Moog Matriarch | Why I got one

[@W4TSKY]

I got one back in February. It’s my first synth that’s not a soft synth/VST and I’m absolutely in love with it!

[@arakaneuman]

Matriarch is the perfect example of the best new synths being just as good as the best old ones. What a beautiful machine, in all aspects.

[@arakaneuman]

@@dddayesq5061 Little phatty, dildo or synth?

[@Zaccyonline]

The matriarch is amazing, so happy to see you enjoying it!

[@EspenKraft]

Cheers!

[@cortical1]

Excited to see you with this. Will get the sample pack for sure. I've been playing with my Micromoog of late; man, those ladder filters are butter.

[@EspenKraft]

The MicroMoig is awesome. I always liked that simplicity yet it can really cut through.

[@cortical1]

@@EspenKraft Very true! And some rather unique routing capabilities.

[@EspenKraft]

Yes. I know several synth people that regard it as their favorite Moog.

[@kirabarsmith9353]

Sounds even sweeter than I expected, you got it dialed in, Espen.

[@EspenKraft]

Cheers!

[@christopherpederson1021]

it sounds better through the eurorack outputs

[@soniklink-WKD4496]

Great sounds forever with this one!! Enjoy 👍 Whatever you have planned for live, i'm sure it will sound ace with samples like these, love it ❤🙂

[@EspenKraft]

Cheers!

[@Screaming-Trees]

I have a Matriarch Dark that I use as a backbone for all of my techno, UK garage, house, GenZ trance etc production. A mono is all you kind of need in modern electronica really. I use Diva for JP8000 type sounds and pads and a bit of Korg Prologue (again for pads). But you can do all the bread and butter tasks you need to do with a mono like the Matriarch.

[@teakmakai5921]

same, I have the matriarch dark and it has recently become the forefront of most of my house and dance music projects. I’d say 80% of all my track’s elements are straight matriarch as of recent

[@gunark]

It’s like a Moog take on the Mono Poly built from a System 55. The secret sauce is the sequencer driving oscs with different waves and pitches through that delay. Love mine.

[@EspenKraft]

Also why I show that in the video.

[@theleastsignificantbit4794]

The envelopes are the weakest part of the synth.

[@BenSudo-np7wg]

@@theleastsignificantbit4794 I like the FuseBox X sound more. The Matriarch lacks a bit of balls. But I only know what I have heard on KZbin, never played one myself.

[@theleastsignificantbit4794]

I love the VCOs and the Mixer section. And the Delay is absolutely amazing.

[@seffers007]

Yes! I love my Matriarch - super sounding synth.

[@davidryle]

Matriarch is a player's synth. It is more akin to the Moog modular lineup than the Minimoog or any other mono keyboard synth of the past from Moog. It's patch-ability with other analogue gear is a big factor too. The dual bucket brigade delay is the signature element. Don't see that aspect ever making it to the sampler. It has stayed in my lineup since I bought it. A keeper.

[@EspenKraft]

I've always had much fun sampling mono synths, especially for bass. Almost all my music has some sampled elements coming from a mono synth. ;-)

[@brianschiller4053]

Nice sounds! I got a Matriarch Dark a few months ago and have been enjoying it a lot.

[@EspenKraft]

Cheers!

[@lardosian]

12.40 wow that sounds so lovely!

[@Eyepatchfilms]

Can't go wrong with a Moog, gotta have em all!

[@PhrygianPhrog]

When multisampled it will make really some great pads for sure.

[@grillskillz]

what a cool sounding synth...

[@mirkocaserta]

I've had a matriarch for a few months and I deeply enjoyed it, especially the delay which sounds like honey being poured over your ears. I played a bit with the semimodular patching and understood it was not for me so I later switched my matriarch for... guess what? a prophet x, yes 😆 So, I'll be first in line when you release the soundpack. I still have a subsequent 37 and a slim phatty for all my monophonic moogueing needs though.

[@EspenKraft]

My samplepack will be awesome for anyone with a PX. ;-) Cheers

[@davejavumorse0416]

Totally Moogalicious

[@dc9662]

I got one recently too! It's really fantastic.

[@klstay]

If you do not need (or just really want) patch storage to me this is by far the best synth Moog currently offers.

[@christopherpederson1021]

moog one

[@klstay]

@@christopherpederson1021 for mono and para sounds (which is a LOT of territory) not even close. For the price of a few modules this can be pretty much anything you want.

