Okay, so I bought an AR last weekend, but, after spending the week making some kits and patterns with it, decided it wasn’t for me and took it back up to the store today.
So now I’m left with my trusty old Octatrack and Analog Four.
While I was there I tried the Prophet 12 module and was significantly blown away, but was unsure of wether or not I should get that and control it with the OT and have the awesomeness of the A4 and P12.
I also wondered if I should go back to the Monomachine because it would mean I would have a whole other sequencer to use alongside likeminded gear.
Those are really my two options because my analog unit is covered as is my sampling and percussion unit so I’m looking for a more digital sounding unit with some warmth and MnM and P12 both have that in spades.
Of course, the P12 is a hell of a lot more expensive than the MnM so my question is, to Prophet 12 owners who also own A4/AK units; does the P12 overlap A LOT with your A4/AK much or is it a good companion to the Elektron Analog units?
Do they encroach on one another enough in your opinion to just stick with my A4 alone?
Could you find them both second hand easily where you live?
MM should be easy enough to find for around $700+. P12 module maybe a bit harder to find as it is still rather new. Sometimes demo models show up on line I think.
They both seem complimentary to me and if you could get both for around the price of the P12M that would be great. I do love my MM and for digital sounds it is very nice.
Although I dont have the P12M it should cover quite a bit that the MM doesn’t.
I seriously considered the P12 module for some time, but after demoing one felt it would overlap with my MM too much. Especially after loading the MM digibanks up with the free Moog and Oscar waves. Also for all the polyphony, just 2 part timbral on the P12 felt limiting.
As far as overlap with my A4, not at all. MM is its own beast, timelessly unique.
MMmk2+ with a DSI evolver will take you much farther than P12, and for less money.
Add a $200 Nord Drum 1 and you’ll be even closer to replacing what is lost in dropping the Rytm. MM has a lot of strength in that p-lockable midi sequencer.
The Evolver + MnM is a pretty cool idea, but I’m trying to keep it down to three boxes.
Plus I can use the Octatrack for midi tracking so it’s really just about the sound at this point.
I wanna get as much mileage out of a small footprint as possible.
Yeah, the bitimbrality is kind of a weird limit.
I don’t why they wouldn’t just make it multitimbral, but all DSI synths seem to only have two channels for some reason.
If you’re prepared to spend that kind of coin, I’d look for other options. The P12 is too close to the A4 in its sonic nature, I’d say.
Have you considered a Tempest? You’re still in DSI territory, but that’s a rough and crude sounding machine that still plays very nice with Elektron’s gear. Sure, there’s a sequencer and stuff in there, which you don’t need as you say, but in the case of the Tempest, the sequencer is part of its sound.
Or perhaps a Slim Phatty? Compact for being a Moog, and again sonically something that plays well but still separates it from what you’ve got.
But the P12, I’d say, for the price, is too close to what you already have.
Already owned a Slim Phatty; a bit too hard to mix due to its huge, thick sound.
Not a bad thing, but not my taste.
I suppose the main problem with me is I’ve owned or used just about every type and brand of synth you can by now, but have never taken the plunge on a DSI.
A Tempest might be a good choice just because of its flexibility, but the P12 module costs $2199 and the Tempest costs $1999 so I’m not saving a ton of cash and it is kind of like the thing I just returned with the Rytm.
I agree, the Moogs are surprisingly hard to place in a mix. They’re just so damn loud.
I’ve had a Tempest for about a year and a half now, and a Rytm for a couple of months. I use them together extensively, and the one can’t even come close in replacing or doing the other’s duty. They’re just not the same kind of instrument.
It might say Analog Drum Computer on the Tempest in blue letters and all, but this is what it is - a six voice synth with a killer architecture and a groovy sequencer to boost, best goddamn pads out there and killer live fx and features. It’s well suited for drums and percussion, but it’s crammed with options for making pure synth tracks, with bass, leads, pads, arps and whatnot. It’s not a matter of finding a way to do it, it’s built that way. It is a synth.
The one thing that goes against the Tempest is that it’s a bit tricky to get it to sound good, just like that. Dial up something on the A4 or a Moog, and it sounds great almost at once. Tempest requires some work. It’s also dry, with only list and comp as internal fx.
But it really stands on its own and you can’t find anything that sounds like it, once you’ve tamed it.
Dial up something on the A4 or a Moog, and it sounds great almost at once.
Truer words have never been spoken.
The A4 is just a miracle no matter what you use it for.
It does it all for me and has character most synths can’t touch.
The Moog is tops for overdriven basses and leads, extremely expressive, but unfortunately the wrong style for me,
I’m now hovering between the Tempest and the Prophet 12.
I’ve got until next Friday to decide so it looks like I’ve got a week of headphone battles on Souncloud and YouTube ahead of me.
Always a good place to be in, this digging into the delicate timbres of each instrument.
Here’s a little something I made that has 80% Tempest in it, just so you get an idea where my perception of the instrument is coming from. Always good to have perspective on someone’s opinion, and this is mine:
It says Analog Rytm in the title because in the end, that’s where I built the entire track. But the leads, sequences, drums (not the kick, but the rest) and bass are all Tempest (except for the creamy Moog stuff that opens up after a few bars).
I’m a strong Tempest champion so if you’ve got questions or other, don’t hesitate to ask, I’m happy to help. It’s such a wonderful instrument.
Nice track.
The Moog pedals add a lot of character.
Is the opening Synth part the Tempest?
It sounds like my type of sound design.
It’s funny because I heard your track and thought “it’s gone be hard to argue with results like this” and then got a Mr Mitch song from Gobstopper/Boxed in my email two minutes after that’s all Prophet 12 and it makes it a tie again. https://soundcloud.com/mrmitchmusic/phantom-prophet-rip
Thanks, much appreciate it gonna listen to that track you posted now, I love the DSI sound.
Yep, opening sequence is Tempest, a two-oscillator saw-tri sound with pretty heavy modulation (the Tempest have a small modulation matrix, two LFOs and four FX sliders which all influence the sound to a great deal). I ran that sequence through a Minifooger Delay with a ridicilous amount of feedback, and it sort of became just a layer of echoes. I recorded that and that became the opening to that track.
I had this idea once to use only the Tempest and the P12 Module for everything I did. It would look so classy and sound so great. But with no sequencer inside the P12, that sort of broke the entire pure vision I had of this micro DSI rig with just two awesome modules.
The Tempest can sequence external gear - but only on one track, and only with one voice. And it’s stripped on features when it runs external gear. Given that the P12 is duotimbral with 12 voices, it would just be frustrating to limit such a power beast to that extent.
Overall, the Tempest is the foundation for my one stop dream machine. While it lacks enough to stand on its own for solid, fleshed out tracks that don’t intentionally try to be stripped or experimental, it does everything right in what it actually does. But I’m pretty sure we’ll never see an MKII or a sequel to the Tempest, so this won’t happen.
So I spent a bunch of hours listening between the Tempest and the Prophet 12 and had to pull the trigger on the Prophet.
I like the idea of the Tempest in terms of its features and flexibility, but in the end the sound is what matters most and the P12 is so flexible, sound-wise.
I can control the P12 from my OT and have the cue out go to my A4 to get analog filters on some of my samples and the P12 can make up for the loss of a channel with the A4.
I make more ambient/experimental music that doesn’t rely heavily on a lot of beats so it was really just a matter of use.
Now that I’ve made my decision and have my setup planned I’m sitting over here all like:
gonna listen to that track you posted now, I love the DSI sound.