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So now Waldorf is coming out with a new analog synth called the Pulse 2. CRAP! I just bought the MoPho–not that there’s anything wrong with it. Waldorf does make some nice products though. The Largo is probably the best sounding VST I own. I can’t wait to see the NAMM videos of this baby to hear what she sounds like.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Quick spec list:

3 analog oscillators + 1 noise generator
Pulse width modulation
Hard sync
Filter FM from Oscillator 3
Ring Modulation from Oscillator 3
XOR Osc Mode
8/4 Voice Paraphonic modes
Cascade Filter
24dB/12db Lowpass, 12db Highpass/Bandpass filter modes
Powerful Arpeggiator
8-slot Modulation Matrix
USB
MIDI
External analog signal input
Stereo line out
Headphone out
Backwards compatible with classic Pulse
128×64 character backlit LCD
8 stainless steel knobs
500 Sound Programs
Electron-absorbing black case
All specifications subject to change without notice

Oh please, please, please! I’m really getting into hardware synths again, and I’d love to get a real drum machine (other than my ER1). I downloaded the demo for Spark, but really it’s just like Maschine a software VST with a hardware midi controller. Not exactly a real drum machine; and Dave Smith’s Tempest is way too expensive, so maybe Nord will bring us something small producers can afford. Nord Drum.

UPDATE

Well it looks like the Nord Drum is a bit of a dud, for those of us expecting a cheaper version of Tempest. Nord Drum Updated. It’s basically an analog drum box that you connect to drum pads. No sequencer or anything in the form of competing with Spark or Maschine. Boooo! Blah!

brighter now from tg on Vimeo.

A glimpse into the Monolake studio. It’s actually quite simple compared to Front 242s studio (that I’ve seen online).

After weeks of internal debate, I decided to buy the Dave Smith Instruments Mopho Keyboard. The battle came down to two challengers: The Moog Slim Phatty and the Mopho. I knew i wanted an analog synth, and I knew I didn’t want to shell out $3k. That pretty much limited me to these two machines. I have tons of software synths, and an Ultranova VA (which I love to death); but I wanted something really raw and “phat”.

Thanks to YouTube there are tons of videos on both products, from professional reviews to people playing them in their basement. I was really torn. First off, I love the look of the SP. It’s a Moog! That name alone brings with it a ton of weight. I also liked the ease of use. All the knobs are right there in the four large pots. It sounded warm. But then I starting listening to the Mopho. At first, I was not impressed. It was yellow. It looked cheap. It wasn’t a Moog. Everywhere I looked synth geeks were saying that if you wanted that “Moog sound” you had to buy a Moog. Nothing else would do. So then I started asking myself: Do I really want the Moog sound, or do I just want an analog synth?

I ened up going to Guitar Center (I really hate going to GC) to play them both. I sat down at the SP and had a blast. It was easy to play, easy to adjust sounds and it had that analog sound I was wanting–but no keys. No worries, I have a controller at home. Then I went over to the Mopho. It was electrifying. It was gritty, it looked like it was made in shop class, and it had a ton of knobs. I found myself tweaking the sounds quite a bit. The SP has one LFO, the Mopho has FOUR! The Mopho has two oscillators and a sub. You can also do the feedback trick on both machines. But most of all, the Mopho was more fun! And it had keys and a neat wood panel frame. So I bought the Mopho (online, not from GC hee hee).

On the first day I had buyer’s remorse. It was monophonic. It wasn’t a Moog. I should have bought a new dishwasher. But after I got used to all the knobs and the modulation settings I was in love. She sounds great. Yeah, the Mopho is gritty, but you can ungritty it just by knowing your way around a synth. Below I’ve listed my loves and my knocks. Enjoy!

LOVES
1. 4 LFOs
2. Plenty of knobs for real-time modulation
3. Sequencer (basic, but good for patterns)
4. Sub oscillator
5. Build

Knocks:
1. Quirky way to get back to sound programs
2. No “init” bank
3. Presents are pretty bad
4. Keys could be a little heavier
5. No VST editor (you can buy one for $70 from a third party)

All-in-all, very happy with my purchase. I hope to make many blippy-clicky things in the future with her!

Now that baseball season is over, maybe I can get some work done! I’m really having a hard time deciding on what to get myself for Christmas. There are a couple of synths I’ve been drooling over all summer long. The first one is the Moog Slim Phatty. It’s a monophonic, true analog synth. The name pretty much tells you all you need to know: it’s a Moog! It’s going to have that Moog sound that most VAs tell you they mimic. I played the Little Phatty last week at Guitar Center. It sounded really nice clean (no effects). My wife, however, thinks it sounds old. Well, duh, of course it sounds “old” it’s analog!

The other synth I’m drooling over is the Waldorf Blofeld. The only thing is, I already have the Largo soft synth. From what I understand, the engine is basically the same. So I don’t think I can justify spending another $700 for a synth that isn’t going to be that different.

So…what will I do, what will I do? I wish they’d just re-release old synths. I’d buy myself an Alesis Andromeda and be done with it!

The St. Louis Cardinals won the 2011 World Series. They’re a very good team, in fact the best team. They’re a storied franchise, they have a loyal and classy fan base, and they played their hearts out. But it still bothers me that they won. Yes, they deserved to win. They didn’t win on a blown call by an umpire, or a fluke play. They didn’t cheat and the games weren’t rigged. But it still breaks my heart. The “little red shoes” just couldn’t get it done…again.

