Question about Little Phatty Tribute Edition

[wildecat]

Hi there, I'm using a wonderful Little Phatty Tribute edition, with OS 1.03Tc firmware. I was exploring some of the hidden menus and I found that it has the possibility to play in poly mod with some other slim phatty in poly chain.
I was (and still am) surprised of this feature, since I thought it was a stage edition II one.
Am I wrong?
Thanx everybody and pardon my english....

[dave500]

I chained mine with a DSI Evolver. So I could hit two keys.

[EMwhite]

There are many different versions of Moog 'Poly' modes across the Phatty and Taurus line of products but finding the right combination to address your requirement/need is tricky.

The only one you can really depend on is the very newest algorithm which leverages a round robin scheme (using v3+ code) and the standard low-note/high-note priority scheme.

Because there is no notion of a 'split' within the firmware you really need to hold/drone one of the keys in order for the 'priority' scheme to work and that is not really suitable for the type of playing that would traditionally involve a single bass note and a single lead note.

The best advice I can offer (especially since you have a Tribute, assuming it's not upgraded with the 2+ upgrade) is to use an out-of-the-box Poly module or a piece of software. I use Midi Patchbay for the Mac; it's free (http://notahat.com/midi_patchbay) and can do a simple split with ease.

Essentially you turn local control off, send midi into your mac and have the midi data captured by Midi Patchbay with one patch to take notes lower than a certain split point and re-map back to the Tribute's midi address (for example) and above a certain point to another channel/device. If you have a Poly module you can send these notes above the split point and then play this way.

The Poly mode which is built into the newest Phatty lets you configure x # of devices and give each mono synth an address. Each subsequent note is sent to the next Phatty in the list. I do not have multiple Phattys but this is my understanding of the way that the algorithm works (perhaps somebody else can chime in or correct me).

It is very much similar to the earliest hardware based algorithms which were developed for Oberheim 4 voice SEM systems. More modern synths leverage voice 'stealing' modes either by taking the OLDEST (Oberheim OBX's worked this way) held note or by possibly taking the note which will have the least harmonic effect (Kurzweil 250 worked this way).

When each 'voice' has it's own Filter and ADSR, it gets complicated. For some applications, you want all voices to be processed through a commong ADSR and filter arrangement for others you want dedicated. Still others, such as the Matrix 6 'stop' at the Nth note played and refuse to play the next note.

Then there are solutions which are DAW based, quasi-DAW based such as the Expert Sleepers solutions, and completely hardware based (such as MIDIpal which looks excellent and can be found here: http://mutable-instruments.net/midipal). If you are into modulars, there are products by Synthtec (MOTM), Vermona qMI (Euro), and COTK's Pentaphon (MU) but the Modular solutions tend to favor CV synths.

Personally, I'm considering picking up one of the Mutable Instruments MidiPal units; the bloke behind it will shortly be offering assembled versions (originally it was only in kit form, particularly problematic since affixing the surface mount ARM processor/controller to the board required a fair amount of soldering skills that I don't have [nor do I have the eyesight for such small components; I'm old!])

Hope this lengthy explanation helps somewhat.

[wildecat]

Thanks for your reply, very useful!
I was just wondering if my Tribute wich is OS 1.03 could be chained in poly mode with other slim phatty. I know for sura that this feature is a Stage Two one but I found in my tribute's advanced menu the possibility to chain in poly mode. I don't want to buy a slim and once bought, realize that I can't poly chain it with my Tribute....
I cant' understand my Phatty's feature.... The manual doesn't talk about poly chain but my Phatty does!!!! Is it possible?

[wildecat]

My Tribute has the same menu shown in this video but still has OS n° 1.03Tc!
Is it possible?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=alg7TOwhpCw

[wildecat]

Just to give you another example, my Tribute can switch source n°5 from filter envelope to NOISE. I know that this feature is exclusively a Stage Two one. Why my Tribute has this feature, since it is "only" OS 1.03?

[Sir Nose]

OS 3 (slim is running) uses a different poly scheme than any OS earlier. So I doubt would work. Douphony using high and low note priority would.