[@davebetts900]

Loving the Han Island martial arts tournament t shirt, enter the dragon brother 👊

[@EspenKraft]

Love that movie myself. Check the video description for a link to where you can get one yourself. Cheers

[@RoyChartier]

If you averaged out all your synths, samplers, drum machines, and outboard, by introduction date, do you think you'd still fall in the 80's?

[@EspenKraft]

Interesting idea for a video. I'll look into it. I would think so, by a good margin. However, I've swapped out some old with new lately.

[@SpikesStudio3]

Thats hilariious Roy. A great topic in itself. 👍

[@brianmorton4127]

Ha! I knew the Matriarch would get you eventually.

[@Patrick-bm6ih]

nice demonstration !

[@EspenKraft]

Cheers!

[@StargateMax]

6:12 ... Awesome sound with the delay!

[@habiofabio]

I got stuck to the Han island tournament. Was his dad there with Bruce Lee and all he got was that lousy t-shirt 😂

[@CraigRodmellMusic]

Judging by the thumbnail for this video, it looks like the Pied Piper needs to be brought in - you've got a plague of Espen's over there! 😉😃😂

[@johnkuisma6648]

First time I’ve seen a Roland CN-20 controller on KZbin!

[@EspenKraft]

You should check out my long video about it. ;-)

[@GlobalCitizen369]

❤🛸 Smdh!

[@tz64nk41]

tasty

[@Vitalka_project]

I repaired this one recently, ribbon cable for pitch panel was inserted with wrong side from factory.

[@matthewcragg3607]

I wish Moog would sell "official" wooden end plates Matriarch owners could purchase and install. I love the Matriarch but the plastic end plates lose that beautiful retro quality look that the Moog One, Subsequent 37, etc. have.

[@xinjoy6236]

is there some wood plate somewhere?

[@matthewcragg3607]

@@xinjoy6236 I found a set on Etsy and purchased them. I've yet to do the installation. I'm sure they will look nice. Usually I wouldn't do this. I'm a big proponent of leaving things stock. But I will retain the original parts in perfect condition so I can put them back on later if I ever want to do so.

[@mitchelstephen7536]

Wow that thing sounds really nice. I have some of the 80's analogs (Oberheim Xpander, Jupiter 6, Super Jupiter with the programmer, MKS 50 Alpha Juno with the programmer,). The thing about sampling analog is you have to take lots of samples, because the oscillators are free running. Then do round robin of at least 3 samples per note.

[@EspenKraft]

You don't have to multi-sample at all, but you CAN. ;-) It depends on if I'm going for a "hi-fi" sound or not. If I sample into an old sampler I'd go for one note only and let the sampler pitch shift or stretch it down itself. Then I get all the characteristics of that sample engine, and thus, the nostalgia factor. That's usually what's most important to me.

[@mitchelstephen7536]

Yes, I think it depends on the patch :)~@@EspenKraft I have hundreds of samples I made for my EMAX II over the past 30 years.

[@argospanoptes4826]

MOOG

[@philmakesnoise]

Sick stuff. I am also a big believer in the Prophet X. I love mine. Looking forward to that PX pack whenever you get to it. (BTW the Gold Baby PPG pack is stellar!) I've been thinking of parting with my only other synth (Prophet 6) for a (likely Moog) mono to pair with my PX. I like a simple setup and the PX is just more versatile as a poly than P6. Anyways, I steered away from Matriarch because I felt like it wouldn't have the same heft and envelope snap as even something like the Sub25, which I appreciate for space and simplicity reasons, even over the 37. The demo speaks for itself, but I wanted to know if you happened to notice or can remark on the Matriarchs viability as a hefty mono / bass machine, along with all of the obviously awesome other things it can do.

[@EspenKraft]

What you mean by "hefty" I don't know, but I could definitely use the M as a bass synth in 80s pop music environment for sure. Cheers

[@unspecialist]

Good luck finding space in the mix for something else with most of these patches

[@EspenKraft]

Like I say in the video. This is brought in a source of sampling. I've got no problems using the sampled sounds in productions. Worked very well in fact.

