Perfect Partner for Voyager?

Tips and techniques for Minimoog Analog Synthesizers
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tommyecho
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Re: Perfect Partner for Voyager?

Post by tommyecho » Fri Nov 02, 2012 2:35 pm

Kenneth wrote:
stiiiiiiive wrote:
Kenneth wrote:
stiiiiiiive wrote:Ditto.

And eventhough you only have an EP, some well choosen pedals can make pads out of it. I saw a band (don't remember if it was here or on the Elektron forum) whose trio video showed he was using a Rhodes but the sounds were some kinds of wonderful jazzy chorused seagulls...
Radiohead do all sorts of ambient pad sounds with their Rhodes. Chorus, phaser, delay, reverb...
Can you give some specific examples, Kenneth?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fSpJEuNZxIk
Great example of how creative and flexible they are in getting a good stage production out of their studio work. The original of "eveything in it's right place" uses a prophet 5, though (this is really clear at about 3 minutes in when they start modulating the filter/resonance). That's why I think it is a good testament to the P '08 that they now record and tour with it, when they clearly have access to whatever they want. If they only toured with it, it would be easy to chalk it up to having a cheap and light solution for being on the road. Speaking of which, seems like, on tour, their main synths are a voyager and P '08, and Johnny Greenwood has an amazing looking Buchla-type thing. If you check out their recent ACL taping, you can see Greenwood using some crazy hybrid of a voyager keyboard with a silver, fully modular front panel. He must have had someone put it together for him Frankenstein-style.

A bit ago, I got a pretty good patch on the prophet 08 copying this sound from "everything. . .". Of course I'd looooove to have a prophet 5.
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Kenneth
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Re: Perfect Partner for Voyager?

Post by Kenneth » Fri Nov 02, 2012 10:35 pm

tommyecho wrote:
Kenneth wrote:
stiiiiiiive wrote:
Kenneth wrote:
stiiiiiiive wrote:Ditto.

And eventhough you only have an EP, some well choosen pedals can make pads out of it. I saw a band (don't remember if it was here or on the Elektron forum) whose trio video showed he was using a Rhodes but the sounds were some kinds of wonderful jazzy chorused seagulls...
Radiohead do all sorts of ambient pad sounds with their Rhodes. Chorus, phaser, delay, reverb...
Can you give some specific examples, Kenneth?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fSpJEuNZxIk
Great example of how creative and flexible they are in getting a good stage production out of their studio work. The original of "eveything in it's right place" uses a prophet 5, though (this is really clear at about 3 minutes in when they start modulating the filter/resonance). That's why I think it is a good testament to the P '08 that they now record and tour with it, when they clearly have access to whatever they want. If they only toured with it, it would be easy to chalk it up to having a cheap and light solution for being on the road. Speaking of which, seems like, on tour, their main synths are a voyager and P '08, and Johnny Greenwood has an amazing looking Buchla-type thing. If you check out their recent ACL taping, you can see Greenwood using some crazy hybrid of a voyager keyboard with a silver, fully modular front panel. He must have had someone put it together for him Frankenstein-style.

A bit ago, I got a pretty good patch on the prophet 08 copying this sound from "everything. . .". Of course I'd looooove to have a prophet 5.
Are they using a Voyager now? I know they were touring with a Minimoog for a while, didn't know they switched.
Also, the crazy Buchla looking synth Jonny uses is a Sorcerer by Analogue Systems. Basically it's a self-contained modular.
I've had a rough time over the course of my life getting a decent polyphonic synth. First a broken 106, now a Korg Poly 800 that makes me want to vomit digital upchuck every time I hear its fake saw wave... Radiohead get some pretty cool patches out of that P 08. Maybe I ought to look into that.
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Vsyevolod
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Re: Perfect Partner for Voyager?

Post by Vsyevolod » Sun Nov 04, 2012 2:39 pm

I do believe they are still touring with a Model D.

Stephen




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tommyecho
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Re: Perfect Partner for Voyager?

Post by tommyecho » Mon Nov 05, 2012 6:46 pm

They probably do, but it's a voyager with a touch screen on SNL and ACL. I know they play a model d on the basement tapes vid, along with a prophet
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Vsyevolod
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Re: Perfect Partner for Voyager?

Post by Vsyevolod » Mon Nov 05, 2012 11:08 pm

Ah yes, it makes sense that they record and perform 'in the basement' with the Model D and tour with the Voyager...

Stephen




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misterpete
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Re: Perfect Partner for Voyager?

Post by misterpete » Mon Nov 12, 2012 3:04 pm

Everything sounds better with a Voyager either directly through the /voyagers Audio in - or just using it with other instruments in a live or recorded project

however, now that mine is out being repaired for what it's worth I think the first thing i want to plug into when i get it back is my etherwave plus theremin
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nightfur
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Re: Perfect Partner for Voyager?

