“Oh, what a lucky man I am…”

When I was a mere lad, I dreamt of becoming a classical pianist; I had no interest in playing keyboard in a rock context. Upon hearing the album “Emerson, Lake, and Palmer” (circa 1971), my ideas about participating in keyboard-oriented rock music abruptly changed. The aggressive piano and Hammond organ riffs were something I had never heard before. But the mind-blowing thing for me was a (now legendary) solo in the last song, “Lucky Man”, played on a new instrument, the Minimoog. The sound was thick, aggressive, and in your face. The keyboard player could compete now with the electric guitarist. I wanted to do that!

The Minimoog debuted at the Namm show in 1971, and quickly became the lead instrument of choice for countless rock and jazz keyboardists. For some artists, such as Jan Hammer, the Mini became a signature sound. As digital synths became the norm, an unending number of patches were devised to emulate the Mini. These patches are easy to spot, with names such as Minimoog bass, Mini 1, Mini2, etc., and even patches named after noted performers such as Rick Wakeman and Keith Emerson (thank you, Lucky Man!). Software synth creation in the late ‘90s opened the door for even greater tools and technologies to come. Steinberg released their version of the Mini, the Model E, Creamware created a soft synth Mini for their DSP card systems, Studio Electronics manufactured hardware rack modules based on the Mini. Now the French company Arturia has released the latest of the Mini-emulators, and has done a phenomenal job of recreating the legend, adding some interesting and welcome twists.

Installation

The computer used for this review was a G4 Dual 1.25GHz Mac with 2 gigs of ram. I ran the installer, typed in my license code, and was up and running pronto. During the install process, I got to choose my wood finishes: maple, mahogany, or dark walnut. I picked maple, called up the standalone model, assigned the audio card, and was ready to go. My review copy did not come with a full manual, just a “getting started” PDF, which had no data about registering. After looking at the GUI, I determined that I would have to go to the site on my own initiative and register. Most soft synths now have the registration in one of the drop-down menus. The minimoog V doesn’t. This “lack” is no big deal; I’ve been using music software a long time, and know that registering the product is essential, especially when I need customer service, free upgrades, etc. It is also a good thing to let the manufacturer know who you are, and that you are a “legal” owner of the software. Arturia’s site is very streamlined and easy to navigate; within a few minutes (would have been less if I wasn’t on dial-up!) I was registered. Very shortly, I got an email from Arturia with a password, etc., useful for downloading free patches and tutorials.

The minimoog V will run on PC as well; it needs at least a Pentium II 500 MHz, with 128 MB ram, and Windows 9x/2000/ME/XP. On the Mac side, a G3 500Mhz with 128 MB ram, and MacOS 9.2.2 or higher is the basic requirement. This instrument will technically run on these machines, but a more powerful machine will make your life with the Mini happier; if you want to record multiple parts, you need a fast machine. This synth will work with any DirectX, ASIO, Sound Manager, or Core Audio compatible card. A word about sound cards: as with any soft synth or digital audio program, the better quality the card, the better quality the sound. I used a MOTU 828mkII during this review, and it gave a very warm and detailed sound. As I sequenced with more layers, I was able to hear the parts (provided I didn’t overplay!) distinctly. So, the bottom line is this: the minimoog V is capable of some pretty stout sounds; the better the hardware investment, the better the listening and performing experience.

Getting Started

One look at the GUI, and I was very pleased: the minimoog V is stunning to look at (I have an Apple 17-inch monitor), very 3-D, very easy to read. It looks like it is coming right out of the screen at ‘ya. The Minimoog was and still is a great instrument on which to learn basic analog synthesis, and is laid out in a totally logical fashion, from left to right. The original goodies are all in the right place: 3 oscillators, a mixer section, filter, envelope generators (loudness contour), etc. Right “out of the box”, you get 400 presets. I used to own a Minimoog, “back in the day”, and played with this incarnation for a very long time before investigating the presets. The minimoog V has a Midi-learn mode for the knobs. I quickly mapped most of them to my Supernova II’s knobs; later I did the same with a Korg Z1. Both worked perfectly, and made tweaking a delight, compared to using the mouse.

