Moog Trio (Mother, Subharmonicon, DFAM) + Elektron Setup

The Lounge Other Gear
#1

Hi everyone,

I’m begging for your advice on the following thing:

I currently have Elektron Setup (DT, DN, AH) and Yamaha Arius piano.
And I feel like the music I’m trying to write, needs some Moog sound.
I really liked some Mother-32 videos on Youtube, where they used it with BigSky or similar stuff together. Then I spent some days looking for some similar sounds among Dark Energy, Dreadbox synths, Minitaur etc… something that could resemble sound of Mother-32 — and haven’t found anything I liked. They sounded either metallic or flat or too raw

And my questions are these:

  1. Since Mother-32 is something rather limited alone and more intended to be a part of modular setup, is it a good idea to buy it + DFAM + Subharmonicon together to create a mini ecosystem where they complement each other? I don’t think I want to go modular beyond that, I’m looking for something that I’ll buy and not regret about limitations even when together.

  2. Does Subharmonicon 37 (25) have the same circuitry as Mother? Can I expect they sound the same?

  3. How good is the whole Idea having Elektron trio + Moog trio + Peak together? How do they live with each other?

Thank you!

1 Like
#2

If you’re convinced you want the Moog sound, then maybe just get the Mother 32 to start? It’s a pretty big outlay to get all three and a lot to learn.

I think you are getting confused between the sub37 and the Subharminicon. They’re totally different products. The sub37 and the Mother 32 have similar sound palettes.

To add another suggestion: have you considered the Moog Grandmother?

3 Likes
#3

TLDW: Sound-wise they’re barely distinguishable. Crave is roughly a quarter of the price.

2 Likes
#4

God, sorry, of course I meant Subsequent 37/25.
Thanks, need to read about Grandmother too.

#5

Thank you, does Crave have anything above Mother capabilities apart from they sound the same?

#6

Almost all the same connections + similar sequencer. Behringer made it look quite different (for once), but it’s basically another of their clones

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#7

You need the Grandmother

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#8

Getting the trio, even with DFAM and M32 2nd hand, would mean spending at least 1600€. That’s a big investment, and spending the money is the easy part. For that money you could almost get a Matriarch 2nd hand.

If you want Moog sound on a budget, you can’t really go wrong with Behringer Model D. I mean, you can get a lot of miles out of that 200€ (second hand) synth.

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#9

My advice is get to a shop and try them out. Even if it means travelling a bit (which yeah, might be tricky at this time) get your hands on them and listen and feel with your own senses in real time.

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#10

Thanks guys. There’s no possibility to try them in real life, I live far from any shop selling synths.

If we’re talking about non-moog alternatives, I’m waiting for Peak as well, can it serve as an alternative then?

#11

The Peak can be a great mono/bass synth. It won’t sound exactly like a Mother 32 but you can get pretty close with the 4 pole filter imo, plus the onboard FX are really good, especially the reverb. But obviously while it’s doing that you won’t be able to use it for chords etc. Maybe get the Peak first and see if it scratches that itch.

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#12

I have the new Subharmonicon and the Subsequent37. The latter is a no-brainer: it’s just a fantastic synth, and it’ll fit into any sort of music. A great classic. The Subharmonicon is…fantastic too. I love it. But then again, I’m into polyrythms quite a bit, I frequently build stuff using the Euclidean pattern generator on the Pyramid sequencer. If you’re into that sort of stuff, it’s a super cool addition. But it is soooo different from anything you might know: it’s not your average monosynth. [It has an advantage over the Mother32: it has midi EDIT Sorry, both have midi, I just didn’t study the M32 that much] and you can quantize to equal temperament 12 notes scale, which IS an advantage because everything interacts and just a very slight turn of a knob can totally change your soundscape. And there’s no way to store and recall settings in any way: midi is only incoming, not outgoing. But it definitely has the MOOG sound we love. I am not in the market for a Mother-32 because I have the Subsequent37 and that’s a bit redundant. I am looking at the DFAM though, it’s also a very special device. The three of them together make a very cool laboratory for electronic music: you’ll need some nice fx to pair with each of them, and it would be a shame to underspend in this department: those Moog modules deserve premium quality fx. All in all, everything sums up quite a bit in the end. Watch Loopop’s videos , they are very well done. There are other videos demonstrating this gear, but they are too spectacular: entertaining but sometimes misleading (like a well known “influencer” who makes very elaborate review vid’s on Youtube, that start out like “I just got this device” and ends with “I quickly made this tune” and the tune is super duper slick , heavily polished, ready to top the hot 100. Which obviously betrays the fact that he did NOT “just got this in the mail” and “just figured I’d do a quick tune”. You probably migh have seen that one already. Very well done though, always a pleasure to watch, nice guy, definitely knows what he’s talking about but it could be a bit misleading as to what you can expect IRL, not like loopop’s vid’s which are quite the opposite: very informative: what you hear is what you get.

And last but not least: the Moog sound dominates. It’s VERY present, especially these modules. You might find yourself re-programming your Elektron sounds to match but they’re capable of it. And wanting an Octatrack. :slight_smile:

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#13

What did you do in the end?

I have a similar setup. DT DN + M32. I’d love to add a DFAM or subharmonicon or even just an extra VCO. I found a cheap Roland mx-1 performance mixer with a scooper, VT-3 and Demora, I use those as inputs & fx for the DT and DN (separately), the M32 into the Demora sounds incredible. I added some eurorack instead of another Moog, a Makenoise maths and Mutable a instruments a marbles. The Maths can do complex stuff to the filter (and so much more) and the marbles adds controlled random voltages that together help create great evolving leads that can be supported by the DT and DN. It’s a versatile but stable setup - trying to work out what to add next while keeping it stable (no setup changes aside from patch cables).