[@Pepijn_a.k.a._Akikaze]

Although I respect everyone's way of working I would not sample analogue instruments if I had the original at my disposal, which I do. A sample is a snapshot and when sampling analogue and acoustic instruments you will lose part of their character. That said, the Matriarch is a good choice for many sounds, including bass. It can't replace a Minimoog though. Envelope times and behaviour and envelope filter control depth are different, to name a few things. It can even coexist with my Moog One. The Matriarch is supposed to be inspired by older circuitry than the eighties but as any other good musician you are looking for the best sound, so why limiting yourself to eighties gear? Keep the Matriarch and make some more wonderful sounds with it. Cheers!

[@EspenKraft]

In the 80s we sampled analog gear, layered it with other sounds and sampled that back, and voila, a totally new sound. These sounds were heard in numerous hits throughout the 80s. Sampling and samples were responsible for at least 70% of all sounds heard in pop music. When I layer the samples from the Matriarch with other samples it creates just that, a new sound. That's the goal. The snapshot you talk about isn't the idea at all. On its own, the Matriarch isn't all that interesting to me, but I find it a great fundament to build on when layering, while still retaining some of its character. That's how I see it, but we're all different in approach and that's what makes making music interesting. We all do it differently. Cheers

[@90041hood]

⁠​⁠@@EspenKraftwait, you don’t find the Matriarch to be very interesting?

[@BenSudo-np7wg]

A Sonic-6 is far more interesting @@EspenKraft

[@kliffklass]

This is like buying a Ferrari just to sit in and listen to the stereo.

[@EspenKraft]

You're not from the 80s, that is achingly clear.

[@kliffklass]

​@@EspenKraft well, first, I was a teenager in the 80s, but that's not important. Second, and I could be wrong here, but I thought that multisampling was something which didn't really come along til the 90s? In the 80s, the first akai samplers came along in the mid-late 80s, and had memories far too small for multisampling, so sampling was just single-shots. Before that, it was just Fairlights etc, which were prohibitively expensive. The old 80s pop bands were clearly playing junos and jupiters, not multisampling them.

[@EspenKraft]

I'm not sure why you think I'm only doing multi-sampling? Sampling ONE tone and using the sampler's stretching abilities is the best way to get the artefacts going, the sound we associate with 80s sampling and what we're often going for today. However, multi-sampling has it's place and when I'm designing my live patches I often want them to be more "hi-fi" so I can bring my old (or new gear like the Matriarch) out for live gigging WITHOUT actually bringing it out. I only want to take out what is necessary to get my sound across. As for multi-sampling in the 80s, that was very much done. I did it myself too. Almost every sampler made for the pro music world could assign different samples to key zones, in effect multi sampling. I have several videos on my channel showing this in real time. Samplers like the Akai S700/900, Roland S-10/50/550/330, Prophet 2000, Korg DSS-1 etc etc. They can all handle this. From around 1984 and onwards almost everything was sampling. Analog synths were sampled, layered and recorded like that. As samples. Drums and bass the same. We're talking pop here of course. Artists showcasing analog synths in music videos were mostly most for show.

[@klinkske]

Sounds good. I just don t trust recent moogs. I had 3 each one had issues

[@christopherpederson1021]

mine has an intermittent scratchy pot on the filter cutoff

[@TheDavidPoole]

Because they will be worth more than the cheap chinese produced ones coming soon to a dealer near you?

[@EspenKraft]

The Chinese can build anything to spec. It's up to the manufacturer to spend that money.

[@TheDavidPoole]

@@EspenKraft absolutely agree. People downplay the Chinese far too much. They've taken the technology bull by its horns and run with it, much like Japan did last century. I think that the Moog buyout will do wonders for the brand and will make owning Moog gear more accessible. My initial comment was for comic effect, but I do believe it will keep the company going for years to come. Tcheuss!

[@EspenKraft]

I think so too. I see comments about low QC on gear manufactured in China all the time, but it's always up to the manufacturer. Surprised that people don't realize that. ;-) Cheers

[@lundsweden]

I bought an Akai S2000 sampler made in China almost 30 years ago. Build quality was excellent!

