Prophet 5: Analog vs Digital

I was checking out these videos yesterday, and found them pretty interesting.  This Youtube user is comparing the patches found in the original Prophet 5 to the Arturia Prophet 5.  Some of the patches are almost identical.  While it's unfair to truly judge due to the sound quality Youtube offers (I'd love to see someone do this and upload it to SoundCloud), it does show that you could probably get away with certain plugs in mixes, especially for background sounds.  It would also be interesting to compare these to the modern Prophet 08.  While Arturia's plugins are of the most demanding CPU wise, they are among the best.  Check out the videos and try to hear some differences yourself.  Of course, don't get me wrong, I'd take real analog any day...

Review: Tempo Rubato's NLogPoly Synth

Last week, I was lucky enough to get a review copy of Tempo Rubato's NLogPoly Synth.  This is one of the few synth apps available from the Mac App store, and is currently priced at USD$24.99.  If you're like me, you are a bit shocked at the prices of everything in the app store due to how cheap mobile apps are on the iPhone, but 25 bucks isn't bad for a softsynth, especially considering it can be used as a standalone as well.  But is it really worth it?  We'll delve in below.

Patch Breakdown: The Prophet Piano

Mozart - Sonata in C using the Prophet Piano Patch by The Synth Symp

Today I'll be breaking down a patch for you guys.  This was one of the original intentions of the site, so hopefully this will happen more often from now on, since patch building is essentially the heart of synthesis.  You can have a great synth with crap sounds if you're not careful.  I didn't create this sound but I'd like to start with it as a template to what the future of this will look like.  Above is the Prophet Piano patch (No. 77 on my DSI Tetra) playing Mozart's Sonata in C (MIDI from this website).  I think it's a decent stab at the sound of a real piano, and should be easily recreated on any number of synths.  Hopefully this tutorial will give you a really great understanding of what is happening in this sound.

Retro Round-up

Feeling a bit like covering a few things today.

Diamond Cut Interview

Remixes 2011 by Diamond Cut Music

Diamond Cut is a rare breed of a producer.  While his remixes are catchy enough to blend with the best producers out there today, you'd be hard pressed to find much about him besides his fantastic SoundCloud page packed with some of the best tracks you've ever heard, and his recent interview on Fear of Tiger's podcast.  I got a chance to talk with the analog specialist on his gear, his tips for creating great tracks, and his patch building philosophy.  They say diamonds are a girl's best friend, but you'll find that Diamond Cut is your DJ's soul mate for a great club set.

Reader Submission - Biosynth "Primordial"

[A quick note-- there are some NSFW sounds at the end of this track (last 3 minutes)-- nothing too graphic, but I wouldn't recommend playing it in front of your boss, parents, children, or strangers...]


This one comes from Biosynth, our first reader to submit a track!

Primordial by Biosynth

From the artist:

Great Article from Moog Archives on Velocity Sensitivity

You can read a great article on the development of velocity sensitivity in synthesizers by Dr. Moog today, courtesy of the Moog Archives.  The full article scans are here, I don't want to host them completely here, that would be cheating Moog.

The article gives a nice insight into what goes into synthesizer thinking and the history of keyboards.  There's also a valid point made in the article about what we prefer our keyboards to feel like-- whether they have organ like response, or piano like response, or a mix.  My Little Phatty actually has a really great feel in the keys, no surprise there.  It's also quite cool to read an article written by the legend Bob Moog himself.  I hope that we see more great articles like these from the Moog Archive.  I find it fascinating how he talks about the other corporations in his competition.  Enjoy the article, it's a quick read and worth it if you're interested in the history of synths, or you're ever planning on building a keyboard yourself.