Moog Music Forum

Hi, new here, so please bear with me if this topic is old news. I'm fairly new to hardware analog synths, having only ever properly experienced my dad's old Teisco SX400 (Rare, but not desirable it seems, sadly). I've never used patch cables. I've played around a bit with the Arturia Moog Modular plugin, but mousy clicky draggy patching is not for me.

Well, life story aside, the juice of it is I'm after buying some new hardware and I had my eye on a Matriarch/DFAM combo. I've seen a load of videos of people doing amazing things with a Mother-32 and a DFAM and I was hooked on the idea. I want the keyboard though, and I like the idea of being able to play chords and making large harmonic sounds with the paraphonic aspect of the Matriarch. I've seen countless tutorials about M32+DFAM patching, but I didn't find half as much info about patching together a Matriarch+DFAM.

TL;DR questions: Is there anything that the Mother-32 does/how it interacts with the DFAM that the Matriarch doesn't? And, is the DFAM/Matriarch a complimentary pairing for someone looking to get into modular synthesis?

Thanks for reading,
Steve

I have a DFAM and Matriarch and they are a wonderful combination. I don't have a Mother 32, but from the looks of it there is nothing a Mother 32 can do that a Matriarch cannot. All of the Moog semi-modulars (including the Grandmother and Mother 32) can patch together however you want. The Matriarch can do some beautiful harmonies and sounds. I would highly recommend it. The Matriarch and DRAM compliment each other well because the Matriarch also has the extra LFOs and utilities section that can be useful to add more variety to the DFAM pattern.

Thanks for your reply Max. Glad to hear that you are enjoying these two synths together. It seems like a great place to start. I was also considering a dedicated drum machine, but I haven't seen anything yet that excites me quite like those little Moog units do. I get that the DFAM isn't an out-and-out drum machine, so at some point, I might like to get something dedicated to cover that in the future.

Yeah, I've had drum machines and they are fun. DFAM is more of a groove box that can lay down some rhythmic elements to play with. It can produce drum sounds but its actually more interesting when you explore the broader sonic range. That means it can actually pair well with a normal drum machine by adding rhythmic timbres.

I actually just got a Labyrinth too. It pairs well with the DFAM by adding a layer of randomness to the rhythms.