Moog Music Forum

This is for those of you who own an original Minimoog, or did at one point.

In your opinions, what is the actual focus of the Minimoog as a reputable instrument? Do you think it serves better as an educational / beginner instrument? Or, has it worked best in the hands of the pros and classic users?

The reason I'm asking is that I just spotted a Harmony Central review with a customer claiming to be a hobbyist. Personally, I've gotten so used to seeing Minis in the rigs of fully-fledged musicians. Obviously, you'd never expect a novice to be trying to fanagle with a modular system, an ARP 2600, or the like. But, how many of you think the Minimoog, itself is user-friendly to beginners?

Just asking,
Eric.

Hello,

The popularity of the Mini has always been primarily its distinctive sound.
Also, one must consider that at one time, before smaller performance-oriented synths were produced, modulars were the entry level instruments.
In this sense, professionals used them in studio and a few onstage but, they were also learning instruments that beginners had to use to learn synthesis in educational institutions.


Regards,


LWG

I haven't seen the Harmony Central review that you refer to, but aren't you confusing "hobbyist" with "beginner"? One can be a "fully-fledged musician" and yet not be a "professional" - perhaps they had to give it up on a professional level due to financial or famliy concerns, and yet continue playing music? If you've got the funds, then there's nothing to stop a non-professional musician from acquiring a bunch of analog gear and having fun making music...

I think I really meant "seasoned keyboardists / synthesists vs. beginner musicians."

I know that anyone with $2,000 bucks can purchase a Mini, but if they've never played a synthesizer without presets, or hadn't been a keyboard player for very long, is it wise for them to start out with that one?

I've seen other cheaper synths like the MicroMoog and ARP Axxe listed as "entry level" synths. Are these really the ones for players with less experience?

Does that make more sense?

Many professional musicians point to the Minimoog as the instrument where they learned analog synthesis. The layout is logical from left to right, with key sections clearly segmented. At the time of the Minimoog's debut, the Moog modular was not a beginner's instrument and most musicians relied on a programmer to patch it for them. The Minimoog did away with that.

It was easy to get a fat lead or bass sound on the Minimoog. So it can be considered user-friendly. And the sonority fits in mixes so well that it appealed to professionals.

I consider myself to be a "professional hobbyist" where I am into music for enjoyment and not a career, but know enough about analog synth technology to be dangerous I also still gig in the clubs with analog gear.

I bought a second hand Moog Prodigy when I was 16. I couldn't play keyboard, only guitar. I knew nothing about analog synthesis. But I had TONS of fun learning how to make all those great classic Moog sounds with it. Last year I finally got my hands on an original Minimoog (not hugely different to the Prodigy in terms of extra features apart from an extra oscillator and noise generator). I still can't play keyboard (you don't have to know chords with it being monophonic) and am certainly not a professional musician. I just love playing leads and riffs and creating all manner of atmospheric sounds with the damn thing.

I'd say if you can afford one, get one. You'll soon learn the basics of analog synthesis. It's incredibly satisfying. Plus it would be a great investment. I recently had mine restored and it's now worth twice what I paid for it.

PS. I recommend you also use some kind of delay effect for that really haunting and spacey Moog sound...

This question seems a little trivial (no hard feelings ). Would you say the spoons are for professionals or beginners? Shouldn't Jimmy Page have played a 24 string guitar? I started off falling in love with a sound (thank you Rentals ) It inspired me (maybe 8 years ago) to ship a giant moog CDX to my door step just so I could somehow get a chance to start to figure out what the hell a moog even was....no clue. Well the CDX wasn't the ticket and my second moog (a liberation $200CDN ) finally gave me an idea of what I was dealing with. And the thing that struck me was that I had no clue what an osc was or filter, all I knew was knobs did things and that the possiblities seemed endless. Any first timer on a moog seems to approach it in the way a baby does a new toy...hit something and something changes. Depending on interest and dedication it progresses from there as the theory starts to snuff out the randomness. I have a mini now, I understand it yet can always learn more about it (I still wish I had some of the Source patches I made long ago....can't ever get'm sounding the way they did). Would I recommend it to a beginner (besides the price consideration)? Sure! Would I recommend a CDX? If it fits sure! A modular? Have at 'er! Learn it from scratch! All these things just seem to me to be different paths of simply creating music.

The reason that the Mini was so popular was because it was a great INSTRUMENT. Beginners and pros could play it and get great sounds out of it. It is very simple to get a great, classic Moog sound from it, you can also get some great complex sounds from it if you have more experience.

Truthfully, I learned more about synthesis from my first synth, an ARP Odyssey, since it had more complex features such as oscillator sync, sample and hold, ring modulator, pulse width modulation, etc., but the Odyssey used to frustrate the crap out of me because I couldn't make it sound like a Moog. The Odyssey had great bass timbres, but other than that, it always sounded hollow compared to those Mini leads that were so popular on the radio.

Having said that, the Mini is laid out in a very straight forward manner and is easy to learn to use. When I finally bought mine years ago, I taught my 8 year old son how to use it and he had a pretty good understanding of synthesis at that early age.

Don't forget that one of the key ingredients to a Mini is a good reverb. It turns mundane sounds into something that puts you in a trance in those late keyboard sessions when you should go to bed but instead you stay up playing the darned thing...

thewaag wrote:, but the Odyssey used to frustrate the crap out of me because I couldn't make it sound like a Moog.

Hello,

I fully concur with the Model D being as much at home as a beginner's synth
as it is in a professional rig.
In addition, the above comparison often comes up in vintage synth discussions and I've never quite understood the fuss. I've used Moog and
Arp gear and the Mini and Oddy do not easily lend themselves to direct comparison as would appear. I haven't found two synths that are less alike.
For one, the Mini is uses discreet ckts/the Oddy mainly IC-based, the Mini's
ladder filter imparts it's own coloring on the sound/the Oddy's 4075 has a more transparent character, the Mini's vibratos are done with a triangle wave/the Oddy's with a sine wave, you phrase on the Mini with single triggering/the Oddy with multiple, and in terms of sound quality, the Mini
has a thick round tone, while the Oddy's tends to have a sharp and angular character.
Basically opposites. I've always appreciated the contrasting relationship between the two, as they tend to balance each other out and when used together create a palette of tones that don't overlap.
Keyboardist George Duke often had two solos on his tracks with the two
synths, both making different statements.


Regards,


LWG

Sorry to correct you LWG, but you're off on a couple of points....

First, the Ody's vcos are actually more discrete than a Minimoog.
Unless the Moog is an RA with the discrete board, the Moog actually uses more ICs in their oscillators.

Second, the Ody's LFO does not output a sine wave. It can only produce a triangle and square.

I concur with those who say the Mini has the best user interface. The signal follows a logical path from the keyboard to the performance modifiers (e.g. the wheels, glide, decay) to the oscillators to the mixer to the filter envelope to the volume envelope to output.

Plus it had such great sounds, and the filter.

Modern-day synths are all push-button now. People don't have to know what they're doing in order to generate sound. Many just use standard MIDI or the presets.

It's like many new technologies: high-tech, high-touch. People don't need to know how television works in order to watch TV, or how an internal combustion engine works in order to drive a car. But it helps.