Korg Monologue, Arturia MicroFreak - Welcome Home

A 13 minute jam featuring Korg Monologue and Arturia MicroFreak, with effects from the Zoom MS-70CDR.
UPDATE 2020-01-12: This track is part of my "Silver Glass" album on Bandcamp: waveformer42.bandcamp.com/albu...
The Monologue has been away to the repair shop for six months, and I finally got it back this week, so it seems fitting to do a jam with the Monologue up front and center. The MicroFreak has a supporting role on arpeggiated strings. The patches were made by me for this jam.
The audio is recorded on a Korg KP2S and normalized in Audacity. Video is recorded on iPhoneX. Audio and video is synchronized in DaVinci Resolve 15.
Gear:
- Korg Monologue
- Arturia MicroFreak
- 2 x Zoom MS-70CDR
- Korg Mini Kaoss Pad 2S (for recording)
Connections:
- Monologue - MS-70CDR - Mintbox Mixer
- MicroFreak - MS-70CDR - Mintbox Mixer
- Mintbox Mixer - KP2S
- Midi: Monologue - MicroFreak
Effects:
- MS-70CDR (Monologue): Vibrato - VintageCE (Chorus) - AutoPanDelay (eighth note) - Particle Reverb
- MS-70CDR (MicroFreak): Bass Ensemble - Filter Delay (3 x quarter note) - AutoPanDelay (dotted quarter note) - Particle Reverb
Misc:
- Tempo 80 bpm
- Chords: Em - Am - C - Hm7
If you want to support me, consider using these affiliate links when buying gear (or other stuff):
- Thomann: www.thomann.de/?partner_id=65575
- Reverb: reverb.grsm.io/Waveformer
- Amazon: amzn.to/2SfJleI

[@metamorphicblood]

These two synths were truly life changing for me. Sometimes I use them to add extra touches to a song, other times I let myself get completely lost in the seemingly infinite textures. Unique, strange, beautiful pieces of gear.

[@Waveformer]

Exactly! ❤️

[@viseman]

Upon microfreak entering, I recalled a dream from ten years ago of oddly knowing my way home from vacation, piloting a space ship on a multidimensional highway. Descend from two flights up, then down a ramp bear right. Traffic there too.

[@JustinJadunath]

I knew that I wanted a MicroFreak before. But now, I NEED one! Thank you for sharing this amazing work with all of us!

[@savedbyasong4627]

I love this! What you did with this setup is very varied and very musical. I had my Monologue for a long time and didn‘t get it, didn‘t know what to do with it - just recently I rediscovered it and now I love it. You use it very creatively. Awesome. Very inspiring. Thanks!

[@raulcontinente]

Amazing work! I love the atmosphere

[@filipporul2316]

Beautiful!

[@Waveformer]

😊😊😊

[@foxholeartist]

Nicely structured track. Atmosphere is huge!

[@Waveformer]

Antony Ilyin thanks 😊. It’s fun to just spoil a synth by giving it its own dedicated effect pedal 😀.

[@eloyam9973]

Goosebumps

[@Waveformer]

Eloy Abellan Mayor 😊😊

[@aptudo]

You do a great job starting your jams with an engaging patch and effect. That moment about a minute in where you slow the pulsing "growl" down to nothing sounded amazing.

[@Waveformer]

Rob Fowler Thank you 😊. I’m kind of rediscovering ring modulation for that growl effect. With the Monologue, ring modulation becomes very dynamic/organic as the two oscillators slowly drift in and out of tune.

[@maxmatson1578]

Much appreciation for giving the "monologue" some love🎹🎧💫😵😎👍 mad props!👌BrAp oN!!¡!✋✌

[@kabood777]

what a beautiful piece.

[@Waveformer]

purple hamid Thank you 😊😊😊

[@kabood777]

@@Waveformer thank you, Sir.😊👌

[@AsphaltKobold]

I'm totally impressed how you built such a great song with such a small equipment... 🤩

[@Waveformer]

Thank you. I find simple setups inspiring 😀.

[@nicolasrouiller3885]

Amazing 🙏Thanks for sharing

[@Waveformer]

Nicolas Rouiller thanks 😊. The spearmint box is a home built passive mixer.

