The Behringer Poly D Revisited

[@hjhkjhre454554]

Tim Shoebridge, the airline pilot of synth reviewers.

[@kierenmoore3236]

“Just patching you through now, Sir … Please hold …”

[@Psychlist1972]

I had a Juno 106 in the late 80s. I sometimes left it on with the speakers cranked so I had BBD Chorus ocean sounds playing when I went to sleep.

[@cygnusalpha5575]

I usually take a photo of each patch I create and paste the image into the scratch pad / info box into each channel of my DAW (studio one).

[@jackpijjin4088]

Smart!

[@Feldspar__]

That's a great option in Ableton I didn't know existed. Thanks for suggesting it.

[@glnnk_art]

@@Feldspar__ how does that work in Ableton?

[@margateswede]

That's a great trick. Nice one!

[@electronaut7429]

I'm liking the music and London video very much and am reminded of Tangerine Dream. Thank you for your "thoughts videos", videos and music making! 🙂

[@watchaddicts1213]

WAY BEST OF ALL: when you pair your Video work with these songs. Just lovely!! I could watch for hours! Brings the song to life.

[@watchaddicts1213]

So Helpful, Tim, that you take the time to Explain your INs/Outs on Cubase. I use Cubase (transitioning from 11 pro to 13 pro. Back to my remark, most creators just presume that their audience just KNOWS everything about connections. That is NOT the case, so thanks for the Connections DETAIL. Equally helpful, your recording techniques provided, i.e., the fading out segment on track X, as your fade in track Y so that you get the same sound clip playing throughout this song, rather than a single track that continues to morph or evolve throughout (for what you wanted in this specific song)

[@samborn7120]

Really enjoyed this track. It’s even more exciting that you accomplished it with a single synth. Bravo 👌

[@mattborba1340]

Song at the end really kept getting and better as it went on. Really enjoyed it a lot. Put me in a great mood!

[@npartridge12]

Thank you for such a fascinating look into your workflow. I had been considering a Poly D for a while, having owned the Behringer Model D and loved the sound, the Poly D was always on my wanted list and I have now ordered one thanks to your honest review. I was completely mesmerised by your beautiful track, really showed what this synth can do in the right hands, really loved it, just so relaxing, thanks for sharing

[@winddealer1]

You never fail to deliver and share insightful and captivating observations with your content journeys. Each of your videos represents a valuable and wonderful learning opportunity. Thanks for investing your time to share these moments with us. Great inspirational guidance with your mix constructions and final piece. Gratefully. P.S. Love the walking pace synced to the tempo! Enjoyed the B&W footage for a change.

[@ghavinga]

Great track Tim, brought back memories of the times I lived in London. The style unites Berlin school and London-living ambiance, very appropriate. Very gentlemanly of you to accept the faulty switch on the model D. I wonder if Behringer will respond to your remarks. The sound of the Poly D, in your track, is really beautiful, warm and organic. Thank you once again for this great demonstration and look into your workflow. I always learn something new from your videos ;-).

[@YTNUKLR]

great stuff Tim! You are more than deserving of your place making content and doing a great job. True polymath-poly-artist! B&W video, cinematography, musical arrangement, technical detail on instruments - very impressive. thanks for the excellent video.

[@steventaylor3789]

Hi Tim. Your 3 videos on the Poly D have been both fascinating and entertaining. I really appreciate the composition that you’ve included as part of this demo as it puts everything you’ve talked about into a real context and I’ve fallen in love with the sounds you’ve come up with. I will be sure to find one to demo when we are allowed back out. Many thanks for the inspiration.

[@maunstermusic]

I really like to tune at the end, Tim. Nicely done.

[@krider7296]

Very nice. Thank you so much for sharing this process with all of us.

[@gilm677]

Appreciate the honesty of your reviews. Interesting topics in your reviews. Thanks very much

[@Producer4Realz]

Thank you for excellence in your video's. I enjoy it tremendously and leqrned quite a lot from your beautiful way of explaining your art. Cheers from Tel-Aviv.

[@stevecoscia]

Glad I made the time to watch this. Thanks for the follow up video - informative and candid observations. I'll be buying the poly D for sure. Your song has wonderful textures - you're very creative. Reminds of Patrick O'Hearn.

