A pic of my current synth rig. Click pic to enlarge.
Saturday, August 20, 2016
I modded a moog, and I liked it
You can read the whole moogibrute review and even hear some MP3 sound samples HERE if you feel so inclined.
But for the sake of bloggal (?) brevity let me just say that I'm having a swell time with my new moog.
Here's its baby picture:
Just click the pic to enlarge.
You'll notice that it has two large knobs. These are not standard equipment but they should be. It sucks trying to adjust frequency range and cutoff with those little bitty 6 mm pot shafts. I notice in the photo in my previous post that the owner of that Werkstatt also added knobs; but his are stupid. Mine are cool.
If you want cool knobs like mine, just go HERE for the story of this breathtaking mod, and much much more.
Excelsior and stuff.
But for the sake of bloggal (?) brevity let me just say that I'm having a swell time with my new moog.
Here's its baby picture:
Just click the pic to enlarge.
You'll notice that it has two large knobs. These are not standard equipment but they should be. It sucks trying to adjust frequency range and cutoff with those little bitty 6 mm pot shafts. I notice in the photo in my previous post that the owner of that Werkstatt also added knobs; but his are stupid. Mine are cool.
If you want cool knobs like mine, just go HERE for the story of this breathtaking mod, and much much more.
Excelsior and stuff.
Monday, August 15, 2016
moogibrute
The way I say "moogibrute," it rhymes with "Juicy Fruit." I know, I know, synth nerds will correct me and tell me that "moog" ryhmes with "rogue" and not with "fugue." But that's only because Robert Moog said in an interview that he preferred his last name rhymed with "rogue" some 30 years after the "fugue" rhyming pronunciation became standard. So I rhyme the man's name with "rogue" but I rhyme the instrument's name with "fugue." It's easy to remember because the instrument name isn't capitalized but the man's name is. And if you don't like it, then "fugue" with two syllables.
But that's not why I called.
It's August and I have SSL. That's Seasonal Synth Lust for you uninitiated types. As often happens this time of year, I want a new synth. And for the almost first time, I want a moog. I've had my eye on the Slim Phatty off and on but whenever one is available for a good price I talk myself out of it.
Tonight that all changed.
Lately, when I search online for SP's I also see recommendations for the Werkstatt-01. Tonight I thoroughly researched that device and a little light went on.
The Werkstatt is a cheap little kit synth that doesn't even have a real keyboard but it has a moog oscillator and a moog ladder filter. In other words, it has moog sound. And it has a CV patch port!
Why does that last statement deserve an exclamation point? Because the CV port means I can connect it to my Microbrute in any of a dozen ways, sharing filters and stuff and providing the moog with a keyboard and a step sequencer. And the Microbrute can translate MIDI signals to CV, so I can play the Werkstatt from any of my MIDI keyboards and even play it with the Microkorg arpeggiator or the Microsampler quantizing pattern sequencer.
And the Werkstatt looks like a little cheap-ass toy-like gizmo like the rest of my gear. It suits my style and budget much better than all the other moog instruments. And it makes the Microbrute, the most limited instrument in my rig, much more useful and valuable. Together, the Werkstatt and the Microbrute will be my moogibrute.
I can probably have one in about a week, which gives me some time to experiment before my annual autumnal synth frenzy kicks in.
Below is a photo of someone else's Werkstatt-Microbrute marriage.
Isn't it cute?
Update 8-16-2016:
I just ordered a Werkstatt, a Control Voltage adapter (the thing stuck to the right side of the Werkstatt with all the cables plugged into it) and a half-dozen colored cables, probably just like the ones in the photo.
I'm excited. This will be a fun rig to play with. And it's my first moog!
But that's not why I called.
It's August and I have SSL. That's Seasonal Synth Lust for you uninitiated types. As often happens this time of year, I want a new synth. And for the almost first time, I want a moog. I've had my eye on the Slim Phatty off and on but whenever one is available for a good price I talk myself out of it.
Tonight that all changed.