[@cactusrider7686]

your patches are wonderful

[@user-sp4ps6oc4s]

just got a MicroFreak, and your video made me want both!! Great Jam btw! I hope I can jam like this someday

[@sugahlipz4701]

Oooo shiiiieeeed, man thats so rad. Love it

[@frederichaguais9589]

Excellente improvisation qui me fait découvrir le potentiel de ces deux synthetiseur remarquable merci

[@Waveformer]

Merci beaucoup 😊

[@lucasbrasil4650]

this makes me feel soul is real... thanks for sharing :D

[@Volcaniced]

WOW I love it.

[@Waveformer]

VolcaNiced Thank you 😊. It was inspired by your brilliant 40+ minutes Volca Bass jam from before summer. I was originally planning to real-time record and re-record the sequence, like you did, but ran out of time, and wanted to record something. So I chickened out and went for a pre-recorded sequence, and played with enabling and disabling steps instead. Next time 😉.

[@Volcaniced]

@@Waveformer oh wow, really? You did really well

[@Waveformer]

VolcaNiced Thanks 😊

[@Stadsjaap]

That Monologue patch is quite lovely. Very Jarre-esque.

[@Waveformer]

Joe Botha Thanks 😊.

[@HordurSmariJohannesson]

Very nice!

[@davidgoode7416]

Awesome!

[@cl-audio]

wow..., super nice!!!

[@Waveformer]

CL-AUDIO glad you liked it 😊

[@falazarte]

Dang!! Awesome

[@Waveformer]

Thanks 😊

[@divdivdiv]

excellent.

[@Waveformer]

😊😊😊

[@neonblack211]

I absolutely adore the oscilloscope on the Monologue

[@RetroPlus]

That's what sold me on one, it really is nice

[@neonblack211]

@@RetroPlus I really wish more synths would include that

[@synthesizernews]

Art. THX

[@Waveformer]

synthesizernews 😊

[@LizaLavolta]

You have my attention

[@Waveformer]

LizaLavolta 😊

[@jonnyhead]

This is a very nicely timed piece, adjusting where needed when needed almost to perfection..... Maybe perfection...i don't know but it seems do have done the job nicely!! Great sounds chosen. Thanks for posting 🎧🎹🎹🎹🎹🎹🎧👍👍👍

[@Waveformer]

jonnyhead blush. Glad you liked it 😊.

[@triplebacon1]

Great performance!! Glad to see the Monologue being used so creatively, I love mine more than the Desktop Minilogue XD that I recently grabbed, yep it's true!! I'm gonna have to get a video out soon just in case somebody stumbles across my patch ;-( GREAT! job hear Waveformer ;-) you got me SUB'D ;-)

[@Waveformer]

Triplebacon Art Thanks 😊. The Monologue has a unique character. I love the filter, and the fact that the oscillators are analog and slowly drift. The Minilogue XD looks really nice, though.

[@Flying_Karsten]

nice sound!

[@Waveformer]

FlyingKarsten Thank you. These are two of my favorite synths 😊.

[@fredbrenno]

Realy nice sounds and themes ! Hope we can get together and make som more music again !

[@Waveformer]

Fred Brenno Thanks 😊. I’d like that 😀.

[@strongocho]

You don't see those in blue often, looks sick. Monologue is my most used piece of gear, I love that synth. You nailed it with this one though, sounds incredible.

[@Waveformer]

strongocho Thanks a lot 😊. The Monologue has a lot of character. It’s great both for soloing, for basses and for arpeggiator patterns. I’m really happy with it.

[@nicksoad494]

Nice

[@drucifuriously]

Aw man that was so cool. I just got a microfreak

[@Waveformer]

drucifer Thanks 😀. Enjoy the MicroFreak. It’s a great synth! I recommend running it through delay and reverb.

[@IWDvideoz]

@@Waveformer Can you run it trough those effects digitally? from DAW maybe?

[@oranmor685]

Damm that's amazing man ... Is there any way to get thoes patches ? Btw did you send the midi notes from the arturia to the monologue ?

[@pinto_ukes8406]

Nice, love the sound. I play Bass and Ukulele with my new Boss Looper, I'm looking for One Syns for give layers to my loopers, from this two, what will be the best option? Asturia have presets like the Korg? Thanks

[@Ingenieur_Robotique]

Love it. Was wondering what to pair the microfreak with. They make a great couple.

[@Waveformer]

The Monologue complements the MicroFreak very well. I recently got the Hydrasynth Keyboard, and love using it together with the MicroFreak. The polyphonic aftertouch is fantastic, and the synth engine is very good. You could consider the new Hydrasynth Explorer too, if it’s within your price range.