[@LostPlanet2024]

The Juno chorus is one of the best sounding ever. Love your videos. Always well done.

[@ianwilson7637]

I did not expect to like that song as much as I did. Wow, very atmospheric and mesmerizing. I think the grainy B&W video that went along with it was fantastic. It merged with the song so naturally and reminded me of the best parts of Autobahn. Thanks for the walkthrough of the Poly D, it gave good insight into the synth. Good to know that there is no real need for the Model D if you have the Poly D and space is not at a premium. I have been contemplating getting it but I already have a Model D and I am about done with mono synths at this point, or at least synths with no patch storage anyway. Thanks for sharing.

[@awpMusic1]

No problem staying awake - loved the track (and video) - very similar to my own music.

[@anythingbox]

You are right, in that the Juno chorus was noisy (had both 6 and 60). But a pedal or outboard gear can solve that. BUT... My question is... have you used the Poly D as a midi controller? Do the knobs send CCs??

[@anythingbox]

BTW... Love the video footage!

[@tron944]

Claudio? When you guys came to Chicago back in the 90’s for a show at Alcatrazz, you borrowed my Juno 60. Rick from Sappho.

[@anythingbox]

@@tron944 Ha! That's so funny, and true!!!

[@lukequincey7187]

This has very quickly become one of my favourite KZbin channels. Thank you for your content, Tim. 🙏🏽🎹

[@thedonal]

Really nice track. I love your talks on these synths- very level presentation and informative. Your arrangements with the tunes are fantastic too.

[@MikeFife]

Mine arrives on Wednesday... Thanks for the reviews, it's good to see a pragmatist. And nice stroll aound the city.

[@jeffsimslmt]

I love the r3cording, how you explain it and all your personal thoughts. Joy!

[@martinlubitz3171]

Hi Tim, nice video as always. Thanks for that. Lovely piece, i'm waiting for my Poly D.

[@carstenlambrecht828]

Great Song and amazing to be done with just one Synth. fantastic footage btw. 😊

[@Miliussauce]

Love your explanations and processes here. Thank you so much for making this. The track went perfectly with a nice cup of coffee. Started my morning off with the right vibes :)

[@MacXpert74]

Nice video. I really liked your track at the end and the sounds you created with the Poly D. I felt it had a strong Kraftwerk feel to it, which is cool. Nice job!

[@darrenmackay2536]

Enjoyed this vid and your track and your vid footage play-out looks amazing too. Clever use of high contrast monotone

[@ProfessorSynth]

Another great video Tim. Love the song and the imagery. Thanks for sharing.

[@dstrats]

The sound of your track was amazing!

[@electron7373]

Nice track. Lots of mellow analogue goodness with a soothing rhythm.

[@thekitchensynth]

Love your videos Tim...as a relative newbie I find them informative, well structured and at the right pace. Inspiring....keep 'em coming! Thanks ...

[@MikeHageman]

Thanks Tim, you gave me 34 very beautiful and inspiring minutes in life.

[@electrikm38]

I like this informational video and how he breaks it all down for us to understand it.Great Job!

[@stephenmulcahy3694]

Lovin this, just got a Poly D, Thank you sounds amazing!!

[@ossyboy6420]

absolutely brilliant ,foot steps in perfect time in video ..

[@adpitts1]

I felt that the video makes a great visualization for the song. The patches work well for the mood. Thank you for bringing useful information to the community, sir.

[@TimShoebridge]

Allen Thanks very much

[@martinneal5240]

WOW! That was a beautiful bit of music...I mean really good. The Poly sounds amazing...well done.

[@wedream2]

Great song! It flows really nice. Good background music for doing housework, working out, or doing creative art projects, etc.

[@niknayme3754]

The Juno Chorus digital effect on the MC707 ADDS the hiss that you're getting on the Poly D, it's part and parcel of the effect and can be quite a pleasing sound (like tape hiss). Good to see a Poly D being used as most of us would use it, nice video.

[@MuzixMaker]

Add a noise gate.

[@synthplayer1563]

Thank you, your videos are always very interesting. The track is very nice and transcendental ;-) . The final sweep is awesome. The Behringer Poly D is a fine sounding synth.

[@Dudderlyful]

Lovely piece of music, has a kind of krautrock vibe, really nice way to start off my Saturday!

