Richer sounds from the Voyager

The Moog Forum Minimoog Forum
1

I don’t know if anybody else is experimenting with this?

I’ve been controlling my Arturia softsynths from the Voyager, and I’ve set up my system so I can mix the Voyager’s own sound with that of the software. The results are very interesting. Layering similar sounds gives the sound more depth and compexity, and layering quite different sounds opens up all sorts of possibilities. Varying the mix between the two sound sources is pretty effective, in addition to tweaking the two patches involved.

It’s already solved one problem. I have a sound on the Voyager that I’m pleased with, but somehow it hasn’t been quite there when I’ve put it into the song it belongs with. Something’s never been quite right, and as I’m working with a trained soprano on this piece I need richness as well as power. Layering it with an Arturia Moog Modular patch solved that problem completely, and also opened up the expressive possibilities a lot more. It’s a lot more hands-on than just using the softsynth, and a lot more powerful and subtle than the Voyager on its own.

2

Layering sounds is powerful juju. Orchestral composers have been doing this for centuries. It’s pretty common practice.

Layering can make sounds more interesting, fuller and richer, and MIDI makes this easy to do with any pair (or more) of hardware synths.

As you’ve also noticed, layering sounds can make a part fit better into a composition. The possibilities that layering offers are truely endless.

Greg

3

I have been layering my AE with a Source and quite like it,

4

Actually I should have explained myself better when I posted that. The specific reason for mentioning layering was that it works so well between the Voyager and Moog-sounding softsynths. I’ve actually been using Midi to double sounds with other synths for a good while, and yes, its really part of orchestration anyway.

But the perfect fit of Voyager and Modular V was so striking that I felt I had to mention it. It’s a remarkably cheap and effective way of getting a much bigger Moog sound, and I find it rounds out the Voyager’s own sound, which is great in its way but is inevitibly limited by the number of modules. It was that specific form of layering - Voyager to Moog-type softsynth - that I meant when I asked if anyone else was experimenting with it, rather than just layering in general.

5

i once set up my DX7 with my dad’s DX100 using a similar string sound on each synth. That sounded awsome, i can imagine layering analog synths would be very fat. It would cool haveing a voyger and three RMEs then you could choose between polyphony and crazy layered synth quartet!

6

Cool! I’ll have to try that.

Any Voyager/Mod V patch combos in particular that work really well?

Greg

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I’m tending to use my own patches on both, but using the Voyager’s Minor Glider (I have the Performer - you may have different patches if you’ve a different edition?) with C. Engel’s CEsoftpad4 and editing the Voyager filter is an interesting starting-point.

Voyager Glass Temple goes well with soft flutelike Modular sounds, and also with clangy percussion.

Using very similar sounds can give the illusion of a polyphonic Voyager.

And of course using standard layering techniques such as different effects on each sound-source is effective. When each source is distinctly `Moogy’ the effect of using echo on one source, for example, is something that works well.

8

..just to add a little. One of our favourite techniques is to layer the Voyager with MS20 using the MS20’s ESP following the Voyagers head phone signal. Latest DVDA track (linked below) uses this quite a bit along with 303 overdriving the Voyagers input and MS20 tracking the 303s audio.

And yep, our in-progress track is built around a Voyager/MS20 combo patch (just for a change..)

9

I do this all the time and I usually set the priority to low note. It gives a completely different depth to the sound.