Matriarch Sounds Weak

[sergedinatale]

Hi, I'm fairly new to the semi-modular scene and purchased a Matriarch a few months ago. I've had a decent play around on it but I am wondering if there is a problem with mine as I expected the sound from this machine to be quite different. I'd always thought that having four moog analog oscillators in unison mode would produce a powerful, thick, beautiful, creamy howl...but thats not what it sounds like. Why does it sound so weak, a tad bellish and hollow? I have a REV2 and a blank/init patch sounds thicker, richer and more powerful than my Matriarch. Am I doing something wrong or is there something wrong with my Matriarch or are my expectations misplaced. Also any suggestions on how to test my Matriarch?

[MaxFerency]

What is the patch you currently have set up? I would say test it by opening up the signal path to see how it sounds:

- No Cables
- Mixer: turn all 4 Osc knobs up
- Filters:
- turn Cutoff all the way to the right
- both Resonance all the way to the left.
- Spacing and Envelope Amt in the middle
- Envelope Generators: both sustain sliders all the way up
- Delay: Mix to the left
- Output: Main Volume up

That should get you some volume. If that works, the add back each setting you had before and test the sound to see how it affects it.

[ortho]

I would also test with the filter set to Stereo LP/LP and not Series HP/LP since you could be cutting off some of the low end with the HP, depending on the Spacing setting.

I will say that the Matriarch ended up sounding softer than i imagined it would. If you stack the oscillators up and set mixer levels pretty hot it can sound big, but it doesn't exactly make you jump out of your chair the way a Minimoog would. It seems to have a lot more room for a complex tone though, but your modulation and gain staging will likely need to be more careful than would be with a less modular/fully self-contained synth like a Sequential.

Just keep playing with it! It has taken me a long time to work my way through the particularities of this synth. I have definitely felt like "hmm should i sell it?" and then found some amazing characteristic of it later on. It doesn't always behave like I would expect or prefer, but it can certainly deliver.

Personally, it's the Global settings and the digitized aspects that drive me a bit crazy. It's really easy to be blind to some setting, and theres a ton of them.

[pmumble]

Definitely make sure it's set to LP / LP filter.

One thing about the Matriarch is that it's a stereo synth, but only after the mixer module. This means that the oscillators are essentially mono unless you patch to change it. The Rev2 has a Pan Spread parameter that puts an oscillator in each ear. That can contribute greatly to the perceived fatness. I don't have a Rev2 so I can't confirm that this parameter has been set wide for an init preset.

If you want to do this with the Matriarch you can, but you will need to avoid using its mixer. The Matriarch mixer is special in that it overdrives the waveforms in the same way that old Moog Modulars did, allowing for particular tones, but it has a mono output. What you would do to change this is bypass the mixer by running the output of 2 oscillators into a submix for each stereo side and then patch them into the VCF1/2 inputs directly. You can try doing this with a combination of the Matriarch's dual mults (and attenuverters if you want to control the relative levels of 1 of the 2 oscillators). This may give you some of what you're after.

Since it's a semi-modular synth you can actually replace the mixer with something Eurorack compatible. I have the Intellijel Quad VCA, which works well for this purpose, but there are plenty of others, too. I can patch the oscs to it, mix them at the levels I want, then bring them back in at the filter. It's really endless when you begin to branch out to a little bit of eurorack. I suggest figuring out what you're after then building a small companion rack for the Matrarch to expand it in ways you desire. It's not cheap, though. That's the burn of modular.

So in summary, try this as a starting point:
Osc1, osc2 to left mult
Mult to attenuverter 1 input
Attenuverter 1 output to VCF 1 in

Osc3, 4 to right mult
Multi to attenuverter 3 input
Attenuverter 3 output to VCF 2 in

Attenuverters up to taste, filter freqs slightly off from center to taste
Set filter to LP / LP, spacing at noon


Alternatively if you want to control relative levels of the two oscillators instead of the overall levels:
Osc 1 to attenuverter 1 in
Atten 1 out to mult 1
Osc 2 to mult 1
Mult 1 out to VCF 1 in

Osc 3 to attenuverter 3 in
Atten 3 out to mult 2
Osc 4 to mult 2
Mult 2 out to VCF 2 in

Same settings.

Also remember you're comparing a monosynth to a polysynth, so keep that in mind of course when comparing playstyle.

Also when looking at eurorack modules for stereo expansion, something like the Make Noise X-Pan or similar that lets you control the stereo placement could be better than a normal mixer with submixes like the Quad VCA (which is similar to the native patch above putting things panned hard L/R).

[sergedinatale]

Thanks everyone for taking the time to write in-depth replies. I'll try your suggestions asap as post my findings. Really appreciate the help offered on this forum, especially great for a newbie like me.

[sergedinatale]

What is the patch you currently have set up? I would say test it by opening up the signal path to see how it sounds:

- No Cables
- Mixer: turn all 4 Osc knobs up
- Filters:
- turn Cutoff all the way to the right
- both Resonance all the way to the left.
- Spacing and Envelope Amt in the middle
- Envelope Generators: both sustain sliders all the way up
- Delay: Mix to the left
- Output: Main Volume up

That should get you some volume. If that works, the add back each setting you had before and test the sound to see how it affects it.

That definitely added some volume, girth and grit to the sound...okay so now I think its not broken and thats a relief, thanks so much.