[@o.b.v.i.u.s]

Very nice, Tim! All the way across!

[@H-4-D3423]

I'm not a musician and don't own any synths, but as always Tim this is a bloody well-paced video that even I can follow 100%. I was amazed, as I was sure it would start with you saying "since returning my original Poly D" lol. But if you can work around the issues/quirks, then I see your logic for keeping it. I always enjoy an example of a complete song made with the instrument in focus. This has so much benefit for anyone thinking of owning the same synth. Behringer should be sending you a free unit, for your work on this synth alone! My thanks

[@naturesound2963]

Hello Tim, you are the one, I always fully can trust and can see, how nice and detailed (with love for synths, I guess) and neutral you are working out your tests.. Very nice of you, and thanks so much :) The name "Moog" is one time more relative .. in terms of quality.. (!) I wish very much, you will test the new Moog Muse with your critical and detailed look. The new one has the image, that it is wonderfully more leaned on all the old models with their old wonderful (more aggressive) and good sound in opposite to the models "Voyager", "Moog One", or the "Sub-models".

[@impurfekt]

Brilliant video. Absolutely brilliant.

[@RadiAsian]

thanks for this review and demo. Excellent music and footage of London

[@searley888]

Another great video and cool song at the end.

[@mschorer]

I love the song! Thanks for taking the time! Can‘t wait for my Poly-D to arrive in March.

[@royarnefylkesnes]

Love your song! Brings me back to the 70s 👍

[@thomaspipermusic]

I'm confused about the filters does both filters go to 20khz if so shouldn't they be the same brightness ?

[@thomasinlondon2849]

Loved the track, thanks for sharing.

[@sotem3608]

Really love your music style :D It's really inspiring for me!

[@BritoWorx]

Great content. No need to shorten videos when they’re this good. Thank you sir. Can’t wait to finally get mine in the mail.

[@clolo4615]

Ty for the great in depth review. Great! About no saving patches and total recall. The best songs have imperfections to my ears. It has it benefits to not save. It forces the creativity.

[@ConwayBob]

Thank you, Tim, for your generosity in sharing your additional thoughts on the Behringer Poly D and in revealing a good bit of your creative process. This track is beautiful. It whets the appetite for more music from Tim Shoebridge. I've bought the two albums you've got on Bandcamp. Is there someplace where we can find more? Thanks again.

[@hafstrat]

My odyssey has a noisy effects switch, huge crackling when switched, so I just leave it on and turn effects mix to zero.

[@OttosTheName]

Behringer or Korg version?

[@JonJenkins1982]

@16:30 you can also just take a picture of the patch or write the values down

[@electrikm38]

I like his song and very enjoyable to listen too.

[@TheNimasan]

sounds tremendous!!!!!! i'll get mine next week. just can't wait. thx for the video

[@jackpast]

Excellent review! Love the song and video. New sub!

[@themarsipan]

The song is really good :-) Very hypnotic and dreamy, reminds me of Carbon Based Lifeforms. And it goes really well with the black & white London footage. Congratulations :-)

[@station2station544]

All things being equal, the Poly-D has a nice midrange bias that plays well in the track and in your studio. The Matriarch (which I also own) has a warm round sound which also has it's place. This dichotomy is what I noticed when I added a Moog Model D re-issue to compliment my Voyager a few years back. The Model D (and hence the Poly D) has that dangerous electric hair on it's harmonic edges which is highly useable. Another well thought out video, Tim. And great track.

[@Magnus_Loov]

...which is what the original vintage Model D:s also had. The Matriarch, Voyager and Sub37 are known for the "darker" sound compared to the vintage Model D.

[@synthway]

Around 12:00 you talk about the filter knob not acting until 10 o clock... I had something similar with a Sub Phatty (now gone), and it was actually a miscalibration, VCF range, that at least from what I remember, controlled the range of this knob. Moog sent me instruction to adjust it myself, and it was good to go. Maybe you should contact them. Cheers!

[@hermisphere5681]

At 12:00 you mention that the lower part of the Matriarch's cutoff control is quite unusable. However, I would care to disagree. What happens is that as soon as you start adding various modulation to the VCF, envelopes, key tracking and LFO, they all add voltage to the filter CV bus, thus opening it more and more. Now, If the initial amount of the cutoff knob were higher, it would mean you can't properly close the filter if you have a lot of modulation going, and end up with a mostly open filter = boring sound. I even (mis)calibrated my SCI Pro-One filter to be able to close it further, because by default it is set way too high and suffers from what I mentioned above.

