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About
Hi, this is Mark Mosher. Welcome to my blog. I’m a synthesist, Composer, Producer, and Visualist living in Boulder CO. I’m also the founder of the Rocky Mountain Synth Meet andSynth Patrol.
I’ve been blogging wince 2005 and this blog is a mix of posts on artistic news as well as synth tech & technique posts under the category Modulate This!
If you are enjoying my music and videos, or have found my blog posts and events to be time-saving, helpful, and inspiring consider offering artist by buying my music or making a donation.
2 responses to “Using Ableton to Provide Control Voltage for a Moog Slim Phatty”
@jeremiah
There is a USB plug and I think (not played with it yet) it fires MIDI data. Normal interface for modern synths.
As for using Slim Phatty as “an interface” – no. Had the Novation Xylosynth – that was a crossover “interface” and a total train wreck.
I advocate Moog / companies doing only what they do good – Moog = consumer synthesizers, not interfacing. It would take Moog 5+ years to get to the level of stability and quality of my audio interface, again, please, NO.
Additionally – having integrated “interface”-ness would kill the CV magic of being able to integrate other CV gear like LFO modules plus stifles the “real” magic of CV – In short “build your own damn device to do what you want”.
Anybody can order a few parts and build a modulator for the CV. If that was hidden in an interface this would be lost.
Honestly – if there was an interface on the Slim I would not have bought it. Most of the hardware synth heads I know would have screamed if Moog dropped an interface on there as well. I am still pretty annoyed at Moog devoting time and $ to an iPhone app (build better synths with better parts before you invest $50k in an app please?). But that is an “edgy” comment as I am sad to see the iPad turn into the center piece of modern electronic music.
Reasons why I bought the Slim:
1-Small/size
2-Best bass for $ (next options are no longer made or start at $7k and I don’t buy much vintage gear for live and most of them are not worth the upkeep to me)
3-Waveform knob – check it – the “biz”
4-Not a soft synth – I still play with bands, love playing music and not the laptop.
The hardware and software sides (personalities) are not very compatible quite often – I am one of the few people who is working hard to mix the 2 together.
There is an intense purist movement in synths (hardware) and having had/played Moogs before (Mini, Micro, Rouge, and a few others as well as 2600’s, Prophets, OBs, you name it) Moog is VERY consumer level. This is positively offset by the contributions they put back into music and the community. But when I have druthers I do not buy any of the “fooger” type products – I own a Studio Electronics analog filter (crushing). There is so much awesome gear that is never going to hit Guitar Center and I love talking to the engineering teams and finding some of the sickest stuff on the market. Moog is cool, but a 1 person sales/engineer team is totally different.
Give and take – same as it always was! At least this stuff is at a reasonable price now.
Plus – the internet is handy for finding all the cool stuff out there. “Choose wisely” and love your gear. The Slim “fills a hole” while my SE filter is my baby.
I’m wondering why they didn’t just make the USB connection on the back a sound card interface as well as MIDI. 4 channels of audio in for the CV, 2 for the input, with 4 outs for the headphones and the line out would have made this a ridonkulously useful synth in terms of attaching it to the computer. For $800 this should be expected, I know it’s not the same but the MeeBlip sells for $129 assembled, electronics are cheap. Seems like this thing is just a $600 Moog sticker.
Mark Mosher 
2 responses to “Using Ableton to Provide Control Voltage for a Moog Slim Phatty”
@jeremiah
There is a USB plug and I think (not played with it yet) it fires MIDI data. Normal interface for modern synths.
As for using Slim Phatty as “an interface” – no. Had the Novation Xylosynth – that was a crossover “interface” and a total train wreck.
I advocate Moog / companies doing only what they do good – Moog = consumer synthesizers, not interfacing. It would take Moog 5+ years to get to the level of stability and quality of my audio interface, again, please, NO.
Additionally – having integrated “interface”-ness would kill the CV magic of being able to integrate other CV gear like LFO modules plus stifles the “real” magic of CV – In short “build your own damn device to do what you want”.
Anybody can order a few parts and build a modulator for the CV. If that was hidden in an interface this would be lost.
Honestly – if there was an interface on the Slim I would not have bought it. Most of the hardware synth heads I know would have screamed if Moog dropped an interface on there as well. I am still pretty annoyed at Moog devoting time and $ to an iPhone app (build better synths with better parts before you invest $50k in an app please?). But that is an “edgy” comment as I am sad to see the iPad turn into the center piece of modern electronic music.
Reasons why I bought the Slim:
1-Small/size
2-Best bass for $ (next options are no longer made or start at $7k and I don’t buy much vintage gear for live and most of them are not worth the upkeep to me)
3-Waveform knob – check it – the “biz”
4-Not a soft synth – I still play with bands, love playing music and not the laptop.
The hardware and software sides (personalities) are not very compatible quite often – I am one of the few people who is working hard to mix the 2 together.
There is an intense purist movement in synths (hardware) and having had/played Moogs before (Mini, Micro, Rouge, and a few others as well as 2600’s, Prophets, OBs, you name it) Moog is VERY consumer level. This is positively offset by the contributions they put back into music and the community. But when I have druthers I do not buy any of the “fooger” type products – I own a Studio Electronics analog filter (crushing). There is so much awesome gear that is never going to hit Guitar Center and I love talking to the engineering teams and finding some of the sickest stuff on the market. Moog is cool, but a 1 person sales/engineer team is totally different.
Give and take – same as it always was! At least this stuff is at a reasonable price now.
Plus – the internet is handy for finding all the cool stuff out there. “Choose wisely” and love your gear. The Slim “fills a hole” while my SE filter is my baby.
LikeLike
I’m wondering why they didn’t just make the USB connection on the back a sound card interface as well as MIDI. 4 channels of audio in for the CV, 2 for the input, with 4 outs for the headphones and the line out would have made this a ridonkulously useful synth in terms of attaching it to the computer. For $800 this should be expected, I know it’s not the same but the MeeBlip sells for $129 assembled, electronics are cheap. Seems like this thing is just a $600 Moog sticker.
LikeLike