David Emm

That demo ups my appreciation for the instrument by several notches. You could outdo the pianos with a couple of the higher-end VSTs, but otherwise, they're impressive. Synths and organs are fairly easy to construct, but pianos/EPs are the acid test of engine quality. This one has casuals and cover bands written all over it, with a few brave souls who will add the giant fantasy patches they've built in Pigments.

I've been using DAWs since a generation or three before I took up Logic 8. I laugh a bit at that, because it seems as though there is a serious tug of war going on between formats. Apple would LOVE for you to have an iPhone, an iPad, a laptop and a desktop at home. The crossover point between convenience and madness is pretty slim. Excessive management of your platforms will nuke part of your productivity. There's probably only a small percentage of e-music enthusiasts who peck away at an iPad in the park, only to run home and transfer it into Logic. If you start with an iPad, how can you not eventually feel the itch for the greater horsepower of a MacBook or iMac? I know the answer to that one: the day Apple releases a 24" foldable "pad" with a touchscreen, 16 GB of RAM and at least 1 TB of storage. 💪

Editing more than a small handful of partials is a gateway to Hell comparable to one of those 50-cord Eurorack patches. The results are often so esoteric that the music reeks of academic oddity. I prefer physical modeling and resynthesis to additive or FM. Crisp bells and glassy pads are far easier to achieve taking those routes. I'm less about exotic event sounds and more about those best implemented on a keyboard. Tusker is right about resynthesis sometimes yielding less than ideal results, but as with Autosampling, there's a middle ground that sings properly. Sweeping harmonics can sound gorgeous; I just find myself getting what I need without having to go to the micro-madness level in things.

This was part of my porn. Dividing my fap time between airbrushed megababes and pics of synths I barely comprehended left me a bit shriveled. 🤓

Tripping through synth sound expansion packs is a guilty pleasure. Sure, I encounter all too many seeming keepers. Part of the challenge has been to enjoy the session, but also not make a Favorites list 150 patches strong and expect it to go anywhere. The gods forgive my arrogance, but I can relate to Tony Banks saying "People brought me new synths all the time and each of them had at least 3 or 4 good songs in them." That's the bell I enjoy ringing when I buy another patch set. Otherwise, I create the majority of my own beats & loops. Or, by example, I found an arp I liked using a bland sound, so I dropped the MIDI data into another track and found a better sound for it. Then I applied it to a drum kit, cut out half of its drums and played some counterpoint over the now less busy material. I apologize to nobody for a tweaked percussion track that's 2/3 Me. The CR-78 is a dignified secret weapon in its simplicity. Anything that challenges you to bring out your best is a winner.

UGH! Hey, you! I had a mouthful of hoagie when I saw the shot of the red goo! Thanks a pile! 🤨😁 The XP-30 was a dreamboat. I was gently muscled into a very nice trade, but I would have been far better off keeping it. The range of sounds & welcoming keybed were impressive. The XP-50/80 GUIs were too fidgety; the 30 was right in the pocket for me as a sort-of pianist. I became a Korg man because their company voice hit the most marks for me, but I still see the XP-30 as a high point. The Juno-X is probably as close as Roland will come to a re-release, with the market being mostly controllers and near-flagships now. The XP-30 was the first "VST in a box," IMO. Shweet.

There you go: one of Arturia's target players speaks. They're not a tiny startup; they have a potent customer base. The Astrolab isn't just some weekend quirk breadboarded together. They clearly burned the midnight oil and came up with an elegant hybrid. It provides for both more seasoned customers AND preset players who just want to mod the filter once in a while. The former could easily put it above a DP or clonewheel with their punchy personal sounds on display. The second will have a library of merit that they can tweak with minimal sweat. I'm curious to hear what early adopters will have to say 90 days in, because its not a normal stage piano. Its an interesting bridge between computer-based rigs and full-blown workstations. Woody's comment on the dubious fulcrum point for the keys is sobering, depending on your playing style, so its not a holy grail. Still, I don't think its making a shameful start. It just has a few oddities going, like every other e-music device has had since Charles Addams's first Battery Actuated Multiple Mouse Organ, the BAMMO. It failed because it burned out mice too quickly and people ran from the hall at the stench when it was played. Final thought: every company has a unique, subtle TONE across their ranges. If I'd already leaned into Arturia's, I'd be on this as an inspired addition.