[@komajomusic]

You do a really good job with these videos👍

[@METAMORA6329]

It sounds really warm and beautiful, very nice!

[@rick2001uk]

I bought this last year. Think I got #17 off the line. To be fair I've only recently (past couple of years) started to get into hardware synths. Really nice overview and some nice tips. I have to say that the sonic / harmonic range thing with the 'noisy' chorus in 'poly' (para) mode kind of hypnotises me every time I go near the thing - so gonna heed your advice and go easy. Lots of tips for me here. And great track too! Thank you.

[@emdotambient]

Great track. I like the Poly D and track details but it would be nice to also have a video of just the song so we could add it to playlists!

[@kquat7899]

Very nice work, and helpful advice.

[@MrAliensix]

I enjoyed that, thanks! It's always interesting to see another persons workflow too :)

[@gatosoul]

Hi, it is such a great Analog synth, I can't believe how affordable it is, it is just Crazy. I love mine,, thank you for sharing

[@waltstephens1346]

Great revisit and wonderful score! Every synth seems to have their "ticks".

[@jayjones2821]

“Tics”

[@dennisrochat7747]

Another great video. Love em'

[@aleksanderbuch4997]

Those filtersweep-chords really sound superb! Who needs an OBX-a when you’ve got that! And the repetetive two-tone bass, for example. Wonderful sound. Sounds expensive, but isnt. Great to hear the synth in a complete piece of music. Your last video also made the issues of paraphonic/polyphonic differences so much clearer than most videos ive seen on this subject.

[@tylergates4075]

I was also thinking you can get those smooth OB sounds out of this

[@jasonramler]

Tim. I love the video and your song is not boring at all. The movement of the parts is very hypnotic and engaging. Well done. I have to tease you a little though. When you first got the Behringer Model D you were not quite satisfied with just having a Moog mono synth. And for the price, it is real tempting to purchase additional units and chain them together. Well, you thought that was probably too much of a pain and ending up getting a Novation Peak to satisfy your poly needs with a sort of Moog tone. In the end though, the Peak just didn't make the grade as far as getting you your much coveted poly Moog tone. You pulled the trigger and purchased additional Behringer Model D's. O.k, you finally have your much sought after poly Moog sound and lo and behold Behringer releases a poly Moog!! Your initial prayers have finally been answered. Tim: I know it's a poly, but I honestly really only use it in mono mode most of the time!!!! I love you Tim. Keep up the great work!

[@TimShoebridge]

Jason Haha, you know me too well..!! Those poly chained Model D’s ended up being a bit of a pain to be honest, but the sound was amazing when everything was in tune :) And yes the Poly D is a terrific substitute, I love the immediacy and the sound of the filter and the chorus, but the reality is that for most of the music I write I need mono patches 90% of the time. I do miss the Peak though, it was a great Swiss Army Knife of a poly synth, very practical but I never quite fell in love with the sound compared to a Poly D or Matriarch..........

[@RayyMusik]

As for the swishing chorus: as an organist, I wouldn‘t even notice it. :)

[@RayyMusik]

@@sd67b Nah, there are digital FX without any background noise. No reason to offend Tim! He obviously loves synths, and I’ve learned a lot from his videos.

[@jackpijjin4088]

@@RayyMusik Nobody knows how to give input without stooping to insults anymore.

[@ChazSeamus28]

i like it alot.. makes me want a poly D.. great job

[@infinity528hz5]

Noise Is adding a flavor, I love my poly D, and it sounds like my old mini model D from 1978 👍❤️cheers

[@mikaeljohansson83]

Such a beautiful track:) Top notch in my book!

[@Flat8G]

Really, really nice! Hypnotic and tastefully evolving! I think the best way of presenting a synth is to do what you just did here, hope to see you do the same to other synths in the future. :)

[@AndyVonal]

Thanks once again for an instructive video. Loved the track - as I always do! TD in a major key (I think!) - sweet!

