I've always had a soft spot for Moog equipment and never the budget to own the hardware. For quite awhile I've been looking at the offerings from Arturia.
Arturia offers some very precise digitally modeled versions of many classic synthesizers though at a significant price - usually around $200 street price.
In the Moog category they offer the Minimoog and the more intimidating but cooler Moog modular. I was on the fence about purchasing either of these for some time and was thrilled to see that they have combined them in a special edition along with some nice extras - the Moog DVD, a small book of some of Bob Moog's notes and a cool geeky button. Better still, the price is $300 with some of the profits going to the Moog foundation (creating a museum to honor Bob Moog and his inventions).
The package is solely for desktop computers - Windows or Mac and the Minimoog and modular sound phenomenal! The Minimoog gives you immediate productivity but the modular takes things to another level if you have the patience to figure it out. You get to patch together any number of modules to make an infinite combination of sounds.
I am loving both modules and use them primarily as AU plugins in Logic 9 (they also work as VSTs). I hope to post some examples soon.
There is always debate about digital versions of analog synths but I think it is analogous to the CD vs vinyl debate. The emulations are excellent! Of course there are many software synths available at that price or lower with more capabilities, but there really is something special about using the same techniques that Moog pioneers employed.
On the iPad side, I wish Moog or Arturia would release something like the Korg iMS-20 but for now, the only iPad Moog item is the Moog Filtatron. This is a faithful recreation of the famous ladder filter and some other Moog effects. It is a bit limited. You can process WAV files through it or mix in it's single oscillator, but you can't play a keyboard directly into it. This means that you pretty much have to combine it with other iPad tools to make music. It does support copy and paste so it is pretty useable.
I haven't used it yet in any of my own compositions - maybe soon.
-Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
On the Moog Filtatron:
ReplyDeleteIts own keyboard is extremely primitive (press the lock icon on the VCO pad). But it can also process line input, using the built-in microphone, an iRig-style device, or an AD converter like the Behringer UFO202. If you search on YouTube, you can see people using the Filtatron to process a guitar signal, but you could do the same thing with the output of, for example, an electric piano.
Sounds interesting! I don't do much in the way of performing so I would most likely push files through it. I do have an iRig mic however, maybe I'll experiment a bit with that. What I would really love is something like the iMS-20, maybe a MiniMoog for iPad limited to monophonic - like the original. Not sure if the processor would be up to it but Korg managed to do it pretty well!
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