Long-story short, I'm oddly impressed. I'd modify a few things about it like the number of splits, as we always want to do, but if the keybed feels good, that's a huge WIN, the massive library being what it is. Its perfectly fair to require a full instrument to get to the programming micro-level; I see that as an inducement, not a drawback. The piano may not be your first choice, but its no slouch, either. I don't hear any cause for hate. That dial had better be extra-tough, because its going to get a serious workout. The implementation seems well-considered, so if its as OLED-crisp as it looks, I applaud the design. It straddles a twisty line for me, because its not quite enough of a feature-rich powerhouse to be a winner for every kind of live work and it sort of gyps someone who wants to program in detail. Flip side: if you're a composer who owns a couple of their full synths like Pigments, you could lean on it heavily and make out well. The modifiers available for the presets are well-chosen. Also, the 61 keys are appreciated. 73-76 would be better, but 4 octaves would make a split near-pointless. "VST in a box" seems like much less of an insult now. This is a good example of the idea working properly.

I don't see myself adding the noble history 🤢 of such a hit-&-miss-&-miss company to my stack. The fact that they HAVE released a few pieces that work properly makes the negatives harder to bear. WTH, Uli? Even the Big 3 have released a few embarrassments, but they're about 90% Good. That number feels flipped here. I already have a stable DAW, 40 instruments (I only need 30 of them ) and a shiny work flow. I need another VA like I need 6 toes on one foot. (pause) Same to you. May the court note that the witness in no way seeks to castigate satisfied Behringer players. Part of synthesis is the journey towards your own ideal man/woman studio cave. No two are alike and if I don't like it, I can cram a lump-in-the-middle power supply. Fair play, oi!

The brief period during which I played live a few times was a mini-high-wire act. "Loopers" were dubious types who spent many evenings laboring over a splicing block, not performance assistants. My whole act depended on shoveling disks in and out of a Korg 01Wfd. I could deliver some patter while things loaded and I naturally played a few solo piano/organ/drum pieces so my chops showed, but the rest was me playing one track while the orchestra of my home-brewed work came out of the sequencer. If that drive had died, I would have been SOL. I greatly admire the stainless steel spine it takes to play live, at any level.

With my luck, my Apple car would auto-install an OS update while I was going through a 4-way at rush hour and the brakes would stop working.

Heh, dude, you triggered me! They were a scorching-fun band. I laughed my arse off to see them channel Tom *their* way, doing "I Don't Wanna Grow Up." Tom Waits original version https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CWh4xHeFMIQ RAMONES version at the end of the superhero romp "Shazam!" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IQLQpOTXz2E Excellent! It was a superior choice for a tale about a child who turns into an adult superhero with a word. "... sometimes wish that I could be a dog." I hear ya. What a beautiful sentiment! 🐶

Its often too much like Night Of The Living Glam band. Hearing a former lead demigod crack horribly while trying to hit a high F makes me howl like a dog. 😱

If I start hearing "Thus Spake Zarathustra," I'll know we're boned. 💀🌚

Good description! He has an odd sweetness going on, even when he's power-playing. I still sadly marvel at having never seen any form of KC through my concert years, aside from one golden day. Fripp was doing mini-tours in record stores and I caught one, gaping at the two Revoxes acting as his classic, ambient delay line. It was inspiring and weirdly intimate. I did get to see Tony Levin playing with Peter Gabriel, though. God love a Stick man! As a huge fan, I do NOT recommend this https://www.imdb.com/title/tt10148150/ Its the documentary "In the Court of the Crimson King: King Crimson at 50." I had hoped for a semi-rollicking band history and instead got a funeral dirge. Its not a bad film, just a sad one. There are some fun, witty moments and musical excerpts, but yeesh, I'm decaying enough myself. I wasn't seeking to watch some of my heroes do it, too! The tedium and stresses of the road are center-stage more than the band's accomplishments. Discussing not being invited to the band's next regrouping, Belew says "Fripp kind of needs me;" Fripp says "Adrian is not what you would call an ensemble player." You can see where a certain creative line is drawn. If you are a 100%-er fan, okay, but be prepared to end up feeling more wistful than joyful. I don't fault any of the band for being human, not a bit. Instead, I'm amazed at how they held up so well through grueling, Olympian pacing. That wears one to a nub, sooner or later. We all understand that touring comes at a personal cost. I'm mainly just grateful. KC is like 10% of my musical upbringing, astounding me with every new release. I learned as much there as from almost everything ELSE. I'm still perfectly happy with my two-foot-long KC LP section. Once again, a closing segment of "Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3," where team members name their musical faves.

