Fun with a Minimoog!

[Nathanael_I]

Tonight I subbed for a bass player for a 90 minute set. All I used was my Minimoog, and boy was it fun! Huge low end, riding the growl and harmonics on the filter, changing wave shapes to suit the song - just a lot of fun. I was about 8 feet from one of the subs, and got to shake the stage regularly. I have one of the new re-issues, and patching the velocity works well.

 

A Minimoog can sound plain in the studio by itself, but put it in a band context, and it is just a little piece of magic. Just a joy to play. I know most of you know. But I just had to share. I'd happily do another of those!

[marczellm]

So would I

[Marzzz]

I did a fair number of gigs back in the 70's where I primarily played bass on the Minimoog. Very easy to emulate a bass guitar when needed!

[The Real MC]

Played LH bass on a Moog Source in at least two bands. The Moog filter is very good at bass sounds.

[drohm]

Nice! I love my Moog...bass for miles!

[MAJUSCULE]

Though I don't own the real deal, I do play a Moog bass sound in a blues trio and it most certainly does kick.

[Nathanael_I]

The other fun thing was one of the alternate keyboard players for the band was there - but not playing. He's about 25 or so. He had never seen a Minimoog before and had no idea what it was. He came up afterwards and said all, "All of a sudden I realized that I was hearing bass and that's what you were playing! What is that?" He continued, "It sure is pretty - look at all that beautiful wood.... It looks old, but I can tell its new....?" He raised his eyebrows when I explained that it had no patch memory - what you see is what you get. He immediately got that it was for live performance and connected why I was turning knobs while playing. He was also surprised to learn that it is monophonic!

 

When people hear it, the questions are answered! The Moog and I held down the low end, with others taking piano/synth (Kronos), guitar and drums - a very full and rich sound to be sure!

[cphollis]

Love this. A keyboard dude brought in for a bass gig. Like you, I would have brought as much game as possible. And, thanks to your post, it would be all Moog, all the time,

[MAJUSCULE]

Lol, 25 and he'd never seen or heard of a Minimoog?

[Nathanael_I]

I don't think that's as uncommon as we might think. A whole lot of people who took enough piano lessons as a kid to play pop music without any real difficulty essentially know nothing about digital keyboards. They spend zero time thinking about them, and play whatever there is provided to play or that they own. They play piano on whatever that is, and pretty much ignore any other capability. Preset 001 usually works for this.

 

This forum is full of true music nerds - we spend our time, disposable income, etc this way. Not everyone is interested in playing in a covers band where a ROMpler shines, synths are required, etc. Some people just do their thing. The closer you get to singer/songwriter, I think the more true that is. If it makes a piano noise and has the right number of keys, and the action works, much else is ignored or unused.

[Music Bird]

Ive used Minimogue VA for bass in some songs. It has a nice low end, even though its an emulation of the Minimoog, Id say its the best free emu Ive heard of a Moog. Ive played a Moog Sub Phatty in my high school for school concerts, both for bass and leads. It has an awesome low end, one thing that synths are good at. Currently, Ive been using a program called blooo for some basslines. It has some excellent Moog Source-style bass sounds. Ive even played a Hammond before in a music store and it had some excellent bass in the pedals, maybe a different kind of sound, but still a good bass replacement.

Heres an example of blooo bass in my version of Owner Of A Lonely Heart.

https://soundcloud.com/pigeon-city/yes-owner-of-a-lonely-heart-instrumental-cover

I may be an up and coming musician, but I still try to sound like the older artists.

[marczellm]

A whole lot of people who took enough piano lessons as a kid to play pop music without any real difficulty essentially know nothing about digital keyboards.

ANALOG! It's analog!

[Nathanael_I]

Point taken, but that also makes the point even more. The Minimoog was not in production in any part of this players life except the last three years. He would never have seen a band using one. If they don't know digital keyboards well, how would they ever know a 35 year old analog one? The EDM people know - their heroes all use the old stuff and pose in front of the huge rigs in their home studios. But if you grew up on Coldplay?

[Al Coda]

Ive used Minimogue VA for bass in some songs. It has a nice low end, even though its an emulation of the Minimoog, Id say its the best free emu Ive heard of a Moog.