Like the Mini of old (and its new version, the Voyager), this model lets you “open the lid”. This isn’t your father’s Minimoog, though: upon clicking on either the wood on the top panel, or the “open” button in the upper right-hand corner, treasures are to be found: a programmable matrix modulation system, a separate LFO (hooray! – the original used the 3rd oscillator for modulation), an arpeggiator, and an effects processor (chorus and delay). All of these items have selectable midi sync switches. More luxuries: saving of custom patches and banks, a knob on the left side of the keyboard for turning the pitch bend on, and a knob for adjusting its range.

Many of you reading this review were probably born when the original ceased production. The “getting started” PDF found on the install cd is a good resource for navigating the synth, and walks you through the process of creating a simple sound. Kudos to Arturia for creating this simple document so the user could jump in with a little help and start creating immediately. Again, I didn’t get a manual with this review copy; if it is written like this PDF, you will have no problems understanding the text. Arturia also has links to other sites that document the history of the Minimoog; lots of trivia, pictures, music samples, etc. A few hours on the Internet, you will begin to know all things Mini.

I had a few questions, such as “how do you change the wood grain?!” After emailing Arturia (on a Saturday evening), I got a pretty quick response, 5:42AM US time on the following Monday. Unfortunately, not with the answer I wanted, but with a note (seemed to be written in a more personal fashion, not an automated office reply) stating the Mini product guys were on vacation, would be back by a certain date, etc. How many times have you emailed a company’s tech support, only to wait…and wait…and wait for a reply. I appreciated getting this prompt reply, and subsequently discovered that reinstalling was the quick fix. Arturia’s site has an excellent forum for troubleshooting, tips, mpr3s and patches by other users, all kinds of interesting info.

The “Fat” Stops Here…

Back in the 70’s, it was not uncommon for a keyboardist in the local rock band scene to use cabinets with 2 15-inch speakers, or even an 18. The old Minimoog worked those setups for all they were worth, and created quite a low-end rumble. I ran the minimoog V as a Logic Pro instrument, with my small Event PS6 monitors. Working on an electronica piece for a music library production company, I created a very fat, 3-oscillator bass sound, put on some overdrive, and experienced the “good old days” again through my monitor system. Yes, the monitors aren’t big cabinets, but cranked up they provided very detailed sound, lots of bottom, plenty for myself and my neighbors to appreciate in the adjoining townhouses. I ran sections of the piece in 8 bar loops, added a few more instances of the minimoog V, turned some knobs, with nary a hiccup. Fat. Let me say it again, FAT.

Without touching a knob, I selected various presets. They cover the gamut with patches modeled after those used by 70’s giants George Duke, Jan Hammer, Keith Emerson, Geoff Downes, to modern day electronica, with convincing TB acid line sounds. There are lush pads utilizing the polyphonic mode. You can choose the amount of polyphonic voices, up to 32; this is handy in trying to save some CPU power. There are also lots of FX sounds, sizzling leads, and basses with endless bottom. The presets were created by an international collection of noted programmers, among them Geoff Downes, Klaus Schultz, and Katsunori Ujiie (not a household name, but the creator of many presets for Yamaha synths from the DX7 through the Motif Series). The patches are organized in a bank/sub-bank/preset layout that allows you to find them by writer or instrument type. If you select ‘all’, the instrument category types appear in a column, and you can then select any of the lead sounds, for instance. This is very nice, a bit similar to the way patches are organized on the synths such as the Korg Triton Extreme or the Yamaha Motif series. Finding patches in a live context would be very simple.

The technology Arturia used in creating the minimoog V is TAE, which stands for True Analog Emulation. The TAE process purportedly allows the creation of oscillators that are aliasing-free. In the various tests I put the Mini through, I found that to be an accurate statement. The site has some interesting graphs showing the similarity between the original Minimoog and minimoog V with regards to oscillator and filter construction. As I played the Mini across the keyboard, I never detected anything but pure analog sound, no digital anomalies.

