I hate to be adding to the list of constant posts demanding new gear from Moog Music, but here’s one question I feel obligated to ask.
Have the Moog R&D people ever considered building and marketing a version of the Minimoog Voyager with a “standard” 61-note keyboard? Of course, it’d be hugely expensive to build and manufacture, of course. But, it would be of greater benefit to various musicians who want the Voyager sound and a top-notch MIDI controller rolled into one package.
That’s mainly what Jesse Carmichael from Maroon 5 uses his Voyager for. It’s a MIDI controller for his Roland Fantom Xr. I’m sure he’d like it better with the bigger keyboard.
Using the Voyager as a masterkeyboard is really strange. If it does feature some very basic Midi “master” keyboardfunctions (and missing some other basic functions of real master keyboards like splits) this does not mean, that it is recommended to use it that way. You might use a VW beetle to transport things. But it is not recommended to mainly transport goods with it.
A monphonic synth with a 5 octave keyboard is just to expensive and and bulky. Better buy a easy masterkeyboard for those purposes.
And think of the polyphonic midi out of the Voyager as an extra, but not a main feature.
And using the Voyager mainly (see your posting) as master keyboard is strange. I would like to offer Jesse Carmichael (never heard before) a simple masterkeyboard as trade for his Voyager
Jesse Carmichael is the keyboard player for Maroon 5. Here in the US, they’ve had four hits off of their debut album, so far. Those hits include “Harder to Breathe,” “This Love,” “She Will Be Loved” and “Sunday Morning.”
Strangely enough, considering Jesse’s diverse keyboard rig (he also uses a Yamaha S90, MicroKorg, Clavia Nord Lead, Clavinet D6 and Fender Rhodes 88), he mainly seems to be using acoustic piano sounds on their recordings.
I may be biased because I think they suck but using something as small/incredible-on-it’s-own as a master midi controller is the dumbest thing I’ve ever heard. Also, what kind of big shot uses a MicroKorg? They are cool, and I do like them alot, and they are great for people on budget (myself), but that is who they are for. I just don’t see any advantage to bringing a Micro on the road if you have all that other stuff, too.
-Tyler2000-
Aw, the Micro isn’t such a lame piece of machinery for someone with lots of dough. One of the glorious things about having lots of bread is that you DON’T have to spend it all in one place.
Another great player who uses the Micro among his other great gear is the keyboard player from Barenaked Ladies whose name escapes me, for some reason. In any event, even if I shared the view written above, I could forgive anything done by someone who survived the same cancer that took my grandmother.
Oops! One thing I forgot to mention is that someone on this forum (I won’t name names) recently told me that the MicroKorg has a slightly beefier sound than its big brother, the MS-2000 / 2000B.
Barenaked ladies are good. I can respect that he uses one because, if I’m not mistaken (mind you I’ve seen them in concert, but it’s been a while), he has a relatively sparse setup, working to achieve the sounds he wants with out a huge keyboard arsenal.
The guy in Maroon 5 takes loads of huge beefy keyboards on the road to look like some sort of big badass, when his sound could be captured by the microKorg and some cruddy Casio home-model.
Taste is taste, Boeing 737. It’s alright not to like soneone’s material. My mother doesn’t like Joni Mitchell, but my dad does. My dad didn’t like Ace of Bass when they were popular, but my mother did. I like Def Leppard, but I don’t know if either of my parents do.
To be honest, I don’t think it would look so weird for the Voyager front panel to remain unchanged. They’d just leave some empty space to be covered over by wooden panels. Or better yet, they could implement an option to customize the look, like they’ve got for the Moogerfoogers.
Probably the only change that I would implament, if I were from the R&D department would be the addition of a ring modulator and adelay effect, like that of the Korg DW-8000.
I’m trying to picture a 5 octave Voyager in my mind. Just looking across at my P5 it is going to be quite big and bulky. There’s going to be a lot of empty space unless they add more functions.
If it does become just a standard Voyager with a 61 note keyboard, who’s going to buy it? It wont sell enough to warrant building it in the first place.
Yeah, I’d agree with your last point - more keys and nothing else isn’t much of a selling point. I feel they would have to add more functionality to make it a worthwhile venture.
has anyone used either a 61 note (or larger) kybd as a controller using midi with a Voyager. I have only played a MiniD and am sitting here just thinking of the awesome sounds that it could have produced with lower notes. Maybe my thinking is all buggered up but I remember during gigs what would happen if I had another octave lower to hit, I’m sure some of the young ladies would not have yearned for a washing machine to go home to and sit on.
I used my 88 key Kurzweil MIDIBoard to control the Voyager occasionally. I have a Lintronics MIDI interface for my model D that I also control from the MIDIBoard. Fun
Yeah, the whole lot of you have a good point. Perhaps, you’re all accurate, but I was kind of speaking for some people (nobody in particular) who aren’t as resourceful as some of the people on these boards and are rather turned off by shorter keyboard spans, like the Mini’s.