 

Interesting,- which version ?

Ironically, the earlier version came w/ just only a 12dB filter which isn´t moogish at all.

Minimogue VA 2.3 (and Minimogue Luxus) offered a 24dB filter,- and that filter behaviour was modeled after my Minimoog D which I use until today.

I delivered all the audio recordings necessary for analysis.

 

But there´s still a difference between the VST and the real deal !

 

A.C.

[Doerfler]

But if you grew up on Coldplay?

 

the horror.

[Music Bird]

Ive used Minimogue VA for bass in some songs. It has a nice low end, even though its an emulation of the Minimoog, Id say its the best free emu Ive heard of a Moog.

 

Interesting,- which version ?

Ironically, the earlier version came w/ just only a 12dB filter which isn´t moogish at all.

Minimogue VA 2.3 (and Minimogue Luxus) offered a 24dB filter,- and that filter behaviour was modeled after my Minimoog D which I use until today.

I delivered all the audio recordings necessary for analysis.

 

But there´s still a difference between the VST and the real deal !

 

A.C.

The newest version, maybe 2.3. Yeah, the old 12db filter is much more raspier and quackier and more Roland than a Moog sound.

[David Emm]

Tonight I subbed for a bass player for a 90 minute set. All I used was my Minimoog, and boy was it fun! Huge low end, riding the growl and harmonics on the filter, changing wave shapes to suit the song - just a lot of fun. I was about 8 feet from one of the subs, and got to shake the stage regularly. ... A Minimoog can sound plain in the studio by itself, but put it in a band context, and it is just a little piece of magic. Just a joy to play. I know most of you know. But I just had to share. I'd happily do another of those!

 

Great story and a great MOOG story, too! Sometimes a simple dollop of synth acts as the last piece of a jigsaw puzzle. I once ended up acting as the sole, artsy musical accompaniment for several hours' worth of poetry slam. Among other things, I was asked for wind behind one piece, a small choir for another and marimba for a third, humorous piece. I was just tweaking a lone Prophet-600 through a reverb pedal, but it was immense fun to call those things up on the fly. Who fondly recalls patch memory via strips of paper taped to the panel of synths with only 2-digit numerical displays? No damned body, that's who!

 

[Nathanael_I]

My OB-6 desktop has a THREE digit numerical display! And I do have my favorites memorized! I need to go in and clean up my user bank and get rid of some of the experiments that don't work live and get it tight again. Really good timbres take a while to get right, and some never make it after trying them live.

 

The OB-6 is like the Moog in that there is an immediacy to the interface that makes it delightful to use live. Everything you need is right there, and what you don't need under fire isn't even an option in a menu.

 

My Solaris is a vastly more capable synth than either, and you CAN make it immediate and fully controllable, but you HAVE to do this. With 1200 parameters per patch, you can go VERY deep. You don't have to... but you can. So it takes more thought, planning and purpose to put it to use.

 

Dave Smith and Bob Moog really understand live performance and what works. I think it is different than what makes a great studio synth or a sound-design synth.

[Bucktunes]

A Minimoog can sound plain in the studio by itself, but put it in a band context, and it is just a little piece of magic. Just a joy to play. I know most of you know. But I just had to share.

At the risk of preaching to the choir here...The Minimoog rocks like nothing else! It's also the only keyboard I own that sounds like a million bucks with no effects at all. On recordings I might add a touch of VST delay and/or reverb for leads, but for bass it sounds great bone dry!

 

I got my new Model D less than a year ago, and I haven't yet found a gig that I consider safe enough to take this gem out of the house to go do. I just love playing it here and recording with it. Maybe someday, if the gig is important enough...

[ProfD]

Moog bass oozes sonic goodness immediately. Loved my Sub 37 in that regard. But, I wanted a poly synth.

 

Now, I have a Prophet 6. Overall, the P6 has a similar immediacy when programming phat usable sounds including basses.

 

The P6 bass has a different vibe from a Moog. Both are capable of shaking the house.

[Nathanael_I]

Oh yes! Analog house shaking is fully supported around these parts... And yes, Steve, bass on the Minimoog needs nothing else. I went straight into a DI box and done!