Synthesizers

NAMM 2014: Moog Theremini

The most notable new offering this year from Moog Music, Inc. was the Theremini, a very accessible incarnation of the classic theremin.

The design of the instrument evokes classic science fiction of the 1950s and 1960s (in which the theremin was a mainstay), and it features modern enhancements including a variety of tones and effects, support to stabilize pitch, and CV and MIDI for external control. And it’s MSRP is $299.

I decided to try my hand at this fun and photogenic instrument.

You can see a bit of my attempt to perform one-handed in this video.

I can see this being a great tool for live performance, both standalone and as a controller for analog synths. I look forward to learning more about it.

NAMM 2014: New Modules from Make Noise

20140124-IMG_9958

Make Noise has introduced several new modules this year. You can see Tony Rolando of Make Noise demonstrating them in this video. There is much delightful noisy crunchiness.

The most notable new addition is the Teleplexer, which has a series of metal plates that can be tapped with leads from other modules, creating quite a bit of expressive variation, even chaos. The paradigm of touching conductive plates was inspired by the telegraph.

I tried this out myself, but like other Make Noise modules, it will take a bit of practice to make it work musically.

NAMM 2014: Teenage Engineering OP-1 and OpLab

Our friends at Teenage Engineering were back at NAMM, with the latest iterations of the OP-1 and OpLab.

The little screen on the OP-1 continues to delight, with one of the most unique interfaces from a non touch screen. They added a new module that allows one to use the device as an Etch-A-Sketch and draw out pitch contours. It even includes the shake-to-erase gesture. The little cranks that go on top of the knobs are also new.

The OpLab, including some branded sensors, seems to finally be ready for prime time.

The OpLab does allow one to use alternative sensors, and outputs control voltage suitable for analog modular synths in addition to controlling the OP-1.

Dave Smith Instruments at NAMM 2014

20140124-IMG_9936

I have long been impressed with the offerings from Dave Smith Instruments, such as the Tempest pictured above. They’re easy to play and offer rich sound possibilities that one can either keep tame or push towards more extreme. Last year I was quite taken with the Prophet 12, and still coveting one of those. This year, they have introduced a tabletop version of the P12. I was fortunate enough to get a demonstration from Dave Smith himself! You can see it in the video below.

The Prophet 12 features 12-voice polyphony, anchored by digital oscillators that feed into analog high and low-pass filters. It has some aggregate controls for the oscillators with odd names like “Air” but are pretty intuitive once one tries them out.

So maybe the tabletop edition would be a practical alternative to the keyboard?

NAMM 2014: Big City Music (Metasonix, Mellotron, Leon Dewan)

One of our perennial stops at NAMM is to the Big City Music booth to see what’s new and play with old favorites. There is always an impressive display of analog modules, including the “wall of synth” from Analog Solutions.

analog solutions wall of synth

Of course, Big City Music also prominently displayed a full complement Metasonix modules. This included the new spring reverb (at the bottom) that does not conform to the usual yellow color.

20140124-IMG_9928

I spent a little time with the Mellotron, including a demonstration of the original instrument and its extensions. You can see a bit in this video:

Towards the end, you can see the mechanical elements for the tapes at work.

We also visited again with Leon Dewan, who presented his Swarmatron instrument. Here he demonstrates, and I tentatively try to play as well (one handed as I am also holding the camera):

Although most of these instruments were familiar ones, it is great to see them in action again.

CatSynth at NAMM 2014

catsynth-namm2014

Once again, we at CatSynth are going to be attending the big NAMM show in southern California, starting on Thursday. I will be focusing on synths and other music technology, but I also enjoy finding fun and esoteric musical instruments of all sorts.

Stay tuned to these pages for full coverage during the show, along with live updates via Twitter @catsynth and Instagram. And if you’re attending, maybe I will see you there 🙂