Get in the Moog

By Paul Dakeyne

May 28, 2009 | Posted in Music Technology

What’s Phat, Sexy and a real Buzz to use..? Answer on a postcard please with the word ‘MINIMOOG’ emblazoned in capitals. I first had the pleasure of touching and programming a bonafide Minimoog ‘D’ in the 90′s at a West London studio. With it’s 3 controllable VCO’s, noise source and external input, variable waveforms and those incredible Moog filters, I was a kid in an analogue sweetshop making big warm basses, bleepy electronic percussives and searing monophonic lead lines.

Taking that original ethos two very large steps further are 2009′s hardware option, the Moog Minimoog Voyager ‘Old School’ Synth, and in the software domain, the newly revamped and tech-feature packed version 2 of Arturia’s Minimoog V. The Moog hardware option has a cool multi position, hinged control panel (great for gigging), 44 keys (with velocity and afterpressure) and the analog sound engine of the Voyager (minus the digital controls).

Over in software land, Arturia’s already excellent Minimoog V emulation has been up on the ramps and turbo charged for ’09. Although I’ve yet to get my V1 upgraded, I’m looking forward to the new feature set: ‘Sound Map’ – Using the crazy mapping feature to morph sounds and apply filters in a totally unique (at least visually) way. The new ‘Vocal Filter’ promises voice manipulation to get you all Wendy Carlos’d up.. or , is it Walter Carlos..? anyway.. Bring on the Moogs!

About Paul Dakeyne

Paul Dakeyne has written 592 post in this blog.

Paul Dakeyne is a DJ/Producer who has dedicated the past two decades of his life to dance music production and DJ'ing. For six years, he toured globally for the world famous Ministry of Sound and has played DJ sets for the likes of U2 and for the legendary, Kraftwerk, Although remixing around 250 records in his career, as an artist in his own right, Paul landed one of dance music's seminal crossover moments with his "18 Strings' monster hit by Tinman - scoring a UK top ten in 1994. He also co-wrote and produced the music for BBC's Watchdog and Crimewatch when they were both revamped in 2001 and '06 respectively. His other career highlights have included an A&R stint for Mercury Records, lecturing in 'DJ culture and music technology' and creating mash-up mixes for Radio 1's, Chris Moyles. Paul joined the DV group in 2003 leading to his role as blog and feature author here at the DV Mag.

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Tags: arturia, minimoog, moog, voyager

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