Post by nightfur » Mon Nov 12, 2012 8:31 pm

Prophet 08 or go vintage with a Roland Juno 60. Have to admit the P08 looks nice paired with the Moog OS (but of course we are only interested in the sounds, yes of course lol)

GovernorSilver
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Re: Perfect Partner for Voyager?

Post by GovernorSilver » Wed Nov 14, 2012 4:36 pm

Yet another partner option:
http://www.elektron.se/products/analog

It's a 4-voice analog tabletop synth with sequencer, onboard effects, CV outputs, etc.

If I ever took my Voyager out to play and didn't want to bring another keyboard for chordal work, I have an Emu XL-7 which has 128-voice polyphony, MIDI sequencer, etc. However, it's obviously a different beast.

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stiiiiiiive
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Re: Perfect Partner for Voyager?

Post by stiiiiiiive » Wed Nov 14, 2012 8:51 pm

GovernorSilver wrote:Yet another partner option:
http://www.elektron.se/products/analog
Yeah! This one has set the Elektron community on fire lately! Including me ;)

unfiltered37
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Re: Perfect Partner for Voyager

Post by unfiltered37 » Thu Nov 15, 2012 1:59 am

stiiiiiiive wrote:It depends on how you play music.

I'll talk about my experience: the Little Phatty goes very well with the Nord Lead series. I guess a Nord cannot be a bad partner for a Voyager then.
The Nord character is very complementary and will provide really good polyphonics -pads, strings- as well as cool leads, not in the Moog vein though. When it comes to bass, I usually think Phatty rather than Nord Lead, but why not: I'm doing this automatically as my fingers find their way on the knobs easier with the Phatty in that situation.
Last but not least: the Nord interface is really hands on, just as the Voyager's. If you're a keyboardist, you'd find yourself with a set-up allowing playing as well as live tweaking.
I can't for the life of me understand what the appeal of the Nord keyboards is. They are stupid expensive for what they are. I guess they kind of look cool for a digital keyboard, but compared to what they are emulating, the sound is just flat and boring. The electric pianos, clavs and mellotrons are fake sounding, and I have heard stock DAW plugs ins that sound better.

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Re: Perfect Partner for Voyager?

Post by thealien666 » Thu Nov 15, 2012 2:53 am

I couldn't agree more with you on that, unfiltered37. I think it's all pretty much undeserved hype.
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stiiiiiiive
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Re: Perfect Partner for Voyager?

Post by stiiiiiiive » Thu Nov 15, 2012 10:03 am

Well, the simple answer is "tastes…"
Now, I'll try to express how I feel about Nord. I'm sorry I feel I have to justify myself haha :D


First, about the hype: is the whole thing really a hype?? I mean 3k boards, on the stages all over the world… really? And eventhough it is, I think behind each hype lies something real. Remember, the MicroKorg was one of the main competitors of the Phatty when it got out. Seriously??? Fact is it fit a need (or invented it). This certainly is real.


Nord instruments have great interfaces: from the Electro to the Lead, and of course the best interface I know is the G2's. This makes them cool for stage. Back in the days I used a pricey, excellent, most flexible workstation for a live project. It was purely awesome programmation-wise. It sounded great. But I ended selling it since the interface wasn't attracting me anymore, to say the least. To me, interface is one third of an instrument choice.

About sound -the second third- this really comes to tastes. You can choose to adjust expectations though. I remember the Nord Lead 1 SOS review. The author was praising the Moog-like aspect of the synth. Let's keep in mind Clavia were pionneer in virtual analogue -they did invent the term, right? - and at this time, synths were for the most part not very knobby. In 1995, a modern instrument you could play the same intuitive way than the old analogue was… kind of "innovative". De facto, Yamaha made the CS1x and AN1x just some months later. Access started the Virus series. Roland launched the JP8000/8080 and Novation the Nova/Supernova series. There were something blatantly real in the air about virtual analog and knobby interfaces.
Anyway: in 1995, a Nord Lead did not sound like a Moog… but! the offer was such that playing a Nord Lead was what was closest to playing a Moog.

17 years later, of course I'm frustrated when I try to approach the Phatty sound with a Nord Lead. The offer has changed, the criteria as well and the musicians/synthesists have become pickier -no offense, me included: it's just logical. My point is: if -nowadays- you, synth passionate, consider the Nord Lead as a attempt to emulate a Moog, you will be disapointed, and you won't see the point. My personal state of mind is to consider it as a whole: it's a digital instrument with sound parameters and voice architecture inherited from the oldies, but with it's own character, and it's own advantages/drawbacks. And as a matter of fact, I don't get disapointed.

