Moog Music Forum

I don't know what you mean by metallic sound

The sound of metal being struck like a bell or tines of an electric piano. These sounds contain complex harmonics that are difficult to achieve any other way. Yamaha's DX range of synthesizers are FM synthesizers.FM synthesis modulates one oscillators frequency with another. Bit like pitch modulation with an lfo but using a hfo instead. Multiply that by 6 and you have a DX7. Btw all oscillators on the DX7 are sine waves only
Blofeld is a wavetable synthesizer. This has many digital soundwaves including lots of FM type waves for creating the same kinds of sounds.
Both these options are at the cheaper end of the scale. There are many other similar synths out there that can do similar.

mattyp wrote:

I don't know what you mean by metallic sound

The sound of metal being struck like a bell or tines of an electric piano. These sounds contain complex harmonics that are difficult to achieve any other way. Yamaha's DX range of synthesizers are FM synthesizers.FM synthesis modulates one oscillators frequency with another. Bit like pitch modulation with an lfo but using a hfo instead. Multiply that by 6 and you have a DX7. Btw all oscillators on the DX7 are sine waves only
Blofeld is a wavetable synthesizer. This has many digital soundwaves including lots of FM type waves for creating the same kinds of sounds.
Both these options are at the cheaper end of the scale. There are many other similar synths out there that can do similar.

Or you could "pseudo combine" the two and go with a Sy77/TG77 or Sy99. (if you want the ability to import your own wave samples) You also get additional wave options for the operators, unlike the DX7.

Both are monster synths, but capable of those metallic sounds, not to mention very nice bass.

^^^^^^

Thank you for that-- I will do some research on your suggestions shortly. So far I am quite happy with the sub 37 and it seems to be fitting in very nicely. I am a simple guy and I don't want to get lots of equipment, I just want to play simple but beautiful music. If I find that the sub 37 cannot fill ALL of my bass needs then one more unit might be in order-- if that ends up being necessary I would prefer it to be a unit with no keyboard so I can run it with the sub 37. It would be interesting to mix the sub 37 with another synth.....

Right now my developing band has me on bass, a violinist and a drummer who uses Congas, Bongos and one other drum I don't know what it is called- its Irish. We plan to bring in a guitarist also and maybe a pianist. I would never have guessed that a Moog synth would set well with these other acoustic instruments but so far it is exquisitely beautiful.

franklinstower wrote: ...developing band has me on bass, a violinist and a drummer who uses Congas, Bongos and one other drum I don't know what it is called- its Irish. We plan to bring in a guitarist also and maybe a pianist.

So, where is your band located and how do I audition? Seriously does sound fun and interesting, and I've wanted to bring Moog and acoustic together for a long time. Do keep us all posted on the progress!

Oh dear! You don't want lots of gear? You have bought your first synthesizer. I have to warn you, they are addictive and you will end up with more. I remember my first synth, a korg karma that i thought would be enough for me. Im now up to eleven synths and an empty wallet.

Try layering your Sub with a Rhodes voice by using MIDI control. A ROMpler will provide a more accurate reproduction of a Rhodes than a DX7 or Blofeld. ROMplers may not be very hip or popular but it's the easiest way to get a self contained Rhodes sound. Yamaha's are popular. You could get a rack unit. Or pull a Rhodes sample from an iPhone or iPad, or laptop. A real piano bass will be much more alive, and if you got a piano bass with Midi sensors, you could still layer, but they are also much more expensive and heavy. Anyway, once control is set up you can then route the Rhodes audio out into the Moog, for extra fun with the filter, or just open the filter and turn off the oscillators to get a dry Rhodes sound without external mixers or requiring multiple outputs from the Rhodes. Set the key priority low, map the Sub keybed to mid or upper range, and set the oscillators to low footages and you can still comp Rhodes chords on top of an monophonic emphasized bass line. Or set the key priority high to help emphasize leads.

Nice idea. I might try that with some of my synths.

I'm sorry guys but I'm on the other side.

Francklinstower, I would rather challenge you to program the sound you need/want on your brand new Moog; tons of help can be gathered here.

Why?
For one, you said you were new to synths and it's a great way to learn.
For two, I do prefer having only one instrument with tons of character than multiplying the units and diluting the sonic identity.

But hey, that's me

stiiiiiiive wrote: (sic( ....Francklinstower, I would rather challenge you to program the sound you need/want on your brand new Moog; tons of help can be gathered here.

Why?
For one, you said you were new to synths and it's a great way to learn. .....

I'm pretty much in the same camp. Last night I took Ftower's settings and started playing around with the LFO destination, just to see what would happen. 3 hours later I came up for air!

hi franklinstower. I am more of a bass player than a keyboard player. I only use my Sub37 for recording. I love the bass sound and find it much easier to get a good recording than my bass guitar. I have a BA-115HPT Ampeg I bought for bass guitar but it works great as a monitor. All the bass you want and more. Also you mentioned wah, just plug an expression pedal into the filter cv input and you have instant wah and filter sweeps. I use 3 pedals on my sub37 which is awesome since version 1.1 allows you to freely map the other two cv inputs (pitch,volume).

MoogProg wrote:

franklinstower wrote: ...developing band has me on bass, a violinist and a drummer who uses Congas, Bongos and one other drum I don't know what it is called- its Irish. We plan to bring in a guitarist also and maybe a pianist.

So, where is your band located and how do I audition? Seriously does sound fun and interesting, and I've wanted to bring Moog and acoustic together for a long time. Do keep us all posted on the progress!

Ill do that man -- thanks! I pretty much still suck at playing. I am really good at improvising so long as the song does not include lots of flats and sharps! That is coming along but it will be a while before I am comfortable enough to really let go and fly. We just want to play live music for people that are into having an improvisational experience with us.


The Moog bass sounds absolutely incredible with my friends violin-- exquisite.

DaveBee wrote:hi franklinstower. I am more of a bass player than a keyboard player. I only use my Sub37 for recording. I love the bass sound and find it much easier to get a good recording than my bass guitar. I have a BA-115HPT Ampeg I bought for bass guitar but it works great as a monitor. All the bass you want and more. Also you mentioned wah, just plug an expression pedal into the filter cv input and you have instant wah and filter sweeps. I use 3 pedals on my sub37 which is awesome since version 1.1 allows you to freely map the other two cv inputs (pitch,volume).

I will definitely have to get some pedals. I want to get as close the the wah that Jerry Garcia is famous for but suitably adapted to bass.

I was thinking that an improvement on the sub 37 would be three more mod wheels right on the unit--

stiiiiiiive wrote:I'm sorry guys but I'm on the other side.

Francklinstower, I would rather challenge you to program the sound you need/want on your brand new Moog; tons of help can be gathered here.

Why?
For one, you said you were new to synths and it's a great way to learn.
For two, I do prefer having only one instrument with tons of character than multiplying the units and diluting the sonic identity.

But hey, that's me

I really want one to be enough for me also but if not that's fine-- it just means I get more stuff..... I would love to hear everyone's recipe for bass on a sub 37 that fits in with regular rock and roll-- Grateful Dead style if possible!

A lot of that sound is an envelope follower.

A lot of that sound is an envelope follower.

Which can be emulated to some degree by modulating the filter by keyboard velocity...