January 21, 2013
Noink...
by Chris Randall
The Tweetscape was all abuzz today with the Moog Music announcement of Yet Another Two-Oscillator Monosynth. It is essentially a Source with Moar Knobs, because that's what the kids want these days, apparently.
I look at it as a bridge device for when an indie band outgrows a microkorg, and can't afford a Source. I'm sure they'll sell a bunch. I understand the purpose of the product, of course, because (despite all evidence to the contrary) I'm not a fucking retard. But it'd be nice to see them take a risk on inventing something new for a change rather than re-hashing 35-year-old tech. Yet again.
The other big news today is that Korg officially said that yes, they're showing a mini re-make of the MS20. Funny story, that. I used to be endorsed by Korg, and right after the Z1 was released, I wrote a lengthy letter to my artist rep explaining why they should release a new MS20. Okay, not that funny a story. But it only took 18 years!
This is cooler than the Moog announcement, for reasons that should be obvious, but only slightly. It is, in the pantheon of Raping Your Childhood In Search Of Products, far below Roland's ridiculous Jupiter re-tooling, though. And neither of these can be reasonably used by wedding bands, so the Jupiter really schools them in that regard.
Now, when I bitch about these things, I know I come off as a bitter, jaded old man. That's totally fine. I can dig it. But there's a difference between making something new and cool, and just making a product because you can sell a lot. As you all know, I tend to frown on the latter, because it smacks of taking advantage of musicians. And both of these products exist because someone thought extensively about risk mitigation.
And that's okay, too. Business is business. But the way we get inspiration to make new music is by getting new gear that makes sounds we haven't heard yet. There's no danger of that with these two articles.
I look at it as a bridge device for when an indie band outgrows a microkorg, and can't afford a Source. I'm sure they'll sell a bunch. I understand the purpose of the product, of course, because (despite all evidence to the contrary) I'm not a fucking retard. But it'd be nice to see them take a risk on inventing something new for a change rather than re-hashing 35-year-old tech. Yet again.
The other big news today is that Korg officially said that yes, they're showing a mini re-make of the MS20. Funny story, that. I used to be endorsed by Korg, and right after the Z1 was released, I wrote a lengthy letter to my artist rep explaining why they should release a new MS20. Okay, not that funny a story. But it only took 18 years!
This is cooler than the Moog announcement, for reasons that should be obvious, but only slightly. It is, in the pantheon of Raping Your Childhood In Search Of Products, far below Roland's ridiculous Jupiter re-tooling, though. And neither of these can be reasonably used by wedding bands, so the Jupiter really schools them in that regard.
Now, when I bitch about these things, I know I come off as a bitter, jaded old man. That's totally fine. I can dig it. But there's a difference between making something new and cool, and just making a product because you can sell a lot. As you all know, I tend to frown on the latter, because it smacks of taking advantage of musicians. And both of these products exist because someone thought extensively about risk mitigation.
And that's okay, too. Business is business. But the way we get inspiration to make new music is by getting new gear that makes sounds we haven't heard yet. There's no danger of that with these two articles.
63 comments:
seems there's never enough vanilla in the world.. at least as far as moog is concerned.
but i'm sure it'll do it's hand full of tricks well. the moog marketing is absurd of course. but so is just about all marketing. the moog guy on gearslutz saying "i think we've created the best sounding synth voice ever" was a bit much.
i thought moog would do some kind of poly thing since that's the thing most typically called for by the chorus of moog/analog synth types... the subphatty (choad) obviously is more of the same (of the last few moog decades). reiteration of past moogs w/very minor modern conveniences and it's something ready to be digested by the masses
at least there are a lot of options for people looking for an analog something... knas polygamist, modular everything, lot's of small desktop and rack things yada yada.
it'll be annoying to see the 'pros' get wheeled out and speak in nonsense about how you have to have one of these in the studio like moog just invented sunshine.
oh like this.. (MAKE IT STOP!)