The Rangers weren’t going to win game 7. I knew it. I think most of the nation knew it. Their chance to win the World Series was in game six. In fact, they had two chances. Twice they were one strike away from hoisting the trophy. Feliz, the usually reliable closer, couldn’t get one more strike to end the Cardinals’ hopes. Then Feldman failed to do exactly the same thing. By the time Lowe came in for the 11th, it was a foregone conclusion. The Texas Rangers were not meant to win this series.

There were many Rangers who would have been heroes that night. Napoli, with his amazing defense to throw Holliday out at third base. Beltre or Cruz with their back-to-back home runs. Josh Hamilton with his go-ahead two-run homer in the top of the 10th. But through all of the efforts of these would-be heroes, the Texas Rangers couldn’t overcome the one thing that has plagued this franchise since its inception 50 years ago. Pitching.

The bullpen was worn out. They were exhausted from having to bail out a starting rotation that couldn’t go more than five rocky innings (excluding game five by Derek Holland). They were drained. Ogando had lost his luster. Feldman looked shaky, and the rest of the squad, all the way down to Feliz, was gassed.

So, when the bats finally came to life in game six, the Rangers had no way of shutting down the Cardinals. They just wouldn’t die. The Rangers were trying to plug holes in a dam with too many cracks.

Rangers fans can take solace in the fact that their team won more games this year than in the history of the franchise. They can take comfort in knowing that they took a very good St. Louis team to the brink of elimination, and a game seven in the World Series. But the one thing that the Rangers fan cannot disguise is the fact that CJ Wilson is not an ace. And without a true ace at their disposal for a critical game six (or seven), the Texas Rangers are never going to win a title. When the chips were down and it was all on the line, the Cardinals were able to go to Carpenter who gave them six incredible innings, walking only two runners and giving up only the two runs in the first inning.

Ironically, it wasn’t until game seven of the World Series that the loss of Cliff Lee finally reared its shadowy head.

Here we go. The 2011 World Series starts tonight between the Texas Rangers and the St. Louis Cardinals. Did anyone think that these two teams would be in it at the end? Sure the Rangers were the defending AL pennant winners, but there was that feeling around the league that they were a one-and-done team. I mean, can you blame anyone for thinking this? The Rangers hadn’t won a playoff series EVER before last year. In fact, many prognosticators last year didn’t believe they’d beat Tampa, and no one gave them a shot against the Yankees. Of course Texas ended up running into the buzzsaw that was the San Francisco Giants, and they looked like “the little team who wanted to”.

When the playoffs started this year, although Texas was back in the hunt, there were plenty of experts predicting the Tigers, and even more predicting the Yankees. But low and behold, the Rangers defeated the Tigers in six and handedly (15-5) punched their ticket to the Fall Classic for the second straight year.

St. Louis, probably even less likely than the Rangers, managed to scratch and claw their way into the World Series with some help from the collapsing Braves, a rare playoff loss by Cliff Lee, and sheer will in overpowering the Braves while not having a quality start from their rotation in the NLCS (a lack of quality starting pitching is something they share with the Rangers).

Both teams have tremendous bullpens. Both teams have power at the plate. Both teams have charismatic managers. It’s hard to dislike either team. But someone has to win; and someone has to go home, knowing they came so close. Who will it be? Will the Cards finally get the starting pitching they had during the NLDS? Will Nelson Cruz continue his insane streak of clutch HRs? Will Ogando and the Rangers’ bullpen once again prove to be too much for the opposition? Some of these questions will be answered starting tonight. I think we’re all in for a treat of a series. What’s not to like about these two feel-good franchises?

The Texas Rangers have done it again. They made it to the ALCS where they now have a 2 games to 1 lead over the Detroit Tigers. But now they have two more games in Detroit where the Rangers have been the worst team in the American League, and Verlander is scheduled for game 5. With that in mind, game 4 is a must-win for the Rangers. You don’t want to face a potential 3-2 coming back home, needing to win two straight.

The good news: the Rangers rested Ogando and Adams in game 3. Manager Ron Washington knows what he’s doing. If the Rangers can steal one in Detroit, they’ll head back to Arlington with a 3-2 series lead and two chances to seal the deal at home with either Holland or Lewis on the mound (and hoping for a better outing from Holland).

The more immediate concern for the Texas Rangers would have to be their lack of production from Michael Young and Mitch Moreland. You have to figure that Young will get it turned around either in this series, or the WS should the Rangers advance. But I’m not so sure about Moreland, who was replaced at first base by Young in game 3. Moreland has hit an abysmal (.143) during the postseason. His lack of production is magnified by being in a lineup with the likes of Beltre, Napoli and the red-hot Nelson Cruz. It’s very likely that Washington will stick with Chavez in the lineup and Moreland will sit out again today.

The Rangers are still in the driver’s seat in this series with Matt Harrison on the mound this afternoon and the return of the regular bullpen. If Cruz continues his tear the Tigers may find themselves in a real hole and facing an elimination game by this time tomorrow. But one thing we’ve seen out of this Tigers team is a willingness to battle. So don’t blink.

I’m just now getting my feet wet in photography. I bought a camera, I’m taking shots…, and then I find sites like these and realize I have a long, long way to go.
Awesome photo blog by Teknari. Enjoy!