The heart and character of any analog synth is its filter. The minimoog V’s filter is a dead-on replica of the original, a 24dB low pass filter. I programmed many filter sweeps, and found them to be very smooth, with no stair-casing artifacts. The knob movements are precise, whether by mouse or controller editing via sequencer. The minimoog V filter captures the warmth and fatness of the original. When creating bass patches, you will know why it has been said of the Mini, “The bass stops here!”

There are some new additions to this modern Minimoog. The matrix modulation section gives you a healthy choice of sources (12) and destinations (32). This comes in real handy, especially in creating clangorous timbres using FM in conjunction with oscillator sync, automated filter sweeps, delay changes, etc. A basic arpeggiator is on board, with the usual suspects in terms of patterns, speed control, etc. You get a midi sync switch as well. This is a nice touch, in that it recreates part of the analog look and feel. In the old days, if you wanted to turn an arpeggiator on, there was a switch to reckon with. You have it here, contributing to the historical sense of the instrument. A little thing, to be sure, but one of the many niceties of the minimoog V that contributes to the complete retro vibe. Another curiosity is the shadows cast by the knobs and switches, doubtlessly to help with the 3-D imagery.

More new goodies added to the minimoog V is the inclusion of the sync switch on oscillator 1. Hard sync is possible now, syncing oscillator 2 to oscillator 1. If you don’t have an idea of how to use it, there are numerous patches that incorporate this (with ‘sync’ in the name). Call one up, and play with those knobs! This is hardly a new concept, but would have been cool on the old “hardware” model, and is certainly welcome here. Another cool oscillator feature is the ability to do coarse tuning by holding down the option key while turning the frequency knob for oscillators 2 and 3. When adjusting this without the option key held down, it becomes a fine tune knob.

How Does It Sequence?

Setting up a sequence in Logic Pro, I put the Mini through its paces, programming filter sweeps, pitch bends, delay changes, and the like.
I created an 8 bar loop, calling up 4 instances of the minimoog V: a nice 80’s style arpeggiator (midi-syncing was immediate; problem-free), a dark, punchy Klaus Schultz bass, an ambient sort of pad, and a nice buzzy lead sound. For each track, I programmed in 3 to 4 controller tracks, wildly raising and lowering the cutoff, changing the delay amount, altering the attack portion of the filter envelope, etc. The Mini performed excellently, no hiccups, no artifacts, just as if I had recorded the hardware instrument into my audio interface. The success of multiple tracks will depend on your CPU beef, the amount of memory, what other types of audio tracks are present, etc. This is true of any audio app, so no worries mate. I started the review with 1.2 gigs of memory, and since then have added more to total 2 gigs. I definitely noticed a benefit in adding the memory when working with large projects and incorporating the minimoog V. Many sequencers have ‘track freezing’ parameters; when the CPU starts to tank, freeze the track and keep on creating.

I also used the external audio input feature, which on the original synth allowed the input of a line level device. The minimoog V utilizes this feature by becoming an effect on an audio track. When a key is depressed, the audio will pass through the synth parameters.

Summary And Conclusion

The only bad part about writing this review was that I had to stop playing with the minimoog V and start writing text! It is infectious; if you have had any experience with analog synths, especially the original Minimoog, you won’t want to stop, either. The Arturia site is chocked full of endorsements from legendary synth gurus such as Isao Tomita, Geoff Downes, Jean-Michel Jarre, Eddie Jobson, and the honorable Dr. Robert Moog himself. As Dr. Moog puts it, “Arturia has done it again. The minimoog V’s sound quality capture the magic of the original classic Minimoog. The graphic interface looks classy and responds smoothly, making it fun and easy to use. We at Moog Music are happy to lend our name to this fine product.” And, indeed, his name is placed on the right-hand side of the keyboard. For $199 MSRP, you can’t go wrong; you will enjoy the same quality synthesis that countless artists have used over the decades at a price that won’t break the bank. Well, excuse me, I have some knobs to turn…

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