Going polyphonic with the Moog Slim Phatty and Little Phatty

Or to be more precise, duophonic! http://www.twitter.com/sourcedist

Both the Moog Little Phatty keyboard and the Slim Phatty module are monophonic instruments, but chain them together with MIDI and you can create a polyphonic Moog system! I wish we had more Slim Phatties lying around but at time of writing are currently sold out :'~|

That's a good thing though, right? If you have one of these synths (or a Voyager which can also be chained), and know someone else who does too, get over there and try this out!

Anyhow. This vid is unfortunately in mono (onboard camera sound too), and most certainly not a musical statement, as we had just received the Slim Phatty and I was just testing that the setup works! I had individual synths to individual speakers and in stereo, in person, it sounded AMAZING. You'll have to forgive my complete inability to play a keyboard. God bless MIDI. And Dr Bob Moog.

Category:

Music

Tags:

• moog
• synth
• synthesizer
• poly
• polyphonic
• duophonic
• keyboard
• sounds
• chain
• MIDI
• demo
• test
• example

[agauerm]

just sample tha phatty and play it in ableton's sampler. There u go, polyphonic phatty! check my video ;)

[SourceDistributionTV]

@agauerm Yep - this is a very important thing to bear in mind - sample every note too! Not interactive though, but this was the principle of what people like Wendy Carlos were doing. Creative multitrack recording can make a single monophonic instrument become an orchestra!

[gareebee]

Digital is the future. Once people scoffed at digital photography. Not any more. Same with Digital synthesis. As resolution becomes higher, step increments in pitch and filtration become less noticeable. Soon it will be indistinguishable. Analog synthesis' days are numbered.

[SourceDistributionTV]

@gareebee But what about controlling your software synthesizer? Half of the appeal of analogue kit is how immediate and hands on it is. Dedicated controls. Granted, the Slim Phatty has less knobs than a Voyager, but the immediacy, the INTERACTION that is possible with real hardware can make more of a difference than any sonic similarities might try to make up for.

[SourceDistributionTV]

@gareebee I should add...you need to hear a Phatty in person before making any decisions here...!

[muddygiorgos]

it's nice but at the same price you can get a prophet08 if you want polyphonic synth....

[SourceDistributionTV]

@muddygiorgos Yep, but very different character though!

[gareebee]

@Nord72 Agreed. Now, how about a talented player in front of digital keyboards? Plenty of those folks around :)

[Nord72]

@gareebee : Digital Equipments will never replace a talented player in front of any analogue gear(s) :)

[gareebee]

@jgk381 What good will analog (cannot be pirated) be if digital resolution finally gets to the point that one cannot hear the difference? It's not there yet, but the day is not far off.

Please read my other comments in this thread for a more detailed explanation.

[gareebee]

@xkleenexk A computer doesn't need to fully replicate analog, only get to the point that you can no longer hear the difference. If you disagree, please explain what it is that analog will always be able to do that digital will never be able to do. Again, the question deals with a =discernible= difference, not a =technical= difference. BTW, my first synth was an ARP 2600 analog modular in 1976.

[xkleenexk]

@gareebee im sorry but a computer will never be able to fully replicate the sound of real electricity running through a circuit with 1's and 0's. you speak like someone who has never heard a modular synthesizer in person.

[jgk381]

@gareebee Analog hardware can't be duplicated or pirated. If consumers want it they have to buy it from the manufacturer in physical form, and thats what these companies are going to start selling and pushing, and its also what is in high demand from the public. It makes too mich sense. We are already starting to see the beginning of it with Arturia getting into the analog hardware business. If they make it as affordable as software, everyone will buy it, and no more risk of pirating.

[jgk381]

@gareebee I think you'll see coming very soon that analog synths will be coming back and taking over the market. Big companies like Roland, Korg, Yamaha, etc can;t sell their thousand dollar digital synths anymore because ppl are buying the digital software versions for half the price. Software companies are finding that most of those consumers are now just pirating their products for free online.

[gareebee]

@salvadory I don't dispute the appeal of analog recording. Again, my only point is digital reproduction has ongoing technological advances on it's side. Analog is already about as good as it can be. It's a matter of time. Also, Analog reproduction is only meaningful if it remains analog until it reaches your ear. Almost all music ends up being compressed digitally at that point. Even ear-pleasing imperfection can be programmed. Check out "Russian dragon" module as an example.

[gareebee]

@cprostudio Yes, you and I might react differently, but how about those in our audience? An experiment was done in a university many years ago in which they put a violinist on stage in front of an audience, Everyone thought they heard a violin, when what they heard was someone backstage, playing a synth. The reverse was true as well. If it's close enough...why not? Now, if I could just build a box that looks like a System 55 and have it on stage.... :)