If you have Alchemy, start with this and consider it more fully. The GUI is a sweetheart. Being able to drop your choice of goods into as many as FOUR slots is impressive. Its something of a Desert Island synth that handily competes with everything else. Remember, you can fill those slots with ANYTHING in your Logic libraries and do the Twist with heady effects chains. Its utterly elastic and keeps me from FOMO on some attractive newer synths. https://support.apple.com/guide/logicpro/alchemy-overview-lgsi2618652a/mac

The OP says he is an absolute beginner, yet he's reaching for astounding chops like Derek Sherninian's. I think there's a cognitive disconnect going on! You won't get there overnight, for sure. We longer-term players know that you have to build up some callouses. He probably knows that from being a guitarist. A Nautilus seems sensible enough, assuming you're ready to drop good $ for an instrument that will grow with you. Also, if you want to play "aggressively," you'll eventually learn the lesson of synth blowouts and costly repair woes. A Nord seems a bit tougher overall, as Derek is not a shy, retiring player. The overall sound quality of things is excellent these days, so its worth buying a mid-line instrument on which to learn the ropes. Roland makes tough gear, so look into the Fantom line, too. If you're that new, you need some knobs n' sliders so you can learn signal flow. Nords aren't cheap, but they're good to learn on and their library is immense. You can build a more "ideal" instrument that way. I advise against a Yamaha to start with. You may want to add one some day because of the great sound & builds, but their convoluted OS designs will leave you with a bad taste as a newbie. Start elsewhere and build up to them. Do NOT fall prey to vintage nostalgia. An older instrument will just bite you in the arse sooner. Almost any synth can be programmed into semi-symphonic shape. Try a few things out if there is a store nearby, although that's become difficult outside larger cities. Above all, read and learn the lingo. Your very first synth probably won't be ideal, but the field is pretty good. When/if you decide to upgrade, it could easily stay with you as a worthwhile member of your rig. Good luck!

Truly sorry about your dog. When one of them goes, its like losing half of a human being. Hopefully, you'll be able to transfer that Dog Luv module to another one that needs it. Not immediately, but in due course.

Hear hear! I've been buying third-party sounds for years. I get the best of that set and then a second one that I tweak into a personalized Best Of. I've learned as much from reverse-engineering the gems in those sets as I have from other resources combined. I encourage people to buy at least 4 or 5 from different designers. Its like a mini-master class in programming the instrument.

I had an SH-7 for a while, but even through effects pedals, it felt too thin. I traded it to someone more knowledgeable for some better-grade effects. It did help me get a better handle on analog synthesis at a good time. It was FUN where other synths felt more serious. I'd still hand it to a kid today if I wanted to teach them signal flow. I had an RSP-550 (mmmm...), several noisy Boss half-rack effects (which still had good character) and a bushel of mostly Boss pedals. Roland keys never came back into view until I bought a Juno-1 on a casual lark, where I got it for a stupid-low price. That paid off in a huge way, even though I thought it was puny... until I plugged it into the RSP. Holy bleep. ANYWAY.... I don't have the right kind of nostalgia for this sort of trip down memory lane. I'm spoiled by my big stash of polys. 💪

The longer I've seen that mess unfold, the less I've considered the idea worthwhile. Sure, its unfortunate that you can't drop in a moment here or there as an homage, but why sully my own juices with an entirely avoidable external battle? I can write reasonably well without needing to lift diddly from elsewhere. The less "legal" you can make it, the better your art will smell. I think it was BT who said "The music business is a den of sin and inequity, but there's a downside, too."

If I took on a real Mellotron, you could set your watch. Within a few days, I'd be seen on TMZ, rolling around naked in a mass of tapes, laughing and crying. They'd shine high beams on me and I'd freeze like a deer. That's when they'd hit me with the trank darts. They wouldn't work well enough right away, so I'd ask for three more, just to take the edge off. Yeah, better stick with the software. 😬

Here ya go. Short answer, yes it does, full house, including Alchemy. You also get the creditable Vintage B3 & Electric Piano. The Mellotron feels puny to me after years of loving M-Tron Pro, but it offers the popular basics. Sampler really upped my game, once I learned how to fine-tune Autosampler. My hardware Korg favorites are in there, as well as unique Soundfonts, some E-mu sets from Digital Sound Factory & a few alien freebie downloads. https://www.apple.com/mainstage/plugins-and-sounds/

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That's an excellent demo and a perfect balance to your review. You addressed my last couple of concerns well. Its a unique beauty. I once thought it might be my ideal central controller, but no, its a thing unto itself. I'm sure someone will eventually layer it with another synth and extend its reach some. It feels somewhat like the Mellotron moments that appeared before even string synths, where the otherworldliness made your jaw drop. This will take center stage in a similar manner. It won't displace other instruments to excess, but I think there's a good chance that it will finally put MPE on the map for a broader audience. The all-important AHA! moment approacheth.