Analog Four in contrast with Moog and other synths

[andreasroman]

I had a Moog Sub37 for years. I made complete tracks with just that synth, multitracked and recorded in layers. It’s no problem to tame it with whatever’s required to make full songs with it. Like any other sound source, just work it right and it’ll fit.

But it’s kind of pointless, cause if you wanna use a Moog for bass, lead, layered chords, arps and drums - the lot, or close to it - you’re missing the point of the Moog.

It’s supposed to take its place in the room, to act front and center and be loud, even when it’s warm and soft. Tone it down, slap on EQ, limiters and stuff, sure - but why then even use it? Cause if you use it that way, you’re robbing it from much of the Moog character, and then I agree with others here - there are other synths better suited for that purpose, the A4 not the least.

[Anfim]

I disagree! All these preconceptions about what a Moog should and shouldn’t be are unhelpful in your goal of making music. There’s this sort of reverence surrounding their synths, and I get that the history is important, but at the end of the day surely it’s just another machine at your disposal to be bent into whatever sound you choose rather than the classic ‘warm, sweet, upfront’ character that comes most naturally.

[andreasroman]

Yep. That works too, of course.

[Dapifer]

For some reason there seems to be very little videos on the A4MK2, there seems to be more hype around the ARMK2

[bananas]

@SoundRider the picture is well painted, nice analogy.
@socaldreamer I was actually considering the Minitaur since it I also desperately need a full bass to compliment the A4… Honestly I find the Digitakt really nice for drums, p-locks make things waaay cooler than they would be without it haha.
@Adam9 @kwamensah good to know that it’s hard to mix, makes me more comfortable with the idea of not having it haha But yes this is exactly what I was saying, the fact that you can make the moog just play a chord and it fills the entire thing without the need to fit more musical elements in to further deepen the sound.

@andreasroman @Anfim @Ray-Ray_Velouria
Guys what I meant was that I’m not asking for the classic moog sound, but for the deeper sounds u can get with these nice synths whether it’s a moog, arp-odyssy, prophet, juno, jupiter…etc heck there are even digital synths that have a really deep sound and not necessarily an intense character.

anyway my entire point was sort of a joke, i know if what I asked for the ‘A16’ with this character was real, it would cost some 15,000$… My point was that if such a synth existed and I owned it, I would probably never buy another synth lol.

[TonyDS_1]

I’m done with Elektron

… synth existed and I owned it, I would probably never buy another synth lol.

[Meriphew]

I’m using a Minitaur alongside my A4 and AR2. It works great in that context. It sits perfectly sonically, and is very easy to dial in. The only thing I really dislike about the Minitaur is the lack of a screen (to see preset number).

[bananas]

How to you control it? CV from A4?

[tsutek]

Totally agree. I owned a moog for years and am glad I flipped it for another analog mono synth. I don’t really think moogs are as divine synths as some people would make them out to be. Heck, I remember feeling quite disillusioned when I heard a mate’s Basstation II for the first time: just as good yet cost peanuts compared to a moog.

I think moogs are mainly fetishized because they killed westcoast synthesis somewhat and introduced the synth as a ”keyboard player” instrument back in the heydays of all this elektronikswolksmusik biz things in the 1500 BC

Having said that, I kinda dig the present day direction moog has taken, with the mothers and all. I am sure Bob would dig it too if he were still around.

[SoundRider]

I’m done with Elektron

I think moogs are mainly fetishized…

Absolutely, but this has nothing to do that Moogs have a fine sound character in the first place. Let’s look into guitar-world … Gibson, Fender, Rickenbacker, and other brands … despite the hype those companies craft and sell amazing instruments.

There are often excellent alternatives on offer. Nobody needs to use a hyped instrument to make amazing music, but to use one is no draw-back either

BTW … Elektron gear isn’t exactly a steal either, isn’t it?

