Music Thing: Little Phatty

Each week Tom Whitwell of Music Thing highlights the best of the new music gear that's coming out, as well as noteworthy vintage equipment. This week he's got a special second Music Thing in commemoration of Moog's new Little Phatty:

The new Moog synthesizer has been the worst kept secret in music geek land since before Christmas. But it's finally launched at the huge MusikMesse trade show in Germany. $1475 gets you an analog monophonic synth with MIDI and program storage. It's called Little Phatty, a name so awful that analog die hards have been calling for a boycott of all Moog gear until it's changed to something more sensible. On the surface, there's nothing new here. The technology is all at least 25 years old, and most of it is pushing 40 -- but synths are about interface design, and the balance between mass-production and hand-made electronics. Moog builds their synths by hand in North Carolina, so even a $1475 synth like this is built with huge compromises to hit a price point. Every knob adds a bunch of complicated circuitry, so Moog have been clever. Push a cute-looking blue-glowing rubber button to choose the parameter, then tweak the retro-styled knob surrounded by a ring of LEDs to give visual feedback on what's happening. Yes, you can get 95% of the same sound from a free plugin running on a cheap PC. But it's just not the same thing. The question is, how many people can Moog find to pay $1475 for something special -- but not quite as special as their $3,000 Moog Voyager?

[Brian @ Mar 31st 2006 7:27PM]

all moogs are for pros and people with the money
most musicians are neither of the above.

im plenty happy with my powerbook, oxygen8 controller, and arturia minimoog (the standalone is super simple, and it can be used in logic, garageband, pro tools, whatever)

[deadmonkey @ Mar 31st 2006 7:28PM]

You'd be amazed. I'll bet these things are flying off the shelves and the "Tribute Edition" will probably be sold out before the first one ships. Once people get over the name (which was officially blessed by Bob Himself so, like, get over it) they'll find that it sounds good and it plays good and it has the cachet of being the "last official Moog". And its a new analog synth and there's precious few of those around these days. You can give an arm and a leg to Dave Smith for an Evolver. You can give an arm, a leg and most of your internal organs to one of the modular rigs. You can give about half of an arm and about a month of soldering iron time for a Paia. You could give an arm and a leg and maybe a kidney or two for an "original" on eBay but it'll be old busted and out of tune. Or you can give an arm (the left one, please) to Moog and get a pretty swanky little unit(which, by the way, was my vote for the name). Its an actual instrument. Plug ins are just so... Meh.

[Mr eel @ Mar 31st 2006 8:01PM]

People complaining about the name tend to be humourless gear snobs. Personally I think it's a great name. It shows that the company has a good sense of humour. Don't forget they already make a range of pedals called Mooger Foogers (he he he).

Complaints about the price are completely misdirected as well. This is not just a synth to make a few burbles for your next shitty trance tune, it's about performance and tweakability.

I don't hear too many people complaining about $2k guitars. If it's too expensive, they tend to buy something else. Simple. Look at the little phatty the same way; it's not just a noise box, it's an instrument. If it doesn't suit your needs; Don't buy it.

BTW, I'm not a hardware synth snob. I've quite happily used sotware synths for years, but I'm coming to find that sometimes it's nicer to have, y'know an instrument, not just some fake knobs on a screen.

[architect.zero @ Mar 31st 2006 8:24PM]

From a nostalgia point of view: right on.

From a gear-head point of view: cool.

From a practical hobbyist musician point of view: lame. I've got Ableton Live 5, Reason 3, and an Oxygen8 running on my PB. I can sample, clip, loop, and synthesize to my heart's content - and surf, chat, email, play games, etc... on the computer component part. Unless it has an absolutely stunning sound that can't reproduced by software, what's the point?

[Lee @ Mar 31st 2006 9:44PM]

I suppose the point would be for those who just love hardware.
Myself, I'm a fan of making my music entirely on my PC... I'll be purchasing Reason 3 within the next week, and from everything I've read, it'll do more than this (astounding) Moog for just less than $400, as opposed to the Moog's $1475 price tag.
However, I've heard other Moog equipment & I'll say they're worth every penny for those folks who can use them. Me, I'll stick with my PC and my software suites.

[Matt @ Mar 31st 2006 11:25PM]

I will say this.

You can spend as much money as you want on a computer soft synth, but it will never sound like the real thing.

And of course anyone who performs with a softsynth will be getting no love from dedicated synth lovers.

I wouldnt give up my moog for the world.

[dwtech @ Apr 1st 2006 12:35AM]

I was just fooling with the Voyager today. At $3K, it's way beyond my noodling. But I gotta tell you, I had more fun and created more f'n cool sounds on the Voyager in 10 minutes at the store than I can remember. If I had $3k to spare, I'd drop it on the Voyager in a heartbeat. I'm pretty excited to check out the Little Phatty when it gets to my shop. They're pretty excited about it also. And it is selling. My shop is on a 2 Little Phat limit per month delivery for the first 3 months and they've got people lined up for them. And they've sold 5 Voyagers in the past month. Even $1475 (though my shop said $1375) is too step for me but I can't wait to try it out. And maybe, just maybe...

[Roleo Hibachi @ Apr 1st 2006 12:39AM]

#2: I don't know what you give him, but I give him a hand.

