A Real Good Reason For A Polymoog

[Rob Smith]

The video says it all ! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6qlUFKFHNIU

[nicholas d. kent]

Well they did get the correct Polymoog Keyboard version (can't program it like the Polymoog Synthesizer but it does have the Vox Humana preset needed for "Cars" and only found on the Keyboard version).

On the other hand I couldn't really hear anything different when Gary was playing the Polymoog versus when he wasn't.

[Rob Smith]

Trent Reznor played the opening. Probably a polymoog sample one would guess. But Gary played the Polymoog at the end. I can't get that song out of my head now. It has some hook!

[museslave]

Since the part was played without the Polymoog at all, I'm just going to assume that Gary was only pretending to play it at the end. If you're going to go to the effort of having a Polymoog in a live setting, there is absolutely NO reason not to use it for the ostensible reason that it is present. Unless it doesn't work, or you're not willing to trust actually using it on stage.

[Rob Smith]

Thats just not Right. He faked it.. He Moog synched it

[Mr Arkadin]

Well best not to assume then isn't it? I personally know the guy who helped set it up. Here's a thread from back when it happened, which shows him setting up the Polymoog:

http://dubsounds.proboards.com/index.cg ... hread=2259

Shaun:
"I can guarantee the Poly was on and working. bleeping hell... you could hear it... how sweet did it sound? The NIN people were raving about it. Someone even said Numan wasn't singing either... these people are bonkers!"

[Rob Smith]

Thank you very much my friend, I was on that site the other day and saw the pictures of its beautiful restoration. Vindication?

[this_poison]

Great sound indeed, people never mean the polymoogs when they talk about "that moog sound", yet nothing seems more immediately identifyable than that preset.

I still feel a little annoyed with myself that I finally tracked down and bought a polymoog synthesizer in the 90s to get that sound, and it's not there. But only a bit (although always worse just after I hear it).

It's frightening just how much info we can get now compared to the pre-internet days - I never ever turned down a polymoog keyboard to be fair, but always assumed the sound HAD to be from the bigger sister of the two.

[museslave]

Shaun:
"I can guarantee the Poly was on and working. bleeping hell... you could hear it... how sweet did it sound? The NIN people were raving about it. Someone even said Numan wasn't singing either... these people are bonkers!"

So, let me get this straight: The video plainly shows the Polymoog at the time when the Polymoog is playing... and there is no one playing it. Maybe I'm just too literal, but I would think it'd be quite difficult to insist that the Polymoog was actually being played when we see it isn't. Was there another, perhaps secret and hidden, Polymoog on the stage that we can't see at that point? Because there's nothing so safe and reliable as TWO Polymoogs in a live setting.

Great sound indeed, people never mean the polymoogs when they talk about "that moog sound", yet nothing seems more immediately identifyable than that preset.

That's because the term "The Moog Sound" was coined specifically in reference to the modular systems, and to a lesser degree the Minimoog. After that, no Moog actually really had what had originally been described as "The Moog Sound," or at least, not as much as the devices which led to the coining of the term. The Polymoog probably least of all (although the original version of the Sonic Six places a close second), because divide-down synthesizers have a different sort of oscillator than monophonic or limited-voice polyphonic. The oscillators in divide-down synths are more pitch-stable and tend to be a bit cold as a result.
Like any term, the internet has blurred the definition into such subjectivity that it's almost pointless to reference.

[Mr Arkadin]

So, let me get this straight: The video plainly shows the Polymoog at the time when the Polymoog is playing... and there is no one playing it. Maybe I'm just too literal, but I would think it'd be quite difficult to insist that the Polymoog was actually being played when we see it isn't. Was there another, perhaps secret and hidden, Polymoog on the stage that we can't see at that point? Because there's nothing so safe and reliable as TWO Polymoogs in a live setting.

Hhmm, OK, my friend is obviously a liar. He was just at the gig and also happened to set up the Polys.

[this_poison]

That's because the term "The Moog Sound" was coined specifically in reference to the modular systems, and to a lesser degree the Minimoog. After that, no Moog actually really had what had originally been described as "The Moog Sound," or at least, not as much as the devices which led to the coining of the term. The Polymoog probably least of all (although the original version of the Sonic Six places a close second), because divide-down synthesizers have a different sort of oscillator than monophonic or limited-voice polyphonic. The oscillators in divide-down synths are more pitch-stable and tend to be a bit cold as a result.
Like any term, the internet has blurred the definition into such subjectivity that it's almost pointless to reference.

Whoops, I kinda knew that and meant some level of irony

If I've accidentaly interupted an argument I apologise.

I didn't mean that I like the vox humana better than something I get from my minimoog or my voyager or even my andromeda or my modern modulars (or old modulars).

I just meant I can recognise that sound quicker, and can't reproduce it.

Oh yeah, and that since the internet I have a better idea of which Polymoog played the sound I fell in love with at 15.

That was all I meant.

[Rob Smith]

I posted that video to show how good the polymoog or polymoog keyboard sounded live, For you fact checkers, I did not review the video for exact authenticity. However, for a few of you out there, I may have to spend hours to review these such videos in the future...and you know who you are. By the way, I'm old enough to have seen the polymoog used live in the 70's with multiple artists. In fact, I saw YES at Madison Square Garden, 3 nights in a row, in the summer of 1977; Going for the One Tour, and, not one polymoog failure. I like to look at things with the glass half full. Regards, Rob

[Mr Arkadin]

I think perhaps the Poly's reliability reputation was damaged by the first release - wasn't there a recall and modification to the design. This would obviously be damaging to perception. There's a lot of components in there to go wrong and the boards moved a bit with gigging - but you can just re-seat those. I think in a studio/home environment they are perfectly fine.

And, oh, that YouTube video is the official NIN HD video, so that is a complete remix of the live sound - and you know how live music gets remixed (and often replayed) to make it sound better. But I'll take the word of a complete internet stranger who wasn't at the gig over a friend who was there and even soundchecked them himself (there were three Polys).

[PHC]

Am I the only one to notice the Little Phatty on the right of the stage?

[Mr Arkadin]

Am I the only one to notice the Little Phatty on the right of the stage?

I did notice as it happens - it wasn't getting much love from Numan though.