Moog Music Forum

Maybe I'm overlooking something, but is there any way of normalizing output levels for each individual patch?

I have about a dozen (mainly bass) patches I use live. Some have tons of harmonic content (saw wave stuff), and others have less (beefed up sine waves). I've just been playing with the volume knob, but on some patches, it's pinned at max, and others less than 50%.

Am I overlooking some simple way of normalizing all of these patches so that I no longer have to do the volume knob dance?

master volume is not stored with presets, which would be the easiest way to do this if it were possible.
You can try adjusting the individual oscillator levels and/or the volume envelope sustain level, but both of these will subtly (or drastically) change the timbre of the sound in ways that the master volume does not. I suspect, though, that there are some patches where this approach will work fine and only certain ones (where the amount of drive in the filter is critical to the sound, for instance) where you'll need to keep doing what you're doing now.

Alternatively, you could put a compressor after your LP and dial it in for automatic gain compensation/limiting, and sort your live playing level that way.
A lot of bass players play into a compressor; some just even out your levels while others ("orange squeezer" style compressors f'rinstance) are used to add a whole new layer of tone.

I agree w/ Amos' suggestion about using a compressor. I run my SP through a buss-type compression setting with a 2:1 ratio, very slow attack, very fast release. This is leaves the transients alone while still grabbing peaks and gently leveling them to even out the overall amplitude.

The per-patch master volume storing idea is nifty, could be handy for live use.

Completely forgot about the compressor idea. Nice, thanks. I understand how lowering the overall oscillator volume (or ratio) to compensate would potentially affect the timbre.

I suppose we can always hope for this in a future firmware update?

Per-patch master volume setting is something I miss from the old VA gear. But that's about all I miss...

It would be great if Moog produced its own compressor Moogerwoofer.

Sorry to bring back this topic from the dead but do you guys have any suggestion for a good compressor/leveler that won't touch too much to the tone. Like the original poster, I'm using my LP to play live bass.