[@christianmichel2012]

a minimum of gear....with a great creativity ! Nice dude

[@Waveformer]

Eduardo L. Thank you. Limitations inspires me to explore the nuances. Here a lot of the timbral variations come from the two analog oscillators slightly out of tune, and I’m using ring modulation to exaggerate the beating effect when they move in and out of phase.

[@JonathanRCross]

Lovely osc de-tuning wobble. Sounds like an LFO

[@Waveformer]

Jonathan Cross Yeah. I’m kind of rediscovering the ring modulator, which increases the beating but keeps the resulting pitch mainly in tune.

[@JonathanRCross]

@@Waveformer Yeah I haven't used the detuning in that way for a bit, but it really shines here and highlights how good it is as an effect.

[@sinefabula]

Love your jams! So clean and uncluttered, so much space in them which is the thing I'm particularly fond of. And you have a very neat setup which looks as great as it sounds :) A couple of questions if you don't mind: first, is that mintbox mixer passive? So you just set levels on your synths and MS-70's and run it without any power source? And another one - which synth would you recommend to start with: Microfreak or Monologue? I'm somewhat familiar with synthesis and read everything about those two, and I want a nice machine to jam with and to explore sounds away from my laptop. The genre I'm aiming for is ambient / meditative / minimalism, maybe soundtrack-like. Thank you!

[@Waveformer]

Ilya Novozhilov Yes, the mintbox mixer is passive, no power source. Just 10kOhm resistors on every input. For your style of music, I guess I would recommend the MicroFreak. Lots of different sonic possibilities, lots of modulation options. I do recommend an effect pedal with at least delay and reverb. The Zoom MS-70CDR is great if you’re on a low budget, like me :-).

[@sinefabula]

@@Waveformer thanks! That's what I thought too. Will be certainly getting something :)

[@gapster77]

double noice!

[@Waveformer]

😊😊

[@GrootsieTheDog]

I have a lot of gear but I personally, I like the sound and music I make when pairing just two synths.

[@Waveformer]

Me to. It helps me explore the nuances of each synth instead of just adding layer upon layer with everything.

[@surf_machine]

​@N B @@Waveformer so what synth would you guys recommend alongside a microfreak (mostly for berlin techno) i am thinking about a monologue, a dreadbox typhon or a neutron. but i can't decide, maybe i just to buy and test'em all :o

[@AlizzDee]

i love thatlittle green spearmint refresh mints box ha ha haa ,is it a self-soldered distributor, veri nice :-)

[@777Comish]

Awesome, and I just bought a Monologue too

[@Waveformer]

Cool!

[@SebticSmile]

Already loving it and you haven't even touched the MicroFreak yet!

[@SebticSmile]

What happened to the Monologue that it needed repair?

[@Waveformer]

Seb Synth 😊

[@Waveformer]

Seb Synth There was a constant white-ish noise whenever I turned the osc levels down. Like there was noise coming in the audio in. Couldn’t be heard when osc levels were high, but I often fade sequences in and out using the osc level, so in the quiet parts of a jam the noise was there. Anyway, it ended up with me getting a brand new, and blue, unit 😀.

[@SebticSmile]

@@Waveformer Win! I have the blue one too, but sometimes I wish I'd gone for silver...

[@MegaProject69]

Why do you wish you went for sliver?

[@savedbyasong4627]

Also amazing: the Arturia Microbrute btw! Amazing!

[@meneerjansen00]

Pretty darn impressive. Did you use the shimmer effect from the MS-70?

[@Waveformer]

meneerjansen00 Thanks 😊. The effects used are listed in the description, at the bottom. The Particle Reverb is great for slow jams like this 🙂.

[@meneerjansen00]

@@Waveformer Thank for pointing to your excellent listing of what you used in the description. I didn't read well enough. ;-)

[@JonathanRCross]

I've just ordered a MF! Hoping to have it by next weekend. This sounds ace, and MF hasn't even started playing anything yet!

[@Waveformer]

Jonathan Cross Enjoy the MicroFreak. I’m having a lot of fun with it, especially the arpeggiator and the way the slice and dice functionality adds variations randomly. It’s really nice to be able to improvise both chord changes on the MF and play a solo on the Monologue, while slice and dice makes sure the arpeggiator pattern varies slightly all the time (sometimes just a longer or shorter decay time, sometimes skipping a note, sometimes playing the note an octave up or down).

[@JonathanRCross]

@@Waveformer I can't wait ! Expected arrival is Wednesday! tick tock tick tock...