[@NicholasGreenwood]

Hi Tim. I enjoyed hearing your thoughts on workflow. I'm a Matriarch owner and have been using it in conjunction with Ableton. I'm still relatively new to the process of production in a DAW, but some of the things I'm learning about using a hardware synth are exactly what you've described here. Dealing with the challenge of committing to a synth patch, using fewer oscillators per track in order to stack them up in the DAW, looping and/or reusing audio, etc. I think I'm on the right track. I'm subscribing. Cheers from Seattle, USA.

[@TimShoebridge]

Nicholas You’re very welcome :) I do hear quite often of people who are used to preset synths who then buy a full-on manual synth like the Matriarch or Poly D and end up frustrated so I thought I would take some time to describe the reality of using one. It does need a flexible mindset. Glad to hear you’re enjoying your Matriarch, it’s a beautiful synth and definitely a future classic :)

[@DaraM73]

Just purchased a Poly D, thanks to your track.

[@ricardoantunezjimenez3655]

WHERE!?!?!?

[@DaraM73]

ricardo antunez jimenez Andertons.co.uk

[@ricardoantunezjimenez3655]

@@DaraM73 thanks! i thought it was available already :( any clue of the release date?

[@DaraM73]

ricardo antunez jimenez 7th feb

[@ricardoantunezjimenez3655]

@@DaraM73 thank you!

[@cymonalex]

Nice Summary Tim... Dunno about not sorting the Chorus button fault?.. What about if (when ) you decide to move it on? I guess you've got a year to decide...

[@billfusionenterprise]

can't make this up. looking While look up info on poly D and you tube gave me an ad for ED

[@stefan3112]

Beautiful warm sound. Thanks for sharing. if I can make a note to model d: Don't throw away your Model Ds respect. do not sell them! After watching Tim's video on the subject "model d chaining" I bought another one - and I do not regret this. 2 Model Ds are phantastic especially if you sequence them in poliphonic mode. Big sound on little space (no keyborad can also be an advantage)

[@weave_of_k]

The song has a Stereolab vibe. Love it.

[@fiddlestickzmuzik]

I like that you found a work around for the crackling switch, instead of moaning and carrying on like a pork chop, you found a way to make it work and move on. I like to see this in peoples character it's not common to most people I assure you, nice one.

[@shadowflash705]

fiddlestickz muzik I would rather open the thing and check for cold solder joints though, if there's none - just spray some contact cleaner inside that switch and that's it usually.

[@squareeyedgit]

Another thought for using the chorus - record the synth as two simultaneously recorded but separate mono tracks rather than a linked stereo track. This way you can get the chorus sound, but you can then pan the tracks in a much more narrow way and give it a more definite placement in the stereo image, whilst still having that chorus tone.

[@MilesAwayOfficial]

I love doing this to thicken up analog leads and chords!

[@robotdude5363]

Some great Tim Blake/early Gong sounds from that thing!

[@DaraM73]

Lovely track, lovely. Cheers mate.

[@roddyrockstar]

Great!!! many thanks. i also live near a small airport and first thought there was a plane flying above my house ;-)

[@RiczWest]

Hey mate - I'm an Aussie who lived in the UK for about 10y (back in Aus now) - great to see vision around Leadenhall St where I used to work. Absolutely fantastic audio and a great review of the the Behringer PolyD - got me thinking... I have a Neutron and was thinking of a D, but now... One suggestion with the vid - maybe think about false colorisation or something? Doesn't have to be full on. Could be muted and fade in and out with the track. BTW Just came across your channel and instant subscribe :) Keep up the great work - going to dig back through all you've done and can't wait for what you do next...

[@freeform144]

Neutron rocks! I'd also recommend the K-2 if you like lots of CVs. But yah, that Poly D looks nice, too, eh?

[@TheScreamingFrog916]

On the video, it's art, so no right or wrong, just my thoughts.... I liked it, having the color filtered out, as with certain sounds, seems to make it fit better in the context of the whole. Having said that, it might also be a fun technique, to have the color fade in/out in time with the filter sweep, or have the different video clips crosfade in/out in time with the filter sweeps. Thanks again for doing what you do, and sharing on KZbin. I learn a lot from you, and the folks who post in the comments section.

[@marcpinion]

Fantastic work

[@monsterjazzlicks]

@Tim - Great track and video man. ;-)

[@gunjabeans]

Absolutely Lovely Song!