Lately, when I search online for SP's I also see recommendations for the Werkstatt-01. Tonight I thoroughly researched that device and a little light went on.
The Werkstatt is a cheap little kit synth that doesn't even have a real keyboard but it has a moog oscillator and a moog ladder filter. In other words, it has moog sound. And it has a CV patch port!
Why does that last statement deserve an exclamation point? Because the CV port means I can connect it to my Microbrute in any of a dozen ways, sharing filters and stuff and providing the moog with a keyboard and a step sequencer. And the Microbrute can translate MIDI signals to CV, so I can play the Werkstatt from any of my MIDI keyboards and even play it with the Microkorg arpeggiator or the Microsampler quantizing pattern sequencer.
And the Werkstatt looks like a little cheap-ass toy-like gizmo like the rest of my gear. It suits my style and budget much better than all the other moog instruments. And it makes the Microbrute, the most limited instrument in my rig, much more useful and valuable. Together, the Werkstatt and the Microbrute will be my moogibrute.
I can probably have one in about a week, which gives me some time to experiment before my annual autumnal synth frenzy kicks in.
Below is a photo of someone else's Werkstatt-Microbrute marriage.
Isn't it cute?
Update 8-16-2016:
I just ordered a Werkstatt, a Control Voltage adapter (the thing stuck to the right side of the Werkstatt with all the cables plugged into it) and a half-dozen colored cables, probably just like the ones in the photo.
I'm excited. This will be a fun rig to play with. And it's my first moog!
Thursday, August 11, 2016
how to make AEJOTZ synth music
This isn't really a how-to article. But I was just reading a how-to about electronic music and it explained how to do everything the way I don't.
I make synth music the old fashioned way... by hand!
I actually play keyboard synthesizers by putting my fingers on the keys and pushing down. And I record what I play on a multi-track recorder. Granted, it's a digital recorder, but it's a dedicated music recorder.
I don't use a computer to sequence music. I do use the on-board sequencing functions of my instruments. I'm not a Luddite. Still, every sound is the result of me playing keys by hand. And a little quantizing is no greater sin than a little auto-tune.
The computer is tangentially useful before and after music creation. It's useful beforehand as a source of interesting patches and sounds to download and there are computer "editors" that make it easier for me to program new sounds on my synths. After I complete a tune I transfer it from my recorder to my PC for distribution worldwide via the internet.
Perhaps the biggest advantage to playing everything by hand is that I'm not a very good keyboardist and I make a lot of mistakes, some of which sound better than what I meant to do. I then deliberately make the same "good" mistakes and take credit for creating them.
The end.
No, wait. There's one more thing. To play like an AEJOTZ you have to use really cheap toy-like synths. I use the CZ-101, Microkorg, Microbrute, Microsampler and now the Werkstatt-01.
OK, now it's the end.
I make synth music the old fashioned way... by hand!
I actually play keyboard synthesizers by putting my fingers on the keys and pushing down. And I record what I play on a multi-track recorder. Granted, it's a digital recorder, but it's a dedicated music recorder.
I don't use a computer to sequence music. I do use the on-board sequencing functions of my instruments. I'm not a Luddite. Still, every sound is the result of me playing keys by hand. And a little quantizing is no greater sin than a little auto-tune.
The computer is tangentially useful before and after music creation. It's useful beforehand as a source of interesting patches and sounds to download and there are computer "editors" that make it easier for me to program new sounds on my synths. After I complete a tune I transfer it from my recorder to my PC for distribution worldwide via the internet.
Perhaps the biggest advantage to playing everything by hand is that I'm not a very good keyboardist and I make a lot of mistakes, some of which sound better than what I meant to do. I then deliberately make the same "good" mistakes and take credit for creating them.
The end.
No, wait. There's one more thing. To play like an AEJOTZ you have to use really cheap toy-like synths. I use the CZ-101, Microkorg, Microbrute, Microsampler and now the Werkstatt-01.
OK, now it's the end.
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