link [youtu.be]
but i'm sure it'll do it's hand full of tricks well. the moog marketing is absurd of course. but so is just about all marketing. the moog guy on gearslutz saying "i think we've created the best sounding synth voice ever" was a bit much.
i thought moog would do some kind of poly thing since that's the thing most typically called for by the chorus of moog/analog synth types... the subphatty (choad) obviously is more of the same (of the last few moog decades). reiteration of past moogs w/very minor modern conveniences and it's something ready to be digested by the masses
at least there are a lot of options for people looking for an analog something... knas polygamist, modular everything, lot's of small desktop and rack things yada yada.
it'll be annoying to see the 'pros' get wheeled out and speak in nonsense about how you have to have one of these in the studio like moog just invented sunshine.
oh like this.. (MAKE IT STOP!)
link [youtu.be]
I'm okay with a bunch of different versions of the same synth configuration forever and ever. The 2-osc subtractive has become a known entity, like any other well-defined instrument. No surprises, but still available to some slight variations in flavour and player misuse.
I don't, however, cotton to any jackassery that would have fat spelled with a ph. Was that ever cool? Strikes me it was something that aging, privileged boomers invented in an effort to vampire on the hip inner-city youth of the day, based on the very aging, privileged boomer assumption that hip inner-city kids were illiterate. It's like the late 80s version of freebeards shrieking foshizzle in the hizzouse.
I think Moog would be cooler here if they'd called it Fatty Sub instead.
I don't, however, cotton to any jackassery that would have fat spelled with a ph. Was that ever cool? Strikes me it was something that aging, privileged boomers invented in an effort to vampire on the hip inner-city youth of the day, based on the very aging, privileged boomer assumption that hip inner-city kids were illiterate. It's like the late 80s version of freebeards shrieking foshizzle in the hizzouse.
I think Moog would be cooler here if they'd called it Fatty Sub instead.
The thing that bothers me most about these is less the lack of innovation (After all, what do you expect from Moog these days? Their tired old designs are their bread and butter, I don't think they are getting rich on something interesting of theirs...like the Moog guitars), but the unfortunately crippled aspect of these instruments at a very basic level. Moog with their 25 key synth, and Korg with their mini-key MS20...notwithstanding Arturia's existing 25-key Minibrute. I mean...what would it take from them to finish the job? Shit I mean my Arp Axxe has 37 keys and its most certainly not as capable as any of these synths... It just seems like an odd place to cut corners.
Speaking of the Moog guitar, there is always gope for the LEV-96 project. Fucking Magnets...
link [www.moogmusic.co...]
link [www.moogmusic.co...]
I'm with noisegeek. I don't even use this stuff and these products sound so very boring. A remake of a 20+ year old design is not something I could imagine anyone being excited about.
I guess it's like Fender putting out new Stratocasters every year, isn't it? I mean, why expect or hope for anything else from Moog? We gots Make Noise and The Harvestman for the sounds-we've-never-heard department...
as a person who produces at home, and doesn't go play live as the synth guy in some band, it seems kind of silly not to just spend another $100 or whatever and get the elektron A4 w/all the fun elektron sequencing goodness and 4 parts of analog.. of what is of course a very different flavor as one analog is to another. or spend $499 and get a minibrute or more interestingly a DSI evolver desktop which imo is still one of the most interesting little hybrid analog things to come out in ages.
but they're all very different things and starting up the "if you had $1000 and could buy..." blah blah blah is just a black hole really and better reserved for derped corridors of certain forums
but they're all very different things and starting up the "if you had $1000 and could buy..." blah blah blah is just a black hole really and better reserved for derped corridors of certain forums
All these retreads just push me closer to building a modular rig and getting exactly what I want rather than the marketing dept.'s idea of what they think I need.
@MrBiggs.. true. but what if buchla collaborated w/a monosynth manufacturer.. made a waveshaping oscillator w/built in carrier/modulator FM type scenario and waveguide delay and Low pass gate?
i guess then we'd have buchla bongos in everything that comes out of brooklyn.
i guess then we'd have buchla bongos in everything that comes out of brooklyn.
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