Am I a Nord fanboy?... Hmmm if so, I've been so for years. I started with the Modular and got a G2 then. For the record, Clavia are the very same guys that made this "hybrid modular synthesizer", albeit respectable or not to you. At that time, there was no such "big hype" about Clavia. This started with the Electro and Stage series, which the original users took this way: "huuh… wait wait… no synths? Samples? Really ?...ow."
Now, about the Electro and Stage series. First electro: 2001. Wasn't it a good time for Clavia to focus on anything else than VA? Six years after the first Nord Lead and overall after so many competitors births? Well.. I did not like this direction change but I can understand it.
The Electro, at that time, had quite a success too. "Gigabanks" were not so common at that time. And the Stage, I just did not understand it! Untill I got drowned in my workstation complexity haha.


Back to the EP/pianos/Organ sounds. Honestly, in the 18 last years, there were few moments when I haven't had 1 or 2 rehearsals a week. I don't want to put my 50 labs station in the trunk, back seats folded, and say my mates "you two take another car, ok? No room here…" (it really happened :) ). And consequently, I don't either want to have to transport a Rhodes, Wurly, upright piano or B3 on a weekly basis. So OK: Clavia boards can $µck if you are sedentary studio musician, and have the bucks for the real deal. Now, I am pretty nomad, and cannot afford the originals, and moreover I feel rather pleased with the sounds an Electro offers, overall in a band context. Now give me some real eletromecanical boards, a couple of roadies with their truck, and I promise I get rid of my Electro :)

Pricey? Yes. And also hand made in Sweden, in a 20 people company. Reminds me some other keyboard company… what was its name, again? ;) They are digital, no discrete components, less know-how in electronics. Ok. But initial research and development are involved anyway. I'll give you that the features now are often shared amongst the different instruments and that Clavia are clever about segmenting the series/price ranges…
Anyway: people put in an instrument the money they think is fair to put in. All the same for Moogs boards or Foogers. I don't like to put this argument on the table, but just as for the hype thing, this is a fact.

Oh and about virtual instruments or DAW plug ins etc as an alternative: please, don't!! To be honest, I think I prefer sacrifying 5% of sound quality than having to switch a computer on everytime I want to play piano. My Electro: whenever I feel like playing, I play. Voilà.
Now, that's me, no offense, no free crusade… you wonder, I testify. Well, I told you my whole keyboards geek life, sorry :D



Back to the topic: the original poster asked for a hands on, hardware, rather polyphonic, why-not-digital synth. Nord Lead is a good candidate. BTW Phatty + Nord Lead is a couple I've heard good things of many times, really. Not on the Nord forum ;)

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Re: Perfect Partner for Voyager?

Post by GovernorSilver » Thu Nov 15, 2012 1:56 pm

I've used my Korg M3 61 as a "partner" - the Voyager for what it does best (improvised noise, atmospherics, etc.), the M3 for conventional keyboard parts, when I was playing in my friend's rock band.

I also have a Nord Modular G2. I've fooled around with Nord Electro 2 and 3 and they' do have nice hardware UIs if all you want in a keyboard is electric piano and organ sounds (synth being more of a bonus). I didn't use it in the rock band because the acoustic piano patches are better on the M3 (again, rock band setting which required more "normal" sounds). I can't really comment on the "authenticity" of the analog emulations on the G2 because it's never been a focus for me - I've used the G2 more for noise and ambient sounds without concern for particularly "analog" sound qualities.

However, I've stayed away from my G2 lately because I've been focusing more on learning the synth architecture of the Voyager and learning how to use my Octatrack. I can only learn so much at one time. :P

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stiiiiiiive
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Re: Perfect Partner for Voyager?

Post by stiiiiiiive » Thu Nov 15, 2012 2:37 pm

Octatrack, G2, Voyager.

What a combo! :)

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Re: Perfect Partner for Voyager

Post by Kenneth » Thu Nov 15, 2012 7:20 pm

unfiltered37 wrote:
stiiiiiiive wrote:It depends on how you play music.

I'll talk about my experience: the Little Phatty goes very well with the Nord Lead series. I guess a Nord cannot be a bad partner for a Voyager then.
The Nord character is very complementary and will provide really good polyphonics -pads, strings- as well as cool leads, not in the Moog vein though. When it comes to bass, I usually think Phatty rather than Nord Lead, but why not: I'm doing this automatically as my fingers find their way on the knobs easier with the Phatty in that situation.
Last but not least: the Nord interface is really hands on, just as the Voyager's. If you're a keyboardist, you'd find yourself with a set-up allowing playing as well as live tweaking.
I can't for the life of me understand what the appeal of the Nord keyboards is. They are stupid expensive for what they are. I guess they kind of look cool for a digital keyboard, but compared to what they are emulating, the sound is just flat and boring. The electric pianos, clavs and mellotrons are fake sounding, and I have heard stock DAW plugs ins that sound better.
I'll second that. They're flashy, expensive, red, and trendy. Those are about all the adjectives I can muster to describe them. I think the sole appeal boils down to the fact that all the professional bands are using them. That's about it.
Moog Matriarch, ARP Odyssey MKII, Roland Juno-60, Yamaha DX7, Yamaha VSS-30

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