Moog Music Forum

Mr Arkadin wrote: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).

First and foremost... look at the video. The first time you hear the Polymoog riff, the Polymoog is shown. It is not being played. You don't need an "internet stranger" to recognize this fact. It's not trickery, it's not one person's word over another. Look at the video. First time you hear that traditional Polymoog sound? NO ONE IS PLAYING THE POLYMOOG. It has nothing to do with your friend, me, NIN, or Numan. No one is playing the Polymoog the first time we see it, despite the fact that this trademark sound is being heard. I don't know how many different ways I can say this same thing. I understand your trust in your friend, and believe me... as an analog synth player who has worked very hard to play ONLY analog synths on stage, I would like VERY much to believe that Trent was cool enough to tote around a Polymoog and use it live. However, the inescapable and unquestionable fact is: that thing I keep saying over and over.
Now, if there was more than one Polymoog on stage, and a DIFFERENT Polymoog, out of the shot, was being played... then I humbly rescind my statements.

As for the durability of the Polymoog: Yes, the internet is rife with stories about how fragile various analog synths are, how hard they are to tune, etc. etc., and a lot of that is bullshit. The Polymoog is not particularly fragile if it's been serviced... it's just fragile when it's moved due to the complexity and subsequent weight. It is a labor of love to take a Polymoog on tour, and it would just be particularly lame if this was done as a set dressing instead of a tribute to a great time and sound.

P.S. I'm not a stranger. I've been around here awhile.

Thank you, Kevin. That was perfect! We can move on now.

I apologize in advance to anyone that already knows this, but to all others, I am disappointed that you couldn't tell the difference between the ultra clear, sterile, and too perfect sample at the beginning from the warm, rough, little muddy but awesome authentic vox humana from the real polymoog. Shows some of you guys are analog poseurs who don't care about the sound of analog, but are just gear junkies who can't tell the difference. Not singling anyone out, but we all know these guys exist.

Unfiltered wrote:I apologize in advance to anyone that already knows this, but to all others, I am disappointed that you couldn't tell the difference between the ultra clear, sterile, and too perfect sample at the beginning from the warm, rough, little muddy but awesome authentic vox humana from the real polymoog. Shows some of you guys are analog poseurs who don't care about the sound of analog, but are just gear junkies who can't tell the difference. Not singling anyone out, but we all know these guys exist.

According to my "analog poseur" ear, the only discernible difference between the instances of the "Polymoog" is that the second couple of instances are slightly louder. While the notion that you could discern the subtle and delightful analog aspects in the midst of a messy and loud live mix is certainly possible, the "this is so obvious" tone which your post employs is condescending at best, and ridiculous in general.
I examined the video again and found a few things which make it seem like it's possible that Gary might be playing the high line of the Polymoog part in the second two instances (primarily because of two things: 1. There is a point where Trent, if he was playing the high line, picked up a tambourine rather shockingly fast with his right hand for having just finished the melody. Not impossible, but suggestive. 2. There's a part where we can see Gary playing in the foreground, and Trent is playing in the background- his placement in regard to the keyboard suggests that he is likely just playing the lower part). However, if you watch Gary and Trent, you can plainly see that Gary (if he's playing any of it) is not playing both lines of the Polymoog part. Look at his fingers. The lower line (which should be quite distinguishable to such a discerning ear as yours... because it features the resonator effect for which the Polymoog and PS-3100 are famous) is quite distinctly played by Trent.

At best, there is still needless Polymoog fakery going on. From a logical standpoint, it's inarguable that this is a "let's make sure we get Gary playing the trademark synth for the trademark sound" situation, instead of "Gary is going to play the Polymoog for this song" situation. Does it matter? Probably not. It's just sad for some of us "analog poseurs" who really like it when analog synths are used in live settings... and the thought of Gary playing his own Polymoog part is just really cool.

We are winning you over !

Flick between the start and end parts -- there's a definite difference in PolyMoog tone there. Two fake patches?

Youtube is famous for its shoddy compression, so I'm not surprised you can't hear it.

Are we done yet?

Sorry again in advance, but i have listened to the video several times, and even with my apple monitor's speakers, it is soooo obvious that the first vox humana pad is digital. As for the later patch, it is possible it could be a sample, but not likely. You can always tell if something is a sample because of the way that most instruments are sampled, which is as few keys as possible with in between sampled notes that are pitched up/down which leaves artifacts and just doesn't sound organic. It's like playing a trumpet sample, it sounds ok when you're playing one note, but a chord sound's conspicuously fake. I think the other factors that contribute are the quality of the sample( most likely recorded without any analog processing), the sound imparted by the sampler's converters/electronics, and the machine sampled (tuning, tracking, etc.). Probably the most obvious sign that a sound is digital is the decay (or release). It's something that i can't get over, but some people , even analog "purists" use digital reverbs like the lexicon 480L religiously, a unit that whose reverb tail that sounds like a donkey's tail smells.

But seriously, either get better speakers or do some critical analog vs digital listening if you can't tell the first pad is a sample.

Rob Smith wrote: We are winning you over !

No, I'm winning you over. The previous general view was that Gary was playing both parts, and all of it was pure Polymoog.

Easy Tiger

Gary Numan isn't playing the opening melody on the polymoog because he has the uncanny ability to recreate the 'vox humana' preset on kazoo. That's why his back is turned at the beginning of the video. Anyone who says otherwise doesn't understand TRUE analog. Half the sounds on Reznor's last album were created with a piece of tissue paper over a comb.

Actually reznor digitally sampled the tissue paper and ran it through an all analog comb filter.


I thought the video was cool. I heard the famous sound and then saw an empty synth...but I didn't care. It was just cool enough to have Gary come out and harmonize with himself.


Did he not play the polymoog like a monophinic synth?


Cool video.