[@LuTekkz]

Darf mir nur einen holen…welchen von beiden würdet ihr empfehlen (kann mich nicht entscheiden sind beide so schön)

[@jayvsson]

So good! Im thinking of getting a monologue... what's your overall impression of it presets and all? Cheers!

[@Waveformer]

I love it. It’s easy to program. The filter is really nice. The presets are a nice showcase for what it can do, but I always end up designing my own patches. The same can be said about every synth I own 😁.

[@jayvsson]

@@Waveformer rad man! Keep killin with your creative style - inspiring

[@torres.77]

Amazing music. Should I exchange my Maschine Mk3 for a Microfreak and a Roland TR8S?

[@Waveformer]

Thanks 😊. Those are very different synths/groove boxes. So I guess it comes down to what kind of sounds and workflow you prefer. Sorry I couldn’t be of more help 🙂. The MicroFreak is a fun synth to play :-).

[@robertj1303]

Hi, I got Microfreak but it was u/s on arrival so sent back and ended up with refund. No more stock for 2 months. So I would like your advice, which is I am looking at Korg minilogue xd instead. To me it sounds lush, and although as user presets 2 years on the providers have run dry. Should I wait or go for the Korg?

[@Waveformer]

That’s a tough question. I would think you’d be very happy either way, as both synths are really great. I would say the Minilogue is a bit more traditional. Classic analogue. Proper polyphony, not just paraphonic. Built in effects. And the unique user oscillator and user effects. The MicroFreak is great in its own way, and a bit more freaky and less traditional than the Minilogue. I really wish I had a Minilogue XD, but I’d never trade my MicroFreak for it :-).

[@robertj1303]

@@Waveformer i bought the xd module at a reduced price same as Timeline delay so good entry for me. I have 2 midi cntrllers and a jamstik studio modi guitar for it

[@trikOsk]

Fucking cool!

[@FreeloopsZanzibar]

Hello,good sound,what you need a kaossilator in the set?

[@Waveformer]

Hi. I use the Kaoss Pad only for recording, not for effects.

[@Heleno.]

In your dawless setup, how do you record the audio? What do you use?

[@Waveformer]

In that jam, I used the Korg Kaoss Pad KP2S in the upper right. It can record stereo directly to SD card.

[@brianbrill]

Nice! (smashes subscribe button)

[@Waveformer]

Brian Brill Thanks 😃😃😃.

[@6pin66]

everyone else already covered the main stuff , so.....where did you get those awesome little 9V battery adapters?!?!

[@Semihumanbeing]

Only 2 weeks, only 2 weeks. Then I can start building on my own "studio". Connect my pc, and hook up the monologue. Start learning this thing. It sounds and looks great what you do. Did you figured it out yourself?

[@Waveformer]

Laurent vanden Smilde Lots of experimenting, and I have to admit I read the manual. The controls are really hands on, so It’s easy to just tweak until it sounds good. Also easy to add variations by “playing” the knobs during a performance. Good luck :-).

[@pauldi7268]

What's an Hm7 chord?

[@Waveformer]

Paul Di For some reason (I blame Bach) Norway uses the letter H to describe the note a half step below C, and the letter B to describe the note a half step below that again. So a Norwegian Hm7 is an international Bm7, and a Norwegian B is an international Bb. Sorry for the confusion 🤪.

[@pauldi7268]

@@Waveformer wow thank you for the information I had no idea, and I am second generation Norwegian-Canadian, but there are.no musicians in the family and only some grandparents still speak Norwegian.

[@nikolaisoerensen]

If you write the b in script by hand it kind of looks like a h already, I heard that's how the mistake happened, but I'm not sure if it's true

[@vsd1988]

please send patterns

[@NicWomble]

Hm7? Do what?

[@Waveformer]

Nic Womble Sorry about that. Old habits die hard. That’s what Bm7 is called in Norway and a couple of other places. I blame Bach.

[@NicWomble]

Waveformer No worries. I was wondering if this meant Harmonic Minor 7th or... ha. Great video though. Has me looking at the Monologue and a Kaoss Mini 2s...

[@Waveformer]

Nic Womble 😀. I’m really happy with my Monologue.

[@NicWomble]

Waveformer I’m essentially trying to decide on a monologue or a bass station 2. I own a microfreak and a microbrute currently. And an analog four.

[@Waveformer]

Nic Womble haven’t tried the bass station 2, but it sounds great as well.