Moog grandmother review

He packed a punch in his long stint leading the American firm and this monosynth packs a punch too. Having waited patiently to get it on the test bench, we finally put it through its paces, moog grandmother review.

Robert Moog first put synth music into the hands of the public back in the s. His Moog module systems inspired future generations of moog music and now they are back for more with their latest release. The Moog Grandmother is a semi-modular analog synthesizer that is playable straight out of the box. Record and playback sequences with up to notes each. This product is exactly what you should expect from the company of Robert Moog — one of the grandfathers of synth music! It is about energy at its most basic level. Moog decided to re-use the circuits from the legendary s Minimoog and a lot of the other components are based on the classic Moog circuits of the original s synth modules.

Moog grandmother review

Not a complete all-rounder, but this a fine semi-modular synth with genuine Moog pedigree. You might just consider selling your grandmother to get one MusicRadar's got your back Our team of expert musicians and producers spends hours testing products to help you choose the best music-making gear for you. Find out more about how we test. Moog Music has a history of announcing new products to coincide with its annual Moogfest celebrations, and the shebang was no exception. Mere days before this year's get-together, the company revealed a new semi-modular analogue synthesizer. In the s, Robert Moog's massive modular systems were the first commercially viable synthesisers, and in recent years the company has pitched its semi-modular Mother and DFAM modules to the Eurorack and desktop crowds. This new one - dubbed the Grandmother - is a first for Moog's semi-modular line in that it comes equipped with a high-quality, note, velocity-sensitive keyboard courtesy of Fatar. The former is spring-loaded, allowing it to always return to the root note in play. A trio of colourful backlit buttons crowns the left-hand control section. These perform multiple duties, shifting octaves as well as acting as sequencer controls Play, Hold, Tap tempo.

The toggle switch used for selecting the arpeggiator's octave is also used to select which of the three stored sequences is played.

By Preshan John. Grandmother looks somewhere between toy-like and retro. Its brightly-coloured panels are laid out to mimic a modular workflow, and the classic Moog knob shapes, switches and serrated pitch and mod wheels are all retro. After ripping Grandmother out of her box, I plugged it into the office pair of PMC bookshelf speakers. It had plenty of analogue depth and meatiness, even through a sub-less system. Two onboard oscillators each have four waveform options; triangle, sawtooth, square and narrow pulse. They just sound good… all through the range of four switchable octaves — smooth with lush lows.

Much more than just an expanded Grandmother, the Matriarch has all the makings of a classic Moog synth. Two years ago Moog launched the Grandmother — a fine entry-level monosynth with a name that we've learned to live with. But, even then, the company were thinking about adding a more powerful instrument to the range, and I was asked how I would enhance Granny to create a flagship synth for the post-Voyager era. Apart from insisting that it not be called the Great Grandmother, I suggested that it would need a wider keyboard with aftertouch, plus obvious upgrades such as more oscillators, more powerful filtering, a second contour generator and improved modulation. But I also made a right pain of myself by banging on about additional mixers and patchable VCAs because, in common with other semi-modular synths, the Grandmother has far too few of these zero in this case , which can prove limiting until you connect it to a modular synth. Happily, Moog listened and, when I received the final rendering of the Great Granny concept — by this point renamed the Matriarch — it promised all of the above and more. Moog are keen to emphasise that its signal path — and therefore its sound — is determined by the historic modules on which it's based.

Moog grandmother review

We are reader-supported. Links on our site may earn us a commission. More about us. Bob Moog and his instruments have inspired generations of music-makers and continue to do so. The Moog synth bass sound alone has defined more than one genre of music over decades. Moog has been recently adding to the budget end of its range, most notably with the Moog Grandmother. It has a key Fatar keyboard, 41 patch points, and a real spring reverb. Despite being a relatively cheap Moog, the Grandmother has some very impressive and flexible features. In this price range, you are more likely to find digital or hybrid synths than full analog.

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It's strictly a step sequencer - no real time recording - and notes are entered from the keyboard itself. The Moog Grandmother is a semi-modular analog synthesizer that is playable straight out of the box. However, even without patching, you can dial up a host of usable sounds — and once you try your hand with the included patch cables, it becomes clear how well designed and flexible the synth really is. Author Bruce Aisher 16th February, Edit gear details. This is going to be a short review. You can choose to repeat the notes you played, play them in an octave higher or lower and then also play them two octaves higher if you so wish. Like its keyboard, controls and overall looks, the Grandmother is solid and dependable and can create authoritative bass tones to match. Rear panel of the Moog Grandmother. Roland JX-8P

The Mother and the Grandmother are both very different from one another. The Mother is more modular-centric, has a fancier sequencer, and can integrate easily with Eurorack setups.

Having waited patiently to get it on the test bench, we finally put it through its paces. Roles: Guitarist Keyboardist Audio Engineer. Along with the synth and power supply, the box contains a proper excellent printed manual, six patch cables of varying length, and a plastic 'Slinky' toy sporting the Moog logo. Behringer Crave. You can choose from Sine, Square, Saw, and Ramp waveforms with oscillator pitch, filter cutoff, and pulse width modulation options available, plus a dedicated knob for Rate control. This Grandmother could have gotten the name minimoog grandmother as an offshoot of the classic minimoog if there was such an original name. Review: Cubase The CP3 mixer is synonymous with the Moog sound and gives you plenty of patch points for further modulation. Arturia MatrixBrute Analog Synthesizer. Unfortunately, while low-note, high-note and last-note key priorities are available, the Grandmother offers only single triggering, which is an unexpected oversight. This doesn't quite make up for the lack of a second envelope generator, but it helps. The instrument's many sync options allow for syncopated passages using both sequencer and LFO in lock step.