[Tom @ Apr 1st 2006 4:12AM]

#2 - Is $499 for a DSI Evolver an arm and a leg? You should value your body parts a bit higher, dude!

[Peter Kirn @ Apr 1st 2006 10:06AM]

One thing about this is more special than the Voyager -- direct analog control knobs. Now that's cool.

As for this whole soft synth thing (ahem, ahem) . . . there is one interesting problem. There are soft synths that DO sound as good as analog synths (or at least nearly so). There's the TimewARP 2600 from Way Out, the Korg Legacy Collection, and Ultra Analog VA-1. They all have one thing in common, however: they're CPU hogs. So, ironically, if you are doing all this stuff on your PC, you may not have the CPU to spare.

Ultimately, I don't think you have to choose. There's definitely a different emotional relationship to a dedicated hardware synth. There's no reason you can't add that synth to a computer setup full of soft synths, and you really don't need one of these hardware pieces with lots of fancy integration features, either -- audio and MIDI cables still work. Likewise, you really can get those sounds out of soft synths, with clever programming and a good instrument.

A lot of us really want this new Moog, regardless, for a whole package that has no equal.

[Lee @ Apr 1st 2006 10:30AM]

#5 (Matt) --
That sounds like an elitist point of view to me... Here's an example - people who have been making money from their music for years can now afford extremely expensive hardware synths, etc, for their studio/home studio... they know that anyone who wants to can save up for SONAR or Reason or several other excellent software synth suites for $300 to $800 or so & they DO sounds just as good as those prescious hardware synths.
I'm not trying to be argumentative by any stretch, but your comment makes me think this is a "We vs They" situation, and the "We" would be people who can blow $1500 on a single piece of (excellent) equipment, and the "They" are those who want something more cost effective that also sounds good.

This

[Cameron Turner @ Apr 1st 2006 10:39AM]

He's probably referring to the DSI MEK, which is closer to the design of the Phatty and costs $1200, or the PEK which costs $1535.

The plain-old Evolver is a hell of a deal though.

[Andrew @ Apr 1st 2006 12:46PM]

To all of who praise the soft synth over a hardware synth: Take a pianist, and put them in front of a weighted MIDI keyboard, and they'll be pretty happy. However, I would venture to guess that anyone who has learned to play an acoustic instrument appreciates it for its acoustic purity, its feel and its ability to ground them in the joy of making music - not fiddling with virtual knobs with a mouse, using MIDI controllers that only have 128 levels of expression, or dealing with their MIDI drivers doing what MIDI drivers will no doubt do - unexpectedly fail. I maintain that any Moog, Buchla or Sequential Circuits machine (among others) is an acoustic instrument, one that appeals to the performer - not the mouse clicking, Pro Tools amateur set, with $150 emulations with a GUI that makes any hardened VST instrument user long for the real thing. Why else would you buy an emulator/modeler? It is because you want the real thing. I know I do. By the way, I love my VST instruments, but could I take them to a show with my laptop, Mbox, MIDI controller - sure. Could I depend on them to work? Nope.

[deadmonkey @ Apr 3rd 2006 6:33PM]

#12, you are correct. I've been drooling over a PEK for quite some time. Somehow this has turned into an argument between the VST loving proletariat and the hardware loving bourgeoisie. The inner Geoff Downes in all of us wants to ammass the larget possible collection of sound generating entities. Me too, guilty, I have an entire PC devoted to VSTs.Wanting a hardware synth that does the job of producing sound in a (opinion) more pleasing way than a software simulation does not make one an elitist. Its the Rolex that does that.

[Ol Tha Bwoy @ Apr 30th 2006 5:43PM]

U know how it is: a lot of people (or maybe all of dem) can't hear the difference between Arturia's Minimoog and the hardware one. But if the hardware one is more inspiring to You - just go n' buy it 'cause inspiration is always one of the most significant things to the music. The idea gives real freshness to Your music not even the sound quality.

bless

[Ron @ Aug 3rd 2006 12:01PM]

At the end of the day it is good we have all of the inventions to assist us in creating music .Whichever platform works best for your creativity an vibe is a good way to proceed.Sometimes using something unfamiliar and out of your comfort zone can inspire and initiate musical growth.
Luke 21 v 29 >36

[joejoe @ Dec 2nd 2007 9:46PM]

I'm sure your software can do some cool things, but it can't compare to actually playing an instrument, tweaking parameters on the fly. Great for sitting around noodling in your home or studio, yes, but would you dare to lug your PC from gig to gig? Hell, no! These days people rely too much on their PC's for storing and editing pics and songs, which is great, until the HDD crashes.

[Kyle @ Dec 13th 2007 8:35PM]

I have been reading this VST vs Hardware argument and I think the majority of you are missing the point. We all make music because we enjoy it and because we are inspired to do it. If your VST synth makes you feel good then use it. If you can afford an excellent hardware synth like this and it makes you feel good playing it, then go buy one. I am lucky enough to have a hard drive full of plug ins and a few nice synths and for me I can get more creative with a real analogue synth. It just has a better feel and a more instant tweakability. I can't explain it but it's just better feeling and it is better sounding. However, if you are not able to play very well, a soft synth is just as good because you can just sort everything out in midi. Anyway, have a lookat what Bob Moog has to say at http://www.redbullmusicacademy.com/LECTURES.95.0.html?act_session=93