Novation circuit monostation

The Lounge Other Gear
#81

I managed to snag one a few months ago when they had the 50% off promo. Worth every penny and then some. It seems to find its way into whatever configuration I have going.

It was also my gateway drug to getting a Digitone. I discovered over time that the sounds I preferred were synthesized, not sampled, and I started depending more and more on the Mono Station to add those flavors instead of my MPC Live or other sample based devices.

In my search for something that could give me even more, I ā€œrediscoveredā€ the Digitone and realized it was just what I was looking for to help me to fully get away from samples for a while. Interesting that the Digitone and ā€œElektron Wayā€ came to me fairly easily because the Circuit Mono Station has parameter/patch(sound) locks and some other elements in common that translated well to using the Digitone.

So now my Circuit Mono Station is paired with the Digitone to provide an extra voice of analog mojo. Those two boxes plus an Arturia Keystep are keeping me quite busy.

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#82

It is such an inspiring synth. It has largely replaced my Minitaur, sadly. With the Mono Station, I feel like I make something very usable right away, and get drawn to it first when I make music, even with ā€œmore capableā€ equipment nearby (Digitakt, Digitone, Peak, Minitaur). At this point, I program out an interesting bass or lead line on the Mono Station, add drums with Digitakt, and then use Peak/Digitone and sometimes Minitaur to add melody and texture. So under-appreciated.

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#83

I Had one Here for a few dass and that Osc1/2 Separation and forcing you in the workflow to constantly do an extra Button Press was very irritating to me to the Point that it actually annoyed me so much that i returned it. Am i the only one that find this irritating? I really liked the Sound and i Wish they would make a well less UI compromised shrinked Version with knobs for both Oscs. And pleaseā€¦add at least a nice delay fx ā€¦

#84

Doesn t bother me. I find how they ve designed it intuitive enough to easily work with it.

Of course it s no Peak in terms of UI. I got it with the mindset of a compact, idiosyncratic little box, not a generic do it all synth.

#85

Agreed, I think one of my favorite things about it is the paraphony, so I donā€™t really use the two oscillators sequenced together the same way. If I need a generic monosynth, Iā€™ll use the Minitaur. The Mono Station contributes a sound all its own.

#86

I prefer the separate control.

#87

Found one of these barely used for cheap, looking forward to it arriving now!

#88

Thinking if getting one for the prices theyā€™re at now. I wonder how much fun it is to pair with a circuitā€¦

#89

I have a DFAM and absolutely love it. I saw that the mono station got patch flipping and saw some vids where people play it like an analog drum machine.

There are blowout prices on these at a lot of retailers so I picked one up.

Only had it for one day so far but it definitely reminds me and is similar to the DFAM as a drum machine. Coolest part is that the sequencer is so much more sophisticated, and you can motion record and save patches/projects!!

Plus itā€™s a very good mono synth. Just wanted to make a post letting people know if you love your DFAM, this is seriously worth looking at considering all the things it does. So far Iā€™d say the DFAM sounds better (it sounds incredible) but given that Iā€™m only scratching the surface of the CMS Iā€™m excited to see what I can come up with!

#90

With the current heavy duty black Friday deal on the CMS iā€™ve been finding myself mulling over getting one. A couple of things Iā€™m just wondering about is the pattern settings and patch flip.

How independent are these for the separate sequencers? Like, could you have Osc 1, Osc 2 and the Mod sequencer all running at different scales, direction and seq length? Iā€™d imagine that you could get into quite generative territories with that.

But how would patch flip work in that situation? Is the patch changing at a level associated with each sequencer or does the whole patch change when one specific sequencer gets to the appropriate step?

Any insight appreciated. Cheers!

#91

You can do all the independence on sequencers as you described.

Patch flip is linked to Osc 1 sequencer as all the other automations., except Osc 2 parameters (incl. modulation) which are automated in Osc 2 sequencer. Mod sequencer doesnā€™t record any automation - only note velocity is used as assignable modulation source.

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#92

Is it possible to record all parameters? Or do you have to go through the mod matrix?

I almost bought it last time they had 50% off, but I regret it. Now I just got a B Pro-1. And not shire if I need another monoā€¦ ahh canā€™t make up my mind!

#93

If i m not mistaken all parameters can be recorded in a pattern. (I really should give this a spin soonā€¦)

#94

Cheers! I canā€™t feel temptation risingā€¦ perhaps the impending servicing of my car will put a dampener on that thoā€¦

#95

Buy it, try it, return it / sell it
Itā€™s got a nice usable sequencer , you. An route audio into it as fx unit / distortion box.
I paid about Ā£350 for it and it was fine ,

Was handy to seq external stuff as you can select scales , I donā€™t know proper note stuff.

#96

Hereā€™s something to wet your appetite (or not). Have been working on acid sounds recently:

Starts with saw oscillator and just a touch of internal distortion. H9 and Space are used for reverb and delay.

At around 3.00 I bring in osc 2 (saw) with an additional paraphonic melody.
Around 4.00 I turn up the internal distortion.
Around 4.30 I switch osc 1 to square wave.
Around 6.15 I switch distortion to external Analog Drive.

(Thereā€™s a bad buzz audible in the end tail. While recording this I noticed the AD has a groundloop(?) problem with my MOTU audio interface.)

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#97

Was thinking about letting mine go. No more. Nice aciding there.

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#98

I caved and ordered one! Looking forward to it!

A quick question! How does the paraphony work? On regular synths both oscā€™s are often linked, but if you ā€œpress two keysā€ one osc is offset from the other. But both oscs are always sounding. But on the Mono Station they are not linked. But will both oscs make sound if you turn up the audio for both oscā€™s, and sequence something on the Osc 1 sequencer?

What happens if you have a sequence going on the Osc 1 sequencer, and put just one note on the first step on the Osc 2 sequencer? Lets say you have a long envelope, so the vca is open for the whole sequence.

#99

Just couldnā€™t resist at this price. Got one for 280e
Is there a way to decouple osc 2 from its sequencer? Want to sequence another mono with it, but not loose an oscillator

#100

Use track 3?