[@TheDavidPoole]

@@lundsweden yes, ive had a few Akai pieces over the years. My favourite was the AX80 synth. Beautiful sound, and a great looking interface, with all those neon bars showing the parameter values. The dial was a pain initially, but after a while I was flying around it. Chopped it in for a Mirage. Wish I hadn't, but i loved that too, till it broke. Ended up in a skip, very foolishly im sad to say 🥺

[@progwaver]

Well, everyone its own workflow... But one question.... why you not take the Matriarch itsself as Soundsource... I mean why you do Samples from it for Prophet X, thats always only a snapshot. Like you had a Sampler in the 90s. There are so cool synths out now like the Moog. Just my opinion the synth comes best in sound, if you use it itself direkt... its an analog synth, no sample can match that in my opinion... But anyway... hehe

[@EspenKraft]

Sure, in the studio recording I could use it directly of course. Unless I'm doing sound design where sampling is essential, where I'm layering sounds. In the 80s we always sampled analog gear, combined it and layering with digital synths to create new timbres and patches. 80s pop sound is almost entirely samples and sampling. That's the sound I'm going for. Analog synths by themselves aren't very interesting in pop.

[@bonzaihb3432]

@@EspenKraft Interesting, for me as a Synth nerd but complete utter music production noob (I am happy with fart sounds and some re-created EBM bass loops from my Eurorack, and even then don't know what to do with it really lol) - how would this look like? I mean, for me it looks like just playing around with the Synth - how would you do SD with that? Do you have anything special in mind beforehand that you then record when you found it or how does this work? Just record single sounds, complete loops? And then what? Might be another video, if you got the time... ;)

[@EspenKraft]

I have tons of videos showing how I work with samples, how I sample and edit etc.

[@ChrisP3000x]

Nice video. I was waiting on the Patriarch, but now not interested in China Moog at all.

[@EspenKraft]

Quality would be much better from China, if the manufacturer has budgeted that in, than from "hand-building" in the US.

[@SuchaDoofus]

@@EspenKraft Exactly. China makes some really high quality things now. But I'm guessing its not the build quality that is the focus of the prejudice here...Just a brainwahed US fear of all things Chinese.

[@eladreltuc]

Bout time hipster. I've had my even longer lol

[@EspenKraft]

I'm definitely not a hipster.

[@PsychologyAcademia]

Espen have you still the Isla S2400?

[@EspenKraft]

No.

[@PsychologyAcademia]

I only ask as you said you were sampling into it all the old drum machines. I have one but im thinking of getting a dedicated drum machine like the Jomox Alphabase. Why did you sell??@@EspenKraft

[@EspenKraft]

I go through all that in the Roland TR-8S video.

[@PsychologyAcademia]

I hear you. The Isla is a sampler on steroids now the expansion daughter cards are coming adding FX its overkill for most.

[@EspenKraft]

Yeah, since I never used it as a sampler I could simply let it go now.

[@PetraKann]

.......expensive synth I cant justify the price for what it can do ($3,900 in Australia)

[@EspenKraft]

It's not cheap for sure.

[@tendingtropic7778]

nice showcase, not the best tutorial, but that was probably not the goal

[@EspenKraft]

When the title is "why I got one" I don't expect anyone to think it's a tutorial. ;-)

[@hjhkjhre454554]

Buy one, sent it back. Filter is too smooth, and stereo thing complicates it imho

[@vintagesynthesizers]

Mr "I am the 80s" sold out his synths from the 80s and bought synths from 2010s. 😂

[@EspenKraft]

Got about 30 units from the 80s left. Got about 5 pieces from the 2010s. No need to be an a$$ about it. ;-)

[@antondhondt9851]

Total damp squib for me. Not trolling here, but this Moog M sounds like a chiptune toy. Just spiky, harsh tones, reminding of ancient sound modules. You can get similar sounds in freeware Furnace Tracker with its over 50 sound chips emulation. Or any over-saturated VST chiptune emulator.

[@EspenKraft]

Sure, we all hear what we want to hear.

[@SuchaDoofus]

You should get your hearing checked.... A build up of wax can easily lead to Moog-Chiptune Confusion Syndrome..

[@stefanbasslorraine8061]

that sounds infra or nazy bright, lack of middle and real punch.. modern sound I dislike

[@CollapseReport]

No interest

[@cortical1]

I'm uninterested in your lack of interest. 👍🏻

[@zap7759]

I hate this synth. Everything about it.

[@EspenKraft]

No shame in that. I hate things too.

[@zap7759]

@@EspenKraft Voyagers and Phattys were awesome.

[@hansemannet]

Not impressed.

[@EspenKraft]

Not trying to impress anyone.

[@hansemannet]

Sorry, meant the instrument itself. @@EspenKraft

[@EspenKraft]

No worries ;-)