Moog Music Forum

Hey, Mini.

Yes, that's me. I've made it my mission to demonstrate every keyboard I have on YouTube... so that every prospective buyer knows exactly what they're looking at.

Most of the analog synthesizers I've bought I had never heard before buying them. All of the analog synth websites are woefully inaccurate or low on info or short on pictures or featuring what an analog synth sounds like if you play one note with a filter sweep eighteen times.
So, I thought I would provide buyers with an option... to hear what these synths ACTUALLY like, and what they ACTUALLY do. ("great for leads and basses" should never be uttered or typed again)

Right now, I'm finishing the Micromoog video. I haven't played mine in over a year... I sold it to buy my Minimoog (along with my Sonic Six). (oh, and yes... a Sonic Six plus a Micro is worth a Minimoog!)
All I can say as I work through the footage I shot before I sold it is: Anyone who thinks the Micromoog sounds thin or not-warm... well, either your Micro was broken, or my Micro is very special... that's all I can say. You'll hear and see it soon!

dear museslave
the micromoog is indeed fat, but the multimoog (its bigger brother) is fatter. with the aftertouch its really cool since you can modulate sync frequency and waveshape.
you should replace those minimoog key bushings.
i think your reasoning is great, and i havent had a chance to sit there and watch all your videos, but its also important to know that different people will use gear for different types of sounds / purposes. so even though a minimoog can make a great lead or bass sound, theres other synths that do a great job at that as well. it all depends on how skilled a synthesist you are. you and i both know that but the person who hears you dialing up sounds with ease might get it and think "huh? how do I get those sounds". thats ok with me though, i dont see the sense in owning a synth without presets unless youre going to know how to make sounds on it.
good luck with the stuff!
mini

I suppose it all depends on what you define as "fat." I am often at odds with people, even in this forum, about what defines "fat." I personally don't define fat as having multiple oscillators stacked atop each other, or having those oscillators detuned. A lot of people consider "loud" to be "fat," or consider the detuned sound to be fat. I believe "fatness" to be defined by a certain broad, warm, buttery sound that is present when even a single oscillator is being used on the Minimoog... which is the result of the Moog oscillators and filter. The Micromoog, in my opinion, while not sounding necessarily timbrally like a Minimoog, definitely has a "fat" quality that is missing from non-Moogs, or Moogs like the Sonic Six, which are not particularly "fat."

I will replace the bushings when I overcome my overwhelming dread about taking my Mini apart... ; )

I am an equal-opportunity synth user... as you can see in my videos, I am enthusastic about unfairly unpopular synths that are very useful... like the Roland SH-1000, or even the rare Technics SY-1010. The Mini is a very diverse tool, and sounds great in so many applications... but there are things other synths do that a person might desire... I know I do!

It is not my intent to mislead watchers of my videos... but I am a strong believer that the analog synth, unlike many other more modern synths, is truly a musical instrument. I do not believe in the democratization of synthesizers any more than I believe that all violins should be made so that someone who doesn't know how to play one will feel comfortable playing one. I do nothing that isn't possible on those videos! Anyone who wants to dial up a sound that I have dialed up, I will gladly try to recreate it. : )

I'm against patches in analog synths. I think they are contrary to the concept behind the analog synth... which is that it is a device for you to create a sound and control that sound in real time. Patch storage is addictive and inspires you to use the patches you, or worse, someone else has created (instead of excercising the freedom and control analog programming gives you). DX7 syndrome. ; ) Granted, I have benefitted GREATLY from patch storage on stage, and when I didn't have patch saving capabilities, had a lot of bandmates who were VERY irritated whilst I tried to recall complex patches on complex synths between songs... so... I have suffered under my own purism. ; )