Tag: Bass Synth

Moog Announces Re-Release of Modular Synthesizers with Film, “Back to the Future Sounds”

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Earlier this year, Moog Music Inc. announced a limited re-release of three modular synthesizers. The three mod-synth models, which were originally manufactured back in 1973, include the System 55, the System 35 and the Model 15.

moogmod

To celebrate this announcement, Moog uploaded a short film to their Youtube entitled, “Back to the Future Sounds,” which chronicles the history of the modular synthesizer.

This 20 minute short is a time warp, alternating between gritty, retro, sci-fi cutaways and recent interviews at the Moog Factory, held with a range of electronic musicians from Dick Hyman to Holy Ghost.

So be sure to plug in your highest quality headphones or monitors, as Moog suggests in the video, for the “proper listening experience,” and enjoy.

Our Music Synthesis class can guide you through the new world of music synthesis. Times certainly have changed, but the synthesizer, created in 1876, isn’t going anywhere.

Bass Synth Reviews from a Bassist: Novation MiniNova

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They say big things come in small packages. Whomever said that could not have been more right about the Novation MiniNova.

Features

First and foremost – the MiniNova comes well endowed with a whopping 256 preset sounds with space to save 128 sounds. That’s a whopping 384 sounds you can have in your arsenal. The synth also comes with a 12 band vocoder, 3 LFO’s, as well as an arpeggiator.

All of your presets are separated by categories which allows you to choose which sound you need more easily!

Experience

As soon as I plugged in the MiniNova I was excited to test it out as i’ve been looking at this synth for a while now. Naturally I went to the bass section first. I was surprised. Some of the tones were fun and some were a little dark, but they all sounded great. It was the same vibe as I went through all presets. My favorite one is the “PowaChor” setting in the Keyboard section. I will admit some of the tones were a tad-bit silly, but if used under the right circumstance could be the difference between a good song and a smash hit. They keys are smaller as well, which could be a disadvantage to those who have been hands. Nonetheless, the MiniNova is still a fantastic synth.

Highlights

  • Extremely Easy to Use
  • An almost endless amount of great sounds for you to choose from.
  • Options to Animate or Arpeggiate each sound

Below you can watch the New Jack Swing legend Teddy Riley rip the Vocoder on the MiniNova like no other.

For the Novation MiniNova’s easy to use system, size, and sounds,  I have to rate this a 4.5 out of 5!

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