Please Send Lots of Money For Analog Synths

After our final Tech Forum session before the mid-semester break, I can unequivocally say I have fallen in love with the sound of analog synth. Whilst always maintaining a particular love for a nice tube amplifier as opposed to digital modeling, and being able to frequently distinguish the difference between analog and digital synthesizers on recordings, I don't think I had a proper impression of how amazing a high-quality analog synthesizer could sound when you were both in the same room whilst it was being played.

The first synthesizer to utilize a keyboard as a controller was created by Robert Moog and demonstrated at an Audio Engineering Society convention in 1965. Taking sometimes hours to set up, things had come a long way by the time the 80's hit, which if I recall correctly was roughly the time that the 2 main synths we played with were from.

The first thing that struck me as the first note was played in the Analog Studio was the Vanstone-sized, thick, enveloping tone of the sound emanating from this relatively small machine. The next was the incredible versatility of sound – one twist of a dial to alter the sine wave, or filter cutoff, or any of the other multitude of parameters – would result in a startlingly different sound, from piercing and crystalline to dark, soft and murky.

I have a friend who writes and produces trance music under the name Systembot, that swears by analog synths in the creation of his music. There has always been a discernable difference between his sound and that of many other commercial electronic artists of today (the type that get airplay on stations like Fresh FM) – a thick, warm and complex sound as opposed to the cold and soulless digital production of much modern trance music. Some of the modern digital modellers create a very convincing replica of the sound of a particular synth, but there still seems to be that can't-put-your-finger-quite-on-it something that isn't there. I think there's still quite a long way to go in authentically replicating the sound of a real, tangible live instrument.

Check out Josef Skrzek shredding.....on a moog!

The MiniMoog Model D from 1971