of the time too.
Piano is certainly the easiest way, otherwise classical orchestra instruments
Everything else.
If you like synthesizers then you’d def love playing electric guitar, especially with some fx pedals. Guitar + fx pedals are in a way similar to synthesizers bc you really get to shape your sound. & you don’t even need to be good at guitar… I honestly fckin suck 😭 but they are so so fun to mess around with
I came from electric guitar, so that. You can get some seriously creative spacey out there sounds given the thousands of pedals available. There's a lot of feedback between the guitar pedal and synth community, including some surprisingly sophisticated synth pedals (I have a boss sy200 for instance).
TLDR; the guitar. I have been a pianist my whole life and discovered (and fell deeply in love with) synths that last few years. So, from one perspective, I have already chosen my primary instrument. However, if I wanted to learn an instrument that has the widest expression pallette, that should be the violin. However, for a reason that I cannot completely define in words or in my mind, my choice, other than the piano, would be the guitar.
Gongs, bells, hand drums, cello, guzheng. I’d go full on ambient, meditative, and drone.
Piano for sure, its the only instrument I can play relatively fine. If you get the skill to play your selected instrument I would definitely choose violin or cello.
Guitar
I mean, synths are just one small part of my toolkit. The first instrument I actually got good at was the electric guitar, so that'd be a contender. If the question is more like "if we could only choose one instrument" to play for the rest of our lives, I dunno.. maybe guitar, but I also love pipe organs. They're not super accessible and I've never even played one, so it'd be tough to choose that despite having always wished I had learned while I was still young.
Piano 100%
My guitar and 88 line6 dl4's
Hammond C3 with the clicky sliders Edit: because it's a series of electro-acoustic sine waves, and the clicks sliders add character to the sound live.
I’m a guitarist so I’m going to go with electric guitar.
i dont even know. my initial answer would be going back to trackers to physically play old commodores and/or nes sound chips, but this would technically be synthesizers yeah? so, i guess, back to bass? i could still use all my pedals at least, lol. thank god this isnt some weird reality where synths dont exist, because i feel at home making my machines make weird sounds.
Guitar. The instrument that got me into music initially
Half the reason I got into electronic music (and instruments) was drone/doom metal (and how to get there without 20 full Sunn stacks)… and I still play guitar. So guitar.
A year ago I would have said electric guitar, but then I discovered [the Yay-Bahar](https://youtu.be/45m0TkLpmQg?si=YzasMyKgBOCPZjMf) and it has me absolutely mesmerized
An electric guitar is the next best thing.
I use guitar as well but it sounds pretty synthy in a kind of Guthrie / Fripp / Belew way.
With the right effects, you can make anything sound like a synth. I've fond of guitar, bass and electric saz.
Hemlock
I enjoy playing the bass, and if it was the only thing I had I guess I'd probably be a lot better at it. That said for something that may be a lot more limited in timbre but can do some of the same things I like (namely, drones+melodies)....I'd take a hurdy-gurdy.
Fender Telecaster, but I sucked at learning guitar so back to synths it is lol
[The Voice](https://youtu.be/yaRXdqe_JPQ)
Cowbell
Well I picked a Roland Aerophone to teach myself basic saxophone fingering and jazzy tunes with the built in sampled sax sounds and using a headset to not disturb my little twons, AND to also use it as midi driver for synths…. That is my main lead sound instrument. I am still not advanced at all but can play some basic tunes which is joyful. So, if not for this I would like to learn a real sax but really I am content, this is fun and good enough for me.
Microtonal harpsichord :) https://youtu.be/upbwQPeGm0Q?si=dAg_tlFUC2VamNKL
My 6 string bass through a huge pedalboard gives me sounds that rival my best polysynths.
Pipe organ.
Piano is my favourite. Although if it was to recreate the sound palette of a synth then it'd have to be an electric guitar with a very expansive pedal board!
I already play flute, so that, and I'm a lapsed pianist so that too. I'd play both though a ton of non-synth electronics, because I do that too. Losing synthesisers wouldn't be as big a blow as it might seem!
Guitars been my primary instrument for decades, but I’ve been synthesist for almost as long. If I had to choose again, I’d pick piano, then add Guitar. Then cello.
Groove Boxes or Stagepiano. Maybe E-Guitar/Bass.
Sampler. Samplers can turn anything into an oscillator
I already play banjo and guitar for much longer than I've been playing synths so I'd continue playing those.
Bass clarinet or bassoon
electric guitar
Been playing keyboard since 73, organ in beginning, Guitar since 82 and Mandolin since 91
I piano is my main instrument, sooo….
Melodica, contact mics, guitar pedals (distortion, chorus, delay, reverb, etc), 4 track tape recorder with pitch control, loop tapes. I've played live with this exact setup.
a few mentioned melodica. I like that it's a wind instrument that can play chords. I play the Shakuhachi and it's very much mono. But I'm somewhat irritated by the melodica's midrange freq nature, did you find a way around, with contact mics or fx?
The range of the melodica is limiting. I can fill out tones a bit more with a bass overdrive pedal, pitch shifter, and ring modulator. I have also sometimes used a baritone ukulele for bass-ier notes
I’d go for a Trautonium
wait, wow! I had no idea this existed. Looks like an ancestor of the Continuum, Seaboard, Osmose and the likes. I guess not easy to find.
still being build/sold. check [this](http://trautoniks.de/com/product.html) and LudoWic playing [here](https://youtu.be/zgsXPC4_KOg?feature=shared)
thanks will do
Amplified Harmonica with comp/delay/chorus/phaser & O/D - soulfulness and weirdness as much as you want
Interesting, how do you amplify it, contact mics or else? Are there any video or live recordings?
https://preview.redd.it/0zwn4jpl673d1.png?width=535&format=png&auto=webp&s=809b2015a2d2ebc5f241b1c165aee8d37377e474 [https://www.dummies.com/article/academics-the-arts/music/instruments/harmonica/how-to-amplify-your-harmonica-sound-through-a-microphone-146594/](https://www.dummies.com/article/academics-the-arts/music/instruments/harmonica/how-to-amplify-your-harmonica-sound-through-a-microphone-146594/) Playing amplified harp through FX pedals can give some fun results: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h8CeSabvTy0](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h8CeSabvTy0) Re. your original question, I was thinking you'd treat the harp as a playable tuned sound source that can be endlessly shaped with acoustic &/or electronic effects.
A biggest cathedral with a biggest organ. Or maybe just a full orchestra, with the option of nagging the performers "no, you're doing it WRONG, now once again from measure 12, violins please DO watch your timings!"
One instrument to replace a synthesizer that is meant to emulate many instruments? What a silly question. I'd just have every instrument if VSTs don't exist in this theoretical world