[JamesM]

I’m done with moog actually. Haven’t touched my Subsequent37 for several weeks, and sold a Voyager in Feb.
Then today as I was packing my synths away (going off on assignment soon) I decided to have a quickie with the Subsequent37 and a little bit of BigSky.
Suddenly I’m all about being “moog” again, and a few hours go by face down in knobs;
Then it hits me, I’m just recreating sounds I’ve been making ( better) on my AK, A4, and Nord. And with Elektron I’m getting complete sequencing ability, and the Nord is phatter and creamier and polyphonic!
After this photo I put the Subsequent37 in its original box, ready for eBay.

[JamesM]

Minitaur librarian is the only thing I’ve used a computer for in music. But works a treat.

[flocked]

Which nord synth do you have?

[Meriphew]

Yes, CV through A4.

[Stickhit]

Strange but, in general, I prefer the sound of my JD-Xi to my A4.

[Open_Mike]

I don’t care what what synths people use, and don’t need to defend Moogs or anything, so that’s not the point of what I’m about to say. My story here is another perspective on the matter.

I didn’t get my Moog because it was a Moog, and I don’t think it’s necessarily better than other synths, just different, “Moogy”…

I have a strange way of finding some of my instruments, it almost seems like some of them find me. The way I found it was by walking into a music store and walking right up to it and pressing one key. Somebody had dialed in the most awesome sound, it wasn’t a preset, and I just fell in love straight away. I had never owned a synth before and always wanted one. It could have been any brand but it happened to be a Moog.

It’s funny, now that I have a Moog people can theorize all sorts of reasons why I like it, but really it was just that experience, and the sounds I’ve heard from it since. It reminds me of being a vegan in California, where its a trend. I turned vegan in Michigan when we only had one health food store for hundreds of thousands of people, nobody even knew what vegan meant. After moving to California occasionally when I say I’m vegan, people just dismiss it as me following the trend and they are absolutely completely wrong, I had never imagined there would be a vegan trend in California and the trend didn’t even start until years after I became vegan in a far off land…

The Moog does have a big thick sound, for me I don’t use any other synths, I mix it with guitar and AR and run them through the OT. With no other synths going and this arrangement of sound sources, there is room for it in my mixes and I never EQ it. It does take a lot of space in the mix but personally I like it for my particular style and sound, I do come from rock jam bands but my music nowadays definnately sounds at least half electronic…

Just thought I’d share. It’s an interesting paradigm to naturally like something for what it is, when that something does have a “hype” or whatever surrounding it. In the end though, not all users go for the Moog because it’s a Moog, they just like it for what it is…

[bananas]

I really liked it when it was my one and only synth, after getting the A4, it just became tedious to program sounds on it, you have to admit, it isn’t the friendliest thing around.

But I’m sure I will come back to it at one point or the other, as I need an extra synth and I already got one haha. Actually you just got me thinking, I kept saying I miss sub-bass on the A4 and thinking to get the minitaur. The JD-XI actually has an analog one ready.

hmmmmmmm… (New plan coming then)

[hereiamhere75]

i´m not such a big fan of the moog synth sound either, but i like that moogish smoothness.
no moog synths anymore for me, but moggerfoogers mf 101 102 103 and maybe the 104z are keepers for me.

[Open_Mike]

To bring back to Elektron, the same thing happened to me with them…

When I got my Elektrons I had never seen anyone use them or heard them before, I thought I was getting some super rare handmade Swedish boxes. There’s a lot of producers in my area and nobody had ever mentioned them, and I never saw one. Not one person who’s passed through my studio has heard of them, and in the three years since I got them I’ve spotted one A4 covered in dust at somebody’s studio…

I didn’t know there was any kind of hype about them at all until I started reading this forum, I thought it was the exact opposite and nobody even knew about them…

[digiwut]

Nothing to say about Moog, but I was messing around with Ableton, a midi controller, Dexed, and Turnado at my computer desk. I forgot how easy it is to create music with Ableton (compared to using Elektron and hardware). Just draw in some notes on the piano roll and then mess around with everything. And only one cable: the USB to my interface. I looked at my OT and Volca FM (all the other hardware I own) afterwards differently.

Edit: to be fair though, Ableton crashed twice and a third time the entire computer crashed. That doesn’t happen with my hardware.